Join in ... with Murrayland Woodworkers
Graham Nancarrow invites you to join in with an industrious and crafty Murray Bridge community group.
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The woodworking shed at Johnstone Park, Murray Bridge is bigger than it looks from the outside.
Inside, more than a dozen men and women are crouched over various whirring machines – lathes, scroll saws, band saws and more – spotlights on and sawdust flying.
One regular says he had never touched a scroll saw before his 90th birthday, but then “90’s a number, not a condition”.
Incoming president Graham Nancarrow even likes to try his hand at pyrography, where you burn a design into the surface of a piece of wood.
He’s our guide to the world of Murrayland Woodworkers.
To express an interest in sponsoring this monthly feature, email jane@murraybridge.news.
When did you first get involved with Murrayland Woodworkers?
A couple of guys who go to the Church of Christ asked me to come along. They knew I did woodwork. I’ve been coming for five years.
I started (woodworking) when I was 15. I had an apprenticeship as a furniture maker and a joiner. I’ve been in carpentry ever since. At Southport, on the Gold Coast, I was born and bred … I’d lived in Queensland all my life, then I went into ministry with the Salvos, went all over with them, and somehow ended up here.
What do you do every week?
I do carving – there’s some of my stuff over there – I do wood-turning and I used to do scrolling. I’ve still got a machine at home. We’ve got furniture makers; one of our guys does toys and sells them in Meningie at Coorong Cottage Industries.
We get invited to shows around the district. We get our tents, a couple of lathes, set up and do demonstrations and sell stuff. Over the last couple of years we’ve had a Lucas mill, a chainsaw mill, where you get logs, put them in and plank them.
I do resin work, too, I make river tables.
I enjoy turning platters. You can make them in all sizes.
What do you get out of your involvement?
For me it’s companionship, fellowship with other guys and girls, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of working with wood. There’s something about wood I’m drawn to. In my shed at home I’ve got a variety of wood: some from Tasmania, some from Queensland, from all sorts of places. Working with Huon pine from Tasmania, it’s so soft you can wreck it by pushing too hard on a chisel or something. Then you get your redgum, different timbers like that, which is a lot of work because it’s so hard.
If anybody comes in with different ideas on wood, we’ll work with them or they’ll teach us. It’s multi-faceted work we do and enjoy.
We have things go wrong … but if it doesn’t work, it can keep us warm.
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What has been your fondest memory with the woodworkers?
The thing I like about the club is the friendship and camaraderie, how we can have a go at each other and have a laugh. If anybody is working on a lathe, the guys with all the experience will come over and say there’s an easier way or a safer way. Everybody is safety-conscious.
What’s your goal as a woodworker?
My biggest aim is to improve my skills. Up ‘til now I’ve been self-taught on everything. This guys are a big help. By improving our skills we can make more precise turnings or carvings.
Why should people join Murrayland Woodworkers?
For me it’s being with other people who are like-minded, and for the camaraderie. People don’t have to have any experience with wood at all to come in. We’ll get around them and teach them the best we can, and they might teach us something as well.
- Contact: Search for Murrayland Woodworkers Inc on Facebook, or contact Graham Nancarrow on 0407 539 442 or Jack Hunt on 0428 399 701
- Who can join: Anyone
- Where to go: The woodworking shed near the dog park, Johnstone Park, Murray Bridge
- When to go: 9am to mid-afternoon on the first and third Saturdays of each month
- What you need: $5 for your first three meetings, for insurance; after that annual membership is $30 or $45 for a couple
To express an interest in promoting your community or sporting club with a Join In feature, email michael@murraybridge.news. To express an interest in sponsoring this monthly feature, email jane@murraybridge.news.
Locals support locals. Your support helps Murray Bridge News tell important local stories.
