When I retired in 1983 I needed a hobby of some sort so set up a home woodwork hobby den bought and taught myself to use a wood turning lathe and other woodworking machines in a triple bay car shed out back. I scrounged all sorts of cast-off timbers from around the area and it wasn't very long before it became a work of art in finding a space for the car in the shed. With sixteen grandchildren over the years I soon found there was much I could do, especially as far as toymaking was concerned. In 2000 for health reasons we needed to move into a smaller home in the nearby town of Dannevirke which meant I had to very reluctantly give up my workshop. However, in mid-2005 grandson Jared purchased the woodcrafting factory where he had worked for 6 years. The core business is making Maori replica souvenirs for the tourist market.
We are both lucky in that he finds we can be useful to him and we are down there most days of the week doing those time consuming "menial" tasks that allows him and his staff to get on with other work. In all we spend a combined total of around 35 hours a week there.
We have refused payment for our time there as we regard the work as good therapy for us both and we feel as though we are not quite ready for the scrap heap yet. I have become quite expert at sitting at the bandsaw or scroll saw or sanding machines and cutting shapes while Mearle's main work is glueing and wrapping. All this makes us feel useful again.
Best of all is that in between jobs I am able to use scrap wood and get back to my trinket box and toymaking hobbies again. Great stuff, we love it.
Below are some pics at Jared's place.
Carver Jared at work.
Kathryn (left), Jareds mum (and our daughter) and Hine sanding canoes.
My wife and Jared's grandmum at a glueing table.
Eight racks of components in the spraybooth awaiting final finishing and assembly.
A line-up of finished souvenir waka (canoes) ready for dispatch.
To see samples of some other of Jared's products click HERE, or here to return to the INDEX page.