This is the meeting where members elect board members for three-year terms. Board members whose terms are expiring this year are Dale Spoor and Bob King. There will be a third position if the proposed bylaw changes are adopted as written.  If you are interested in being on the board, please contact Roger Lauen at at 206-715-1092 or Jeanne Huber at 206-780-1246.

The bus shelter nearly complete

The first houses in the new Ferncliff Avenue affordable housing project are just beginning  to be built, but a beautiful amenity of the neighborhood—a timber-framed bus shelter—is already in place. Volunteers from Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop assembled the structure in mid November, using wood from trees that had to be cleared from the site to make way for the development.

Coyote Woodworks, a Bainbridge sawmill company, milled the wood. Timber framers at  Salisbury Construction cut the joinery.

Volunteers from Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop included Dan Jacobs, Tom Kilbane, Wendy Hufnagle, Don Fox and Jim Roberts. They worked along with two volunteers from Salisbury.

Because of the mortise-and-tenon joinery, the crew slipped the parts together, upside-down.Curved knee braces add an elegant touch to the otherwise simple structure.With the rafters almost all in place, the basic framing is complete.

The site, as construction begins. The concrete wall (behind the hydrant) is the back of the shelter.As the first piedes of framing are moved into place, a concrete wall for the back of the structure is already in place.

The timber frame was bolted to the concrete wall.

This is a clean copy of the bylaws, incorporating the proposed changes. This is a marked-up copy of the proposed bylaws. It shows the existing wording, proposed deletions and additions, and the rationale for the proposed changes.

Derek Tetlow loads up the birdhouses.

One highlight of the Housing Resources Board’s annual Rise & Shine Breakfast on Nov. 5 was a stunning array of 30 artist-decorated birdhouses built by members of Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop.
Derek Tetlow headed the project and donated use of his shop. Derek cut all the pieces himself, using wood donated by ProBuild. He and five other members then assembled the houses and delivered them to the Housing Resources Board. Then the artists worked their magic, and the birdhouses were on display for the auction during the breakfast.
The breakfast was a fundraiser for programs aimed at providing lower-cost housing so that Bainbridge can continue to be a diverse community open to people of all income levels.

Birdhouse-building day

The Housing Resources Board is one of four local social-service agencies that take advantage of the Woodshop’s commitment to provide free community service work.

If you would like to help put any of these ideas into action or join one of the committees we formed, please send an email to info@bainbridgecommunitywoodshop.org.

Summary of the discussion at the February 12th meeting of the Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop

Three main topics were discussed at the meeting:

1. How much is realistic to expect members to pay for use of the community woodshop?
2. Should we pursue finding a temporary location for the woodshop even as we continue to work on the Johnson Farm site?
3. What can we do to build our group and establish a sense of community?

Following the discussion a number of committees were formed.

Discussion about shop fees

As a starting point, the figure of $30 a month for use of the shop has been suggested. Many meeting attendees thought this was too low. $600 a year ($50 a month) was suggested. A suggestion was also made for an annual fee in addition to a monthly fee. A one-time initiation or buy-in fee was also suggested. One attendee was interested is storing project materials at the shop and said he would be willing to pay a higher monthly fee if he could do that. Other suggestions include a higher annual fee and a lower monthly fee; member discounts for classes given at the shop; and having monthly dues reduced in exchange for providing support (maintenance, cleaning, stewardship, etc.) at the shop. We also need to make sure the shop is available for low income/limited budget community members.

One factor that ties directly to shop fees is how many people would be using the shop. How do we determine how many people will really be members of the community woodshop? Right now we have 170 people on the e-mail list and 38 people have paid annual dues. How do we gauge interest and get people to participate?

Discussion about a temporary woodshop

There needs to be a clear understanding of what a temporary woodshop would provide. We need an inventory of tools that we already have and need to determine if we have what we need or will have to acquire other tools (such as a dust collection system). Would having a temporary shop necessitate repeating infrastructure costs in a couple of years when the permanent shop is built? A suggestion was to find professional woodworkers who would let some members (say 6) use their shops and thus eliminate the need for a temporary shop.

The question was raised if the temporary shop would give us added community visibility and a track record? Some meeting attendees thought the timeframe for getting a permanent shop built (2 years or more) argues for the establishment of a temporary shop. One person shared that he joined the group so he could learn how to do woodworking and become part of a community and said that it was imperative that we establish a temporary woodshop. Another person said he had changed his mind: at first he thought a temporary site would diffuse our energies towards getting the permanent shop built. Now he feels that the high cost of the permanent shop ($700,000+) and the time it will take to get it built argues that we have a temporary shop.

At the end of this part of the discussion, a consensus was reached by show of hands that we look into creating a temporary shop for the club.

Building enthusiasm for Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop

Suggestions for ways to make the organization more vibrant:

• Meet more frequently and have demonstrations on woodworking topics. The Kitsap Woodturners meet monthly and have 80 people. Monthly meetings support our members, not just the efforts we are making to build a permanent shop.
• Fundraising activities – we will have a booth at the Bainbridge Island Home and Garden show on April 9th. Besides sharing information about the organization,  we will have things to sell that have been donated by members. Also, one person would like to organize a garage sale in April to benefit the organization. People wanting to volunteer for either of these two projects can contact the club at info@bainbridgecommunitywoodshop.org.
• The group needs to find ways to share information and work together on projects, sharing our skills with others in the group. We could identify special interest groups who might want to work together on building something in particular, for example, tables and chairs. Special interest group projects could be announced in the newsletter or on the website.
• The group should continue sponsoring education programs and teach classes. This should lead to more membership and more interest. It would also benefit us to get kids involved in our activities.
• Discuss what fund raising activities members might be willing to do in connection with the Rotary Auction. If we are thinking of doing repairs on purchased items we need to start planning that now.

Committees

At the end of the discussion, the following committees were formed:

1. Temporary shop site and requirements: will work on determining a site for a temporary shop and what it will require. Billie Gearheard, Bob King, Dave Kircher, and Jeanne Huber volunteered.
2. Funding: to determine member fees for using the woodshop. This committee was put on hold until we have a location for the temporary shop and now how much it will cost.
3. Working with professional woodworkers: seeing if this is a viable option versus having a temporary shop: Peter Eddy, John Allen, and Lee Stollar volunteered.
4. Membership committee: personally contact everyone on our e-mail list to encourage joining as members and becoming more active in the group. Dick Culp, Sam Bardelson, and Dan Jacobs volunteered.

Volunteers will use the kiosk to welcome visitors to Waterfront Park.

If you’re down by the city dock in Waterfront Park, take a look at the new visitor kiosk, built as a community service by members of Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop. A team of nine started the building on Friday, June 17, and the final details—a lock hatch and two battens—went on July 5. That was lightning-fast compared to the years of discussions and planning that went into the park’s restroom building, which served as a design model for the kiosk. Woodshop members built the floors, walls and trusses during two very busy days at member Derek Tetlow’s shop. A city truck transported the pieces to the park.Then the Woodshsop crew set the floor in place, raised and secured the walls, erected the roof  and built the wood detailing in front.

As we gear up for building a community woodshop at the Johnson Farm, money is scooting out the door for various studies and plans that we need to complete before we can get a building permit. Want to help make the dream a reality? Please donate now. Click below or mail a check to our treasurer, Wayne Blair, 16550 Agate Point Road, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. Make checks payable to Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop.

Tim Corcoran, Roger Lauen and Dale Spoor set up the Land Slide.

The “Land Slide” we built for the annual Harvest Festival at Johnson Farm in September was a great success. Each 20 seconds or so, a visitor rode the slide down a long hillside, with much hooting and grinning along the way.

Because of its popularity, the apparatus has evolved into a pair of slides, each about 60 feet long. The slides are 20-foot-long sections of 18-inch pipe raised up in the air by supports made of plywood and framing. Friends of the Farms, the non-profit organization that manages the Johnson Farm for the city, asked us to build the wooden support structure for this year’s event. Dale Spoor, a board member, coordinated the work and supervision of the slides during the event.

A fun time was had by all.

Dick Culp fits a frame together.

Derek Tetlow fine-tunes a stile.

It was a lot of work, but a team from Bainbridge Island Community Woodshop has at last completed 18 casement windows for the Yeomalt Cabin restoration.

Under the watchful eye of member Dick Culp and the coordination of Derek Tetlow, several members built the windows from local Douglas fir, which was sawn and provided by Coyote Woodshop. Dick milled the rails and stiles. Additional milling, mortise and tenon work, and glue-up took place at Derek’s spacious shop.

The team also made window trim, sills (angled at 7 degrees) and casings. Jeanne Huber did the glazing.

The finished windows, each with six small panes, were delivered to the Bainbridge park district and will be installed at Yeomalt Cabin.