At the November Guild meeting, Steve Myhre captivated us with stories from his life as a carver, author, and cultural ambassador.  From the Mine Bay rock carvings to his influential books on bone and wood carving, Steve shared how tradition, craftsmanship, and creativity intertwine. His passion for preserving Māori and Pacific carving techniques left us inspired and deeply connected to the art of making by hand.  Steve further captivated the room with his hand made handles an

Held the weekend of 18 th  and 19 th October in conjunction with the Naenae MENZshed A big thanks to all who contributed to the event at the MENZShed – there was a team of people who organised cleaning, signage, the set out of display tables. In particular, thanks to Hugh Mill, Dave Winthrop, Lesley Adams, Brian Williams & Gerry Duignan. A big cleaning effort, organised by Gerry Duignan was put into cleaning the shed on the Friday before the weekend and it looked great. Than

Brad Haste kindly volunteered to demonstrate the best way to cut up a log to make woodturning blanks. He arrived at Naenae MENZshed to a very rainy Saturday morning, so we decided to setup in the doorway, where we had some shelter. After going through the obligatory round of Safety precautions for chainsaw work, Brad demonstrated how to face up the Log (to get rid of any existing cracks), then split the log lengthways making sure to maximise the wood for turning, while gettin

A Distaff is a traditional tool used in yarn spinning— the presentation explored its historical significance and practical applications. The distaff, a staff designed to hold unspun fibers like flax or wool, has been used for centuries, dating back to ancient civilizations. The talk traced its evolution from a simple handheld rod to more elaborate forms used in conjunction with spinning wheels.  The demonstration showed how fibers are drawn from the distaff and twisted into t

The decision was made to hold the monthly Guild meeting at the Pataka Art gallery, to officially open the latest Exhibition – the 2025...

Held the Special General Meeting to approve the constitution changes to retain Incorporated Societies registration. Happy to say it all...

The National Association of Woodworkers held their annual event in the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan club in May 2025.   The event provided...

The Guild participated in October 2024 in the inaugural  Art trail organised  by Hutt city. The Guild combined  with the Naenae Menz shed...

In February a small group of guild members gathered  at Eric and Annette Cairns property in  Upper Hutt to see a demonstration of their...

In August 2024 I did a course on Machine Maintenance at the Centre, which is located at Wakapuaka, about 10 km east of Nelson. I had done...

A day was spent making trugs and Shaker boxes. A great day was had by all - thanks to Jack for the organising the event, Tawa Menzshed...

After repeated attempts in the Committee meetings to get some buy-in to have a Guild meeting at the Naenae Menzshed, your webmaster...

GWW Beginners woodturning classes took place over the last two weekends of June at Tawa Menz Shed. We had six students: Ruth Pirie, Jerry...

On June 23rd, around 10 people turned up to Eric's place for another blacksmithing day. Gordon and Richard were first there and got the...

So the conversation went something like this… John Piper: "Mike – I need you to go in the competition" Me: "What competition?" John...

The Guild was offered some of a walnut tree after it was blown over in a storm. A couple of dozen turning blanks and a few large slabs...

An activity weekend was held in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary exhibition of the Guild at the Hutt Art Society. This involved...

The Guild celebrated being 40 years old by having a wonderful “Woodcraft” exhibition in the Odin Gallery at Hutt Art in the middle of...

A green woodworking session was held at Whareama in the Wairarapa in Feb 2024 (at Bruce's place). This entailed using steam to bend the...

In late August and early September, the Guild and Hutt Art Society hosted the Woodcraft exhibition at the Odlin Gallery. Check out the...