Taupo Jamboree 2009

Report by Dick Veitch

“A great big old shed like that is just so much more comfortable than a flash new place”. The old booze store at the Spa Hotel certainly is a great venue that Lake Taupo Woodworkers Guild has found for the Lake Taupo Woodturning Jamboree.

President Jack and his members did another great job preparing the place. Pushing all the carefully stored “bound to be useful some day” bits that were in the shed off to one side and hanging plastic curtains to contain the woodies (or keep them out of the “treasures”). Then there was room enough for everybody. A couple of power boxes ensured a supply for 41 lathes, three scrollsaws, and the bandsaw.

The hotel restaurant just across the car park provided teas, lunches, and dinners of excellent quantity and quality. The two minute stroll from shed to dining shook off most of the shavings and showed us the nice weather outside the shed. With 114 people booked to be there turning wood and talking what reason other than food was there to leave the shed?

Sleeping, of course. The row of motel units just a few steps the other way were perfectly adequate for the occasion, but maybe a little too similar. One member entered the motel and found some bananas on the bench – nice of his mates to buy them – so one was consumed. Then upstairs to get something from his bag. Oh dear, wrong motel!

Pete Nisbet ran great raffles aided by sponsorship from: The Spa Hotel, Total Trade Supplies, Carters, Parts and Services, Whitcoulls, Paper Plus, Repco, Mitre 10, I T M Taupo, Taupo Event Centre, and Liquor Land.

The Competition and Instant Gallery tables needed watching as new items were added throughout the weekend. Some delightful work. The Competition prizes were sponsored by the National Association of Woodworkers, Turning Tools Ltd., and Treeworkx. Graeme McIntyre took the prize for Open Artistic with butterflies pierced and burnt into a rimu vessel. Ole JR showed he still has ability by taking the Traditional prize with an ash hollow form, with finial, stained and limed.

Graeme must also get the prize for heaviest lathe shift as he brought his Stubby – unmeasured kilograms of solid castings. Scamp’s truck/double-deck motor home must have been the largest conveyance. Terry Scott’s furniture trailer with three lathes was probably the best lathe supply, but someone may have had a greater number of small lathes. Turning Tools Limited would have eclipsed anyone for tool abundance and Treeworkx added their grand collection of tools, sandpaper and wood too. Outside the door Ross Vivian had fresh-cut miro, rimu, and other wood while Gordon Pritchard had a load of dry burl and treasures.

If I have forgotten to thank anybody, sorry, I was having too much fun to take good notes. I have already booked the second weekend of March 2010 to be there again.