Date: 29th October 2011

Saturday session back after two week on holiday.
• Caught up with members, many of whom had time off over the past 2 weeks.
• Outside woodshed blinds had been modified after high winds
• Rip saw had been reconditioned and needed to be partly dismantled to move into the main work area
• Wood loft had been cleared of more wood and Jim had started constructing a storage rack
• Continued to sort and dismantle wood in the loft area.
• Differences of opinion about what wood to keep and which to use as fire wood.
• No progress made on meeting with the areo club around issues of contention.

Caught up with members, many of whom had time off over the past 2 weeks. Some had been on trips overseas and others had time off in central or pursing other activities. This highlighted to me how full a number of the members lives where outside of the blokes shed attendance.
Outside woodshed blinds had been modified after high winds. The blinds we had fixed to the woodshed had broken loose in the high winds we had in the previous weekend. Jo had fixed these in my absence by securing additional nail pins to the bottom brackets of the blinds. This seems to have solved this problem with the blinds having been tested by subsequent days of high winds.
The old rip saw that had been donated to the shed had been reconditioned when I was away and needed to be partly dismantled to move into the main work area. Myself I and M worked on this and ended up removing the motor and belt casing so as it would fit through the workshop door. Others removed shelving and storage units. This took a bit of trial and error but eventually we shifted what was a very heavy unity by using sack barrows and manual lifting. I was called on to do the lifting as one of the young guys in the group. Other members played more specialist roles here. The rewiring of the motor being left for the electrician member of the shed. The rip saw was not tested on the day as the shed was very crowded with other people completing projects. This is the 3 time I’ve attended when space or the availability of it has been an issue.
After moving the rip saw I asked J if he needed any more help in clearing the loft of wood. In the time I was a way he had been cleared of more wood and constructing a storage racking. I joined N and M in taking wood outside to be either sorted for storage or dismantled and used for firewood. What wood was kept and what wood was dismantled was an are of conjecture amongst member. Some members were reluctant to throw away any rimu even though it was cracked and needed a good deal of work to de-nail. Talking with I and J this was an ongoing issue. Although there is a common theme appreciated amongst members of recycling and not wasting materials there were often differences in opinion about the reality of materials being used in the future.
I worked with M to dismantle 2 storage units and sort the wood for I who had been asked to construct a dog kennel for a neighbor. He wanted to make good use of the wood we could salvage as the dog was old and in his opinion it would be a waste to use new materials. We managed to denial and save enough wood for this project and the rest were taken away by J for firewood. He noted that some members passed comment about him receiving free firewood. From his point of view it would be easier to buy firewood rather than cutting up and denailing the wood but he’d rather do this than see it go to waste. I also noted other members would negotiate the private use of scrap wood for projects. N took some to stake up his beans. The use of scrap materials was usually checked amongst members.
Over smoko I asked I if any progress had been made about on meeting with the areo club around issues of contention. I said they had had not luck as yet but himself and MO where continuing to work on it.
I departed and made my goodbyes at noon after finishing dismantling the storage units. Talked with J about continuing this work next week.