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2012 Arbortech Staff Power Carving Competition

July 17th, 2012 Arbortech Woodworking Blog
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Can We Inspire You…?

Arbortech Staff Woodworking Competition  

Commercial gist aside, we have a lot of fun doing what we do here at Arbortech. Our have a fantastic team who are passionate and great at what they do professionally, as well as sharing a common interest for woodworking. Did we mention FUN as well? Ahh yes, fun is what we love.
What better way to adjoin fun and woodworking together? That’s when we decided to run a woodworking competition for our staff. 
The competition was announced in early May and it entailed the staff to create a woodworking project to any extent they desired in which creativity and participation were encouraged.
The winning woodworking project were awarded prizes in the categories of; 
  • Best in Show 
  • Most Creative 
  • Best Novice 
  • Most Practical

 

The competition announcement fuelled excited chatters in the Arbortech office hallways and lunchrooms as ideas were flying around as to who’d be working on what, what tools to use and a general bustling of enthusiasm.
Many of our staff have never attempted a woodworking project before and it was delightful to see first timers having such a fantastic time of rolling up their sleeves and getting into the spirit of having some fun at a woodworking project.  The bustling amplified as the weekend approached as staff talked amongst themselves about the progression of their projects and sharing handy tips with each other.
We also ran weekly woodworking workshop Fridays in which our CEO woodworker, Kevin would provide a helping hand to staff’s in progress project, providing tips and tricks and just another excuse to gather around and have a beer (or two) after a couple of hours of project work.
We held our social gathering to announce the woodworking project competition on Saturday 30th June and there was a fantastic turnout. Here are a few photos we snapped from the day.
 

 

 

After the initial mingle, everyone was keen to view the woodworking projects on exhibit. There were an impressive array of projects and the winning woodworking pieces were “People’s Choice” winners.The crowd excitedly examined the projects on display and placed their votes with the winning contenders being; 

Winner “Best in Show” 

“Contemplation” bench 

Created by: Sven (General Manager) 

Sven’s creation of the “Contemplation” bench was voted “Best in Show”. Sven drew his inspiration from a project plan from the Woodcraft website and the bench was created with the intention of being an outdoor bench but now has established it’s new-found home indoors as a practical piece of furniture. 

Wood used: Reclaimed Tuart and Jarrah

Tool used: TurboPlane 

“Contemplation” Bench

 

 Winner “Most Creative” 

 “Flow” Interpretive Piece

Created by:Christopher (Sales Representative)

Christopher’s “Flow” creation took out the title for the “Most Creative” piece. This project had the crowd in awe as to what the piece represented, but being an interpretive piece it is really based on what the piece means to the individual so in that sense it could really be anything!

Wood used: Camphor Laurel Wood

Tools used: TurboPlane, Mini Grinder, Mini Grinder Sanding Discs, Arbortech Oil 

“Flow” Interpretive Piece

 

Winner “Best Novice” 

“The Last Leaf of Autumn” tray

Created by: Nora (Sales)

This was Nora’s first attempt at woodworking and we are mighty impressed with her creation of a piece that doesn’t fall short of what a more experienced woodworker would produce. Votes went to Nora’s tray for “Best Novice” and everybody agreed this was a fantastic creation for a first timer. Great piece in terms of being a decorative item as well as functional. 

Wood used: Camphor Laurel wood 

Tools used: TurboPlane, Mini Grinder, Mini Industrial Blade, Mini Sanders, Arbortech Oil

“The Last Leaf of Autumn” tray

Winner “Most Practical”   

“Apple Tree”

Created by: Bela (Graphic Designer)

Bela’s Mac computer screen was originally rested on a pile scruffy yellow pages and his desk was resembling something of a clutter fest. So what a bright idea it was to give his desk and workspace a makeover with an ever so practical computer stand with inbuilt stationary holders. Great idea and being very practical Bela’s “Apple Tree” computer stand claimed the title for “Most Practical”. 

Wood used: Jarrah 

Tools used: TurboPlane, Mini TurboPlane

“Apple Tree” computer stand
 



Our staff woodworking competition encouraged team spirit, participation and above all, fun with woodworking. We wanted to encourage our team to have a go at woodworking and it was fantastic to see what our staff could do with a bit of wood, some tools and a drive to create a woodworking project. As a result we had fabulous competition entries and a fun, social day. 


As a roundup the Arbortech band entertained the crowd with their rendition of a few classic melodies. 

 

 

 

 



See the band’s performance on video here at our Facebook page. 

New to woodworking? Click here to check out our free project plans.
Stay tuned for our next blog as we will be exhibiting other entries from our Staff Woodworking Competition!

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