PLEASE READ! Your Competition feedback needed

[Woodythepecker]

mr wrote:

Then of course theres those of us who can't afford to buy machinery or don't have the space for it and work with what we have to hand. Or begginners working with handtools only because thats the way to gain the experience you mention. Hence the need the classes of entry, either in terms of ability or in terms of restrictions in tooling. Just a thought.

Now that is different. If you are going to have a class for hand tools only, and another for machinery/tailed tools at least everyone will be given a choice of what class to enter, but i do not think that it would be fair to have a competition where the members who want to enter cannot because they have not used hand tools, or are not very good with them. It is alright to say that beginners will gain experience with hand tools, but if they want to have a chance to win the competition they may want to practise on another occasion, not when they are under pressure in a competition.

On the subject of what the entrants should make, what about something like our new member cranbrook2 produces;

http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

Regards

Woody

 

[tim]

Woody

GREAT suggestion. That allows for all manner of ingenuity or simplicity.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Woodythepecker]

Cheers Tim.

I know that a competition to make a "Birdhouse" may not sound like the most taxing or interesting project to build, but these are not ordinary birdhouses, and they could be made even more ornate with the use of a scrollsaw, or mr could use a coping saw :wink:
If you want to make it a bit more interesting, what about using some of those exotic hardwood offcuts.

Not good enough, well what about treating your young ones to the very same thing, but in the form of a playhouse, wich again can be as ornate as you like?

What do you think?

Regards

Woody

 

[tim]

Mods

Just out of interest what are you expecting the turnout to be or what would you think is a good number?

From my marketing days, if a comp was run across a broadly targeted popn, a 1.5% take up was expected. I think that this group is more specifically targetted so you could double it to 3%. Assuming that you take the active population or those who have posted more than once ie show a tendency to be involved then the popn figure is c 750. Therefore max competition entry is likely to be no more than 23 people and possibly only half that.

Therefore don't sweat the small stuff (and I'm not saying you are), name it, set a date and see what happens.

Cheers

Tim

 

[mudman]

Not got any suggestions as to what the comp. should be, except that I like the what can you make from a set size piece type of comp.
However, it seems to me that one of the problems with getting entries is the timescale. If it only a couple of months, then there will be very few projectst started and finished in that time.
A lot of people get very limited workshop time and if they can only manage a couple of hours at the weekend. Then a project that might only take 10 hours total will take five weeks. Lose a couple of weekends due to family commitments and then make the usual mistake that adds another couple of hours means that you miss the deadline.
So, is it possible to make the end date a bit more open-ended or extend it quite considerably? People with limited workshop time (like myself) are then more likely to get something finished and entered.

 

[Woodythepecker]

mudman wrote:
However, it seems to me that one of the problems with getting entries is the time scale. If it's only a couple of months, then there will be very few projects started and finished in time. A lot of people get very limited workshop time and if they can only manage a couple of hours at the weekend, then a project that might only take 10 hours total will take five weeks. Lose a couple of weekends due to family commitments and then make the usual mistake that adds another couple of hours means that you miss the deadline.
So, is it possible to make the end datea bit more open-ended or extend it quite considerably?
People with limited workshop time (like myself) are then more likel;y to get something finished and entered.

This is obviously going to be a big problem for most people, and it may also be one of the biggest problems for the judges to over come.

How about taking a of poll of those members who want to enter and asking them how long they need to finish their entry and then setting a time limit on the average answer?

Now can anyone tell me what they think of the idea i came up with in my last post above, but be gentle.

Regards

Woody

 

[mr]

Birdhouses? The only birds we have round here are seagulls Personally Id rather shoot them than house them, Shame theyre a protected species. So fraid no birdhouses from me. Wendy houses? possibly too big for some to build or give house space to. Dolls houses? Now theres a thought. Though to build a decent dolls house would take an age I would have thought. Developing that idea - dolls house furniture? Mini Maloofs?

 

[Gill]

I'm with you, MR. Our neighbours encourage the birds (usually feral pigeons) which means I often get guano on my washing when it's hanging out to dry :x . Furthermore, the birds attract cats which in turn sends my dogs potty.

I doubt I'll be entering the competition anyway (heck, it'd mean getting organised, and I'm not about to break the habit of a lifetime) but I just had to protest against any action the forum might be considering which could advance the avian population. Sorry Alf (and other bird lovers) - it's nothing personal.

Gill

 

[Woodythepecker]

This will be the last time i post anything on this forum. If my idea's are not any good thats ok, but down right insults i can do without, especially when so many members told cranbrook2 how good his work is. I was only trying to help.

Woody

 

[mr]

Insults?

 

[Gill]

Blimey, Woody - you wouldn't happen to be a real woodpecker, by any chance?



Gill (I know - the bunker's thattaway...)

 

[frank]

woody 1 person did not agree with you and gill did not want to enter the comp where are the insults this is a forum where you can agree or disagree with someone .I never went in for the last comp i dont know if i will be in this one but like the rest of the group i will look at the work on show and wish i could make something as good .

frank

 

[LyNx]

me personally, don't want to build a birdhouse. They look really well built but not my cup of tea. BUT, if thats the comp. then i'll have a go at winning no matter what the subject.

This will be good practice for everyone. If a client asked you to make something that you personally didn't like then you wouldn't turn it down.

I'm not one to say as still abit of a newbie to this forum but i think the mods etc need to steer this there own way as your not going to please everyone.

Andy

p.s. still think the open category but limit to 4x2 timber (we are the the UK) or the 8x4 sheet (still here) is a good idea.

 

[Travis Byrne]

Hello All

I believe that Abe Lincoln said it best:
You can please some of the people all the time and you can please all the people some of the time....But you can't please all the people all the time.
If you wait untill all the people are in agreement, I will be too old to enter, assuming that there is /are restrictions on being senile.
Please let some brave soul draw a line in the sand. :twisted:

Travis

 

[trevtheturner]

Hi Moderators,

I agree with the last posts made by Andy and Travis.

Many valid suggestions and observations have been made and of course not everybody will agree with all of them, but I still think the suggestions are valid for consideration.

Perhaps the stage has now been reached for the Mods., in their wisdom :wink: , to sift the suggestions and decide upon the challenge (without being expected to explain their acceptance or rejection of individual ideas), and set the requirements and time scale. If the Mods. do not wish to do this, perhaps they could invite a small group of members, say three or four, with the necessary knowledge and expertise, to undertake the task.

Member would then have the freedom to enter or not according to their choice.

Bearing in mind that, whoever were to do it, setting the competition would involve undertaking a considerable amount of work, I would hope then that the challenge would be accepted by the membership without criticism. Whatever it is it probably won't suit some - but the next one might!

If there isn't a concensus on this I would agree, as mentioned earlier, that any prizes to hand be sold and the proceeds used to support these Forums.

Just my 2p.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Philly]

HI All
Well the only idea I could come up with was for some kind of cabinet. Maybe made from cherry. Or even lacewood. Or a combination of these timbers. It could have sliding doors. Maybe a drinks cabinet?? You could incorporate some kind of rack to hold wine bottles. I don't know, something along those lines.
If not, I would have to say I like the 2 x 4 idea. Mods-go crazy and choose something. Your wish is our command :lol:
Cheers
SillyPhilly :roll:
http://www.philsville.co.uk/drinks_cabinet.htm

 

[Alf]

Okay kiddies, settle down. No one's insulting anyone else or nuffink. It's my own fault; I had a utopian vision of you lot reaching a consensus when I should have known any sample of, say, 15 woodworkers would get us 30 different opinions. :wink: :lol:

Right, I have more or less got an idea in mind; flexible enough to cater to you all, I hope. I'm not even going to tell the other mods though, in case any of them want to enter and I don't want them getting a head start in thinking time. :twisted:

What I will say is; we'll stick with the 12 week time frame we had before and there won't be any seperate catergories. Before one or other of you says "that's not fair, how can we compete with so-and-so?" I'd like to point out that most of the more experienced members have shown us what they can do and in consequence have admirably handicapped themselves. :wink: In consequence, I'm not barring any member from entering just 'cos they're "too good". Think how thrilled you'd be if you beat Jason, for instance... :wink: Give the judges some credit for intelligence and trust your enthusiasm, ideas and talent will shine through. Launch day will be "Twelfth Night" - 6th January, so you can think of ideas while you're packing up your Christmas decs; finishing date being March 31st. Nice and easy to remember.

If you're a newbie without any previous project pics posted I suggest you remedy that if you plan to enter, otherwise we'll have to err on the side of assuming you have more experience than perhaps you have. :shock:

See you all in a new thread on the 6th then.

Cheers, Alf

 

[tim]

Good call Alf.

Remember its an Olympics year! The IOC set all the rules, its open category and all the entrants are supposed to be amateurs. Good enough for them, good enough for me.

Cheers

Tim

 

[dedee]

To further the Olympic theme lets not forget that taking part is far more important than winning.

Andy (Eddie was my hero)

 

[StevieB]

Hmmm, I have often wondered about the amateur status of olympic athletes these days - is that still true and if so how do they define ameteur, surely most of todays athletes get all their income from their sport which in my book is a professional!

Back on topic.... glad to see a decision has been made, any chance of a little clue Alf, just an ickle wickle one - it is Christmas after all

Steve.