Students of the Okanagan College studio woodworking program and members of the public received some hands-on instruction regarding the artistry of fine woodworking on Friday and Saturday.
Jeremy Tomlinson of Lie-Nielson Tools was on hand to show demonstrations and answer questions.
On Friday, Tomlinson got the chance to interact with several students and a few members of the public.
“It’s been great to work with the students; I found (them) to be an engaging crowd,” said Tomlinson.
“I think they’re at a pretty good standard here. The kinds of questions that were posed and the interest level was very refreshing.
Tomlinson added that what he was teaching was very much “in sync” with what the students have been learning at Okanagan College.
On Saturday, the crowd was mostly local residents who were interested in learning more about hand tools.
“I try and take them through a general process of learning the foundations of sharpening, which is the genesis of hand tool wood work.
“Sometimes people just come to learn, not necessarily with a particular topic in mind. A lot of these (demonstrations) are just foundation skills that apply to anybody working within tools, or power tools for that matter.”
According to Tomlinson, the questions he fielded over the two days covered a wide variety of issues and were usually generated as he conducted demonstrations.
Tomlinson said that the use of hand tools can be very beneficial.
“They give us a way to be able to bring finesse to the work, as opposed to brute force.”
The Lie-Nielson Tools staff member travels across Canada doing similar demonstrations. When asked whether or not his job, and working with hand tools, requires patience, he quickly shook his head.
“It doesn’t take any patience from me. I enjoy doing this. I enjoy being able to transfer something to someone else and leave them with a confidence that they can go home and do it.”
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
