We are very pleased to announce that our guest speaker for this session is David Archibald, on the topic of advances in Drone warfare in teh Ukraine. David has extrensively researched this topic and we are delighted to have him come and present his talk on this extremely topical subject which should be of interest to many Sheddies and friends. David's Synopsis of his talk follows; The US military introduced purpose-built drones in war twenty years ago but the initiative failed due to the cost of these exquisite systems. The Switchblade drone, for example, cost US$14,500 per kg, about 15 times the price of silver. The Middle Eastern wars over the last 15 years saw some desultory use of drones and the in last war between Armenia and Azerbaijan they enabled the victory of the Azeris. Drones have come into their own in the Ukraine War since mid-2023 and are more cost-effective than traditional tube artillery. Some 85% of Russian casualties are now caused by Urkainian drones. Ukraine is now making four million drones per annum. Ukainian naval drones have had a similar impact in the war at sea with Russian vessels now driven 1,000 km from the nearest Ukainian-controlled coastline. Anti-drone systems have been developed but have yet to be adopted in the battlefield. In theory, minimum entropy will be reached when what is spent on attack drones is matched by what is spent in defending against them. The current state of the technology will be detailed in 70 slides over 60 minutes. This should prove to be a fascinating and pertinent talk so please register with a free ticket and come along and be informed. Don't forget to stay a while after the talk to share in some Shed fellowship with drinks and nibbles available and to participate in the 2025 inititive for a Door Prize for some lucky participant which will be drawn at approximately 5:45pm

Our new 'Artisan Bread Baking Group' will be preparing some delicious sourdough breads this afternoon, ready for baking on Thursday morning. You will be able to smell and sample the 'spoils' of this effort if you visit the SCMS Kitchen on Thursday at lunchtime.

All Members who intend to be part of the Woodworking Group will need to complete this Power Tools Induction Training. There is a once off Cost of $10 for this Training Course, which can be paid when you purchase a ticket. Note: Members are required to complete the 'Yellow Dot' Shed Introduction session before taking part in a Red Dot training session. There will be a maximum of 3 persons for each Training Session.  If after booking, for some reason you cannot attend the training, please advise the Red Dot coordinator, Jeremy Wallace, on 0406927650 (SMS please), or email (jeremywallace5@outlook.com) as soon as possible, so we can arrange another session for you.  If you have trouble booking please contact Jeremy by SMS. The successful completion of the Red Dot Training is a pre-requisite to booking the Blue Dot Woodwork Machinery Course. Once you have completed this Training, your Membership Badge will updated to show a Red Dot and enable you to undertake any projects in the Main Workshop that utilise only Power Tools. 

The training on the Laser Cutter in June/July continues this morning for all already registered attendees.

We are off on another visit to Vienna today! For the July monthly members lunch, Werner Ribul will lead the Kitchen Team in preparing the famous Viennese dish "Tafelspitz". We will start with a tasty beef consommé (soup), followed by the Tafelspitz which is a slow-cooked beef rump with cremed spinach, roast potatoes and a toasted slice of our Artisan Bread Baking group's delicious Bavarian Rye bread. This dish is accompanied by Chive and Apple-horseradish sauces, prepared in the finest of Viennese cooking traditions! To settle your taste buds, the team will then serve a light Panna Cotta with a Mixed Berry compote for dessert. So sign up, come along and enjoy a great meal with your mates! Cost for food will be $20 (a total steel!) with beer and wine at standard prices.   As usual, we need pre-payment with your registration.  You will be able to get a credit towards a future event if you cancel at least 24 hours before the event. Should you need to cancel, please send an email to wernerribul@mac.com. No-shows on the day will forfeit their ticket fee. Both of us hope you will be able to join us. Best regards, Werner and Michael

To maintain your Blue Dot Woodworking Accreditation you will need to, you will need to undertake a Verification of Competency (VOC) Assessment as follows. Woodworking members aged under 75 years will be assessed every 24 months Woodworking members aged 75 to 84 years will be assessed every 18 months Woodworking members older than 85 years  will be assessed every 12 months You will be assigned a simple task which shouldn’t take more than about 30 minutes. This is not a test of your craftsmanship; it is simply a demonstration that you can competently use the machinery unsupervised without endangering yourself or others.  You can book your VOC Assessment by clicking on your preferred VOC Assessment date below. The Rostered Supervisor for the day will oversee your assessment and he will either deem you "competent" or refer you to a Trainer for further assessment or training. If you choose not to do the VOC Assessment,  you will no longer be able to use the Machine Room equipment unsupervised.

Join everyone in our warm and cosy meeting room  for fresh baked scones, jam and cream with friendly companionship. All existing members as well as any prospective members are welcome.

Join everyone in our warm and cosy meeting room  for fresh baked scones, jam and cream with friendly companionship. All existing members as well as any prospective members are welcome.

Bee  Group  Meeting  -  We  will  have  Shannon  Holt from  DPIRD presenting on a number of topics not  least  Varroa Mite  control and inspections measures.

The training on the Laser Cutter in June/July continues this morning for all already registered attendees.

We have one spot available for next week's event.  If you wish to attend act quickly or if you have someone you would like to bring as a guest grab them the last ticket   For some reason Orange is not a very popular colour these days but fear not it has another association connected with wines – something much more agreeable.  Next month Derek Hodges is our Wine Appreciation night host and he has indicated we are going to be treated to a cascade of orange wine.  I don’t think he means wine from the Orange region in NSW but rather orange wines made by extended contact with the grape skins during the wine making process and specifically comparing the difference between “traditional” white wine and the “orange” variant.  It promises to be an interesting and entertaining event. And yes, to keep us on our toes, Derek will be quizzing us. As usual reserve a place quickly as we seem to get over booked quickly. Guests are welcome but we need to give priority to members of the wine group. If, by the Friday before the event, we still have places available, we will open the bookings to guests.  It would be best if you tell me directly if you would like to bring a guest and I will place them on a wait list (first in best dressed) . Contact me via slkeenihan@gmail.com and put “wine night guest” in the subject line  

Woodworking Machinery Induction (Blue Dot) – Phases 1 & 2 All Members who wish to use the woodworking machinery in the Machine Room will need to complete Phase 1 & Phase 2 of the Woodworking Machinery Induction Training. Please Note that Members must have completed the Red Dot course before enrolling in this Blue Dot course? This Course will be conducted in two Phases over two consecutive weeks (9am - 12pm) so you must be able to commit to both sessions before purchasing a ticket. Each Phase will be approximately a three hour duration. There will be a maximum of 3 persons for each Session. The Cost of this course (for both Phases) is $20.  If after booking, for some reason you cannot attend the training, please advise Michael Cahill on 0459062090 as soon as possible, so we can arrange another session for you.  If you cancel or are a “no show” on the day you will lose your $20 fee so please, only book if you can commit to the two consecutive weeks. Payments can be made online by secure credit card.  Once you have completed both phases of the Woodworking Machinery Induction your Membership Badge will be updated to replace the Red Dot with a Blue Dot.  This will reflect that you have completed all the necessary Woodworking Training and are ready to undertake any Woodworking projects in the Shed.