(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-17-18 Saturday
I forgot to note down the weather.
THURSDAY
I went to the turning club meeting. It was great to reconnect to some friends. It had been since, I think, October since I was able to go. You don’t realize how much you missed them until you see them again.
The demonstration was on the making of pens. Usually, you need a mandrel for the brand pen you are making, and the pen kit, which comes with the metal work the pen will need. What you are making in wood is the body of the pen. The mandrel will have bushings and screw knob to hold things in place. You work the ends of your wood down to match the bushings, which are the same size as the middle ring and the end parts of the pen. Usually, you turn both parts of the body the same time.
There are preparatory work you have to do before you do the actual turning. You start with square stock. Pen blanks are available at most woodworking supply stores in exotic woods. One drills the blank first, then drive a brass tube through the hole. There are cutters one can use to true up the ends, making them square with the tube.
After that is done, one can then do the turning. The square stock has to become round. By doing everything from the original hole, it will be balanced as you turn.
Generally, the body will be thicker in the center than on the ends for a nicer grip. With this demonstration, he had glued some veneer into the stock wood on an angle before he cut the pen blanks. It added another nice feature to the pen.
He explained about attaching the hardware to the pen. The back has to be pressed in just the right amount so that when you push the button, the pen will extend past the end of the tip, and retract fully. He said there are “pen presses” out there, but he used a clamp that you tighten by a grip on the handle. He said he knows about how much it has to be pressed in, but he stops the first time shy of what is needed so he can sneak up on the final setting.
He usually sands to 8000 grit, going 350, 400, 600, 1000, 2000, 6000, 8000. These are almost always hard woods that can take a polish just by sanding. He finishes it with a wax coating to bring out the gloss and he will usually buff it.
I took pictures of the stuff on display for the club. The most interesting thing on display was a light house. It was made in parts. The base was interesting. He said that he did not like the original base he had, so he took out a piece of wood with bark and turned the surfaces. His wife did not like that, so He added sand to part of the base. That was better but not good enough. He then added some shells and that really topped it off.
SATURDAY
Right after breakfast, we went out to find a yard sale that was for the cub scouts. We learned it was actually in April. We did find a yard sale with several people participating. I bought a few things that can fit in a pocket. They had a couple of nice computer desks and I had to remind myself I have no place to put them if I got them.
Earlier in the week I turned my back wrong. My back was doing good today, but I was not taking any chances. I decided to go home early and stay. At home I took the time to clean up my computer desk some. I found a few things I thought I lost or forgot I had. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to save something is to hide it. It will be there years or decades later....
I will see what I do tomorrow.
Year 18, Week 09, Day two (week 949)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-18-18 Sunday
Again I forgot to note what the temps were..
I found a moving sale. Those are usually nice. They are usually trying to unload stuff so the prices are good. Sometimes, though, they are trying to get money to make the moving easier. The guy was selling hand tools dirt cheap. The box I ended up with on the tools was heavy. The one big thing I ended up with, was a hand plane. It looks like it is in good condition. I have not checked the blade.
Mom has a golden Shower tree (yellow Tabebuia) that was tipping. It is one of the few plants in her yard that is in the ground. It was in a wooden barrel planter that rotted away. She decided she wanted to stand straight up. She had me push on the small tree to take a bad lean out of it. It was not hard, but getting between the branches was a pain. She put a steak under the branch to hold it up. She will work on making the support better later. After a period of time, it will correct the growth to the new position.
Someone had a washing machine that they forgot what some features were for. I went on line and located a copy of the basic instructions. We now know where to put the fabric softener and the chlorine are to be added.. It took a bit to figure out where I could find the right model number in order to find the right instructions. Then to find a site that actually had the instructions for that machine. Even then, the instructions are for machines that don't have these features.
I will see what I do next week.
1101
the light house
a pen being turned on the mandrel
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