76 degrees, unbroken clouds in the morning (reminds me of Seattle except warm), a light drizzle of liquid sunshine for about an hour, a bit of blue sky showed in the distance. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Department of Tourism.
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Wood turning club was Thursday. The demonstration was showing how one guy purchased jigs and gauges for sharpening turning tools on the grinder. then another borrowed the tools and made copies out of wood that work just as well. Looks simple and logical abut something is usually lost in the translation.
Me at the turning club meeting
I took pictures of everything on display and drooled the entire time. Even some of the beginning people are doing well.
They had a wood raffle, where one buys tickets, and then after the meeting, we gather by a wood pile. They call out a ticket number and that person gets first choice of the wood. they go until they run out of tickets or wood. I purchased six tickets and got ten pieces of wood. One four foot long piece of orange tree, one six inch long piece of Norfolk, and the rest were Live Oak (called that because it never loses all the leaves in the winter so it looks alive compared to other trees).
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Had one of those days where everything got in the way. We stopped at a couple yard sales, then the neighbor was having a yard sale so I helped mom get some stuff over there, plus I brought over a few other things that I got out of my house.
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Beggar could not decide whether to be a cat or a Grinch. He caught me twice, lightly, with his claws. A bit later, he was happy to snuggle between my feet.
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We went to a model railroad swap meet. I did spend a little money, but it was almost nothing. We left after we both ran out of drool.
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I did get some woodworking done. When you purchase a chuck for your lathe, they give you a special screw. They have different names for it, but the head is designed to be held in the chuck, and the screw has thin, but aggressive threads to it. It is designed to be able to hold wood in the chuck, yet be easily removed. this is a easy-off version of the screw plate you can purchase. I decided to give that a try.
I drilled a hole about the size of the shaft, and twisted the screw into place. The wood I was using was the green oak I got from the club. I put the screw in, then mounted it in the chuck, and used the tail stock to stabilize it. Of course, I found out after I was working, that I had the wood slightly off center.
I mounted the wood cross way to make more saddle bowls for ducklings. I turned two of them, the second one was better. Experience helps. Neither one is finished as both have a post of wood in the center that the tail stock used to support the piece as I was hollowing it out.
With pieces this small, the hole of the screw is bothersome.
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I have plenty of projects to do. The problem is what projects will get priority. I have several duckling attempts made. I might clean them up and make them useable. I also have the flower vase to make and have a lot of time to apply to that. I have carved ornaments I have blanks for that need to be carved. I have other projects half started that need to be finished.
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I will see what I actually will do tomorrow.
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year 10, Week 2, Day Two (week 524) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 01-24-10 Sunday
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81 degrees. It started out with broken clouds. You could see little cracks of blue within the solid ceiling of clouds. The spaces got bigger and bigger, and we actually got some sunshine a bit later in the day. There was a nice breeze all day long. The lack of heavy humidity made it feel cooler than the same temperature in the summer.
During one of the points where it was sun shining, I was wood turning out from beneath the awning, I started feeling driblets of liquid sunshine. I kept looking up, trying to figure out where it was coming from. I think I was getting rain from the overhang of a cloud, blown over me. I finally pulled the electrical stuff under the cover and waited for it to end. It was half over before I even decided something needed to be done. I could have ignored it, but I don't like my equipment rained on.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
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Beggar was in a mood where he pretended to be a cat. He was so sweet and enjoyed all the attention I could give him. Being the grinch he is, One can never completely trust him. He has changed drastically since I first started taming him. At that time, I could pet him six times before he swung with all four claws. I introduced him to the pleasures of petting and when he could be touched with some safety, Mom started taming him. Between us, we have taken him from a hateful creature to something that even on bad days, could be mistaken for a cat.
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I mounted another piece of oak on the lathe and made another duckling bowl. I made more corrections in what I was doing. Instead of creating a tenon to hold the wood in the chuck or using the woodworm screw (Nova chuck's wood screw), I just worked between centers, the drive spur held in the chuck and the tail stock holding it in place. I rounded the ends and shaped the outside, then worked on the inside.
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Working on the inside with the tail stock holding it is a bother. It is right where you want the tools to angle in from. It is the main reason one uses a face late, a woodworm screw, or a chuck to hold your work. One can get the exact angle needed to cut the wood.
I started on a second one. I finally got the precise shape I wanted for these duck bowls. I then found out that the tail stock made it impossible to hollow out. I needed the mouth of the saddle bowl to curve in towards the center, rather than open out.
I am making these with the bark still on the wood. I tend to lose the bark fairly quickly. On this perfect shape one, I lost the top of the piece because I could not get my tools in on the right angle. I tossed that last piece away. Not worth keeping.
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I then took my knife and shaved the base of the posts that the tail stock was holding the pieces with, until I could break the posts off. I then used a grinder to remove the base of the posts so the floors of the saddle bowls were even. I ground any roughness and tool marks from the rest of the bowl so I will have less to sand later.
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I decided to try and make some duckling heads. I choose a piece of wood and drew the profile of the duck head on there. I then cut it out and since it was wide, I cut it in half for two duck heads. I cut a slot in the neck so it will fit over the edge of the bowl. they are cute, but I am thinking the heads are just too small, even for the small bowls.
The saddle bowls with the duckling heads stuck on them.
I also cleaned up the little larger bowls I made before. they definitely need bigger heads to look right.
I could not find my white glue, found at the last moment as I was packing up, so I tried "School Glue" to glue a broken piece off of a cedar saddle bowl I had made. it did not hold. It was strictly designed for paper.
White glue is about the very best glue to use for wood in most cases. I read a test where they were testing all the top kinds of glues. It was not part of their tests, but they included it anyway, but white glue rated very high on their list, which surprised them.
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A lot of what I did today does not sound like finishing anything, but it really made a big difference in the long run. One day, I will suddenly have a number of things complete and not realize I had done all that work.
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I used the strip sander to remove my drawn leaves on my flower vase. Sanding cleaned it up quickly and I will try again on designing the leaves I will carve in the vase. One thing is that each time I grind away my markings, the flowers and the stems stand out that much more proud.
I have seen that a lot of leaves is not going to work, and I can see that "no leaves" is not going to work either. I have to choose a kind of leaf that looks good with that kind of flower and just have enough to make it look good. After I get that part of the design right, I will then be able to carve back the spaces between the leaves so I have a deep relief I am after. I should spend time this week and find flowers and leaves that look right.
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Next week will be working on new and existing projects to get ready for the late march art show.
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I will see what I actually do next week.
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