Week 537 Wood Working

year 10, Week 15, Day One (week 537)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-24-10 Saturday

87 degrees brisk winds with some good gusts, teased out cotton clouds with a few a bit thicker. Sunny all day long. We sat in the afternoon, with the breeze blowing under the awning, quite comfortable and happy for the conditions of the day. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Department Of Tourism.

During the week, I was sanding on my plates during the week, an realized there was some impressed wood from the turning. The two plates I finished to show at the turning club had impressed wood and varnish does not soak in the same as regular wood. It shows.
I remembered something I read long ago. The thing said that one can impress a design into wood, sand it till it is flat, and then soak the board. the impressed wood expands out, making a raised design on the surface of the wood. Knowing that, I took the plates and wet them down really good.
When the wood dried, the grain was raised, of course, but also the impressed wood was raised also. They were not as big as I expected. I used 50 grit sand paper to remove the worst of the raised fiber, but it needed something more.

After breakfast and stopping at a couple yard sales with nothing for me. I went out back and fed the beast and the cat friend. Lots of petting was needed before I headed out to help mom with setting up for a neighbor's yard sale. I carried some boxes and other things across, along with my box of junk pieces, and then went back to bother the beast a little more before getting to work.

I mounted the plates on the lathe as centered as I could, which was not good, and had the lathe on low. I sat there with 200 grit sand paper and sanded the rim, inside and out, until I was satisfied with the surface all the way around. I then shifted to 150 grit, which was the finest I had on hand. I left the centers till later.

I had a vase I made back in 2004 that had started cracking. I glued it back together and used glitter to hide the cracks, give it sort of a design. I stuck wood face plate inside, to drive the vase, and found the center of the bottom. I cold not get it centered to the way it wobbled. I did not think about it, but I should have sued a big face plate that the lip of the vase met to and got it centered that way. It happened that I could not find my double sided tape so I could not mount it the way I wanted to.
I trimmed down the outside, getting rid of the wobble. I found some double sided tape that has a strong glue, and thick foam. The foam has a little give and the strong glue guarantees that it is not going to let go when needed. In this case, it is messy. The double sided tape I normally use is almost like masking tape, but with a good glue on both sides. when it comes off, it does not leave anything behind.
I mounted the vase on the lathe and that was when I saw I had cut through slightly on one side. I wrapped some packing tape around the outside and started cleaning the inside, which really needed it. More of the thin side cut out. I pried off the vase, tossed it in the garbage, and cleaned the wood face plate so I could use it again.

I was going to turn some more platters, but I could not find my good double sided tape. I still have no idea where it is.

I sat down and power sanded the centers of the plates. First with a disk sanding attachment for the drill. I then used the detail sander to fine tune the sanding. I finally got them to a level where I can hand sand them with finer grit. I will have them done for delivery on Friday.

I also sanded the natural edged bowl I worked on this month. I used the disk sander and also the detail sander to work the inside and outside. I think I have it now where I can finish it up during the week.

As mentioned in weather, Mom and I sat with the cat sleeping between my feet for about an hour. We were talking about the her garden. Flowers are popping up. She lost only a couple plants during the winter cold.

Tomorrow, I will look again for the double sided tape I need. I might mount some other kind of wood and turn something new. I also might dig into my junk box and turn something in hopes of saving it.
Of course, I will give the backyard beast more attention.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.


year 10, Week 15, Day Two (week 537)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-25-10 Sunday

87 degrees, brisk wind with strong gusts, filtered sunlight with some blocked sun. Sky went from filtered puffs, to thick, to thin high platelets, to puffs. A front is sliding in, and will be here tomorrow. The temps were nice with the breezes that got under the awning. It also made for less sweeping of sawdust. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

Once I got to mom's house, I petted and fed the beast and his friend. Both were good kitties.

I took the two plates I had finished early in the month for the turning club meeting, and mounted them on the lathe and spun them slowly so my hand, holding the sand paper, could follow the wobble as I did not get them set absolutely square. The one with just varnish cleaned up pretty good.
The one I soaked in oil clocked up the sand paper. I grabbed some 50 grit sand paper and soon the grit was blocked up. there is a way to clean it up since it is designed to be spun by power. It will come to me later. I also used an 80 grit sanding strip and it got clogged up too. I did get it sanded.
I put the plates under water to get rid of the impressed wood, and then sanded them again.
I ended up re-mounting the oiled plate and cutting away some of the bad surface. it was not easy as it wobbled. I ran the lathe slow and tried to follow the movement of the wood. Some additional sanding got rid of some edges. They both look pretty good right now.

I took out a piece I made back in 2004. it is a bowl with a stand. the bottom was too thick. I used a bit face plate to go over the mouth of the piece, holding the base in the chuck to make sure it was close to being centered. I then clamped it in place and worked the outside, truing that up, cleaning it up. I removed the face plate and worked the bottom and the inside. the piece was really thick near the base of the walls, so I thinned that down. I had to stop and re-center the piece several times as the edges of the base are thin and the wood holding it cracked, and the chuck is not really designed to hold something that thin.
I got the inside almost acceptable, then I turned it around and stuck the chuck inside. I put the tail stock directly centered and cleaned up the base.
The piece is better than it was, but not really all that great.

I never found my double sided tape. I have no idea where it went.
I did find something else. I have some sanding disks that screw onto a rubber backing. it takes about half turn to screw it on. I have not seen the mount in many months. I ran across it today and got it with the sanding disks now. I Used that in my sanding today.

I think I fixed the beer stein. the pin was breaking out on one side and he lid was not going down straight. I will check it later today to see if it is completely fixed.

I took the day fairly easy and while I accomplished projects I needed done, I did not do anything major.

During the week, I will be sanding and varnishing. I need to get the pieces I worked on this past week, completely finished. about two hours of work will do the job nicely.
Next week, I will drop in on the antique shop and the Water Gardens to see what is going on. I will bring my finished pieces and will decide where they go.
I get to start on some new projects too. I will see if I want to make more platters. I do have a number of works that need reworking.

I will see what I actually do next week.