Did you write? July 26, 2010
Step up to the confessional and tell me about your sins. The idea is to report whether you wrote or not, so that next time, you will be too embarrassed to report you did not write and actually open some work and do something.
How much you wrote does not matter. It is not uncommon while editing your work, for the word counts to go down, rather than up. If you write the right word, you have written.
What is writing is not in question. If you have to ask if it is writing, it is. New writing is writing, of course. Editing, is writing since I actually write by editing. I get something on paper, then edit it into something useable. Also, editing the work of others, including critiquing, is writing. World or character creation is writing. So is poetry, article writing, blogging, writing assignments are writing. E-mails can be writing if they are wordy and pertain to story or writing.
As for me, I have spent more time writing this week than I have in any week of my life, possibly month too. I am trying to take a thirty two thousand word piece and cut it down to fifteen thousand.
I see there is an advantage of cutting the words down on a work. sloppy sentences, which are always longer than needed, get cleaned up, get tighter. scenes that meander get straightened up. paragraphs of text get told better. The story tightens up.
I past that pint when I got the piece down to twenty two thousand words. I had removed the fat and cleaned up the sentences to the point where it really could not be cut well.
I am now slicing off scenes that really tell the story. As an example, I sliced off the entire opening scene to remove two thousand words. Oh that hurt. It explained so much about future stories. There are two more sets of scenes that will likely go the same way when I open the story again. This hurts as these are so good, excellent writing, excellent story.
I replaced that entire start with a couple quick comments. More scenes will fall the same way. Luckily, I have saved the files after each major change so I can recreate the best work should this become a novel rather than a short story.
I have shifted my time around and am spending several hours each night writing. along with some time during breaks at work. I got to spend almost all day Sunday writing because of car problems. that helped, but a decision I made this morning really advanced my writing project.
I am keeping up with my story ideas, but they are a shadow of what I used to post. I save time by telling what the story is about rather than showing it. Instead of three pages being the norm, one page story ideas is what I am writing. it takes sometimes only a half hour to write them now. that is more time for my other writing. I am also not getting on line to post them every single day. that allows for an extra hour or so of writing time since it really does not take that much more time to post two story ideas as it takes to post just one.
I have had clutch problems the past two weeks. I had a glorious failure on Friday. we towed it to my brother's house and I was dropped off at home. I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon writing.
Saturday we spent all Saturday working on the truck. we ran into a very minor problem and after two hours fighting with it, we ran out of time and energy. My brother said he could work on it again Tuesday.
Sunday I spent most all day working on my story, trying to cut it down.
To use the above as a story idea, consider how cars are cared for, some are running on their last legs, while others are maintained as pristine machines. there are trucks filled with equipment and debris that threatens, and sometimes does fall out, while others are polished to a shine.
Now there are those who imagine us with flying cars, going from city to city at three or four hundred miles an hour rather than sixty five. they picture the roads more as runways than a transportation system.
Now consider such a transportation system in use, and the maintenance of such air cars with the way ground cars are maintained. You will by nature, have air cars that should not be in the air, and air cars overloaded as people bring their finds or purchases home, people who really should not be flying, all buzzing above your house in all directions.
also consider space ships in a similar level of maintenance as our ground cars. You might have ships where the crew has to live in space suits as the hull won't hold an atmosphere. You will have crews who are creating spare parts out of the food machines to keep the thrusters running. you will have ships that cannot maneuver hard or the structure will fail. All of these are aiming at space stations and planets at high speeds.
As to the question of the week,
I can honestly say
YES I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Week 550 Woodworking
year 10, Week 28, Day One (week 550)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-24-10 Saturday
Sunny with fast moving clouds, nice wind. warm but not bad.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department of tourism.
Friday:
I started my run and my transmission failed. My brother towed me to his house. He had one of those nylon carry straps. Hooked to his truck and mine. I set the emergency break on, and he towed me, not going over thirty miles per hour. He would signal me and my job was to stop both of us. this was to keep the tow strap tight at all times. It required both of us to be on the ball all the time. My breaks were not good because the engine was not running and I was stopping both of us. If he stopped quickly, I would be up his tail pipe, so we had to be careful.
We had only one incident where he stopped a tiny bit faster than I did and when he started out, the strap jerked, but other than that one time, it was a perfect pull. it was not fun as small cells of rain shot by, wetting us down for a minute or two and then was gone.
Saturday,
My brother picked me up at home and we jacked the truck up on jack stands under all four wheels. We made sure the truck was stable. We then went to see about parts. I had priced clutch kits and the prices were high. I also got a figure on a shop fixing it. I would not have that kind of money for a while.
We picked up a book at one parts store so we could know what had to be done, but they did not have the parts in. We stopped at another and it was cheaper than other prices. we got the hydraulic slave and it was almost as cheap as prices given to us just for the clutch kit.
we went back and dug into the truck, taking everything down. We got a call by noon that the parts were in. by three, when we were expecting the parts in, we got the transmission down I had a glorious failure in there. we needed the hydraulic slave after all. It was damaged.
We picked up and put in the parts, and then spent about two, three hours trying to get the transmission back into place. We could not get the transmission in exactly the right position to get the end of the shaft into the bearing on the crank shaft. We were out of time and wore out. My brother said he would be able to work on it Tuesday.
Sunday,
Other than signing the face vase and giving several coats of varnish over the signature, I did no wood working. I could have sanded on some crochet hooks but worked on a writing project instead.
I have loads of projects to work on next week. A dress vase to work on. I need to pick up some wood and practice making platters for my demonstration, I have carving projects I can work on. I should start making Christmas ornaments for this year. Now is as good a time as any.
I will see what I actually do next week.
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-24-10 Saturday
Sunny with fast moving clouds, nice wind. warm but not bad.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department of tourism.
Friday:
I started my run and my transmission failed. My brother towed me to his house. He had one of those nylon carry straps. Hooked to his truck and mine. I set the emergency break on, and he towed me, not going over thirty miles per hour. He would signal me and my job was to stop both of us. this was to keep the tow strap tight at all times. It required both of us to be on the ball all the time. My breaks were not good because the engine was not running and I was stopping both of us. If he stopped quickly, I would be up his tail pipe, so we had to be careful.
We had only one incident where he stopped a tiny bit faster than I did and when he started out, the strap jerked, but other than that one time, it was a perfect pull. it was not fun as small cells of rain shot by, wetting us down for a minute or two and then was gone.
Saturday,
My brother picked me up at home and we jacked the truck up on jack stands under all four wheels. We made sure the truck was stable. We then went to see about parts. I had priced clutch kits and the prices were high. I also got a figure on a shop fixing it. I would not have that kind of money for a while.
We picked up a book at one parts store so we could know what had to be done, but they did not have the parts in. We stopped at another and it was cheaper than other prices. we got the hydraulic slave and it was almost as cheap as prices given to us just for the clutch kit.
we went back and dug into the truck, taking everything down. We got a call by noon that the parts were in. by three, when we were expecting the parts in, we got the transmission down I had a glorious failure in there. we needed the hydraulic slave after all. It was damaged.
We picked up and put in the parts, and then spent about two, three hours trying to get the transmission back into place. We could not get the transmission in exactly the right position to get the end of the shaft into the bearing on the crank shaft. We were out of time and wore out. My brother said he would be able to work on it Tuesday.
Sunday,
Other than signing the face vase and giving several coats of varnish over the signature, I did no wood working. I could have sanded on some crochet hooks but worked on a writing project instead.
I have loads of projects to work on next week. A dress vase to work on. I need to pick up some wood and practice making platters for my demonstration, I have carving projects I can work on. I should start making Christmas ornaments for this year. Now is as good a time as any.
I will see what I actually do next week.
Monday, July 19, 2010
July 19, 2010, Did You Write?
July 19, 2010, Did You Write?
Developing the habit of writing regularly is important in writing. Many here write every day. While we do want to hear from you, that is not the people this note is for.
There are those who write a few weeks a year, getting out of the habit of writing. The goal of this note is to get you to write every week. the way it works is that you are requested to report how much you wrote each week, even if you do not write, and if you wish, tell about what is going on in your life. Knowing the note is coming up, the hope is that you will not want the week to end without reporting that you wrote, so you will open some work, new or in progress, and apply yourself to it, so you can announce you did something.
How much you wrote, and what you wrote is not important. That you wrote is. I happen to be shrinking the word count (editing) of a story in progress so my word count is gong backwards. This shows that how many words you actually report is unimportant.
I have suggested in previous notes what is writing, so I won't bother listing them here. The answer is always, "if you have to ask if it is writing, the answer is yes.
I am trying to remove ten thousand words from my work in progress. I thought I was doing well. I just did a spell check and am deflated. All the work I did this week, I removed two thousand words, about two pages.
I see part of my problem is I have made several passes of the beginning and have barely touched the last half of the story. I would be editing along and see a change that would effect the beginning and go back and correct that, then work my way back up to where I was before. It is also an easier part of the story to work with. I see now I am doing a lot of polishing, not hacking. I do see scene themes I can remove once I tackle the last part of the story.
Now that I have spent a week of hard writing, I feel I wasted the week with the lack of results I got.
One way I have gotten extra time to write, is I have devastated my story idea writing time. I have cut back how much I have written in the story ideas. Instead of commonly going onto page three, I am now barely going onto page two. I have stopped showing the story and gone back to simply telling what the idea is about, telling the example of how it could be used. I am also not posting every single day, staying off the boards on some days to get more time writing. Being a board addict, this is tough.
Now I just have to use my new found time more productively.
As to the question of the day,
I can say YES, I DID WRITE.
DID YOU WRITE?
Developing the habit of writing regularly is important in writing. Many here write every day. While we do want to hear from you, that is not the people this note is for.
There are those who write a few weeks a year, getting out of the habit of writing. The goal of this note is to get you to write every week. the way it works is that you are requested to report how much you wrote each week, even if you do not write, and if you wish, tell about what is going on in your life. Knowing the note is coming up, the hope is that you will not want the week to end without reporting that you wrote, so you will open some work, new or in progress, and apply yourself to it, so you can announce you did something.
How much you wrote, and what you wrote is not important. That you wrote is. I happen to be shrinking the word count (editing) of a story in progress so my word count is gong backwards. This shows that how many words you actually report is unimportant.
I have suggested in previous notes what is writing, so I won't bother listing them here. The answer is always, "if you have to ask if it is writing, the answer is yes.
I am trying to remove ten thousand words from my work in progress. I thought I was doing well. I just did a spell check and am deflated. All the work I did this week, I removed two thousand words, about two pages.
I see part of my problem is I have made several passes of the beginning and have barely touched the last half of the story. I would be editing along and see a change that would effect the beginning and go back and correct that, then work my way back up to where I was before. It is also an easier part of the story to work with. I see now I am doing a lot of polishing, not hacking. I do see scene themes I can remove once I tackle the last part of the story.
Now that I have spent a week of hard writing, I feel I wasted the week with the lack of results I got.
One way I have gotten extra time to write, is I have devastated my story idea writing time. I have cut back how much I have written in the story ideas. Instead of commonly going onto page three, I am now barely going onto page two. I have stopped showing the story and gone back to simply telling what the idea is about, telling the example of how it could be used. I am also not posting every single day, staying off the boards on some days to get more time writing. Being a board addict, this is tough.
Now I just have to use my new found time more productively.
As to the question of the day,
I can say YES, I DID WRITE.
DID YOU WRITE?
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Week 459 Woodworking
year 10, Week 27, Day One (week 549)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-17-10 Saturday
94 degrees, hazy blue sky from dust from Africa. The dust crosses the Atlantic. The Bahamas catch the dust destined for Fort Lauderdale, but in the northern part of the county and north, the dust and sand reach the shores and build up high sand dunes along the beach. Fort Lauderdale beaches are flat in comparison to, say, Hillsboro Beach sand dunes, which can be forty or fifty feet tall.
Lots of irregular shaped clouds, high streaks, nice wind, lots of sun. this weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Monday:
I had put the face vase into linseed oil on Saturday, and the plastic bags I used, leaked. I had put it into one zipper bag and that leaked. I then put one bag into another and refilled it. I walked away and it fell to the floor and spilled. I refilled it and then found both baggies leaked and stuck it into a bucket. I took it out Monday.
Linseed oil smells nice initially, but after a while, it is bothersome.
The face vase has air dried for a week and still smells. They say one should let it air dry for a month. I will start finishing it this week.
Thursday:
The turning club meeting was as good as it has been.
The quality of the work displayed in the club is well above what it was when I first joined in 2004. Once beginners are now skilled and the variety of techniques and styles the people are doing is so vastly improved. Everybody learns from everybody.
The variety of the works on display this month was fantastic. The craftsmanship is impressive. As an example, as good as my face vase was, I felt it was insignificant in comparison. I have to step up my quality.
The demonstration was a Saturn bowl. This bowl resembles Saturn with the sphere, the planet, with a ring around it. The ring can be rotated on the sphere. What the demonstration showed was really simple technique, but by his demonstration, it is but not all that easy. He either parted off the same piece of wood, or found a piece of wood with similar grain to each other. He made the base that would hold the ring, shaping the outside. with the still attached ring. the ring has to have parallel faces and be fairly thin. He hollowed it, and parted the ring from the body of the bowl by cutting a V into the body, through the ring, cutting in from each side. The demonstrator messed up and accidentally cut through the bowl while trying to part the ring so it would turn. He was then to make the matching lid that had a close but not tight fit, and make the sphere even all the way around.
I expect to have disasters worse than that when I do my demonstration next month. It is something to look forward to.
Face vase three views after soaking in linseed oil.
Saturday:
I did some yard-sailing and ended up with a palm pilot with a folding keyboard. I have to figure out how to use it and what it is used for. It does work, though.
The city of Pompano was giving out free trees. It is usually two weekends each year, and is intended to get native trees into the landscaping, fill the city with trees.
This was the first weekend of the give-a-way. One has to show you are a resident of the city to get them. My mom is, but I am not.
Mom got her two trees, a Fox-Tail Palm tree. the frond ends look torn up with this tree. She also got a red maple tree. These are saplings.
I see that my interest in trees have an ulterior motive. It has something to do with woodworking... grow a tree to use later.
I left the oak dress-vase at home so I went to other projects. It turned out to be one of THOSE days.
At the yarn shop, they have metal crochet needles with wood handles on them, essentially dowels, looks like it might be some kind of palm, to make gripping the smaller hooks easier.
I decided to make some handles for the crochet hooks I made last week. My wood hooks are shorter than they are supposed to be because of the stock I grabbed at the moment, so the addition of the handle brings them closer to preferred lengths.
I had a Norfolk Island Pine vase that was way too thick. It was in my "junk" box, which is filled with pieces that are ugly, unfinished, poorly made, basically useless unless "rebuilt."
I had a Norfolk Island Pine vase that had a poor outer shape and the inside did not follow the outside.
I mounted it on the lathe using the double sided tape and reshaped the outside, getting rid of a little bit of wobble. I turned to the inside and immediately had a breakout. When I corrected that, a knot broke out. Once I got that leveled out again, the tape decided not to hold any more and the piece started wobbling. when I started, the inside had little wobble. by the time I got to working the inside to cut it to follow the shape outside, it was wobbling too bad. I stopped.
Since it was not going well, I may use "manual" methods to finish it.
The cat wanted attention and company. I sat and crocheted while he napped at my feet at one point. I had to rip out several lines of the crochet to get rid of a mistake, and then worked a couple lines back on. I then decided to get up and do some more woodworking. My plan was not to bother the cat. The problem was that I forgot about the yarn that was dangling down beside the chair. I had the ball and the fabric in my hand and the dangling yarn slid over the cat. It leaped up in shock, then stood there and looked at me like he was calling me a bigger idiot than cats usually consider people to be.
My clutch is acting up on my truck. It started Friday when I was near home. It was kind of good at first this morning, but got worse when I neared Mom's house.
On the way home, I had to force the truck out of gear at the lights and then struggle to get it back into gear to move. I drove in a lower gear just to avoid having to change gears. I went home, then to my brother's house, relearning how to shift without the clutch, though I always pushed it in. I am not good at it, getting it right about a quarter of the time.
he had me dig out the book and we learned that there is no cable adjustment for the throw of the clutch peddle. the problem is that I need a new clutch.
I went to a birthday party and over-ate and I kept it small and cheap. I got an appetizer sampler and with bits I got from others, it was far more than I normally eat.
I talked to my brother more about the truck, and to family of my niece about all sorts of other things.
I decided during the party that I was going to stay home on Sunday. I will use the time to apply a finish to pieces rather than going to Mom's house and make sawdust.
Next week I will most likely I will be under my truck with my brother to lower the transmission so we can replace the clutch.
I will try to bring the dress vase with me to work on, to finish.
I have lots of projects I really need to work on. I have a fairy blank I need to finish. the hard part is to come up with a surrounding scene that is different than the sister of that blank is in. I had made two blanks of this fairy, on the idea of working on two pieces at a time like my dad was doing at the time. He would keep the best one and try to sell the lesser piece. I started both of these, then realized I did not have the time or gumption to work on two of everything so this blank went into my junk box.
I need to start on my Christmas ornaments. I have several good ideas for this year's ornaments but really need to get to carving them.
I need to, but doubt I can do so, pick up some wood for next month's demonstration on the 19th, and get it all set up with work at different stages of finish. I will try to do one from start to finish during the club meeting, but if I run into problems, I want to have several at successive stages that I can grab and continue to work with. I should practice some between now and then also.
I would like to carve some more pixies, carve another baby dragon, and have some relief carving ideas I would like to do. I should also start another face vase.
This does not count all the different turning projects I would like to do such as the Saturn vase or making a vase to pierce. I have a bowl I want to carve.
Of course, I don't have time for all my projects so most will never actually be made.
I will see what I actually do next week.
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-17-10 Saturday
94 degrees, hazy blue sky from dust from Africa. The dust crosses the Atlantic. The Bahamas catch the dust destined for Fort Lauderdale, but in the northern part of the county and north, the dust and sand reach the shores and build up high sand dunes along the beach. Fort Lauderdale beaches are flat in comparison to, say, Hillsboro Beach sand dunes, which can be forty or fifty feet tall.
Lots of irregular shaped clouds, high streaks, nice wind, lots of sun. this weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Monday:
I had put the face vase into linseed oil on Saturday, and the plastic bags I used, leaked. I had put it into one zipper bag and that leaked. I then put one bag into another and refilled it. I walked away and it fell to the floor and spilled. I refilled it and then found both baggies leaked and stuck it into a bucket. I took it out Monday.
Linseed oil smells nice initially, but after a while, it is bothersome.
The face vase has air dried for a week and still smells. They say one should let it air dry for a month. I will start finishing it this week.
Thursday:
The turning club meeting was as good as it has been.
The quality of the work displayed in the club is well above what it was when I first joined in 2004. Once beginners are now skilled and the variety of techniques and styles the people are doing is so vastly improved. Everybody learns from everybody.
The variety of the works on display this month was fantastic. The craftsmanship is impressive. As an example, as good as my face vase was, I felt it was insignificant in comparison. I have to step up my quality.
The demonstration was a Saturn bowl. This bowl resembles Saturn with the sphere, the planet, with a ring around it. The ring can be rotated on the sphere. What the demonstration showed was really simple technique, but by his demonstration, it is but not all that easy. He either parted off the same piece of wood, or found a piece of wood with similar grain to each other. He made the base that would hold the ring, shaping the outside. with the still attached ring. the ring has to have parallel faces and be fairly thin. He hollowed it, and parted the ring from the body of the bowl by cutting a V into the body, through the ring, cutting in from each side. The demonstrator messed up and accidentally cut through the bowl while trying to part the ring so it would turn. He was then to make the matching lid that had a close but not tight fit, and make the sphere even all the way around.
I expect to have disasters worse than that when I do my demonstration next month. It is something to look forward to.
Face vase three views after soaking in linseed oil.
Saturday:
I did some yard-sailing and ended up with a palm pilot with a folding keyboard. I have to figure out how to use it and what it is used for. It does work, though.
The city of Pompano was giving out free trees. It is usually two weekends each year, and is intended to get native trees into the landscaping, fill the city with trees.
This was the first weekend of the give-a-way. One has to show you are a resident of the city to get them. My mom is, but I am not.
Mom got her two trees, a Fox-Tail Palm tree. the frond ends look torn up with this tree. She also got a red maple tree. These are saplings.
I see that my interest in trees have an ulterior motive. It has something to do with woodworking... grow a tree to use later.
I left the oak dress-vase at home so I went to other projects. It turned out to be one of THOSE days.
At the yarn shop, they have metal crochet needles with wood handles on them, essentially dowels, looks like it might be some kind of palm, to make gripping the smaller hooks easier.
I decided to make some handles for the crochet hooks I made last week. My wood hooks are shorter than they are supposed to be because of the stock I grabbed at the moment, so the addition of the handle brings them closer to preferred lengths.
I had a Norfolk Island Pine vase that was way too thick. It was in my "junk" box, which is filled with pieces that are ugly, unfinished, poorly made, basically useless unless "rebuilt."
I had a Norfolk Island Pine vase that had a poor outer shape and the inside did not follow the outside.
I mounted it on the lathe using the double sided tape and reshaped the outside, getting rid of a little bit of wobble. I turned to the inside and immediately had a breakout. When I corrected that, a knot broke out. Once I got that leveled out again, the tape decided not to hold any more and the piece started wobbling. when I started, the inside had little wobble. by the time I got to working the inside to cut it to follow the shape outside, it was wobbling too bad. I stopped.
Since it was not going well, I may use "manual" methods to finish it.
The cat wanted attention and company. I sat and crocheted while he napped at my feet at one point. I had to rip out several lines of the crochet to get rid of a mistake, and then worked a couple lines back on. I then decided to get up and do some more woodworking. My plan was not to bother the cat. The problem was that I forgot about the yarn that was dangling down beside the chair. I had the ball and the fabric in my hand and the dangling yarn slid over the cat. It leaped up in shock, then stood there and looked at me like he was calling me a bigger idiot than cats usually consider people to be.
My clutch is acting up on my truck. It started Friday when I was near home. It was kind of good at first this morning, but got worse when I neared Mom's house.
On the way home, I had to force the truck out of gear at the lights and then struggle to get it back into gear to move. I drove in a lower gear just to avoid having to change gears. I went home, then to my brother's house, relearning how to shift without the clutch, though I always pushed it in. I am not good at it, getting it right about a quarter of the time.
he had me dig out the book and we learned that there is no cable adjustment for the throw of the clutch peddle. the problem is that I need a new clutch.
I went to a birthday party and over-ate and I kept it small and cheap. I got an appetizer sampler and with bits I got from others, it was far more than I normally eat.
I talked to my brother more about the truck, and to family of my niece about all sorts of other things.
I decided during the party that I was going to stay home on Sunday. I will use the time to apply a finish to pieces rather than going to Mom's house and make sawdust.
Next week I will most likely I will be under my truck with my brother to lower the transmission so we can replace the clutch.
I will try to bring the dress vase with me to work on, to finish.
I have lots of projects I really need to work on. I have a fairy blank I need to finish. the hard part is to come up with a surrounding scene that is different than the sister of that blank is in. I had made two blanks of this fairy, on the idea of working on two pieces at a time like my dad was doing at the time. He would keep the best one and try to sell the lesser piece. I started both of these, then realized I did not have the time or gumption to work on two of everything so this blank went into my junk box.
I need to start on my Christmas ornaments. I have several good ideas for this year's ornaments but really need to get to carving them.
I need to, but doubt I can do so, pick up some wood for next month's demonstration on the 19th, and get it all set up with work at different stages of finish. I will try to do one from start to finish during the club meeting, but if I run into problems, I want to have several at successive stages that I can grab and continue to work with. I should practice some between now and then also.
I would like to carve some more pixies, carve another baby dragon, and have some relief carving ideas I would like to do. I should also start another face vase.
This does not count all the different turning projects I would like to do such as the Saturn vase or making a vase to pierce. I have a bowl I want to carve.
Of course, I don't have time for all my projects so most will never actually be made.
I will see what I actually do next week.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Crochet
Nancy demonstrated to me some initial motions of crochet, and I have picked up bits and pieces from others after that. Nancy sent me Crochet made easy, and when I first got it, it was well over my head. Now that I have gotten somewhere with crochet, I was able to go through the Cd and learn how to really do the work.
I started out doing half crochet and, as you can see by my work, I have difficulty in getting the tension right.
My first first yarn purchase was something fluffy and totally wrong for someone who had no clue.
With my first project, I started out small and it got smaller due to tension problems and a lack of counting or chaining at the end of each row. I got to a point, went back down one side, across the bottom, and back up the other side, then went full width. I still had problems of tension and counting so it did not stay the same width all the way down.
In the picture, I started using tripple crochet to even out one side of the fabric, but realized I don't have that much string left. I ripped the tripple crochet out and am using double crochet down the side as far as the string will last.
This is supposed to be a wash cloth. I used what I knew. half crochet. for the loops, I would chain five stitches, then go two or three half crochets before going to another loop. I got tighter and missed stitches as I was going. You can see where I am correcting my size and count errors.
Since I did these, I started following the instructions of the CD and came up with these four test patches. two are single crochet, the ones on the right were the second try, and two were double crochet.
This is a new attempt at a wash cloth that I started at the laundry mat.
I do wood working, and decided I would make my own crochet tools, including my own yarn needle.
I do not want to make this a major hobby, but I learned while traveling and at doctor's offices that there is a limit to how long one can read, and a limit to how long one can play video games. Crochet has the advantage that there is something to show from your efforts. At the stage I am at, it takes a lot of concentration, which is pefect for whiling away the time.
I started out doing half crochet and, as you can see by my work, I have difficulty in getting the tension right.
My first first yarn purchase was something fluffy and totally wrong for someone who had no clue.
With my first project, I started out small and it got smaller due to tension problems and a lack of counting or chaining at the end of each row. I got to a point, went back down one side, across the bottom, and back up the other side, then went full width. I still had problems of tension and counting so it did not stay the same width all the way down.
In the picture, I started using tripple crochet to even out one side of the fabric, but realized I don't have that much string left. I ripped the tripple crochet out and am using double crochet down the side as far as the string will last.
This is supposed to be a wash cloth. I used what I knew. half crochet. for the loops, I would chain five stitches, then go two or three half crochets before going to another loop. I got tighter and missed stitches as I was going. You can see where I am correcting my size and count errors.
Since I did these, I started following the instructions of the CD and came up with these four test patches. two are single crochet, the ones on the right were the second try, and two were double crochet.
This is a new attempt at a wash cloth that I started at the laundry mat.
I do wood working, and decided I would make my own crochet tools, including my own yarn needle.
I do not want to make this a major hobby, but I learned while traveling and at doctor's offices that there is a limit to how long one can read, and a limit to how long one can play video games. Crochet has the advantage that there is something to show from your efforts. At the stage I am at, it takes a lot of concentration, which is pefect for whiling away the time.
Did you write? July 12-10
Did you write? July 12-10
You see this note and realize you need to reply to it. You dig out some work in progress or a blank page, and apply yourself to getting something you can proudly report you did.
What you write, and how much you write is unimportant. The fact that you did so, sometime this week, is all that is important. The reason for this is that a little bit of work every week eventually adds up to finishing something.
We all know that new writing, is writing. We tend to forget, though, that editing is also writing, even if it is the work of someone else, or even critiquing the work of someone else. I tend to write by editing so after the rough, rough draft is done, I spend the rest of my time editing.
Poetry, world or character creation, blogging, technical writing, article writing, are also writing. E-mails can be also writing, as long as they pertain to story or writing, and are very wordy.
The amount of writing does not matter. If you write one word, and it is the right word, then you wrote. I happen to be in an editing mode, bringing the word count down to something publications might accept. My page count is going backwards. I am improving sentences and correcting parts, but I am eliminating a lot of good stuff as I go. Luckily, I have the original, in case I later wish to expand it into part of a novel.
Cutting is tough as there is so much good within it. They have to go though. Over the next couple weeks, my page counts will go down, rather than up.
I did finish another work. It is also too long, but it is easier to cut down. I was happy to write THE END. It ended at page 31 with 19160 words. I added 1669 words since last week.
This one will also need to be cut back for publication.
AS to the question of the day,
I can honestly say
YES, I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
You see this note and realize you need to reply to it. You dig out some work in progress or a blank page, and apply yourself to getting something you can proudly report you did.
What you write, and how much you write is unimportant. The fact that you did so, sometime this week, is all that is important. The reason for this is that a little bit of work every week eventually adds up to finishing something.
We all know that new writing, is writing. We tend to forget, though, that editing is also writing, even if it is the work of someone else, or even critiquing the work of someone else. I tend to write by editing so after the rough, rough draft is done, I spend the rest of my time editing.
Poetry, world or character creation, blogging, technical writing, article writing, are also writing. E-mails can be also writing, as long as they pertain to story or writing, and are very wordy.
The amount of writing does not matter. If you write one word, and it is the right word, then you wrote. I happen to be in an editing mode, bringing the word count down to something publications might accept. My page count is going backwards. I am improving sentences and correcting parts, but I am eliminating a lot of good stuff as I go. Luckily, I have the original, in case I later wish to expand it into part of a novel.
Cutting is tough as there is so much good within it. They have to go though. Over the next couple weeks, my page counts will go down, rather than up.
I did finish another work. It is also too long, but it is easier to cut down. I was happy to write THE END. It ended at page 31 with 19160 words. I added 1669 words since last week.
This one will also need to be cut back for publication.
AS to the question of the day,
I can honestly say
YES, I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Week 548 Wood working
year 10, Week 26, Day One (week 548)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-10-10 Saturday
98 degrees, sunny, some lone puffs here and there, clouds on the horizon to the north and east. Cloud built up to the west as the day went on, and once or twice the sun was blocked by a cloud, but directly over head was blue sky all day long. The wind picked up as the day went on. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Stopped at some yard sales first thing in the morning. I picked up a really cute hand made ceramic incense burner in the shape of a sad little baby dragon. It is designed for the incense cones and the nostrils are big for the smoke to come out. I loved the way it looked and had to have it.
Dragon incense burner
I also got a magnetic chess set. I have one already and have opened it once since I got it and only to see what the pieces looked like. half a dozen other chess sets are stashed away and have not looked at them either. One is wood and I do not know if all the pieces are there. I have no idea why I got this magnetic chess set, but got it anyway.
After petting and feeding the cat, my main project was to finish up the face vase. This was a step I was supposed last week when I left it at home. I intended to work on the finish, removing some tool marks during the week, but that never happened either.
My first project was to remove the tenon on the bottom of the face vase. I was given a jam chuck a while ago. A jam chuck is a conical piece of wood that fits in the jaws of the chuck. you make it to fit the project you are working with. If done right, your work won't come off when you take the tail stock away. It turned out that this jam chuck fits my face vase.
I mounted the face vase on the jam chuck and removed the tenon I had, and made a base ring. I also used techniques I learned last week to cut the bottom again with minimal tear out. Learning to use your tools properly is a good idea. I get results, but not good results....
After that was done, I started sanding and finishing.
My plug-in dremmel runs a little too fast for what I needed to do. I brought my battery powered dremmel with me and used that to remove the tool marks on the face vase. I have some sanding tubes that do not like being run fast and the lack of power the battery powered dremmel has, allowed me to sand just as much as needed.
I have a set of tools called a SCORP. Most chisels require you to apply pressure on the end of the handle, either pushing or rapping with a hammer, to work the blade into the wood. A scorp is a chisel where the blade aims to the side. It is pulled with the fingers, like a knife, into the wood. For some, this is safer and easier to control.
I have a set of four, and the V tool is the one I used the most. The others have varying amounts of curve to them. I think in terms of a knife and these are used like a knife.
The main reason I do not get into chisels, is that you are supposed to use a different curve for each thing you do, to make the cut look best. I decided I was not going to go through that effort of learning when to use all the many tools one tends to acquire. The scorp is a compromise. Generally, though, I am using either a knife or power, to do my carving.
After I had the beard and mustaches done, I showed mom, and then had her draw in some eye brows. I then carved them in over each eye.
I declared the face vase done, on the wood working part of the project. I am now in the finishing stage and at this second it is soaking in a mixture of mineral spirits and linseed oil. That will bring out all the colors that is in the wood. I will soak it for several days, then take it out to dry.
I decided to do a test of concept. I had seen vases in the shape of evening gowns. I had started something last week and it was not working right so I set it to the side. Today, I took that piece out which was rounded and had some hollowing in the end. I re-mounted that piece and shaped the inside a bit better. I then ran a two foot long drill bit into the end, through the tail stock, to make a place where you can slip a weed into.
That done, I did a little outside shaping, then took a forsner bit to cut out the arm holes for the straps of the dress. I got a good start on the hole, then it broke out. I made the hollowed out area too thin. the wood broke rather than cut. I tossed that piece into the garbage and then grabbed a piece of Yellow pine two by two I had cut. this one I drilled the hole for the arms first with the forsner bit. I then rounded the piece, then ran the long drill through the center to the depth I felt was right.
I then rounded the piece, then shaped it, going in for the waist and tapering out for the gown. Once I was satisfied with the shape, I took it off the lathe, bandsawed the tops of the straps and cut in a V from the top of the strap to just below the circle of the straps, removing the wood. I did the rest of the work with the dremmel, flattening the back, removing the breast mound all the way around except the front. I flattened the tummy and the front of the dress. I did not cut in the curves of the fabric as I was testing a concept, not working on the final piece.
When I drilled the holes, I wanted the stripes of the rings to go up and down the front, and thought I did it wrong. When I had the piece finally shaped, I saw I got it right.
When I do this again, I will make the arm holes smaller in proportion to the piece. I will have the hips as wide as the widest point of the dress to give it a more feminine shape. Mom said I had the straps wrong in front. I have them closer together in front than in back and they should be more even (though making them cross might be interesting sometime.
I broke one strap and it is glued right now I now have the proof of concept and will try it again sometime, preferably bigger. As it is, it is about seven inches tall and a little over an inch in diameter, about what is expected from a two by two.
dress vase I saw last week,
and my proof of concept dress weed vase
I don't have a big project to work on tomorrow. I have a lot of little projects in mind, several carving projects too.
I will have to see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 10, Week 26, Day Two (week 548)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-11-10 Sunday
96 degrees. Morning blue sky with high smudges. low puffs started building in the west and above before noon, actually blocking the sun several times. The morning breeze was so light one had to look carefully to see any movement of leaves, and picked up as the day went on. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Last night when I got home, I put the face vase in a combination of mineral spirits and linseed oil. I am to soak it for at least three days, possibly longer depending on what goes on. I put it in a zipper bag and set it on a "workbench" on my porch.
I got up in the early morning and smelled the liquid. I looked and saw that the bag was not as full as I started it. I knew it had leaked. When I got up for the morning, I checked it and there was liquid on the floor. I moved it into a new bag with another bag over it. I filled it up, turned away to take care of something. I then heard a thunk. I looked and it had fallen to the floor and dumped the liquid everywhere. I refilled it and put it up again, this time I made sure it was closed. I got out the mop and bucket and sopped up all the linseed oil on the ground, and then filled the bucket with soapy water and mopped the concrete of the porch.
When I got home, I looked and the zipper bags leaked again!!! I have some more liquid on the floor. I stuck the bag in the mop bucket and that will contain the leaks. These were the cheapest gallon bags I could find...
One is supposed to put the liquid in a bucket and soak it that way. I don't finish enough stuff to make that worth the effort. I instead use bags to do the soaking, flipping the bag periodically so every surface is well soaked in the liquid.
Linseed oil brings out the color of the wood, and makes the wood semi transparent. it is how you make lamp shades to pass light through them. the mineral spirits half and half oil, allows the oil to soak deeper into the wood.
I got an early start this morning. I petted and fed the cats, scarface fought some more this past week.
I then drug out my equipment.
Yesterday, I stopped at Jo-Anne’s Cloth World. In the CD I am using to learn crochet, I found that I will eventually will need a yarn needle. I looked at the yarn needles they had on sale. Several were plastic, but they also had metal ones. It dawned on me that since I made some crochet hooks, I could make the needle too. Why buy something I can make myself?
Today, I took a piece of orange wood and drilled holes for the top and bottom of the eye, and then used my dremmel to cut a slot between the holes. I then mounted the piece in my lathe and turned the tapered shape of the needle. I took it off, freed it from the wood and did a lot of grinding and shaping. When I was almost done, I realized I could have made it without the lathe. Just sanding and grinding could have done it. I had an even taper the lathe gave me as a guide, but I made the needle flat and made adjustments while sanding it on the strip sander.
I made four more crochet hooks. I actually made two more, but they got tossed. One, I made a mistake when making the hook so I turned it around to the other end and made another hook. When I cut one hook off, I found I removed the wrong one. It went into the garbage. I had another that was near finished on the lathe and I applied too much pressure and broke it. They need heavy sanding before they can be used.
My yarn needle on left
and four crochet hooks
right one is orange wood
two middle are Mahogany
and I forgot the kind of wood of the left hook
I started on another dress vase. I had a piece of oak at the start of where it branched off. The wood has nice waves in the surface. I decided to leave the bark on the lower part as part of the design. I mounted it between centers and made a tenon. I then mounted it with the skirt at the motor and started shaping the top. I allowed enough space for the straps and shaped the breast, the waste and the shape of the dress to the bark. I took a Forsner bit and drilled a hole straight through for the arm holes of the strap.
A bit later, I removed the tenon on the base (mistake) and then used my drill press to drill a Forsner bit down through the top. it only had length to reach just past the arm holes. I should have left the bottom tenon on and used my turning skills to hollow out the inside. Not thinking. When I removed the tenon, I did make a base ring. I might be able to put a groove in to mount that into the chuck so I can work on the end. Will have to see next week.
Two views of the dress vase I started in Oak
I have a turning club meeting this week, on Thursday. I intend to show off my face vase in whatever condition it is in. I don't have anything else to show. but that will be enough.
I have no really big plans for next week, other than to try to finish the face vase before the end of the month.
I will see what I actually do next week.
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-10-10 Saturday
98 degrees, sunny, some lone puffs here and there, clouds on the horizon to the north and east. Cloud built up to the west as the day went on, and once or twice the sun was blocked by a cloud, but directly over head was blue sky all day long. The wind picked up as the day went on. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Stopped at some yard sales first thing in the morning. I picked up a really cute hand made ceramic incense burner in the shape of a sad little baby dragon. It is designed for the incense cones and the nostrils are big for the smoke to come out. I loved the way it looked and had to have it.
Dragon incense burner
I also got a magnetic chess set. I have one already and have opened it once since I got it and only to see what the pieces looked like. half a dozen other chess sets are stashed away and have not looked at them either. One is wood and I do not know if all the pieces are there. I have no idea why I got this magnetic chess set, but got it anyway.
After petting and feeding the cat, my main project was to finish up the face vase. This was a step I was supposed last week when I left it at home. I intended to work on the finish, removing some tool marks during the week, but that never happened either.
My first project was to remove the tenon on the bottom of the face vase. I was given a jam chuck a while ago. A jam chuck is a conical piece of wood that fits in the jaws of the chuck. you make it to fit the project you are working with. If done right, your work won't come off when you take the tail stock away. It turned out that this jam chuck fits my face vase.
I mounted the face vase on the jam chuck and removed the tenon I had, and made a base ring. I also used techniques I learned last week to cut the bottom again with minimal tear out. Learning to use your tools properly is a good idea. I get results, but not good results....
After that was done, I started sanding and finishing.
My plug-in dremmel runs a little too fast for what I needed to do. I brought my battery powered dremmel with me and used that to remove the tool marks on the face vase. I have some sanding tubes that do not like being run fast and the lack of power the battery powered dremmel has, allowed me to sand just as much as needed.
I have a set of tools called a SCORP. Most chisels require you to apply pressure on the end of the handle, either pushing or rapping with a hammer, to work the blade into the wood. A scorp is a chisel where the blade aims to the side. It is pulled with the fingers, like a knife, into the wood. For some, this is safer and easier to control.
I have a set of four, and the V tool is the one I used the most. The others have varying amounts of curve to them. I think in terms of a knife and these are used like a knife.
The main reason I do not get into chisels, is that you are supposed to use a different curve for each thing you do, to make the cut look best. I decided I was not going to go through that effort of learning when to use all the many tools one tends to acquire. The scorp is a compromise. Generally, though, I am using either a knife or power, to do my carving.
After I had the beard and mustaches done, I showed mom, and then had her draw in some eye brows. I then carved them in over each eye.
I declared the face vase done, on the wood working part of the project. I am now in the finishing stage and at this second it is soaking in a mixture of mineral spirits and linseed oil. That will bring out all the colors that is in the wood. I will soak it for several days, then take it out to dry.
I decided to do a test of concept. I had seen vases in the shape of evening gowns. I had started something last week and it was not working right so I set it to the side. Today, I took that piece out which was rounded and had some hollowing in the end. I re-mounted that piece and shaped the inside a bit better. I then ran a two foot long drill bit into the end, through the tail stock, to make a place where you can slip a weed into.
That done, I did a little outside shaping, then took a forsner bit to cut out the arm holes for the straps of the dress. I got a good start on the hole, then it broke out. I made the hollowed out area too thin. the wood broke rather than cut. I tossed that piece into the garbage and then grabbed a piece of Yellow pine two by two I had cut. this one I drilled the hole for the arms first with the forsner bit. I then rounded the piece, then ran the long drill through the center to the depth I felt was right.
I then rounded the piece, then shaped it, going in for the waist and tapering out for the gown. Once I was satisfied with the shape, I took it off the lathe, bandsawed the tops of the straps and cut in a V from the top of the strap to just below the circle of the straps, removing the wood. I did the rest of the work with the dremmel, flattening the back, removing the breast mound all the way around except the front. I flattened the tummy and the front of the dress. I did not cut in the curves of the fabric as I was testing a concept, not working on the final piece.
When I drilled the holes, I wanted the stripes of the rings to go up and down the front, and thought I did it wrong. When I had the piece finally shaped, I saw I got it right.
When I do this again, I will make the arm holes smaller in proportion to the piece. I will have the hips as wide as the widest point of the dress to give it a more feminine shape. Mom said I had the straps wrong in front. I have them closer together in front than in back and they should be more even (though making them cross might be interesting sometime.
I broke one strap and it is glued right now I now have the proof of concept and will try it again sometime, preferably bigger. As it is, it is about seven inches tall and a little over an inch in diameter, about what is expected from a two by two.
dress vase I saw last week,
and my proof of concept dress weed vase
I don't have a big project to work on tomorrow. I have a lot of little projects in mind, several carving projects too.
I will have to see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 10, Week 26, Day Two (week 548)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-11-10 Sunday
96 degrees. Morning blue sky with high smudges. low puffs started building in the west and above before noon, actually blocking the sun several times. The morning breeze was so light one had to look carefully to see any movement of leaves, and picked up as the day went on. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
Last night when I got home, I put the face vase in a combination of mineral spirits and linseed oil. I am to soak it for at least three days, possibly longer depending on what goes on. I put it in a zipper bag and set it on a "workbench" on my porch.
I got up in the early morning and smelled the liquid. I looked and saw that the bag was not as full as I started it. I knew it had leaked. When I got up for the morning, I checked it and there was liquid on the floor. I moved it into a new bag with another bag over it. I filled it up, turned away to take care of something. I then heard a thunk. I looked and it had fallen to the floor and dumped the liquid everywhere. I refilled it and put it up again, this time I made sure it was closed. I got out the mop and bucket and sopped up all the linseed oil on the ground, and then filled the bucket with soapy water and mopped the concrete of the porch.
When I got home, I looked and the zipper bags leaked again!!! I have some more liquid on the floor. I stuck the bag in the mop bucket and that will contain the leaks. These were the cheapest gallon bags I could find...
One is supposed to put the liquid in a bucket and soak it that way. I don't finish enough stuff to make that worth the effort. I instead use bags to do the soaking, flipping the bag periodically so every surface is well soaked in the liquid.
Linseed oil brings out the color of the wood, and makes the wood semi transparent. it is how you make lamp shades to pass light through them. the mineral spirits half and half oil, allows the oil to soak deeper into the wood.
I got an early start this morning. I petted and fed the cats, scarface fought some more this past week.
I then drug out my equipment.
Yesterday, I stopped at Jo-Anne’s Cloth World. In the CD I am using to learn crochet, I found that I will eventually will need a yarn needle. I looked at the yarn needles they had on sale. Several were plastic, but they also had metal ones. It dawned on me that since I made some crochet hooks, I could make the needle too. Why buy something I can make myself?
Today, I took a piece of orange wood and drilled holes for the top and bottom of the eye, and then used my dremmel to cut a slot between the holes. I then mounted the piece in my lathe and turned the tapered shape of the needle. I took it off, freed it from the wood and did a lot of grinding and shaping. When I was almost done, I realized I could have made it without the lathe. Just sanding and grinding could have done it. I had an even taper the lathe gave me as a guide, but I made the needle flat and made adjustments while sanding it on the strip sander.
I made four more crochet hooks. I actually made two more, but they got tossed. One, I made a mistake when making the hook so I turned it around to the other end and made another hook. When I cut one hook off, I found I removed the wrong one. It went into the garbage. I had another that was near finished on the lathe and I applied too much pressure and broke it. They need heavy sanding before they can be used.
My yarn needle on left
and four crochet hooks
right one is orange wood
two middle are Mahogany
and I forgot the kind of wood of the left hook
I started on another dress vase. I had a piece of oak at the start of where it branched off. The wood has nice waves in the surface. I decided to leave the bark on the lower part as part of the design. I mounted it between centers and made a tenon. I then mounted it with the skirt at the motor and started shaping the top. I allowed enough space for the straps and shaped the breast, the waste and the shape of the dress to the bark. I took a Forsner bit and drilled a hole straight through for the arm holes of the strap.
A bit later, I removed the tenon on the base (mistake) and then used my drill press to drill a Forsner bit down through the top. it only had length to reach just past the arm holes. I should have left the bottom tenon on and used my turning skills to hollow out the inside. Not thinking. When I removed the tenon, I did make a base ring. I might be able to put a groove in to mount that into the chuck so I can work on the end. Will have to see next week.
Two views of the dress vase I started in Oak
I have a turning club meeting this week, on Thursday. I intend to show off my face vase in whatever condition it is in. I don't have anything else to show. but that will be enough.
I have no really big plans for next week, other than to try to finish the face vase before the end of the month.
I will see what I actually do next week.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Did you write 07-05-10
Did you write 07-05-10
I hope this prompt is helping you get some writing done. I want the knowledge that these notes are coming, to cause you to open some work and write something, anything, so you can report on these notes that you wrote. A little bit of writing each day will cause something, over a period of time, to be finished. The hope is that you post to this note, whether you wrote or not, as a reminder to try to write for the next week. This has worked for me many months on end.
Because of time, I won't list what is writing in this note. Check in the previous notes for the list. That list is not comprehensive but is a suggestion.
how much is written is unimportant, especially when editing. One word can be enough if it is the right word.
As for me, I can say YES I WROTE.
I just finished my work in progress. I added two pages and 1600 words since last week. This is all editing so in many cases, I removed passages before I added words. I now have to remove about five thousand words to get it into the size for a suggested market that was pointed to me. I still don't know if it is that good but finishing it was nice.
I finished last month's story ideas with 30 story ideas for 30 days. I wrote 48 pages at 29,394 words of pure drivel.
I now am placing higher concentration on my writing, so this month, my story ideas won't be anywhere near as complete and satisfying to read as they were before. It is a trade off. I have a whole bunch of my Waxy Dragon stories I need to rewrite and I decided to place my attention more into my writing for a while.
As to the question of the week,
I can say YES, I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
I hope this prompt is helping you get some writing done. I want the knowledge that these notes are coming, to cause you to open some work and write something, anything, so you can report on these notes that you wrote. A little bit of writing each day will cause something, over a period of time, to be finished. The hope is that you post to this note, whether you wrote or not, as a reminder to try to write for the next week. This has worked for me many months on end.
Because of time, I won't list what is writing in this note. Check in the previous notes for the list. That list is not comprehensive but is a suggestion.
how much is written is unimportant, especially when editing. One word can be enough if it is the right word.
As for me, I can say YES I WROTE.
I just finished my work in progress. I added two pages and 1600 words since last week. This is all editing so in many cases, I removed passages before I added words. I now have to remove about five thousand words to get it into the size for a suggested market that was pointed to me. I still don't know if it is that good but finishing it was nice.
I finished last month's story ideas with 30 story ideas for 30 days. I wrote 48 pages at 29,394 words of pure drivel.
I now am placing higher concentration on my writing, so this month, my story ideas won't be anywhere near as complete and satisfying to read as they were before. It is a trade off. I have a whole bunch of my Waxy Dragon stories I need to rewrite and I decided to place my attention more into my writing for a while.
As to the question of the week,
I can say YES, I DID WRITE
DID YOU WRITE?
Week 547 Wood Working
year 10, Week 25, Day One (week 547)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-03-10 Saturday
86 degrees in the morning, an got up to 90, but then the sky clouded up and I forgot to check the temps. We did have some sun, but most of the day was heavy clouds with blue sky between them, though at the end of the day, storms over the Everglades and to the north in palm beach shaded our area. this weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
Friday,
I went down to Dania with some of my latest work to show off. Dania Water Gardens are changing their display around and my stuff will be right in the entry rather than in a back room.
I had some platters in yellow pine. She had one glance at them and did not like them. The platters she saw the first time were a tighter ring pattern and softer difference between the light and dark rings. The wood I used for the platters are very pronounced ring pattern and widely spaced.
I showed her my butterflies, and she said there was not enough work in them. She showed no interest in my mice or lady bugs. She liked my flowers but did not need them right now.
I had my incomplete face vase with me to show what I am working on and she said she wants that in her display.
I went to the antique shop. He has moved across the street. His place looks really good. His old place was dark, dingy and because it was smaller, it was hard to really see anything. He still has some stuff to move but is not really rushed on that.
My work is still in one of twenty boxes he has not had time to dig into. It will be a while before he can locate which box they are in and get them on display.
I then stopped at the thrift shop in Dania They had what looked like a palm router. I got a good deal on it. What it really is for is to route, trim laminate. I don't have it in front of me right now so I cannot tell you exactly what brand and type it was, but when I put in the name, among the first links listed was about using these to pick locks. I need to examine it more and do some more research to see exactly how to use it to my advantage.
Saturday
I started the morning, after breakfast and yard sales, petting the cats. The beast seamed to really want attention this morning. It was so cat like, it was uncanny.
I remember seeing a carving apron and decided to see if I can find it. I took a bunch of stuff out of the shed to see if it was deep in. I found a few things I could use, I emptied a box and consolidated it with another box. I found a couple pieces of wood I need to do something with. there is a whole lot more wood in there that needs to be worked with, but I decided that these two were priority.
At the Dania Water Gardens, I saw a couple interesting vases. They are standing evening gowns. There is no person in them, Even the straps are up high. Looking at it, I can hollow the piece fairly easily, and then do much of the shaping on the outside with the lathe. Then some additional shaping on the outside by grinding wood to flatten and add proper curves, and it should not be too difficult to get acceptable results. I have a piece of ash that looks like it might work for this project if I choose to do it. I got the ash out so I can grab if the time for the project becomes available. there are better woods for this, but the ash is the right size.
I found a small tackle box with the two trays that nest on top of each other, but scissor apart when the lid is opened. I decided I would move my dremmel stuff from the dremmel box which has some problems, and use the tackle box as my dremmel box. I have a whole lot more room inside with only a slight dimension difference between the outside of the two boxes. The big difference is that the dremmel box is designed with an interior intended to nestle the equipment inside and keep them from moving around. I need the room as I keep ending up with more stuff to fit in the box.
Last week, mom gave me a whole bunch of dental bits she used in wood working with her motors. Today, I laid them out based on the type and size of bits. I then picked out the best pair of each for my uses, and then changed my mind and picked out just a couple of my selection for use. We put the rest some place we can find it, if we remember they are there.
I did some sanding on the face vase, but really accomplished nothing even in that. Lunch time came and Mom intended to go to the Festival Flea Market a bit later, so I packed up my work and got ready so we could get going.
I hope to do a whole lot more work tomorrow. Will see how things go.
year 10, Week 25, Day Two (week 547)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-04-10 Sunday
78 degrees, unbroken clouds, afternoon gully washers. It appears as if a cold front is passing through. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department of Tourism.
I got to mom's house at my normal time, but I was there only for a short time. I petted and fed the cats, but not as much petting as they expected. I then got together the stuff I needed for the day's session. I did have to go back for something I forgot, and then forgot something else later.
I had made arrangements to work with one of the Mentors in the Turning club. I wanted to show him how my method of making platters worked, and then wanted him to help me make my system better.
I gathered my platter blanks, tools and materials. I had to go back to Mom's house as I forgot the double sided tape which was the key to my system, and I found out I forgot my face shield, which he had a spare for me to use.
I have a system of using wooden face plates and double sided tape to make platters. The face plates do double duty. They are on the other side of the double sided tape, holding the wood to the lathe, and they also are used for measurement of the "foot" of the plate and the inset inside the plate.
I showed my friend the process of making the platters with my system. He was working on another project but when I got to a change point, I showed what I was doing and explaining how it worked.
The big thing he showed me was how to do my cuts without getting tear out, and how to sharpen my tools better. I got berated at how dull my turning tools were. To be sharp, the edge should catch on your thumb nail.
When I was done with my work, he told me that he heard something about this process being done, but he had never seen it before. he said that many in the club will be able to use the concept in other projects.
I got some confidence that my system actually works. I was impressed myself.
I do need to practice the tool work and the sharpening. Otherwise, this was a fun session.
I hit rain on the way to Mom's house. I was looking around for Noah's ark at one point. There was a bit puddle in front of Mom's house. there is road work being done and the drainage of the area is really messed up.
I petted the cat, put my stuff away, and then headed home.
I decided I need to finish the face vase. I have a lot of work to do, so I will be going to Mom's house tomorrow.
will see what I actually get done tomorrow.
year 10, Week 25, Day Three (week 547)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-05-10 Monday
80 degrees, high interlaced feathers with random low puffs in the morning. dark heavy clouds moved in, in the late morning. Another wave of a front is passing through long after I left. don't have to water the plants today. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department Of Tourism.
I saw that we were expecting some weather, so I decided to get an early start in the morning. After breakfast and petting the cat. I turned to get started in a project and realized that I left the face vase at home. that killed my big reason for working today. I wanted to remove the tenon on the base of the face vase so I can concentrate totally on sanding the vase. I can do a lot of finishing while the tenon is on the piece, but there is no way I can place it in the linseed oil to develop the finish I hoped to get.
I decided I would make the dress vase I saw Friday. I started hollowing it in Ash. I then remembered something. There is a reason one uses ash for baseball bats. It also shows up when you are trying to hollow it. it is not an easy wood to remove the wood from it.
I do have one problem. I need what is called a STEADY REST, in order to really do this right. A steady rest is a set of wheels held in a frame. One rounds the outside of the piece and then put the steady rest around the piece, and bring the rollers in contact with the outside surface. The steady rest holds the piece in the middle or near the end, to prevent it from wobbling while you are working on the inside.
The wood I am working with, was a bit too long for the chuck to hold it in place alone. When I took the tail stock away to work inside, the piece started wobbling instantly and it just got worse.
I decided I would hold off on doing more on that piece. The strength of the wood and the wobble was more than I wanted to mess with today.
I then took a small piece of wood and decided to try the idea smaller. I ran into the same problem, even though the pine two by two was softer. I also think I made the hole too big. What I am seeing, is that this really should be more like a weed vase, where it is essentially a hole straight through the piece. Because of the carving that is needed to get the precise shape needed, anything more than shaping the top of the hole to fit the upper part of the dress, any real hollowing would break through the wood some place where the wood is shaped if the hole was not simply straight in.
I cleaned up my mess, pet the cat and came home.
At home, I have sanded on the face vase and am sorting through decorations, placing them in a tackle box I got a couple months ago.
I do want to finish turning the face vase, and get it so I can add a final finish to the piece. I also have several projects to work on.
I will see what I actually do next week.
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-03-10 Saturday
86 degrees in the morning, an got up to 90, but then the sky clouded up and I forgot to check the temps. We did have some sun, but most of the day was heavy clouds with blue sky between them, though at the end of the day, storms over the Everglades and to the north in palm beach shaded our area. this weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
Friday,
I went down to Dania with some of my latest work to show off. Dania Water Gardens are changing their display around and my stuff will be right in the entry rather than in a back room.
I had some platters in yellow pine. She had one glance at them and did not like them. The platters she saw the first time were a tighter ring pattern and softer difference between the light and dark rings. The wood I used for the platters are very pronounced ring pattern and widely spaced.
I showed her my butterflies, and she said there was not enough work in them. She showed no interest in my mice or lady bugs. She liked my flowers but did not need them right now.
I had my incomplete face vase with me to show what I am working on and she said she wants that in her display.
I went to the antique shop. He has moved across the street. His place looks really good. His old place was dark, dingy and because it was smaller, it was hard to really see anything. He still has some stuff to move but is not really rushed on that.
My work is still in one of twenty boxes he has not had time to dig into. It will be a while before he can locate which box they are in and get them on display.
I then stopped at the thrift shop in Dania They had what looked like a palm router. I got a good deal on it. What it really is for is to route, trim laminate. I don't have it in front of me right now so I cannot tell you exactly what brand and type it was, but when I put in the name, among the first links listed was about using these to pick locks. I need to examine it more and do some more research to see exactly how to use it to my advantage.
Saturday
I started the morning, after breakfast and yard sales, petting the cats. The beast seamed to really want attention this morning. It was so cat like, it was uncanny.
I remember seeing a carving apron and decided to see if I can find it. I took a bunch of stuff out of the shed to see if it was deep in. I found a few things I could use, I emptied a box and consolidated it with another box. I found a couple pieces of wood I need to do something with. there is a whole lot more wood in there that needs to be worked with, but I decided that these two were priority.
At the Dania Water Gardens, I saw a couple interesting vases. They are standing evening gowns. There is no person in them, Even the straps are up high. Looking at it, I can hollow the piece fairly easily, and then do much of the shaping on the outside with the lathe. Then some additional shaping on the outside by grinding wood to flatten and add proper curves, and it should not be too difficult to get acceptable results. I have a piece of ash that looks like it might work for this project if I choose to do it. I got the ash out so I can grab if the time for the project becomes available. there are better woods for this, but the ash is the right size.
I found a small tackle box with the two trays that nest on top of each other, but scissor apart when the lid is opened. I decided I would move my dremmel stuff from the dremmel box which has some problems, and use the tackle box as my dremmel box. I have a whole lot more room inside with only a slight dimension difference between the outside of the two boxes. The big difference is that the dremmel box is designed with an interior intended to nestle the equipment inside and keep them from moving around. I need the room as I keep ending up with more stuff to fit in the box.
Last week, mom gave me a whole bunch of dental bits she used in wood working with her motors. Today, I laid them out based on the type and size of bits. I then picked out the best pair of each for my uses, and then changed my mind and picked out just a couple of my selection for use. We put the rest some place we can find it, if we remember they are there.
I did some sanding on the face vase, but really accomplished nothing even in that. Lunch time came and Mom intended to go to the Festival Flea Market a bit later, so I packed up my work and got ready so we could get going.
I hope to do a whole lot more work tomorrow. Will see how things go.
year 10, Week 25, Day Two (week 547)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-04-10 Sunday
78 degrees, unbroken clouds, afternoon gully washers. It appears as if a cold front is passing through. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department of Tourism.
I got to mom's house at my normal time, but I was there only for a short time. I petted and fed the cats, but not as much petting as they expected. I then got together the stuff I needed for the day's session. I did have to go back for something I forgot, and then forgot something else later.
I had made arrangements to work with one of the Mentors in the Turning club. I wanted to show him how my method of making platters worked, and then wanted him to help me make my system better.
I gathered my platter blanks, tools and materials. I had to go back to Mom's house as I forgot the double sided tape which was the key to my system, and I found out I forgot my face shield, which he had a spare for me to use.
I have a system of using wooden face plates and double sided tape to make platters. The face plates do double duty. They are on the other side of the double sided tape, holding the wood to the lathe, and they also are used for measurement of the "foot" of the plate and the inset inside the plate.
I showed my friend the process of making the platters with my system. He was working on another project but when I got to a change point, I showed what I was doing and explaining how it worked.
The big thing he showed me was how to do my cuts without getting tear out, and how to sharpen my tools better. I got berated at how dull my turning tools were. To be sharp, the edge should catch on your thumb nail.
When I was done with my work, he told me that he heard something about this process being done, but he had never seen it before. he said that many in the club will be able to use the concept in other projects.
I got some confidence that my system actually works. I was impressed myself.
I do need to practice the tool work and the sharpening. Otherwise, this was a fun session.
I hit rain on the way to Mom's house. I was looking around for Noah's ark at one point. There was a bit puddle in front of Mom's house. there is road work being done and the drainage of the area is really messed up.
I petted the cat, put my stuff away, and then headed home.
I decided I need to finish the face vase. I have a lot of work to do, so I will be going to Mom's house tomorrow.
will see what I actually get done tomorrow.
year 10, Week 25, Day Three (week 547)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-05-10 Monday
80 degrees, high interlaced feathers with random low puffs in the morning. dark heavy clouds moved in, in the late morning. Another wave of a front is passing through long after I left. don't have to water the plants today. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department Of Tourism.
I saw that we were expecting some weather, so I decided to get an early start in the morning. After breakfast and petting the cat. I turned to get started in a project and realized that I left the face vase at home. that killed my big reason for working today. I wanted to remove the tenon on the base of the face vase so I can concentrate totally on sanding the vase. I can do a lot of finishing while the tenon is on the piece, but there is no way I can place it in the linseed oil to develop the finish I hoped to get.
I decided I would make the dress vase I saw Friday. I started hollowing it in Ash. I then remembered something. There is a reason one uses ash for baseball bats. It also shows up when you are trying to hollow it. it is not an easy wood to remove the wood from it.
I do have one problem. I need what is called a STEADY REST, in order to really do this right. A steady rest is a set of wheels held in a frame. One rounds the outside of the piece and then put the steady rest around the piece, and bring the rollers in contact with the outside surface. The steady rest holds the piece in the middle or near the end, to prevent it from wobbling while you are working on the inside.
The wood I am working with, was a bit too long for the chuck to hold it in place alone. When I took the tail stock away to work inside, the piece started wobbling instantly and it just got worse.
I decided I would hold off on doing more on that piece. The strength of the wood and the wobble was more than I wanted to mess with today.
I then took a small piece of wood and decided to try the idea smaller. I ran into the same problem, even though the pine two by two was softer. I also think I made the hole too big. What I am seeing, is that this really should be more like a weed vase, where it is essentially a hole straight through the piece. Because of the carving that is needed to get the precise shape needed, anything more than shaping the top of the hole to fit the upper part of the dress, any real hollowing would break through the wood some place where the wood is shaped if the hole was not simply straight in.
I cleaned up my mess, pet the cat and came home.
At home, I have sanded on the face vase and am sorting through decorations, placing them in a tackle box I got a couple months ago.
I do want to finish turning the face vase, and get it so I can add a final finish to the piece. I also have several projects to work on.
I will see what I actually do next week.
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