64 degrees when I got out back, 73 at the high, and 67 when I left in the afternoon. A thin fog and light mist all morning, sometimes getting hard enough to consider getting out of it. That was all but gone by the time I got out back. At the warm part of the day, there was blue sky with scattered puffs, but the puffs merged into a grey pebbled sheet.
There was light breeze barely strong enough to be noticed during the day. It is supposed to get down to 40 tonight. There is some water on the roads in a few places so I will have to watch for black ice on the roads.... This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
THURSDAY
The turning club meeting was good. I took my dress vases and creamer to work. My boss showed interest in the creamer. I just have to decide on the price. My nephew was at Mom's house as someone drove over her water meter and caused a leak which my brother fixed. My Nephew looked at the dress vases and said "You have to get out more."
The club meeting was good. I got some compliments on my dress vases. I saw what everybody else had and was a little deflated. I have to work more on the quality of the finish.
The demonstration was on three cornered bowls. One roughs out a bowl on center, then moves it about half an inch off center and turns. Most of the wood is out of reach of the gouge, but one side will pass the gouge and get cut back. Since the radius is larger than the diameter of the bowl, that side is slightly flattened.
One then relocates the bowl a third of the way around and turn it the same way. Relocate the bowl a final third and turn the same way, one ends up with a three sided bowl. He turns the inside of the bowl on center on the tenon he had created before he started. he carved the inside of the bowl of one of his examples to make the inside appear three sided also. I like the effect. I will have to give it a try.
The Woodcrafts store we meet at is going to be closing in April if they do not find a buyer. The owner has two other stores, one in central Florida and one in Georgia so the stock will be shipped to them. The equipment in the classroom will be sold off when the store is closed.
The club is looking at other sites, preferably closer to a major highway. That will be sad as it is right next to Jo-Anne's Cloth World.
Saturday
We yard sailed. I got some cards and fiber fill to stuff things, and then got a bunch of yarn and some stuff made by a friend of my mom. I had promised myself that I would not accumulate yarn. I would only have what I needed and no more. I just learned that a real deal is nearly impossible to pass up.
With the finished stuff, I likely will use some of it as part of some bigger project. A few are basically done. They may be passed on to other yard sales. Will see as I get to them.
The photo cards and fiber fill
my yarn find
A collection of work by someone else. Also known as a UFO, Un-Finished Objects.
I had bothered the cats before we left, giving them food and some attention. they both decided they wanted more food and attention when we got back from our breakfast and yard sale run. The beast ended up laying at my feet for about an hour while I carved. He mostly wanted company, not attention at that time as he swatted at me a couple times. Nice to see that the beast is still hidden within that sweet kitty....
I got my stuff out, and then tackled the shed. I got the idea that I can bore out my cannon with the new tools I got. I had to find the cannon. I pulled the stuff out from the floor that I had moved a few weeks ago when I repaired the shelf that was buckling. I was after the other side, though, so some more stuff had to be moved. I found the cannon quickly, and I also found some interesting wood to work with while I was at it. I straightened up some tools and stuff, then put my interesting wood up front where I can get it easily, and put everything else back. I somehow ended up with a little more room in there. Now I have to find stuff to put there.
I started on a project a friend asked for. Our friend is really bad off. there is a four inch step-up out of his bedroom. My friend is taking care of him and asked for a ramp to make it a bit easier to wheel chair him out when needed. I assembled something from some pieces of wood that was available. I found out that some woods split in all directions when a screw is driven into it without pilot holes. I was able to jury rig up the ramp pretty well. I delivered it on the way home and it holds my weight when I stand on it. It will do.
I found that when I made the cannon, I did not have a tenon. I think I started that before I had the chuck. I had made it between centers.
I mounted it between centers and worked the surface, improving the finish. When I had it about as good as it was going to be, I decided to drill it out. I will say that this was an interesting project. One does not usually drill something out between centers. There is really nothing holding it to the head stock other than the pressure of the drill bit in the wood.
What made this even more fun was that I had to move my head stock (motor) to the end, and the tail stock almost hanging over the other end, to get the drill started in the hole. The cannon was just that long. I had to even move them closer to the ends when I added drill shaft extension, which was started after the hole was drilled as far as I could drill it with the bit and tiny extension.
When I was done, I had drilled the canon a little less than half way in, but that is more than far enough to look like is fully bored If I could hold it in a tenon, I could drill it farther with the boring bar. The cannon is 37 inches long and I drilled about sixteen inches. That is deep enough to give the impression it goes all the way in.
I have loads of sanding to do on this. I want it glass shiny when done.
I will make the carriage out of cheap wood, preferably with lots of knots. I will sand and polish that to furniture quality also.
Over the week, I painted the fairy I carved last week. There were problems with her that I fixed, but needed to cover the repairs to see how the end result looked. Painting her showed me what problems I had, which were few, and showed me how I could improve the carving.
I decided she needed decorations. I sat down and added design to her clothing. I cut triangles out of her cuffs and hems she looks more carved. I will have to fix a lot of painting errors, but I will paint the hems and cuffs yellow with green dots. I would have brought her home today but I forgot to fix her hair. I want to cut grooves into the hair to make it look like strands rather than a solid block like it is now.
I need to work out the base before I remove some excess wood on her legs.
I found out that the wood she is carved out of is Tupelo. this is harder than balsa wood but softer than basswood. It needs a very sharp knife to carve as it has a tendency to crush. It also breaks easier than basswood.
Painted fairy wings will be added later
I took the dress vase I made last week and cut it so it has one strap. I have a lot of corrections to do, thinning and shaping, but I think it will look good. It is not as easy to do as I hoped and is not quite as good as I imagined she would be. I will work with it more. I want to do one more dress vase, and that will be a strapless dress.
It is surprising that you will see certain shapes or types of wood all over the place around you. When you come up with a great project that uses them, you cannot find them anywhere. I will have to look closely for the next one.
I have more carving to do tomorrow. I have to work on the dress vase, finish the hair of this fairy, then carve on the second fairy. I have to look at what stock I will need for the cannon carriage. I will turn the wheels on the lathe. I have the face vase to carve on, and have ideas for other projects to work on such as a three sided vase or platter.
I have loads of projects. The ones already started will take time to complete. I really should not start new projects until the ones I have started are done. The problem is that I tend to work only on what excites me and new is the most exciting.
I also have a bunch of old projects that need refinishing or repair. Some might be saved with carving, while others might not be saved ever.
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 11, Week 02, Day two (week 576) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 01-23-11 Sunday
41 degrees early morning, 62 when I got outside and 68 degrees as the high of the day. Blue sky with nicely moving patches of clouds. I do remember once that a cloud actually had the nerve to block the sun. It may have happened more but I was mostly under the awning working.
There was a nice breeze, but the temps said they were not needed. I would have saved them for a hot summer day. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism. If you don't like your weather, come experience ours.
Around mid day, the beast of the back yard was replaced by a similar looking cat. He wanted attention. He soaked up every bit of attention I could give him. I kept running out of it. He would walk away disappointed.
I dug out a piece of oak that was somewhat the right shape and made a strapless dress vase. The wood was not really right, and it does not look great without the strap of some kind. I worked on the single strap vase, grinding and shaping on it. It is a lot better now. I had to glue a crack in the strap while I was at it. The hard part on these is that the "fabric" has certain twists and turns and one has to have the thinning appear in the right place. I can see I can do better on some of my other pieces. Each of them needs some work here and there. Experience shows you your mistakes.
On the two I did, they need heavy sanding and polishing along with varnishing and shine.
Front and back of dress vases. single strap and strapless.
I fixed the hair on the rain fairy, and then dropped her, breaking her arm off again. I glued it back on and added filler to blend the cracks. She needs to be re-painted again so that is not a problem. Her being made of Tupelo makes her fragile. I had already reinforced her arm but this is the second time the wood broke around the dowels.
decorated carved fairy from behind
I made a few cuts into the wood of the face vase. I mainly showed where the wood is to be cut back. I have a lot to do, but mainly wanted to mark it so I could say I worked on it. It is a start.
I picked out some wood and cut them to become part of the carriage for the cannon. they will need heavy sanding as this is heavily weathered wood. I mainly cut the sides to shape. I was going to set it up with the cannon facing backwards. My brother corrected me and explained where to set the balance when I attach the cannon to the carriage.
cannon, with cut sides, set in position with blocks of wood.
My brother finished a toy car for his grandson. it was a team project. I drilled the holes for the axles. My nephew and niece made the wheels. We all expect it to be broken within a week of the boy getting his hands on it.
My brother is going to make a pickup truck of the same design. He says that he now knows the process so he will take time on it and sand more.
toy truck by my brother.
I had a good day and got a lot done. If I was as productive every day as I was this weekend, I would work evenings on woodworking too. I will have days where nothing gets done or nothing goes right, but these days make the hobby a true joy to be in.
I am not sure exactly what I will do next week. I have loads of projects such as the cannon, fairies, face vase, and a number of other projects.
I will have to see what I actually do next week.
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