46 degrees at dawn, 60 degrees when I finally got outside, and a high of 70. We had blue skies and a very light breeze just strong enough to blow dust into my face. Tomorrow morning will be in the low 50s so we will have the start of a warming trend in the coldest winter on record. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
A friend is giving me some tools he can no longer use. I got them to mom's house but have not had time to lay them out to see what I have. That is a project for tomorrow. I will be getting more. Also, he has a little metal working lathe and I am planning to buy it from him.
I painted on the fairy I had finished. I need to do touch ups, but she looks good. I have to either find wings I had my dad make for me, or make new ones on the scroll saw.
Did some yard sailing today. A condominium has a big sale each year. I picked up two cast iron pans at a dollar each. A coffee grinder for a dollar, two pillows at a dollar each, and some little toy soldier parade ornaments for fifty cents.
Toy soldier parade.
Opened basket bag.
folded basket bag.
coffee grinder and fry pans
I talked to a dear friend most of the morning on the cell phone. It was nice, though no wood working could be done.
I started by sanding on my cannon. I sanded it backwards for a bit, then turned it back around and sanded it more that way. It is nicer now.
I sanded on the boards for the sides and found some problems. I then chose a piece of wood that has a wonderful knot in it that will look great, but I removed a bark inclusion and decided it had better be filled. I might decide to use this for something else. Will see how the filler looks when done.
I figured out a useful trick when dealing with thick materials in tubes such as filler. I work the material away from the end, then fold the end over. I then place the piece between the jaws of a vice or between the jaws of a clamp and apply pressure. The material will squeeze out of the tube. apply more pressure and it will come out fast, remove the pressure and the flow will stop. this sure beats trying to use your hands to try to squeeze the stuff out.
I needed to correct the dress vases I have. I figured out that the way I have the "cloth" of the straps were formed to fit the body, was not quite right. I used several different grinders and sanders to shape them a bit better and get rid of a couple other minor problems. They are now ready for some serious sanding.
It was a nice day today, even if I did not accomplish much. Tomorrow I will work on the cannon. I will develop the carriage for it farther. I have a fairy and a face vase to carve on. If I do any wood turning, it should be on making mushrooms for my fairy scenes. I will pick through the tools I got to assess what I have and check out the condition.
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 11, Week 03, Day two (week 577) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 01-30-11 Sunday
57 degrees early morning, 60 when I got out to work, 71 during the day. super high feather and streaks on a bright blue sky. Puffs formed over the Everglades and started crowding toward the ocean in late afternoon. If this weather is better than what you have, come for a visit. Our hotels have plenty 0f room. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
The beast of the backyard has acted exactly like a cat. It appears as if Scarface has adopted Mom. He is hanging around quite a bit and is out there every morning to be fed, and is hanging around a whole lot longer.
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My first project was to sort through the tools my friend gave me. The power tools are well used and may need some maintenance. One drill is geared slow and really powerful. The chuck appears to be rusted in place, but the motor runs.
Gifted Motors.
Among the rest of the tools, someone made a hatchet out of diamond plate and a pipe. The blade was stuck in a slot in the pipe, the pipe was crimped to the blade and welded. Cute. I sharpened another hatchet and used that to split a piece of log that had strong checks in it.
two hatchets upper left. Home made hatchet facing right
There were a bunch of files. They need to be cleaned up. My brother has some stuff that will do that. He will use it on a four jaw chuck, one where each jaw works separately. He says he will get that working nicely and give it back to me so I can do off center turning.
files and rasps before being cleaned.
There were other tools I went through, some got cleaned up lightly, others just resorted and put away.
That took the entire morning. I then used the ax to split a piece of weathered log that had lots of checks in it. The checks were actually held strong. I had wanted to be able to split some of the wood I have. I removed the checked part of the wood and had a nice piece. I split it to half the length and mounted it in the lathe. It fought me tooth and nail as I tried to make a mushroom out of it. It was a hard wood, possibly oak, but I am not sure. The spur did not want to dig into the wood properly. I had to reset it, pounding the spur into it with a hammer, several times. I ended up flipping it around and making a tenon on the rough side. I then rounded it and made it into a mushroom. I worked my tools into the space beside the chuck to start the shaping and hollowing that will be needed when I get serious about the underside.
Mushroom cap
I took my original pieces of cut wood for the sides of my cannon and sanded on them. A buffer-grinder I received had a course sand paper on it so I used that to really remove some problems and clean up all the sides and edges. I then took it to the disk sander with medium (100 grit) sand paper and cleaned up the edges. Of course, I tipped the board wrong and added a little curved divot in it. It was such divots was one reason why I used the buffer sander in the first place. I now realize how they got into the wood in the first place.
I need to work with these pieces more to get them to where I want them. Loads of sanding with finer and finer grits.
I need to locate the book with the plans for the cannon so I can see how it is supposed to be constructed. I can do it just about anyway so I might as well learn to do it right.
I had a gift card so I went to Woodcrafts and picked up some wood. I picked up two blocks of basswood. I considered one big block and decided two small ones would serve me better. It was about the same price.
I also got two sheets of thin plywood. I need to make wings for my fairies, unless I can find the ones Dad made for me years ago. I sm positive I have another set to go, but think I have to dismantle the shed again to get to them. I will trace the wings on one of my other fairies, using them as the basic pattern. I, or my brother, will scroll them out. Without wings, my fairies are just women in green outfits.
Next week, I have a fairy to carve on, mushrooms to make, wings to make, a face vase to carve. I also may have some more tools to sort through. I will make an offer on a mini lathe for metal working. It is a real nice machine. My friend cannot use it so my getting it will guarantee that it will be used.
mini lathe
I will also be going down to Dania to check on my work that is on display. I will drop off some dress vases I have made to add to the display.
I will see what I actually do next week.
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