Week 584 wood working

year 11, Week 10, Day One (week 584)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-19-11 Saturday

64 degrees early on in the morning, 83 degrees as a high, blue sky with some puffs of clouds, dry air with a light breeze. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

THURSDAY

We had our wood turning club meeting. It was in a new location since our WOODCRAFTS store is closing. It was in a school classroom. The teacher arrived about the same time I did and he had to pull some GATOR powered carts out of the classroom to give us room to move around.
The club purchased a new lathe and it is sweet. Our demonstration was the first one for the lathe. the demonstration was on a bandsaw box. It was cut up and the center removed, then it was glued together again. He then turned the outside so it was a square inside round box.
I had added linseed oil to my cannon and my fairy, and took them, along with some Tababulia pieces with me. At WOODCRAFTS, we would use work benches to display our instant gallery. I got the idea of taking two rows of desks and placing them together in a long line. It worked great The desks are flat so nothing would roll off. The best way to describe it is that my stuff is Rustic, does not have the quality finish everybody else's stuff has. I need to sand and varnish the cannon, but wanted to show it off this month.



finished cannon

Me holding the cannon.


My tababulia pieces

SATURDAY


some belts I yard sailed.


spider man posters yard sailed

I started out emptying my dremmel box completely, removing the sawdust, and then re-packing it, separating and grouping things better. I found a few things I forgot I had. Nice to have it neat for a moment.

I sat down with my knife and carved a little on my second fairy. I did a little detail but did not get far.

I signed my fairy carving. My mom said I should write it on top so people could see it. I decided to make a little plaque with the name on it. I found a dry branch with the bark on it of the right diameter and cut a piece off. I cut it flat and then cut the base. After sanding, I drew the name on the stick, then used my dremmel and a dental bit to carve the name over the name I drew. I used my pen to fill in the letters and I sanded away any excess pen marks. I glued and pegged the name plate in place. It looks good. I have a little paint touch ups, and then the fairy will be done.

fairy with name plate


I got an idea. I dashed over to an ACE HARDWARE store which is about three blocks away and picked up some 3/4 by one inch bolts. I then sat down with the grinder, then the mini lathe for an idea I had.
the live center (live centers have a bearing, while dead centers is just a metal point or nail) on my tail stock has multiple points that can be swapped out for different jobs.
I got the idea to take a bolt and machine the head to fit the tail stock. That way I can screw a piece of wood onto the bolt and then shape the wood to hold a project in a special way in the tail stock. It is a fun project anyway.
I should have been carving but this concept got my bug. Using the mini machine lathe, I found the bolt unscrewing itself in the chuck, coming loose. I came up with using a chuck with a tail stock point (too far for just the tail stock to hold it) and kept the bolt in place.
I ground the corners off the nut and then mounted it in the lathe and have started machining the head down to fit into the hole in the tail stock's live center.
I got half way in but decided I was out of time. I did make a mistake. I need to keep part of the head in the normal shape so I can use a wrench to drive it into and out of the hole in the wood.

machining the nut, showing what I started with and what I have at the moment


Tomorrow I need to carve more, and likely do some metal work. If my brother shows up tomorrow, he will fix the motor of the metal lathe and I will likely finish my experiment.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.



year 11, Week 10, Day One (week 584)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-19-11 Saturday

74 degrees when I got to mom's house, 84 as the high with the sun shining under the awning. Blue skies with wispy puffs marching across the sky. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach department of Tourism.

This last week, I got word that at the art show, if the weather is good, I will be outside. I will get two tables instead of just one, so I can have a more effective display. The weather has been good there each year, so I am hoping the pattern continues.

I accidentally mistook the beast of the backyard as a cat. He did not mind that too much, as long as I fed him and gave him lots of petting. I sat and carved most of the morning and he laid next to me for long periods of times before wandering away, then returning again.

I spent the morning carving on my second fairy. I decided the carving is finished. I took it home and started painting on it. It looks good. She has one of the best faces I have done to date.
I have to finish painting the king frog, and paint the fairy this week. I will add wings and start building her scene. If things go good, I could have the fairy done next weekend.

Finished second fairy carving


I finished turning the threaded tail stock point. I had just a little bit to go to get it to fit, and then went too far. I think it was one cut too much. It will work though. It won't be off by too much.
I started cutting a second one and then realized it was off center. I stopped.

My brother dismantled the motor for the lathe using my tools. He had to find some washers the right size to act as spacers. He tried making them and drilled them off center. He added a little oil, then reassembled the motor. We gave it a good test. It does not heat up as much and now runs smoothly. We have ourselves a good machine.

My nephew came over. He wants to do black smithing eventually. We have a water heater that can be made into a forge, and an anvil. We could get close to starting. Really all we need is fire brick and clay.
We decided to see if we can ruin him on machining. We set the lathe up as a milling machine and demonstrated it. You set the seed and see if it grows.

Next week my main project is to finish the fairy, and get to work on the face vase to see if I can finish that up. I need to sand and varnish the cannon too. Those are the last major projects. I need to start digging out the stuff I have packed here at home to see what I have and their condition.

I will see what I actually do next week.