84 degrees, very light breeze, blue skies without anything that resembled a cloud, wonderful day for working. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach department of Tourism.
DURING THE WEEK
I sold the bark bowl to my boss this week. Never as much as I would like to sell it for, but I like his money more than my wood. He told me that this was one of my best pieces I have made. His wife said she loves it. He joked that he is saving all the pieces he buys from me because when I die, they will become valuable...
I painted the second fairy and soaked her in some linseed oil when I saw that the yellow of her hair blended with the light wood. I have commonly oiled my fairy carvings, usually using motor oil. It darkens the wood slightly which adds to the look.
FRIDAY
I wanted to relocate an indoor antenna and that required me to get into the corner of the living room where I have a bunch of boxes piled. It happens that my art show stuff was scattered within the pile. I decided two excuses was worth digging into the mess,
In the process I made a little more room to stack stuff by placing some plastic and wire shelving in the open space between two bookshelves. I now have access to some cords that were previously unreachable and can get through them through the plastic shelving, and I separated the pile into three stacks: Art, crafts and junk.
I also emptied and scrubbed the kitchen counter, emptied and rearranged my desk giving all six teddy bears a good long hug.
Saturday
No yard sailing. We went to Ace hardware and I got some nails for one of my next projects, replacing the little lathe box, and a connector for the indoor antenna.
At the end of the day, I stopped at Home depot for several items. I got some glue and piano hinges (lathe box project), along with a two by two for carving and I got some two by fours for mom.
Mom needed a suit case pulled out of the closet and it was jammed. We pulled it out and we found the carpet beneath it was wet. We pulled everything out and are drying that. I ended up calking the shower which was next to it as that was likely where the water was coming from, The two by fours I got at home depot was to put the stuff up on in case there is another leak. The two by twos mom had were big enough for the plush carpet in there.
I looked at the little cannon barrel I made for my grand nephew and decided it needed sanding. I mounted it on the lathe and ran sand paper on the surface. It is oak and the fibers stick up. It is better but will need more sanding, with finer sand paper. I should get some wood filler for it. I doubt I will, though.
Toy cannon barrel
One of my bathroom cabinet doors had come apart a long time ago. I glued it back together, but it came apart again and I never did anything about it again. I removed the hinge piece off the case, the only part still attached, and took the whole thing with me. I cleaned up the joints, and then glued it back together. This was the first time I had seen metal splines used in joinery. After it dried enough to handle. I drilled holes for dowels through the corners.
While drilling with the dremmel, the drill bit slipped off the plastic coating they used as a finish and the drill caught the webbing between my thumb and fingers. I have no idea how deep it went but it was not just surface wound. The dremmel was running quite fast but it was just a touch and while I did see that it was not just on the surface it hardly bled. For a couple hours, it felt like that part of the hand was tired. That sensation went away and the hole closed up so it just looks and acts like a surface boo-boo.
I ran skewers into the holes. I want to add some more glue and then trim the skewers which I left hanging out before I install it. It should stay put now.
I chainsawed a piece of the Tababulia and made a new bark bowl. I think I did not go quite as deep into the bark. This was an end piece where it was split off when it was cut. that caused a crack to run up under the bark. I made the bottom a lot thicker than I planned because of the crack. I will soak this one in linseed oil so it will dry slower.
Bark bowl #2
I painted a set of fairy wings, should paint all of them and get that out of the way, and I installed them onto the fairy. I need to dowel them in place so they stay put, then clean up the joints. A little paint will hide any repairs.
I never got onto the base which is a project for today. He said the frog king looks cute.
spare fairy wings just painted black
freshly painted Fairy with her new wings.
I went out to dinner with the family in the evening and then went to a book store. I picked up a machining magazine to read.
I had stopped at my brother's house and he has started making the forge from a water heater. I never knew the shell was that thick.
The early morning disaster slowed up my activities and I had left earlier than planned because of the dinner.
I will set up the little lathe when I get there as my nephew may drop by and will give him a project to work on. I will also work on the fairy base and see if I can get that done today.
I may cut another piece of Tababulia to turn, and may also cut a few pieces for carving.
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
year 11, Week 11, Day two (week 585) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 03-27-11 Sunday
85 degrees, strong breeze, no clouds until some appeared over the Everglades in the late afternoon. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
At a yard sale about six months ago, I picked up a palm pilot 3 with a cord and keyboard. I did not have the software to get it to work. In the past month, I located the "desk top" software that allows your computer to talk to the unit. I then found the software for the keyboard. After a couple missteps, I got it operating. I loaded a 33 page story into it and it split it up in some 20 notes.
I have to get used to the folding keyboard, but this may well be quite serviceable for typing quick notes and ideas. It is nice to have it working. There are a lot of APPS on line for it so I might look to see what is available and what will actually be useful. It seems to have more memory than I ever expected which is quite impressive.
I might make use of it on days where working is not a priority or when traveling, though I need to figure out how to keep it balanced on the connector on the keyboard. It is barely on it and easily bumped.
Palm pilot 3 with keyboard and typed text on the screen.
I arrived later than planned. I bothered the kitties, unloaded the truck and got half set up.
My first project for the day was to make the base for the fairy. I wanted to mount the fairy, mushrooms and frog on a log. I went to my wood pile and picked up a oak branch for measurement. It was too small to get the angles I was after. I searched my wood pile and tried several pieces. I then took a large piece of wood. I cut a section off and then cut it in half length ways. Nice, but not quite right. I then decided to make some boards. I cut a board from each side and, after cutting the straightest edge, I sanded them straight and glued them together. I did not cut the boards straight, so I decided to use the thickness planer to bring it even.
Many years ago, I got several gift cards for Home Depot. I decided a thickness planer was exactly what I needed. with deals and sales, it cost me $200. I think I have used it a total of six times so far. My brother has used it about twelve times. The big problem was that I am not doing the kinds of projects I had in mind.
Well today, I decided to use it. Mom's garage is a pathway down the center. There is tools and stuff stacked on both sides. Some of that is for yard sales she is tired of having, and some of it is just storage and "In case I need it."
I took about half an hour moving all the stuff out of the way and drag the planer out of the garage. I then took about fifteen minutes planing down the wood on both sides so it was flat rather than two opposing wedges. I then took about half an hour getting things back where they belonged.
top of wood base showing "bookmarked" faces.
Bottom side of the wood base
I positioned the fairy and a few mushrooms several times so I know what I want to do. I may take a branch and use that as part of the scene. People liked the effect on the rain fairy.
I took the board and the fairy home and am soaking the board in linseed oil. part of the reason I love to soak my wood is that it is an effective way to kill any critters that might still be within the wood.
Mom needed her frame made to hold her closet stuff up off the carpet in case there is a leak. I measured carefully and cut carefully. I then screwed the thing together. somehow, I got one board off angle so it is askew. I should have taken pictures but did not think about it. My battery powered drill decided to drain the batteries over night and within minutes of using them. The electric drill I chose to use decided to have a switch problem. I had a knock down fight with it.
My brother told me that in the main board I am drilling through, there is no grip to help hold the piece together. That can be a lose fit. It is only in the second board that any real grip is achieved. I could have made my job a whole lot easier if I drilled.
I was pretty much out of gas as for working. In my unloading the garage to get the planer out, I got some tools that is of use. I found a caliper for checking board thickness, and I found an angle drill attachment so you can drill sideways in a smaller space than your drill.
I decided to test a concept with my metal lathe. I put the angle attachment in the chuck, and took a jig saw attachment for a drill I got and mounted that into the chuck of the angle attachment. All I need to do is make a wood table and I can use the angle arrangement to "scroll saw" wood. Put in a metal blade in the jig saw and can cut metal. That is just another thing that little lathe can do.
My brother and I talked about several articles in the metal working magazine I got last night. he took dimensions for a tool post that will allow me to machine on angles. The big thing we were doing was looking at the advertisements and figuring out how to make those parts. One thing he told me is that I can get regular router bits and use them on mild steel, aluminum and brass with no problems at all. I guess I will have a reason to look at router bits and see what machining might be possible.
Overall, the day was rather unproductive for the art show. There was better ways of designing the base, but I just had the idea of making my own boards into my mind and went with it. I will say that it sure used up a nice day of work.
The spot I poked myself with the drill bit has closed up and looks like a normal boo-boo. It only hurts if I rap it which I did a few times today. It does have a little swelling but not bad, I missed it but my mom saw it. There is no pain to it and the hand works normally.
Friday, I will retrieve my art work from the antique shop. I will have just a couple weeks to go over it to see what damage they have, and possibly fix the finish, and figure out a better pricing for his work.
I plan to touch up the paint on the fairy so the filler I used as part of the wing attachment does not show. I should have doweled the wings in place but other things distracted me on that. I can do that here but don't know if I will.
I want to get her base made and have her ready for display. I have a face vase I need to sit down and carve on. It is really the only big project not done.
I will see what I actually do next week.
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