95 degrees, a fifteen minute patch of liquid sunshine, just enough breeze to move the leaf tips, thick air after the liquid sunshine (really needed a breeze to make it comfortable), lots of blue sky, with rapid westward moving puffs and a high feather shield to the East. The sun dried the ground almost completely within an hour or so.
The tropical storm became a tropical wave, and kept curving farther and farther west so at most, we will get bits and pieces of the outlying weather. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
DURING THE WEEK
I took a whole bunch of my wood working from the past few weeks and soaked them in linseed oil. I notice that Norfolk branches don't take on the color that the trunk wood does. That is good to know. that wood I cannot remember the name of, turned black. rather interesting.
bare face and mustached face of face vase.
Bearded face of face vase. This Norfolk Island Pine vase was soaked in Linseed oil to bring out the nature of the wood.
THURSDAY
I went to check on my stuff at the antique shop. I got there early and he did not show up while I was there. I likely should have waited an hour, but headed on.
Since I was arriving early, I stopped at a shell shop and drooled all over their floors at the wonderful shells and the ideas of what I could do with them. they have carved coconuts, some look like monkeys, or pirates, and one that looked like a mother and baby. I do wood carving and yet I am in awe at their work. I think it has something to do with seeing the shape in the material. I think in a different shape than they do.
In the same parking lot, I went to a thrift store. Looking around, I saw a basket with yarn in it. I had picked up a five pound bag of yarn a couple months ago so I have more yarn than I need. I walked away. I mentioned it to the proprietor and he said he could use my money. I walked around a little bit more. The yarn tripped me and tangled me up. the knitting hooks poked me until I agreed to take it home.
I don't knit and I have enough yarn. I usually don't have much use for baskets. The basket is a high quality one. I got my money's worth.
My knitting catch from thrift shop. Someone already asked for the basket.
When I got home, I sat down and finished the teddy bear dress I was working on. I have some loose ends to take care of. I mainly wanted to show my repairs to a bad design. when I had finished this version of the front panel, it would have been good on a pregnant teddy bear. I folded the sides together and stitched it down until I could put in pleats at the bottom. It is not how I pictured it, but it is better than other versions I had done. I really should remove the front panel one more time and try it again, but that won't happen.
Snowflake in her newly redesigned dress. I added the pleats so it did not look like she was pregnant. I won't change this dress again. It is good enough.
I broke one of my wooden crochet hooks. It was one of the very first I made. I had stitched some yarn through some folds and was removing it. I used the hook end to shove the yarn through as the point was able to open the space between the grid easier. the hook caught on some yarn on the other side and broke under nearly no pressure.
SATURDAY
We stopped at a couple yard sales but saw nothing of interest.
Mom had a few quick projects for me. One was to remove a patch of grass, about six inches by two feet. We dug that up and lowered the level and the put two patio stones and some gravel in its place.
I got out my drill and tried clear out two weep holes next to her decorative wall in front. She had not realized they were weep holes. she had been pulling grass out. My drill bit was not long enough, so I got a metal rod that is for axels for wood toys. I stuck that into the drill and bore deep into the hole, breaking up the built up muck down below. One hole had a lower cap and I had to break that up to get deep into the dirt.
About an hour later, the water than normally would stand there, was gone. I guess I did a good job.
I need to trim the palm tree, but we decided to hold off on that for now. Maybe next week.
I had one main project for the day. I tackled the shed. I dragged everything out of the shed floor and swept it.
I have a lot of branches and board wood in there of different sizes. A few pieces of wood was questionable. I did not bother the shelves, though I really should have. I did one side of the shed last year and that was a big project in and of itself.
I had one real problem in getting things back in. Some wood had to go to the back of the shed. Deciding what wood would be inaccessible and what to keep on hand was tough.
I took out some plastic shelving that was decaying. that made a lot of room. Mom says she is going to get rid of it.
Also I had a roller extender. You stand this a distance away from your table saw and it will catch the board as you pull it along, making your effective table longer. This one was cheaply made. My idea was to use it as a tool rest when working on the end of the lathe. I figured out that it just would not work for that. Since the tripod legs took a lot of room, getting it out of the shed made a big difference. I can now get a whole lot more stuff in there.
Maybe next week, I will clear off the work bench and sort through all that stuff too. some of that could go back into the shed now that there is space.
I had a cardboard box of pieces that I at one time classified as unusable. They need heavy work. I found out there is less in there than I thought. I found two ribbed cups that have a big shrinkage crack on one side and some worm holes in them. It dawned on me that I can add inlay in them and finish them up. They will be good when done. I kept them out to work with. Some of the work in the box are beyond help, thin spots that would break through, bad design, chips and breaks. too good to just toss.
The stem of my branch goblet broke again. tomorrow, I will drill out the pith and run a skewer into the stem to reinforce it when I glue it back together.
I never did do any woodworking today, other than pick out some pieces of wood for some projects. getting the shed sorted out was desperately needed. we can now get to some tools.
I have loads of projects for tomorrow. I want to make some more crochet hooks.
I need to sand a bunch of the projects I did over the past few weeks. I have to fix a few of them too.
I have lots of wood to make use of. I should cut a piece of wood from the Norfolk slab I got last month and cut the blank for a dragon. I am not sure what piece of the wood has the dragon in it, but it needs to be started.
I have several vases that need to be carved. I have loads of wood that demands to be carved or turned.
I have a metal working lathe that is begging to eat some metal. I have a cross slide I started making and have not had a chance to do anything with it. There are a number of tools I need to make for my wood working.
I have a few tools that need to be made without the metal working lathe.
I need to clear off the work benches, sort the stuff, and put some of that stuff away or at least some place else.
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
Year 11, Week 30, Day two (week 604) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 08-07-11 Sunday
85 and unbroken clouds in the morning, no breeze and high humidity, not enough to make the air feel thick. In the afternoon, the sun started showing through a thin haze and the temps went up. Puffs and heavier clouds hovered over the Everglades and later started edging closer east. The air had just enough movement to cause the lighter parts of the leaves to waver. The only strong breeze felt was when I was a couple miles south as some liquid sunshine. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.\
I started the morning by tending the cats. Scarface was fighting again. He has a new scar on top his head and I thought I saw it yesterday and saw it for sure today that he was limping. His front leg seems to be the problem.
The beast of the back yard wanted company after receiving a lot of attention. My big problem was that I was involved in a project and was not staying put enough to tend him. He did not want to get stepped on so he went someplace else. After my brother showed up, he became a little skittish and stayed in hiding.
My main project today was to clean and sort the workbench. I started at one end and removed everything from a quarter of it. I then sorted the stuff, re-stacked it consolidated it. I then moved to the next quarter. The last half was done at one time since there was some space in there. For the moment, a whole lot of stuff can now be found.
I really need to sort all the stuff hanging on the pegboard. Screwdrivers and wrenches are a royal mess. That took the whole morning.
Last night, the stem of my branch goblet broke. Early in the morning, I drilled the pith out of the branch goblet. I then ran a skewer up into it, glueing the break at the same time. The skewer locked it in line.
After cleaning the bench, I settled down and touched up several of my pieces. I sanded the break of the branch cup and worked on the interior. I sanded on the sea grape bowl of the goblet that has a Norfolk stem. I worked on the base to clean that up.
I drilled the holes bigger on the buttons I made last week. I ran into the problem where the drill would go all the way through, then catch on the button and spin it. One button disappeared. It made no sound as it disappeared.
Oh, I found out the kind of wood the buttons are made of and that I can never remember. It is POPULAR. It is sort of a greenish wood.
Norfolk Island Pine barrel buttons, Oak (?) barrels, and Popular post buttons
soaked in Linseed Oil.
I have a stick of purple heart. I tried splitting it with a hatchet. I then found out that the grain goes on an angle. I had hoped it went straight through the pieces so it could be a really good crochet hook. The hooks are best if the grain runs straight through them. the best way to get that is to split them so the grain will follow the planes of the split. that makes for a really strong tool.
My brother brought out his Drill Doctor, a drill bit sharpening system. I remembered I saw a drill bit thing when cleaning the shed, so I located it and brought it out. My brother sharpened one of my bits with it and it was perfect. I sharpened another bit and really messed it up. My brother took it and suddenly it was gone. I then sharpened a broken bit I had, a really small one, and it sharpened it perfectly.
When we sharpen the bits, we test it by drilling a steel angle iron. If it cuts into it, it is sharp. This does not matter if it is a wood bit or a metal bit. These bits won't drill stainless steel. that is too hard. Regular metal is not a problem.
He sharpened all my main bits. I guess I need to empty out my drill box and see what bits I have hidden in there.
He then sharpened all his bits in his kit, finding a missing bit in a bag of other bits. The sheet metal case he keeps this set in was in bad shape. It keeps bending and jamming. He did some tweaks and twists and was able to get it to work again, at least for now.
As to what I will be doing next week, that will depend on my mood. I think I will have to trim the palm trees in back. that will take some time. I really need to take out my slabs of Norfolk and pick out the one that will give me the best carved dragon and rough cut the wood for that. I have branches and trunks that need to be made into things. I want to make a bunch of crochet hooks.
I have not touched my metal working lathe in over a month. part of the problem is all the wood I got needs to have some sign they are being used.
I will see what I actually do next week.
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