(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-06-13 Saturday
94 degrees, puffs and columns zipping across on a brisk breeze. A couple clouds were pregnant which knocked down how many yard sales were out. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
A pregnant cloud during breakfast scared off two yard sales that had signs out. We did go to one yard sale but there was nothing I really needed.
Mom said she had something that I might want. When we got home, she took out a box that had two pasta cutters/meat tenderizers. I guess she ordered it as it was in the shipping box. We took a short time to figure out how to set them up.
The rounded blade is for cutting pasta into strips. They would be a bit wider noodles than I usually would use, but I instantly started thinking of bread sticks. I have to get some yeast and find my recipes. The jagged blade is for tenderizing meat or making slits for seasoning to get deep.
pasta cutter and tenderizing blade
I went out back, petted the kitties. Mom is taming them down really nice. There are two boys and one girl, and the girl is still flighty. She tends to stay by herself until Mom comes out to feed them. Mom can handle all three babies. Momma kitty panics when picked up. The two boys and mamma stayed near me the entire time I was out there.
Momma kitty feeding two the two boys. They kittens are already eating cat food.
I went out to the shed and started digging through bags and boxes. I have a rotary rasp and I wanted to find it. The bags have my battery powered drills I used all the time. I have not used them since the accident. I knew that there were drill bits and accessories in the bags.
While digging in the bags, I ran across decorations for an Indian spirit catcher I was making. The ring I was using, which I still had, broke up into pieces. I could still put it back together and use it. Not right now though. I had cord, feathers, and a turned and carved acorn as part of it.
I located a whole bunch of drill bits, flap sanders, a jig saw attachment for a drill, my rotary rasp, and a few other items. I put all my drills, batteries and chargers in one bag. the paperwork and decorations all went into another bag. I kept the drill bits out, and put the other accessories in a separate bag.
My first project was to make another stirring stick. I cut the two by two on the bandsaw, removing the top and bottom corners as I described last week. I then cut the wood away from the side of the handle.
I marked the center at both ends and mounted it on the lathe. Starting at the end of the handle which was at the tail stock, I started rounding the wood. I got two thirds down the handle when it broke. A nice shatter break. I picked this wood out for carving rather than for strength. I cut the shattered end of the handle which was about a third of the way from the end, and remounted the paddle and continued to turn the handle round.
I then used the disk sander to cut the height of the paddle, and clean up some rough wood. Finally, I took the rotary rasp and flap sander to the paddles of the new stirrer and the one I made last week.
Both paddles are pretty good, but they are not commercial or craftsman quality.
Both paddles, showing cupped surface.
Both paddles on 1 foot by 1 foot pavers.
I sat down at the little lathe. I took a rod I had started last week. I wrote on it, "make into D rod." It is nice to have a reminder of what I was doing. I machined the rod down to size. It was tough as the rod kept bending away from the bit. What would start out as a deep cut at the ends where it was strongly supported, became a light surface cut near the middle where it would bend, plus I was getting chatter.
I went back and forth over short areas, worrying the wood thickness down, then move to the next section. When I got close, I went to sandpaper. I would fold the sandpaper over and squeeze the rod between the two sheets with my fingers and rub up and down the length. I could feel the thicker parts and would concentrate on those areas. I was quite surprised when the rod made it through the gauge. It happened faster than expected.
I then took the rods I had and made them into crochet hooks but using a cutter disk in my dremmel and cutting in the hook. In the smaller hooks, it is a challenge as the hook has to be strong enough to not break, but deep enough to catch the yarn. I gave the finished hooks a coat of varnish before calling it a day.
I don't think I would trust the smaller hooks for anything other than light crochet. I would rather use metal for them. Black walnut is a strong wood, but these are not the best quality black walnut. Some sticks have signs of weathering in them, which takes away some strength.
I will make the handles for these and then I will have the fun of drilling the handles for a fairly tight fit for each sized rod. I don't have that many different sizes of drill bits.
I made some fresh noodles the other night. I brought them with me today and Mom fixed a sauce and cooked the noodles in them. It came out really good. The fresh noodles are really not much different than dried commercial noodles once they are covered in a sauce.
A couple years ago, I got bags and bags of yarn in a couple yard sales and was not sure how I would use it up. The scarves that Mom suggested gives me a way to really use it up.
A while back, I accidentally got another bag of flour and had no idea how to use it up as I was not using flour for much. I think I got it for a breading process for meat. I never did that though. Anyway, the pasta making I am doing now, is giving me a way to use up all that flour I have. I have a quarter of my first bag left, which is a lot of used flour.
Tomorrow, I have some ideas for projects. I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
Year 13, Week 24, Day Three (week 670)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
07-07-13 Saturday
94 degrees, blue sky with puffs and columns, some large patches of blue to the east, more puffs to the west. good brisk breeze. There was some birthing clouds on the way to Mom's but nothing once I arrived.
I started the day by cutting another stick of wood for a stirring paddle. I had three feet of wood left so I cut one foot off which will end up being carved, and then got to work on the other piece. I cut the top and bottom corners off the wood, then cut away the wood for the handle. I made the paddle a bit smaller than I planned on making it.
I mounted the wood in the lathe and started working on the handle. I had rough rounded the handle and started evening up the diameter. There was a crack and the paddle fell to the ground in three pieces. A rough spot in the wood I had seen when I was cutting the wood on the band saw, was where it broke. Since this time it was on the paddle end of the wood, I basically tossed it. I kept the rounded handle part as I might make that into something, but the rest of the stick is garbage.
I do have another full-length stick of two by two but decided not to cut on that today.
Broken paddle.
I set up the lathe. I decided to try some metal working. Digging in my "chowder box" which is a box of bits and pieces of metal that can be used for projects, I took a bolt and mounted it in the lathe. I turned the head of the lathe on a sharp angle and machined on the top of the head. Since I don't have a cross slide for cutting on angles, turning the head gives me an angle to work with. I was cutting a cone into the head of the bolt with the concept of turning it into a drive spur for the lathe.
The motor of the lathe got in the way with the tool carriage so I had to use a slightly lighter angle. I cheated by moving both wheels at the same time to get a sharper angle. I was trying to leave a point on it but knocked it off a couple times early in the process. I finally got a cone in the center sticking out. It is not as sharp as I would like but a good start.
I then turned the bolt around with the idea of grinding off the threads. I have to go to plan B, as the tail stock is not long enough to reach over the carriage and hold the end of the bolt in place while getting much movement out of the cutter to cut the threads away. The head of the bolt was not long enough to give a good grip.
Thinking about it right now, the dremmel may well be the way to remove the threads. I would have it on the lathe and hand rotate it as I work. I can spin the bolt in the lathe and grind away the bumps in the end, as the dremmel does not apply as much pressure as the cutting big would.
The kittens were laid out nearby. The boldest of the male kitties laid out on the ground beside me. My brother accidentally stepped on the kitty's foot. It only moved a short distance and was touching the foot lightly on the ground. I picked it up and petted it and held it for a couple minutes before setting it back down. It was no worse for the wear. It laid down there for a few minutes, then moved to a different location.
For some strange reason, the kitties keep looking at me with a look of disbelief. I guess they cannot believe I am so much more perfect than them ..........
I have a number of projects I can work on next week. My brother brought a two by twelve the other day and Mom needs me to replace a wheel on a wagon. The plastic rotted and broke. I could well use the two by twelve to make new wheels for the wagon. I have a dragon to carve on, a face vase to carve, My brother brought up some branches from his Live Oak tree and I should do something with them, and I have some pieces of Mango to work on, along with all the wood in my wood pile. I need to get into the bin and take out a piece of Mahogany to complete my Mahogany crochet hook set.
I will see what I actually do next week.
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