In My "Spare" Time: Year 14, Week 30, Day 0ne (week 676)

Year 14, Week 30, Day 0ne (week 676)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
08-17-13 Saturday

   86 degrees early morning with a humid feeling, 95 in afternoon but felt dryer than in morning. very good mix of puffs racing each other across the sky, with some blocking the sun for a very short time. Strong winds kept the air moving nicely, feeling cooler than it was. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of tourism.

   We hit several yard sales in the morning after Breakfast. At one, I got a baggy of jewelry, mostly earrings with some necklaces and some rings. I am thinking of them as decorations for some carvings.

   At another yard sale, I hit the mother-load. A guy was moving. He had messed with sheet metal working about 30 years ago. He had his tools and books in a metal box he made. I got the whole batch of tools for the price I expected to pay for one or two! Once in a while we would like to do something with sheet metal. Of course, I will let my brother have first dibs on them.

   In the morning, I settled down outside and sanded on my crochet hooks. Once I sanded them, I had to give them another coat of varnish. The way I did the handles was to set a gap in the vice and set them with the rods down in the gap, and sprayed them.
I then had to do the rods. I remembered the wooden clamps I got last week so I dug a pair of them out. One can put them on a slight angle by how tight you set each screw. I put the smallest handle in one end of the vice and the largest in the other end and clamped down on them. I was then able to put all the rods that would fit in between them. I had to use a second vice for the rest of the rods.
   That held them up well enough that I was able to give the rods a good coat of varnish. I sanded them with 600 grit after they had dried and am leaving them at that. I should wipe them with varnish and rub them until they are dry to give them a good clean finish but doubt that will happen.

   I had started crocheting a roll case for the rods. It dawned on me that because I am using fine yarn (almost a string) and a small hook, this was going to be too long a project to get the dimensions I need.
   I remembered that Jo-Ann's cloth world has small swatches of fabric for sale. I headed there a bit later in the morning. I picked up two pieces of cloth, 12"x18". I will fit the rods in the cloth and tack with thread where I need it stitched. I will then see if I can get my mom to sew it up with her sewing machine. With that, the set will be done.

   I stopped for gas at a place that was nearly ten cents cheaper than most gas stations. I drove off and got to the store that was my next stop, and realized I left my cane at the gas station. I drove all the way back and it was right where I left it! I tend to touch the truck when walking around it and that is why I did not realize I had left the cane. The truck was my cane at the time.

   Later in the day, Mom and I went to the Festival Flea Market on Sample Road near the Turnpike exit. We went to the Dollar And Up store which has items for a dollar and other things that are more than a dollar, but you cannot seem to find them anywhere else, or at that price.
   I've been wearing a cowboy hat as my hat for months. I got it at this store when it was owned by someone else. that hat has finally had it, the brim, which once had character, now looks sick. I had a replacement hat already but decided to get another one. It was cheap enough. I also got a good wallet there at a good price.
   It was a bit of walking there as it is a mall with several rows of booths down the middle and stores along the side. We walked to the opposite end of the place. My legs let me know they were not too happy with all that walking, but much better than they could have on a bad day.

   I am not sure what I will do tomorrow. I have loads of projects in mind but won't know which will be done until I do them.
   I will see what I do tomorrow.




Year 14, Week 30, Day Two (week 676)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
08-18-13 Sunday

   95 degrees, good strong breeze, well mixed puffs of clouds racing across the sky, mostly sunny and I did not notice any time the clouds were in front of the sun. I did drive through some wetness on the way home. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach department of tourism.

   I saw only one yard sale on the way to Mom's house and he did not have what I couldn't live without. Disappointing!

   I had to take care of a couple things on my truck before I got started. The screw that holds my wooden shifter knob on the stick shift of my truck came loose a second time. This time I used the right screwdriver and really tightened it tight. I will see how long that lasts.

   I went out back and thought about a project to work on. about a month ago, My brother gave me some LIVE OAK branches. I cut a section off I mounted it in the lathe and started turning. I knocked off a branch first, then made a tenon on one end. I turned the piece around and started turning a goblet. I wanted to have the bark on the edges of the lip and base of the goblet.
   As I started hollowing it, I would get a catch and the piece would get out of balance. the tenon was breaking. I would make adjustments and continue to hollow. I had to stop and rest for a while, having lunch in the process, because my legs got real tired.
   I got the inside about as good as I was going to get and started working on the outside. Being out of practice, I had a couple catches on the outside and the tenon gave a little more.
   I THEN MADE A BEGINNER MISTAKE!!! We tell all beginners to rotate the work by hand before turning on the machine to see if there is any place it might contact something. I did not do it. I adjusted the piece and then flipped the start switch. It turned once and the bowl hit the tool rest and broke!
I've kept the pieces for now. In prior times, I have made goblets into flowers. This one ended up a bit thicker than it should have been so I do not know what I will do with it.
   It was nice to do a little bit of wood turning on the big lathe. I just cannot stand very long, especially after the time, walking, standing, it takes to get everything set up to start working. Then there is the clean-up.

   I baked some bread today. This was dough I froze up last week. I needed to see what it would take to make bread from that point, rather than also mixing the dough. It takes several hours as you have to let it rise, but you can do things while waiting. The place smelled pretty good. Being in a condo, I kind of hope I am driving people crazy. More than once I have changed what I was planning to have for dinner because of some smells I caught while walking through the place.

   I have loads of projects to do, but will have to see what I do next week.