(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
10-05-13 Saturday
89 degrees, blue skies above with puffs around the horizon, feathers and smears high up, brisk breeze to keep it cool. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
Mocking birds were singing again. It would be fun to be able to identify the bird song they are copying.
We went yard sailing. We hit a couple church sales, and several individual sales. I kept my spending down but came home with a few items.
I picked up a set of three spring form pans where you bake the cake and then spring the sides apart so you just have the bottom of the pan to deal with. I just had to have them, even though I have no clue when I will ever use them. I almost picked up a bunt pan where the center removes, or a regular cake pan with a recoverable bottom. The three pans were only a tiny bit more. I also got a pair of cheep umbrellas and a DVD of old time science fiction.
I also got a tube that is designed for Champaign bottles. My intention was for my knitting needles. I got my small ones in there but they are longer than I thought they were. They will stay in there for now, though.
I picked up a book on Flower Fairies. It turned out to be pretty good, with the artist's poems next to each one. She sketched flowers from life, and then sketched children from her sister's kindergarten class in outfits she made and holding flowers, and then went to the studio to make her final paintings. This book is a compilation of seven books she published, and an eighth that was compiled from works not included in the other books.
I finally got out back to do wood working. I brought my Pasta drying racks with me. I cleaned up any stickers that was on the sticks or rods, and the glue, along with most of the pencil marks and smudges. Sandpaper works well for the pencil lines and smudges, finger nails remove stickers, knife scrapes off the glue and sandpaper removes any evidence. All rods were sanded just to make them a little better.
I finally laid all my rods on the racks to see how many rods I had and what I needed. I ended up with two extra short rods for the small drying racks, and am 15 rods short for the large racks. I just have to get more dowel stock. This project took a whole lot longer than I planned. I do have to take a couple of the racks back to square up the ends of a couple sticks so they will be straighter.
I tried to tip the table on the bandsaw and it would only go so far. I gave up.
I wore the whole-leg leg-brace I got last weekend. I wore it a couple times during the week, skipping a day or two to adjust it properly. Each time I wear it, it gets more comfortable. The big thing is to protect my leg from the Velcro hooks that are permanently attached to the brace itself. The pads are just not quite big enough, or I am not adjusting it properly. Today, it did quite well, forcing me to make adjustments only a couple times. I found that sometimes when I put my elbow onto my leg, I unlatch the straps.
Tomorrow, I hope to work on several projects.
Year 14, Week 37, Day Two (week 683)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
10-06-13 Sunday
92 degrees, blue sky over head, puffs all around, light breeze, not quite enough to make it feel cool.
I tipped the bandsaw table as much as I could and cut the blanks for leaping fish carvings I decided I am going to do. It took some pounding and rocking to get it as far as I got it.
The metal insert for the blade to go through and still support the work was too narrow for working at an angle so it had to come out. I then cut a couple blanks. the first cuts on the block was near the "base" so the base was able to support the work near the end of the cut. I then had to cut at the free end of the work. I cut one side with no problem, the edge of the hole holding the wood up. when I flipped it over to cut the second side, I was forced to hold the work physically. That is not good.
I then got an idea. I took two thin sheets of wood I have and clamped them on each side of the blade. That supported the work nicely as I made my cuts on the rest of the blanks. Because of the angle, I have more wood to carve away than I would like.
My brother then came and he figured out why the table was not tipping all the way. My activities had loosened the table, because of the built-up crud over the years, so it would tip easily. He found that a guide block I had installed in the lower blade guide was too long. He took a hacksaw where the blade sticks out from the handle and sawed away the end of the guide block, and that allowed the table to tip all the way.
Next weekend, I might re-cut these blanks. The less excess wood I have to remove, the faster the carvings will come out of the wood. Even without re-cutting them, this saves me a lot of time.
One nice thing about tipping the table is that the work is still flat on the table where it is safe to handle. Previously, I would tip the stick up on the edge and have to balance, hold and control the stick's angle while pushing it through the blade. That is not safe. I will have to do some testing but I think that tipping the table, with the sheets of wood next to the blade, will be the way I will work angular cuts from now on.
I had enough and called it a day, even though very little was done. Something was done which was good. I am a step closer to making some more Christmas ornaments. I still have a few blanks for Penguins to be carved.
I am not sure how much will be done next weekend. I have some stuff that has to be done and unless I get a day where I can leave early from work to do it, It will have to be done on the weekend. Whether any wood working gets done will be up in the air.
I will see what I actually do next weekend.
bandsaw blade hole I had to deal with when cutting some materials when table was on angle.
finished blanks cut for leaping fish ornaments. I have them in stepped positions to to show how they were cut.
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