Year 15, Week 06, Day One (week 703)

Year 15, Week 06, Day One (week 703)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
02-23-14 Saturday
   
    85 degrees blue sky with some puffs over the Everglades which got thicker and wandered over into our area by noon. I did see a few driplets from a cloud on my windshield while I was driving to some yard sales, but I think it was just making sure the valves were working and I was out of it after a couple blocks and it was just dots on the windshield. A light breeze made things comfortable. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Department of Tourism.
   
    THURSDAY
   
    I went to the Gold Coast Wood Turning Club meeting on Thursday. It was fun to get out with some old friends and make a few new ones.
    The demonstration was on making a platter from a board. I have done that many times, even making some platters that were carved into with a scene or logo. He was using a big Mahogany board that was a used as a bumper for a yacht. It was a strong two inches thick. There were a few tips and techniques he used that were new to me, but it was basically what I always did. It reminds me that I need to take time to sharpen my tools again, not just touch them up with a stone.
    The turning clubs have what is called an INSTANT GALLERY. The members bring their work and set them out for display and you can look them over, handle them if desired. Then later in the meeting, we tell about what it is, what we did and how we did it. One member made a strip sander, used for sharpening tools, completely out of wood. That was impressive to say the least. He was an engineer and is always making things out of wood where metal or plastic would normally be used. I would love to be able to do that.
    I had not done any wood turning during the past month so I was unable to bring anything in to show. I am not sure if I will be able to do it next month either. I will have to see.
   
   
    SATURDAY YARD SAILING.
   
    I spent more money this weekend than I should have. I got some good things but still should not have spent so much.
    I picked up a pair of fire place poker sets. One will be for my brother, the other is for my nephew, both of which do a little black smithing. One is brass colored, while the other is black iron. The black iron one looks cool and if I had a place in my house to display it, I would keep it. I don’t have free space in my place so it will have to be given away.
    I also picked up an electric chain saw. My electric saw needs a new chain. This one came with a gallon of chain oil.
    For low priced sales, I got THE ILLUSTRATED PROFESSIONAL WOODWORKER. I really have no need for it. I have a thinner book that is similar to it that I have not looked at after the month I got it. I doubt I could find that one. This was a dollar. I also got a whole bunch of gift boxes, likely a lifetime supply. I did not count them but a good guess was 30 of them. I also got a couple other items all for two bucks.
    In Mom’s general area are the cheapest gas stations in the county. Thursday, I had to put in a little bit of gas at $3.45. Saturday, I completely gassed up at $3.29. Big difference at 16 gallons.

    I went to Lowes Hardware and picked up some glue and epoxy. I forgot to get the wipe-on varnish I was really after. Darn. A while back, I had chipped the ladle I was making. I had a temporary repair done, but wanted to make it permanent. I got some food safe epoxy that can take some heat and used that to glue the chip in place, along with the pegs I had made for that for the temporary repair. I used my knife to remove the surface epoxy.
    I need to finish up the handle and do a little more work on the inside of the bowl and then the ladle will be done.
    The brass colored fire poker set has pot metal finials on it. I broke the one on the stand. After stuffing a bit of paper towel into the hole so it would not bleed deeper, I poured some epoxy inside, then slipped a dowel into it, then put the second section in place and poured in more epoxy into that. The final appears to be strong enough now. It has a screw on cap so that will be hidden most of the time.

    I had Mama kitty on my lap and she became a furry puddle of cat at my touch. At one point I was rubbing her chin and she grabbed hold of my hand so I had to rub her chest with my finger tips for quite a while, as my other hand petted her all over. She was disappointed when I had to put her on the ground to do some work.
   
    I did nothing I planned to do today.
    I will not be doing any woodworking tomorrow. I am “taking a day off” by doing work at home.