(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-15-14 Sunday
high 60s in the morning, low 80s in the afternoon. Blue sky with lots of wispy clouds, light breeze. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
I had to work Saturday. Really kills woodworking, but looks good in the tool store later..
Working Saturday also kills yard sailing, but I do have more money also for later. I got some back-logged work out so I can start concentrating on a big project that is coming up.
I dug out the bins from the art show and sorted my work. I set everything out to give them a look. I have two pieces to repair, a butterfly on one fairy carving and a feather in another fairy carving. I will have to make an all new feather out of wood. After the big carvings were put away, I then tackled the turned pieces. I took them all out of the bins, and then re-packed them so the bins could be closed completely, except for the bin that has the cannons.
I got out some stuff I needed, cords, drum sticks, and so on so they would be available, and then put everything away.
The bins of turnings need to go to the antique shop when I first get a chance. I took two bins of small carvings and show accessories home and they are stuck in the “junk” room waiting to be stacked away properly.
By the time I had sorted and packed my work, I was out of time and energy.
I hope to do some wood working next week. There is a turning club meeting and I am debating whether to go to it.
I will see what I actually do next weekend.
Year 15, Week 10, Day One (week 707)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-22-14 Saturday
86 degrees, mostly sunny with thin puffs dancing across the sky. A brisk breeze that made things nice and comfortable, the building blocking the worst of the strong breeze. So we got a light wind to carry away the heat.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
THURSDAY NIGHT
I went to the Gold Coast Woodworking Club meeting.
The demonstration was on SEGMENTING - assembling bowls and vases from pieces.
The first part of the demonstration was on LAMINATING (also referred to as segmenting)- gluing up the blank of solid bowls and then turning them. He had an interesting technique where once he has the sequence of boards to be glued up, He would take each individual board and cut part of the bowl out of it. He used a thick board in the center and cut the inside shape of the board out. He would then trace that onto the next board, and then would tip the band saw table and cut along the line. He would trace that, tip the bandsaw table some more, and after cutting along the line, he would trace the high edge on the next board.
laminated chip platter by club member
laminated platter by club member
What he ends up with is a good part of the wood already removed so he is not spending lots of time gouging out wood, and he glues up the cut pieces into another, smaller bowl.
One thing he does is use the bandsaw to remove the outside corners of the square blocks, and will tip the bandsaw table to remove some more wood on the angled bottom part of the outside of the bowl. He glues some Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) on the open side of the bowl and uses that to hold the worm-screw attachment of his chuck so he can shape the outside finely and then make a tenon for holding the bowl so he can work the inside.
segmented vase by club member
He then parts off the MDF, cutting most of the way through the bowl wall, and then using a handsaw to finish it. He then can finish the inside. He said he uses the MDF for making several bowls. For removing the tenon after the inside is done, he makes a jam chuck to fit inside the bowl and removes the foot so he has the bottom of the bowl the way he wants it.
The other method he showed about cutting small pieces - segments- slightly thicker than the walls of the bowl and gluing them in the circle. He then turns the outside and inside smooth so he has a colorful bowl when done.
He showed a table saw gig he made that allows him to cut all sorts of angles, depending on how many pieces is needed to go around he work, six, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty four, and so on. He said it took him an hour to make it. Based on my experience, it would take me a couple weekends to make it....
He showed techniques for gluing up the work. There were about five methods. One is to glue just two pieces together at a time, then glue the pairs together, and so on. One thing he did was to use a big hose clamp that uses a screw to tighten, to cinch it tight. He stuck a piece of dowel between the halves when he glued the sections together. He said that this allows him to make adjustments, if necessary, when he glues two halves together. If the angles are not quite right, he can sand them to make the ends of the two halves fit.
When he builds up the walls in this way for a long piece, he smooths the inside after he gets several layers, then build up more layers before he smooths them. This way, when he is working with a really deep work, he is not trying to shape it completely from the end.
Next month, we have a segmenting challenge. We are to make something that is made up of ten or more pieces of wood, segments, that was made from the beginning of this month. Because I am working, there is no way I can accomplish that. I also cannot cut straight so it is not a project I would be good at.
In the club, the best way to learn, to get good, is to try everything they demonstrate. Even if your results are not good, you learn something and will improve. It also forces you to make things outside your comfort zone.
The club challenges such as segmenting, is really good for getting people to do something that they would never do on their own.
One of the members had some excess wood and offered it free to the club. I got several pieces and have immediate plans for a couple of them.
wood I got. The left and middle piece is mahogany. The second from left and end piece is black walnut. Not sure what the second from right piece is.
I worked Saturday again. I am working on a big project and we are on a deadline to get my part of the project done.
SUNDAY
I got to Mom’s house earlier than I usually do and dragged out the lathe. I took a piece of black walnut, measured and cut it in half. I was making a pair drum sticks figuring that black walnut would be a strong wood for that.
I found the center of the halves of wood, which was three quarters inch rough sawn. I started with the first one and had it pretty much shaped. As I was about to make the beating end of the drum stick, I found that the stick was splitting. I put glue into the crack and put that end in the chuck and made the beating end. I could not get the handle end smooth today as the glue had not set. I will see about fixing that next week.
I started on the second half of the board and had it rounded. I then swapped ends as the end at the chuck was square. I started rounding the last bit of corner when the piece started flapping around. The wood split and half of it fell off.
The problem was that the boards were not cut straight with the grain, but the grain was running on an angle through the board. What needs to be done is to split the wood to get my sticks, then they would be at their strongest. Sawn wood does not always get cut with the grain.
I will find another use for the broken piece.
I could have done more, but we wound up doing a whole lot of talking instead. My brother, mom and new dad and I had not really been together in a while so we were catching up. There was a big land slide up on Washington State, which is where we originally were from, and we were discussing that also.
I hope next week to get some real work done. I do have to work Saturday again. I doubt I will do the glue-up for a segmented bowl. That is an all day project. I likely will try to make drum sticks again. At the art show, a couple people considered my drum sticks but I had found a crack in them and talked them out of it. The one I made today is a bit too thick. It also has some shaping that needs to be done.
I will see what I actually do next weekend.
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