In My "Spare" Time: Year 16, Week 14, Day One (week 750)

Year 16, Week 14, Day One (week 750)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-25-15 Saturday

    84 early morning, 94 late afternoon, breezes strong enough to blow hats off, (chased my hat the length of a car and caught up to it as it stopped just before going out on the road.). Blue sky with a strong haze early morning. Some puffs built as the day wore on. Late afternoon, large columns developed to the east, only to rush over the Everglades. A couple hours later, Thunder heads built over the Everglades again and wind pushed some wetness onto the ground over us, but nothing of the real downpours. It was just enough to know it had come, before the thunder heads headed west again. This weather report is brought to you by the city of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

    We saw a church yard sale down the block. They had a lot of tables but less than they had at other times. They had some things I had not seen, which was nice. I rubbed the bellies of the teddy bears (Teddy bears love their tummies rubbed) as I walked by. It was the least I could do as I did not dare anger the teddy bears I already have by bringing home more. I ended up picking up a tortilla press. This is cast iron and well made. It had some surface rust which I know how to clean up. It dawned on me that my kitchen things is becoming cast iron and stainless steel. I don’t use plastic all that much any more.
    They had a set of ceramic pots, large and serving size, that were pretty, but I have no use for them and no place to show them. I ended up also getting a book. When I made my purchase, I paid a little extra as a donation.
    We checked one of our “rabbit runs” and only found a couple yard sales. They had nothing of interest. We were about to head home when wefound another church yard sale. They have had two other yard sales this year. I found myself looking at another cook book. I remembered that I have too many already. I decided to look to see what they had on the three or four things I make or want to make using the cook books. This book was not helpful or did not have them, so I set the cookbook down. I’ve decided I should use that for any new cook books I might get and will also use that criteria with the books I already have, that I should unload. They had an electric organ that they have tried to sell before. It turned out to be very good, and at a good price. Mom purchased it for a little church she goes to.
    We got home, and returned with my truck. Two people put the organ into the bed of my truck, and then when we got to the little church, two people took it off the truck and onto a dolly. Mom and I together rolled the organ into the church. This is why I love owning a truck. I had it available to do this for Mom. Otherwise, she could not have transported the organ.

    A while after we got home, I dozed off in the chair. When I woke, we decided to go to the Chinese buffet. The food hit the spot and I over ate, which is usual. When we got home, I petted the kitty, leaving her disappointed with how little attention I ended up giving her. The clouds had built up big at this time. I went inside napped, watched some TV before ending the day.

    I have several small but time consuming projects for tomorrow.

    I will see what I actually accomplish tomorrow.




Year 16, Week 14, Day Two (week 750)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-26-15 Sunday

    80 degrees mid morning, 95 early afternoon, flags blown straight out, blue sky with a heavy haze, a lone puff here and there closer to the horizon, not more than five in the entire sky. This weather report is brought to you by the city of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

    During the week, I replaced a couple tires that were worn. I found that I could not unlock the padlock that keeps the tire in place. My original plan was to replace the spare tire with something that fit the other tires. The key part of the lock corroded so you could not slip the key in. I grabbed my dremmel and an extension cord and cut the hasp of the lock. I went through two cutting disks to get through. They chose very hard metal for a reason. I worked lithium grease into the hasp and key holes of the lock in hopes to extend the life of the lock. I then found out that my brother replaces his padlocks each year as they corrode too much. I am glad I did not get a flat tire before this. It would have been horrible to not be able to release the spare and be stuck.

    Mom said that the church group that uses the little church in the early morning (her group that owns the building and meets late morning) set up the organ and removed the keyboard they were leaving there for their use. Mom said that when she arrived, she could hear their music from across the parking lot as they had their music cranked up to full. Mom had to take some time to figure out to turn down the volume on the organ as she did not know where the control was. I guess the organ is appreciated.

    I have a couple food processors that use a post to hold the accessory slicer-grater attachments. Several weeks ago, I had made a new post for one of my food processors. I decided I was going to make another one. I had a few pieces of Sea Grape that were near the right size. I carefully examined them with the food processor next to me and found that the best one got narrow on one end. I used the disk sander to square it so it would fit the square part of the attachment, but when I checked for the fit for the round end, it was just too small and on an angle. I need to split some more sea grape wood to get a piece the right size. I had something else to do first. When splitting with the grain, the wood does not always split square. I know there is a technique where you apply pressure in or out to guide the crack straight, but I cannot remember which does what. I seem to remember it was counter-intuitive. Since I know that, I am really thrown off. I am not using optimal tools for this either. I just try to get what I can use.

    One of the problems of making the food processor post is centering the square on where it will be round. On the one I made previously, I did a little better than eyeball the center. What I needed was a four jaw chuck for the little lathe. It has a three jaw chuck which is great for holding round stock, which one usually works with on the lathe. When a three jaw chuck holds a square piece, it ends up off center because one of the corners always meets one jaw while the other two catch more of the flats. I thought I had a four jaw chuck in the lathe-box, so I decided to take everything out and see what I could find.
    I got the box down to the bare wood (plywood box) and then sat and sorted things. My brother and I have been searching for a “rotary table” for some time. We’ve known we have it but could never find it. It turned up in the lathe box. It was far smaller than I thought it was. The rotary table allows one to rotate a piece to a different angle when machining. You can set specific degrees to work. It is key if one wishes to make gears, which we eventually would like to get into. I never found the four jaw chuck for the lathe. I did find several face plates with attachments to where, with some skill and knowledge, one can get a piece centered and hold it there while you work.
    All the stuff in the box tends to flow on top the lathe when everything is put in so one has to push stuff out of the way to get the lathe out, and also push stuff back out of the way to put the lathe back in. I took a piece of thin wood, which I had picked up for scroll sawing, and put that in as a divider to hold the “debris” in place. Then came the project of loading stuff back in. I decided to put the stuff I know I will not use any time soon, on the bottom and stacked stuff in the order of likely-hood of being used soon. It helps, but I was surprised at how much stuff that turned out to be. Some stuff will have to go elsewhere eventually. The only thing I actually took out of the box was two sheets of sandpaper.

    Everything was pretty much picked up in the process. The dinner bell rang so I finished packing up and ending my day. Another project I wanted to work on was that I have two teddy bears that need to be stuffed, have faces made, and stitched up. That would have been my next project but I decided to save that for some other time. I half figured that the wind would be too strong for working on that outside. One needs to spread things out under good lighting. Since filler, thread and yarn are light, stuff would likely have blown around.
    I ended my day with lunch, other than seasoning the taco press as I would a fry pan.

    I hope to make a new shaft for the food processor, exploring how to get it centered properly this time. I hope to finish up those two teddy bears I already have almost made. I would like to take on another wood project.

    I will see what happens next weekend.