Year 18, Week 39 , Day One (week 977)

Year 18, Week 39  , Day One (week 977)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
09-29-18 Saturday

78 early morning, 90 after noon, lots of blue sky, some clouds, a little bit of a shower very early morning, but not over us. Our normal summer pattern is where showers build up parallel to the ocean, then either come east heading to sea, or head west over the Everglades. This week we had two days of the summer pattern where they headed west, Most of the time this month, we had dots of showers coming in off the ocean. Sometimes it is just a few dots here and there, but other times it is an army of them marching past. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

This month would have been my Dad’s 101th birthday. This would also have been my new dad’s 87th birthday. 

After breakfast, we headed to a church that has many “yard” sales. It is in a separate room. There were several items I had to dodge as they lunged for me, but none tackled me and forced me to buy them, so I got away empty handed. 
We stopped at a yard sale on the way home. Oh that was so tempting. I saw a bookshelf , some bar stools and a couple small items but somehow left without them. That was partly because mom was driving and she does not have much room in her car, and partly because I would have to figure out where to put them. She looked at a pair of metal “bar stools” that she considered getting for plant stands, but decided against it. Wow, I did not buy anything!!!!

At home, I dug out my carving stuff. I did a serious search for tools to work with. There was nothing in view, and what was in view could never be reached without moving a whole lot of stuff. I did find a sharp saw. I already had a small dull rusty fine tooth saw I found last week. I had and set up on the work bench.  I get crochet newsletters in E-mail. I saw a pattern for a gingerbread house. I only looked at the picture and  thought maybe I could give that a try as a design. During breakfast, I did a quick sketch, figuring out how to do my saw cuts to speed the project.  I did not have the band saw, saws-all, or really any other power to do any cutting.
I took a two by two stick of white pine that is a couple years old. I quickly found that the sharp saw had difficulty getting started, so I used the dull saw to get the groove started, then switched to the sharp saw. I removed the pieces, then had to make more cuts to correct inaccurate cuts. 
I learned something very important. Using a handsaw requires skill. It is one thing to make a cut. That takes some effort. But to make an accurate cut, is something else. It turned out to be a skill that has to be developed. I cut a groove around the bottom of the roof to create eves, and had to redo it farther down because of another mistake. 
I saw a video of a guy carving a bowl with an hand Adz. He said that if you are starting out, you will likely only cut for about fifteen minutes before your arm gives out. It will take a while to develop the endurance to cut like he did, which was a good portion of the bowl before he had to take a break. 
The same is with hand saws. There is a whole bunch of techniques one has to develop, such as holding it up straight up and down (one problem I had), not bending it (another problem), cutting straight on your line (again another problem I had), making efficient strokes, just to name a few mistakes I fought. 
One corner of the peak of t he roof ended up lower than the other because I had my angle wrong in every way.. Mom likes that effect . The bottom of the house is not square or straight, tipping from one corner t o the other. It is hard to cut “slivers” of wood off to square something up. This is end grain which the knife fights with a passion. 
I started carving, removing the wood from the body of the house to create the overhang.  Once I got it deep enough, I then carved in the windows and doors. My hands know how to carve. I can see the shapes, and know what cuts to do, but there are some skills I have to relearn. It is mostly dealing with “feathers” where the wood where it did not cut cleanly.  I am not wearing carving gloves right now so I made sure I gave thought to how my left hand is holding the work, making sure nothing is in any pathway the knife could go. 
I did forget about one thing. On the hand holding the knife, I put my thumb against the work to get leverage. I have a few nicks on my thumb where the knife touched it. More like paper cuts, than anything. Have to concentrate on where my thumb is. 
Anyway, I ended up with reasonable results when I was done. It showed me that if I can cut the blanks out fast, these will be good ornaments to make. Painting will make all the difference in the world. Also, if I can make blanks fast, I could take more time in carving decorations into the houses. I might be able to make some ornaments this year. I will be able to get into wood working again.

I ran the plane on the black walnut sticks in an attempt to make drum sticks. The plane is too gentle for hogging wood off the stick. I need something that will dig in deeper. I will dabble in it a bit more until I can find the tool I really need.

Will see what I do tomorrow.


Year 18, Week 39, Day two (week 977)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
09-30-18 Sunday


78 early morning, 90 after noon, lots of blue sky, some clouds, a few dots on radar but that is farther south and in the morning. 

We had a period where the sun was in our eyes in the morning. It is not quite directly in our eyes right now, though that could have been because of clouds over the ocean. 
At noon, I got outside with my tools and started carving on an idea that mom gave me. She suggested a tea pot as an ornament. Again I used hand saws to do the cuts. I had a better idea of what I had to do. I cut a chunk off the whitewood stick, on an angle again!! And then put the chunk in the vice with the corner sticking out and cut off one corner, and then the opposite corner. I then put those two “flats” (a comment on my cutting) and started shaping the other two corners. One of the corners had a piece sticking up on the end where it broke off rather than cut, so I decided that would be the spout. It was a tiny bit higher than the rest of it. I shaped the bottom. I flipped it around and cut the top and bottom for the handle. I then set it up and cut down on each side of the corners so there would be a narrow spout and handle. I put the saw to the spout to slice it down, but being end grain, I decided it would be safer to use the knife and carve it away. 
I took to carving it, rounding the bottom some, and knocking off what corners were on the body, and shaping the handle and spout. I had a lot of mistakes and it turned into a coffee pot, rather than a tea pot. It needs a lot of work, but proved the concept of the design. 
Like the gingerbread house yesterday, cutting the blanks quickly will make the job easier and faster. Usually when I make ornaments, I aim at having a dozen of each. I try to sell some (wood and tool money), and then give others as gifts. These two designs are do-able.
I’ve wanted to make rocking horses for several years now. I figured out that it will have to be roughed out on the scroll saw, the legs and body as separate pieces, then glued together, rounded and detailed with the knife. The scroll saws are buried in Mom’s garage. 
It really did not take too much time to make this, as sloppy as it was. It is common for me to rough out the ornaments, then spend a different session cleaning them up and fine tuning them, so this is not bad. Mom called us for lunch. When I came out later, the shade I was in, was gone. I do miss the awning. Maybe we will get the frame rebuilt after hurricane season. 

I am happy I accomplished SOMETHING. If I get serious next weekend, I should spend my time cutting blanks. It would only take about an hour if I used the band saw, but that is buried. If I do the handsaw, it could take several weekends to make enough to just sit and carve. I can see that the carved Christmas balls I thought about would be too much work by hand.

I will see what I accomplish next weekend. 

1605 

coffee pot and gingerbread house. both out of a two by two. Mom says the coffee pot needs a lid. I had considered drill it out.

The slope of the roof, front to back, was caused by inaccurate handsaw skills. Mom likes it.

the coffee pot almost looks like a misshapen elephant from this angle. It needs more work, for sure.

Year 18, Week 38 , Day One (week 976)

Year 18, Week 38  , Day One (week 976)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
09-22-18 Saturday

Dots of showers zipping off the ocean from the South East. One hit north of us, but missed mom’s garden. 90 degrees, light breeze otherwise fairly blue skies. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

THURSDAY

I had forgotten to mention about the turning club meeting last month. Having a turning club meeting this month reminded me of it. The demonstration last month was on hollowing a vase. They started with a log, with the bark off, and shown how to turn the outside out side of a log to a rough shape. This month, he demonstrated hollowing out the insides. He was using a hook tool to do the hollowing. Some people use a ring tool which is a circular piece of metal with the upper end sharpened. He said that those clog quite often. The hook tool does not clog as much, though he had to unclog it several times. He showed how to hold it against the wood and how to push or pull it to do the work.  
One trick he used was to take a magnet from the back of a speaker and stick that on the side of the lathe bed. He then leaned his turning tool against it so it would stay put while he was working around it. He said that if the hook tool hits the floor, it will shatter.
He drilled the inside of the vase partway in, and then hollowed it out to the bottom of the drill, then drilled it again, each time was two or three inches deep, and then hollowed down to that point. He said that you get your walls to about the thickness you are after, and then don’t touch it again as you work down. He said he will finish the vase and bring it in next month.

They had a “Do Dad moment, where someone shows off a tool or device, or sometimes a technique. It usually is only five minutes long. Tonight, one of the guys showed where he attached a rotisserie motor to a block with a bearing and a bolt that can fit one of his chucks. He then explained that when he is finishing his work, he would rather not have his lathe tied up, waiting for the finish to dry. He mounts the work on this set up and it will rotate slowly while applying the finish and then can hold it until the finish dries, during which he can be creating new work. 
Another demonstrated that a cheep (new) plunger cup can be used as a Jam chuck when stuck over the jaws of your chuck. A jam chuck is where you take your piece and turn it around, fitting the mouth of the piece, jamming it over something that fits, the jam chuck. The tail stock holds the work in place against the jam chuck. One can then finish the bottom or make changes in the bottom of the piece.  Many will shape a “scrap” piece of wood. With the plunger, you can open the jaws of the chuck as much as needed, fit the plunger over it. The mouth of the piece the goes against the plunger. The plunger protects the piece and prevents slipping while the chuck holds the work solidly and centered. 

The club has a raffle called THE BRING BACK PRIZE. It is where the winner the previous meeting brings back something for the new winner to receive, and then they have to bring back something. It is a way to get works by other members. Over the years, I have won several times and they are really good pieces. One piece I like was by a rank beginner and he simply had a stick that he tapered from the ends and thinned down in the middle like a finial. I like that piece. 
I won the bring back prize this time. I have to bring something for the next winner to get. I might dig out something from my stock or give an ornament, which I also have a lot in stock. Will have to see what I come up with.

Saturday


I had dug out a stick of black walnut in an attempt to make some drum sticks. I searched and found a dull fine tooth saw to cut the pieces to length, then a plane and used that to knock off the corners. That did not do a good job of removing wood. I really had nothing else on hand to work with and now have a pair of badly shaped octagon sticks. This is going to be a lot of work. The neighbor is having work done in his garage so everything on one side of the garage is piled up against all my wood working stuff. My lathe, which would make this project really easy, was not at the very end near the door either, so it is out of reach. I did not notice any other useful tools within view, let alone reach. 

I mowed Mom’s neighbor’s front yard. That took all my get-up-and-go out of me.. I was smart and did this after I played around with some wood. 

I will see what I do next weekend.
773
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The finishing station using a rotisserie motor to slowly rotate the piece as you add finish. 

My bring back prize, made with plywood

Year 18, Week 37 , Day One (week 975)

Year 18, Week 37  , Day One (week 975)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
09-16-18 Saturday


Sunny, mostly blue sky, 90 degrees, light breeze, good humidity.  The constant dots of rain clouds that have pestered us the past month has finally stopped. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

A family member has been really sick and I have spent all my time with them, helping the care giver and spending time with the family member. Projects were put on hold, even writing notes was kept short. We are now past, that so I can look forward to possibly getting some projects done in the near future. 
During this time, we had family come down for a visit and had a bbq. Of course, it was my job to clean up. Ugh!!

Yard sailing was shut down. Could not take the time to do that. I did go to a big yard sale a dealership organized. One woman had a box of yarn. I don’t need yarn. That was one time where I wished I could see in the future. If she was not going to sell it, and was going to toss it, I would have gotten it, but for no other reason. Another woman had what could have been 50 or 60 dowels of different sizes. I could have gotten that fairly cheep. The only reason I did not get it was I would have to carry two batches of them across the big parking lot and I have no place to store them. Otherwise I would have loved to have gotten them. The next day, I saw a use for a small dowel and did not have them at hand. 
Once in a great while, while yard sailing, we see something we kick ourselves over. We either kick ourselves for not getting it, or kick ourselves for getting it. Also there are “what if”s where you really have no use for it but could see possibilities. I will wish I got those dowels but in a way, glad I did not get them. Several years ago, I saw a big roll of leather, taken from a couch. I have wondered if I could have used it if I had gotten it. I have seen one or two projects where it would have been nice. About 5 years ago, a woman had like 7 jars of buttons. That would have been a nice catch if I had gone for it. I bought a commercial style meat slicer. I realized that it was not something I even wanted to use as I did not want to have to clean it. I had a friend who was able to get that to someone he knew who could use it. 
I am not sure I like that I picked up that lawnmower for mom’s neighbor. I am the one who mows the lawns. At this time, the lawn needs to be mowed every other week because it is growing really fast. At 90 degrees and high humidity, it is a real challenge to get it finished. I mowed yesterday and did not finish the back yard. I did get the area people get around, but did not have what it took to finish it. 
Another problem of yard sailing is that stuff gets buried or put away and forgotten. Stuff collects really fast. All you know is that you have a pile of stuff and not sure what is there. 

I have done some reading during this time, finishing 2 of 4 books I have wanted to read. I have done crochet. I started a zig zag scarf. My Zigs are a bit too long, but I will go with it anyway. I also started a zig zag dish cloth with really short Zags and made a bunch of other mistakes, including trying to correct other mistakes. Since this is going to be for Mom and she is really tough on them as she uses them in high chlorine water when doing dishes, It does not have to be pretty, just useful. 
I will continue to do crochet but not as much as when I was helping with the sick relative. Where the time is applied now has changed.

Mom’s  neighbor, in who’s garage my wood working equipment is stored, is nearing the end of his remodeling. All the stuff in his garage is packed against my wood working equipment because of work in the opposite side of the garage so there is no way to get to them. The lathe still needs a wheel repair anyway. It will only be partially useable during the repair period. I likely will need a real cleaning and lubing before I can use it anyway.

Without the lathe, I decided to try to make some drum sticks. I did dig out some black walnut. This is a hard wood. I learned quickly that it does not take to the knife well. I was more humiliating my knife than shaving down the corners of t he sticks. I dug out a plane and started knocking off the corners. It was doing the job but this was going to be a long project at that rate. I have not had a chance to do more with it that making it more like a misshapen octagon.  I have a draw knife somewhere, but where it is, and whether I can get close to it is a problem. It would make the removal of the worst of the wood really quick.  I likely will worry the wood away until I end up with results.  I will have to do a search to see if I can find some tools to make this project faster. I need to hog a lot of wood, almost half the diameter of the sticks on one end, and even more on the other,  before I can start thinking about fine tuning the shape. 
If we ever get the awning up, which does not look like it will happen soon, one big project is to get all my hand tools together in one place and see exactly what I have. 
I see videos of making lathes, and dowel jigs and all sorts of other interesting projects. My problem is locating my basic tools just to do that. They are not easy to grab. Much of it is buried. 

Christmas is coming. I have a number of projects I want to do. Several need a lathe to rough out quickly. I want to make Christmas balls and then carve them. I still want to make the rocking horse ornaments. I have considered some other designs that require wood turning to rough them out. I might just dig into them and use the knife. It is already getting close to the time that I HAVE to get started.  A lot of ideas that have caught my attention comes from crochet ornaments. The problem is that I have done many those designs before over the years. 

I also need to get to thinking about my Christmas Cards. I would love to have them done at the beginning of December, (same with my ornaments by the way) so I can concentrate on other things. It is not fun to be finishing the cards the day they have to be given out, and also not nice to not be able to give them to some people when you last see them before Christmas because you don’t have the cards yet. 

I will continue to worry out the drum sticks, while searching for missing tools. I will also start shaving wood for a few Christmas ornament experiments. 
We will see what opportunities will provide.

1297

a skip stitch scarf half done. Mom ended up with his

Another skip stitch scarf. I gave this to a family member.

a test of a zig zag to see if I understood the process. it worked. It gave me confidence to actually try it. on a real project

The blue scarf above was done with this yarn.