In My "Spare" Time: Year 18, Week 42, Day One (week 980)

Year 18, Week 42, Day One (week 980)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
10-28-18 Saturday

76 early morning, 86 late afternoon, blue skies with fluffy puffs, with a few larger ones blocking the sun. a nice breeze helped the weather. We are supposed to get a chill tonight, going into the high 60s. I think I might break out my parka and hundreds of quilts. It seemed like it was just a couple weeks ago that the sun was shining in our face. Now it is way south. In the evening, it seems like, though it isn’t, it is 45 degrees from west. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

We hit a couple yard sales in the morning on the long way home from breakfast. I got some fidget spinners. I want to disassemble some and try to fill the wing holes with spinners too. This modification should be really fun fidgeting with.

I had an interesting project to work on Since Mom has her awning up, I can move my equipment from her neighbor’s garage. I sorted things, sticks and wood in one place, sheets in another, box like stuff some place else. During the week, Mom had me get some red mulch for her walkways. I had to get some cardboard from the garage for her to put down on the ground beneath the mulch. I was actually able to see my lathe. That was exciting.
Today, I first dug my way to and brought out the tool cart for the lathe. Then I was able to clear the band saw so it could go out. It did not take long after that for the lathe to be cleared. I got all of them out back but that was all.
The lathe has a lot of weight on in. Barbell weights, metal plates, wood, bricks. The idea was, when working with a really big and out-of-balance piece of wood, the weight on the lathe cart would keep it from bouncing. The problem was that the pipe that acts as a lever to lift the lathe up on the wheels, broke. The lathe really weighed too much.
To move it. I grabbed a wheeled platform used for allowing cabinets to move or to get under a car to repair, I used the hand cart to lift it up on the end, then kicked the cart beneath it. I likely should have asked my mom to help, but I decided to take the chance. Once that end was on the cart, I was able to roll it to the back of mom’s house. I did have two spots where I ran into problems. One spot at the base of mom’s drive way, the wheels of the cart turned and I had to struggle to get them turned in the same direction to roll. The second time was right at the awning. There is a paver that is slightly above the other, which has always given me problems, and the wheels caught there.
Mom’s neighbor let me know what he wanted to do in the garage. I started moving a big cabinet and my back said “THAT IS ENOUGH FOR TODAY” I listened.
His garage is a mess, but I know the layout he is after and will work on that as the weeks come. There is now room in there though.
A bit later, I could feel the work that I did through my body, and took my nap a lot earlier than normal.

I intended to work on ornaments but the work I did clearing and moving the equipment was all I could handle.

I hope to work on something tomorrow.

Year 18, Week 42, Day One (week 980)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
10-28-18 Saturday

68 degrees early morning, 81 as the high. Nice brisk breeze. Mostly blue sky with puffs grazing in different parts of the sky then wandering to new locations. It is supposed to get just as cold tonight The nights will be warmer the rest of the week. When you are used to high 70s as a low, the sixties is a bit of a chill. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

My brother arrived not to long after I did. I went out back and unloaded the lathe. Mom has a four wheel wagon (inflatable tires) that has a plastic bin for the body. I loaded the stuff stacked in the lathe in there and then had to move it to work on the lathe, and had to pull it from behind, as pushing on the handle to push it back was too much for the wagon.
I tipped the lathe up and saw what kind of fastening I had used for the wheel bar. Mom did not have a crescent wrench outside (long after all the work was done, I saw one). I remembered I had used one recently, but could not remember where I saw it. I searched all over, and only a bit later, I remembered it was in the mini lathe box. I removed the nuts, removed the bar that held the wheel, putting the screws back in place.
Lots of times, my brother comes up with his daughter, in her car. Today, he came up separately, with his work truck as he just came from a job. I set the lathe down, and decided I want to turn something. My brother dug out his welding equipment. He straightened the pipe and then gas welded it.
While he was doing that, I mounted the black walnut sticks into the lathe to make drum sticks. The lathe surface is rusty and all my tools are dull. I had to tap the tail stock with a brass headed hammer to free it to move.
I worked the first stick down almost to drum stick size. I had stuck one end into the chuck by opening it to its widest and then closed them till the base of the jaws clamped don on the end of the stick. That end remained untouched when I was done.
With the tail stock in place, I worried the wood off. I was mostly scraping with my bowl gouge rather than shaving as you are supposed to.
I knew I had lots more work to do on that stick, but I changed to the second stick and started removing wood to bring it to size. About when twice the diameter it was supposed to be. My feel and legs started screaming at me. It was time to stop. I was not used to standing that much, especially in the position for turning. Over time I hope my endurance will come.
My brother handed me the repaired wheels and I installed them.
My brother and I sat and talked. Mom and my niece came out and sat with us and we talked. After I had rested some, I put away the stuff that was on the lathe. The wood, which was nice blocks and a lot of platter blanks, went back onto the lathe. The weights went onto the back of one of the work benches behind the grinders for now. I put everything else away and closed things up.

Mom’s neighbor came an agreement with Mom to put some of her palm trees in his front yard. I helped mom move some plants out into his front yard during the week and we moved a few more after my brother left. I can look over the center of the tallest of these trees. The pots are much heavier than the trees ever will be for several years. The idea is that he will leave them in the pots until he is satisfied with the position he gets them into, then will put them into the ground in those locations. He considered a hedge but mom suggested this. She will have more room for some of her other plants.

It was exciting to be able to turn wood again. I had been itching to work on these drum sticks for a long time. I made more headway today than I did in half a dozen attempts with other tools. I might be able to have them to size and ready for finish work in my next session. .
We have to arrange the equipment better, and provide a better power system than what we are using right now. The changes we made in the awning setup will force some rethinking of where things will be plugged in.

I had received a set of collet chucks years ago. My brother tried them soon after I got them, but could not get them to work so he returned them to me. He had seen some videos about them and decided to give them another look today. With some quick experimenting, he realized the parts have to be fitted together off the lathe, and then put in place as a unit. He now realizes that he was not getting them set in completely and you really cannot do that when it is horizontal. He took them back to give them another try.
They are really good for working on round bar stock of various sizes. The collet set has like eight jaws. They are each a different diameter. They do not open too much nor do they close much. You tighten the collar around them and it forces them closed onto the bar stock. You have to make sure you choose the right size to hold the work. He thinks he can get them to work now.
When I tried them, I was too lazy to fit the work to the chuck to make the work. Hence, after just a couple tries, I gave up on them. Most of my stock is square, anyway.
We are finding that as we get older, problems we ran into, are being solved when we examine them again. Experience in other things are preparing us for the new project.

Near term future projects will be to disassemble and clean the lathe. Sharpen all the tools so they cut wood rather than gumming the work like an old man. I have to sort through all the materials on the tool cart, which is piled up nicely and clean them up. I have to see what is raw materials and what is tools, and get them into a position to access them easier. It is hard to use a tool if you don’t realize you have it.
I will continue to work on my ornaments. The band saw will make the cutting of my blanks easier. That will be set up next weekend. I think I can now reach the scroll saw for doing the rocking horse ornaments. I would like to come up with forth ornament design.
I really need to give thought to Christmas cards designs. It would be nice to have them done before December so I don’t have to rush. Of course, if I make them that early, I will need to make up a lot more than I normally do as I will have more opportunity to give them out. A lot of people are skipped each year because I don’t have the cards or it is too late to send.

Good grief, next weekend will be November!!! There will also be a time change.
I will see what I accomplish next weekend.

1928

the lathe upended, showing the wheel bar below and the higher one is removed. It was put back on later. On the left side of the wheels below, you see a bar that goes to a wooden plate. that bar is used to lift the lathe off the wooden blocks and onto the wheels. A lever there rotates to hold the bar in place.