In My "Spare" Time: Year 18, Week 51, Day One (week 989)

Year 18, Week 51, Day One (week 989)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-29-18 Saturday

70 degrees early morning, 81 late afternoon, patches of clouds around the horizon, but mostly blue overhead. There was some humidity because of showers during the week. A light breeze made things really nice. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

We decided not to go out yard sailing. We figured people were getting ready for the new year.
I dug out a project Mom has been itching to work on for a couple years. When they remodeled the house next door, they removed the bar, rolling it to be against the opposite wall (it was built on wheels). Above the bar was a light box that one could hang wine glasses. The light would cause the glasses to glow. When it came down, Mom said it would make a good shelving unit. Not for anything heavy, but great for display. We even had some peg board cut to fit. It has been in storage ever since.
Today, I pulled it out and brought it out back. My intention was my doing it alone. Mom insisted on helping. At first I did not need any of her help, but as the project went on, her help became more and more important.
I first had to add some blocks to hold the pegboard in place. Luckily, I found the right sized board for the blocks. I then had to trim the pegboard around the supports inside. We needed about two holes worth of space and we cut to the holes at each location. At first I was using my knife, then a pair of pliers to break the pieces off, then shaved them.
We thought we almost had it in, then found we had to push it in much farther, so we had to cut around some more supports on the other side. I grabbed the jig saw and removed the wood quickly. I still had to shave a little to make sure it fit. We used my dremmel to drill the peg board for the screws.
The back would have been much easier, but on about a third of the screws, Mom, using the dremmel with a drill bit in it, drilled straight through the peg board and the wood. The bit was a bit too big for the screws we were using. I had to find a different location for the screws to go in.
I was using a battery powered drill that will run when plugged in. The battery is internal and cannot be removed. It was acting weaker and weaker. We switched to a more powerful drill that had no reverse. I learned that if you just squeezed the trigger, it would over spin on the head of the screw. But, if you sort of “pop” the trigger, squeeze and let go, It would start slow enough and then wind down, still driving the screw as it slowed down, never going too fast. I was able to drill the screws without stripping out the head.
What was supposed to take an hour at most, ended up to be about three hours of work. We got it done, though. We put it in the neighbor’s house for now. It looks good as it matches the furniture he already has.

I have four days off this weekend. I am concentrating on projects that will take time. It may be months before I can tackle them again. My normal work period each week won’t amount to much for these projects and I tend to work on whatever excites me for the moment.

I will see what I do tomorrow.

Year 18, Week 51, Day Two (week 989)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-30-18 Sunday

70 degrees early morning, 81 late afternoon. The sky was embarrassing as it was streaking, with feather clouds and chem trails. Puffs surrounded us most of the day. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

There was no yard sales today on my normal drive. I did not expect any, but I looked anyway. It was a nice drive through landscaped properties with a nice radio station on. I opened the windows half way through. Cool enough to notice, but warm enough not to consider a coat. It was refreshing.

My lathe needed serious cleaning. It had been a couple years since it was tended to and time has taken a toll on it.

A few years ago, I made some mahogany drum sticks. Several months ago, the tip on one broke on me, so I used my knife to rough out the end again because the lathe was not set up for work yet, piled with stuff. Mahogany is not a strong wood and the sticks started feathering at the narrowest point on the sticks, and the feathering went through inside until it broke off. It took several months before the second one broke the end and I also fixed it again with the knife. It was ugly and really did not bounce right.
As my last project with the lathe before I disassembled it, I reshaped the drum sticks. These are shorter than normal drum sticks, but these are not for “professional” work, but instead to make noise on bongos.
I have several points for my tale stock’s live center. I had a conical cup in the tail stock, and put one that has a hole in it, into the head stock, cinching it down tight. I put the small end of the drum stick into the head stock and tightened the tail stock enough that it would spin. I carefully shaved the wood down from about half way down the length, to the ball at the drumming end. I then sanded it with 32 grit sand paper, then a fine sand paper. It is all right if it is a tiny bit rough as it will prevent it to slip.

I dug out my lathe and unloaded it of all the stuff stored on it, then we had lunch. When I went back out again, I flipped the lathe upside down and removed the levered wheels. I was having problems with them. A while back, we repaired the lever on one, but now the wheels were dragging, rather than rolling. I think it might be the swing block holding it down, but I decided to replace them for now.
The neighbor had purchased some wheels for his coffee table and then found some ball style wheels that ride on bearings. I took his old wheels for my lathe. These might not last very long as they are plastic wheels, but I decided that I was not going to carry nearly as much weight on the lathe that I used have on it to so these might do well enough. There were six sets of wheels. There are wooden blocks that were for the lathe to set on when the wheels were tipped up. I screwed the wheels onto the block, thinking we had eight sets, and had screwed four in one end, but when I found out that I only had six, I had to remove those two and locate on in the middle and the other one on the other end.
My battery powered drill that will run on the cord too, wasn’t strong enough to back out the screws The one we used yesterday to drive screws to hold the pegboard in place, had no reverse. Mom dug out another and we found the reverse switch was broke. The fourth one solved the problem.

When I started turning, guys in the turning club had stories of their lathes bouncing around because of out-of-center heavy pieces they would be turning. I designed my lathe stand so that if I was handling something that heavy, I could set it on the ground so it would not roll away from me. I then loaded the cart with weight lifting weights, heavy wood and bricks, to make sure it did not go anywhere.
At first, when I originally had the lathe set up, I would drop it down onto the block whenever I used it, After a period of time I then dropped it down on the blocks only on large stuff, then finally I never dropped it down on the blocks for any reason.
I now realize that I likely will never work on projects that would test the lathe stand so I won’t use the drop wheels, at least for now. I might go back to the drop wheels, but will wait and see if it is necessary. I am already not using the weights on it. I am not really working with out of center pieces that are weighty.

The chuck needs to be lubricated, the bed needs to be sanded and polished and then oiled or waxed. The tail stock and tool rest should be cleaned and the tension nuts adjusted. The head stock, with the motor, needs work but I really cannot do much with it. It should be cleaned up though and when put back on, the nut needs to be re-calibrated for holding it. Each piece needs to be set so that you can crank them down without them moving, but able to be loosened for moving around.
The head stock is designed that I can slide it forward or back, or can even turn it sideways or backwards, depending on what I am working on. If I had a tool rest that stood on its own, I could turn a piece that was four feet in diameter. It would be way too fast as my lathe only goes down to 500 rpm, which is fast, but I could still turn something that big. This lathe goes up to 2000 rpm which is fast, but not if you are working on pens or something similarly small in diameter.
I added oil to the bed of the lathe for tonight. Tomorrow, I figure I will get to mom’s before dawn, I intend to go out side at dawn and start cleaning the bed. I will see how this goes. I just remembered I have another chuck somewhere. While I am cleaning the one I’ve been using, I could check out and service the other one.
I do have all day, from dawn to dusk to work tomorrow, so I plan to make as much use of my time as I can.

When I got home, I made ice cream. I use bananas as the base, and then add fruit. I don’t add anything else as they are sweet enough, but not as sweet as real ice cream usually is made. I had picked up a bunch of bananas that were past due. I pealed them, broke them up and stuck them in the freezer. Today I took two the baggies of frozen bananas out and stuck them in warm water for them to thaw some, and when thawed enough, I put them in the food processor and added strawberries for the first batch, mixed berries for the second batch, and processed them until they were creamy.
These are best served as a soft ice cream, but I put plastic wrap to line some small sheet pans and filled them with the mixture and put them in the freezer. The consistency from the freezer is what you might find in an ice cream popsicle. As I said, they are best as a soft ice cream. If you were serving a group, you would put them in the food processor until soft and then serve.
After they were frozen, I took it out of the sheet pan and diced them up into mouth-sized chunks. They are good to have every once in a while, just a taste when you need it.. These banana based ice creams are really good if you are lactose intolerant or need to get more fruit in your diet. I hope, sometime to try making it with chocolate and see if that works.

I will see what I do tomorrow.

Year 18, Week 51, Day Three (week 989)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-31-18 Monday

71 degrees, early morning 83 in the afternoon, high feathers with some puffs crossing the sky. One little cloud had a full diaper and it leaked on us for a minute and then left. The rest of the day was warm, nice light breeze, perfect temps for working under cover of an awning. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I got to mom’s and went out back soon after dawn. My project was to clean the lathe, and then all the parts and pieces that went with it. I had oiled the Ways(the slot where the road head-tail stock-tool rest are locked into)/lathe bed last night. Today, I took some 60 grit sand paper and sanded down the whole bed. I could feel where the grit and grime was and concentrated there until it was smooth. Once the whole thing felt clean, I wiped it with paper towels, then added more oil and worked with 250 grit sandpaper and cleaned it some more. I wiped it clean, used a little soap and water and then oiled it again.
Started cleaning the tool rest, the tail stock and then the head stock. I cleaned all the surfaces, brushed out any sawdust. I then mounted them in place. I usually have the motor in-line with the end of the bed. This time I decided to let it hang out past the end of the bed slightly. This allows me to work with a little bit longer pieces of work, not that I expect to do so..

This is a Delta lathe. It has a split pulley inside the head stock that, when you move the lever, the pulley will open a little or close a little. The inside of the pulley has a slight angle that causes the belt to move up or down in response to the width of the pulley. When the pulley closes up, the belt goes higher and the head stock spins faster. When it goes wider, the belt drops down and the head stock slows down. The belt is a little loose but I am not digging inside the motor case. Years ago, my brother opened it up but there really was not much we could do. It really needs a new belt
This head stock has a lever to loosen the head so that can slide the head up and down the bed, or to rotate the head to either side or back to overhang the bed for larger pieces. .
The motor in this model of lathe sticks out the back of the head stock. There are lathes where the motor sticks forward, like some available at Harbor Freight. I figure that the motor’s location limits the size of the work you can do. I have had some pieces that reached back away from the tail stock and I figured that would get in the way.

I removed the jaws from my chuck and oiled it, then stuck the end into the vice and rotated the part that causes the jaws to open and close. I worked it in and out until it started moving easily. I then put the jaws back on. I was reminded, when I accidentally saw a number, that the jaws are numbered for the slide (the mount that moves the jaws in and out from the center) it goes on, and each slide has a number on it.
When chuck jaws are made, they are made from one piece of metal, machined into shape, then cut apart. To make sure they fit right every single time, they are numbered. The repeatable position allows more accuracy when mounting your work on it. Any variation in the precision of the jaws guarantees they will always be the same error every time you put your work on the lathe, especially if you mark the work as to which is jaw #1.

I then started cleaning my tools. They all have to be sharpened, but I wanted to remove the rust from all the surfaces. They are now stained, but not rusty.
I have several tools that allow you to change the bits, or the rod part of the tool (as in an interchangeable handle) I removed the bits from the tools. Several had damaged screws, There is one I cannot remove the bit. It is not one I use a lot of.

The manufacturers offer tools with interchangeable bits, or you can make your own tool with reasonable ease. The bit holder can be just about any kind of metal, many times something cheap like a simple steel rod. The bits are usually a high quality super hard metal like high-carbon steel or some composite steel. Some have a D style shape so you can go for a curve or a point, depending on what kind of cut you are working on, others are round or square that allow you to rotate the tool to a fresh sharp edge, allowing you to go without sharpening, or replacing it a lot less.
Machinist supply stores have replaceable metal bits that can be used for wood turning.
Of course You can buy stock metal and make your own bits. Like have made my own bits using planer blades. You just cut a piece off, drill it for the tool holder, then shape to what you need.
A couple of my tools have a replaceable bit holder too. You might have several bit holders and quickly swap between them for the specific type of cut you need at the moment. One of my handles has a really long spade bit in it right now.
There are tool systems where you buy one handle and several rods with different ends on them. Again one can swap tools easily. The rods are cheaper than the complete turning tool and you can make your own handle to fit your hands perfectly.

A couple screws were damaged on a couple replaceable bits. I will have to get replacement screw. The damaged screws were allen-key screw but at some time I cut a slot in them when the allen hole was damaged. The slot is damaged so one of them would not come out.
A couple of the tools were ones I forgot I had. They were in the tool holder on the side of the lathe, but if you don’t pull them out, you don’t really know what you have.
I sharpened a few of the removable bits before I put them back on. One damaged screw disappeared and I could not put a bit in that I had made from a planer blade.

After lunch, I brought my tool cart over to the workbench, right next to the garbage can. I had two plastic baskets on top filled with stuff. I sorted everything, tools in one place, metal supplies in another, and plumbing fittings in a separate box. A few items and some bits of wood went into the garbage. One never knows when you need something. The plumbing fittings can be the ferrule around the end of the handle used for strengthening it when holding the tool. I had rods and parts that could become tools. I found about six face plates, four of which were made from stanchions around the base of a rail. these screw onto the head-stock and you run screws into the wood through holes around the faceplate to hold it in place. This is in the place of a chuck. I found several dozen files and rasps. Some were to be knives, some were ways to work with wood in different projects. I found measuring tools. I found five turning tools, one brand new, still in the package.
I have a small pile of lead weights. When working with an off balanced piece, one can attach the wood to a disk of plywood and place weights to counter balance the load.
I found drill bits galore. Some were intended for become turning tools.
I simply sorted stuff, I never got to do any cleaning. That will be tomorrow.

On that tool cart, I have two more shelves to go through. One has wood the other has vices and tools. This will be for tomorrow.

I made good headway today on cleaning up the lathe equipment and doing some sorting. I will continue tomorrow, fully unload the tool cart and sort it. There are stacks of stuff that needs to be gathered together. I am planning to get home fairly early and do some stuff around the house while I am at it.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.

Year 18, Week 51, Day four (week 989)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
01-01-19 Tuesday

71 early morning, 80 as the high, broken clouds (repair men are still on vacation), nice breeze. In the afternoon the broken clouds came apart and sunshine appeared now and then. The repair men may have to replace the cloud cover rather than repair it....This Weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I got out back of mom’s around 7 this morning. I pulled the tool cart to the workbench by the fence, next to the garbage can. I unloaded everything from the bottom shelves and then the stuff on the top.
I cannot believe what I found!!! I have a four jaw chuck. That is where each jaw moves independently by their own screws. Only when I was checking it to make sure it worked, that I was reminded that one screw has a bigger head than the others. It had two allen wrenches to use it. I located both of them in my digging. This chuck can center something with exceeding accuracy, even to a thousandth of an inch, by adjusting the jaws till the work is centered. It is also great for off center turning where you can adjust the jaws to hold the piece well off center. This chuck is really for metal working. The jaws, which can be turned around (one way, only the high spot holds, turn them around and there are three stepped jaws), does not have anything to hold a wood piece securely as the surfaces are straight and smooth, so it must be used with a tale-stock to hold the other end.
I then found a second chuck, which I remembered I had. I did not see it as it had a COLE JAWS on it, the chuck itself was facing down. The Cole Jaws are really large plates with screw holes, and it has screws with rubber bumpers around them. It is mainly used for holding pieces like bowls and vases backwards so you can clean up the bottom.
I found three sets of jaws that go to the regular chucks. One I remembered the instant I saw it. It has really narrow jaws that stuck out. It is for holding tiny pieces of wood, especially round stock. I purchased this and then found it did not do what I wanted it to do. The other two jaws, I am guessing came with the chuck that had the cole jaws on it. One was a regular jaw, smaller than the one on my lathe, then there was one with the tiny jaws for holding small things. They were not as long as the other one I described.
I found some accessories for the chucks and jaws.
There was a WOODWORM screw with them, unused. These screws fit in the jaws of the chuck. The screw is very shallow in pitch, and the threads are really tall. You drill a hole to the diameter of the shaft, then thread the woodworm screw into the hole. The threads cut into the wood to give a good hold.
I have a lifetime of allen wrenches, and drill bits. Some of the drill bits are over a foot long. I think I got some of them with the idea of cutting them into tool bits. It is a hard metal.

In the wood basket, I found a bunch of disks with a threaded hole. These were made to screw onto the shaft of the head-stock of the lathe, These were made as wooden face plates. You can glue a piece of wood onto this, and use it a sacrificial plate, you turn it off when you are about done or could run screws into them to hold something, or can use double stick tape.
I found the threader (tap) allows me to thread the holes to fit on the lathe. One tactic one could use is to just drill a hole the right size into the block of wood you want to work, and thread it with this tap and just attach it to the head-stock.
There were wooden disks with the tenon for the chuck to grab. They work much like the threaded ones, but the chuck is in use rather than replaced.
In my digging yesterday, I found several different tool rests. One is jointed so you can do stuff like sticking the end inside a long vase to support the tool deeper inside the work. These are interchangeable. One has a long screw sticking up that can be used for leverage of the tool in the work. That one might be useable when turning sheet metal.

Another tool I found was a pattern for the Morris taper. The morris taper slips into a pipe and develops friction that is difficult to break. Some drill presses use them to hold the chuck. Most lathes use them for center points and some use them in the tail stock.
The pattern I found was for making them out of wood. The idea is if you are working on a big piece of wood, you turn the end down and shave the center piece until the pattern fits it exactly. Then one can slip the wood right into the lathe head stock without any other tools. I made a few items with it such as having a pin in the wood for working on really tiny pieces.

I had separated everything and put them in trays and baskets. I finally got everything put away and the back area neat and tidy again.
My last act was to go to the grinder with the tool I could not get the screw out. I ground down the head of the screw until it was flush, then used the vice to pry the bit off. I then grabbed the remains of the screw with the vice and turned the tool around until the screw came out. There is always a solution for something. I tried to use a screw extractor but the drill bits would not do more than put a dimple into the metal. This set has NEVER been used. I forgot I had it.
I took a break, then suggested to mom that I could get tacos. I told her I had a couple stops along the way. Well, I found that True Value and Ace hardware were closed. Orchard supply was also closed. I ended up going to Lowes. They had removed a bunch of their shelving, opening up the area in front of the entry, and loaded the clear area with grills. I had that turning tool and one of my replaceable points.
The screws were the first thing I found. I tried to find what screw would fit. I got the one for the tool bit which my brother had made. I poked the end of the screw out of the little baggy and verified that it fit. I had already decided to get it even if it did not fit.
The other screw was metric. They were not in bags, but the clear plastic bubble box. I was not totally sure if I had the size right. I decided to get the one I guessed at, and one size smaller just in case. I looked for a couple other things but could not find what I was after.
I ended up only going out with the screws. I thanked the girl cashier for being there for us.

I picked up the tacos on the way home and took time for rest with mom.
I decided to go out back. I wanted to make some sawdust. I first tried the screws in the tools. It turned out that the smaller metric screws worked on that commercial tool. I put them away without bits. I had put the bits in the basket with the chucks and did not feel like digging them out.
A long time ago, I made a platter with a large center button that I was going to have to cut off. Mom had suggested that I put a bowl in the center and make it a chip plate. I mounted that onto the lathe. My first attempts could not get it centered. I was using pressure to hold it in place and that was not working as it would not get centered.
I solved the problem by taking it off, measuring across it with a ruler. It did not matter what scale it was. I just found the number it was near, and adjusted it till the marks of the number and the end were about the same. This one was 17.5 so I set it so 18 had the same overhang on each side and marked it the center. I then turned the piece a quarter way around, lined with the mark and made a new mark. This was close to center. I did it three more times and where all three marks were together, was the center.
I mounted the piece on the lathe with the tail-stock’s point right on the mark. When I turned the lathe on, there was just a little wobble, mostly from the wood having warped.

Fresh wood warps as it dries as the liquid causes stresses in the wood, and when gone, the wood relaxes. Usually bowl makers will leave them about an inch thick all the way around then let them dry completely. Then they turn them to the final dimension. The thickness of the wood will make up for all the warping the wood will have.
This yellow pine is bone dry when I got it and still bone dry. I learned that it will warp as you remove wood because wood itself has stresses built into it. When turning platters, more wood is removed from the bottom/outside than from the top/inside, so it is best to remove wood from the inside first, then turn the outside. The warping is less, and also the problems with grain and unevenness is not as bothersome than on the inside.
I took 60 grit sand paper and sanded the platter part of the piece front and back. There are some tool marks, divots where the tool bounced against the warp that would not sand out. I can either ignore them or use like a drill with a sanding pad to wear those spots down.
I used the dremmel and a sanding drum to clean a few spot on the cup and on the bottom of the platter where the point was. This piece is better than it was, but could use a lot more work. There was a crack in the cup and I worked glue and sawdust in there. I will have to sand the glue off the surface at some other time.

I then took a piece of wood that has bounced around in the boxes and on the lathe for years. There were some worm holes in the surface (from before I got it). The piece was split in half. I decided I wanted to make some sawdust so I mounted it on the lathe after finding the approximate center on both sides. For the curved part, I held myself back a little and eyed where the ruler touched the corners visually and then drew a line. I then did the same on the other corners. Measured from a couple edges and that center point was about right.
I mounted the lathe with a small drive spur (had not seen the big one) into the curve and the “flat” to the tail stock. I worried the bottom somewhat flatter. It needed more but I took the piece off the lathe and used the bandsaw to remove some corner to reduce how much wood I would have to turn off. The more time spent with the saw, the less time spent at the lathe.
I remounted the piece and shaved down the bottom to near flat. I then cut in a thin tenon, not as big as I normally do. It won’t hold the piece on its own, at least not yet. I then turned the piece around and used the chuck to partially hold it and the tail stock to hold it in place.
I rounded the piece, working from the bottom, which you usually do with it turned the other way, but I figured this would be more stable. When I had it close to being round, I started hollowing it out. I got about three quarter of an inch in when I decided I had my fix for the week. I cleaned up and put everything away.

Next weekend, I should do a little more work in the awning area. I have a bunch of boxes and baskets of stuff and should sort through them, separate and consolidate them and put some stuff out of the way.

I also have some stuff to do at home too. I really feel good at getting so much work done. I could easily get used to having all this time to work. Tomorrow I have to earn a paycheck so I will see what I do next weekend.

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