Year 19, Week 19, Day One (week 1009)

Year 19, Week 19, Day One (week 1009)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-18-19 Saturday
Mostly blue sky with some puffs periodically. Some towers appeared over the everglades but they did not build much. 72 early morning 83 late afternoon. A nice breeze helped with the 68% humidity.  This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

THURSDAY 

The turning club meeting met almost out in the Everglades again. I was testing one of my Garmin Trackers attached up near the upper corner of the window. There is a section where you get past the trees and the civilization. All you have is a canal and dyke on one side and the main highway on the other. The tracker I was using is not the brightest of my trackers. It is also not the loudest. I got into that area and the glare coming from everywhere was so bright. It was a lightly cloudy sky. I could not see the screen.  I even partially shaded it with my hand and still could not see it. While shading it, I thought I had hit the wrong button turning off the tracking. As I got closer to my turn,it proved it was still working as it warned me to continue past the next exit and then directed me where to turn. That is not a place I go to often so I will not be able to test another tracker there for a while. 
We had a pretty good group at the meeting. The demonstration was on finishing the bud vase started last month. He had glued the plug into the base where he had hollowed the interior before. He was tuning away the wood on the neck when the glue gave way on the plug and the vase came off the lathe. It did not fly off, just bounced off the lathe and onto the floor. That happens to all of us. I doubt any of us will be shocked when we get the same problems. 
I had brought my tea pot to the club meeting. I was surprised that everybody loved it. A couple of the “masters” complimented me on it. One said that “because it was not symmetrical, it was like something you would see in Alice In Wonderland.” 
A couple people said they are going to try it. 
The safety tip given tonight is DO NOT LET ANYBODY STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE WORK YOU ARE DOING. If it blows up, which will happen periodically, they could be hurt. The bowl I was making would have done damage to someone standing there. The guy doing the tip said that he was working on getting the walls thin on a vase and another turner stood right in line of the piece. When told don’t stand there, he said, “I know you won’t blow it up.” You never know when it will happen, especially when turning at high speeds. Some lathes I’ve seen the club use has a screen on the back side that reduces the flight of debris during a disaster. That one was used during demonstrations to the public like at some of the shows we did.
We have what is called the instant gallery. You set your pieces out before the meeting and people can examine the work check them out and appreciate the quality. We then have a show and tell where the maker explains about the kind of wood and finish and any stories involved. I told about my tea pot and how I did it. 
One guy had a giant salad bowl and eight small serving bowls. He explained that one secret of hollowing is to “Never make the inside bigger than the outside. When that happens, the piece comes apart....”
They were talking about not having another meeting during the summer, but we realized the only reason we previously were not having them was because the school we were meeting at was closed. We will have meetings each month again. 


SATURDAY

We found two yard sales in the morning leaving the restaurant. All I got was a couple small power strips. There was a lot of stuff I wanted a few years ago, and a lot of stuff I have too many of....
We had gotten enough rain and sun since Christmas that the lawns needed mowing. I dug out the electric mower and mowed the front yard. That did me in for a while, but it made a difference. I will see when I can do the back yard, which is what Mom really wants done. 

I dug out a piece of wood from my stock. It was a section of log that had been on the lathe and apparently it split apart. Almost Half of it was gone. The wood also had a twist in the grain. I tried flattening the twist by splitting some wood off and the crack followed the twist in the grain. It was not helpful. 
Instead, I carefully measured the wood to find the center, and then did a circle on the “flat” side. (I am using a compass you get in the toy section of the store where they might have school tools. These usually come with the compass, protractor, a couple angles pen and maybe a pencil sharpener.) Using my drawn circle as a guide, I sliced off a piece off the end so the block was closer to square, then lopped off the corners so I would save time on the lathe. 
I then located the center and poked the drive spur into it. I then flipped it over and visually found the center of the rounded side. I poked that spot with the drive spur also. 
After I mounted it in the lathe with the flat side to the tail stock. I flattened the whole flat area, then formed a tenon for the chuck to grab onto.
Once that was done, I flipped it around and removed the high spots as it was spinning until I had a nice shape of a bowl. My sharpening skill do show signs of improvement I thought I had, which allowed my tool work to be better. I only had a couple spots of tear out. More sanding or more cutting would clean that up.  I created a foot on the bottom that will also act as the tenon in the chuck. I flipped it around and almost needed to put it back on the lathe the other way as the foot was almost bigger than the chuck could grab. Another turn on the chuck jaws and it was able to slip in. I stopped there as that was enough for the day. I have to clean up each time and that takes time. 

Last night I took some of the mango my mom gave me and some boneless chicken thighs and crock potted the meat in the mango over night. I took it out of the sauce in the morning and we had it for lunch. Very little flavor got into the chicken. I now know that a strong sauce does not help meat when you cook the meat in it. It is better to simply add some water and seasoning and leave it at that. If you want a sauce, add that on top of it when you serve it. I had noticed that most recipes for meats with a sauce, they only add salt and pepper when they cook the meat . The sauce comes either from the drippings or something you prepared separate. I won’t be doing that experiment for a very long time. I learned something. 


Year 19, Week 19, Day Two (week 1009)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-19-19 Sunday
79 early morning, 87 middle afternoon. Mostly blue sky with a few puffs showing up now and then as they crossed the sky. A nice breeze that helped with the heat. 62 % humidity was not helpful. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I saw a couple yard sale signs but none were out. I saw one where they were considering putting out stuff and since I stopped, they decided to get set up. I had to go, and never got a chance to come back.

I got home and after setting up, I hollowed out the bowl. I should go thinner, but decided today was not the day. I have no idea what I did, but my back was bothering me. It felt like it was stiff.  It did not bother me while sitting and I kept forgetting about it until I got up again. 
My intention for making this bowl was to carve it into a swirl of leaves. I did this years ago, but the wood then was Camphor. It is not the strongest wood. I am not sure what kind of wood I am working with here, but it seems stronger than the camphor. While thicker wood allows you to build more depth in the carving, it also takes longer to pierce the wood. I will have to sneak up on the thickness I am after. I already have a little chip missing on the top but don’t want to damage it any more. 

My brother and I talked about projects we wanted to do. I need to retire and work all day on my projects in order to catch up with my ideas. We keep looking at the little machine lathe and wanting to get into that, but other projects keep getting in the way. I am excited about making sawdust so that is my main project right now. 
One project I would like to try is to make a quick and simple branding iron. Make my logo, carving it into a piece of metal and then using a torch to heat it up so I can burn a logo into my pieces. What I want to do would work, in theory, but I have no idea if it will work in practice. I should try it in wood first, but likely would go directly into the metal I am planning to use. 
I also want to make more points for my tail stock. It has interchangeable points and some disappeared. There are some that would make some work easier. 
We also discussed the repair of my tool rest. That will be a long project to do it right. I did use a file on the top of it for a while and made headway of the corrections. It is a nice feel when the file actually starts cutting metal. 

After my brother left, I went out and mowed the neighbor’s back yard. I did not mow all of it, just the parts that gets the traffic. I also picked up a whole bunch of mango that fell overnight. This is one of the better years of production. 

We were planning a BBQ next weekend so Friday, I hit the Gordon’s Food Supply. They serve restaurants, parties, and food trucks but you don’t need a membership like you would for Costco. If you know your prices and your volumes, you can get good deals. I picked up some dogs, brats and hamburger for our BBQ. Tonight, I sliced up the ten pound roll of burgers. I used my meat slicer and had it set for the thickest setting. I ended up with 32 burgers when I was done. 
What I used to do when I was just slicing them for myself, would be to slice them extra thin and get as many as 60 to 80 patties. I did not need a lot of meat to have a good meal.  I had a few burgers left over from last time so that gives me 40 patties for our gathering. That will leave some for leftovers that everybody loves. I am using the last slicer I had picked up and is quite satisfied with it.  The only thing that I don’t like about it is that the switch on the motor is too small. I just thought of something. Maybe my other motor will fit on it. I might check that during the week.

I had decided not to do the repair on the tool rest today. I had some epoxy out. I knew I had some JB WELD but could not find it. When I brought the epoxy in and dropped it on a counter and it landed next to the JB Weld. I looked there several times and could not find it. Oh, well.

I hope to work a little Saturday before I set up for the BBQ and I think we have Monday off and I might be able to work then too. I have lots of non fun projects to do also. We will see. 

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the tea pot as done as I was going to make it.

this is where I stopped on Saturday on the bowl

this is where I stopped on sunday on the bowl. I will try to make it thinner. I hope I don't "Roger" it. 

Year 19, Week 18, Day One (week 1008)

Year 19, Week 18, Day One (week 1008)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-11-19 Saturday

85 degrees with 72% humidity Light clouds and mostly blue sky. Clouds built up over the Everglades but never came over to us as predicted other than the high thin shield cloud from the storms. This weather report is brought to you By The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

We have a wood turning club meeting this week so I decided to work to get the tea pot close to finish this weekend.

Mom is reducing the size of her library. We took mom’s books to the Deerfield public library. They took all the art books but not the encyclopedias. We took the rest of the books to Goodwill and they took them happily. They were a lot of work. I had to get into the bed of the truck to reach some of the boxes that slid forward and that was not easy for me. I am not great at getting up off the floor and when you get into the bed of the truck, it is like getting up off the floor. Mom was happy they were gone and I am happy they are going for good use. I don’t like seeing books simply trashed.

We did see two yard sales. It was one of Mom’s friends and they were selling for a church. I picked up a machine caliper (measuring a hundredth of an inch). I will give that to my brother. 
At the other yard sale I got another of those wooden folding coffee tables. You really never have enough of those..... until you have too many....

Mom has problems getting into and out of my truck at the different stops. It is a bit high and hard on her shoulder to get up there. I have to locate the folding steps I had for getting in and out of. It might be in the truck but buried. If it isn’t there, it could be one of ten other locations. She will think twice about riding with me until I get that step.

I made good headway on my tea pot. The first tenon I made was not substantial enough and the vase popped off the chuck four times. Then I made a stronger tenon and finished hollowing it out. It could be hollowed for a thinner wall but I was not going to test my luck today. I bopped my fingers several times doing many things (hit lightly with a slip of carving knife, lathe tool, touched the spinning spout, etc), no damage, and decided I was not quite ready to handle something really challenging.  I mounted the wood for the lid on the lathe and it came off and that was when I decided I was wore out enough and packed up. I should be able to do the lid quickly tomorrow. I did a lot of sanding on the vase but it needs more. Not spectacular. I made many mistakes but it is made and is quite passable. The next one should not have near as many mistakes in it.

We had the pulled pork for lunch today. I made this with pork shoulder chucks cut for stews. I walked past it in the store, then found myself next to it again and it leaped into my basket and refused to get out. Pork shoulder does make better pulled pork than pork loin. It will be a long while before I make pulled pork again. Surprisingly, the sauce it is cooked in does not import a lot of flavor. One would expect it to be “dripping” in the flavor of the sauce.  Mom did like me providing part of the lunch.

I was thinking about the feet I made for my four footed canes. I turned them on the lathe and had some problems with it as the peg to hold them in place was not tight enough. I then stuck one of my bowl gouges into the hole of the foot and rotated it on the disk sander to correct the shape. After I was done, it dawned on me that I could have simply drilled the hole the feet go into and rotated the piece of wood on the disk sander and had the same effect. 
We have to remember that there is always more than one way to do anything. I have seen bowls made using chisels, table saws, drills, grinders, just to name a few methods that are not with a lathe. Some methods might actually be easier than others for what you are doing. Generally, we are focused on the methods we have at hand. I have a lathe and know how to do it, so my first thought is on how to spin something. I use a knife and dremmel and think of ways to remove wood. Someone who does not have those tools might look at another method to do the same thing and get very nice results. 
The use of a sander might remove wood faster and easier than a lathe. A bandsaw can be used to simplify many shapes before other tools are looked at. One might build something up from pieces as glue-ups rather than remove a lot of wood from a large block. 
I am not a purist. In Austria, they have their carvers certify that no power tools was used in carving something.  I will use a bandsaw, saws-all, dremmel, knives, sanders, chisels and even lathe to remove wood for a carving.  If you “think outside the box” you can find solutions to make your life easier.  Because of this, next time I make feet for one of the canes, I might not even uncover the lathe to make them.
I see videos of where guys will make all sorts of tools with the simplest methods. For power, they will use angle grinders, drills, or rescued motors. The use of wood or welded metal, they make new tools from scratch. I’ve seen plywood drill presses, table saws run by drills, circular saws, angle grinders. I’ve seen where guys will build a frame and stick a table size slab of wood and use a router to level the surface. There is always a way to make something to do something else that is needed, and there is always an alternative method to do something.

I had some tear out on the outside of the bowl of the tea pot where it created some holes. I worked some glue into the holes then grabbed sawdust that was still on the lathe and forced them into the glue. I let it dry a while, then sanded the spots, then did it again. They just look like parts of the wood. If you don’t know they are there, you will never see them. I had some difficulty finding them to glue more sawdust on them the second time.

Several months ago, someone in my turning club modified their cast iron tool rest by attaching a rod along the top. The rods are less likely to chip or dent. I asked him how he did it and he used J.B. WELD and a rod, and he ground a groove for the rod to sit in. I have a rod that is about the right size. 
I put the rod on the edge of the tool rest and was shocked. The tool rest is bowed, higher on the sides than the center. Last week, when I had put this to the grinder, I saw a gap and thought the wood disk had bowed. I learned the sanding disk is fairly straight. The front of the tool rest is straight (which is what I used to flatten the disk in the first place), but the top is not.
Now I could grind metal away, or bend the rod to fit the curve, or have my brother machine it. I am now wondering if that effected my tool use as, the tool rest height is set based on where the center of the cutting edge lines up with the center of the work. I am wondering if a slight difference in height would mess up how the tool will cut the wood. Of course, as sloppy as my skills are, that amount of error would not show up for the most part. Tip the handle up or down and that difference is gone. 

I will finish the lid tomorrow and see what else I do. 



Year 19, Week 18, Day Two (week 1008)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-12-19 Sunday

Blue sky most of the morning, nice breeze 62% humidity which is more livable than yesterday, the evening storms appeared at the edge of the Everglades after two and crossed to the ocean after four. Mom’s plants were watered nicely, though I do not know if it was as much as she likes. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I found out last night that a HARBOR FREIGHT store opened nearby. There used to be a Gordon Food Supply store nearby but they closed it last year. That store is now a Harbor Freight. Is it too soon to get a warehouse to store my future tool purchases or should I wait a little bit? I no longer have to make plans to stop there. It can be more of a spur of the moment thing now. 

I visited two yard sales. One was mom’s friend from yesterday. I picked up something mom said she almost bought. Later in the day yesterday, the tools they had were cleaned out.  
I then found another yard sale from someone I know and picked up a few things. He tried to give them to me but I gave him something. Both days I could have gotten more knives. I don’t need more knives.
There are what many people refer to as dealers who hit the yard sales early. They buy lots of stuff at a super low price so they can resell it. A visit from one or two of them can make one’s day. If you are behind them, you don’t get much selection but that does not matter as you are only choosing from what they have left anyway. 

I thinned out the interior of the tea pot a little more. Not really much was removed, it was more that I “tried” to remove a little more weight. It is heavier than it should be. 
I then mounted the block of wood for the lid in the lathe and removed most of the diameter, then worked to fit the lid to the vase, cutting the end on an angle and holding the vase to it, using friction to burn-mark the diameter, while it was spinning to see how it fits, then cutting some more until it slid in the hole. 
I learned that the sides of the hole was not cut straight down, but more on an angle. That complicated the cut I was doing. Once I had some form of a fit, I took the lid off and remounted the tea pot in the chuck. I then put the lid on and held the lid in place with the tail stock. I then started removing wood and shaping the lid so the top would have a handle and tried to get the edges to match the shape of the vase.  
This is where my mistakes really started showing. For one thing, the ball of the tea pot was not really round. It was slightly oval. Then when I mounted the tea pot to make the tenon to hollow it, I made no attempt at centering it on the ball.  I hollowed it out and the mistakes were obvious. When I tried to match the lid to the shape of the vase, some edge of the lid was higher than the opposite edge. Part way though, I rotated the lid in an attempt to make it even. I should have left it were it was so one spot would match fairly well. 
The lid does not fit perfectly, but it sits in there. The coloration pattern of the lid does not match the body of the vase. The lid is end grain rather than side grain. I will have to give more thought into where the lid comes from on the block of wood. One idea is to partially shape the piece, then cut a cone out of the wood where the lid will sit, then finish the body while trying to ignore the hole, and then finish the lid after it is hollowed. That way the lid would have some chance of matching the grain and color structure of the pot. I could use a different wood altogether. I have other possibilities to consider and will give it thought before I do the next one. 
I chose not to add a finish to the piece. It really needs sanding, which I was not ready to do yet. I will just take it with me raw to show in the turning club meeting. It helps to tell what you did wrong, along with what you did right. It gives others ideas and warns them of things to look for. 

I gave my brother the caliper I picked up yesterday.. He looked it over carefully. It is pretty good. He then explained to me that they come in different types of scale, different levels of accuracy, along with different constructions. If all your work is in fractions of inches, metric or decimal inches are not much help. The one I gave him was in decimal inches and looks like it will do half a hundredth of an inch accuracy. Most of his work is in fractions right now.
He reminded me that I have the machine lathe that I can make things on. I’ve been more interested in making sawdust rather than metal bits. You cannot do them at the same time and they require a different mind set. What I could really use are some different designed points for the tail stock. I have interchangeable points, but a few disappeared. There are others that would be quite useful and the machine lathe would do the job of making them nicely. That would increase my capability by quite a bit.  My brother made a tool rest that can move the bit on an angle and that is exactly what is needed for some of the parts I want to make such as cones. 

When I got home, I made some ice cream. I use bananas as the base rather than cream, and then add some other fruit. The banana flavor ends up disappearing. Mom gave me some mangos she cut up from her neighbor’s tree. They are not fully ripe, but ripe enough to eat. I mixed the bananas and the mangos together about equal in proportion. I only made a small batch as I was not sure how it would come out. Not bad. No banana flavor. It could be sweeter than it is, but not too bad. I usually eat it like a popsicle rather as a soft ice cream which would be better. I use the food processor to cream the fruit, then pour it out on a lined sheet pan and pop that into the freezer to set. When it is frozen, I cut it into bite sized squares. I have to remember to try do to a chocolate version next time and see how that comes out.
The beauty of this banana ice cream is that it is great for people who are lactose intolerant. It is not hard to make. With some effort, you could use a blender or a fork to mash it if you don’t have a food processor. Since you are just using fruit, it is healthy. 

I will see what happens next week.

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the tea pot being formed.

partially hollowed tea pot.

fully hollowed out tea pot

one side of the tea pot, the plane side.

the side of the tea pot with some spalting.

Spalting is a precursor to rot. fungus gets into the wood and starts eating it.

the spalting is still solid but just develops nice patterns in the wood.

Year 19, Week 17, Day One (week 1007)

Year 19, Week 17, Day One (week 1007)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-04-19 Saturday

During the past few days, we had a storm off the coast and got some weather like you would not believe. Today We had high humidity of about 77% and it was 86 degrees. That feels hot. 86 when it is dry is nice. 86 and humid is when an A/C is needed. I worked to get myself used to the heat so I could work outside when it is this hot and humid or even worse. If I didn’t, I would never be able to do woodworking in the summer. The wind was strong but was so humid that it did not help too much. There was a bit of water on the workbench beneath the awning and it was not evaporating. 
Later in the day I sat between the two houses so the northbound winds, focused by the houses, cooled me down. I sat there for about an hour and enjoyed the cooling wind. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

On the way home after breakfast we stopped at a yard sale. They did not have much. The one thing that caught my eye was a package of kitchen knives. They were not the expensive type. I grabbed my ear and dragged myself to the car admonishing myself that I don’t need any more knives. I have two knife blocks made with plastic rods where you can stick the knives in any way you want and as many as you want. I have like ten knives in one and fifteen in another, plus the possible near dozen knives I have in the kitchen itself for regular  use. I don’t need any more knives. I also don’t even know anybody I could give knives too.

I later went out on my own along my usual yard sale route. I found one other yard sale. While they had nice things, the only thing I really looked at carefully was a tiny Sony laptop. I forced myself not to get it. Hours later, I remembered I had picked up a laptop something like that a few years ago and it was strictly an internet computer. It had no memory, no hard drive and was just for browsing the internet. Basically it was useless for my needs. I am glad I did not get this one. I looked at it, though.

After I got home, I worked on my vase and got good headway on it.  I got the spout cut back quite a bit, then drilled for the spout. I started with a small bit and got a start fairly straight up and down. I then used a larger bit, then, I took one of my 36inch bits I got from Harbor freight and after measuring TWICE, I bored until I was well into where the chamber will be, but not too much more. I remounted it and started shaping it a lot more. The tools are sharp, but I can see my technique needs work. I am not getting the smooth surfaces with tools that I know I should be able to obtain. Little pauses or rushing causes ridges and valleys that I should be able to avoid. I intend to remove a lot more wood around the spout. The spout will most likely be shorter too. I may drill it out with a bigger bit next time I work on it. I will have to see.

I found a big divot on my tool rest and I started grinding metal back before I realized it is deeper than I was thinking it was. I will talk to my brother as to whether he can weld or solder across that gap. The edge of the tool rest is supposed to be smooth and even so that when you slide your tool smoothly all the way across it, you are not supposed to get catches or bumps from the tool rest. In this case, the gouge was hanging up on the notch. I have no idea when that notch appeared. I just happened to notice it today while trying to follow the shape of the wood smoothly. 

On a lark I had cooked some pork loin in the BBQ sauce all night in the crock pot. I shredded the pork and poured the sauce back into the bottle, marking it cooked. I might use that for cooking something else. I found that the meat was dry. Apparently pork loin is not the best pork for shredded pork. The cuts that have more connective tissue and fat such as the boston butt or the shank are likely much better. 
We had it for lunch on slices of bread and it was good. It was also filling. I had suggested that we have it for dinner tomorrow but when the two of us were done, we had put a gigantic dent in the meat. There was not enough for the whole family. That becomes meals for work. Mom likes when I share in the lunches like this. What I did works, but would be better with a different cut. I might use that cooked sauce for some chicken and see how that comes out. 

I have several Garmon Nuvi trackers I have picked up over the years at yard sales and am trying to figure out the best place for one to be to read the streets and have it out of the way. I sort of wanted my tacker up by the viser as that looked like the best place where it was out of the way but can easily seen. I tried velcro that sticks on but the glue would not stick to the plastic of the window column. I looked at the several holders I have. A couple have suction cups , one has a base that fits in cup holders, some have bendable supports to get the right angle. 
I took one of the suction cup - flexible arm units and stuck it to the top of the window, and used a wire to hold it to the attachment of the visor next to the window column. The suction cups lose grip after a while and the wire is to keep the weight off of it. It also won’t fall down while driving as easily. It is just above eye level to my right.  
This might not be the best place but it seems to be about where I was wanting it to be. Over the past few weeks I had considered making a clip using wood, a clamp, or something else to attach it to the visor itself. I was not thinking about anything permanent like screws. It will take me some time to see if this is where I actually want it be. It is mostly out of my view but where I can easily read the street names. It is a bit annoying but I will have a better idea of the best place by the end of the week.

Will see what I do tomorrow. 


Year 19, Week 17, Day two (week 1007)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-05-19 Sunday

Mostly sunny, 77 early morning 84 in the afternoon, 94 under the awning at about three. Some puffy clouds moved by. Shield clouds showed up at about four as we were packing up to leave and the air started cooling off quickly.  Radar showed showers at the edge of the Everglades early on, but even as the radar arrived it in our area it was just a fine mist, heavy enough to get you wet, but not enough to warrant an umbrella. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I drove my yard sale route. And only saw one yard sale. They were just putting their stuff out and I decided not to wait. I realized I had seen these signs yesterday and did not react in time and continued on as I did not see them clearly. I was looking some place else.  
The Snowbirds have left at Easter, and the traffic has really died back. Slow traffic is faster, more room on the roads. For much of this year the number of yard sales have cut back. Rather than having six in a day, like last year, we might have had mostly one or two. It might be a sign of the economy where people are not needing to sell their stuff to make ends meet. 

I touched up a round nose scraper and my bowl gouge on the grinder and worked on the tea pot I am making. WOW!! I have never gotten shavings like I am getting now. The difference in how I am sharpening my tools is really how you present them to the grinder. I seem to be a bit more careful and consistent. I do know I could not teach someone else how to do this. At least not yet. I am still learning to do it, and I have not intellectually figured it out. It is more intuition than knowledge. Hopefully I will figure it out so I won’t lose it and also to be able to pass it on. It has a lot to do with matching the angle and shape of the tool. Looking at it at the right angle helps
With the bullnose scraper, I was using it to shave the surface smooth and fine long shavings were coming off rather than dust like I normally get. 
Now I have to work on my handling of the tools. I have to get my motions even so I don’t get divots where I dig in or just bumps in the curve. I cut back the diameter of the spout of the tea pot. This teapot is smaller that I was hoping it would be, but when I compared the piece I had cut off for the lid and the diameter of the vase, I have not lost too much. I needed to work with a much bigger piece of wood. I have a few but am not sure if I want to use it for this. Maybe I will get this one finished and after working out the details of the process, then make the next one in the larger pieces of wood. 

I dug out some other tool rests and while they work, they don’t work well. They are more for reaching inside bowls. I one pair (comes in two pieces) and am using it, but the handle to tighten them are in the wrong place. The way I am positioning them, the handles are next to the work rather than on my side. 
When My brother came over, I showed him the nick and he said the best way to deal with that is to just keep grinding. I have plenty of material left after I ground down that far. 
I took out the sanding disk I have used on the lathe for a while and started grinding and found that the disk has developed a cup where the outer edge is farther out than the center. The divot is near the center so I cannot use that disk for grinding away metal. Maybe next week I will take that sanding sheet off (it is pretty much used up), flatten the disk and put a new sheet on so I can sand away the cast iron metal of my tool rest. This is the main reason many turners go to stainless steel rod tool rests. Ah, I just remembered that one guy glued a rod on top his tool rest. I will have to contact him and see what he did and how it has worked over time. 
My other idea is to get some stainless steel rod and cut them to size, then give them to my brother to weld together when he gets around to welding stainless steel again. I will check out my options. 

After that, we talked about videos and shows we saw over the past week. I get videos on Facebook, capture the link and E-mail them to myself. When I get a chance to view them, I then send them to my brother. Of course, some videos are just in Facebook that you cannot see without an account, and we talk about what we see, such as log cabin construction, guys destroying things (using molten lava rock or a hydraulic press or melted aluminum) as experiments, or modifying some tool or making something from scratch. 

I’ve whittled on a steam engine ornament over the past many weeks. I picked it up and took one of my knives and started carving on it at a knot where the wood needs to be shaved down. The knife was not doing great there, or even other places. One problem is that my carving basket is outside under the awning. The sheaths do not cover the whole knife. If the knife is not inside something, it will develop some surface corrosion (not yet rust) because of the damp air. 
The knife I was trying to use had some surface rust in several spots so I decided to sharpen it with the diamond hone.  Harbor freight has the diamond hones, three for a low price. There is a 180 grit, 260 grit and a 360 grit. Each has a different colored backing and when I open a package, I mark with a marker the grit of the stone so it makes it easier to know which one to grab.  I think I was using the 260 grit. 
I quickly found out that the surface of the blade was not evenly ground. There was a spot where the rust was not getting removed. I sat there and ground it and ground it on the hone until the problem spot was shiny too. The other side has an even angle only half the blade. It the changed angles. I did not worry about that but just worked on the part the edge is at. After I got it nice and clean on both sides and gave it several single strokes on both sides to straighten the wire edge I stropped it on the leather (a piece of belt I glued to a block with a handle). It now cuts nice and I removed some wood to form some detail. The end grain is at the front and back of the steam engine and I was trying to create the light up front. End grain is never easy to cut.  I have not started on the wheels yet and a lot of other details need to be developed. Since it is not Christmas yet, I am not rushing. I really need to get more of the two designs I did not get a chance to do last Christmas done, and see if I can come up with something new. 

I will see what I do next week.

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the vase roughed out. 

you can see light ridges in the nice surface  where pauses and rushes caused the different elevations.

the nick in the tool rest

not very deep, but big enough to catch any of my tools as they slide across.

Year 19, Week 16, Day One (week 1006)

Year 19, Week 16, Day One (week 1006)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-27-19 Saturday

Blue sky all day long. Mid 70s as the low, 84 as the high. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

During the week, went to the dollar store and found some 32 inch skewers I am not sure what I will use them for but I really wanted them and had wished I had bought several more packs. Why, I will figure that out later..... I also picked up some tooth brushes with clear shafts that I want to make into crochet hooks.

I did a quick run on half the yard sale circuit. I only found one sale and picked up a thing to hold your phone using your cup holder. I have several trackers and I am trying to come up with a way to hold my tracker in one specific spot without drilling holes or other permanent methods, I figure that between three holders I have picked up recently, I should be able to make up something that will work. 

The neighbor’s mango tree is producing. The strong winds have knocked a whole bunch down. Mom and I picked up the green, undersized, damaged, and overripe mangos that had fallen so far, so that when fresh ones fall, we will recognize them and get them immediately.  We then mowed the back yard with the electric mower. The weeds have seeds that stick to our clothing and are difficult to remove. We have three kinds to deal with. SAND SPURS are spiky seeds that stick to your clothing and the spikes hurt when you try to pull them off. We then have a seed that is flat but shaped like a bean and they just stick to the clothing, sometimes in rows. They just are a bother to pull off. Then there is a tiny needle that sticks into clothing and are not much of a problem unless they work their way into one’s socks.  The neighbor’s yard has no grass and is made up of weeds. They do look good year around even in drought. They do have to be mowed to keep the seeds under control.
Unlike the push mower. The electric mower cuts the stiff stemmed weeds rather than just push them over. It also sucks the weeds up to clip them nicely. The back yard is cleared enough that we can gather fresh mangos with no problem. We did get a few that were ripe enough to eat. 

Last week, I had shifted the woodworking equipment into the back corner to make room for our BBQ. Today I moved the equipment where they belong under the awning so we can start using the stuff again.

I sat down with the dremmel and converted two of the dollar store tooth brushes into crochet hooks. I tested them, made little adjustments and tested them again. They seem to be working nicely now. 

The PAYLESS SHOES was going out of business. I picked up six pairs of shoes and a teddy bear blanket. At one store I picked up two pair were work boots, and a pair of deck shoes that seemed to fit, at another store I picked up a pair of orange shoes that seemed to fit and a pair of shoes I always get. I hate shopping for clothing and shoes are the least detestable wardrobe to shop for. I have always stuck with certain style and brand of shoe once I learned they fit nicely every time. Since I have always gotten my shoes at PAYLESS, I thought I had better get them before they were gone. 
I took one pair of the two orange shoes out back and taped up the soles and some other parts on them as masking.  Then over the day, I gave them three coats of black spray paint. There are some spots where the paint bled around the tape on to the sides of the white sole. If you look carefully, there are tiny spots near the edges of the top where the tape lapped over to far that bit of orange can be seen but you have to look closely to see them. 
It is not too bad a job, though. I am wearing them tonight though they should likely dry another day or so. 
I had seen videos on facebook where they took worn out $100 and $200 shoes and refurbished them. That was why I decided to do this on this pair. I am leaving the other pair for later in case I don’t like the effect. I might use a different paint either in color or maybe acrylic rather than the oils I used this time.

I did not accomplish near as much as I was hoping but I got some stuff done that was fun to do. 

I will see what I do tomorrow.


Year 19, Week 16, Day Two (week 1006)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-28-19 Sunday

Mostly sunny and warm, likely mid 70s in the morning, mid 80s in the afternoon. I forgot to look at the weather. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach department Of tourism.

I touched the block of wood I started last couple weeks doing a little shaping. I then cleaned up and sat with my brother talking about videos we have seen and what we have learned. The tools seem to be sharpened pretty good. I think I can do better, though. 

I will see what I do next week. 

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The two crochet hooks next to the original brushes in the package.

the bristles are held in with tiny metal pins so that part cannot be used.

the front view of the painted shoes and the orignals.

the side view of the original shoes and the painted shoes.

I even taped off the emblem so they would show. 

I lightly scraped and sanded the paint off t he soles.

I had cut the end off t o be the cap

here I started shaping the piece, I have a lot of wood to remove.

Year 19, Week 15, Day One (week 1005)

Year 19, Week 15, Day One (week 1005)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-18-19 Thursday

My truck just clicked over to 60k miles this week. Most cars I had bought used at this kind of mileage had pretty much had seen better days. This thing is still comparatively mint. Since I got it with 25k miles on it, it will take a little bit longer to where I had put 60k on it.

The club meeting was enjoyable. We met at a synagogue we met at during the end of last year. We don’t have on site storage for the lathe so someone has to bring it each time.
This month we had a demonstration in turning a bud vase. A bud vase is a form that allows just one flower stem in it. Most are a shape with a hole drilled into it. Our demonstrator did a different style using a method we don’t see much demonstrated.  
He started with a rounded block of wood where he started the rough shape of the bottom of the piece a distance from the end. He then cut off the end. He did a little more shaping, then used a Forstner Bit to remove some wood from the center of the piece. He followed that with his hook turning tool to start hollowing out the inside to the shape he was after. The hook tool allows you to reach around corners. 
In this case, he had created a system where he uses a GO PRO camera and a screen to get his depth. The camera looks straight down on the tool bit but at a distance much higher than the largest piece he will turn. He holds a ruler at the tip and marks on the screen WITH A DRY ERASABLE PEN as to what distance was for the thickness of the walls he was after. He marked it from several angles As he was hollowing out the piece, he would glance at the camera to see how far he had to cut into the wood to reach his mark.
When he had the walls the right thickness, he worked on the outside shape some more, mostly at the neck of the vase. He ran out of time.
What he intended to do was to take the chunk of wood and make it into a plug to fit into the hole he hollowed through and by matching the grain, it might not be noticed. He mentioned he would burn rings around the piece at that level so the joint would be hidden better. He would then drill through the neck into the chamber inside for the bud stem to stick into. The end result is a bud vase much lighter than a solid piece of wood most people would do. He is thinking he will show the remaining steps during our next visit. 
The guy who does the safety tips was not there this time. I had fished that broke platter out of mom’s garbage and brought it with me. Showed it as an example of  how it is not wise to stand directly behind a piece. I told them how far it had traveled and if it had hit me, it would have hurt, but I was not in line of it. They seemed to like the report.
The meeting was nice and it is always nice to meet friends you have a common interest with.



Year 19, Week 15, Day two (week 1005)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-19-19 Friday

Strong winds with brisk gusts. The weather report said 15 mph winds with gusts up to 25. A  Dragon Tail of storms were coming through. Mom was hoping it will be a good thorough downpour so she does not have to water the plants again. Passed during the afternoon. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.



I decided I would try to sharpen some of my turning tools.  As I was looking at them, I figured something out on sharpening and in the process seemed to have gotten some results. 
There is a special way to sharpen tools, mostly using jigs. You have to get the angle just right and stop when it is right. I have to do it more to explain exactly what I did. I was sharpening the tools on the grinder by hand, not using any jig. If you learn how to do it by hand, you can sharpen anywhere you don’t have the jigs. I  also used a diamond honing plate and a round file as part of the process.  I will see if I did it right when I turn wood next time.. 
Mom had a lounge chair that is made of pipes and a canvas seat. The stitches gave way and mom's repairs did not work. We worked together, mom holding the parts and I working with the saws-all to cut it apart and put it in the garbage. While it worked, it was really nice. Some other time we might have repaired it right, but we were not up to it this time.
Later in the day, I went out and cut a chunk off a piece of wood. This might be Florida Mahogany. The piece was oblong in cross section. My main idea was to get it closer to round so I would not waste as much wood. The big piece is supposed to become a tea pot. This is a heavy  and hard piece of wood and should turn nicely. The small piece likely will become like crochet hooks or parts for something. 

We are having a BBQ Sunday and my main project for tomorrow is to get everything ready for Sunday. The awning area has to be rearranged to make room for everything  and a lot of stuff has to be put away at least for now. 

Year 19, Week 15, Day Three (week 1005)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-20-19 Saturday

It showered overnight really well. Mom does not have to water her potted plants this weekend. We got mostly sunshine today. The high, flat, fluff moved quite fast to the east this morning. We were down in the low 70s in the morning and into the low 80s this afternoon. . This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

Over the past few months, I’ve been working on a zig-zag scarf. I am working through the rainbow from a purple, dark red, orange, yellow. It is already much wider than most scarves I make and still has more to go. Last night I dreamed about my scarf. Someone said that it is almost big enough to be a blanket. I pulled it over me and it was just a bit wider than I was. I decided to make it a bit bigger and have it a blanket..... In reality the scarf is not big enough to be a blanket.....even for a baby less than a foot wide.....

After breakfast I got out back and mounted the piece of wood I prepared yesterday, on the lathe. I took the time to knock off the high spots to make it round. It looks like a nice piece of wood. When I was done,  I left it on the lathe. I cleaned the lathe of the worst of the sawdust, then swept the whole area. To make room for the BBQ I  moved the equipment to the L end of the house to give us as much room as possible tomorrow. The whole area is now swept. I dug out the folding tables and they are ready to set up and we will have to bring out more chairs.
I took the BBQ outside and scrubbed the casing with soap and water using a brush. It is not perfect, but it is better than it was. I then gathered together the parts and pieces and located the tools that might be of use and stuck them inside it. I finally moved it out to under the awning. 
I dug out the paper product and sweeteners and a bunch of other things and set them where they can be quickly grabbed and carried out. A lot of the materials needed were stuck in flat boxes to reduce the trips necessary.
I pulled out the push mower and did a few passes in a couple places and then set that under the awning to be put out in the grass in case the older of the little ones wants to mow the yard like he did last time. I will make a few passes early on to get things started. 

There will be no woodworking tomorrow, we will just enjoy each other’s company with lots of food. I will see what happens tomorrow.


Year 19, Week 15, Day foure (week 1005)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
04-21-19 Sunday

Mostly sunny, 70s in the morning, 80s in the afternoon. A light breeze took the heat away. This Weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

The first few times we did a BBQ, I basically ran back and forth for one thing at a time, as we realized we needed it. Having prepped most of the stuff ahead of time, it did not take very many trips to get what was needed out back. Once everybody arrived, I only had to do a few trips. My nephew cooked brats, dogs, hamburgers, some pork steaks and some chicken. 
Everybody over ate and enjoyed every bite of it. 
I accidentally spent more of my time in my tablet than I should have. My niece’s phone needed charging, and the kids were begging all day to use her phone.
My niece had a new baby last month and this was my first opportunity to see it. 
There’s an old Chinese proverb. “There is only one beautiful baby in the world, and every mother thinks she has it.”

The adults mainly had a nice relaxed time. The kids were sort of bored, acting like a bundle of energy searching for an outlet. The older of the two pushed the mower a couple times and gave up. The first time he did it, it was a lot of fun. This time, though, it was work. Oh well. 

Packing up after everything was done was also as easy as setting up. The flat boxes were simply stacked with everything one can carry and trips are reduced dramatically. 

Early this year, I picked up some wooden folding chairs. I sat down on one and I guess I tipped the wrong way and it slumped beneath me and I found myself on the ground. The chair broke. I then got a metal folding chair. 
Around the posts of the awning is a little bit of dirt with nothing covering it. There are stones set in there but not everywhere. I set the metal folding chair in the area I was sitting and it suddenly slumped under me. I thought I broke it, but when I looked I found the feet sunk deep in the sand that makes up the soil in this area. I later did this again, before I took efforts to keep the feet of the chair well away from that hole.
I will look at that folding chair and see about gluing it back together and possibly pegging it one way or another. I think the old glue just gave away. It might become carving wood or trash. Will see. If the repair works, I will look into the other two I have, though one is likely beyond repair. I had “fixed” it before and not a good job.

I mowed at the lawn a little. I found that I am going to have to use the electric mower as there are some weeds that the push mower just will not get. It lays the stiff-stemmed weeds down rather than cutting them. The electric will suck them up and cut them, usually. I can also tip the electric up on two wheels and catch them with the blades before the front cowling catches the weed, thereby cutting them down.
The push mower will be able to handle the grass for a while. The mango tree is dropping early green fruit and mom wants that area mowed so she does not get seeds on her clothing. 

I brought the grill in and stuck a bunch of the parts and pieces in the dish washer and that is running. There is basically two things that won’t fit so I will do them by hands. I sort of expect to do some hand work on the grill parts anyway. Will see. 

I am slowly getting stuff put away. I have more to do. No rush on any of that right now. Some things (instant coffees, sweeteners, water flavories, etc), which were in a flat box were in there since Christmas and I just added more to them.

By gathering everything together to take out to the BBQ and stacking them in boxes to take them back, really saved my legs. I was not running back and forth all the time. I had more time to enjoy the project. I had a couple coolers for six packs that we put ice in and there was very little melt with them. I had one of those pitcher like coolers but could not find the lid and we stuck the remains of a bag in that and it did well at keeping the ice from melting much. That is all good to know.  I basically did everything except the cooking. From setting up to breaking down and am cleaning the grill. I don’t mind it at all. It was a fun time. 

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the image on the go-pro where he showed the bit and while you cannot see it, he drew lines where his thickness is from the bit.

the rounded piece after I later cut the end off for the cap

the broken wooden folding chair. only the joints gave out.