In My "Spare" Time: Year 19, Week 20, Day One (week 1020)

Year 19, Week 20, Day One (week 1020)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-25-19 Saturday

77 early morning 85 afternoon, nice steady breeze cooling things, well spaced gusts to move dried leaves around, puffs meandering from the ocean into the everglades, Once in a while shade, but mostly sun. Humidity is tolerable. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

We went to a church yard sale after breakfast. I picked up a large glass lid. I have picked up several large lids at previous yard sales this year but have yet to see if they fit any of my stock pots. I never think about them while I have the chance. I had picked up some very large pots that had no lids. That is why I bought the large lids.

I brought my lathe out. One wheel was dragging, I decided I would do some turning first, then check on the wheel.
Feeling the bowl on the lathe from last week, I could see that there was one area in the curve just above the bottom that was thicker than the rest of it. When you run the bowl between your fingers, you can usually feel a change in distance between them. You are actually feeling the thickness changing. I worked the bowl thinner in the curve. I scraped along the rest of it. Then sanded it a bit. The actual amount of wood I removed might not even be noticed. I then took the bowl off the lathe. It needs more sanding, but I figure when I carve it, it will have to be completely re-sanded anyway.

I unloaded all the tools and materials off the lathe. I thought the tail stock was locked down. I removed the motor and then tipped the base up. The double thunk of the tail stock and tool rest told me they were not locked down. I then saw the wheel on the tail stock rolling to a stop. Darn... The cast iron wheel had broken off. Looking at it, I saw there must have been cracks that had developed where it broke because you could see some surface rust on a couple of the spokes.
Well, I looked at the wheels the cart rolls on. There were ball bearings inside the swivel of the wheels. There is a patio stone that is very slightly higher than the others and the wheels bang against it when I push the lathe back into the awning. One wheel was totally missing the ball bearings, the other had the bearings coming out. The third wheel was still good. I poked out the loose ball bearings with a knife and now they swivel all right. The ball bearings were getting jammed at the edges. These wheels are designed to hold a lot of weight but that is down force. They are not well designed for side forces when they bump up against cracks in pavement.

After loading the lathe back up again, I then moved everything into the L of the house so we can set up for the BBQ tomorrow.
When preparing the wood for the bowl, I had split a piece of wood off. It followed the twist of the grain instead of coming off flat. I kept the piece but really did not know what I would do with it. I took that piece and started splitting it into sticks, then I started rounding the pieces with my carving knife into what should eventually become crochet hooks. My knife knocked off the corners, then the high points before straightening them. Sticking them into a drill and spinning them against sandpaper rounded them more.. They need more sanding for actual use as crochet hooks but it is a good start.
One of the rods I created is too big for most crochet I do. I am not sure what to do with it. It is sort of a sad thing to remove all that wood (about half the diameter) to make a crochet hook a size I normally use. It is a nice piece of wood. I just don’t know how I will use is. Because these sticks are all short, they will likely have a handle added that will make them long enough and will aid in comfort.

I gathered some of the supplies for tomorrow together in flat boxes. But there is a limit to what I can do until the event..

Year 19, Week 20, Day Two (week 1020)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-26-19 Sunday

72 degrees to 85 degrees light breeze, moving clouds. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I stopped at a yard sale on the way to Mom’s house. I found a yard sale by a friend. I bought three stone eggs that were made in Kenya. It is a reminder that I want to later turn some eggs out of wood and then carve hatching dragons from them. Years ago, I carved eggs with ducks hatching from them.

After cleaning the case some, I brought our BBQ grill from the neighbor’s house, then set up large folding tables. I somehow created more room than we had at our previous Bar-B-Q when moving things into place so we were able to set up the tables in a more useful way. I set out coolers with meat and drinks, got out folding coffee table for the cook to set things on.
I brought out the stuff I had for the gathering - plates, cups, condiments, utensils, table cloths, etc. After about 12 trips, I had everything out that I was responsible for. I was wore out. It took a while for everybody to arrive and then we started cooking. I sat and rested, working on my scarf, finishing the last stitches. It was finally done.

I made five attempts at making a baby booties in crochet. I never got past about four rows. I think I misunderstood something of the instructions in a video of design, and I had not quite worked out a problem with a design I was trying to do from my own mind. I will have to play with them some more.
A couple people we invited did not show up so it ended up just immediate family. One little one was bored, the other was occupied with internet games on the computer. My brother sat inside watching a race while holding the baby. The baby’s mother was inside most of the time too.
I keep forgetting that most people don’t make any effort to be comfortable outside during the summer. A lot of people come down south because it is too cold up north, then run their air conditioners at a temp similar to what they had left.
There was a light breeze that came over the tables under the awning and that kept it comfortable for me.

I showed my brother the wheel of the tail stock. I helped him remove the hub of the wheel and then he fitted the two pieces back together and had it put in his car. He said he will braise it back together. If he is able to get it, I will have it back Sunday. I can do turning without it, but it just makes things a tiny bit tougher. Either that or I can plan for a different type of turning where the tail stock is not needed near as much.

At the end of the day, I had to help pack stuff away. This only took six trips. I left a few things out back to deal with tomorrow. Packing things in boxes made carrying things a lot easier. I will remember that for next time.

Year 19, Week 20, Day Three (week 1020)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-27-19 Monday

72 degrees to 86 degrees blue sky. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

Mom and I got together and we cleaned the kitchen, the BBQ grill and did some rearranging. When we finally stopped, we still had more to do but we are planning to do that during the week. We have some friends coming for a visit at the end of the week.

While playing around with one of my carving knives, I noticed that I could easily forget which edge is which. I have them designed where you can apply force on the back of the blade when working with the end of the blade. The problem I noticed was that both edges look the same from the side. Once or twice I already have put the back to the wood. I started the grinder and wore down the end of the blade on the back, curving it towards the edge. Now it is a tiny bit easier to spot the difference between the back of the blade and the edge. I should do that to the other blades.

I went through mom’s garden looking for interesting leaves. The maple leaf would be perfect but those are not common down here. There is a VINE MAPLE native down here but they are exceedingly rare. We are south of the line maples usually grow. The heat kills them. Fort Lauderdale is at a line that is the southern edge of the northern trees and the northern edge of the tropical trees. Heat waves and freezes dictate where the line is at any period of time. A heat wave will kill the southern-most of the northern trees, a strong cool period or even a freeze will knock back the northern-most of the southern trees. Their ranges overlap a bit during mild periods. Basically, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach is the area of the overlap.

I tried to draw leaves on the bowl I made and could not get the look I was after. I ended up sanding the bowl clean. First I removed my pencil lines.
To remove pencil lines, tip the surface upside down or at a strong angle if possible so the lead from the pencil does not land back on the wood. If that happens, it takes a lot more sanding before the pencil lines disappear. when you draw your lines, the pencil marks are just on the very surface. If the carbon lands back on the wood, it will fall between the grain and more wood has to be removed and then more until all the dust stuck to the wood is removed. Tipping it upside down or on the side will remove the pencil marks quickly.
After the pencil lines, I sanded some rough areas. The surface still need more work. I removed the post in the base of the bowl by shaving it first with the knife, then used different grinding bits on the dremel until I had it flat. I sanded the inside some and outside of the bowl several times. It all needs more sanding.

I have a steam engine that I have been working on. I shaved on it a little, bringing it a tiny bit closer to what it needs to be. I started this back in January. It appears it will take me all year to make this one and I want to make a bunch of them. They were a design I wanted to do for Christmas and never got a chance to do them. I want a bunch ready for next Christmas.

I will see what happens next weekend.

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