Year 21, Week 22, Day One (week 1117) 07-03-21 Saturday

 Year 21, Week 22, Day One (week 1117) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

07-03-21 Saturday

77 degrees as the low, mostly clear, 90 as the high. This weather report is brought to you by The City of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I got out of the house at just after eight. I started on the south part of my yard sale route and stopped at the nearby nursery. I asked where the coco plum was and a guy gave me a ride to pick them up in the golf cart, dropped me at the cash register, and then took me to my truck. I got two coco palm in a three gallon pot, and they had a potting mix made from coffee grounds. I think the recipe was coffee grounds, club soda and a little cinnamon. It was an expensive bag but I wanted the recipe. I am thinking that we could start saving our grounds and putting them to use. 

I stopped at two yard sales. One that is having sales almost every weekend, where I got the shorts, a hat and some shirts. I saw a box of cards and envelopes with the gold designed lines around the field. I grabbed some slippers for a friend and a little flag pin. The woman, who is from England, gave me the pin. If I did not get the cards, I would not have gotten the other things (dollar each).

At another yard sale on the way to Mom’s, now heading south, the was police activity, something like eight cop cars, an empty house taped off. At that yard sale, a black woman was buying some irons and some kitchen stuff. I picked up a baggy of cords. I got some very good items. Several plug-in chargers, cords for different things, a car charger plug with three outlets and a USB. Some electrical cords. I think it was a good find.  All two bucks. I have been having problems with charging my tablet when not at home.  I found a cord that is good, and I found one of my chargers that has two USB outlets has a problem with one of the outlets. 

Once home, I helped mom get the Clerodendon tree into a big pot. It was heavy but only lifted for a few seconds. I helped her move a flowering bush and she was surprised it was in the ground. Mom wanted to give a neighbor the bush now to be planted. The neighbor says she wants the trees already planted to start growing before she puts anything else in. I tried hard to get mom to understand that the neighbor was not ready for it. Mom wanted to plant it now so she did not have to put it into a new pot. 

A friend was working on mowing the neighbor’s lawn and was planting a tree. He cut through a black pipe and got shocked. Tripped the breakers. I told my brother to bring tools to fix it tomorrow. My neighbor thought my friend was mowing the lawn when he got shocked. He said he was digging.  I reset the breaker and had the power back on.  It was on the same circuit that the front room fan and my neighbor’s bedroom was on.  I think that is also the same one that the a/c is on, but not sure on that. 

We have learned that my friend is not the brightest person I have met. A few days ago, he was digging for a tree , found a pipe and moved the tree. This time he decided to cut through the line, which goes to a post near the driveway rather than move the tree. He had been warned that such a line was there. 

A few days ago. Mom said she would help him get a tree out of a pot.  She turned around a moment and he took a shovel and cut into the pot and then struggled to get the tree out. Mom was hurt because she was going to re-use the pot.  That explains why several of the pots he had taken trees out of was damaged beyond use. He used a shovel on them. Mom has an easy way to get plants out of pots and was about to show him how. 

I got the BBQ grill out and it needs to be wiped down. I had scrubbed the case and had stuck the rack and the fire plates in the dishwasher the last time I had used it. It just needs dusting off and use the heat to clean it.

The storm to the south of us will likely come past us Tuesday. The cone of death now misses us but if it is at the east edge of the cone, we will get some effects, but it likely won't be that close. 

Year 21, Week 22, Day Two (week 1117) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

07-04-21 Sunday

officially the temps were 80 as the low 87 as the high, nice and clear. It was 92 degrees under the awning when I went out there and 96 when I had finished out there. It was clear nearly all day. Tonight we are expecting some rain. I took several breaks inside during that to cool off. 

This weather report is brought to you by The City of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

My neighbor got a thunder jacket for Ginger. It does help. I was visiting and had the dog with me and she would growl. She barked once in a while over the really loud blasts. I was petting her the entire time. I had taken my hand off her and She finally leaped off the bed barking. I think she went into the neighbor’s bedroom and I did not heard her bark since. When we first put it on her, she did not want to move. Earlier, my neighbor had put a dress on her and she did not like it. She thought the dress might keep her calm. It did not work. The thunder jacket did make some difference. 

After lunch I had my stuff out back. I did not feel like doing any grinding so I used the knife to nip the corners off some of the square tires on the car and truck ornaments.

I washed off the BBQ, the chairs and a couple bins we are using tomorrow. The chairs need soap, water and Brillo to get them looking clean. I moved all my equipment to the L end of the awning so there is a lot of room for people. 

I helped clear the neighbor’s living room as we will have some of the food there. They had the laptop, with keyboards and screen on the kitchen table. The desk was covered with stuff and so was the table. I dug into the piles and did a very good job of clearing stuff. I will set up the laptop on the desk. It is disassembled right now.  We will be able to put the food on the table. The laptop will stay on the desk for now. We had used it for videos when we were using the house for bible study sessions. 

This gathering is what is needed to get the house cleaned up some....

The experts show that we won’t get the storm other than some possible outlying rain. It will be passing us on Tuesday. A few days ago, we were worried  as to whether the storm would mess up the BBQ. We now know everything is safe.

Year 21, Week 22, Day Three (week 1117) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

07-05-21 Monday

84 as the low, 89 as the high (94 under the awning)  clear or patchy clouds, at least until after three when we finally got drenched.

Long day. I started by cleaning the living room and office (same room).  I was handed some storage boxes. You have to assemble them. I decided to put them on the office desk in a cubby hole. The first one, I tried to assemble it and was failing. I finally said half out loud, “when all else fails,  Read the instructions.” I looked and found that I was trying to do it all wrong. I was trying to fit the ends inside the plastic that makes the box. The plastic actually fits into grooves in the plastic front and back. They even specified to do the front before the back. I followed instructions and found that it was a great idea. The front has a door that opens and you can reach your hand through the door to get the plastic in line with the groove of the back. 

By the time I finished the sixth one, it was extremely easy to do. They have tabs that stick out to align them for stacking. The cubby I stuck them in was just slightly wider than two side by side storage boxes. I stuck something on one side to add pressure to keep them from buckling as I stacked some light stuff on top. Those helped clean up the desk. 

I went out and set up the back area, digging out an extra folding table which serviced the grill. I really  needed to move my stuff over some more but we decided not to move them. It was a little tight between the tables, one against the cart with my little lathe. The space to sit, then another table with most of the outdoor foods. In the house, Mom’s neighbor made potato salad, macaroni salad, and mac and cheese (the real stuff). 

We cooked the brats, the burgers, the dogs and My nephew cooked up some pork steaks for himself and some skirt steak, which he shared. I had a skirt steak, two brats, two burgers, and a dog. I had some of the other stuff. I was really full. 

I had made some Cuban dark coffee (Bustello Caffe), but instead of using the usual 4 scoops of coffee, I decided to use five scoops and that made a big difference on the flavor. Mom’s neighbor had tried it before and did not like it. When my other nephew tried it and said it was great, she tried a little bit and said it was really good. 

That nephew came last night and left today. We caught up with his band work. He is in three bands. This SISTER KILLCYCLE band he is in, existed before he joined. I did not know that. It is basically the lead singer and other band members swap in and out over time. 

The little one is two years old and a real cutey pie. The two boys still have the same personalities but are growing fast. Mom took pictures so she will send them. I did not pull my camera out at all. 

I did a lot of walking back and forth, carrying stuff, moving stuff, once everything was set up and they were getting food out ready for cooking to start, I stayed in my seat for most of the time, not wanting to get up. 

At about 3:30, I laid down for about 20 minutes. I got up and showers hit. They were packing up everybody was done. There is a lot of stuff to take care of, but for now, it is all right. We still have loads of food left. 

The storm is missing us, but we are getting a little bit of effect from it right now. It is still  "behind" Cuba. 

1934

Year 21, Week 22, Day One (week 1116) 06-26-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 22, Day One (week 1116) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-26-21 Saturday

06-26-21

81 as the low, 85 when I got outside, 86 as the high, mostly and partially cloudy. One tiny misting showed up, then that was then gone. The humidity felt higher all day long. Dots of showers kept coming off the ocean, playing tag with different parts of the area, but not here.

I accomplished very little today. I looked at my gas tanks for the BBQ and they seem full. I don’t know about the one on the unit itself. That killed my excuse to go to the hardware store.

We had dots of showers zipping through and when I first walked out back, one was passing over. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism

I did cut a little sapling that was growing between the fences. About the diameter of two fingers side by side. I am sure it was a Gumbo Limbo, which is a native tree, sometimes called a tourist tree because when growing in the shade of a forest, it will develop red, pealing skin. Mom had cut about half way through. I basically bent it to the side until it broke, then bent it to the other side and it came off. It was not a strong wood, a little softer than whitewood.

Other than spending time talking to a neighbor, I accomplished nothing else.

During the week, Mom dug out her sand pile and put them in four foot and three foot diameter planter pots. It was a lot of work. She simply took her time and worked shovel by shovel. I think it took her like two days to do it. It made a big difference. Takes up less room and easier to use. 

Year 21, Week 22, Day Two (week 1116) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-27-21 Sunday

82 as the low, 87 as the high. a mixture of clouds with lots of blue sky. Radar showed dots coming off the ocean but missed us entirely. humidity this weekend is inching up more and more. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I worked on some of the trucks using the dremel, turning them into step bed trucks. I added windows to a couple other vehicles. 

Mom and my neighbor’s fences are back from the property line a bit. There is a Schefflera tree growing on our property, but we have to go around to the other end of the block to get to that part of the property. A Schefflera tree sprang up there and sent up a bunch of trunks. Since it is on our properties we had the right to remove it. It broke one post on my mom’s fence by leaning against it. My brother, with the help of a neighbor cut down much of that Schefflera tree down using a saw-all. To take it the rest of the way out, he now has to bring a chain saw because the trunk is too think for the saws-all. It made a big difference in mom’s view. 

I will see what I accomplish next weekend.

548

mom's new sand pile storage.

\Alamanda blossom

Alamanda blossom

flower bud

clerodendron  timmed, roots all but cut, ready for relocation

trucks and cars christmas ornaments

another view of trucks and cars christmas ornaments

Year 21, Week 21, Day One (week 1115) 06-17-21 Saturday

 Year 21, Week 21, Day One (week 1115) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-17-21 Saturday

The day was nice, but I was not out in it. Patchy clouds, and the radar showed some dots coming off the ocean. At one point, I pulled onto the highway and looked back and saw where a shower had just hit the road but not where I was. Tomorrow may be the same. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

When you hear about people’s phones getting wet, it is usually dropped into a lake or mud puddle. One never considers it falling into a cup of water. Thursday, I had my phone on the charger at work and it slipped off the upside down cup I had it sitting on and fell into a mug of water. I could see the water behind the glass of the screen and like an idiot, I did nothing about it. This morning, the screen was unreadable. Other than not being able to see anything, the phone should work all right....The problem with my old phone is that part of the screen is filled with lines . Normally, a sixth of the screen shows, but when I go to the address book, more lines cover the screen and I while I can make out the phone numbers, cannot really make out the names.

Today, I went to Walmart early to get a new phone. Try as I might, I could not set it up. I had to go to a ATT store and have them set it up for me so I could use it. My old phone won’t be answering now. A few doors down was a computer and phone repair place. I went there and talked to the girl there. She said that the only way to get the data off the chip, which is different than the one I got now, would be to get the same phone on line. The cost is as much as my new phone ($36).

This new phone is harder to use also. Imputing information takes more work. With the old phone, to type a letter in the address book or when texting, you just hit the same key till your letter comes up. With this one, you hit a number, then have to use another button to move over to the letter you want. Then you hit OK, then go to the next letter. 

I have the old phone  in rice right now and will leave it for several days before I try to check it again. messing with the phone took the day.

I was given a tall newel post (tall post for the head or feet of a bed) from someone’s bed. They said the other one broke and they tossed it. This post has flutes down the length of the main body, and decorative pieces on the ends. I have not decided what to do with it yet,  It would be an excuse for another ornament. I could cut the post into sections and put them on the lathe to part off the disks, and then carve the surfaces to look like petals or carve them to be snow flakes. The ends could be hollowed out and made into vases. No rush right now.

Will see what I do tomorrow.

*****

Year 21, Week 21, Day two (week 1115) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-17-21 Sunday

Sun, Jul 18, 2021 6:53 pm

In the morning we got a good solid shower. After that it was hot, humid, with patchy clouds. A fan helped under the awning. 

The room mate of the next door neighbor BBQ’d some food under our awning since I had not put the BBQ away. She BBQ’d some bell peppers. She put them on the fire and rotated them so they cooked evenly. When they collapsed, they were done. They were sweet and tasty and you could even eat the seeds. She did not even take the stem off. She said a brother in law of hers did that and she said those were the best peppers she ever had. These were good. The green peppers were picked over, with few left at the store and the colored peppers were even cheaper, so the colored peppers was what she used. If you think about it, they are cooked about the same as how the peppers would be cooked when you stuff them and bake them. Being colored, they were sweeter than the green and that made them especially delicious. 

After lunch, my brother and I sat outside and talked. By three my brother had to leave. 

I sat and talked with mom and by the time I was to leave, day was gone without any wood working being done. I had taken my stuff out under the awning but by the time clean up was done and everything was settled in, it was really too late to get set up to work.

My brother liked the bed post. It is very pretty. 

I will see what I come up with next weekend.

856

Year 21, Week 20, Day One (week 1114) 06-12-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 20, Day One (week 1114) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-12-21 Saturday

77 as the early morning low, 88 as the high, clear early morning, partly cloudy near noon, showers after two It was humid but we had a nice wind. One moment, some clouds built up but they were gone quickly. It was otherwise pretty sunny all day long. I totally forgot to check the weather at all today. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I planned on stopping at Walmart on the way to Mom’s house. I stopped at five yard sales this morning and ended up not having to go to Walmart. I considered of buying some shorts and some belts.

I have some shorts that mom got me when I was in the hospital from my first car accident. They are really big and needed belts. My last yard sale was one I visited the last time I did yard sailing and had bought a hat for a friend. They had some shorts that looked like I could wear them and would not need a belt. They also had a few shirts that look like they fit. These were brand name clothes, but I would have to check again which brand. They had sold most of their stuff from the last yard sale already.

My first yard sale had some craft stuff. I picked up some craft stuff, there is a baggy of pom-poms, a baggy of hair bands which is exactly what I have needed for a year or two. There is a back scrubber, and some patterns for children’s shirts. It measures how big to cut the head hole and has colored markers for on the fabric. I also got a bag of cotton face masks. Everything was a dollar, but the face mask bag was five bucks. I was thinking it was something else and bought them, without examining them. The thought crossed my mind that a woman could add some strings and you have a bikini bottom.....

My second yard sale had some interesting stuff, including Manolta cameras. I had used Manolta film cameras for a lot of years. Many years ago, I lost my digital camera and was getting ready to go back to film cameras. I nearly had my equipment set up for the way I used to do close up photography, which is what I enjoyed most. Mom then gave me a new digital camera and that killed the urge to use the film cameras. There is a big difference of buying a roll of film, shooting 36 pictures to a roll, then paying for processing, and shooting a couple hundred shots with a digital camera and then putting them on the computer (which I already have) so you can print them or put them on the web. Once you have a computer, digital cameras operate almost free. I passed up the cameras, and left there without buying anything. 

My third yard sale was an estate sale in one of the million dollar homes. This was not the best home I had been in. Outside, these homes look like they are three stories tall. When you enter, the living room is what is three stories tall. All that space to the ceiling adds a wow factor to the place. Then the other part of the house is just two stories, usually bedrooms on the second floor. With these estate sales, just about everything is for sale. Kitchen ware, furniture, sometimes even stoves, air conditioning units, and other utilities. Many times, they are emptying the house of everything because they are going to level it and build a custom home for the new owners. This sale had been going on for a while. They had TVs that were three feet tall. People were buying decorations and other stuff.  I ended up buying three hand saws. Over time, they disappear from our tools out back.

I also stopped at a yard sale that was selling plants and got mom a plant. It is a prayer plant where the leaves are supposed to close up like praying hands at night. Mom loves to get plants.

Mom’s been moving stuff in the back corner. Mom had me I dig out and examine the pile of stuff mom had at the back corner. I learned that mom had stored some wood for me back there. I did not know that wood existed. Much of the wood was really bad off and I dropped them off at the street in front of mom’s neighbor’s house for Tuesday pickup. I took two loads in the hand cart one after another, then had to rest while, did another load, rested a while then did another load. When I finally did the fifth load I decided that was enough for the day. I think the walking was harder on me than anything. I do have to be careful as I don’t move as sure or as fast as I used to. I also had to pile the wood onto the cart and they did not want to stack nicely so I had to watch them as I traveled.

There were some good wood back there. I saw a couple really big pieces I need to get out but was tired enough to let it be for now. I will get them tomorrow. One small  piece of wood, I split in a couple pieces just to see how the bugs worked on it. None. 

My thought is most of the big pieces will be cut into smaller pieces for projects. A couple would not fit on my lathe unless I really cut them down. I see I don’t have to buy or pick up project wood now that I know this wood is there. Several pieces would have been great to use for some immediate projects, ended up having to be tossed out.

Year 21, Week 20, Day One (week 1114) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-13-21 Sunday

76 as the early morning low, 88 as the high. fair until noon, then scattered clouds, heavy showers at five. We got some misting during certain parts of the day today. We a torrential downpour hit at about five and it was super heavy and lasted a bit. The storm was not very big on the radar before it arrived but it stretched out it passed. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of tourism.

I found out that most of the shorts I got yesterday were about a size or two too small. I will pass them on to someone who they will fit. I got a couple that fits, though, so it was worth it.

I dug into what was left of the wood pile. We had two big garbage bins full of wood I also sorted. I kept the wood that was in good condition, which tended to be really dense and hard wood. I have some wedges of sea grape I never knew I had. Got to do something with them. Over a decade ago, a sea grape tree with good diameter (In the wild, they are usually more like vines than a tree) was cut in a neighbor’s yard. I got a bunch of pieces of it and have used them for projects over the years. I found that fresh sea grape wood tends to crack in the middle during drying, while the outside looks nice. This tree stood for a long time, having removed the branches, before it was finally removed which allowed the tree to dry out quite a bit. The wood is solid and finishes up to be pretty. 

Then there was the fun of putting the wood back where they are accessible but out of the way. Two of the pieces were almost too heavy for me to lift. I used a garbage bin for the smaller pieces of wood. While dealing with some of the buggy wood, I swept the bugs into a plastic bag and closed it off, setting them also on the junk pile. 

The worst piece of wood I threw out was like wet cardboard. Just flaky wood lightly bonded together. 

This makes me feel ashamed of not making use of the wood, but I did not know it was there. Even then, it was well buried. Only when mom moved a bunch of stuff was it even visible. 

Will have to see what I do next week.

1437

my pile of shame. some pieces of wood was exactly like what I wanted to work with recently

the wood that I got to keep. those big pieces are solid wood. heavy

pompoms in back, on the right side are the baby clothes patterns. the strappy thing is a shower back scrubber, and then there is the hair bands. 

Year 21, Week 19, Day One (week 1113) 06-05-21 Saturday

 Year 21, Week 19, Day One (week 1113) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-05-21 Saturday

Mom and I went to the yard on the other side of her and the neighbor’s fence and cut branching of a Schefflera tree that was leaning against her fence. This tree is actually not on the property of the people behind us. The fences are inside the property and the tree is right on the corner.

 I used the saws-all. There is little I would want to use a chain saw for. The saws-all is so much nicer. It is easier to control and since the blades are narrow, you can get them into tighter places. They are safer as you don’t have the spinning chain on the back of the blade. They are limited on their reach, which most chain saws exceed, but I don’t deal with that sized stuff as much.

I did start with a dull blade but had a couple other blades on me and one was sharp enough to do the job. Mom may have to pay to have the tree taken out. It is growing like a weed and sending up trunks like mad. There was a cactus there that mom wanted cut. It also grows like a weed. She thought she had eliminated them but they came up. I happen to have some of the same ones growing in my condo in pots. They are survivors. I have no idea how they have survived as long as they have.

I pounded on another nail. Nails are usually cut from four sides to create a point. I used the point of the nail as a starting point of the sword, turning it so it formed a nice angled point of the sword and that was where I started flattening it. It is about half again as wide as the original nail, and about half again as long. I have not tried to add the edge, just flattening it evenly. I am not sure if I want to grind it into shape or keep pounding it, hoping I can shape it right. I have some figuring out on how to do certain shaping on it at this small scale. If I really wanted to, I could make the tools to do this right. 

The thought crossed my mind to carve some squirrels to hold these swords, and possibly shields. I will consider it.

A friend baked a birthday cake for me. It was chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. She added semi sweet chocolate morsels between the cakes and on top. It was good. We decided not to put candles on it because last time we used the right number of candles, the heat kept driving us back. Once we finally got the fire out, the cake was charcoal. Don’t want to make that mistake again.

I had gotten a new mattress last month, along with sheets and pillows. A spring mattress was not in my budget so this was a foam mattress. I also got some things for mom and a friend. 

The mattress is pretty good, the sheets are great (my friend loves hers), the pillows are all right (mom loves her soft ones, I have only used the mediums so far). I also got some slippers They have to be worn a while to break them in. It is supposed to be a size 13 slipper but feels smaller. I am glad I don’t have to buy more. Other than the slippers, I would say all that I got were worth it. 

Year 21, Week 19, Day One (week 1113) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

06-06-21 Sunday

My brother and I talked about videos we watched. He was telling me that all he knew about condensation in the attic on air conditioning vents was all wrong. He saw a video that explained things like he never heard before. As the attic at night cools down, it cannot hold as much moisture. Moving air in the attic causes more condensation on the conduit than still air, and a smooth, shiny surface collects drops more than a rough surface. It happens that he has been doing it mostly right. He said that those in attic reflecting sheets makes things worse. Also, he said that any time he sees duct work where it is sitting on the wood, there is mold and fungus on the wood as the wood stays dry.

Friday, my watch caught on something at work and the pin came out and landed on my chair. I watched it roll behind the seat. There is a metal backing right there, I could feel the end of the pin but could not get hold of it. Yesterday, I handed the watch to mom. She worked on it for over an hour, with no luck.  I walked into her house and said something. She said that the instant it heard my voice, the pin slipped into place. 

When working wood, there are times we need to taper something. Sometimes the easiest way to do this is to put it to the saw and cut a wedge. Usually, though, the best way it so shave it. You start at the end and shave off a tiny bit off the end.  Then you back up slightly and shave some more to the end. Then back up a little more and shave to the end again Each shaving removes more of what you already cut. As you work back, you will find that the cut surface is on an angle from the original point. If you need a sharper angle, you can start the process again, taking a shaving off the end and keep backing up. Whether carving or turning, this works great. 

I need to be more productive than I am. I do what I can. I see that I look at how long it is till Christmas and my mind says I have a lot of time. I really need to get the pieces that I have started, finished. I am thinking of adding flags on poles sticking out the barrel of my cannons. I have to design the flags, print them out, give them a number of coats of varnish, and then attach them to the poles. I have some beads to put on the end of the poles. I am thinking of having BOOM on one side of the flag, and Merry Xmas on the other side. I could have boom on both sides but will decide that at the time.  The cannons also need to be decorated, and as soon as I get the vehicles finished on the carving part, get them decorated too. 

I will see what I do next week.

1000

showing out little slices working your way back creates a nice long angle. 

Year 21, Week 18, Day One (week 1112) 05-29-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 18, Day One (week 1112) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-29-21 Saturday

72 as the early morning low. 78 when I got outside, 86 as the high. between a few clouds and fair with nice breezes most of the day.  This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I worked on a convertible ornament. I cut in for the seat and “daylighted the rear window rail. Not bad.  I had already created the back rail and the window on the bandsaw, with a space between them. I used a small dremel bit to cut down to create the seat, then cut down farther for the leg area. I do not have a steering wheel and won’t add one. These are representative. I’m not trying to get them exact. With all my vehicles, I have no idea what brand they are. I am just making them.

I added varnish to my latest teapot. I lightly sanded it with 400 grit, mainly to remove any nibs, and then sprayed it all over. It is now looking good. One more coat should do it. It should have a nice finish on it when done. The outside is the raw wood one finds under the bark, which is a nice effect.

I had a “banana” bowl that I had varnished years ago, then sanded all the varnish off as it was a really bad finishing job. I needed a special bit for the dremel and almost emptied it out, found the bit I was after. I rearranged everything and put new sandpaper on the sanding drums. I also replaced the disks on my cutting bits. When I put everything away, and had sanded and varnished the banana bowl. I was done. It is not looking good, but it is better. Whenever you use power, no matter how careful you are, you are going to get scores and scratches and it takes work to remove them. This is a wood that loves to hang onto scratches. Just when you think you got all of them, you find more. I remember why I hate sanding.....

I like the wrecker I had made. I might make the rest of the pickup trucks into wreckers. I do know I will need two dozen of the ornament vehicles since there are different designs of them. I will see what my mood says later.

When the mangos fall off the tree, you hear them go through the leaves and then a solid thud on the lawn. I was talking to a friend in the back yard of my mom’s neighbor and a large mango fell right near me. My friend said it almost hit me. He said he got bopped by one a couple days ago.

Year 21, Week 18, Day two (week 1112) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-30-21 Sunday

74 as the early morning low,  I stopped some place for the morning before going to Mom's. 79 when I finally got outside, 86 as the high. .  This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

After I gassed up, I stopped at a yard sale. I was not looking for any as usually Sundays don’t have yard sales. I picked up a bag of like eight insulated travel tumblers. These are the big ones. Then I picked up some landscape fabric. He said he would sell the fabric to me, then said he was going to give it to me. I insisted he take two bucks. Mom was happy when I showed it to her. She had used fabric under her gravel in her front planters. 

My brother and I sat outside and talked. And other than a little sanding on a banana bowl, having spotted some bad spots, I did nothing. Mom came out and started reminiscing about her travels around the country, the tourist sites she visited all over the country. She said she would go to the visitor centers when she entered the state and find out all the stuff she could go and see. They slept in the car, and then van, so meeting hotel reservations were not a problem and they usually stayed in KOA camp grounds. We finished at about four, which is far longer than my brother usually stays here. 

I had forgotten, but today was my brother’s birthday. (My birthday is in a week or so) Mom gave both of us gift cards to Lows. Dan gave me a gift card for Harbor Freight (we celebrate out birthdays the same day). I gave him and his daughter each a set of pillowcases.

Year 21, Week 18, Day two (week 1112) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-30-21 Sunday

76 as the low, high of 84, which was near the temps  when I got outside. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

On a lark, not really wanting to work, I grabbed a nail a couple hammers and started pounding. A sledge hammer was my anvil. I used a light hammer and simply tapped on the nail, flattening it out. I would flip it in different directions. I flattened the nail head and formed it into part of the piece I was making. Once I got it sufficiently flat, I started tapping on one side to make it like a wedge, for the blade edge. The metal moves as you pound it and the blade started curving. The thinner the edge was, the more curve there was because the metal spread not only back to edge, but also side to side. And the side spread causes the whole thing to bend. 

I was not using heat, just pounding on it. It took a while but the results was fun. As I worked, I remembered things I had been told or heard in videos. When you hit the metal with the hammer, you can control some of the movement of the metal by pulling or pushing the hammer on impact. That helps the direction the metal will move. Since this blade was single edge, in spite of my pulling the metal as I hit it, it still spread to the side and curved the whole thing.

Not long ago, I saw a video where a guy did this, but he was heating it like a real blacksmith. I did not look at it close enough on how he added the groove down the center. That was partly where the idea of making a tiny sword out of a nail came from. 

After I had the blade about the way I wanted it, I took a small piece of wood, drilled it and stuck it on the end of the sword as the handle. 

I might try this again. I did not use any heat, but just pounded on it. It is rough, but it was a good test of the concept. I remembered a lot of the things I heard about blacksmithing such as how to move the hammer to draw metal out. It would have been easier if I was using a torch to heat it up but decided to try it this way first. I did use the grinder mainly to clean it up. If I worked more with the hammer, I could have made it so it did not need as much grinding, but I was doing it fast to get it done. 

Of course, If I made it a double edged blade, there would be no curve. I would likely use a bigger nail for that. 

I made banana ice cream this morning. I took eight bananas, half a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips. I ran the chocolate chips through the food processor to make them in to powder and chunks. I then added the bananas and processed them together. I then scooped them into two mini loaf pans with plastic wrap as a liner. I then put them in the freezer. 

Most times, I just sliced the icecream into patties and ate them that way. I got some paper lolly pop sticks at the craft store and tomorrow I will force the sticks into them, and then slice them into popsicles.

Will see what happens next weekend

1399

the convertible car. I had opened the back window.

a couple nails to play with. I chose to work with the grey nail on the left.

The blade basically complete. the narrow end was where the head was. it is a little flakey as there was really nothing to make the metal bond to itself

the final blade with handle. the outside of the curve is the edge. 

Year 21, Week 17, Day One (week 1111) 05-22-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 17, Day One (week 1111) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-22-21 Saturday

75 as the low, 81 when I got outside, 83 as the high of the day. Scattered to broken clouds at different times during the day, almost always sunny, strong winds between 12 and 20 mph with gusts as high as 25. The low humidity and the breeze was coming under the awning which made it really nice. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

Got busy and was unable to finish some posts.

I got out back of mom’s house at nine and started cutting blanks for trucks, vans and car ornaments. I trimmed the sides of a few of the ones I did last week, which were too wide for their length. I had cut the wheels on one a little thin so I took the pieces I had cut and trimmed them for the wheels and glued them back on. After they dry, I will sand them down to thickness and continue on. I did some work on some of the others. I did not use the bandsaw to cut between the wheels underneath, which tends to cut too deep, but instead did that with the knife, I have a few more to do. The tops of the cars were cut lower and narrower so they were more proportional. There will be a lot of detailing after I get them fully roughed out. 

The wheel of one cannon broke, so I cut that off and glued another wheel on. Then I saw that the other wheel on that side did not match the wheel on other side (wrong angle), so I cut that off and put my last wheel blank there, getting it aligned right. They will have to be spray painted and then I can start decorating the cannons.  I still have not decided on whether to add the flag with the message on it or not. I am still thinking. I likely could do it to a few and see how they look before I decide to do the rest. I have to finish making the sheet of flags to print out and then cut. 

Year 21, Week 17, Day One (week 1111) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-22-21 Saturday

75 as the low, 79 when I got outside, 81 as the high, mostly clear with scattered clouds, steady winds of about 15mph. when I got outside, I always set my folding table up against the legs of the awning if it is not going to rain. The sun shown on the outer edge of the table, something I had not noticed until today. that means the sun, at least in the morning, is to the north of us now. We had a nice wind entering the awning so the above 80 temps did not feel like it. It was not gusty just steady. The winds were not as strong as it was the past few days. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

05-23-21

I went to Walmart today after I gassed up. I got new floor mats for the truck, and a couple travel mugs for my coffee-tea. One was all plastic and five bucks, the other was insulated metal at ten. That is the one I am using now. It might be a little smaller than what I was using, but it has a nice lid for a straw to poke through. It came with a hard plastic straw which is nice. 

Walmart has the expensive mats at eye level. You have bend over to look below, sometimes moving the other mats out of the way just to see the price. I got an $18 set and it came with three mats that were the same. I put one in place in the driver’s side. One went on the passenger side, and the last one is laying on the back  seat at this second. My truck has two hooks to hold the mat in place. A bit later, I might put a hole in the mat at those points so it will stay put for a while. Not yet, though. I may swap it around. It is so long that it goes under the seat and that might be enough to keep it in place. I will have to see.

I worked on cars and trucks. I had designed a big truck (two sets of back wheels), and it just did not look right for a big rig, so I made it a wrecker truck. I will detail the hook better later along with the rest of the truck. I have a long ways to go on all the vehicles. A lot of wood on the sides will disappear on some as I give them shape. One pickup will have a step bed, for example. 

Usually when I cut stuff off with the band saw, it will stay there on the bandsaw table for quite a while. When I thinned a few of the cars, I took the cuttings and made the wheels bigger and thicker by gluing the wheel piece back on, as they were way too thin. The wrecker crane was a piece of scrap from one of the other vehicles where I made the car lower by slicing off some wood above the roof, and shaped it. Today I tossed a bunch of the small bits and kept some pieces in case they are needed. Likely, I threw away a piece that would have been perfect, but sometimes it has to be done.

I ended up using one piece of wood to try to repair a vacuum cleaner. One wheel was coming off and it had broke through the plastic. I slathered glue into the space with the wheel in place, then took a cutting and marked and shaped it (removing wood on the underside to match the plastic still there) so it would fit over the slot that was broken. I slathered a lot of glue on it and over the area and put it in place. I might later add more glue just to make sure it is held. After a while it should remain in place. Of course, you won’t be able to get the wheel out without a lot of force. I was more interested in it staying, than coming out. (Edited note, I realized it had to rotate. I worked it and now it will stay in but rotate, and can be pulled out and put back in again like the others)

Since Wilma, a white algae showed up in the area. It gets into the air conditioners and blocks up pipes. The neighbor’s air conditioner pan filled up with water. She emptied it a couple days ago and I dumped the vacuum cleaner for her. She filled it up again. While my brother was here, he used a hose to blow out the pipe some. I tried to vacuum it a bit later and got almost nothing. My brother said that sometimes you have to replace the drain pipe if the algae lines the pipe too thick. A few times we had vacuumed it out and stuff that looked like toilet paper came out with the water. That was the algae. My brother said that he might have his son come by and check it out. He wants to make sure it does not get into the cooling grid. 

Will see what I do next weekend

1264

first batch of cars

second batch of cars after I cut some of the first ones thinner.

Year 21, Week 16, Day One (week 1110) 05-08-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 16, Day One (week 1110) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-08-21 Saturday

73 was the coldest, 80 when I got outside, the day mostly fair with a few clouds. 82 as the high. A steady light breeze helped take the heat out of the air. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

I cleaned up the five cannons I made last week. I used the sanding drum to remove excess glue and knobs formed by the pegs I added to hold everything in place. There were a few other touch-ups I had to do. 

Then I hit them with white paint. That will allow whatever colors I add to them to stand out, not fade out as they sometimes do against the brown wood. I then made the hollows in the carriages for five more cannons. I only have four cannon barrels made, though, and wheels for two. It dawned on me that I can speed my work by using the cutting disk on the dremel for slicing the end where it is low. I can cut into the end of the carrage since that wood has to be removed, I can cut the angle at the end of the supports for the cannon. Just a tiny bit of work and that wood is gone. After measuring what I wanted the thickness of the wood to be, I cut down with the disk down both sides, and on the front end (there is wood across that end of the carriage) that gives a stop cut for my knife to cut and pry out wood. Once I get it to where I want it to be, I run the dremmel grinding bit, and later, the sanding drum into that area to level and smooth it out. 

It makes a big difference on the speed. Most of the hollowing work was with the knife as it reaches a lot of the area at once and is good at splitting off wood. Grinders and sanders remove tiny bits of wood. The knife can cut deep and split off wood easily

I worked on the tea pot I made a few weeks ago. I cleaned up the glue that spilled out around the handle. I used glue to fill gaps and it spread out beyond what I was working on. I got rid of the visible glue, had to fix a few tiny holes. Once I had it like I wanted, I lightly sanded it, then gave it another coat of varnish. It will need a bit more work such more varnish and light sanding between coats. It is looking good.

I had several bags of yarn that I kept in the truck. I added more yarn at one time or another. I gathered ALL the bags of yarn and emptied them out onto my table. Wow, that was a lot of yarn. I separated them out as some ends had gotten wild and tangled up with each other. I then sorted the yarn as to type, first. Then I put together a bag that would stay in the truck in case I needed it. It has cotton and acrylic of many colors, plus a few projects that were in process. It is sometimes fun to grab a project and work on it, other times it is fun to start fresh. The other two were going back home. 

There is one thing you run into with yarn, and it tends to happen with every craft or hobby. You never have the color, or item, or type of item, you really want to work with. You end up with materials galore, and then you never have time to make use of any of it...There was no reason to have three full bags of yarn in the truck. I tell people I have a life-time worth of yarn. I am not joking. What makes it worse, is when I go past yarn in the store, I hesitate. One of the dollar stores in our area now have yarn. Their cotton yarn was not twisted as well as it should. It splits easily. That does not mean I don’t start reaching for it...

This morning, I decided to cook a dish for a family meal. I cooked some of my mixed grain (I accumulated some 20 different kinds of grain such as oats, wheat, Quinoa, barley, millet, four kinds of rice, etc) then some noodles, and some frozen veggies, and mixed them up. We were going to have some of it for lunch today, but decided to have it for lunch tomorrow with the whole family. I had some hamburger patties and we decided to have them tomorrow too. I told mom she could add tomatoes, celery, cheese, and such to the pasta grain salad. I have not been cooking much so it was sort of a treat. 

Year 21, Week 16, Day two (week 1110) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-09-21 Sunday

73 as the absolute coldest. 83 when I got onto the road. 84 as the high. Humidity bounced around 65%. light breezes felt good. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

We had the pasta-grain salad today for lunch with hamburger patties. Mom added tomatoes and celery. We each used our own salad dressing. They liked it. It won’t be soon, but I will do that again.

When I went out back of Mom’s house to work, I made some more barrels and also some cannon carriages. I later added the barrels to the carriages. I still have to add the wheels. My brother likes the cannons. These will be the last of these I will make at this time, as I will have a dozen cannons. I am surprised at how fast it took to get this part done. 

The blade has been coming off on the band saw. My brother had a look at it, and figured out how to adjust the angle of the upper wheel. There is a screw in the center. You turn that screw to tip the top of the blade in or out. We made a few adjustments and it looks like it is doing all right. Now that I know about it, I can make finer adjustments as they are needed. 

I had assumed I would have to take the wheel off to make adjustments, as I saw an apparatus that looked like it was able to change the angle. My brother had worked on this bandsaw before and he just had to remember what he did. The whole thing needs adjustments done. I will have to do it when I am bored and want a real project.

On making the cannons, I had to taper the barrel so the muzzle, other than a flair at the end, it was smaller than the back. The explosion itself starts at the back and that is where most of the mass is needed to keep it from flying apart. The muzzle does not need as much mass as the force is going out the end, not out the encasing barrel. 

A trick for making easy tapers is to start at the end that will be the smallest. Remove a little material. Then go back a little more and remove some more material. As you work back, you keep removing material all the way down to the end. What happens is that the material you are removing last has already been removed from, and it forms an angle as you work.  

To taper the cannons barrels, I spun them in the little lathe, and used the dremel with an aggressive grinding bit to remove the wood. I started near the end of the muzzle and held it there while the two motions were working against each other. The dremel bit cutting down the length of the barrel which was spinning under it. I found that going from the low to the high with the bit worked better because once into the wood, it was ripping out the ends of the fiber as you worked to the higher levels, making wood removal easier. I would sand them by holding sand paper against them as they spun.

A couple of cannon barrels had hard and soft spots and the bit started bouncing on the wood so the taper was not even all the way around. This happens some times when wood turning and it becomes a challenge to correct. One cannon looked a bit twisted when I was done. There are ways of correcting it but I decided it was not worth fixing it. I decided I could hide the worst of it by how rotated it when I mounted it. 

Once I worked as far as the jaws of the lathe would let me. I turned it around and machined the end. A few times I worked backwards and because I put a knob on the end of the barrel, it left less for the chuck to hang onto. The tail stock can only reach so far and It made it tougher to work with. If you applied too much force toward the chuck, the piece would slide as the chuck was holding to the end of the barrel by the edge of the end curve. 

Before I left, Mom asked me to help her move a plant. It is a nice flowering plant, but a palm tree was blocking her view of it. She wanted to place it where it would be seen. She will later put something low where it was since something just above the 30 inch diameter 18 inch high pot can be seen. 

There were some metal hooks (bent re-bar) holding it down and a couple posts next to the pot the plant is wired to, to keep it from falling over in the winds. I was able to pull the hooks out easily. She got the wood pole. The metal stake was tough. The ends are flat and there is a curve in the middle and it hooks sticking up, with holes where they came from. It would not pull up at all. I ended up pulling it in all four directions, then it nudged up a little. I had to do it about six or seven times to get it out. The metal hooks were too hard for her to pull out. She would never gotten that metal stake out as it was hard for me. 

We then pounded in the hooks and the posts in at the plant’s new location (mom’s shoulder won’t let her hammer that high, so I did it for her). I just forgot what she called it this plant, but it is in blossom and she could not see it where it was. 

Next weekend, I plan to do trucks and cars, and maybe another pitcher, if I find a better branched piece than I have right now (the spout is the big diameter part of it). I will see what other trouble I can get into....

1867

The different stages of the cannon. the stock piece of wood. 

a piece cut and squared

a piece where the corners are cut off and partially rounded.

the rounded rod

the finished cannon barrel.

the cannons to the stage I am at. 

The brown one was just a piece of wood the right size so I did not have to cut a new piece. 

all will be painted white and then decorated with different colors.

This sketch shows how removing a bit of wood at the end, then a little more, creates a nice taper as long as you need it. each angled like shows a new cut. 

this works with grinders or knives or planes, on flat wood or spinning wood. 

Year 21, Week 15, Day One (week 1109) 05-01-21 Saturday

  Year 21, Week 15, Day One (week 1109) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-01-21 Saturday

72 low, 80 high, mostly clear with clouds building up over the everglades. they did not block the sun until after five, so it was hot under the awning from about 3:30 till the clouds took over. The weather report suggested rain, but there was none. Blue skies in the morning and after lunch, then it clouded up some to the west of us and it stayed there for the most part. At three, the sun came in under the awning, and at four, clouds blocked the sun and kept it cool.  The afternoon is a good time to work outside. I was comfortable all day once I got the fan plugged in and aimed right. The sun or no sun then did not matter. It felt good. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

I went to an appointment early in the morning. On the way home, I decided to explore where the road I was on. Heading east, it changed names a couple times and took me to Dixie highway which I crossed. I went three blocks and found a yard sale. They basically had nothing. There is one section, north of home on the east side of US1 that has been having yard sales. I found two there. One of them had some really interesting light shelving. They have the extruded plastic shelves that have ribs on the inside and light metal straps and frames. I considered getting them for the art room. I gave it a very long thought. I picked up a butcher-board cutting-board instead and left. The cutting board needs a little clean up and there is a crack on one side that needs to be glued. Even if it was for the wood alone, it might be interesting to have. Somewhere, I have a scraper I bought. I wish I could remember where it went. I could use it to fix this board properly.

At the third yard sale did not have much and was way too high a price. It was a very rich home. Some things that would have sold elsewhere for five bucks, had prices of $25. 

We have  basically have two big grocery store chains. Publix is the biggest one. Winn Dixie was big but they closed a bunch of their stores. Mom’s been telling me about a Winn Dixie store near us. I did not know it was there, so when I searched and found it. They have a system where if you get one of their cards (sort of an id card) you can get some special deals on stuff. Some of their things, they give the card price but not the regular price. It is a good store but not my favorite. There is a few things they have that Publix have, but not a whole lot. Mom gets their meat on sale. I go to several smaller stores also. I know what each store has and will go to the ones that have what I need. There are things I will not buy at some stores either because of the price or the quality.

I waited till after lunch to go outside to work. Mom had a project that needed my help on, and I had a project to work on. Mom wanted to have some shelving under her sink for foil, plastic wrap, wax paper rolls, batteries, and so on. Simple project turned out to be a big project. We had three re-designs in the process. At about five, as I was leaving, she was finishing the last bit of it. 

We took a wire rack she was using for her plants, and cut it up for shelving under her sink. Several times we had to re-cut it to make sure it fit. We started assembling it and it was going in all directions. We had to change what we were going to do several times. She was still working on it when I had to leave.

I basically made dowels for cannon barrels. I got nine of them. I used the small lathe. I intended to shape them, but as I was working I found it was going to be hard. I will have to use other methods to get them to shape. It was a good learning experience and great practice. A lot of times, I needed about half an inch more space to work on this lathe and do not have it. Of course, I could have saved a lot of time by digging out a dowel of about the right size and cutting it to length and in five minutes I would have what took me four hours to make (with lots of other things going on in between to add to the time). 

I had found a dowel the size of a broom handle and figured I would cut disks off and they would become the wheels. Once I make a body, I will see if they are too big. 

Year 21, Week 15, Day two (week 1109) 

 (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

05-02-21 Sunday

May 2, 2020

75 low, 86 high. Mostly clear, some clouds to the west over the everglades, some whisps over head. It was as high as 95 under the awning, but since there was a light breeze and almost no humidity to be felt (says 68%) it was quite tolerable. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 

Last night I figured out how to shape the barrels of the cannon. It worked quite well. I used the dremmel to do the shaping while they were spinning on the lathe. I basically ground it to shape while it was rotating. Some barrels were not perfect but I did not let that bother me and used them anyway. 

While the dowel was spinning, I took my grinder and set I so I would “cut” across the spin of the rod. I found that moving the dremel he direction of the bit’s spin, it removed the wood best. It was easiest to create the lowest part of the shape first, then taper up as it was cutting the ends of the grain. 

When I got one end shaped, I turned the barrel around and finished the other end. I found it best to do the muzzle first, then do the back end, which is rounded and cut back, last. Of course, half the time I forgot.

I had 9 barrels made, and I had cut ten blocks (a two by two cut in half) for the carriages. I got five of the cannons completed. To give a size, they are two inches across. 

I cut the length by feel. I first drew a set of lines about as thick as I wanted the material to be, all around, then used the knife to start the cuts. I then used the cutting bit on the dremmel to slice down to the depth I needed. I then used the knife to hog out the extra material until it was close, then used a grinding bit to level it out. It dawned on me quickly that the “interior” would not have to be well done as few people would see it. I just needed the indent for the cannon to sit in.  That allowed me to produce more carriages than I would have made. 

I pegged each of the barrels in two places with lots of glue so they will stay putThe wheels are just disks from the broom-handle sized rod I found yesterday, and I pegged and glued them in place against the sides of the carriage. I will finish these up and see how they look as to whether I make more. The pegs are mainly to add additional hold to everything. 

On mom’s racks, she had to change it before really getting started about five times, and she assembled it wrong twice. It came out pretty good. She said she could not get the cap off the paint last night for touch-up painting, so she went out early in the morning when she was fresh and cut the cap off and did the touch up painting. 

Butcher block is where the ends of the grain are at the cutting surface. Most wood cutting boards have the grain running side to side. When you cut side to side grain, you are actually cutting the wood. Butcher block is where you are cutting on the end. Because the fibers separate rather than cut, it does not really make permanent cuts on the surface.

With this cutting board, had a couple cracks on one side where the glue gave. I worked glue into the cracks, and then clamped it as tight as possible to close the cracks as much as I could. Next time I am out, I will clean the surfaces properly and then put it to use. I looked at it as a nice piece of wood for projects, or as a cutting board. The option was open in my mind when I bought it.

I’ve been using a four footed cane for years. The one I am using was bent in an accident and I straightened it. It is taller than most canes which is why I like it. Yesterday, I tried tightening it as it was flopping and I cut my fingers a couple times. (Hand sanitizer lets you know where your scratches and cuts are). Today I looked at it carefully and saw some cracks. I took it out back and removed the handle, which required removing the screw and wing nut. 

It is a split plate, where they had cut slots down the shaft that the feet are attached and the screw goes through both sides (multiple holes for height) and through the handle. One side of the split came off and the other has bad cracks.  My brother did not come this week. I want to see if he will weld that piece back on, and weld the cracks so it will be strong again. 

I have a smaller one and will use that as my car cane for a while. 

Looking at the pictures I remembered I had a pitcher that needed to be finished up. I want to make more trucks and cars, and will finish up the cutting board. I have a couple in-process projects I need to finish up on also. Pictures do remind you of what you need to do.

1782

My mini lathe with the rods. In the middle I  have one cannon with a shaped end.

The cutting board. the surface is end grain, referred to a "butcher block."

I did not have long enough clamps on hand so I doubled the clamp to get the reach.

Showing the dremel shaping the end of the cannon.

cannons completed to this stage.

the finished rack mom made

each stage of the cannon. half  of a two by two. 

The rough square

The knife used to rough shape the wood.

The turned rod

The final cannon barrel