In My "Spare" Time: Year 20, Week 52, Day one (week 1094) 01-10-21 Saturday

Year 20, Week 52, Day one (week 1094)

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

01-10-21 Saturday

53 lows, 64 as the high, fair all day. It was kind of fun to scrape the frost off my windshield since it was below our 56 degree frost temperature. It is supposed to get into the 40s tonight. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of tourism.

I went to Lowes early and picked up a couple sheets (two by two) of thin plywood. I had a project and was not sure how I was going to address it. I wanted to unload the box the lathe is in, and wanted to put a drawer below it. I was thinking I might have to make it.

I got out back and set up both tables, and then started unloading the box. With the box empty, I looked at what it would take to put a drawer under it. I saw that the wood I added to the bottom of the box hung out at a few spots. I took out a grinding burr on the Dremel and ground the edges flush. I then saw that my previous repair on the corner of the lid did not work, so I cut a piece of wood and glued and brad-nailed it in place. It fought me tooth-and-nail as I tried to get the brad nails into it. I used clamps to hold the piece of wood and it did not keep the nail from driving the wood away from the inside of the lid. It took some work but I finally got it where it needed to be.

I have small pieces of wood laying around. They were cut-offs from different projects. One was the right size in one dimension and I cut it to fit the corner of the lid. I did not have to cut a good piece of wood to do what needed to be done.

It just dawned on me that I have never had good luck with nails. When you pound on something, it moves. Also I am not accurate with a hammer. I am guessing that is why the brads were not helping much.

There were three holders that were supposed to be in the box. Two were wood U shaped pieces that sit on the floor with the ends against the wall. My last attempt to glue them failed. This time, I took them to the sanding disk and cleaned all surfaces. And then glued them down. One piece was a block with two plastic rods hanging out. I cannot remember what that was to hold but it had come off long ago. I pulled the plastic rods out, sanded all sides of the block, added glue, then ran a screw in the middle of it for physical holding until the glue dried.

I upended the lathe cart, which was once a BBQ cart but they added wood to make three platforms. There were also shelving below where the cooker would normally go.

On the bottom shelf was a case holding some wood and projects my dad had worked with. I have to look at it periodically to remind me of what is there. Nice blocks of Basswood. I have a project that might use them.

On the upper shelf was a tray with screws and nails. After I was completely done with the lathe and cart project, I sorted all of it. I found some stuff I wish I had known was there. I ended up buying something not quite as good for the project earlier this year.

With the lathe box in cooker shelf, I checked to see how much space I had. It was just a smidgeon too big to fit into the space of the cooker. I had two-by-four pieces on edge beneath it. I checked my two plastic storage cases and I needed to gain just a little bit of height for the cases to slip in and out on top each other. I found a couple pieces of Half-by which I was cutting to be wings for a dragon carving, that I ended up having to toss because of bugs getting into it. I cut strips from the wings and put them beneath the two by fours and that helped with the cases. I really need another quarter to half an inch but that helped. The two cases fits under the lathe box.

I sorted through the stuff that was in the lathe box and a few things could not fit in the small cases, but I made sure nearly everything of low importance was in them. I really need to swap things between them so things I will likely use in a while will be in one, and stuff I might never use will be in the other. It has made a difference in the lathe box.

At exactly 3:11, the sun suddenly shown beneath the awning onto my table. It helped with my sorting of screws and nails. I really needed a bunch of jars to put them in, but putting them back in the tray was the next best thing.

I improved the lathe box, cleaned the lathe cart and got the “drawers” in place, sorted the nail/screw tray, and cleaned up. I had all sorts of other projects I wanted to address, but I felt I had accomplished something.

I intend to tackle one of my many other projects. I have the stuff for a puppy bouquet, I have an idea for a carving based on something someone asked. I have some ideas for the next batch of Christmas ornaments. I have a little tea pot I started on the lathe and should try to finish it. I have some lower priority ideas I might also explore also. I will have to see how the morning and afternoon (different reasons they are in question) go.

Will see what happens tomorrow.

Year 20, Week 51, Day two (week 1094)

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

01-10-21 Sunday

45 lows, 69 as the high, fair all day. Last night it was so cold (well below our 56 degree frost temperature) that I started a fire in the fireplace. I then noticed it had frozen, so I started another fire next to it. Then in the middle of the night, I had both of them bundled in a blanket to keep them from freezing to death). This morning, I intended to check out the great ice sheet on the ocean, but the glacier that comes from the highest natural point in the county (29 feet above sea level) blocked the way, so I took the highway. Sadly to say, I spun out on the ice that formed on two bridges. From what I was able to tell from the news and traffic reports, there were a lot of spin outs, but no contact between cars so that was good. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of tourism.

I hit a couple stores on the way to Mom’s. They did not have what I was after. (It seams that no store has piles of money for free.....).

I was late setting up out back. I took the little tea pot I had started and decided to drill out the inside some to make my hallowing it easier. I found my Fornser bits, and found the big one would not bite into the wood. I then dug out a small spade bit and with the pot between my feet (the Forsner bit would not fit in the portable drill press chuck and this small spade bit was two feet long so it would not work in the drill press either. I drilled about as deep as I felt necessary to get a start in the wood. I then used largest regular drill bit I had to enlarge the hole, then a medium Fornser bit, then tried using the big one and decided I was not gaining much. I also used the spade bit to drill out the spout. I got it to where I could blow out the sawdust with it.

Finally, I mounted it in the lathe and after a few mis-starts I enlarged the hole and went deep, but I saw later I needed to go in another half an inch to reach the bottom of the spade bit hole.

I touched the outside of the teapot to clean that up some, then turned the tea pot around and, after it coming off the lathe a few times because I was holding it only in the chuck, I brought the tail stock up and cleaned up the bottom and shaped the sides some.

I had an angle on one side of the piece of wood I was going to use as my lid so I mounted it with that out of the chuck and flattened it. Then I tried to make a tight fit. My first attempt was too lose. I cut a little deeper, then started inching up to get the fit right, and at the last minute, I told myself “forget it” and cut the layer I was shaving off to the part I already have. The lid fits loose.

My last step was to put the tea pot in the chuck, put the lid on the tea pot and shape the lid. I was after a dome shape. I matched the tea pot and dome so they were the same diameter.

When I started this tea pot. I had the lid part as part of the tea pot and tried to hollow it out, but the wood and the tea pot was fighting me at the time. I did not have the chuck quite tight enough and the tea pot moved. I had stopped at that time. Later I parted off a bunch of the wood that would become the lid. Because I tried to hollow it out, there was no center point for the tail stock to go into .

My tail stock has replaceable points. I put one on that was a cup, a ring with a hollow on the interior. I put that up to the lid. I had enough flat for the edges of the point to hold the lid nicely. After a couple adjustments, was able to hold the lid firmly against the tea pot.

I shaped the lid and the tea pot together but stopped the dome at the rim of the point. When I took it off, I have big dimple in the center of the dome. I think I will make something to go in there and be the handle. Maybe a different color wood. I could also make a ring that fits the inside of the lid to make it a tighter fit. I will see how my moods are at the time.

I am considering that part of the turning done. I had remove where the chuck was holding the tea pot firmly, so I cannot put it back in the lathe again to work more on the inside. Had I thought about it, there was a lot of stuff I would not have done on the original turning of the piece. I might not have even touched the outside after I fitted it to the chuck. This was a branch piece and the spout is the branch. I could have turned the inside and it would have been a whole lot better.

My next step is to sit with the Dremel and grind the rough parts to a smooth transition. I can picture what it will look like, but I am positive it will be nothing like that. This was a fun project to try anyway. I will carry it through to the finish or to destruction, whichever comes first.

This tea pot was from a piece of mystery wood I got from work. It was growing too close to the building. They cut it down. I was going to take just one piece of wood, and then decided to take it all. There are a couple pieces that are hard to carry. This is a very dense, fine grain wood that is quite strong. I can split it fairly easy in the big pieces. My knife does not do well with it, though it carves better than Sea Grape, a wood I like turning.

I still have a whole bunch of projects to work on. This tea pot took some time because my brother and I talked about videos we had seen. He showed me a couple on his phone. I might have spent a total of an hour and a half to get the tea pot where I have it now, which includes finding tools to do the job.

Next week, I might tackle this tea pot more. I have a silk flower Puppy Bouquet to do. I have a couple medium sized carvings I have in mind, and a bunch of ornaments I am exploring in my mind (it will require research and printing images, but I am not read for that yet).

I will see what I do next weekend.

2216

Here is the drill bits I had machined to fit the dremel, including a bit I broke..

These are bits that my brother machined to fit my hand drill

My lathe box before I emptied it.

All the "stuff" that was in the box. at the front is a two piece wood tool holder I made when exploring what it would take to machine it. I did it as I would have with aluminum or steel.