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.
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