Year 15, Week 23, Day One (week 720)

Year 15, Week 23, Day One (week 720)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-28-14 Saturday

85 real early morning, 90 around noon. Good breeze, but the lulls made it hot. Blue sky early morning, becoming feathers, puffs and finally thunder boomers that headed west. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

We hit quite a few yard sales. Most had interesting things I did not need. An example is that  one church yard-sale had a wooden bread box with the rolling slat front. It was only two bucks. Oh I wanted it, but have absolutely no use for it. I just hated walking away without it, but I did. The other yard sales had items that was easier to walk away from. I did look closely though. 
We were on our way home and ran across a yard sale that had some sewing machine supplies. I purchased three sewing machine foot peddles. When I got home to examine them better, one was exactly what I was after, with a socket in the middle of the cord you can plug something into and it controls the speed of the motor.  The other two had the two pin-prong plugs. I went back and she had some other cords, but they were three pin-prong sockets that plug directly into the machine. They were not going to help me. 
I decided to keep the two peddles and stopped at Ace hardware to see if I could jury rig something together. After some careful looking, I got what I thought was needed.
The peddle that was exactly what I was after was marked SINGER. 
One of the other peddles was also SINGER, and had the molded rubberized plastic end. I was not going to change that unless I really felt it was worth it. 
The other was marked MERCURY and had a end that one could unscrew. I removed that end and added a normal two prong socket. I plugged it into the outlet, pressed on the peddle with my hand and it seemed all right. I then put one of those in-line sockets on it. This is one where you just close it on the wire and it puts little holes through the insulation. I then found that my Dremmel would not go into it as the dremmel has polarity ends. I took one of those Three-to-two prong adapters and ground the wide prong to match the narrow one. I plugged that into the cord, plugged the dremmel into that, and then plugged in the cord to the socket. The dremmel ran. When I pushed down on the peddle, it slowed the dremmel a little, and then the peddle started smoking. I pulled it instantly. I removed the socket in the middle of the cord and it still smoked. I do not know if I did permanent damage to it. I have to get with my brother and see his opinion of what has to be done to make it work. I think I have to just tap into one line rather than both. The one with the plug already in the middle will be home and my single speed dremmel will be used with that as the speed control.

The left sewing machine peddle is by Singer and has the outlet mid cord. 

The middle peddle is also by Singer and has molded two prong plug

The right peddle is by mercury and has an un-screw-able  end on the cord.

Last week, the neighbor had his tree trimmed and they removed the lower branches that had all the mangoes on them. Mom has permission to gather the mangoes that land on the ground. The tree is about done producing. The mangos are good and had some with dinner. 
While I am not good at using up the wood I have, I would have loved to have gotten some of those branches as they were a nice size. 

All I did today was the electrical stuff. No woodworking. Hopefully, I will do something tomorrow and make up for today’s lack of production.

I will see what I do tomorrow.



Year 15, Week 23, Day Two (week 720)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-29-14 Sunday

85 in the morning, 94 in the afternoon. Light breeze, lots of sun. The breeze picked up in the later afternoon and clouds started building up in thickness and size. There were a few drops coming down as I drove away to go home. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

Yesterday, just as I was about to leave, I grabbed the old brace I broke several months ago and took it home. This morning, I removed the straps, padding and velcro so just the frames were left. The straps really took a beating and were fraying on the sides and the buckles were wrapped with stray strands. I took the brace itself back to Mom’s as I am sure there is a use for the joints and other things. I just have to wait for an idea to come. 

I was looking around for something to work on. I already decided to turn something. I had a cut-off of Mahogany. A can of varnish leaked on it and the can left a circle on it. I decided that I would round that. I was thinking more of a platter. On the band saw, I knocked off the corners to make it an octagon to make turning easier. 
Usually, when one turns something, you mount it in a chuck, or screw it to the face plate. After I marked the center on both sides, I simply placed the point of the tail-stock on the center, and forced it against the closed jaws of the chuck. I was strictly using friction to hold it in place. 
Using a gentle touch, I first rounded the outside. Because this is a full two inch thick, platter was out and bowl came to mind. I got the outside close to the way I wanted it, and then started hollowing it, leaving a post in the center than the tail stock was connected to. Once I got the inside hollowed out, cleaned up the way I wanted it, I adjusted and cleaned up the outside. I sanded my work and thinned the base of the post to make it easier to remove later.
I then turned it around and the chuck just fit inside it. Again I just used the pressure of the tail-stock to hold it in place and I worked the bottom.  I sanded the bottom, leaving a little post in the center.  I sanded the outside again since it was turning the opposite the direction I had it before so the grain that laid down when sanding before, got stood up and sanded flat again. 
Done on the lathe, I used my knife to remove the worst of the post on the inside, then the dremmel grinding wheel to flatten and even the surface. I also removed the post on the bottom too. I then used a flap sander to smooth everything out and remove any signs of the dremmel work. 
I need to sand it some more with progressively finer grit, varnish and sand it several times to get the kind of finish it should have. I am not in a rush to do that. It will be a cup for change or like that, more than anything. At least I got a project done.

The bowl / cup upright view

The cup / bowl upside down
Next weekend is the 4 th of July. I don’t plan on doing anything on that day, which is Friday. Saturday and Sunday should pretty much be normal. 
I would love to get some real work done next weekend. I have no idea what I will work on though. Turning wood into sawdust does give one a good sense of accomplishment. I have more than enough wood begging to become sawdust. 

I will have to see what I actually do next weekend.

Year 15, Week 22, Day One (week 719)

Year 15, Week 22, Day One (week 719)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-21-14 Saturday

80 degrees mid morning, 85 as the high. A soft blue sky in the morning, with puffs building as the day went on. Thunder boomers built up in the early afternoon in the west, over the Everglades, like around one and held off other than a little bit of wind blown drips. Around three, They decided to make a rush to the ocean and dumped their load early, wetting down everything. Mom was really happy as she did not have to water her plants for another day. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach department of Tourism. 

During the week, I was working on a scarf that was turquoise and pink. I was doing a final row of pink around the outside and ran short about ten inches from finishing. A light search of my stock, I found I don’t have any more pink yarn. I had been doing a double crochet stitch on the sides of the scarf, and single crochet on the end. As a last minute decision, I frogged (rip it, rip it out) the pink out to the start, and then used single crochet around the whole thing. It still looks good and it looks finished. I still have a small ball of that pink left. 
I don’t see buying any more pink yarn unless it is at a yarn sale. Of course, I have more yarn than I can ever use, if I am satisfied with the yarn I have for the project. 
This week, I started a scarf in dark orange, and will have yellow orange and a dark red also in the scarf and I am doing a post stitch, which will give it ribbing. I have no idea how it is going to look when done but I decided to try this stitch a while back and this project is where I was ready to give it a try.

We hit a couple yard sales right after breakfast. They had some interesting things, but all I found was a large rasp and a small metal bladed wooden square used in woodworking. I really did not need either one, but got them anyway. There was a dragon candle stick with seven candle holders on the back but I held off on that. I also saw something else that tickled my mind and I forced myself to ignore it too. I did well at those two yard sales.
After we went to an event, we were heading to go for lunch, and found a church yard sale. I found a square cast iron pot with lid. It was more than I really wanted to spend, but I felt I dared not leave it. Late in the evening, I showed that pot to a friend who went to culinary school and she drooled over it. I guess I got a good find.

We went to a meeting where an archeologist gave a talk about some research he did on a historical period. It was excellent. I learned some things. Of course, the meeting eliminated most of the yard sailing we would do and any woodworking I would do. 

After lunch, we were all weary and laid down. The thunder boomers rushed over us while we napped and woke us. By then, though it was really too late to go outside anyway to do any work. 

I am positive I will do some wood working tomorrow, but have no idea what it will be.
So I will see what I do tomorrow.




Year 15, Week 22, Day Two (week 719)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-22-14 Sunday

80 degrees, up to 85 in the afternoon. An even sprinkling of thick white but tall puffs in the late morning, thickening as the day went on. Weather developed in mid afternoon. This weather report is provided by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I was determined to do some wood working today. I got to Mom’s house later than I planned. I looked through my easy to reach supplies and eliminated many of the possible projects as being too complex or will take too long. 
I had pulled my lathe equipment out, put it back as I changed my mind, and pulled it back out again as I changed my mind again. I had a project and the lathe would involve one step of the project.
I had a one by four piece of Mahogany. I marked up for a ladle and bandsawed the wood from the handle. Those will be short drum sticks or magic wands. 
After some more measuring, I mounted the wood on the lathe with the bowl part of the ladle was at the head stock, spun by the drive spur.  I had set the center of the project so the ladle handle would be rounded so the top would remain flat.  I rounded the rest of the handle and shaped slightly the sides of the bowl so that it would be centered on the handle. 
After I took it off the lathe, I decided that the handle was just to big so I was going to sacrifice the flat top of the handle by rounding it to a smaller diameter. I just got started when the handle broke not far from the end. 
That was when I noticed that the grain ran through the wood on an angle. That is actually common on sawn boards, especially in even colored woods. The grain is not a serious consideration for furniture. The grain is not a design feature of the wood and is a lot of times hidden. Having a slight angle of the grain to the surface is not even given a thought. 
For  “structural” pieces like drum sticks, crochet hooks, ladle handles, table legs and so on, the direction of grain does make a difference. It can make or literally break a project. That is where splitting the wood makes a difference in getting the grain going right. 
I cut off the broken wood on the end, and then sat down with my knife and chisel and started working on the bowl of the ladle. My knifes look like I broke the end of the knife off so it is sort of a wedge shape on the end. I learned long ago that flat ends like that do not poke as deep into flesh as a fine point like what my dad used to make. I scored the line around the bowl and then cut chips out at that point, working my way deeper. The chisel is really for when it gets deeper and the sides need to be cleaned up.
While I did some sanding on the outside with the disk sander, I will not touch the outside until I get the inside bowl done and then copy the curvature of the inside with the outside at that time. For now, I am wearing down the inside little by little. 
While I did not accomplish a whole lot, I got another project started and fairly well along. The handle is heavier than I wanted but it will do for this one. I should have the center of the turning a lot closer to the top of the wood to get the effect I was actually after. I mis judged how thick it was going to end up. I will finish this one and might do another. I have the wood for it. 

I hope to do some wood working next weekend. I have no idea what is planned for me, so I don’t know what will happen.

I will see what I do next weekend.

cast iron baking pan

cast iron baking pan with lid off 

starting to turn ladel

 broken handle

started bowl with shorter handle.

BOOK REVIEW: THE SURGEON BY TESS GERRITSEN

Okay folks, when I'm not working on writing my own books, I have read a lot more of other authors' books than I have posted reviews for, so it's time to do something about the backlog...

As a fan of the Rizzoli and Isles television series on TNT, I became curious of their literary origins, and so checked out the first book in their series from my local public library.

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen is a complex and intense thriller about a serial killer apparently picking up where he left off after resettling to Boston, especially considering that the only survivor of his previous rampage has relocated there herself.

The book is a real page turner. There were times when I was almost too scared to read any more, yet anxious to find out what happened next. Gerritsen herself has a strong medical background that is well displayed within her writing. I freely admit that there were times when I didn't quite understand all the science, but that did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

However, while fans of the aforementioned television series might be disappointed that only the Jane Rizzoli character (and some of the supporting cast) is established in this book, they can take heart in the fact that she is accurately portrayed as presented here. It is my understanding that Doctor Maura Isles debuts in The Apprentice, a direct sequel to this novel, which I hope to read and review at a future date.

I do recommend this novel, although I also humbly suggest taking a break and reading something in a different genre to relax and destress with afterwards.

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Lee Houston, Junior, one of the founders of this fine blog, is the Editor-In-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine and the writer/creator of Hugh Monn, Private Detective and Alpha the superhero.
When not busy writing, in what he laughingly calls his "spare" time, he wishes he had more spare time.