Sure, I can do that....
What did you do in your shop today?
- Thread starter woodtickgreg
- Start date
Today was one of those quickie jobs to help someone out. They had one of those cast iron and wood garden benches from a big box store with who knows what wood on it that had rotted away, They brought me the panels and asked to just make it usable for out at their campsite. Grabbed some plain maple from the scrap stash, quick sanded the worst of the water stains off (It's going to get painted by the end user) and put a seat and lower back on it. I need to get the rest of the bolts to finish it up as I ran out of the length I need but then it's out of the shop and off my to do list before i head to KCMO tomorrow morning.
KCMO...You're not doin a curly Koa run by any chance are you??
Maybe.......
Wake the Islander up when you get there, he's been awful quiet lately!
I'm hoping once he gets settled back in he'll be on here more.
So I had to run back to the shop and do a couple things before morning so I decided to scratch another piddly project off my list. I tried to talk them into rebuilding the whole thing out of white 1/2 inch HDPE sheet since it gets left outside in the winter but they don't want to do that right now so a new piece of 1/2 inch plywood done on the scroll saw they'll paint and use.
You'll get a chuckle, when it was brought to me, I was told and I quote-
"It's for that Jesus thing, you know, they put it out near Christmas with Mary and those wise guys."
I assume he meant nativity scene.....
You'll get a chuckle, when it was brought to me, I was told and I quote-
"It's for that Jesus thing, you know, they put it out near Christmas with Mary and those wise guys."
I assume he meant nativity scene.....
Been working on some stabilizing work the last couple days. Continuing to work through some dye work for @wyowoodwrker and @The100road . Just finished up 60 Lambeau Filed blanks and started in on some Spalted Oak blanks from some wood from @rocky1 .
Spalted oak:
I'll show the dye work somewhere here once it's done. Not sure how flashy looking a stack of 60 stabilized blanks of old pine looks, so no pics of that.
Spalted oak:
I'll show the dye work somewhere here once it's done. Not sure how flashy looking a stack of 60 stabilized blanks of old pine looks, so no pics of that.
What size are those blanks?? Can you put sompthin in fer scale like maybe
a blue lighter??
a blue lighter??
Also been working on getting my turning corner in the basement reorganized after getting the new lathe in place. Next step is to build a small workbench for the basement for my son to work at. Otherwise he's happy to glue wood scraps together while sitting on the floor - right in the middle of the very small space I've got down there!
I don't own a blue lighter...
Pen blanks. Have some call blank sized material I need to stabilize too.
7/8" x 7/8" x 6 ish for the most part. Since he don't have a lighter handy!!
Same size as the ones I sent home with Bob.
Don't you hate it when you set out to turn a nice piece of ash only to discover it's riddled with wrinkles?!
At least the dog likes it...
At least the dog likes it...
Well... I got packages off to Trev and Stan in the down pour. Came home to work in the shop and 5 minutes into it the power went out; 2 hours later I resumed my efforts.
- Cooked off 2 dozen plus Chinese Tallow pen blanks that were soaking.
- Cooked off a dozen or so Spalted Oak pen blanks that were soaking in Dye.
- Cut up 2 - 3 dozen pen blanks.
Box going out to @Woodworking Vet for the Vet's Garage. David said they had plenty of pen kits, but were short of wood, but after his visit to Mike and the package I'm sending his way, they may be short pen kits again!
Headed your way David... Box full of Spalted Red Oak Blanks, dozen or so dyed, all stabilized, Dozen Ipe blanks, (it isn't fancy but it turns nice and I've been pleased with the pens I turned out of it), Dozen crosscut Laminated Bamboo blanks (the guys will have fun with this, it's interesting stuff), half dozen bamboo cut with the grain, in case someone don't want spots all over there bamboo pens.
Then since the box wasn't full, and I didn't feel like shipping air, I tossed in a few rounded out Spalted Red Oak blanks. All of them split on me, but the checks in these have all been cast so they should work for bottle stoppers, calls, whatever.
Had a piece of Black Locust cut off from David I've been trying to figure out what to do with, and finally decided to pour it and make a bowl... It was a little sketchy for bowl turning before pouring it. That little chunk of bottom there in the foreground was actually loose and kinda floating around. It looks better now! However, not having any 5" bowl molds to pour it in, I had to improvise...
Quit laughing Tony, it didn't leak a drop! Piece of cardboard taped over in the bottom to lend some rigidity to the mold, otherwise all Gorilla Tape.
I don't screw my HDPE molds together, I tape them. The Gorilla tape works, no leaks if you get it sealed tight, if the resin gets in a joint and stands, the glue on the tape gets gooey, and you have to pull the mold apart and clean it. Mineral Spirits removes the goo and any tack resin remaining in the mold. Cleaning 6 - 8 of them is a pain no doubt, but screwed together molds have to be caulked, mine don't. Not at all uncommon to get 2 - 3 pours on them before having to tear them down, clean them up, and rebuild them.
Prepped a second piece of Black Locust cut off for pouring another bowl blank, although it's not quite as bad as this one, it to is a bit unstable to be turning bowls out of. Might get out my motorcycle helmet regardless!
And, to wind down from all that fun and games for the day...
Took a cross cut piece of Black Locust I cut off one of the blanks, ripped a pen blank out of it and turned an Ink Pen.
Trimline in Gun Metal, finish is CA wet sanded with BLO.
And, later in the evening I've herded frogs around the shop for entertainment. Not sure what they're up to!! At one point had about 20 of them sitting just inside the back door, don't know if they're coming to the lights or what. Big frogs, little frogs, tree frogs, bull frogs, toads, you name it, damnedest thing I ever seen! Picked up a little chatter on this Black Locust turning the end grain, and apparently it was the right pitch and set all the frogs to singing too!!
NO there were no drugs or alcohol in the shop and the doors have been open all afternoon, so it wasn't fumes either.
- Cooked off 2 dozen plus Chinese Tallow pen blanks that were soaking.
- Cooked off a dozen or so Spalted Oak pen blanks that were soaking in Dye.
- Cut up 2 - 3 dozen pen blanks.
Box going out to @Woodworking Vet for the Vet's Garage. David said they had plenty of pen kits, but were short of wood, but after his visit to Mike and the package I'm sending his way, they may be short pen kits again!
Headed your way David... Box full of Spalted Red Oak Blanks, dozen or so dyed, all stabilized, Dozen Ipe blanks, (it isn't fancy but it turns nice and I've been pleased with the pens I turned out of it), Dozen crosscut Laminated Bamboo blanks (the guys will have fun with this, it's interesting stuff), half dozen bamboo cut with the grain, in case someone don't want spots all over there bamboo pens.
Then since the box wasn't full, and I didn't feel like shipping air, I tossed in a few rounded out Spalted Red Oak blanks. All of them split on me, but the checks in these have all been cast so they should work for bottle stoppers, calls, whatever.
Had a piece of Black Locust cut off from David I've been trying to figure out what to do with, and finally decided to pour it and make a bowl... It was a little sketchy for bowl turning before pouring it. That little chunk of bottom there in the foreground was actually loose and kinda floating around. It looks better now! However, not having any 5" bowl molds to pour it in, I had to improvise...
Quit laughing Tony, it didn't leak a drop! Piece of cardboard taped over in the bottom to lend some rigidity to the mold, otherwise all Gorilla Tape.
I don't screw my HDPE molds together, I tape them. The Gorilla tape works, no leaks if you get it sealed tight, if the resin gets in a joint and stands, the glue on the tape gets gooey, and you have to pull the mold apart and clean it. Mineral Spirits removes the goo and any tack resin remaining in the mold. Cleaning 6 - 8 of them is a pain no doubt, but screwed together molds have to be caulked, mine don't. Not at all uncommon to get 2 - 3 pours on them before having to tear them down, clean them up, and rebuild them.
Prepped a second piece of Black Locust cut off for pouring another bowl blank, although it's not quite as bad as this one, it to is a bit unstable to be turning bowls out of. Might get out my motorcycle helmet regardless!
And, to wind down from all that fun and games for the day...
Took a cross cut piece of Black Locust I cut off one of the blanks, ripped a pen blank out of it and turned an Ink Pen.
Trimline in Gun Metal, finish is CA wet sanded with BLO.
And, later in the evening I've herded frogs around the shop for entertainment. Not sure what they're up to!! At one point had about 20 of them sitting just inside the back door, don't know if they're coming to the lights or what. Big frogs, little frogs, tree frogs, bull frogs, toads, you name it, damnedest thing I ever seen! Picked up a little chatter on this Black Locust turning the end grain, and apparently it was the right pitch and set all the frogs to singing too!!
NO there were no drugs or alcohol in the shop and the doors have been open all afternoon, so it wasn't fumes either.
Last edited:
They may be after the bugs attracted by the light. Or not
Rocky, thank you so much for the blanks, the guys at the Vet's Garage will love them. I plan on turning my first pen with one of those. Please post a pic of your black locust bowl when its done, I really have to see how that turns out. Your pen looks great, I really like how that piece of black locust came out. I have had that almost burl type of figure, plain black locust and then spalted black locust and to me it all looks really nice when finished. Anyway, I can't thank you enough for the blanks, I'll be sure to post some pictures after its been used. There was no turning last Tuesday at the garage, rather we were busy building a new stand for the Rikon lathe that they just bought from me, should be finished next Tuesday.
Considered that Curt, but there really weren't a lot of bugs in the shop. Cooled off after the rain, and the bugs weren't out. I honestly don't know! They all hopped in 3 - 5 ft. and just sat there looking around, like they were enjoying the tunes on the sound system. Apparently migrated out of the woods behind the house, because they all came in the 36" walk in door, and I had 12 feet of shop door on the front open and only had 1 or 2 come in that way. It was weird!!
It's my pleasure to help you and the rest of the guys out David, all of your contributions to the country are greatly appreciated. And, using woodworking as a rehabilitation outlet is awesome.
Pictures of the guys work would, I am sure, be enjoyed by all. Pen I turned has a minor flaw or two, probably shouldn't have started it as late as I did. Glued it up and was clicking things off I wanted to get done, and it was still sitting there. Was about midnight when I started on it and got in a bit of a hurry, which that simply doesn't happen with end grain Black Locust! Turned it to my bushings, not stopping to think that .45 bushing in the middle was new, and should have been a bit over-turned to allow for finish, so the barrel is a little larger than the center band, and there's a minor chip in it along that band as well. Still pretty, love the way Locust looks; there'll be more!! And, I'll most certainly post pictures of the bowl.
I'll be sure to have photos. It'll be a chance for me to learn how to make a pen and with some nice blanks at that. I'll make sure the mentoring guy uses one Tuesday to teach pens, if he doesn't I will. Hey, actually, now that I think about it, do you mind if I split it between the Vet's garage and the woodworking shop on Fairchild Air Force Base? I live two miles from the base and as a retiree I go to base often though I don't use their shop. They teach pen making to active duty and their families, I'm sure they would like a few.
The mentor-er at the Vets Garage does a great job teaching but I'm trying to convince him that as part of turning he needs to teach equipment maintenance, sharpening and processing wood for blanks. To me its a whole picture kinda thing.
So, today I picked up to pick up loads of birch and made a 12" bowl. The wood is lightly spalted, not punky at all and 10%. Huge rounds too! Right now I have some really nice spalted casting pieces, of course I don't cast so maybe one day they'll end up here. I have lots more wood to process, a ton 10 to 16" bowl blanks in the making. Pictures coming soon.
The mentor-er at the Vets Garage does a great job teaching but I'm trying to convince him that as part of turning he needs to teach equipment maintenance, sharpening and processing wood for blanks. To me its a whole picture kinda thing.
So, today I picked up to pick up loads of birch and made a 12" bowl. The wood is lightly spalted, not punky at all and 10%. Huge rounds too! Right now I have some really nice spalted casting pieces, of course I don't cast so maybe one day they'll end up here. I have lots more wood to process, a ton 10 to 16" bowl blanks in the making. Pictures coming soon.