What did you do in your shop today?

You have no clue how many times I was warned of that when inquiring amongst call turner buddies about lathes, then when I went to look at the lathe I bought, I was talking to the guy selling it, and he said... "You do know that the lathe is just the FIRST drop in the bucket!"

And, I said, "Yeah, and I heard it's a pretty big bucket."

He laughed, and agreed. Readily enough to cause concern on my part. :lol2:
 
rocky1 said:
:ponder: Uhmmm Ralph you might want to take a peak at these two posts quick... :ponder:

The Vortex! - The post right above this one explains it!

The Tip of the Iceberg! - This one is self explanatory!!

:lol2::lol2::lol2:

Long as you had fun, that's what counts!

And, you got Marc to clean his shop up a little in the process! Don't suppose you're gonna be in Texas any time soon? @Tony could give you cutting board building lessons!
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I've seen pics of enough of @Ralph Muhs work to know he can give me lessons! Tony
 
Well, I spent time in the shop last night and it was almost all wasted - but I realized something at the end that made it turn out OK.

I built one of those table saw sleds that you can attach different jigs to, etc. I realized that none of the jigs he was selling was a Wedgie sled. So I had the bright idea to create a wedgie jig for the sled. And I have what I think is an unusual idea for the 'stop block' to go with it.

So, I get the Wedgie jig all built, put it on the sled -- and that's where it all fell apart. You see, the sled is pretty wide and it covers most of the table top side to side. So when the WJ is on the sled I'd be constrained to using pieces of wood about 12" long or they'd hit the front of the sled.

*sigh*

Then I had the redeeming thought - I already have a segment cutting jig that I created that has an adjustable arm. One that I've almost cut in half. So I took the arm off that sled (it already has a runner on the base and just screwed the WJ to that sled. Since it doesn't have a front on it the length isn't constrained. And since it's still a sled I can try out my 'stop block' idea on it as well.

I was just glad that I could recover the work I'd done and still have the chance to try out my idea.

I know, I know - you all want pictures. I'll edit the post and add them once I'm done with my meetings this morning.
 
Tony said:
I've seen pics of enough of @Ralph Muhs work to know he can give me lessons! Tony
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There are woodworkers and there are wood butchers. I tend to be closer to the latter. I am good with an ax, a chainsaw, a sawzall, a sledgehammer! If it roars, or vibrates, I feel comfortable. But I am getting older and am trying to acquire fitness cute little round things are less taxing on this old body.
 
Ralph Muhs said:
There are woodworkers and there are wood butchers. I tend to be closer to the latter. I am good with an ax, a chainsaw, a sawzall, a sledgehammer! If it roars, or vibrates, I feel comfortable. But I am getting older and am trying to acquire fitness cute little round things are less taxing on this old body.
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I understand getting older. Operating a cnc router is even easier on old bones than a lathe.
 
Finished up my wedgie sled.

Here's the wedgie jig on a sled. Hard to see but there's a cutoff ramp there as well.
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Here's the bottom of the stop mechanism. It's hinged down to the sled. That bit that's sticking up is a spring captured by a track bolt and a washer.
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Closer view.
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And here's the movable part of the stop.
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Now it's put together.
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So in practice you push down on the fence, put the end of your segment stick on the stop, let up, and cut.

This gets the fence out of the way so you don't trap a piece. I can make segments as short as 1/2" which is shorter than I've ever done.

Now I can get started on those Christmas orders.
 
I decided to play around with a new router inlay kit I got and thought the few cracks in my bench would be a good place to practice. The whiteside 9500 kit works great though I now realize that my placement of the inlays should have not been located right at the end of the cracks. But still, it was fun and too no time at all.

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Getting tired of Willie and Charlie but I got to pay the bills. Resin arrived yesterday so today so far I've poured 3 runs, 110 ounces total of Silmar 41. Made sure to cast some others for inventory as well and kept on gluing up blanks to cast Another 6-8 runs depending on my inventory needs and I should have all I need for that huge job. Also baked off 200 blue hemlock blanks I stabilized yesterday.

2017-09-01 20.26.10.webp 2017-09-01 20.26.23.webp
 
Cut up an piece of Maple I got from friend Tom in Virginia last week.
Got two mill blanks & several smaller blanks out of it.
He got it off his sister's firewood pile. She had a dying Maple tree taken down & split into firewood. Tom said there was no indication that the wood looked like this!!! He's going to get all he can before its burnt up!!

Tom's curly maple.webp
 
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Oh my Lord! That is nice. May have to ride over and see if Tom needs help getting that out of the firewood pile!:scare3:
 
Spinartist said:
Cut up an piece of Maple I got from friend Tom in Virginia last week.
Got two mill blanks & several smaller blanks.
He got it off his sister's firewood pile. She had a dying Maple tree taken down & split into firewood. Tom said there was no indication that the wood looked like this!!! He's going to get all he can before its burnt up!!

View attachment 133547
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I think we need to see that sanded first!
 
Schroedc said:
Getting tired of Willie and Charlie but I got to pay the bills. Resin arrived yesterday so today so far I've poured 3 runs, 110 ounces total of Silmar 41. Made sure to cast some others for inventory as well and kept on gluing up blanks to cast Another 6-8 runs depending on my inventory needs and I should have all I need for that huge job. Also baked off 200 blue hemlock blanks I stabilized yesterday.

View attachment 133484 View attachment 133485
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Glad to see you are not loafing around the coffee shop. Excellent work!:old::good2:
 
Just got back from moving my eldest into the dorms at St. Kates in St. Paul today..... I'm not sure if I was ready to let her go......

In the shop for an hour tonight to pour another round of blanks!

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Lou Currier said:
Keep using up all those old stamps....makes my collection that much more valuable :cool:
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I am pretty careful, I do check the Scott catalog to make sure I'm not using any rare ones. I still have about 8,000 stamps so it'll be a while before I run out.
 
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