What did you do in your shop today?

I got a trike I made when I used to work at Pratt. It made getting around soooo much easier. If I were closer, I'd modify it to fit the motor an let em use it....it's collecting rust now....

You worked at Pratt? I was an MFA Student at Pratt in 1971. What did you do there and when?
 
2006-14 I was working there intermittently as a shop carpenter (subcontractor) in M building East Hartford. Also worked in Middletown replacing the floor blocks that buckled from drips coming from the roof.
My dad worked there for a long time. He was a machinist and worked on the f-100 and other engines doing the veins? And my grandfather worked there too. He did heat treat...
 
Cool. Only thing I just realized is that you are talking about Pratt and Whitney, LOL.

I thought you were talking about Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Oh well.
 
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Ha...right on. That's what I get for not wanting to type out the whole thing.
:blush:
 
Love the 2 on the right, :ok:

I was always surprised others didn't jump on it like you and Rodney.


Oh, I think you'll like this one even better yet Les!!

Another day of fun and games in the shop... Not sure why bottle stoppers could be such a pain in the ass, but the first 2 or 3 I turned would not work!!Got one tossed off to the side, to go the shop fridge cause everything that could go wrong with it did.

Let's see, by the numbers...

Les' Jamaican Dogwood on a bell.
The ugliest piece of Honduran Rosewood Burl in the box, (or so I thought), on a bell.
Stabilized Spalted Red Oak on a bell.

Black Walnut, Russian Olive, Russian Olive on short stoppers. Oil and wax, topped them with Clark's Cutting Board Finish, just because.
Black Walnut, Russian Olive Burl, Russian Olive Burl on long stoppers. Same as above on the walnut. Couldn't stand it had to CA the burl on those stoppers.


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Better look at the bells, just 'cause they're so shiny!

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This one's for you Les... @Blueglass - That one got a few EXTRA coats of CA.

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Wow you are correct! That looks stunning.

Wife thought it was really cool! I'm more amazed at the stuff every time I turn it Les. It turns really sweet to begin with, not to hard/not to soft, turns up quick and easy, and it just sits there on the lathe looking all subtle and subdued, and really kinda blah. Then when you hit it with finish, it's like a bomb goes off. Backside of that one the black white pattern looks like it's coming out of the fog, kinda faded and lost deep in the background. It's a cool piece!
 
Decided to break in some new molds today. got a rush order for a local guy and the molds arrived yesterday. Definitely whoopsed on how much resin, 9 chambers only took about 5 ounces, lot less than my old 1 ounce per blank setup. At least they'll pay for themselves over the long run in resin saved and less to turn away and I like being able to pour smaller batches instead of having to wait until I have 15 or 16 ready to go. Took the 4 ounces left over and quick mixed in some coffee grounds and poured into a block mold, we'll have to see what it looks like once on a pen.....

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Finished a Norfolk lamp shade for an order.
Got my tools & materials together to give an urchin ornament demonstration at our local woodturning guild meeting tonight.
 
Decided to break in some new molds today. got a rush order for a local guy and the molds arrived yesterday. Definitely whoopsed on how much resin, 9 chambers only took about 5 ounces, lot less than my old 1 ounce per blank setup. At least they'll pay for themselves over the long run in resin saved and less to turn away and I like being able to pour smaller batches instead of having to wait until I have 15 or 16 ready to go. Took the 4 ounces left over and quick mixed in some coffee grounds and poured into a block mold, we'll have to see what it looks like once on a pen.....

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What are the eye bolts sticking out of the molds?

You hanging these up to dry???
:sofa:
 
What are the eye bolts sticking out of the molds?

You hanging these up to dry???
:sofa:

Handles to pull the plugs out of the end to be able to lift out the blanks once they set.
 
That makes sense! Wasn't sure if you ran them all the way through to tighten the plugs or what.
 
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Working on 50 cigar pens for the shop, Got them all prepped and almost 1/2 of them turned. I'll turn the rest tomorrow and then start assembly.

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First cold snap--went into shop to cut some stars from wood for my daughter's friend, got stung by a yellowjacket & I was minding my own business:unknown:. Looked around & there must've been 30-40 flying around. Guess they were coming out when it warmed up--suppose the shop is a cold weather sanctuary---but NOT anymore. Had a package of spray bombs & set those off. Went back out to check......Oh the carnage! At least a hunnert wasps--yellow jackets, reds, and black/reds all over the place and a bonus of 5'r six scorpions too.
 
First cold snap--went into shop to cut some stars from wood for my daughter's friend, got stung by a yellowjacket & I was minding my own business:unknown:. Looked around & there must've been 30-40 flying around. Guess they were coming out when it warmed up--suppose the shop is a cold weather sanctuary---but NOT anymore. Had a package of spray bombs & set those off. Went back out to check......Oh the carnage! At least a hunnert wasps--yellow jackets, reds, and black/reds all over the place and a bonus of 5'r six scorpions too.

Holy crap. if that was in my shop I'd be using fire.....
 
First cold snap--went into shop to cut some stars from wood for my daughter's friend, got stung by a yellowjacket & I was minding my own business:unknown:. Looked around & there must've been 30-40 flying around. Guess they were coming out when it warmed up--suppose the shop is a cold weather sanctuary---but NOT anymore. Had a package of spray bombs & set those off. Went back out to check......Oh the carnage! At least a hunnert wasps--yellow jackets, reds, and black/reds all over the place and a bonus of 5'r six scorpions too.


Yikes!! I hates getting stung!! :redcard:
 
Not today, but last couple days... been having issues with pictures, could not get them to work.

Had a call from a guy locally looking for a couple of predator calls. Nothing fancy, working calls; was going to sell him one off the shelf then he decided he wanted an open reed and a closed reed, and I didn't have anything that even remotely resembled a matched set, so I said the hell with it and made him a matched set! He was happy! Happy enough he drove 30 miles up here and carried his wife out to supper, just so he could pick them up Friday night.

Plain old walnut, BLO and Beeswax for finish.

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In the course of digging for stock for those however I ran across a piece of Black Walnut Burl that looked rather interesting. Turned the open reed for the guy that wanted the calls, but when I hit it with the BLO, it turned BLACK!! And, that was a waste of good stock, so I found a plain piece for that project, and turned another set to sell to someone wishing to spend more money! Little denatured alcohol took care of the oil problem.

Finish is CA, mouthpiece on the closed reed call is piece of well aged Whitetail Antler. Have another open reed turned out of this stock, but it slid on my mandrel and when I tightened the mandrel back up it cracked. So I glued it back together and finished it, but it needs some additional cleaning up before I toss it in my call collection, just because this is outrageously cool stock!!

I've had trouble taking pictures of calls before, but this set has about been the death of me!!! Tried it Friday night and I got reflection off everything in the shop, including my hands on the camera, me, whatever! Tried again Saturday, SEVERAL TIMES, to the point I was tired of walking back and forth between the shop and the house. Was cloudy and overcast so outdoors was no help either, they just had great big patches of gray all over them. Today was about as bad, and I have given up; the hell with it, I'm posting these pictures and I'm done with them!!!

Spent the last 3-4 hours Photo-shopping dust spots off them because they have been moved in and out and handled and photographed here and there and back over here and back over there, over and over and over!!! They been photographed inside, they been photographed outside, they been photographed under light, in the light box, in the sun, in the shade, you name it, and the damn things come up with glare on them no matter where I go or what I do! The yellow squiggly lines on the left side is not in the finish or the wood, it is the grass in the backyard, I think. Which it is kinda yellow and dead lookin, but why it shows up in squiggly lines is beyond me!

:whatever::cowboy::whatever::cowboy::whatever::cowboy::whatever:

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