This week has been a crazy week. Lots of activity, school work and more. I decided this week that Sunday I would be resting. Which for me means...you guessed it- wood turning. I am not sure what to make. I can do pens, wands, grill sets, handles, just about anything. So I have decided to leave it up to you. What do I make? I will take a look at the suggestions and post a picture of the result.
Oh and I haven't forgotten the chalk holder. Here is at least one picture of the holder. remember it is a prototype. I am already in the process of designing a better system for getting the chalk out. I think it will involve a wooden turned screw that fits into the back and then as you turn it the chalk comes out the other side. This one is made of white oak. It fits in your hand really well!
I would like to start off by saying that this is more spaghetti than I am use to. I tend to be more of a waffle guy. (If you read the book, you know what I am talking about)
My goal this week was to unveil a project I was working on with my daughter. Unfortunately, life got in the way of finishing our project. It's funny how that happens. This past week has seen a plethora of activities and signs are showing that a slow down is not in the forcast until next weekend.
I titled this weeks post, "Sometimes Turning Means...Turning Off." I did this because sometimes turning in life means that we need to turn off our wants and put them aside, just for a while, to make room for things that in the scope of life seem more important.
Sometimes taking care of yourself means taking care of others and putting their needs above your own. That has been the story of my week. Helping people at school during my planning time, taking children to math carnivals at their school, planning and organizing homecoming activities for next week and then on Saturday...I got to spend this morning (my iPad was acting up and the laptop was too, which meant work would have to wait) with my 5 year old son (he had earned a VALUABLE coupon from his teacher which entitled him to a free kid's meal at Chik-Fil-A). My wife needed groceries and medicine for her and the rest of the children. Two of the three children were laying on the couch in various states of stuffy noses and headaches. The fourth, my oldest was enveloped in his iPod and feeling "ok."
Needless to say I was not in a great mood at the state of things when I woke up. I am admittedly, a person who doesn't "change gears" easily. I have a plan...I stick to it. Do not change my plan unless you have given me enough time to process the change. Which will take somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 14 days (more if holidays are involved). But my wife so lovingly reminded me that all these things were not "have to's," they were "get to's."
So I headed out with number 4 and we proceeded to get groceries and medicine and stop off at the mall to happily eat Chik-Fil-A.
Upon returning home, the laptop was working and the iPad was too. Coincidence or even divine intervention some might say. For me it was a reminder that in our quest to achieve, we have to take time for the "get to's."
Oh, for those waiting...I have (with my daughter's guidance) created a pen that holds...chalk! Up until this year at my school I had only chalkboards to work with. No whiteboards, smartboards or anything fancy. Maps were painstakingly traced from my overhead projector. I still have and use my chalkboards (I finally got a smartboard this year!) frequently and my daughter noticed that I always come home with chalk dust on my pants. So we decided that I needed a chalk holder so I wouldn't get dust on my pants. It is rather unique and works wonderfully. I will post pictures later this week.
Take some time this week to turn off and take care of your self by reveling in a "get to" moment. You may not get another and you will be immensely happy that you did.
Recently I have been having a difficult time with my finishes turning out. For those who aren't sure what I am talking about, let me explain. To keep wood looking "nice," you have to do two things to it:
1. You have to sand the wood to smooth out the grain and seal the pores of the wood so that moisture doesn't get in and cause the wood to swell and eventually rot.
2. You have to seal the outside of the wood with some sort of finish that will:
bring out the natural beauty of the wood (or hide it--> i.e. Stains).
Protect the wood from dings, dents, smudges, and the natural oils found in the human hand.
There are many different varieties of polishes, stains, laquers oils and such for preserving the finish of the wood. There are also (I learned) many different ways that woodworkers apply these finishes.
So, like I stated earlier, I have been having trouble with my finishes. I typically sand the wood starting with a 150 grit sand paper and then move through the various grits (200, 300, 400) until I hit 600 grit. At this point I switch from sandpaper to micro-mesh sanding pads that let me bump up the sanding to much finer sanding (1200, 1400, 1600, 1800 and 2000). At this point I switch again to a friction wax which is simply wax with very fine particles in it. This heats up and literally melts and infuses the wood with wax (part of the sealing aspect) while at the same time giving it a super fine sanding.
Up until this point everything has been going fine. Its the last step that has me flustered. There are two methods for sealing my turning projects that I prefer to use. On my pens, I use a cyanoacrelate or CA finish. This is simply a glue that bonds to the wood and then provides a hard finish to protect against dings, dents and such. You may know this better by its more common name...Crazy glue or Super Glue. On my other turning projects I like to use a hand rubbed poly-urethane finish. It goes on smooth and lasts a very long time. The latter is not the problem...it is the former.
My CA finishes, lately, have been looking...off. They don't seem to coat the way they did earlier. It could be one of a myriad of issues (type of glue, lathe rpm, friction, etc.), but I think I have a few solutions.
As I said earlier (what you are still reading this? WOW!) there are many ways and means to finish your wood project. So I did what every red-blooded American handyman does in my situation...I went to Starbucks, got a grande double shot espresso with extra foam and hazelnut flavoring, and Googled a solution!
So here is what I came up with: Check it out it is a pretty good solution.
There were others but I liked this one the best.
I know I usually post pictures of things I have made...and I will be doing so this weekend, so settle down!
I have a classic chrome and gold cigar pen made of East Indian Rosewood I finished this past weekend and I have a special project I did with my daughter (the purse-wand fanatic). It is a bit old fashioned and probably not much in use anymore but most people still have one (I actually have two!). Have I piqued your interest enough? Left you on the edge of your seat longing to find out what it is? Maybe I should have a midnight upload? Anyway, you'll see it soon enough!
As I stated in a previous post, my lathe has been out of commission since July. After many phone calls and some serious internet surfing I finally got the parts that I needed to fix my lathe! So I took last Saturday morning to repair my lathe and at the same time nuture my handyman skills. After an hour of greasing, tapping, loosening and tightening all the parts that were broken were fixed! Now normally I would be satisfied with a feat of this magnitude, but I have been without my lathe for two and a half months...Something needed to be made! As I showed in a previous post, my children asked me at the beginning of the summer to make them wands to feed their Harry Potter crazed imaginations. Unfortunately, upon returning from our vacation to grandma and grandpa's house, my youngest daughter discovered that she had lost her wand. She was distraught to say the least. So, my first assignment was to make for her a new wand. It had to be better than the original. So I chose a piece of cherry wood. It had to be different and it had to scream totally awesome! And then I alighted on a brilliant idea. Over the summer my daughters had taken to carrying purses around with them everywhere they went. So I created something any young lady on the go should have. A purse sized wand. Something she could slip in her purse and take out when she needed it. And so I prepared the wood, rough turned the blank and then stopped. stared. and waited. I started the rpm's turning. Marked the wood with my pencil and placed the skew chisel gently on the tool rest. Below is what I created.
Sanded, finished, polished and presented to my smiling daughter. She was thrilled to have a new wand. Then the moment I hadn't thought of...will it fit in her purse?Fortunately it did and she carries it with her all over the place (except school).
On another plane of thought, I wanted to share an interesting tip I stumbled upon and finally got brave enough to try. Whenever I cut the blanks for my pens and spindles I always have a small leftover piece that I cannot use. This summer I decided to try something I had read in a magazine. I took my small left overs and recycled them. Using a marine epoxy I glued them together to create a mish-mashed pen blank. This allowed me to use the left over blanks that were piling up and create something unique. Below are a couple of the blanks I created. I will be finishing them soon (when I am not so busy).
I also thought I would post a picture of a couple of handles I created for tools I had in the shop. The smaller one if for my metal file. The longer one is waiting for inspiration. Both are made of Alaskan Yellow Cedar.
I hope you enjoy this post. I know I enjoyed making these things.
For this week's post, I decided to give everyone a little peek into my proverbial fortress of solitude, bat cave, secret lair, take your pick. It is not much but it is mine and for now I have to share it with the outdoor tools (which will be moving to a new home as soon as I can get it built).
I know...you are thinking it looks rather messy but I assure you that it is a symphony of organized chaos! A veritable sonata of utilitarian utopia. Every great artist, inventor, handyman and craftsman has a place from which to work their magic. Edison had Menlo Park, Orville and Wilbur had the bike shop, Santa had the North Pole, Willy had the Inventing Room and I have "the barn."
Here is where I create, repair, craft, teach and amuse myself. It is MySpace (pun intended). Fashioning objects from wood, plastic and metal. Harnessing the inner creator that is in all of us. And feeling the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a project.
This is where I am at peace. Amid the hum and whir of machinery and the smell of oil, wood and gas (from the chainsaw!) I find solace. These are the things that revive my spirit and renew my soul.
So I hope you enjoyed your peek into my realm. For it is all you are going to get, because I have work to do. :)
For my post this week I want to share a really awesome artist/creator with you. One of my favorite magazines/podcasts is the MAKE Magazine. IF you are not familiar with it, these are people who create, craft and invent things from ordinary household items and make some amazing stuff. You can find them at the website http://makezine.com/.
Anyway I digress, Two talented woodworkers/artists created for the Maker Faire in San Francisco a wooden bicycle frame made from a tree felled in the urban forest. That's right, I said a wooden bicycle frame. Really a neat roject. While I am sure I could not do anything remotely close to this (except maybe for felling the tree). I think I could come up with some pretty cool looking wooden handle bars! What makes this project so cool is that the bike...really...works!
My children have become Harry Potter fans. Given my enjoyment of turning things, they asked me with those big eyes and smiles if I would make them their very own wands for pretend playing. My wife said it was ok as long as there were no curses flying through the house at each other. So I set about to turn them wands. WOW! I had a few scraps of pine, and a piece of cherry laying around that was the perfect size. So I began turning wands. Take a look!
They were nothing fancy and really just a first trial run. But...they loved them and began having duels and fighting evil for the good of all mankind. My children even started naming their wands. Ben...the pine wand of power (far left), Sarah and Hannah...wands of unicorn horn (second @ left and far right), and Sam...well he was just happy to have a weapon of such power (middle).
My wife suggested I post pictures, so I did on facebook. A few days later I got requests from people I knew who wanted wands for their children (and at least one person wanted one for themselves!). So I procured a hardwood dowel and began making 12" wands. I even started experimenting with burning. I used picture frame wire and between the last two sandings turned the lathe up to speed and pressed the wire into the wood. Then finished sanding and put on a few coats of stain or urethane.
Take a look...
I also got a chance to do some really neat pens this summer. For some reason bullet pens were a big hit. For all those gun lovers out there take a look!
Ever turned on that hair dryer, only to get a whiff of something that just didn't smell right? Well this summer I got that experience as I got to experiment with river buffalo horn (humanely harvested). It was a material I had not worked with before, but turned out pretty good (pun intended). Buffalo horn, I learned, is nothing more than compressed hair. And so the heating of it (as on a lathe) creates a very pungent smell. It also requires a lot more attention to details like sanding, checking for cracks, etc. The sanding alone took a long time as it was wet sanded ina fashion similar to acrylic. In the end though after a couple coats of acrylic polish...well see for yourself...
So my summer was good...right up to the point where my lathe broke (insert sad face and @#$^%$). The micro-adjustment knob locked up as I was turning another bullet pen I will post later. Needless to say...the parts I need I am not sure I can get (company discontinued the model I have). So sadly "me time" has been put on hold... for the moment.
