Table frame and vice handle

Okay, I have been out to the shop and working on something besides ornaments. Here are two projects I am working on.

The first project you see is an Indian head carving in a class 2 years ago, but have not worked on it as I could get a good way to hold it up at a working height. I made the 2 support posts out of Myrtal wood, with a hinge joint between them. The 5/16" bolt goes through the center of the joint and I use the new vice handle to tighten the clamp. I wanted a metal handle cause if the joint slips, I can use a mallet to tighten it back up. I finally found and ordered the handle from Lee Valley Tools and it was perfect for what I wanted. I'd been looking at catalogs for 2 years trying to find it.

The second project is a table to put behind the table saw to help catch the over sized boards (plywood). While the finished size turned out a little large for my shop, I'll keep it around a while to see how it works. On top of the frame that you see I placed a 48x38" piece of Melamine coated particle board, not my preferred choice but it should work fine here. Note that I even got to use the 2 new 4' clamps that I got for Christmas. Since the top was Melamine I banded the edges to protect them and also got to use the new little Iron I also got for Christmas. (I understand the guys at the woodshop were getting jealous.)

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Artistry in Wood Show

I went to Lincoln City for the Artistry in Wood show on Saturday. There was a combination of turning and carving booths, mostly carving. There were some great pieces to look at. I think there was a little more carving on cottonwood this year, and I even bought a couple of pieces to give it a try. I also picked up some more basswood and a chunk of butternut. I did not take any pictures this year so you get none to see. A nice part of a regular show like this is that the carvers keep getting better over time. I was impressed by some of the work, even though I have seen several of the better carvers before, their new pieces were well executed. There were a few new carvers at the show with interesting projects.

One that caught my eye was a carver in redwood with a Alaskan Tinglet Indian style of work. While I like the ideas and design I felt that the quality was lacking. These pieces were also large, as the smallest was 2x3 feet.

Another table the carver had been carving folding deer, cut from a single 2"x4" piece of wood. He even showed me a experiment he made carving a three fold joint from a single 4"x4" block. It looks technically tough. He also had some spoons/scoops that he carved from a single block that were quite well done, chains that were about 2 feet long and several other items.

They had classes scheduled throughout the day, but I passed on those as I figured my time was limited.

I did pick up info on 2 other shows coming up:

• Lower Columbia Wood Carvers 2010 26ht Anniversary
  
  Sept. 25 & 26, 2010 at the Cowlitz Expo Center
  
  
• Southcoast Woodcarvers 19th Show & Sale
  
  April 17 and 18, 2010 at the North Bend Community Center
  
  

There were 4 large vendors at the show, and a couple of small one selling from within a regular table. The big guys had some of everything that you could use for carving including wood, knifes, books, gloves, rotary grinders and more. I think 2 of the smaller guys were selling custom knives and a third was selling cotton wood for carving.

All in all, it was a good show.
Enjoy, but be careful of the splinters.

New ornaments

Okay, I haven't posted anything for a while. Blame it on the holidays. Here are two pictures of ornaments that I have turned since New Years. All are slated to be given away, along with two or three more that I haven't made yet. The bodies are Myrtal Wood with Cherry finials. Note that the last one I turned, sitting up on top, has the grain, and consequently the 'rays' in a different direction then the rest. One of these pictures was left very large, so it may take some time to load. All of these are hollow and I am getting better at that part.

Also note that one has two loose rings on it. Just having fun trying to see if I can turn them.

A third picture I included is an ornament I turned tonight, and I don't believe the body is Myrtle wood. It's a little different shape since the piece was narrower and longer. As you can see I had not yet glued it together so you can see the parts. Once it is together I will post that picture.



Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Ornaments

I've taken pictures of 2 more of the ornaments that I turned. One was finished with a varnish, the other LSO and a wax. The bodies of both are Myrtal wood. I'm still fighting the finials, but the one with Olive turned easy. The other one I don't know what the wood is.


Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Been a while...

Lots to cover today. I did get my new table saw as you can see in the pictures. Got lots of cardboard too. Had a friend help get it out of the truck into the shop. I put it together, then coaxed it onto a mobile base I got with the saw. It was heavy and I could only lift a portion of the saw at a time. But I finally got it there. I had it for over a week before I got to turn it on.

Next up I finally took pictures of 2 cypress knee Santas that I carved over the summer. These are 8" tall. I took them both to work for our annual Holiday auction. The silent bidding was today and the one with the bag went for $75. The other is to be auctioned off tomorrow night at the party. Barb wanted to keep the one with the bag, but we had created so little this year that we sent it in anyway. I promised I'd carve another one.

Next up are 2 Christmas ornaments that I turned. I took 2 different ones to the auction today, also, which had the bodies that I posted earlier. One went for $35 and the other will be in the auction tomorrow night. Of the two pictured here, the one with the body of Myrtal wood was the first one I turned. The other uses a piece of a trunk from an ornamental tree I cut down to make way for the shop. It cracked in several places on one side, but I added a top and bottom anyway and I think it looks pretty good. Nice grain pattern. The finials probably hold it together.

Last but not least, they had a Jet sale (15% off) the week I picked up my saw so I also bought this Jet thickness sander to put in the shop. It is very nice, saved me a lot of time already on one of the projects that I did.

You can see 2 pieces of plywood in the background of the Jet thickness sander, which I need to use or get rid of. They were used a garage doors for most of the building of the shop and they aren't flat any more. I need to be careful where I use them as they will probably warp what ever they are attached to. Sigh.

The holidays are upon us, but be careful of the splinters.

Ornaments

Hi y'all. I have been moving wood from one storage place to the old shop. That and I turned an ornament last week for fun. Took me a while. Barb liked it though and asked if I could turn about 20 more. Here are 2 pictures of the first 10 globes. As you can see they are about 3" by 1" tall. I hollowed them out to make them lighter, and as typical, the last one is much lighter then the first one. In fact it was only taking about ½ hour each when I finished the last of these. Imagine how I'll be doing after another 40.

On the side view shot, the 2 nearest the camera show the side I hollowed them out and the back side which I only guessed at. I'd eyeball using a square and 'that looks like an inch,' so I drilled that deep and use that as my guide. One globe I put a reverse on the bottom and just caught the edge of the hollow. I'll need to fix it. Also note, these were all cut from the same piece of wood.


Tomorrow I'll turn some black walnut finials for the top and bottom. With any luck I'll get another picture so you can see the progression.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

The Palm Pen

Sounds like another phone knock-off. Well this palm is often used for texting and sometimes as a pointer. It's one of the first batch of pens I turned in the shop.

It's been almost a year since I've been able to turn, or make anything. This one is made from a palm tree and its actually the second one. The first palm blank blew the sides out 'cause I put to much pressure on the drill when drilling the hole. You can see where the sides ruptured on the block holding up the pen. The fibers tore easily as I turned it, so I started coating the blank with super-glue, turn off a layer, add another layer of glue down and so on until I got the pen in shape. Needless to say, the finish is super-glue followed by BLO in rapid succession, then another layer of super-glue and BLO. After letting that dry I did a final sanding of 8000 - 12000 grit paper and put on a layer of walnut paste wax.

I turned 5 pens, the palm, which I may keep a while, and 4 others, 2 of which I have already given away. It nice to get back into the shop.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.