Monday June 1 - a little shop time

 The last two days have been days off.  Occasionally I just don't do anything in my shop.  Wood working is my hobby and I have to keep my hobbies from becoming obsessions, or worse a job. My shop is special because it a a hobby that pays for itself (mostly), and so I have to be on my guard against trying to increase profit thereby turning my hobby into a job and the experience being spoiled by my natural greed.  

 So Saturday I rode my motorcycle out to see a buddy of mine that is living a dream.  He is building a big, big workshop in his back yard and was digging the footings on Saturday.

  Isn't that the coolest little digger you've ever seen? There are lots of directions that the bucket will go and to make it work efficiently requires study and practice. I played with it briefly and then rode off to play while my chum worked away for hours on his shop's foundation. 

 Sunday it rained,and rained and rained so I spent the day reading and painting.  I stayed out of the shop entirely just because I wanted a couple of days off.

  Today I cleaned up the pizza boxes and beer cans in the kitchen, washed the dishes and got back to work. My shop is not currently focused on anything very big but that isn't news. I do have some small things that I am playing with and I do plan to make a trellis similar to the one in the previous blog.

mini bench clamped in the
 work table vise. 

 large maple cutting board
ready for final sanding

  Last week I finished the mini bench and this morning was working on it.  The height is good and because it is bigger than the "toy makers" bench it can be used more often.

  

wooden tie bar

  I am making small carved jewellery and the latest project is a lightning flash tie bar. Since the pieces are carved from basswood though largish they are quite light.

  Basswood also takes colour well with no visible grain that needs to be covered by the paint, so painting is fast and easy

  If you want to make and paint small projects I recommend that you hold the pieces on fine screws or on gimlets. Most of the things you carve have a bottom or a back side into which you can screw a holder.

  I have other work to do but I don't want to run any noisy machines today,that is for tomorrow, today is carving and painting

  cheers, ianw