Small Lathe project

  I hate to throw good stuff away.  Recently we bought some creme fresh at the store and it came in lovely little bottles. So I decided to make an oak stopper/top to enable us to reuse the bottle.

  It was a pleasant little project. I began with a square of 3/4 oak, a piece left over from a church pew. The corners were knocked off before putting the piece on my mini lathe.  I have used my lathe to make an assortment of small things for our house over time.

  The finish is Hemp Oil. Oak is water resistant and hemp oil is neutral so the small jar can be used to store just about anything. 

  Making things like lid, and cutting boards, vases and bowls enables you to fill you space with 'your' work. I find it makes me happy to see things we've made and used in our space, try it, you may like it.

cheers, ianw

Starting Wood Carving ?

  Two of my grand children have watched me wood carve and show an especial interest,  My Grandson is interested in carving wood, and he and I have done a couple of projects together. My Grand daughter has show interest and aptitude for soap carving. 

  By the way, soap carving is a good way to get them started with low risk and low cost.

  Now it is time to set them up with their own set of tools to use at home.

  I selected these tools to cover most eventualities.

  There are:  two gouges, one shallow, one flat.

                    two straight chisels, one very narrow and one about 1/4  inch wide.

                    a V tool, and a very sharp knife with a curved blade.

  The current plan is some flat carved Christmas ornaments as a starting point. This variety of tools will give the kids good tools to start their carving careers.  It can be very frustrating to a beginner if the carving tools dull quickly, it makes doing your project more difficult and as a beginner you can't tell it the cause of the problem

  Notice it is a mixed bag of makes and types.  All of these tools are good quality, will get sharp and stay sharp. With this set I included a strop and :

  These grippy gloves and I've glued leather finger guards on, thumb and fore finger left hand, thumb, right hand. 

  I have had my grand kids in my shop when ever they are here and ALWAYS emphasized safety.  Now they don't even think to begin something in the shop without the proper safety gear in place. 

  I am hoping to see some results in the next couple of weekends.

cheers ianw

Garden Bench Restoration

  Recently, an old friend brought me two garden benches desperately in need of repair.  The wooden slats were so rotten that many of them were loose where they joined the ends.  However the benches were not a total write off, and I volunteered  to make the repairs.

 

  The white paint  was mostly gone and the slats were beginning to rot. So far it is mostly, only surface damage.

  The first thing was to take the benches to pieces. The bolts holding the slats were totally rusted. I had to cut the bolts off with a grinder and cut off disk. 

  The process of getting rid of the loose paint was easy, I used my grinder and a flap disk.  These disks come in various grits and are good for heavy removal of wood, paint or rust. I use a flap disk on end grain of slabs (May 29,2019) in combination with a power planer and belt sander.

 I have one end sanded and painted. Sanding was a huge job requiring wire brushes, flap wheel and a dentist pick.  So I got one end cleaned up and painted with rust resistant paint. I always say it is a good idea to use the best tool for the job.  So....the remaining three ends are going to be sand blasted, it will be faster and give a good or better result. 

  So progress is delayed while I arrange for the sand blasting.

 

 The wooden slats are sanded and painted with three coats of exterior paint. All that remains is to drill the holes and bolt it together.

  While awaiting sand blasting I am working other small projects. I have to remind myself when I take on a project that at some point all or most of it has to be carried down stairs to my shop. Stairs are the historic enemy or wood workers and Pandas.

  cheers ianw

Catching Up - the news that is fit to type.

  There has been a small interruption in the flow of blogs for no other reason than there were other things to do.  While Thanksgiving is not the huge holiday for Canada that it seems to be in the United States we have still been busy with friends, family and fall fair.

  So the first up date is to show the results from the Rockton World's Fair. I entered four carvings and:

  Two of my entries did well.  The other two where good but not as good as the eventual winners.  There is a serious wood carving club in our area and they keep the standards high.

  

  Also a Gnome update.  You saw the house in the shop on September 13th. Here it is peacefully installed in Nicole's garden.  

  All of these projects do not require many tools or much expenditure.  Give it a try, chip carving is particularly cost effective, really only one knife. 

  cheers ianw 

p.s. get out and see the Fall Colours before they're blown away.