Pettson and Findus are in the mail to Sweden as this is being typed. One job done.
While working on other things in the shop I made a quick side trip and made this for Eva.
If the yarn did not give it away, for you non knitters this is a jig for making pom-poms. You don't need a shop to make a jig like this but having the materials and tools laying about makes it easy to do.
I used my drill press to make a quick jig for use in the art kit.
I bought two replacement erasers, needless to say they did not fit into the holder that I had. Who would have thought that eraser producers would make none-compatible parts. So...I threw the plastic thing away and made two wooden holders. I will spruce up the final product later, since I needed an eraser right now.
The nail keeps the eraser in place and having a drill press meant that I could drill the hole in the center of the dowel and have it meet in the middle. I could never have drilled that accurately free hand. The drill press was one of the game changing tools for me early in my workshop days.
The actual serious project, upon which I have spent 5 hours since yesterday and made vast amounts of saw dust is a bowl. ( gone are the days when I could work hunched over the bench all day, a couple of hours a day is my max now.)
This is a burl bowl and it is not going to be round. I had the burl on a shelf, for several years and had planned to turn it on a lathe someday. I had the burl, before I had a lathe. Turns out my mini lathe is just a little too small for this chunk of wood. The more I looked at the wood the more I wanted to go 'free form" anyway.
Needless to say I was well into the project before it occurred to me how cool this is going to be and so photographs are not available for the first part. Initially I blocked out a basic shape with chalk and began work with my Arbortech Turbo Plane . I've used this tool before to clear away large amounts of wood in short order. It is however, aggressive.
Using the 4 1/2 inch grinder with the turbo plane and various sanding disks requires both hands, three would be better still. To be able to safely work on the burl I screwed a block to the top first and gave the outside a basic shape as well as created a flat bottom. What you see in the photo is the block screwed to the bottom so that I can work to hollow out the inside.
By clamping the block in a hand screw then clamping the hand screw to the bench I am able to rotate the bowl most any direction I need. I can also hold it at a level that lets me sit while working. Sitting is just that little bit more stable while using various power grinding tools. After roughing the inside out, with the turbo I switched to various bits in various Dremel tools and hand drills. I've done a number of bowls through the years and have a small tool box filled with dozens of burrs, rasps and grinding tips. In my experience power speeds the job along but quality results still require patience and steady hands. Rushing or lack of attention can make for a serious ugly gouge in an instant.
I think I have at least 3 more hours of sanding with the final sanding having to be done by hand. This afternoon I soaked the bowl with water, once it is final sanded and varnished, it is going to look cool.
cheers, ianw
21 days 'til Christmas. If asked, you can remind your family that a wood worker can always use more clamps. (or sanders).
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