Stress Becomes Routine, a Grand Daughter helps to provide relief

  Three weeks ago my Grandson came for a week's visit and we worked on a variety of projects together and he worked on a couple of big projects with Oma.

  Last week his sister came for a week's visit.  I was still deeply involved with family stuff but was still able to have some quality time with my Grand Daughter.

   One project was a gerbil condo for her two gerbils, Ruby and Amber to play in in their cage.  This Gerbil Condo is made from cedar that was left over from a free standing bathroom towel rack I made a few years ago. We found the design on the Internet and while I did most of the cutting my Granddaughter hammered all the nails to put it together.  I pre-drilled the holes and she drove the nails.  She also used the drill press to drill the large doorway holes.  This was the first real wood working project she and I have done together.

8 x 7 x 3 3/4 tall

the roof comes off for cleaning purposes.

   Two weeks ago we made this bird house and last week is was painted to my sweetie's design.  She put two coats of exterior latex paint on and then she used craft paint to add the vines and flowers.  I sprayed the final painting with three coats of urethane in the hope that the colours will last for a couple of seasons.
  

 If you sit still too long you could get painted. I guess these are folk art flowers and Oma and I love them

 The coming week has me travelling to my Mother's house lunching with her and trying to aid/encourage her recovery and maybe develop a longer term plan.  Having a shop and a bicycle have been real bonuses in a trying time.

  cheers, ianw

A stress reliving project.

  I have a good friend that loves antique shopping.  He is a collector of local memorabilia,  t.v. stuff and many other things.  One day I went 'antiquing' with him.  Mostly to look at old tools and drink coffee.  I talked myself into buying a firewood saw.

  Why? it looked experienced and I thought I may one day restore it.  The blade was rusty and cleaning the blade was as far as I got on the restore. (2 ish years ago) In the process of shop reorganization I found a nice place to hang and ignore it.  

  We built a raised garden bed in the back yard recently and I tried to use this saw to cut the rough lumber we used. The forward arm split when I tightened the blade. I decided  to actually  restore the saw, rather then throw it out.  As you can see I replaced the split limb with a piece of Osage Orange, hard wood, but nice to work with power tools. It didn't go smoothly, there was more rust and figuring out how to clamp the blade for sharpening was a bit off putting but......

  Once I replaced the broken bit the only thing left was to sharpen the blade.

  To sharpen the blade I cut a slot in a 2 x 4 and clamped it to my bench.  Once it was securely clamped to the bench I used a small file to more or less copy the angle filed previously.  I was not hoping for or expecting perfection but....once sharpened the saw cut much better than it had, before the arm cracked.

  Then....I totally lost my mind and rummaged in my drawers, no one was looking and found.

Saw set by Stanley.

 This tool was a gift a few while ago and I didn't really expect to use it.  I took and carefully set the teeth on the firewood saw and WOW, does it tear its way through dry fire wood now.  Probably the kerf is wider that is absolutely necessary but for the first time, I love the results.

  It has been an emotionally tough few weeks and at a couple of points this job didn't reduce stress but at least it redirected it.  Having a wonderful spouse, super grandchildren  and a nice workshop makes life's journeys  easier to face.

cheers, ianw

The Current Little Things

  The last two weeks have been heavily absorbed by family responsibilities. Everyone with an aging parent can guess what is going on, if you can't, lucky you, your time is coming.

  

   Small project- when cleaning things up I found a cranked neck chisel blade that I made at a black smiting workshop I did a couple of years ago.  Everyone should spend a couple of days in a forge on a course, it was fun and educational. While my Grandson was carving a cat I roughed out a handle for my chisel.

  I have spend a few minutes sharpening the chisel and now it is a ready to use tool.

   Oma wanted a bird house.  My Grandson and I made one, he did 7/8 of the work and loved drilling the big hole with the drill press.  Next week our Granddaughter will finish the house, she is going to do the sanding and painting.

  While working away in the shop and helping Kieran with his wood carving, I found my half finished bow sander.  While K was sanding his project I took the time to finish mine.

   Another project to finish.  I found a box of half finished carvings while carving with last week.

cat back

 Cat front

Kieran  worked away for a couple of hours on his cat.  The cat will be on a dowel connected to a hockey stick used to brace a patio door.

  Yet another carving requiring finish.  I filled the owl, sanded it down

  

  Nice contrast , now...what to do with the owl.

  I have at least two more weeks away from my shop and home while I help out family.  

cheers, ianw

Saw Clean Up

  While cleaning up I found a repair project that had been ignored for a while.

saw plate soaking in vinegar

  The plate was greasy and had several paint splatters on it.  I suspect the saw had spent its life knocking around in a rough tool kit.

the plate cleaned up nicely

dirty old handle

real nice clean handle

Looking good, back saw

  This saw has no name that I could find and the largest rivet was missing. However, it is sharp and cuts just fine.  I added it to my regular saw till and have used it recently.

  A couple of lids.  I made a plain one for a box. Then I got crazy and am making a sort of veneered lid too.  However the veneer is 1/16th inch thick, it has  texture as well as contrasting colour.

  Repairing the saw was not high art, just fiddly. It took a while to hand sand the handle before refinishing. Cleaning up the saw plate was messy but rewarding. Shaping the lid, well that is just a hole in which time can be thrown. I am retired, I got time.

cheers, ianw