March Break in Ontario

  Last week was March Break for our school age grandchildren. After nearly two years of off and on visiting we were able to have a proper multi day visit.  When an eleven year old and a thirteen year old visit it changes the routine of the house, dramatically. In a good, though tiring way.

  Our Grandson arrived with a plan in his mind to make a Venator Class B Star Destroyer. There were pictures on the internet and that was all we had to work with.

the red cargo doors slide apart to reveal an actual 

cargo space designed as a pencil case.

Yes, this is actually a pencil case. And on the rear end

there is a small drawer for erasers and a sharpener.

  Kieran has plenty of experience making models from kits. This was the first time that a model was designed and constructed from scratch.

  We first drew up a plan.  That was a fairly involved task since the Star Destroyer was not just a skin but a three dimensional creation with usable  inner space.  

  After the drawing stage we had to decide what was made from wood, for strength and what was foam core, for lightness.

  Then, four hours of drawing, cutting and forming the pieces.  To put this together we used 5 sticks of glue in the hot glue gun, and two sheets of foam core. K did nearly all of the marking and cutting with very little help from me.  I showed him how to best use his work space, and how to cut safely with a utility knife but was mostly just there for moral support.

  Once the shell was finished the whole thing was covered in papier-mache. A day to dry and then paint, both spray paint, (his first time) and lots of poster paint details.

  My Grand daughter spend several hours making doll house furniture with Eva. They make bed and tables and lamps, the sort of thing a doll house that will be home to a family of dinosaurs

 needs.   

  Altogether a really good week's workshop time.

  My work shop is a power tool/hand tool shop. I pick the method or mix and match according to the situation. Carving spoons is a prime example of that. In my garage yesterday I found a piece of poplar under the stairs. The wood was badly cracked so only useful for firewood or...a spoon.  In this case, I split the log with a axe and mallet, then used my jointer to flatten the face, rather then doing it with a hatchet and planes. Also, I used my band  saw to cut out the rough shape of the spoon.  That is brute work with an axe so I often choose the power solution. The initial stages work well with power tools, it gets the heavy work done quickly leaving quiet hand tools to finish the spoon.

  The next stage is all hand tools. The draw knife is perfect for shaping the handle and the hooked knives hollow out the bowl.  My rasps further refine the outside outside shape. Over the course of the project I use various other shop knives but the hook knives are only used to carve spoons.

  With just a couple of hours of causal work the stout spoon is ready to be sanded. I am leaning toward stout porridge stirring spoons lately.

 

You can see that the spoon has a crack right through. A couple of treatments with CA glue and once sanded it will look fine. 

 I have had a request for salad spoon and forks. I take requests.

cheers ianw  

spring is just around the corner. sigh.