2019 is in the bag

  So the year has wound down.  The decade has rolled past.  Time has flown etc. etc.
In May I will have been writing this blog for a decade and the best part of that decade for me has been having my grand children spend time with me in my shop.  Second best is making things for them. The boy and three girls have progressed from watching, to sweeping and finally to making.  

  During this past Christmas holiday my grandson (the eldest) and I did some wood carving together.  A while ago  we did soap carving. (Dec 14,2015), the soap  flakes got in his eyes and up his nose and so did not make a good first impression.  This time he and I did real wood carving with real tools. 

  After fitting him with safety gloves and warning him about one thousand times to be very careful he carved a practice piece.

  The piece was 1 1/4 square and five inches long.   One of these days we'll make the same practice piece on the lathe.  Working on this piece he learned  he liked palm chisels better than knives and practised cutting away from himself.  In several hours of carving we had no accidents, I'm both pleased and proud of that. Oma and Mother as relieved too.

  The next piece K carved was a narwhal.

  There was plenty of material to remove to get the square block to a mostly round shape. As well as chisels K got to learn about rasps and the disc sander.  He worked carefully and wore his dust mask when using the power sander.  

  The other thing that he made was a boat.  He loves to make boats.

  I think for a first effort his day's work was excellent.  He learned technique, safety and invested several hours on these and other projects. It was an excellent day for both of us.

  As the new year begins, Happy New Year, best wishes for good health, good times and good luck.

Sincerely,

Ian W @ walwoodwork@gmail.com

  

A Summing Up Blog

  There is my latest box in it natural habitat.  Its purpose is to reduce clutter in my friend's home and look nice. Mission accomplished, I think.

  This morning's project.  The stars are to soon be painted and festively decorated.  Surprisingly there was some puzzling involved in getting the various boards aligned.  It was one of those times that clamps made life easier.   

  This is a sander/grinder that my grandfather made for my father from bits and pieces and a washing machine motor.  I don't know when this machine was created, its been around as long as I remember.  A few years ago I replaced the plywood disk with a metal one and have used it for a long messy time.  The belt is exposed and something of a hazard.  The other day I was sanding a couple of spoons into shape and nearly caught my fore arm in the belt as I manoeuvred the spoon around.   

 Finally I was modivated  to put that whirling belt behind a guard, having my arm hair removed swiftly and suddenly can be inspiring .  It was a job long overdue.  Next thing to fix is dust collection.  I bought a new RZ dust mask a while ago and love it.  It is the first dust mask that I don't hate to wear that actually fits well enough to do some good.  My lungs are in better shape but the other dust is still an issue.

  The last bit of summing up is my rustic bowl.  

  Once I got the inside more or less dug out I flipped it over and used my grinder to shape the ends.  I moved toward power tools from chisels because I found some punky wood and it is easier to sand/grind the wood away that to cut it off.  I was also afraid that using an axe or heavy chisel might break away a larger piece of wood that I wanted.

16 by 8 and 2 inches deep.

  There is the finished bowl getting into the holiday spirit.  If I come  across another log I will do this again, larger would be nicer.

  This is probably a wrap for the season.  December is always filled with family, travel and social gatherings and so I don't undertake much that is noteworthy in the shop before Christmas anymore.  Gone are the frantic last minuted projects of yesteryear.

If time permits I'll share something, it not...Happy Christmas, I hope you, your family and friends have an excellent holiday season and a glorious 2020.

cheers ianw