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