Expert to Beginner: and

Showing posts with label and. Show all posts

Monday, March 3, 2014

World Cup Fever and Twitter

Every web site on the internet seems to have something to say about the World Cup, so I thought I had better do my part and catch the fever! Have you caught it yet?

Dont worry, I think many of us are immune. Now dont get me wrong, I can understand excitement in sports of all kinds. I totally get caught up in football (not futbol) every Autumn. I watch the Niners when they suck. (Since 1992, I think) Thats devotion.

Its funny how soccer is the worlds most popular sport, but seems to be primarily a sport for children in America. I rarely meet anyone who played the game beyond middle-school. Aside from aficionados, we really only hear about soccer every four years, when the World Cup occurs. Thats when Americans become all abuzz about it. Suddenly everyone is a fan! When its all over we forget about it for another four years.

I do the same thing with curling. (Its the worlds most popular broom-related sport, yaknow) I get fascinated by it during the winter Olympics and vow to give it a shot myself. It looks like bowling: the kind of game anyone can play and drink beer at the same time. Unfortunately, there are about 2 curling rinks in California. So after two weeks of Olympics, I forget about curling for another four years.

So while soccer is not to my taste, I applaud all of you who are into it! I fully understand sports "fevers". Thankfully, most fevers go away shortly with a little bed rest and plenty of liquids.

Now lets see. Oh yeah, Twitter. Well it seems I am late to that party too. I tried a while back but didnt really get it, so I am now jumping into the fray again. I think I may actually be able to get more than a few followers now...enough to make it interesting! So if you are on Twitter, dial up my handle: MereMortalsWW. Totally lame username, but someone already has MereMortals. I like the spontaneity of Twitter and the fleeting nature of posts. Should be fun!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

New Project Poplar Bowl Discussion and Plans

Hi Everyone,

My buddy of mine and I are cooking up something for a friend who is really special. Here is the story behind this:

We have a friend who is a professional therapist and she works with people who have experienced torture in their lives. As you can imagine she probably hears a lot of terrible stories about the experiences these people have endured and her job cant be an easy one.

I for one applaud her efforts and I think she should be recognized for all she does and so does Pat, so Pat has commissioned a bowl from me and Im going to be blogging about this over the next week or so.

Discussion and Plans

I have a 10"x4" mineral stained poplar bowl blank that I ordered over a year ago from Turning Blanks 4U that I began turning earlier this week. I told Pat about it and she has asked me to finish turning it for Susan.

Here are the initial photos:

The next two photos show the rough blank. It was coated in wax to prevent its drying out and they look pretty terrible in this state!

The blank has dried out some over time so its no longer round in shape but more of an oval. Im putting it on the lathe between centers because its not balanced and it is safer to turn it this way. Not to mention easier on my equipment:

Ive begun turning the bottom in this photo:

After several minutes of turning you can see that the bowl sides are trued up and round again. In this photo you can see the beginnings of a rim:

Now you can see the rim more sharply:

Time to create a foot. Since this will be used as a salad bowl, it needs a wider than usual foot so it wont be tippy when its used:

And here is a profile view of the blank. Note the wide rim that will be narrowed down a little later:

Here is a side-view photo of the blank off of the lathe:

Wood shavings anyone?

Here is the bowl blank back on the lathe. Ive trued up the face and Im getting ready to hollow it out:

Since it was hot, I decided to stop and begin again tomorrow:

The wood in this blank is dry so the turn should proceed quickly tomorrow.

When the bowl if completely hollowed out, Ill leave it for several days for the fibers to settle down and to see if any cracking develops. If it doesnt, then Ill go ahead and apply a finish.

See you tomorrow,

VW

Monday, February 10, 2014

MBR Ideas with Sketchup and Photoshop

I use Photoshop and Sketchup a lot when I am designing anything 3D. Sketchup is a quick and fast way to get and idea of spatial relationships and what scale of furniture will work in the space. Photoshop allows manipulation of the space i.e. what wall art will look best, colors, etc.

When deciding what the depth of the new demilune table would be I used Sketchup to help me decide.

Check out this post for more info on the table

I created this model in Sketchup when I began designing the MBR, and have used it along the way to help make decisions.

12" table depth

14" table depth

Can 2 inches make a difference? In a smaller space yes! I am liking the clearance of the 12" depth, but I like the scale of the whole table with the 14" depth. I am still deciding ...

Without Sketchup, it is helpful to tape off the area to get a sense of how much space an object will take up.

I have also been thinking about what I will put on the wall with the bed - I used my Sketchup model and Photoshop to come up with some ideas

Butterfly wall art -reminiscent of gossip girl?

Frame Collection

Quatrefoil Mirror

Here are some examples of how I used a photo and Photoshop to decide on fabric and headboard when shopping online

If you havent noticed ... I really like Photoshop and Sketchup, they make it easier to make decisions when shopping online!

The bedroom is getting there, I have to:

1. Finish tv table (this weekend)
2. Make headboard (when fabric comes, next week?)
3. Refinish desk and chair
4. Swap light fixtures

Hope you have a great weekend!

Up Up and Away I Hope

Am I imagining things, or are the prices of planes going up?

I have been pondering this possibility for a while now. I think the online dealers prices have been slowly creeping up over the past couple of months and while the typical eBay junk is still the same, the eBay dealers prices are also climbing a bit. I thought maybe it was my imagination, but after having a gander at Leachs preverbal tool list this morning, Im starting to waver between possible and probable.

Heres a few examples that have caused me to firm up my opinion a bit...

ST12 #2 smoothing plane; a cleaned ca. 1900 example, with a 1930s iron, a no-harm bruise at toe, lever cap is a #3 ground narrower to fit the plane, its a solid worker in all regards, and priced for someone who doesnt wish to pay the MSRP of a pristine example; top right: http://www.supertool.com/forsale/jan/t17.jpg - $175.00

I also came across one of these on eBay this morning that was a tad rough around the edges, but over-all not a bad type 7 that an eBay dealer was selling for $295.00.

I have two of these, both bought from dealers and both graded on the cusp of excellent-workers and good-collectors. One I paid $45.00 for and the other, $125.00, both within the last 5 years.

ST68 #7 jointer; a type 11, with all original parts, made ca. WWI, no damage, nicely cleaned, 90% japanning, all it needs is honing; bottom: http://www.supertool.com/forsale/jan/t128.jpg - $185.00

I bought a type 7 three years ago from a dealer for $175 and its condition is so good, I thought it was still under warranty.

As an aside, Patrick had one listing that really firmed up my decision to never buy a No.1...

ST51 #1 smoothing plane, damage, offered for parts; the nose section snapped off, it has a good "STANLEY" embossed lever cap, sweetheart logo iron and cap iron, and frog; top of tote is gone; the front section can be ground clean to make it a chisel plane, or you can grab parts off it for your plane; top left: http://www.supertool.com/forsale/jan/t107.jpg - $345.00

A couple of years ago another dealer had a box for a No.1 listed for $1400.00 - just the box. Now Patrick has the back half of one listed for $345.00. I get the rarity of this plane is what drives the price, but still...sheesh. The only reason it is rare is that no woodworker worth his salt wanted one of these silly little things when they were new.

By the way, if you arent getting them already, you can sign up to receive Patricks SuperTool monthly lists by emailing him at leach@supertool.com.

So is it possible that plane prices are creeping up? Im still not sure because that isnt supposed to happen. There has been an unbelievable number of vintage planes that have been dumped on the market over the past few years, mainly coming from collectors who are liquidating, or from their heirs who want nothing to do with a bunch of old tools. When supply outstrips demand, prices fall, so how can inflationary prices exist in the market? If it is happening...cool.

This probably isnt the time to mention this, but I am still looking for a good type 7 No. 6 Stanley, and if anyone knows a screw from another plane that will work to holding a Stanley No.386 fence to a plane, I would appreciate you letting me know. Finding replacement thumb screws for this fence is a real bugger.

I had to stop working on the mount for my Stanley No. 50 because I want to tie it into the mount for my No.51 that is going to run up beside it. Here is where it stands today with the template for a layout for its mates...

It really was a difficult plane to design a mount for, which ended up with more dips and dives than I expected. The entire thing is made from a glue-up of walnut with all the grains running vertical.

Here is the plane head-on. With all its bits and bobs, it is 3" wide, but because the widest part of the actual plane body is the tote that is slightly thicker than ¾", there is a lot of empty space around it, making the mount look like a 1950s era continental kit...

Because I have a lot of resawing to do for this project, I decided it was time to make the Frame-Saw I bought blades for about 4-years ago, so that will be what I will be posting about next. Because I do not have my lathe up and running, Im currently rounding off parts of some ⁵⁄₈" square brass stock by hand so I can thread them. I should have photos and my usual verbal diarrhea about them up within the week.

Peace,

Mitchell