The (?) Blog

john · Post by **john** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:52 pm

Quite a busy week though there was little true woodworking, most things had a connection in some way.

Father's day was quiet as two local daughters were out west visiting their sisters, so the day was spent scrubbing down the deck. A pressure washer would have done a faster and better job, but I have resisted buying one so far. The next day was spent staining the deck as they had forecasted two more days of good weather.

Then it was one to scrubbing the adirondack chairs. We have contemplated painting them as maintenace is starting to get tedious, but after suggesting to my dear wife that a light sanding would prepare them for painting, she proceeded to sand one, for two hours down to mostly good wood. So it was now time to apply three coats of spar urathane. One down, one more to go along with two footstools.

Then it was over to the seniors residence to start refurbishing the benches. I had not been in the garden area for a couple of years so was surprised to find the wood black with mold, etc. The wood sanded pretty good though and all the black was removed except for what is deep in the oak grain. A coat of stain and a coat of urathane made one look like new, sort of. One down, two more to go along with a large cedar trellis screen I put up when we made the garden

Somewhere in between, I managed a little work on the pieces for the garden swing but that project is falling behind.

Yesterday was celebration time, father's day and birthday combined. Since my dear wife had not bought my present yet, I helped her by going out and buying a set of mini lathe chisels that I hope will allow me to turn the bottle stoppers, etc that I can't seem to manage with full sized ones.

One daughter supplied the food and my grandson cooked two "beer can" chicken and some steaks which were great. Now I may have to start buying my beer in cans so I can try that. A good time was had by all!

Oh yea, I also got a couple of cedar planks as gifts, but they are for grilling.

Have a Safe and Fun week!

John

perryobear · Post by **perryobear** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:29 am

John,

Sounds like you had a pretty good mix of successful work projects and good family celebration.

I was lucky enough to spend Father’s Day with several of the kids out in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to burgers from the grill and mini-golf, we got to do some family woodworking.

The local Rockler store was holding a pen turning session for the Freedom Pens Project. Pen turning is something both I and my oldest daughter have wanted to try, so along with my younger daughter, the three of us gave it a go as a combined effort. This is the result of our labors:

[ATTACH]5196[/ATTACH]

We had a great time doing it and I have promised my oldest that I will have the Shopsmith ready for some pen turning the next time she comes east.

Best Regards,

Dennis

john · Post by **john** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:58 pm

Dennis:

The picture I'm sure dosen't do it justice. It looks like a fine pen!
Something else in my "hope to-do someday" list, especially now that I got the smaller chisels.

John

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:15 pm

I love hearing the fine work done by others. My weekend was mostly quiet. My therapist is beginning to loosen the reigns a bit. Yes Dusty at last I am allowed to do light shop work. I cut, turned and sanded four anesthesia instruments for Alaskan salmon. I have also applied two coats of finish. Hopefully the final coat will go on tomorrow. Yesterday as boredom took over I did a bit of service work on my 520. When first purchased I intentionally elected to install the Retractable Casters backwards. I reasoned that with the shelf hanging in front they would be easier to reach from behind. This arrangement worked fine until I added a second Mark V and found myself parking the newer one in front of the original. Now I have reversed the install so I can operate the Retraction of casters from the front. If only mice and men could plan ahead a little better. This coming weekend I plan to start a new shop project, assuming of course the love of my life approves it. fjimp

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:59 pm

I'm glad to read John's accounts of getting the outdoor furniture fixed up - This is a sure sign that Summer is here!

Hey John - when you are doing the painting - are you using your HVLP sprayer?

Personally, I've found that little HVLP sprayer to be a most valuable item when putting the finish on things like shutters and vents. This thing is somewhat of a chore to clean up, but not nearly as bad as the choreful use and cleaning of brushes or rollers. But then your wife is excellent with brushes and paint. Reference: Frosty, et al.

I have now been informed of my next project. Low and behold, it is in-the house-furniture. Just when I thought we were full. The recent Fine Woodworking Magazine has a feature article on making a blanket chest. TLOML fell in love with the cover picture. So - after a vacation with our daughter, that is the next project.

john · Post by **john** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:00 pm

Chuck:

Funny that you should ask. I did consider using the HVLP sprayer for the adirondack chair but then figured it was too much trouble for one chair so we used a brush which is now sitting in a jar of paint thinner and probably won't be very good when we decide to use it again. If I finish preparing the second chair and footstools at the same time I may try the HVLP.

As for brushes/cleaning, my dear wife had some interior wood work that she wanted to paint and mentioned that she couldn't find any "good" paint brushes. My reply was that's because we don't clean them properly and they are not good for long. My current practice is to buy cheap brushes, put them in the freezer between coats, and clean or discard when finished.

I just started painting the structural parts to the garden swing, couldn't find a brush, so I and went to the freezer and found one. It will probably be discarded when the swing painting is finished as it is quite rough.

We will be looking forward to your usual good work on your furniture project.

Have fun.

John

jimthej · Post by **jimthej** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:46 pm

In between 2 trips to the Ogden, UT area, I am moving my woodworking from the middle third of a one car garage, to our 10' x 10' storage shed. Will use drop cords to provide power. Have 2 20 amp circuits to an exterior box nearby. It won't give me more room, but it will be better organized and not impede the passage of clothing to and from the laundry area. Now the job is to clean off the patio where the stuff from the storage shed got dumped. Has to be done by Saturday for our annual 4th of July BBQ and pool party.
Most of the kids, who started the tradition, are in Utah, but their friends still show up. Got an interstud

clamp rack up today. (Horizontal 2 by 4 with 5/16" dados in the edge for bar clamps.)
It was 109º yesterday and about 101º today and the next few days will continue. Only work early and late or 15-20 minutes with an hour cool down time in between. The old bod just doesn't do heat like it used to.