weekly Blog - November 18th

[john]

After an unbelievable run of good weather, the temperature has finally dropped to normal, just above and below freezing. I guess the jackets and hats will be on for the next 5 months. At least we didn't get all that nasty white stuff that hit parts of New England.

I didn't really see too much progress on the woodworking side of life. One "Mr. & Mrs. Frosty" was completed and all three base coats of paint were applied on the second. Then my painter decided to take a trip to Calgary for a few days to visit our daughters and do some Christmas shopping.

I finished two small letter openers but the wipe-on finish doesn't seem to be drying as it should. I'm not sure if it is the type of wood or a problem with the finish. (I tried to post pictures of previous ones, my file was too big).

I won't go into details, but the CD cabinet is now officially scrap. Learned a few things about techniques and my lack of attention to detail, but it cost me about $35.00 and quite a few hours to do so.

On the renovation side, the sheetrock installer finished and surfaces look better, but he is no finisher as evidenced by the mismatched trim he used to replace discarded pieces. I guess that's a little job I can fix later. The plasterer/painter can't come for another week+ so we are at a bit of a standstill. That is why my beloved decided to fly off as it could not be done later.

Next on the list is to plane a bunch of wood so I can get busy on more projects for the upcoming craft show.

Some interesting posts on the forum. Good thing we have so many knowledgable people to keep us informed and educated.

I also started looking at the downloaded version of the SS Christmas catalogue but had to quit as my wallet started screaming with pain. So many nice toys!!

Have a good and fun week!

John

[jimthej]

Sawdusty week for me. Here in Bakersfield the temperature is good for getting out in the garage. Finished a couple of small projects for my sister. She wanted a 10' curtain rod made of 1" dowel. Since she bought 2 6' lengths of dowel, I had to join them. First did a center bore to use a 1/2" dowel to join them. The ends hung about an inch apart, probably due to hydraulic pressure preventing the dowel from getting to the bottom. Since that didn't work got out the taper guide and made a couple of angle cuts for a scarf joint. Came out ok, but I forgot to carefully evaluate the natural bends of the dowels, so it could have been better. Also completed the sockets for mounting. Bored and cut a couple of blocks with sock shaped drop in slots. They match the hangar blocks of her draperies.
Made her a set of bed blocks to reduce her nighttime acid reflux. Started a set for my wife. I will get to sleep on them, but don't have the problem. I'm just too old to sleep alone.

[charlese]

I got shivers when reading about the weather at John's place, then Jim came in with nice weather. Down here in the desert, we have been having around high 30s for a low and in the 70s during most of the day. On Monday as I drove through town, couldn't help but notice the Fall colors on the urban trees.

This week I cleaned the SS on Monday and made a trip to pick up 50 Bd Ft of poplar for another couple of shutters on Tuesday. Good deal on the poplar at $2.55/Bd Ft for rough 5/4. On Wednesday started sawing on the poplar as it was already down to 8 to 10% moisture. This is what I call desert dry! It's about the same as the furniture in the house. Also on Wed. - had a meltdown! The power switch on the Mark V started smelling and then wouldn't shut off. After settling down during lunch, I thought of taking that switch off of the SS and installing it on the Dust collector - as they are the same switch on my machines. Put the Dust Collector's switch in the Mark V. and the permanently closed switch on the DC. Everything is running properly now, as I use a floor switch for the DC. I ordered up a new DC switch. The switches come in some kind of assembly and the DC switch is a little less costly that the one for a Mark V.

So far have turned out 40 louvers and 4 stiles. Have a few gifts to make and can use up a bit of the poplar cut-offs and some walnut that has been taking up some of the storage shelves.

[billmayo]

Do a search on "Power Switch" for prior power switch problems and solutions.

Bill Mayo

I got shivers when reading about the weather at John's place, then Jim came in with nice weather. Down here in the desert, we have been having around high 30s for a low and in the 70s during most of the day. On Monday as I drove through town, couldn't help but notice the Fall colors on the urban trees.

This week I cleaned the SS on Monday and made a trip to pick up 50 Bd Ft of poplar for another couple of shutters on Tuesday. Good deal on the poplar at $2.55/Bd Ft for rough 5/4. On Wednesday started sawing on the poplar as it was already down to 8 to 10% moisture. This is what I call desert dry! It's about the same as the furniture in the house. Also on Wed. - had a meltdown! The power switch on the Mark V started smelling and then wouldn't shut off. After settling down during lunch, I thought of taking that switch off of the SS and installing it on the Dust collector - as they are the same switch on my machines. Put the Dust Collector's switch in the Mark V. and the permanently closed switch on the DC. Everything is running properly now, as I use a floor switch for the DC. I ordered up a new DC switch. The switches come in some kind of assembly and the DC switch is a little less costly that the one for a Mark V.

So far have turned out 40 louvers and 4 stiles. Have a few gifts to make and can use up a bit of the poplar cut-offs and some walnut that has been taking up some of the storage shelves.

[charlese]

Do a search on "Power Switch" for prior power switch problems and solutions.

Bill Mayo

Shucks Bill, I should have remembered! I'm off to Harbor Freight. It is only a 3 mile drive! Thanks!:D

[perryobear]

Hi Guys,

Its been a good holiday, I have much to be thankful for! I trust you can all say the same.

Finished up my airplane project by my self-appointed Thanksgiving deadline, but it was a near thing and I now have more sympathy for thr folks at Airbus and Boeing.

It was a fun project and I have attached a link to some pictures.


http://picasaweb.google.com/PERRYOBEAR/AirplaneProject

I hope the "pilot" has as much fun flying it as I had building it.

Dennis

[charlese]

Dennis- Glad someone gets their projects completed on time! I went to your photo site. After going through the slide show several times, I'm left with this impression: One word, repeated often - BEAUTIFUL - BEAUTIFUL - BEAUTIFUL -----------.....

I was impressed not only by your woodwork, but the wonderful finish! Good Job!!!:D

I'm sure the pilot and other pilots to come will get a thrill out of flying it!

[reible]

Hi Guys,

Its been a good holiday, I have much to be thankful for! I trust you can all say the same.

Finished up my airplane project by my self-appointed Thanksgiving deadline, but it was a near thing and I now have more sympathy for thr folks at Airbus and Boeing.

It was a fun project and I have attached a link to some pictures.


http://picasaweb.google.com/PERRYOBEAR/AirplaneProject

I hope the "pilot" has as much fun flying it as I had building it.

Dennis

Hi,

My old version of netscape was having problems reading the pictures but the current safari worked fine... just in case some other are having issues.

That looks like a fun project. I really like the colors, would you mind sharing the company and colors used, and any pre-conditioning done?

What age group is this targeted for? The one picture reminds me of my 2+ year old grandson size.

********************************************************
Now a techical questions for any of you airplane guys... I was told that radial engines always need to be an odd cylinder count... is that right??
********************************************************

Ed

[reible]

The outside temperature last night was down to 18 deg. The shop felt a bit to cold to work in today so I went on to other home projects today. Yesterday I wasn't home so it might have looked like a light week for me... except I was busy early in the week.

I normally have to close down the shop this time of year due to space restrictions and cold weather. Having a dry spell (shop wise) until sometime in Feb. It has been that way the last 6-7 years since I started adding additonal tools to the shop.

With a major effort I have rearranged the shop giving me access this winter to my OPR, bandsaw, one shopsmith that can do lathe work or horizontal boring and the second one so it can do some limited ripping, cross-cutting and change into a drill press stance. Now I will not have any access to my planner, drum sander, or either of my jointers and none of my other router tables. (The snow blower is living in the shed... that may have to change if it will not start out there and then I will lose the use of the OPR.)

So I will have limited shop access this winter!!!!! I will no doubt still have heat issues some days or weeks but it is still better then it was.

I also replaced the plastic part on the saw guard from my used machine. Some how a previous user had mangaged to touch each side of it to the saw blade. It worked but everytime I looked at it I didn't like what I saw so now I'm going to modify the shoddy one to see if I can get a sawdust collection point mounted... I know is small, but that means high air speeds so maybe I will get some additional dust collected????

Good thing, truth be told, I had the last few days to rest my back.

Ed

[perryobear]

Hi,

My old version of netscape was having problems reading the pictures but the current safari worked fine... just in case some other are having issues.

That looks like a fun project. I really like the colors, would you mind sharing the company and colors used, and any pre-conditioning done?

What age group is this targeted for? The one picture reminds me of my 2+ year old grandson size.

********************************************************
Now a techical questions for any of you airplane guys... I was told that radial engines always need to be an odd cylinder count... is that right??
********************************************************

Ed

Hi Ed,

Nothing fancy at all in the finishes on the plane. I primed everything with latex based Kilz 2, gave a light sanding then applied the final paint. All finishes are latex based, Krylon Atlantic Almond (rockers), Caribbean Blue (fuselage), and Rustoleum Painters Choice Sun Yellow (wings). The rest of the red, white, and black details are just latex craft paints with a gloss clear coat. The insignias are vinyl decals from Military-Graphics.com.

The original plan booklet doesn't give a target age, but I think 2yrs would be a minimum. My grandson is 2+ and is a fairly good fit.

I don't know anything about radial engines (other than they are round)although an odd number of cylinders would have the benefit of preventing cylinders from lining up opposite from each other. In any case, if I had counted more carefully, the PT-17 only had 7 cylinders, oops.

I hope that I am blessed with the opportunity to build a couple more planes for future grandchildren and I will modify my faux radial engine!:)

The project was most enjoyable.

Thanks for your interest,

Dennis