Weekly Blog - January 6th

john · Post by **john** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:57 pm

The holidays are over and the kids have left so things should start getting back to normal. The new year began with snow starting the morning of December 31st, and ending at night on the first. Nothing near as bad as what has occurred over the last couple of days out west, but my polar bears are in danger of being buried in snow, not from global warming (see picture). Actually the western weather is pushing warm air towards the east and forecasts are for temperatures about 20 degrees F above normal during the coming week. This while the news media is reminding us that January 5th was the tenth anniversary of the start of our famous "Ice Storm" of 1998.

I managed to fulfill the grandkids request for a doll bed and two "Harry Potter" style wands. The bed, about 12" long, was made from baltic birch plywood, painted yellow by my wife, with a couple of stenciled flowers for decoration, a coat of clear finish added, result one satisfied customer!

I made the wands from 15" lengths of 3/4" dowel that I tapered using the SS as a lathe, with very dull chisels. A dremel bit was used to create rustic looking cracks, etc down the length as per the picture provided by my grandson. A little paint and shading for effect, then a coat of clear finish and everybody seemed happy.

Now I will have to turn my attention to cleaning the shop and doing some maintenance on the 510 so I guess I will not be doing much in the way of production over the next week or so. I will also have to hook up my speakers again so I can catch up on some of the Sawdust Session videos that I have missed during our renovations and the holidays.

The posts over the last week have been interesting, with some really nice finished work being exhibited. Congratulations on a fine job to all that posted pictures. I notice a new forum member from Montreal so I guess I am no longer the only one from this part of the great white north.

Last but not least, thanks to those that have offered encouraging words about the blog. When I started I wasn't sure how it would go, and I know it isn't everyone cup of tea, but I feel I have made some on-line friends and sure enjoy the feedback and projects that have appeared as a result.

Once again, Have A happy and safe week!

John

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:24 am

Holy criminetly John! Haven't seen snow like that since the late 80s. Nostalgia tells me it was fun, but glad we don't have it down here! I do remember, however that much snow helped keep the house warmer.

This week was spent trying to straighten up the shop and clean it. After those Banksia vases, the fuzz and pieces were all over the place. Glad I wore a mask and goggles. While turning, some pieces were hitting me on my face around the goggles and some of them stung. Today, found a piece of a Banksia "seed lip" on the bench that was behind me by 3 ft. It was kind of oval shape, but had sharp edges. Measured 1/2" X 1/2" and was 1/8" thick. This would have really hurt in an eye!

In other events, my wife (blame her, Ha!) shot our wad at the sewing machine store this week. Bought an 85 lb embroidery machine. Cost about the same as a new automobile did about 35 years ago. We think Shopsmith stuff is costly? Not really! Anyway, I'm now in the process of widening one of the benches in her sewing room. Have to fabricate some pieces of scrap to widen the table top to hold this machine. Needed to warm up the shop (glue and wood) in order to accomplish this chore. It is not done yet, just started. We will need several glue ups and machining. In this process, I found another benefit of the Forum! It's a good thing to read, while I come inside and watch a football game, while the glue sets up.

Also used this week to service the Mark V and sharpen up the lathe tools. I have been using them at the Shopsmith factory grinds since I got them. Finally figured I'd try them at a more shearing angle. Set up the sharpening gauge at a 5% left setting (on the Belt Grinder) and made sparks. Used a 150 grit belt. After grinding, honed with diamond honing cards then stropped them to a mirror finish with my little leather wheel and white honing compound. The strop was manufactured to be used in a hand held drill at 400 RPM, but works well at 750. Maybe I can't slice paper in the air, but I can slice small pieces of skin from my finger callouses.

john · Post by **john** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:09 pm

Chuck:

We are told this is an old fashioned winter. I remember them from when I was a bit younger. Last year we had a green Christmas.

I am trying to post a picture of what the bears should look like but I had to resize it and don't know if this will work, so here goes.

John

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:09 pm

I don't know about the rest of you, but it has been in the 70's here the last couple of days. Today we are dealing with severe storms, hail, and tornado warnings. It feels like spring, but the forecast calls for cooler temps and a chance of snow tomorrow. If you don't like the weather here, just wait a day or so.

kd6vpe · Post by **kd6vpe** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:54 pm

Bruce,
That's our saying here in Oklahoma. Because of the great weather and all the tree limbs I havn't been able to play with my ss for awhile. We have tornado watch tonight. Weather radio just went off again.

john · Post by **john** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:38 pm

The last two posts from Bruce and Jim are why I will take a snow storm over tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires anytime. Ice storms such as we had in '98 though are a different matter.

My heart goes out to people in severe weather areas every time I see a newscast showing the damage and effect on people.

By the way, with all the melting we had today, the polar bears are almost ready to swim away.

John

pinkiewerewolf · Post by **pinkiewerewolf** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:06 pm

Great blog page John.

The bears are pretty cool...literally.

Here in Nor-Cal we have been loosing redwoods to the high winds this winter.
They can take out a four lane road pretty easily at times.