Shopsmith Forums

Another slow week has passed as far as shopwork goes. I started to clean the wookshop. The key word here is started, though it is nice to be able to see the entire top of my workbench for the first time in a couple of months. I guess it will be another week before I get this job finished at the rate I am going.

In the meantime, Wood Magazine arrived and I have not finished reading my CHW magazine so I am into a sort of overload on interesting projects to think of. Not that I am complaining!

I also started looking ahead to spring and am toying with an idea for a srpring show/sale that would feature only outdoor projects like bird houses, adirondack chairs, benches, and planters, etc. The venue is a bit of a stumbling block. There is a massive flea market in cottage country about an hour's drive from home but I was also wondering about hooking up with a rural store in the same area that would be a better and more enjoyable setting. I guess a LOT more research is going to be required fo this little brainwave.

On another subject, we took a trip to Plattsburg on Thursday for a day's outing. No intent to buy any WW suplies this time but as usual we went down on fumes so we could get some cheaper gas on the way back. So much so that I had to get $10 worth to get me back up to near the border where I could cross over to Vermont and save 20 cents a gallon. I paid $3.19/gallon in Vt and that compared to $1.15/litre at home, or the equivalent of $4.48/U.S.gal. The savings on the 18 gallons bought essentially covered the gas for the outing so we were happy.

Have fun and a safe week!

John

All is good here in So. Cal. we are awaiting the next cold storm coming down the Pacific coast.

This past week I was given a wonderful gift from my Son. He took me over to Las Vegas to the turning part of the Shopsmith Traveling Academy with Rick Davis. It was a good session! The most important thing learned was "ride the bevel". That means put the bevel of the gouge on the turning wood and using the bevel as a guide, tip the gouge into the wood slowly to achieve the proper shearing cut. If cutting too deep, ride the bevel back to make the cut lighter. Also, it was nice to meet Rick. He is an impressive guy. Sorry Rick, Sorry Shopsmith, just didn't need any new parts.

It was a wonderful 3 day trip. One day over - the session - and one day back. It was a treasured time with my son, together with an exciting time in Vegas - Staying at the Hotel/casino Planet Hollywood. Unforgettable!!

My Son picked up the 13 bd ft of hard maple on his way up here. That chore & delivery was also a valuable gift (see below - gasoline). The wood is a little too damp to cut up at present and will have to season a bit, so guess I'll get back into milling more shutter louvers for a while. Also delivered, was some 8/4 red oak for table legs. This dummy didn't order enough though. Got enough for one table, but need to make two.

Wow! The old saying applies here! "I complained because I had no shoes, until I saw a man that had no feet" Gasoline has become one of those consumer items that are becoming more dear. We were just reminded it is more highly valued in Canada. Like John, we, in this house have learned to conserve wherever possible.

We sometimes forget just how closely our two nations are connected. Just finished reading an article about a man who once was in the Canadian army. He participated in the historical battle of the disastrous 1942 commando raid on Dieppe, was a prisoner of war four times and escaped four times, and lived to tell about it. Now living in Southern California. Watta guy! He'll turn 90 next year. (Jack Kimberly)

Chuck:

As I mentioned recently, that is one great gift! If there is one thing I envy about some of you folks, it is access to the Traveling Academy. It sure would be nice to get instructions on the Shopsmith from some of the best.

In a previous post on obtaining my SS, I mentioned that a deciding factor was that I could attend a free session where they demonstrated the set-up procedures and all of the functions of the machine on a Satuday morning. At the time, SS had a local retail outlet and the course was given there. They also ran free "Sawdust Sessions" on Tuesday nights where they demonstrated building a major project over several weeks. Unfortunately I always put these off for later and of course later never came as the retail outlets were all shut down.

The Canadian distributor in the Toronto area offers a set-up and function session over 4 - 5 hours that includes making a pen for about $75. He also offers other woodworking courses such as turning though these are not normally on SS machines. I might have to convince my beloved that a longer than normal stop-over in Toronto is necessary on a future trip to visit the children up in Ontario. It would be interesting to get a refresher course and do the pen thing.

As to the gas issue, it is interesting that a good percentage of gas in the U.S. is manufactured from Canadian oil originating in Alberta. However with the global economy, and the absence of a "Mr. Chavez" in Canada, we pay market prices for our oil, most of which originates in the Middle-East. Then we have to factor in the taxes, and in Quebec, we pay some of the highest in North America for everything. Having said that, in a recent discussion on another forum, the subject of gas prices came up and a chap from the U.K. chipped in with prices of $2.30/litre in his area. That is double what ours was selling for at the time so I guess they are sort of the guys with no feet in this discussion.

Ah, it must be time to get back to the shop!

John