Two Bolt Action Pens
As I mentioned in this article, Sam likes the acrylic pen blanks. He’s wanted to turn these for a while, so we did a little reorganizing in the shop, and made our turning area a little bigger.
We brought the Rikon lathe down from the basement studio, and set it up next to the Jet lathe. We set up the counter next to his lathe with all of the pen turning equipment and supplies. Continue reading
The Big Shop
When we were first planning out the new shop a major consideration was size. The idea of a shop started in a rental townhouse which had a barely functional one car garage. It was big enough to hold the small pool table that I and my two brothers-in-law were rebuilding. That table was not salvageable but it built a relationship between us that has stood the test of time.
Cherry Sphere
One thing I’ve wanted to try turning for a long time is a sphere. I love the simple elegance of them. It seems to me that if you are turning things round on a lathe, the ultimate round is a sphere. Sounded like a good project to try in the Small Shop.
My first sphere is the cherry sphere above. I did not photograph the creation of this one, as it was a learning experience. But all in all, it was very successful. I learned a lot and was very pleased with the results.
I like turning rolling pins. Maybe it’s because of the unique challenges they present, like making a perfectly uniform cylinder. Maybe it’s because Marisa makes many fabulous baked creations with them, like pizzas, pies, and potica.
I made this one because we didn’t have one in Michigan. This became the first project I made in the Small Shop.
Cherry Rolling Pin
So you’ve seen the big shop. After taking a job in Lansing, MI, I rented a townhouse. It didn’t have much room for a shop, so I made due.
The mechanical/laundry room in the basement is 21 feet by 8 1/2 feet. This room houses the furnace, water heater, washer and dryer, and a deep sink. The ceiling may be 8 feet, but the pipes and ducting hang down to 6 feet 10 inches. There won’t be any breaking down of any sheet goods in here. And my 52″ SawStop will NOT be going in here.
Small Shop Bench
Rather than ignore the elephant in the room lets just clear the air, three years between posts is too long. I’ll briefly explain the why and then update you on what is going on in the now.
Right around the time of my last post the company I worked for decided to reduce overhead by reducing staff. It was a surprise both professionally and personally, not the hey it’s your birthday and we threw you a party kind of surprise either.
I took a job in another state and we had every intention of selling and moving. The shop was actually a big part of our final decision to not sell. Since building it we invested a lot of ourselves into getting it finished just so. We decided it was better to spend our time working in the shop than building a new shop and being a couple of years out before we could really work in it.
Finished Bowl
Part one of this series showed me cutting some large oak crotches to eventually be used for bowl blanks.
Part two showed the roughing out of the first bowl from these flitches.
In this part, I finally finish the bowl. Continue reading
Rough Hollowed Bowl
In part one of this series, I used the Wood-Mizer to cut an oak crotch log down to two flitches measuring 3 1/2″ and 4 1/2″ thick. Now it was time to start turning.
I took the 3 1/2″ flitch and laid out a 12 inch circle. The main trunk had split down about 6 inches, so I had to move the layout circle down that far. The crotch section has some very beautiful grain swirls; when I cut the other piece, I am going to be sure to get as much of the grain as possible. I will have to make a smaller bowl, but it will be worth it, I am sure.
It seems like in the winter, no matter how often I clean and lubricate my cast iron tables on the various tools, I still manage to get some rust spots. Maybe it’s condensation. Maybe I left a piece of damp wood on it. Who knows? I do know that those spots can be hard to get rid of. Continue reading
We’ve all used WD-40 for various things. Hinges, bicycle chains, squeaky wheels, stuck bolts, you know the uses.
Well, Marisa picked up a can of Spot Shot to try clean some spots in the carpet. This stuff is amazing! Spray it on, let it sit for 5 minutes, and blot it out. The spots disappeared before our eyes! Continue reading
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