Go ahead....laugh at the old guy.......

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I can't remember the last time I turned a bowl.......

My latest turning project.a cherry pedestal table..turned into a finishing nightmare and the LOML declared it done Wednesday......

So yesterday I chucked up a roughed out 13 1/2" diameter bowl of english walnut and I'm pretty sure Joel Sauter gave it to me.

So I started finish turning it. Got the tenon round again.

Chucked it up.....started finishing the outside. Got it round again...

Hogged out enough of the inside to get it round again and then flattened the rim. Sure seem to be having tearout problems.....and I'm getting some "threading" going on......I must be doing something wrong......


The LOML had surgery Monday...and catering to her every whim has been my main goal this week.

A local grocery chain has their 13 hour sale on Thursday. I swore I would never attend one of these events unless they drove my cold dead body by in the hearse enroute to my funeral. I don't shop Walmart either....unless Sharon is out of town. Well, of course she wants some stuff on sale during 13 hour sale. Love will cause a man to do things he doesn't want to...or can't find any logic in....or have any desire to do but ...Hey! She's the mother of my 3 kids....Grandmother of my 7 grandkids....she is the great-grandmother of my 4 great-grandkids and you know...she's put up with me for 42 years..... So I went shopping during the 13 hour sale.

Then I stopped to pick up the little brass plaque I had engraved for my latest project.

Then I fixed lunch for us.....went and voted in the local school election......idiots on both sides of that issue.

Got home.....a local sprinkler company is blowing out my neighbors sprinking system. So..I con them into blowing mine out while they are in the area. They will bill me for it but it's done for this season.

Finally I got back to that roughed out bowl this morning.

Its amazing how much you can forget about the process. It dawned on me that I was using a new bowl gouge for the 1st time and I hadn't sharpened it. Well a few minutes at the grinder and back to the wood.

Things are improving remarkably!

The amount of tear out is reduced but still a fair amount.....then I remember....light cuts.....shear cut.....vertical shear cut......

Things are getting better.......

Now about that time I made a minor mistake and moved my bowl gouge out to the rim to take the sharp edge off the rim.

Ooops.....improper presentation of the bowl gouge on the rim resulted in a gigantic catch....broke the tenon....launched the 13 1/2" bowl......

One of the better points about getting old is I don't think fast enough to come out with some of the profanity I picked up while working in the oil fields or during my 8 years in the U. S. Navy. Mom would have proud of her little boy Kenny for not spewing profanity.

So....back on the lathe....luckily...it's thick enough...between the live center and the chuck.....turn a new tenon.

I am starting to remember what I had forgotten.....unforturnately due to aging.....I am relearning the lessons of bowl turning through experience before I can remember what I learned the first time.

So ....go head laugh at the old guy......He's laughing....:o:p

[Roger Chandler]

Ken,

I think many of us resemble that man you are talking about, that we would be embarrassed to laugh. The older I get, the better my forgetter works!

[Robert McGowen]

I guess that it could be worse. You could go back to the shop and wonder who left that 13.5" walnut bowl blank on your lathe! :D:cool::eek::rolleyes::):o:(;)

[Ken Whitney]

Don't you really mean that you were exploring design opportunities through unique tool presentations?:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken -

congrats on making it through Sharon's surgery and ongoing recovery!
congrats on surviving the 13 hour sale!
congrats on getting your sprinkle system taken care of early!
congrats on not giving up on your bowl!

Looking forward to seeing the bowl once finished - and I know you will finish it! You just like to add a little excitement to your day to keep it from becoming routine!

Have fun!

[Tom Sherman]

Ken don't feel so bad, at least you didn't turn through the bottom like I did on the first bowl I turned in 3 years.

[Ray Bell]

Ken, I am laughing, but only because now I know it happens to the best of them, and not just me.

Wishing your wife a speedy recovery!

[Ted Evans]

Thanks for the chuckle Ken, although I have forgotten what you did that was so funny.:D:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well,

It's remounted and refinished turned on the outside.

This is a stunning piece of English walnut...one of the prettiest pieces of wood to come into my shop and I want to save it.

Sharon asked me if I was going to be able to save it.

I will do my best.

It has 2 cracks in it so....I'm going to mix some epoxy and an epoxy cocktail and see what I can do.........

The crack on the outside will get epoxy..the thinner crack on the inside will get the epoxy cocktail. I'd try CA but the CA I have is old and I'm afraid it might not set up.......

I'm gonna try my best to save this one.....Sharon wants it. I believe it could become her fruit bowl on our kitchen counter...

We'll see......

BTW....she is doing well. She's up stirring around..... she actually came down stairs.....picked out food to fix for supper......started a load of laundry and is now back up stairs. Now if I can just convince her to slowly increase her physical activity. She started weening herself of the prescription pain meds yesterday. Today she has been using OTC Tylenol and she's talking about doing away with that.

[Paul McGaha]

Liked your story Ken. Sorry for the trouble. Hope you can save your bowl.

Hope your wife feels better soon.

PHM

[Joe Shinall]

Ken, do not feel bad. I am only 27 and I have this happen to me all the time. I have a bad habit of having to sit back and look at what I am doing to make sure I'm on the right step.

[Michael James]

Nice story Ken... glad it's getting a happy ending. Your wife is smart to wean off the narcotics, that can be a nightmare for some folks.
And even though we tend to forget more, never forget rule # 62: don't take yourself too seriously!:D
mj

[Alan Zenreich]

I expected to hear that the lathe was running in reverse.
Been there, done that

[David Christopher]

Ken, Im glad youre getting time to turn...but I hope this bowl dont take as long as the cherry table did...LOL

PS hope you had fun at the 13 hour sale

Your friend
Dave

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

I am hoping to get to those blanks you brought here on your visit.:o

You wouldn't recognize my shop. No plywood on sawhorses for benches. I have built several rolling carts and one 8' cabinet and almost everything is stowed away.

The remaining additions for the shop... wood and turning blank storage racks.....that will happen very shortly.

[David Christopher]

David,

I am hoping to get to those blanks you brought here on your visit.:o

You wouldn't recognize my shop. No plywood on sawhorses for benches. I have built several rolling carts and one 8' cabinet and almost everything is stowed away.

The remaining additions for the shop... wood and turning blank storage racks.....that will happen very shortly.


thats great Ken, Ive spent more time working on my shop than in it...but thats fun too

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken glad to hear Sharon is on the mend and doing ok.

I am not going to laugh because I am right there with ya. I was working on a Potpourri pot when the wife came to the shop. I turned around to see what she wanted and didn't watch where my gouge was. Yep you guess it. It exploded and well there is no design option with it.:eek::mad:

Hopefully yours will be saved my friend.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Thanks Bernie!

I just came in from trying to finish turning it. Ran into a couple unexpect holes in the wood. So I mixed up some epoxy and filled them and will let it set overnight now.

This is really is a gorgeous piece of english walnut.

I will try every way I can to save it.

Sharon's doing well. She had sinus/nasal surgery Monday. She has been sleeping upright in her recliner since we got home late Monday afternoon. Today she has started feeling better and this evening she actually did the supper dishes while I was in the shop messing with the bowl.

I hate to admit it but after 42 years, I still can't figure her out. It's okay for her to wait on me when I'm sick but she surely doesn't like it when I try to return the favor. I managed to wait on her for 3 days. I suppose I should be grateful?

[Baxter Smith]

I can't remember the last time I turned a bowl.......


So ....go head laugh at the old guy......He's laughing....:o:p

Good story. Could be worse, at least you remember you turned one!:)

[Paul Douglass]

Ha Ha Ha Ah,,, forgot what I was laughing at.....

[John Keeton]

Ken, just getting around to reading this one - FUNNY!!! I just finished turning some tool handles for another creeker - aside from finials, and the recent candle stand for Ms. Keeton, I haven't done much spindle turning. Had forgotten both how much I enjoy it, and, most of the techniques!

Sometimes relearning can be rewarding - other times....not so much!

Glad Sharon is doing well, and that you are surviving the nursing game. Sounds like the newly rejuvenated and organized shop is going to be in full production mode now.

[Josh Bowman]

I expected to hear that the lathe was running in reverse.
Been there, done that
+1, gave up for the night and came back to the next afternoon and still had the same "gouge won't cut" issue. Then I saw the switch was in reverse. I need back up lights on my lathe!:rolleyes:

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks Bernie!


I hate to admit it but after 42 years, I still can't figure her out. It's okay for her to wait on me when I'm sick but she surely doesn't like it when I try to return the favor. I managed to wait on her for 3 days. I suppose I should be grateful?

LOL isn't it funny what you learn after 42 yrs. My wife is the same way after 42 yrs. She doesn't like to be waited on but when I am sick I can't do anything.:D Don't know if that is good or bad.:eek::rolleyes: