Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

24 Apr 2017

Good Morning Everyone,
Besides the rain and storm we've been having, I took the week to go and get some things done for my mother. Taking care of a house and yard as an elderly widow has proven to be a real challenge for her and for me and my wife as well. Travelling over 1,000 miles round trip means that we spend 2 days just travelling and that takes a toll on my vacation time. It was a good visit, we got some things done for her and now it's back to the grindstone this week.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Earl McLain]

Turned the soil in our garden, and also turned my first pen. Ipe with a wax finish.
earl
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[Mike Ontko]

Nice pen, Earl. And ipe. The barrel pieces ought to last longer than the hardware :)

I had a bit of a setback on my cherry and fir bookcase build this weekend. The case pieces and panels are all ready for assembly--finished with tung oil more than two or three weeks ago and then covered this weekend with five or six coats of a non-waxed ruby shellac made from flake (ordered from shellac.net). I made the 18" x 45-1/2" top from three pieces of 8/4 cherry, milled and face planed down to 1-3/8", then glued together with double rows of #20 biscuits spaced about 8-inches apart, beginning about 1-1/2 inches from each end. In all, about $50-75 worth of prime cherry. Anyway, long story short...when I glued up those pieces I had expected to take roughly equal amounts off of each end, to get to the final length. But habits being habits, when I made those final cuts I did like I usually do--cut just enough off of one end to get a square and clean face, then cut the remaining length off of the other end. But, I'd forgotten about the location of the biscuits and after the second cut realized that I'd cut deep enough into that end to expose the biscuits. Scratch one bookcase top. On the next one, I'll be sure to mark the locations of the biscuits with tape or chalk so I don't forget :/

So I tore apart my BBQ grill and spent the remainder of Saturday getting it ready for summer with oven cleaner, soapy water, and a scrub brush.

[Jim Becker]

I do understand, Dennis, given my recent "field trips" to central Florida to deal with things around the elderly 'rents...

It was a reasonably productive weekend here, although errands on Saturday took up a chunk of time. Aside from mowing the grass (which grew over 4" over the previous week) and dealing with some tree and shrub trimming and general cleanup, I spent a short period of time in the shop taking care of some last minute beekeeping woodenware needs for Professor Dr. SWMBO as she's about to do some colony "splits". I also cleaned my office and put in a new rug since the previous one was falling apart...my wheeled office chair is hard on the carpet and after about 8 years, it was time for a new one. Of course, I was also reminded of that current song, "Dust (is everywhere)" while doing that deed and gave the vacuum cleaner a good workout. Did a little macro photography of spring flowers and our birds, too.

Cooked a delicious Faro Island Salmon for dinner on Sunday night, too. (accompanied by baked red-skin potatoes and kale salad with fresh made lemon vinaigrette)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/IMG_9610_zpsrey8zodw.jpg

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Not really my accomplishment, but I went to a party to celebrate a friend's THIRD circumnavigation of the Earth by sailboat. Still planning mine one day.

[andrew whicker]

Mine started out slow with a good ol cold and lots of stuffy head feelings.

However, I finally finished / sold a few 'floating canvas' frames for a customer. I am also finally cutting wood on the coffee table project that I way undercharged for. I guess I am getting a few tools out of it, but this thing should really be going for double. Then again, the quality probably wouldn't demand double. Tough to say. I'll have to keep learning. Regardless, I'm stoked on the progress and I'm doubly stoked on the ease of progress after carefully planning and practicing everything beforehand. It's really paying off. Learning a lot too. : )

The salmon looks amazing!


Now back to engineering..
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[Jay Larson]

The ground finally dried up enough that I could get out and transplant some small pine trees. The neighbor put in a second garage, and the trees were getting the brunt of the rain runoff and not doing well. So he offered them to us.

Then I put the cabinets together for some speakers that I am building, according to the Frugal Horn site (http://frugal-horn.com/). Now they are ready for painting. These are just a test pair to see how they sound. So far I think they don't sound too bad for 4" speakers. But that may change once they are in the living room and where they will be staying.

I also started to lay out the doors for the dining room cabinet. These will have some glass lights in them, so may be a bit time consuming.

[Dale Murray]

Finally got the time and courage to finish my leg vise.

It has been glued up for more than a year and the hardware was fitted months ago, just never had the time to actually finish shaping it.

Hard maple with curly maple veneer.

Still applying finish, this was after the first coat.

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[julian abram]

Not really my accomplishment, but I went to a party to celebrate a friend's THIRD circumnavigation of the Earth by sailboat. Still planning mine one day.

Malcolm, it's none of my business but out of idol curiosity, how big was your friends sailboat? I would guess the smaller the boat the larger the adventure would be.:)

[Vince Rosypal]

expensive and productive weekend....
Bought a Makita track saw, Freud dado set and a new felt filter for my dust collector.
Unfortunately the track is cupped and the dado set doesn't really improve (some but not enough) on the bat ears that I currently have with my Delta set. So those are going back... hopefully they replace track with out issue.

Started to make the dice for the game Yardzee, I am able to get 25 die out of the 8 foot 4x4 cedar post. Milled it down to 3 1/4" square and created a template for the 6 different hole layouts.
Managed to get all die drilled for 1 and 2..... just 450 more holes to drill... and rounding over all the edges
Next will be figuring out a good protective coating to put on them....

[Bruce Wrenn]

Wife and I were to fly to Baton Rouge on Thursday. She became sick just as we were to board plane. Didn't go. Came home and took alternator off van (94 Areostar) and replaced bearings. New alternator $123, bearings less than $5 at Fastenal. (They have a store less than three miles for house.) Saturday replaced right front caliper on van. Sunday picked up two rototillers from CL (for parts.) Tore apart the chain case on my Merry Tiller ( 1980 model) and discovered that the # 50 chain had a broken link. Church on Sunday morning. Went to dinner with wife on Sunday night, and today ordered parts to fix Merry Tiller.

[Brian Henderson]

Was working on some shop storage solutions and decided, for some reason, that the blade on one of my planes wasn't sharp. So I sharpened every blade and chisel in the shop. Also did a ton of yard work while waiting for the roofer to come give me an estimate on a new roof that was damaged in recent winds.

[Brad Barnhart]

finished a memorial project for a family member that passed away last week. Started on it last wednesday night, & finished up early this morning. A scroll saw project of The End of The of the Trail with two feathers cut from blood wood. I'm not smart enough to post pictures, but that was my week end.

[Bill Adamsen]

Not really woodworking, just facilitating woodworking. Cut the metal for a new assembly table and helped a friend weld. 1/8" stock was light enough that I lifted and walked it off my trailer myself. 36" x 72".

[Bill Adamsen]

It has been glued up for more than a year and the hardware was fitted months ago, just never had the time to actually finish shaping it. Hard maple with curly maple veneer. Still applying finish, this was after the first coat.

Stunning. What is the finish ... assuming an oil. With the finish on (photo 8) I can't detect the veneer.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm, it's none of my business but out of idol curiosity, how big was your friends sailboat? I would guess the smaller the boat the larger the adventure would be.:)

His recent trip around the marble was in an Amphitrite 43' and the prior two was I believe a 38'. As for small boats versus big boats, I wouldn't want anything larger than a 45' (with a few exceptions because of nice designs) because of the cost of dockage, maneuverability, complicated handling, and other factors. I always say, "When the big boat sinks, what do people do? They get in the small boats." Small boats are safer. :)

You can read all about his adventures in his many books.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/143-9089123-2918334?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Fatty+Goodlander
start with "Chasing the Horizon" and "Sea Dogs, Clowns, and Gypsies." Many of the characters in those books showed up at the party. It was quite a collection of folks. I won't post pictures because some of them may or may not have told their parole officers they were going. :-)

[Dale Murray]

The veneer is about 1/4-5/32" thick curly maple I sliced and matched.
Its not easy to detect the edge as I rounded the curly maples face to give it a little more visual interest, at the edge it is maybe a 1/6" thick. Rounding was done with hand planes and sanding.

Finish process:
- clear shellac tinted with vintage maple dye from Transtint.
- sanded with 220 to remove most of the shellac, minus what is in the curl.
- about 8 coats of Waterlox finish.

The dye will be more heavily absorbed in the curl darkening it. Sanding assures maximum contrast between the natural wood and the curl. The trick is getting the balance just right - bring out the curl without drawing attention to the dye.

I have to make about 10 drawers for my bench, all with curly maple fronts.

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