Center Finder

[Lee DeRaud]

(Hide your eyes: this is flatwork...and laser flatwork, at that.:eek: )

The center-finders I'd seen at the store seemed a bit flimsy, not to mention easy to misplace, so I cobbled this up:
3431834319
6" square, 1/2" lip to register the stock, and a tasteful decoration on the front side.:cool:

[John Hart]

Pretty cool Lee.. I beg to differ....Center finders are definitely ROUND work.

[Frank Chaffee]

Good job Lee,
Those spinny guys couldn’t get anywhere without the foundational work provided by flatlanders. I just wish they’d remember that and quit laughing at us.
Frank

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Frank..........we're not laughing at you......we're just laughing! :) Someday we hope to figure why!:confused: :eek: :D

[John Hart]

Yeah Frank...I'm not laughing. I depend on flatwork. Without it, I'd be Turning outside. I might catch a sniffle! :( :)

[Frank Chaffee]

…And please understand why I do my best to avoid the Turners Forum.

I have long been moved by vessels created in many materials and through many ages; fired earth, stone, bronze, iron, reeds, bark, skins and, yes, even wood are all materials that have been used and come immediately to mind. When I see you people going “bonkers”, I think of grinding of corn, the mortar and pestle and the tsuribachi. You are finding a material axis to complement the abyss (void) that you would otherwise be inexorably drawn into. More power to you.
However, I have not yet proven to myself that the world is not flat, or that the earth is not the center of the solar system. So obviously, I have not completed my flatwork, and am therefore ill prepared to follow SMC’s spinny ones.
Likely I will join you someday, but ‘till then I will just take an occasional and cautious peek at your doin’s.
Thanks, and keep going round and round,
Frank

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I dunno Frank!..........Hey John....I'm betting based on Frank's last outburst.....Andy and Dale would agree that Frank would make a great turner now! He sounds so convincingly Bonkers right now!:eek: :D

[Bernie Weishapl]

I think you hit the nail on the head Ken. When they start talking about it they don't have long before they slip.

[Dale Thompson]

…And please understand why I do my best to avoid the Turners Forum.

I have long been moved by vessels created in many materials and through many ages; fired earth, stone, bronze, iron, reeds, bark, skins and, yes, even wood are all materials that have been used and come immediately to mind. When I see you people going “bonkers”, I think of grinding of corn, the mortar and pestle and the tsuribachi. You are finding a material axis to complement the abyss (void) that you would otherwise be inexorably drawn into. More power to you.
However, I have not yet proven to myself that the world is not flat, or that the earth is not the center of the solar system. So obviously, I have not completed my flatwork, and am therefore ill prepared to follow SMC’s spinny ones.
Likely I will join you someday, but ‘till then I will just take an occasional and cautious peek at your doin’s.
Thanks, and keep going round and round,
Frank

Hey Arena,
Are you talking about Suribachi or suribachi? :confused: "Suribachi" is a mountain on a sacred Pacific Island made famous by four of the THOUSANDS of American and Japanese heroes who died there. A Pima Indian named Ira Hayes was one of those four. The "civilized" society that he fought for caused his premature death with its "confusing" accolades and its ability to extract him from his heritage. :(

On the other hand, "suribachi" is a Japanese word for a mortar and pestle!

In any event, bud, drop the redundant "t". You are a prized "Cheesehead" and should know better than to misspell words! :) If necessary, WALK the 300 miles to the nearest Library. ;) :)

As far as the world being flat and the Earth being the center of the Universe, you don't even have to leave Arena to get agreement on THOSE simple hypotheses! That's the POINT, man!! We, as turners, are DETERMINED to CHANGE that!! :eek: :cool: :) Be COOL!

Dale T.

[Paul Douglass]

So Lee, you going to sell those? Really nice, how much?

[Frank Chaffee]

Dale,
I am embarrassed, but also very grateful that you caught my transliterative spelling error of “suribachi”.

Somehow, and most inexplicably I assure you, in the thirty five years since I worked for three generations of Japanese immigrants to this country in a restaurant, I managed to confuse and combine “tsubo” with “suribatchi”.

Suribachi: An earthenware mortar, into which food is placed and ground with a pestle against the fine grooves on the inside.

Tsubo: “From ancient times, vessels with a mouth which is comparatively smaller than their rounded bodies have all been called tsubo. These have been made not only from clay, but out of lacquer ware and metal as well.”

How very foolish of me Sensei, I move on from my foolish error.
Respectfully,
Frank “Arena” Chaffee

[Keith Outten]

Nice work Lee and it should be real handy.

[Barry Stratton]

Ditto what the lone ranger asked - are you interrested in selling a few??? Those are great.

[Don Orr]

Lee, I'll bet if you made up a bunch of these center finders you could easily sell them here. If the powers that be might allow such a thing. Especially if the SMC logo was on it as nicely as it is on yours. Great job of just "cobbling " it together.

Round-Flat, why can't we all just get along ? ;) (To paraphrase RK). It's really all about the wood:D .

[John Hart]

Yeah Lee....make a whole pile of them and sell them in the Creekers Store!

I'll take one please. Oh....wait a minute........how much?:confused: :D

[Mike Ramsey]

I could have used one of those to find the center of my Bonker!! :D .
Very nice job Lee! Would also be proud to own one of those!!

[Lee DeRaud]

I thought about this a bit last night...my gut reaction was "probably not". The material costs are <$1, laser time maybe $2-3. The killers are gluing up the "sandwich" and shipping/handling. I can make it a bit less tedious in large quantities, but it's still more trouble than it's worth for a hobby...certainly not at any price point I'd be comfortable charging.

What I am considering is doing them on request, probably on a barter system for interesting chunks of wood. I'll post over in the classified forum when I get the details worked out in my head.

[David Fried]

Very nice Lee. If the assembly is the issue, not the production, then perhaps you could offer them in kit form. Do you accept slight used bonkers as payment? :D

Dave Fried

[Lee DeRaud]

If the assembly is the issue, not the production, then perhaps you could offer them in kit form.That's actually (part of) the plan. Those holes in the corners aren't for decoration: they're registration holes for the glue-up.

[Jerry Clark]

I will take one Lee-- I can even pick it up and deliver some turning wood!:cool:

[Lee DeRaud]

If you want one, I just added a post over in classifieds:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=33300