Weekend Accomplishments.....

[Dennis Peacock]

Well....another weekend has come and gone and I get to go "off-call" tomorrow morning. I sure do "dislike" being oncall....it's a real pain and the lack of sleep is enough to make anyone run away from home.!!!

Didn't get much time in the shop this weekend since I was oncall. I did spend some time turning a few pens and trying to turn a platter out of some pecan that I got from Alabama. My dad had a pecan tree that was dead and he needed it down. Needless to say, some really nice chunks of pecan followed me all the way to Arkansas and one piece even jumped up on my lathe tonight and said "turn me dude!".....Well, what could I say....I just "had" to crank up the lathe and do a little turning just to relax while in the shop for a change. That CD cabinet took a lot out of me and I just needed some "relaxing" time in the shop for a change.

Well, enough about my weekend....what about your weekend?

Best of Weeks.....

[Jim Becker]

Clearing snow and working in the shop were the main activities this weekend. With every snow storm we have, I'm even more thankful for that nice orange machine that does all the work... :D

Shop activities included getting a seal coat of shellac on the walnut bench, some minor work on the Shaker clock and a whole bunch of turning (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?threadid=5249) . This was also the first weekend that presented a true test to the overhead radiant heaters in the shop. A boost in the morning with the kero heater to warm the air was all that was needed for the shop to stay at a pleasant 65-68º all day and into the evening.

With the "boomerang travel week" I'm going to have, next weekend's time in the shop and at holiday parties will be a welcome thing...

[Bob Lasley]

I had a fairly productive weekend. The toolchest is complete except for putting on the back, I thought I had some 1/4" oak plywood, and finishing. Also got to spend time with all my kids, grandkids and many friends that came by for LOML's birthday party Saturday night.

Have a great week everyone,
Bob

[Teresa Jones]

My sister is a Montesorri teacher for ages 6 to 9 years.

My Christmas present to her this year was to deliver 16 birdhouse "kits" for her to then gift to her students, who in turn would construct the birdhouses for their parent's Christmas gifts.

I found a simple plan for a Chickadee house, cut all the pieces from cedar fence slats, gathered up the hardware, and went to HD and scored little orange aprons for everyone.

I deliverd the kits to my sister over Thanksgiving. I had put together one of the kits and then I walked her through one assembly. She was ecstatic over the whole idea.

She called me this weekend to tell me how excited the kids were about building the birdhouses. Their parents were quiet curious about why their children needed to bring a hammer to school!

One young man, upon completing his birdhouse, looked around the classroom and said "Wow, look everyone, WE made these, we made these ourselves". (I have mutter similar sentiment in my shop)

One young woman, upon learning that the birdhouses would "weather" once placed outside said "There is NO WAY my birdhouse is going outside".

My Christmas present return a thousand times over!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

TJ

[Jim Becker]

My Christmas present to her this year was to deliver 16 birdhouse "kits" for her to then gift to her students, who in turn would construct the birdhouses for their parent's Christmas gifts.

I can think of no better gift than to share an activity that can stay with these young people all their lives. You are an inspiration, Thersa!

[Charles McKinley]

I Roughed out the copy of the Pottery barn doll house book case and got all ut one piece from jet to put the lathe togeather. I hope that last piece of cord comes soon.

Have a safe week everyone.

[Dan McGuire]

This sort of a treat for me. Normally I am at work by this time on Monday, but have to work the 3rd shift this week so I can get some time at the creek on a Monday morning.. This past weekend was fairly busy, but no woodworking. I spent Saturday wiring my basement. Pulled a 120A sub-panel off the main panel, wired a 220V circuit for two baseboard heaters. also pulled two other circuits for lights and outlets. Code requires all wires to be run in conduit, so that took a little trial and error with the bender but got it done (mostly) Sunday was birthday party day, my middle daughter turned 4. Had both sets of grandparents at the house for dinner and party. So I fired up the weber and smoked a pork tenderloin, turned out very good. In between stoking the grill and watching the wrapping paper fly I was able to watch my Chiefs got beat by the vaunted broncos :( . That was the only downer of an otherwise productive weekend :) .

[Noah Alkinburgh]

Well Friday night we decorated the tree! It was a lot of fun. I have included a picture of us sitting on the couch after it was done. Also included is a picture of Christmas ornaments for men. Wendy started buying these for me so I would help with the decorating :D

Most of the weekend was spent futzing over two pens that were not working. I did manage to turn one keychain and played with a CA glue finish on it. Well I don't know if its a CA finish I didn't have any real CA so I used Krazy glue. It seemed to work. :rolleyes:

I started cutting up the rough stock for a set of building blocks for the boy for Christmas, and also thought about some other projects. I think I will be living in the basement for the next few weeks.

Noah

[Jim Young]

Getting ready for the hardwood floors. I spent most of the weekend stripping the trim (floor and doors) and carpet from the areas that will get the new oak floor. Tonight I will pull the lenolium out of the kitchen. Last night while looking at my empty hall and dining room I realized how big this project really will be. With any luck I will get the floor in during the Christmas break.

[Scott Coffelt]

Well let's see,

I installed lights int he EC, still need to add a switch and finish the wiring. Finished up the doors, constructed the shelf between the towers and finally 1/2 way through finish sanding. I hope to get a coat of primer on this week. My goal is to have wrapped up before the holidays.

I finished building some simple (MDF) doors to cover two access holes in our office (sitting area off of bedroom). The builders had slapt up two cheap a$$ 1/4 plywood doors. They leak cold air majorly. I got them installed and they make a great difference. Over the holidays i will prime and paint, but for now they are functional.

Watched my Cats win the Big 12 tourny and the Chumps totally puke on themselves against Denver. You would not be able to tell who was 11-1 and 7-5 going into that game. Oh well, 3 more games to improve on before the playoffs start (at least they clinched a playoff birth).

No other WW, hope to sneak some in this week. The wife wants some things turned for Xmas, so I may have an excuse to get shop time.

[Ken Salisbury]

I managed to get through a very long weekend (Wed evening through Sunday night) at the craft show I was involved in. Thrus - Sun were all 11 hour days and wore me to a frazzel.

The good news however was that sales were good. Ran out of atomizers, rollerball pens, letter openers and a couple other items. I had enough inventory so as to not run out of anything else. Nothing is worse than having to tell a customer that you are out of an item :mad:. The "roach clips" did extremley well :).

I had a large number of return customers who buy Christmas presents from me every year which is rewarding in itself. One lady bought 10 perfume atomizers because they went over so well as presents she gave last year. The return customer base is partly because I give all return customers a 10% discount on any items they purchase. I also give a 10% discount to Senior Citizens and US Military and dependents (with ID). A lesson anyone who does craft shows should keep in mind.

Today is reserved as "chill out day". I don't even intend to unload my truck until tomorrow.

[Dean Baumgartner]

Spent a good amount of time in my shop. Still working on getting the shop set up. This weekend I got the table saw and extension table back together. That and unpacked a bunch of boxes of shop stuff. I'm going with plastic containers for everything on the shelves. Getting things organized so I can find what I want when I need it. I seem to have a real problem with pipe cutters. I've found 5 of them so far. Seems like every time I need one I can't find it and buy another.

The shop still looks a mess but it's getting there.

Dean

[Dick Parr]

I didn’t get the face frame installed on the cabinet, but I did get it built. I had a racking in the cabinet that I had to work on before I started the frame. So buy the time I got the cabinet back to square, the back attached and the frame cut to size and built. I was too tired to install it. Maybe this next weekend I’ll get it installed and the shelves made.