Creekers Weekend Accomplishments....

[Dennis Peacock]

27 Oct 2008

Good Morning,
Pretty cool outside this morning at around 39º F and we finally got in contact with the local chimney sweep to clean out woodstove and stack pipe. He'll be here tomorrow and we'll start prepping the stove for the winters heating season. I love this time of year!!!

Spent some time in the shop last week (YES!!) and got some major cleanup done as well as finished up an end-grain cutting board that I've had started for a long time. Cherry, walnut, and ash is the mix of woods and it came our rather nice. Spent an entire day just preparing and planing walnut and oak lumber for our neighbors kitchen table. The new cutterhead for my PM 15" planer really got a workout as the wood was pretty tough stuff since it had been in an old barn drying for well over 40 years.

On Friday of last week, we rented a woodsplitter and started splitting wood that we've had sitting out behind the shop for several weeks. A friend from church and his family came up and helped and we split them a load of firewood while they were here. Let's just say that I'm not as young as I used to be and 10 hours splitting wood (with some pieces being as large as 26" diameter Ash) was all we could do to get them under the splitter and force the splitter to split the chunks. We ALL were sore Saturday morning and I'm still a touch sore today.

Sunday was bass playing at church and THEN it was going with the youngest son to a "fall festival" with his church 6th grade class. Daniel and I had a very nice time, hay ride, sack races, cooked out hotdogs, smore's (marshmellows over an oper fire, Hershey's chocolate, and graham cracker sandwich), hot chocolate, and good conversation with an older couple that owned the farm we were on (all 1,100 acres of it). The rice had already been harvested, cotton was currently being harvested, and the soy beans are soon to follow in harvest. Beautiful place and lots of fun.

Back in the shop today for me...trying to make some serious progress on this kitchen table.

So what did YOU do this weekend??

Best of weeks to you all.

[Jim Becker]

Well, I spent the weekend "horsing around (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95160)" as usual these days. I did go into my shop on Sunday afternoon, but it was to retrieve the tools I needed to install an "Ultimate LockPick (http://www.coastaletech.com/)" in my Highlander Hybrid so I would have an audio input for my iPhone and some other advantages relative to the nav system. I'm starting to think about some fall/winter woodworking projects at this point and will definitely have to work on actually scheduling time in the shop going forward. I cannot count on weekends, more or less, or at least Saturdays, for shop time anymore with both girls and myself riding and having lessons that day. What I really need to do is get out there during the week at night, even if it's for an hour at a time. When I'm not traveling for work, that is...

[Rod Sheridan]

Good morning, on Sunday Diann and I went to Black Creek Pioneer Village to see the Ontario Woodcarvers Association juried event.

The scope and excellence of the carvings defies my ability to adequately describe how magnificent the show was.

On Saturday, Michelle (daughter #2) began work on her new red oak desk.

In the attatched photo she is breaking down the 8/4 red oak on the band saw prior to jointing and planing the legs.

I forgot to take some photo's of her using the jointer and planer, I'll try to keep the photgraphy up to date in case anyone is interested.

Regards, Rod.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Using my bandsaw, made a template for a turning project.

Using my bandsaw, cut my first round bowl blank. No more getting slapped around by corners!

Got a call from the DIL. She was wanting a new pen. I'd made one and sent it to her on Monday. Saturday I got a call.."Dad...I love the new pen.....and so do a lot of other people....I have a friend who wants to know what you'd charge to make a masculine version for her husband's Christmas present?"......I have my first commissioned turning project....a pen....:rolleyes:

Played with our great-granddaughter Riley.

Prepped some more maple for turning on Sunday.

Sunday....found the prepped maple had split during the night.:(

So....I mounted the round blank I"d cut on the b/s on Saturday and began playing with it. Got to use my new Ellsworth Pro-PM 1/2 bowl gouge....worked great....worked even better after I sharpened it. After roughing out the outside, I mounted my Jamieson HF rig and began hollowing that maple out........

[Greg Cole]

I managed to get the base for The Hybrid Bench all but done, I may have one more step in having it glass beaded, we'll see (click here to see why Imay glass bead it if you're curious http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=95077). Hopefully in the next few days I can get the skirting on the slab, level it up (if "Bob's" #7 ever shows up!?!) and get the dog holes bored.
2 end grain cutting boards are all but done too. A little left over hard maple from my bench skirting and a few pieces of cherry & walnut scrap put to good use. I have some final planing to do to level them up and clean up the end grain, so when the LV LA Jack arrives on Wed, that'll be a good test for it. Both are Christmas gifts, so I'm slightly amazed with myself they are "done" in October....:eek:
The pic is of one of the cutting boards dry fit....as I was playing with the pieces to come up with a "design". BTW, the pieces were right off the saw, so that explains the gaps, slight burn marks etc etc etc. FInished size is about 9x13'ish.

Cheers.

[Joe Mioux]

worked at work on Sat. - killed whiteflies on the poinsettias.

Sun,went to STL picked up some stuff out at the airport, took a detour to WC.

Bought more wood turning stuff. Cigar pen kits, and the associated accessories. Cleaned up the garage/shop.

joe

[Matt Meiser]

Saturday picked up some lumber for the dresser project and ran a couple other errands. Spent the rest of the day washing and waxing the outside of the camper in preparation for winter. Its a lot bigger project than with our old popup! Luckily (?) it was windy and dried almost instantly so we were able to get the cover on for winter.

Sunday I ran to the hardware store for a couple miscellaneous things I forgot to get on Saturday, mowed the lawn one last time, then pressure washed the tractor and mower deck and rearranged all the implements to put the mower and brush hog in the back and the snow removal equipment in front. Nothing like seeing those snowflake graphics on the weather forecast to remind me that the time for those items is getting closer. :eek: Still need to do the 250 hour service (man I've spent a lot of time in the seat of that thing in just under 5 years!) before it gets much colder.

Jim--I hear you. Saturdays and Sundays just seem to disappear. I was just thinking last night that I HAVE to start going out to the shop for a couple hours at least a few evenings a week to meet my Christmas deadlines.

[Dennis Peacock]

58 Days

13 Hours

17 Minutes......

Until Christmas..!!!

[Jim O'Dell]

Got out while LOML was feeding the dogs Sat am and went to far north Ft. Worth to pick up tile and thinset. Back to the house, waited on said LOML to get back from walking one of the dogs and get cleaned up, and off to Granbury to pick up the ceiling fan from the Wagon Wheel (neat place down town if you're in the area) Back home for a late lunch then a little TV, and receiving a new rescue dog into the program. Then 3 hours of trowling on the first coat of the venetian plaster.
Sunday, do the second coat after getting LOML's glaze mixed up for her work in the "Pink Room" Then after she finished about 4:30, I turned off the power so I could wire in the power feed wire for the new ceiling fan.
One even this week I'll burnish the venetian plaster, and another evening get all the carpet pulled out and start cleaning and prepping the floor for the tile. Next weekend I'll paint the crown molding in the entry and the "Pink Room" then start on the tile. My knees are alreading starting to hurt! :D Jim.

[John Ricci]

Knocked out a run of 100 two-tone toy train whistles in cherry/walnut for Christmas. My wife and I have a small retail store and like to include as much of our own product in the stock as we can. I was originally only going to make 50 but some of our regular customers went nuts for the idea and want them in lots of 10 or more! I'm starting to think I may be making even more of them.

J.R.

[Matt Ocel]

Started making the double doors for between the shop and garage that I ultimately want to enter in the Freud interior door contest.

[Lon LeBlanc]

LOML's B'day was Saturday, so we traveled down the mountain to San Bernardino to spend the day with family. Didn't get home until nearly midnight.

Sunday, I knocked out most of a storage rack for a set of poly bins that I bought from HF. I wanted to do something more substantial than the cheapo plastic rails that came with the bins. I'll proably get that finished this week and post pics when it's done. It's another "totally from scrap" project.



Lon

[Rod Sheridan]

58 Days

13 Hours

17 Minutes......

Until Christmas..!!!


Thanks for ruining my morning Dennis, that means I'm down to 57 day to procrastinate...........Rod.