Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

23 Jan 2023

Greetings,
Been working a lot at the day job and some work during oncall. No shop time this week but I'm planning on some shop time this coming week. My mom decided to give me my dad's truck. It's been basically sitting for the past 10 years since he passed away. I drove it home from Alabama to Arkansas. Had to put new tires on it before leaving Alabama. The tires that were on it were made in Nov 2003 and 2 of the 4 tires had slow leaks. So...I took it and had new tires put on it before making the trip back home with it. I love having my dad's truck. 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 LS. Nice truck and very well take care of. I am grateful..!!

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

Best of week to you all.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, that will be a great truck to have in your stable for both functionality and sentimental reasons! Kudos to your mom for gifting it to you!

Work on the new shop continues, but it's entered the "fit out" stage for sure with dust collection completed fully and as of today, a mobile clamp rack is ready to roll, pardon the expression. Of course, rolling it requires some effort because it weighs about the same as a dang elephant I think!!! This week will be more of the same...working out organization, etc.

[Perry Holbrook]

Finished up and launched the floating duck house I've been working on. No in progress photos but its base is 4" thin wall pvc pipe filled with expanding foam. Floor is recycled plastic sheet. Wall and roof support is 1" pvc pipe. Walls and roof excess pvc siding from new house build. I tried to build it so it would float with the floor just at water level. Worked out pretty well.

We wanted to put a few ducks on the pond but didn't want to worry about predators. Hope we can train them to stay in the house at night.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I sold an Instrument! A Mandocello. I professional musician who is in the Orchestra made my day! (I made about $5.00 an hour max).

Photo on 1-18-23 at 7.44 PM.jpg

[Zachary Hoyt]

That's a very nice mandocello. Good for you that you found a buyer for it, too. I've never gotten past the octave mandolin size, but would like to someday.

My week involved completion of the folding bed in the guest room addition, and starting work on the trim under and around the stairs in the house. A coat closet on one end, and then a compartment for a rolling cart to carry the garbage can with 50 pound bags of oats and flour, and then a little compartment for general storage. In the shop I got a fiddle mostly made, but it still needs the edges trimmed and the fingerboard, tailpiece and chinrest made, and then sanding, finish and setup.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Thank you Zachary, Your blog has been an encouragement! I enjoy seeing your house come together as well!

[Paul F Franklin]

I did some shop clean up, which generated a pretty good size load of drops and misc leftover pieces, mostly cherry, and I dropped it off at a local non-profit called Woodworkers with Heart. They make toys and beds for needy kids. Got a tour of their shop and had nice chat with the founder. I was happy to find a good home for stuff that otherwise would have gone to the curb. Will consider volunteering there if my schedule ever allows...

Decided to build a new box joint jig for the table saw. I had one that I made years ago, but it was slapped together and rather limited and I wanted something better for a couple of upcoming projects. More or less following some plans from an old Woodsmith or Shopnotes mag. Have all the parts made; just need to do the assembly and setup. I liked the design because it allows quickly changing between different finger sizes but without require the jig to be setup each time when changing sizes. The setup is done once for each size, and then the setup is retained even when switching sizes.

I took a trip down to a local specialty hardwood supplier with the intention of picking up some figured maple for a few projects, but I ended up buying some QS sycamore instead. Has some really nice figure that is smaller in scale than say, curly maple, and I think it will look better on these smaller projects. I've not worked with sycamore before, and I understand it is tearout prone, so we'll see how it goes.

Last week I had a lesion removed from the back of my right ear, and heard today that was basal cell carcinoma, so off to the Mohs I go. Fortunately, basal cell does not usually spread, so once they carve off more of my ear I should be good. Fingers crossed.