Picture Challenged

I take lousy pictures.

It's a known fact. Mostly if doesn't matter, as I don't sell my woodworking online. People would see it, like it. They can touch it and feel how smooth the finish is, or how well something fits. It's a tactile experience.

Whenever I show my stuff online, I feel like a novice. The Gomer Pile of woodworking.

"This is really fine looking wood ya'll. The sweet stuff."
"OH... Yeah. Thanks so much."

I'm not claiming to be a great woodworker, but I feel my photos make it look worse than it really is.

Example: This is a birdhouse I turned recently. Here is the BEST shot I could get.

So I built this photo tent last night. It's created from a 12x12x8 cardboard box and two pieces of tissue paper. I brought in my one light and took a few shots.

Now it's not a beautiful picture but at least you can tell what it is! I've got a long way to go and I've received some tips for moving forward. Hopefully in the future my pictures will more accurately display my work.

Of course this means I'll not be about to hide my mistakes as well either! A small price to pay.

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Rikon Mini Lathe

I got busy this weekend and completed a couple of projects. I took a number of pictures of my new lathe in action. Most of them during the turning of a recent euro stlye pen made from padauk and ebony with a CA finish. It was a SF Giants theme, and the lathe was covered with padauk streamers and ebony dust. Very cool first project. I had a little trouble with the finish owning to the extreme cold in the garage, but overall a pretty good result. As I normally do, I forgot something. I forgot to bring in the camera and upload the pictures to photobucket so I could post them. As such, there is once again no proof. sigh... Everything is simpler. No more wrench to move the tool rest or tail stock. No more indexing pin to take off the faceplate. No more hassle removing the centers or mandrels. Man what a difference! In addition I tried turning a few things between centers. Basically just mangled some spindle blanks. Good fun, lots of walnut shavings. So, the new lathe has officially been br...

Book Tablet Holder

Tablet stand made from a 400 page book and some epoxy resin. Paper micarta is the proper term for it, but it doesn't really capture the essence of the idea. Those 400 pages hold but a single story, and now they can upright a device capable of holding thousands of stories. And with only a book and 30 some odd ounces of epoxy, you can make your own! Just don't use a book that is one of your favorites. Which honestly is why I picked this one, and the fact that the name was well suited! Really it's the ultimate upcycling!

The Burl Bowl Beat

Cool Chunk of claro walnut burl Soaked in CA Rocks and burl More burl and a void emerge Rough hollowing Shearing scrape Sanding started Started on the bottom The blank went for a short flight... I'd like to claim it was an unstable bowl but that was not the case. It was a stupid mistake on my part. I was turning down the nib at the very end of the processed when I rubbed the tool edge and got a catch. the bowl came out the cole jaws hit the tool rest and flew straight up. I was then showered in burl bowl pieces. It was spectacular! I was so upset I could barely think straight. I only found two pieces and have no idea where the other 60% of them are. Now... I understand these things happen and I just need to chuck up another block

Peter Brown's ShopTime

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