Peter Brown's ShopTime

Don't think I haven't noticed. I used to be your star, your favorite, your only love. But now...well you know. I've been pushed off to the side by that shiny young greeny. Now I hardly get used at all, unless it's to prep some project for you new special tool. Seriously, did you notice that nice clean end grain cut of mine before you hauled it over to the lathe and started slobbering all over it. Trust me the other tools have noticed. The router seems especially pissed off, I wouldn't change his collet anytime soon. It's no joke. There is some serious venom in the shop. It presence can be felt hovering just over the piles of walnut shavings on the floor in front of my lathe. The table saw is jealous. And with that sort of destructive power at her fingertips it's not the tool to piss off. Why couldn't it be something more benign? Why not the dovetail jig? What retaliation could it take anyway? "Watch out pal, or you'll have a 60lb jig bouncing of...

I hate painting. Period. End of story. Painting sucks. I completed the woodworking on a large picture frame (50"x 32") in about 2 1/2 hours, glued it up and walked away happy. It was a pretty simple project and I was ready to move on to the next one. That was about 2 weeks ago. Since then I've been fighting my mortal enemy for countless hours of wasted shop time. Paint. Black paint no less. Why did we ever choose black for the counter tops in the office? Didn't I know sooner or later I would have to accessories that spot?! The wife is vehemently against anything but black in the bastion of computing that is our modern office. As a homeowner, I agree. It looks cool. As a woodworker I think it sucks! Woodworkers like wood, and working with it. Paint as a finish is fine, but it doesn't call to us the same way another more complementing finish would. Something that shows off grain of the piece and all the awesome joinery that we absolutely perfected! Paint covers and ...

When I first heard of a CA finish for pens I was mystified. Cyanoacrylate Glue (see why we call it CA) is basically what we are familiar with calling Super Glue. CA is a woodturner staple. No wonder the constant friend of fixing turning mistakes also became a popular finish. It's strong, resisting wear and scratching and when applied correctly looks like glass! I found a lot of folks work really hard at making it difficult. Maybe it's just their way. I need a finish that's simple. I've yet to sell a pen for over $50. Which means that I cannot spend hours or days on the finish. I can do a CA finish in about 10 minutes. Sometimes less. My results are awesome. Sometimes I get the tiniest swirl marks on the surface. I don't care. The first time the pen is put in the pocket or purse, it will likely be marred worse so why should I kill myself to remove them? Method (Lathe running @ 1800ish) 1. Sand to 320 grit. Usually that means starting at 220 and ending at 320. Every o...

For the last couple of months, I've been crazed for turning! It's one of those things you just get hooked on. I find the process quite fulfilling. The major benefit is speed. You can finish a project in a day or less. Many of my projects have been small. Pens are a staple for me, but I'm also turning other items. I've turned a goblet, pot handles, door pull, wine bottle stoppers, and even a paper towel holder. Recently though, I've been thinking flat. I have a ton of non-lathe projects to complete as requested by the wife. In fact the longer I go the more there are. So in upcoming months I expect a sudden upturn in flat woodworking. First on the list is a frame for our office map. 32"X50". The woodworking is already complete. I used a half-lap joint with poplar, since it will be painted to match the office. It's construction was quite simple and will give me an easy ramp to get back into flat woodworking again. The pens will always be with me, as I...

Left to right. African Blackwood & Maple (friction polish) Yellowheart & English Walnut CA finish) English Walnut endgrain pen (CA finish) Maple & English walnut (friction polish) Dymondwood (friction polish) Maple & Purpleheart (friction polish) Left to right. Mopani (friction polish) Zebrawood (CA finish) Africian Blackwood & Paduk & Yellowheart (CA finish) Construction grade plywood (CA finish...that sounds weird.)

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...

As I mentioned my current Lathe was free. As in, I didn't pay anything for it. As such anything that I get for its sale will be a profit. I'm hopefully selling it tonight. I have been saving. (Truth be told I got some side work and most of my 'savings' came from 4 hours of computer work) Regardless I'm still about $70 short of buying a new lathe. This is the one I've got my eye on.. For the price the is one of the most feature packed Mini Lathes. Lots of reviews have come out for this unit. Many claimed that when they were first released (2006) they are prone to trouble. Now you scarcely hear that. Considering that this will be my first new stationary tool purchase, I'm not too worried. All my power tools are prone to troubles. What's one more? For me, since I don't need the 30" between centers that my current lathe offers, smaller is better. In addition it boasts a 12" swing (9 1/2 over the tool rest) . My current is 9", or like 7...