Peter Brown's ShopTime

I got an angle on a vintage Delta Unisaw yesterday afternoon. Called the guy about 5 minutes after the CL posting. He said it was his dads and it stopped working for him late in '09. It had been outside under a tarp since then. Rushed out to his place to buy/ checked it out. No visible cracks and most parts accounted for. Honestly there wasn't much to do, because after my call the guy got 6 other calls in 30 minutes and one fella offered him double the asking price. I pretty much was like. "Yep it's a Uni. Here's your dough." I gave him his 50 bucks he was asking and then he and I plus his two kids and his wife hoisted it up into my pickup. It was a riot! Home safe Rope was just for show. This thing wasn't going anywhere! A wee bit rusty With sawdust from 1952, or there abouts, included! I've never worked with a tool this heavy, I was flabbergasted! Unisaw extraction team. FIL, BIL, Me! I plan on a full restore. I'm in no rush to get it done. ...

This weekend, I'm in charge of the kids. It's not that I resent watching my two young daughters for the weekend, but more that I'm missing my garage. Friday I helped my brother in law paint some base boards for his house. It was fine, if not a bit of a mistake to try and use my paint gun. It died a horrible death and wasted most of the morning and afternoon. As such I have 10 12' boards drying in my garage and another 10 waiting to get painted. So... even with that unpleasant shop atmosphere, watching Backyardigans, painting princess party hats and cooking chicken nuggets is more unpleasant. Oh well. Back to the garage on Friday I hope!

How I turned this. First I cut a 3 x 3 x 1.5 block of walnut. Mounted between centers, and roughed out the shape of the outside. I then used a 1/4 gouge to free the ring from the block. I then mounted that roughed ring on the outside of chuck and shaped and finished the outside. I then mounted the bracelet on inside of the chuck and smoothed and finished the inside. I then re-mounted on the outside sanded and finished took about 60 minutes. This is the dumbest method EVER. Don't do it. Get a 2/12 forstner bit to drill out the inside radius. mount the thing on the chuck once for the inside, then once for the outside. 20 minutes top.

Two weeks ago I had a very bad day of office computing. I left the office in a foul mood and headed home. If only to keep from going home in such a piss poor mood I missed my turn and head straight out of town. I cranked up the rock and I gave myself a 30 minute drive window. I soon found myself in a rural area. After I'd calmed down enough to be civil to my bride and understanding with my children I started to head home. On the way back I stopped on the side of the road in the middle of a small patch of redwood forest. On the side of the road was a rather large redwood log and spalted maple branch. Both found there way home with me. Honestly that might have also had a lot to do with my improved disposition! I just cut them both up yesterday on the band saw. No rot, and some cool looking grain. Not bad for a mad drive detour.

I'm kicking myself for not snapping a picture, but here is the scoop. The wife has a cheap plastic brush that broke. I found that she had been using it without a handle for a while. What in the world?! So in about 30 minutes... I drilled out the brush head with a 1/2 forstner bit, then chucked up a maple branch that's been drying in the shop since about October. Turned a 1/2 tenon. and rough shaped the handle. reversed on the tenon and finished up. Sanded to 320 and finished with beeswax. CA glue and 10 minutes later it was in use. As if anyone in a turners house should have a brush without a handle!

Every once in a while we are called upon to do something so completely uninteresting that it's hard to care. Such is the case with this new handle for one of my lovely brides pots. Honestly though it's good to work wood and do your best to duplicate a form without anything but the naked eye. Again as a firm supporter of "no unneeded math at the lathe!" I'm pleased with the outcome.

No matter how hard I try to avoid it, most people are still enamoured with my pens. For whatever else I try to produce off the lathe, nothing sells as well as the pens. From left to right: walnut & maple, mopani, lignum vitae & maple, tuplipwood & blackwood, black & white ebony, yellowheart & blackwood, walnut. So here are a few more.. One with a Celtic Knot. Perfect for St. Pats!