last class

woodturning
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

my last intro to woodturning class came and went this past sun. we only had until noon to work, then clean, so i was frantically finishing the lidded goblet thing, not that i cared that much for it, but it was something that incorporated different techniques. i wanted to see if i could do it. i think i should have made the ring diameter smaller, carved out more of the inside and did a more thorough job sanding, but considering the limited time, i had to rush it a bit.

the cylindrical container i made the week before. it was nicely shaped until i tried to do the last bit of sanding of the top and bottom with sand paper mounted to a hand drill. i think i made it a little worse trying to take a shortcut, so now i'll have to go back and manually sand it.

the teacher from the segmented bowl and closed form vessel class came to convince us to take his class. other people in the class were encouraging me to take more classes, saying i am a natural. i do like that my skills are coming along, and enjoying making things, but i'll have to see if time permits.

tool box progress

woodworking
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

thursday, the last lab class day, came and went. surprise, surprise, i misjudged how long it would take to finish my tool box.

some of the mistakes i made delayed progress --- e.g. i cut the handle shape out before deciding how i would connect it to the sides, so when i decided to make mortise & tenon joints, i had to make a jig of sorts with some double stick tape and flat boards to square up the handle.

i should have held off on sanding the outside of the box until after gluing it up as i had to do it again. i did a poor job sanding the pieces for the tray, causing them to no longer be square, and having to recut to correct. it seems like a lot of the learning i did had to do with correcting mistakes.

i haven't decided yet if i will sign up for another lab to finish the tray or try to do it on the table saw at home. i wish i had learned to do rabbit joints. the inserts fit a little loosely, but i like how they compartmentalize the box. they are also a little too high, so the tray will not fit very snugly.

there's still some sanding to be done around the glue joints and then the finishing, but then my tool box will be complete for the most part...at least usable.

turning pens

woodturning
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

almost every sunday morning, i lay in bed wondering why i signed up for such an early class, and try to think up ways to leave early to come home & sleep, but once i'm there, things change.

i made these pens. compared to the bowls, they were pretty easy. they were turned at the highest speed, and it was easier than cutting butter. I made the one with the gold band first. I really liked the silver better, so i made he first one, figuring i would make more mistakes my first time around, but it went well. the only thing i didn't really like about the first one was getting too much glue on the wood, and it left a slightly darker ring at the join with the tip.

there was a shortage of bushings ( these metal tubes that are used as reference for how thick to cut the different parts of the wood to match up with the end, tip & band ), and i had to give my mandrel & bushings to someone else to use after i finished the first pen. i was able to get another set from someone else, but didn't pay close attention, and made the mistook a spacer for a bushing so the end with the clip was too small. I also mistook which piece was which, so the part with the tip was cut too short. i did not realize my error until i was half-way through assembling the pen, and the pen was sticking too far out. my poor instructor had to help me disassemble the tip, which was near impossible. we were able to salvage it, so the only thing is the end being too small. most people probably wouldn't notice, but my eye is immediately drawn to it.

making these were fast and a lot of fun. i would like to make fountain pens & mechanical pencils, since those would be more to what mike & i would use, and in some exotic woods.

with about 2 hrs left in class, i opted to try turning a knitting needle. you would think that it would not be difficult as it is straight, but turning something long and skinny and consistent in thickness is tricky.

turned bowl

turned bowl (ash wood)
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

turned lidded bowl

turned bowl
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i turned my second green wood bowl (from ash) today. practice does make perfect or at least much improved. the turning and the sanding was much smoother. i'm debating bothering to further sand the first bowl of its imperfections.

after lunch, i made a lidded dish out of mahogany. i thought it would be easier since it's like a bowl, except with a lid. the thicker grain in the mahogany made the edges prone to breaking out, and trying to make it thinner to accommodate the lid was tricky. i didn't sand as much as i would have liked to, but i thought it better to finish it today than spend too much time and make it worse.

the lid fit the first time i cut it, but i screwed up gouging the inside of the bowl, and caused a chunk of the side to break off, so i had to cut it back. then the lid didn't fit, so i had to thin the sides, and I went a little too far.

it looks nice with the tripoli & wax polish.

toolbox - wip - top view

walnut with honduran mahogany inlay
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

finally glued up. it was a little nerve-racking, since a good amount of effort and time got me to this point. seams aren't perfect, but they will do. box joints look cool, but they are a pain in the ass to do. i've heard you can buy special blades that cut them all at once. i did mine one at a time with a simple dado on a table saw. there were lots of practice cuts to get them to fit not too loose & not too tight. oh, and did i mention the sanding? there's always sanding. whether it's jewelry, plastic or wood. if i got paid for the time i spent sanding...well, i could pay my credit card bills.

the little cut outs on the insides are for the inserts that will divide up the box into compartments. i'm working on a tray that will sit inside the box on top of the inserts made of the mahogany. the handle consists of three layers of wood--mahogany sandwiched between walnut. the sides that will connect the handle to the box will also be mahogany & walnut face glued.

i had some problems with rip-sawing it ( used a table saw & band saw to saw a 6/4 board of walnut into 1/2" thick boards ), but after the planing, it came out to be a little less. it's a thinner box, but i like that it is not as heavy, and looks somehow more crafted with the thinner walls. well, i won't be carrying around anything heavy in it.

toolbox - wip

toolbox, sideview
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

working with wood

woodturning
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

i turned this green ( meaning from somewhat freshly cut lumber ) bowl, my first bowl, on sun. if you look close, you'll see a couple dents where the gouge snagged. i thought i had cleaned it out, but didn't notice until i started sanding. it still needs more sanding, but i'm quite satisfied. if i drill a hole in it, i could use it for a plant.

at this very moment, i should be in the woodworking lab i signed up for to finish my tool box, the last project of the intro class i signed up for in the spring, but was unable to complete. it's been over two weeks since i've been to the lab to work on the tool box. once more, i have taken on more than i should have. i really enjoy the woodturning. it's a very immediate satisfaction, which is what i really need sometimes, but i feel too impatient with the other woodworking since i have enough long-term projects. so i am procrastinating. i got as far as packing my car. very sad. and of course, the longer i wait to go to class, the worse it will be when i finally do go. i've already forgotten some of the things i need to know to finish the darn thing. maybe thursday...

i took the class to learn how to use power tools. there were things i wanted to make. my friend aviva commented that she couldn't deal with the scary power tools. she's met many a woodworker with missing fingers. the noise they make is definitely not reassuring. i try to be cautious but not over think it. here is a list of the tools i have used, ordered by (in my opinion) potential danger:
1. table saw with dado blades
2. band saw ( also used in the meat industry to cut bones )
3. router
4. radial arm saw
5. chop saw
6. jointer
7. drill press
8. planer
9. lathe
10. various sanders