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| In the distance a ghost-like shape emerges from... Published On 07-03-2010 , 10:28 AM ... the battle zone haze across the far field. The battered and torn soldier slowly limped into view, dragging her chainsaw limply behind her. Yes, gentle readers, I have returned! A week shy of 13 months after my 3rd spinal surgery I am finally back in my shop. While I did do a few tiny projects last November at the Long Island Woodworkers Show and 1 ornament and a small bowl in December while visiting my folks in Florida I haven't touched my lathe since then.  I grabbed a cheap block of Ambrosia Maple and slapped on a faceplate. Figured I'd use it to warm up, refresh my David Ellsworth workshop skills and try out what I learned from a Jimmy Clewes bowl/platter demo at AAW's recent symposium in Hartford, CT.It was just getting a touch punky in spots and the end grain was real dry. What the hell, it was just supposed to be a warm up piece. Initial shaping done, I slapped on a coat of sanding sealer and it suddenly came alive. Seeing this and the happy cheers of my Twitter pals I continued. Finished and sanded the inside, flipped it over, shaped and sanded the outside and parted it off. Here are a few phone pix of it with its first coat of oil.    It even has a touch of birdseye figure. I just now put on the third coat of oil. Probably will give it another 2 coats of oil and let it cure. I will be applying some decorative touches to this as soon as the supplies arrive. I've also started making pendants with a new off-center (eccentric) chuck I got at the Symposium. I'm still in the exploration stage but here is my first one. This is Tulipwood   I'll post more soon. I have a second one that I embedded some crystals in but haven't taken a picture yet. More will be on the way soon. I'll spend today making more and finishing my new high power wood burner. Sanjay & I are converting a car battery charger into a more beefy burner than the one my son, PJ, made for me. I use that for more delicate work with commercial pens & nibs. The new one is more for completely covering a piece in larger patterns. So, I'm back! I hope you'll stay subscribed to my blog to keep up on the happenings in Truffuls Woodturning Studio! AAW's Symposium really got the juices flowing and I learned so much I want to explore. So much wood, so little time! Comments (1) | ||
| Wobbowls series Published On 11-24-2008 , 12:47 PM I spent 3 glorious days with David Ellsworth last weekend. I was so revved up when I got home, but it was so cold in my shop I didn't get a chance to hit the lathe. This Sunday we had a heater installed in the shop so I can now work without freezing all winter long! I am writing an article about my experience with David. We'll see if any of the woodturning magazines accept it. I got 4 more Coffee Bean Business Card holders turned last night. I'll carve and texturize them tonight and start finishing them. Only 3 will be available from this batch as I plan to give one to the friend who gave me the wonderful walnut wood I'm using.  The first in my new series called "Wobbowls" (as in "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down") is up. These are round bottom bowls that gently rock (wobble) when put down.This first one is a glorious piece of white birch. It was among the items I turned during my two days of live turning demos at the recent Long Island Woodworkers show. The wood is slightly spalted and is sporting a few worm holes. The chatoyance is amazing and it is delightful to hold. It was turned green (wet) and the show attendees were amazed at just how wet "wet wood" can be. I have several more items still to add to the site. I just need to photograph them. After seeing the photo station that David uses I'll be making my own soon so the turn around time from finishing a piece to adding it to the site should be greatly reduced. That's all for now folks. Comments | ||
| I love my new lathe! Published On 11-04-2008 , 12:53 AM  First project off the new lathe! This was a large branch of mulberry that had 3 smaller branches coming off one end. There was a large vein of bark that decided it didn't like spinning around and around so now there is a void on the rim.This would have made the old lathe walk across the garage; it was extremely unbalanced. The Stubby laughed at me. It never even vibrated a little, even with the speed cranked. I left the rim a bit higher than the final height. I haven't decided how to finish this piece yet but it will probably involve piercing and pyrography. The inside is rough. Anything with a natural edge is an iffy prospect for power sanding. One catch and the whole thing is history. I have the best son on the planet! I gave him my woodburning pens and a power supply from a lab on campus and he made me custom cords so I can use the free power supply instead of spending $300 on a "woodburning power supply".
It is Election Day! Do your civic responsibility and VOTE (for Obama)! We'll walk to the voting place at the elementary school around the corner and then I'll play on the lathe all day. Unrelated comment: How can such a tiny little cat snore so loud? Trouble is snoring away on the sofa as I post this. Time for me to snore too!
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| Farewell BowWow Published On 11-03-2008 , 9:35 AM  By now this ornament should be in its new home. I was very sad to see it go. I think BowWow was my favorite. Dogwood is normally a pretty plain wood with, maybe, some pinkish color. This tree fell when an oak went down and a friend asked if I wanted it. The closer to the ground we got the more color we saw. Unfortunately the tree also had powder post bugs in it so most of the wood got tossed out of my garage the second I saw the piles of sawdust under the logs. I managed to save a few small pieces and tossed them into the freezer for 5 months to kill the bugs.BowWow was the first piece. The second was the dogwood bowl with a walnut base w/crystal. That just sold last week. The last, and most delicate piece I created from the wood was "On The Brink". I entered this piece in the AAW Symposium and it sold. This "artist" stuff is hard! I put my heart and soul into each piece; always wondering if I'm doing what Mother Nature wants or if I'm doing justice to the wood. Some days Mother suffers from PMS and my piece ends up in the mulch pile. When She's in a good mood I get to finish a piece, fall in love with it, and then have my heart crushed when it sells. So, dear BowWow, I hope you enjoy your new home in Tennessee and I hope your new family enjoys your company and doesn't pack you away come January 1. You deserve to be on display all year long. Comments | ||
| Stubby Bliss Published On 11-01-2008 , 11:25 PM  Spent the day getting to know my new baby and running errands. It was nice and warm this afternoon so we cranked the chainsaw up and cut enough blanks to keep me happy for a while and give me a variety of projects to get intimate with the machine.The image at right could be classified as Lathe Pr0n but it's OK, we are both of legal age! I was playing with a piece of spalted maple.  This is a shot without the lust-crazed turner. One really cool thing I didn't know about until the machine was delivered was this next shot. The machine was a grand prize in a raffle from the Woodturning Center. They had all the artists at the center there that summer sign the machine. The winner thought enough about preserving the signatures to put a plate over it (which can be seen in the top left photo).  The pulley cover with all the signatures is cast aluminum, the only non cast iron piece on the lathe. So, you can't use it to hold magnetic lights or tools. The steel plate protects the signatures and allows a place to secure magnetic lamps and tools.The machine's smooth running and secure functions are taking some getting used to. My old lathe had so many misgivings and lack of stability that I had actually gotten used to it and the limitations it imposed. I will be mounting a large, unbalanced piece of mulberry in the morning. Perhaps I should set up the webcam. I'll make an announcement if I go live. Comments (1) | ||
