Weekend Blog April 9th

[john]

Continued working on the doll cradles mentioned last week. Orders are now up to three which is both good and bad.

For one, I found out again that when you work on multiples, when a mistake is made, it becomes multiple mistakes. When cutting one of the bottom side rails, my table must have tilted slightly so it was out of square. But now I have six out of square pieces to fix.

Secondly, I have a back log of projects I would like to start and working on these takes me away from that. But keeping the customers happy so they will look at my new stuff is a priority. Besides that's what helps pay for the hobby.

All the cutting is done so now it is time for the "fun" stuff, SANDING.

Have fun!

John

[charlese]

John - I love your weekend "blogs". It is fun to vicariously drop into your problems and successes.

Were you ripping or cross cutting when the slippage happened? If that slippage happens to you with any frequency, maybe you should look at your trunnions and the table stop pin. Another way to stop table tilting is to set up the extension table and connect and tighten the tubes.

You have a different take on retirement than mine and I admire your work ethic. My take is; Like the old man said, "I wouldn't work any more, even if they paid me". I do just stuff for Mama, gifts, and shop projects. Which reminds me, there is a lot to do for the shop.

Our last weekend was filled with a trip - visiting for Easter and a birthday. However did get my brand new overhead pin router set up and used to shape the stiles for the lower doors of the china corner cabinet project.

Since you have a weekend "blog" I'm wondering if you find time to do shop work during the week?

[ericolson]

I spent my weekend chainsawing. Again. And milling more lumber with my Alaskan sawmill. Again. I burned more piles of branches that went down during the ice storm. Again. My weekend blogs are boring. This is all I have been doing, every weekend, since January. Yes. I am whining. I hate ice storms. I'm tired of chainsawing. I am still whining.


:D

Got some nice lumber though! And have pictures, to boot. Just gotta get them uploaded so I can show off the fruits of my labor.

[charlese]

After seven and one half decades I've come to the conclusion - There just is no such thing as prefect weather! Sometimes close, but not all the time!
Eric - I am still envious of your Alaskan sawmill and your sawing of the lumber. Don't blame you for whining! The Ice storms that brought you the trees can get old pretty quickly! After all, that's why we moved from Montana. Although warm here in the Mojave - it has been very windy for the last several days. Almost forgot how high winds can make a guy tired. One good thing about the wind is - my passive dust extractor works great!
At least the desert sand doesn't blow in to the shop!

Am looking forward to your pictures of the fruits of your labor. When you get real tired of the roaring chain saw and more storms - just think - - pretty soon you can proudly display the fruits - and we will be happy with you!

[dusty]

Eric

I wish I could feel sorry for you but instead, I envy you. Of course, I haven't dealt with the weather all winter long as you have. But, I envy the fact that you are in the process of creating a pile of lumber like none that can be purchased.

The items that you build (correction, create) will truely reflect your efforts.

This weekend got completely away from me. I did absolutely nothing shop related. That makes this past weekend really unusual. I almost always spend at least a half day out in the shop; all day if my knees will allow.

Correct, I sort of did some shop related thing. I spent some time surfing for more information on the Shopsmith-Crafters Station. I am trying to determine why Shopsmith pulled it out of production. If it was a safety issue, I am through. But, if it was strictly a profit/loss decision - I want one.

I see it as a "Power Station" (which I have) with a main table and carriage (which I have extra, thanks to ruggs).

[john]

Chuck:

I was ripping the pieces to final size. Making new ones would not have been an issue if they did not already have eight holes drilled in each for spindles, and an angled dado to hold the cradle bottom. Yeah, I know about using the extension table and tubing but you know how it is we like to take short cuts, at least I do.

As far as working during the week. I do most days but since my attention span has never been great, I don't spend more than an hour or so in the shop at any one time. That is another reason for not liking to work on multiples, boring.

As for gifts, etc that's pretty much how I started out. Most of the grandchildren have trucks, banks or shelves and a couple of children have deacon's benches. But now when I'm asked to make something for the family it is usually not on my list preferred projects and it tends to be put on the back burner.

Have fun

John