Shopsmith Forums

This was a staple some years back here, a potpourri thread where people post just about anything and occasionally things related to wood working. So I'll start off with a post on some shop time I'm getting this week.

Pens, yes more and more of them. I've had some recent requests for more so while I'm at it I wanted to make enough to leave some legacy pens for the grandchildren now to young to have them. And it is always good to have a few extras just in case.

Right now I have a batch of 17 started, 15 different woods. A lot of the woods are ones I have not used before. So far the blanks have been cut, tubes glued in and barrels trimmed.

One blank was osage orange, one of the woods I have never turned or made a pen from. Since it came via mail I didn't get to pick out the blank, and in this case it had a crack/split on one end. At first I was just going to toss it but then what the heck why not try and save it.

I used some thin super glue and got it as deep in fissure as I could. Then went ahead and cut and drilled it. Then put more super glue in the drilled hole to stabilize it. At that point I still wasn't sure if it was worth the effort but glued the tubes in anyway.

As I turned it I added glue a couple more times to make sure I was turning stabilized wood. BTW I used a black CA glue, also new to me. For a finish I used CA, not something I love to use due to the smell but figured it was the safest way to preserve the wood.

Still not convinced I like it but I guess since I give these pens away it will do. Just hate to waste things.

So another observation I have had on pens. Since I give the pens away I like to if I can have a box of them to offer and let the user pick the one they want. Now keep in mind I've done maybe 350 pens and while lets say 50 of those were hand picked by me as gifts the leave some where near 300 that were selected by others. I do some plastic ones but they are not my favorite but back to subject. The dark wood pens always go first. The plastic ones always go last with the lighter woods between. The lone except are the coffee bean pens but they are for family only since the blanks are $10 ea.

Ed

The last few months have been spent in transition from cases and furniture to boxes and laser etching. Last January, I was gifted a rather extensive array of Fordom tools and, a high speed engraver and bits. I have yet to make work space for them. I hope to start a series of carved and/or laser etched mesquite presentation boxes. And, maybe some glass and mirror work. It's blasphemous, I know but, I suddenly have too many tools and so little time to make use of them. Being disorganized with a healthy dose of ADD, doesn't help, either.

Change of pace today. I had cleaned up two of my sanding disks the other day and after looking at the remaining ones I decide I'd start with a clean slate and do new paper on all of them. While at it I decided to label them as well, I didn't need it but perhaps someone in the future might. I store them with velcro on the bottom then fine, medium, course, sharpening, and then the 500 disk which I use very little. My two conical disks reside at another location.

Interesting when I replaced the velcro disk it was much thicker and a different brand from the newer ones that I have from a year or three ago. Liked the feel of the older one and think it was of better quality. Have to see how the new ones hold up.

Ed

Pictured is a tool box my father carried to work in the long Beach ship yards after WW2. The screwdriver was one he used and at some point in it's life the wood handle inserts went missing. I remember as a kid using the screwdriver without the wood inserts. I have always wanted to fix the screwdriver. It' more than 60 years later and I finely have gotten around to it.
I mixed glue and corn starch to a molding clay consistently and made a mold of the inserts. After drying overnight I used the mold as the pattern for the wood handle inserts. I made rivets out of a piece of brazing rod. After fastening the inserts I did the final shaping on the belt sander.

Good Job!!!

This was a weekend of posts and this is the first one online. Painted and trimmed out the deck posts and made 8 shaker panels to wrap the two posts in the kitchen. Im sneezing through the joys of working with MDF and treated wood.

I have been busy with some yard work and gardening. I ripped down some cedar fence pickets and a cedar deck board to through together a couple of trellis' for the garden. Although the weeds seem to be taking over before I can even get things planted or what I plant can get going.

My father in law had about thirty of those trellis in his garden. He called it his Dallas oil field.

We use old dead Junipers. They last forever.

One of many project this week, a chopping block. And no we don't have chickens.......
Chunk of ash I saved for no particular reason. The wife thought it would be handy for cutting up some of the branches for the fire pit or to size for pick-up. Have to see how that goes.

Ed