Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[andidante]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

The back pains are still with me, but I was able to go through the entire day without painkillers avoiding any unnecessary bending, twisting, etc. I consider that a good sign. Unfortunately, the finger was throbbing do strongly I had to get out of bed and take two tabs. That quickly made the throbbing go away. If the finger continues to be sore for much longer I will seek the advice of Dr. Kristi.

Good idea! You don't want that to get infected!

[Netfoot]

Just because I am lying a bit low doesn't mean there has to be silence in the forum! It is perfectly fine for you to talk amongst yourselves. I'd quite like to hear about what you are all up to.

No Panadol today. Same yesterday, except as I was going off to bed I banged my finger and it throbbed so loudly I had to take Panadol to be able to get to sleep. 

In bed now. Finger un-banged. I banged it enough all day and it hurt like crazy each time but in between it is sort of quiescent. And that's how it is right now. 

I change the bandage each day and the finger seems to be improving. Not painful unless I bang it. Biggest problem is that because if the sticking plaster I can't use the fingerprint scanner to unlock my phone.

So the finger improves but if I keep treating my back like I did today it can't help but get worse. Worked my arse off all day, on four separate projects. When ever I reached the point where I had to pause on one (to let glue set up or a machine cool down) I had something else to switch to.

Mo was making some strange noises today, like a goose honking. It seems to have passed, what ever it is. If it returns he is going straight to the vet. Other than that he is pretty much his sweet, demonic self. He is determined to chew the bandage on my finger but I can't let him do that!

I'm talking an awful lot for someone taking a little break. So I will now go read my book.

[Netfoot]

Oh, by the way, now that it's gone midnight, it means that it's my birthday. I'm not telling you exactly how old I am, but I'll just say that I'm Clickety-Click in Bingo years.

The only person who ever remembers is my brother's daughter who lives in Canada. And she already wished me a happy birthday yesterday when we chatted briefly online.

I don't want anybody to make a big thing about it, but with all the electronic resources available on every phone, you'd think some of the family other than Robyn would remember.

[Spunkygal]

Happy birthday @Netfoot! 🎉🍾🎂 Thank you (and your pups, past and present) for being a witty and entertaining forum friend! I send you my very best wishes! 

[Schnickelfritz]

From the Pink Pirate Princess (and I)

Hau`oli Lā Hānau!

Thanks for sharing all you do!

[Netfoot]

Thank you all.

Still working on four projects at once, started before seven this morning. Taking a break now to check messages and have a cup of tea. Then, nose goes back on the grindstone.

Did finally take Panadol last night while in bed because Mo had me climbing in and out of bed over and over again, and the transition to and from horizontal is painful. 

Cuppa is calling...

[andidante]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Oh, by the way, now that it's gone midnight, it means that it's my birthday. I'm not telling you exactly how old I am, but I'll just say that I'm Clickety-Click in Bingo years.

Happy Birthday!! Hope you and Mo have a great day celebrating. 🍾🎂

[b4pjoe]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Netfoot]

Not sure, but I may have made the bottom of this bowl a little too thin...

[Netfoot]

Venting!

I've been working on several different things for the last few days, hopping from one thing to the next as expedient. Not easy as you might think, with a pointy finger bandaged and subject to great pain when bumprd as it frequently is. Mice & Men; you never expect everything to be smooth sailing. But today, everything turned to crap!

One of the things I've been doing is turning out little bowls/cups, etc, on the lathe. I had three half finished yesterday and intended to finish them today. (I'll take a handful to the halfway point before swapping out the chuck jaws and taking them the rest of the way. Rather tan change jaws back and forth, back and forth.

So I got stuck in this morning at 6:30 because Mo had been harassing me to get up since half four and I'd had enough. Three half-finished pieces to complete. And each and every one is now in the "Rejects" bin, because they kept leaping off the lathe and attacking me and eventually self-destructed. So all ruined.

Except this one. 

It did not develop a crack in the rim and cause me to attack it with the disk sander. I intended it to look like this from the very beginning. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Went and sat by Mo to give him a cuddle and to decompress in fuzzy goodness. He immediately headbutted me in the face crushing my specs against the bridge of my nose. And while I'm holding my face and going "Gnyargh!" He pounced on my right hand and bit down firmly on the bandaged index finger. I gave him a serious talking to! Right after I got back from orbit.

The little cuss has been after that finger from the moment input a bandage on it. Woke up in the dead of night a couple nights ago and caught him sneaking up on my finger in the dark. 

Thankfully the finger isn't hurting quite as bad as before. It gets less painful every day. This means it's getting better or it's died and is ready to drop off. I would change the bandage, put some more BNT powder on it and  see how it looks. Unfortunately I was changing the bandage yesterday when I commented to myself that the roll of surgical tape was running low and I had no more. 40 minutes later I caught Mo eating the remaining tape in the garden. So no bandage change for me.

But wait! I was thinking masking tape but I have modelers hinge-tape. That will be ideal because it is actually 3M Blenderm surgical tape. So puppy foiled. 

Anyway, next project was to create a large die. About 18-19" a side. It is actually a box for carrying stuff as well as a seat for me to sit on. I cut and fitted all the parts and fitted them carefully. I made sure that the test fit took into account that the opposite faces of a D6 add up to seven. I glued it all together but somehow 6 ended up opposite 3 and 4 ended up opposite 1, so if anyone sees me with the damned thing, they will snicker to themselves saying, "Look! that damned fool doesn't even know..."

The third project was a knothtying knot tying exercise. When ever the back aches too much and the boiling water on my right thigh creeps up to groin level, I sir sit down and tie some knots. 

(Sneek peek: a walking staff project. The two-tone, green Turk's Head handle from gutted 550 cord is finished with a four-pass Turk's Head of full-bodied 550 in turquoise. These two are tied, tightened and finished with ends concealed. The next three knots, also full-bidied -bodied 550 cord, are trippled with slowly graduating blues are tied and snugged up but not tightened and not finished, which is why there are ugly cord-ends everywhere. I like the spacing as shown, with a little of the bamboo showing through, so now tightening and finishing. Then a few decorative flourishes closer to the floor, maybe more gutted 550 cord or some type 100 accessory cord, if I can find something in appropriate colours.  Oh, and I have a nice, 25mm cabochon stone for the top of the stick:

That's Malachite, that is.)

Front numberplate was falling off the van for some reason. One screw is lost so I will have to walk across next door and buy a replacement. 

Anyway, the venting seems to have helped a bit and the boiling water case receded a bit, so back to work....

I will try to grab a photo of the naughtiest dobbin doggie the world and post it later.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Promised a doggie picture so I went out to get one. Came upon him unexpected, and caught him in the middle of some demonic ceremony. Snapped this one photo and ran for my life!

Took the bandy off my finger, sprinkled some BNT on it and took a couple photos. Here is a picture of the finger:

I won't show you the actual wound (but it looks much better). Instead here is a snap of the underside of the fingertip, which was covered by the bandy. You can see it had taken on the white, waxy appearance. Zombification at work. Never mind! 30 minutes without the bandage and the skin returned to 100% normal.

Because I decided not to rebandage the wound. Called Mo, he licked it for about 5 seconds and ever since he ha been far less interested in it. He isn't completely disinterested, just not determined as before.

Removing the bandy has removed the cotton wool padding that protected it a bit. So when ever I bang it against something it is extra painful again but as healing continues that should fade. (Ooof! Tummy Trampoline.)

So tired I forgot to brew up a cuppa char. Going to stop here. Pretty sure Mo will rouse me at 4:30...

[Netfoot]

Not 4:30, but 4:53.  😕  This early morning crap is for the birds!

[Netfoot]

Fixed the numberplate. Had to go and buy two screws. Left Mo at home "On Guard." He complained bitterly as I walked away.

Still waiting on new debit card, so need cash. But ATM won't dispense cash without a card so I had to go line up. Only five wickets in the bank, so only two tellers working. (The number of tellers is always less than half the number of wickets. The formula is apparently X÷2-1. So they should reduce the number of wickets to two. Then they wouldn't need to hire any tellers at all!)

so, one hour and twelve minutes to withdraw $5! OK, so I withdrew $45, because I want to give someone $20 and the remainder can go to buy a wee dram of fuel for the car.

Bought two screws for the car and 10 more for something else. Total was $2.54 and since nibodybuses cents any more when dealing with cash, it was rounded up to $2.55, which leaves me with $2.45 in change. Realized afterwards that instead of 2+10 screws, I could have bought 1+5 for only $1.27 and paid only $1.25 after they round down. Then walked to the next cashier and bought a second 1+5, thereby paying $2.50 and taking away $2.50 in change. It isn't the five cents. It is that $2.50 is so much more rounded a sum!

FInished the construction of my die.

Now to be sanded and the spots painted black. Sat on it without creaks or groans. But it's made from ½" ply. Could have cut the weight in half by using ¼" ply instead but that would never have carried my weight.

[Netfoot]

Starting at 6:30 this morning, and except for an hour and a half at the bbank, I  spent all day working on a bowl.

From cutting up a log, adding a face-plate, turning the outside and creating a foot, sanding (8 separate grits) and waxing the foot and outside, to removing the face-plate and switching to the foot in the chuck, to hollowing.

And at a quarter past four:

I knew the blank had cracks running through it, but I'd hoped they weren't so bad. You'd think after all these years I'd have learned the futility of hoping for the best... 

[Netfoot]

So, let me fill you in. 

As you know, I've been working extra hard to make turnings on my lathe. I hurt my back and I sliced a finger but kept in as hard as possible to create pieces large and small. 

The reason for this is that the operators of Brighton Farmer's Market have agreed to allow me to be a "guest vendor, tomorrow. I have to be there at 5:30 AM and will he allowed to sell my woodturnings. So I've been working double time to produce as many items as possible. 

Of course, I have no idea what to charge for my pieces. And everyone I've asked says the same two things: 1) Sell as cheap as possible to promote sales; 2) Don't sell cheap or you make no return.

The big die BTW will function as a way to carry everything from car to stall, and also provide a seatfor my butt whilecinwaith for customers. May turn out a bit on the heavy/cumbersome side, so a folding stool may be in my future.

Very tired and worn down, I got up this morning and started in on two tamarind blanks already waiting on faceplates. One turned out into a nice little bowl, so good news. 

While shaping the second, the chisel caught, and was foung forcefully against the toolrest. With my left little finger in between.  That hurt a lot, and probably will for days.

When I'd finished shaping the outside, I  went to sharpen my bowl gouge. As I walked past the headstock, I had a bit of a stumble, and to steady myself, I flung out my right hand... And struck the spinning bowl with my fingertips, tearing two fingernails (ring & little). At that point I gave up. Enough is enough. I put the half-finished bowl, complete with face-plate) in with the finished bowls, for people to look at. 

Then, though it was late I decided to cook a meal. Into the kitchen I went, where I promptly mandolined my right thumb.

So, I have 5 fingers on the sick list out of ten total, and can't pick my nose with either hand. I have a large, unwieldy box of modest woodturnings, of which I don't actually think I will sell any. I will be setting up on a couple if my folding tables (but as I am restricted to wikd turnings, I couldn't sell them even if someone wanted to buy.

Tomorrow's weather is forecast as sunny, which probably means it will piss with rain because I have no tent, and can't move fast enough to grab my stuff and scoot for shelter.

Dogs are welcome. At least, well-behaved dogs on a leash are. Mo has a leash but he couldn't pass for well behaved on a dark night with a false moustache. So he will be home "on guard" with the gate locked. And I, with both hands hurting, sitting in the rain, pretending I don't care that nobody likes my stuff, will be missing him.

And the depressing thing is, even if I sold every piece for the asking price, when I subtract what it cost me to go, there would barely be enough left to pay a single utility bill. That and the fact that I have to get up tomorrow at 4:30. Mo frequently wakes me around that time anyway, but I don't have to get out of bed. Or at least not for long.

Anyway, I'll let you know tomorrow exactly what happens. 

ETA: What the hell has this stupid mobile editor done now? And it won't let me delete. 

1 minute ago, Netfoot said:

So, let me fill you in. 

As you know, I've been working extra hard to make turnings on my lathe. I hurt my back and I sliced a finger but kept in as hard as possible to create pieces large and small. 

The reason for this is that the operators of Brighton Farmer's Market have agreed to allow me to be a "guest vendor", tomorrow. I have to be there at 5:30 AM and will he allowed to sell my woodturnings. So I've been working double time to produce as many items as possible. 

Of course, I have no idea what to charge for my pieces. And everyone I've asked says the same two things: 1) Sell as cheap as possible to promote sales; 2) Don't sell cheap or you make no return.

The big die BTW will function as a way to carry everything from car to stall, and also provide a seatfor my butt whilecinwaith for customers. May turn out a bit on the heavy/cumbersome side, so a folding stool may be in my future.

Very tired and worn down, I got up this morning and started in on two tamarind blanks already waiting on faceplates. One turned out into a nice little bowl, so good news. 

While shaping the second, the chisel caught, and was foung forcefully against the toolrest. With my left little finger in between.  That hurt a lot, and probably will for days.

When I'd finished shaping the outside, I  went to sharpen my bowl gouge. As I walked past the headstock, I had a bit of a stumble, and to steady myself, I flung out my right hand... And struck the spinning bowl with my fingertips, tearing two fingernails (ring & little). At that point I gave up. Enough is enough. I put the half-finished bowl, complete with face-plate) in with the finished bowls, for people to look at. 

Then, though it was late I decided to cook a meal. Into the kitchen I went, where I promptly mandolined my right thumb.

So, I have 5 fingers on the sick list out of ten total, and can't pick my nose with either hand. I have a large, unwieldy box of modest woodturnings, of which I don't actually think I will sell any. I will be setting up on a couple if my folding tables (but as I am restricted to wikd turnings, I couldn't sell them even if someone wanted to buy.

Tomorrow's weather is forecast as sunny, which probably means it will piss with rain because I have no tent, and can't move fast enough to grab my stuff and scoot for shelter.

Dogs are welcome. At least, well-behaved dogs on a leash are. Mo has a leash but he couldn't pass for well behaved on a dark night with a false moustache. So he will be home "on guard" with the gate locked. And I, with both hands hurting, sitting in the rain, pretending I don't care that nobody likes my stuff, will be missing him.

And the depressing thing is, even if I sold every piece for the asking price, when I subtract what it cost me to go, there would barely be enough left to pay a single utility bill. That and the fact that I have to get up tomorrow at 4:30. Mo frequently wakes me around that time anyway, but I don't have to get out of bed. Or at least not for long.

Anyway, I'll let you know tomorrow exactly what happens. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

@Netfoot, the farmers market sounds like fun and good luck! Sometimes you need to give people ideas on how items can be used. For the bowls, jewelry, keys, candy, potpourri. Around here, chopping blocks for the kitchen are popular. If you have any spare knotted dog collars or knotted bracelets, take them along. I was at an art festival lately and a guy was selling knotted bracelets similar to yours and he had cute clasps on them. I wish I could remember what he was charging. Be your usual charming and witty self and I bet you have a good day! Bon chance and have fun with it. 

[andidante]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

So, let me fill you in. 

As you know, I've been working extra hard to make turnings on my lathe. I hurt my back and I sliced a finger but kept in as hard as possible to create pieces large and small. 

The reason for this is that the operators of Brighton Farmer's Market have agreed to allow me to be a "guest vendor, tomorrow. I have to be there at 5:30 AM and will he allowed to sell my woodturnings. So I've been working double time to produce as many items as possible. 

This is so exciting! All your hard work will hopefully pay off. I hope you are sold out at the end of the day. Let us know how you do. 

[Spunkygal]

Another thought…larger bowls could hold fruit and be a beautiful centerpiece on a table. Group smaller bowls together that hold cherished Christmas ornaments. Since Christmas is coming up, push the holiday and/or gift ideas.

[Netfoot]

My thanks to @Spunkygal and @andidante for their encouraging words. I am not convinced this will go well, because lady luck rarely favours my endeavors. But perhaps this time, she will favour this endeavor. One way or the other, I will let you know when I get home tomorrow.

I am as prepared as possible, and the van is all packed with everything I plan to take. I have laid out a new pair of jeans and a shirt, and new socks to go with my old, faithful boots. Do you hear? Long trousers! Actual shoes! Underwear! I have my thermos ready by the kettle for filling with sweet, black tea, my breakfast meds ready for 8:00 AM, and a small bottle of water in my shoulder bag to wash them down. Just had a shower & shampoo and tomorrow morning I will take a hot rinse shower while the kettle is boiling.

But now I am so sleepy I keep dropping the phone. So I will make a last pass around the house and try for some shut-eye.

[Netfoot]

It was 4:30 AM, and a puppy was sneaking up on me as he usually does around that time, every morning. But what a surprise for him! Before he couldceig could dig his claws in, the alarm went off and I leapt out of bed!

Pitch black and the rain hammering down.

I zoomed to the kitchen to turn on the kettle, then a hot sluice down in the shower. Put the tea to draw, and put on my gear.

Now to get the car out through the gate without letting Mo escape custody. To do this, I decided to lock him in the house, unlock the gate, get the van out, reclise reclose the gate, release the puppy, squeeze out of the gate while leaving him inside, and depart. Step #1: Mo refused to get in the house. Do So the procedure was drawn out gorvages for ages until I could get him secure enough inside to open the gate.  So 10 minutes late leaving home. Thanks, baby!

Got to the market and the lady told me I could share a tent with a nice couple (she was 11 months pregnant, to judge by her size) who had a tent but didn't need all the space. So we both paid half the price for a slot, and set up my wares on a folding table I got from somewhere. Then to park my van on the opposite side of a sloping quagmire that had the wheels spinning so much I doubted I would ever move it from that spot again. But finally:

(That funny mark on my shirt is actually some crud on the lens.)

BTW, the big die worked perfectly. Carried everything I needed and made for a sturdy, comfortable seat as well, utilizing a large cushion that itself travelled inside the die! Unfortunately, it weighs a ton. Something different will be necessary if this event is to becrepeated be repeated.

Now, I had added on some prices off the top of my head, since nobody had any idea. Some said price stuff as cheap as possible. Some said make sure you don't go too cheap. So I just guessed, making the pine cheap, the casuarina and the purpleheart pieces (one each) a bit more, and the tamarind most expensive.

Folks liked the tamarind and bought them quicky. The two nicest ones I could have sold 10 times over. The tiny purpleheart sold for $25 and a little Casuarina pot I made years ago for $20. The pine sold too, but more slowly and for less money, which is only to be expected. 

Following advice from @Spunkygal I wanted to put something in the bowls, to show them in use. Peppermints would have been nice, but I have no idea where to get peppermints at 5:00 AM, so I grabbed up some keyring decorations (globe knotted) and a handful of the rubber balls from which the keygings are made. I only had five of the globe knots. And maybe 7-8 balls.

As the morning progressed we saw no rain, and pretty soon it was the sun I was glad to be sheltering from. 

I gave the little globe knots away to kids and one kid came back later and bought a $15 item. I think some parents came by too, but not sure.

Anyway, when it was time, I packed up my stuff and retrieved the van. It came out of the quagmire quite easily, thank goodness. Brought home the following items:

(You can see the little balls I was talking about). Everything else sold. Did the math once I was home and after allowing for the entry fee, I made exactly $300. Or about $280 more than I expected to. Which is good, because when I got home I found a bill for $299.68 waiting for me. 

I had folks come and tell me I should have priced the tamarind higher, but then maybe I'd make more per sale and make less sales?

If I could make let's say half that amount ($150) each week, that would be a useful $600 per month, and any good weeks that exceed the minimum would be only gravy. Unfortunately, I sold 16 separete pieces to make the $300, and there is no way I could make another 16 in a week to go back next Saturday. And with my fingers hurting I don't know I'll be making anything for the next several days! But I was told I would be welcome to come again between now and Christmas. I also made enquiries and was told I could make other items as well (not just the woodturnings), but to ask on a per item basis.

Now to decide whether this was a successful day or not. On the plus side, that $299+ bill paid. But, there is nothing left to purchase new materials with, in case I want to make more items.

The biggest point to consider is that this is the run-up to Christmas and sales historically are up. In January, will come an inevitable slump in sales, which will last most of the coming year.

Still, I would go again, but producing enough items to sell each week would be extremely difficult. And my supplies of tamarind won't last for ever. 

Still, that bill did get paid.....

PS: Kept the beard. Never know - I might pick up a Santa gig next month...

Edited November 19, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

@Netfoot! That’s an awesome day! Even though you may have priced items on the low side (who’s to say), you can adjust pricing as you go along. That large flatter bowl on the lower left of the last pic would be a lovely centerpiece on a dining table. If you do this again, try to bring a couple of pieces of fruit to put in it so folks can get an idea. Then you can eat the fruit on the way home! 
 

More than anything, I’m so thrilled that others appreciate your craftsmanship as much as we do. If you do this again before Christmas, definitely wear a Santa hat! So glad it went well! 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

If you do this again, try to bring a couple of pieces of fruit to put in it so folks can get an idea. Then you can eat the fruit on the way home! 

Your idea of putting things in the bowls registered in my head a bit late to get stuff. But you are correct, an apple or two and a few bananas is a great idea. The smaller bowls could have paperclips and a taller version could have a few pencils. Peppermints can be given to passers-by. Goodwill for a few cents. 

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

If you do this again before Christmas, definitely wear a Santa hat!

<groan!> Yes, that might not be a bad idea. I do want to go again before Christmas but I have to give my fingers a chance to recover and I need to build some neat stuff. I might also build some trinket boxes or something that can be made on the scrollsaw which is quiet enough to be run later in the evening and earlier in the morning.

[andidante]

I am so happy for you that it went well! And you are just adorable! 😁

[Netfoot]

14 minutes ago, andidante said:

And you are just adorable!

Wait. What?!??

[andidante]

Was not trying to embarrass you at all! I am sorry if I did. 

[Spunkygal]

31 minutes ago, andidante said:

Was not trying to embarrass you at all! I am sorry if I did. 

I took it as a compliment. I long for the days that I used to be adorable!

[Netfoot]

46 minutes ago, andidante said:

Was not trying to embarrass you at all! I am sorry if I did. 

Just teasing...

[andidante]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

I took it as a compliment. I long for the days that I used to be adorable!

Me too! LOL

[Netfoot]

Well, the rain came down hard. Right after our Garden Patrol. And it was accompanied by a strong, gusty wind, cool, that blew raindrops in right under the eves of the roof, through the window andvsptinllefw and on the pillow. I had to lower the sash to avoid being soaked.

I am very tired tonight. This is what happens if you insist on getting out of bed at 4:30 in the morning. But now at least, I will be able to watch the latest TV episode of TAR. First thing tomorrow.

So without further ado...

Edited November 20, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Woke this morning to find the lights on thruought the house, the front door wide open, and the phone still clutched in my hand. Was so exhausted I just went out like a light.

Not supposed to be doing anything in the garage; trying to give my poor fingertips a chance to heal up a little. The original cut finger is pretty good these days, but now I have three other fingers that are very painful. 

So I finally watched E09 before heading out. Cut up a small piece of wood on the bandsaw but it had two cracks running all the way through it and no matter how I cut away the cracky piece, I still had cracks. Ended up dumping the lot.

Instead I made myself another rolling pin, similar to the one I did a while ago.

This is mahogany with a broad, diagonal stripe of purpleheart. But notice a thin pinstripe of lighter wood next to the purpleheart? That is casuarina.

Casuarina trees, AKA "Mile trees", grow on the island. They were planted here centuries ago to form windbreaks. They have long (6"+) needles rather than leaves and their berries look like tiny pine cones if you don't look too close. They have a very flakey bark that falls off in chunks if you only look at the tree too closely. Their wood is extremely hard. I have seen lead, .38 Special bullets bounce off of a Casuarina log, leaving only a grey smudge where it struck. Jacketed 9mm rounds would penetrate only as deep as the bullet itself, so the back of the bullet was flush with the surface of the log. 

It's not a very large rolling pin. It's about 2" to 2½" longer than the first one I made and about the same thickness. The hard part of this rolling pin was done by me years ago when I glued up the different layers. Because of the angled stripe the layers have a tendency to slip. Tricky, careful clamping is necessary.

[Spunkygal]

That rolling pin is beautiful. If you take any to market, just tie a red ribbon around each one to suggest giving for Christmas! Unique, useful and lovely!

[Netfoot]

30 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

That rolling pin is beautiful. If you take any to market, just tie a red ribbon around each one to suggest giving for Christmas! Unique, useful and lovely!

I don't know when I will go to market again. I have nothing to sell, and I am not really able to make anything for several days. I cut up some tamarind today to see if I could find a few nice bowl blanks, but all the pieces I looked at had multiple cracks through the center.

The rolling pin was fun to make, but as I mentioned, I did the glue-up maybe 8 or 9 years ago, and they only re-surfaced this last couple of weeks. I am racking my brains trying to think of things I might make easily that could sell, but the big seller yesterday was the tamarind items. One of my ideas men is off to Cariacou today for 10 days.

The red ribbon is a great idea and I will certainly try that if I return to the market. 

Will do my best to come up with something. Rest assured, I am not keeping secrets from you!

[Netfoot]

Damnit!

Last time I took my blood sugar, it was low. Only 3.7 and 4.0 is the low limit. This morning, I took it again, and today it's high. 6.8 which is well above the 5.9 high limit!

Ok, yesterday evening quite late I decided I was quite hungry and rather than lay in bed wishing I had eaten something, I ate. I made up some fry-bread which I ate with beans & corned beef gloop.

(Used my small rolling pin. Not the new one with the casuarina pin-stripe, the shorter one I made earlier.)

Ended up with a bowl of gloop and four breads. Half the gloop and half of the breads went into the fridge for today's lunch. And Mosie 'helped' me eat the other half. So, plenty of flour and fairly late (after nine). 

But 6.8! Last time I went over 5.9 was in June, and that was only 6.1 which is pretty close to the green zone.

Damnit!

[Netfoot]

If you look back at that photo of me sitting at the market, you can see a bit of a partially completed bowl. It is on my right, closest to me, and partially hidden behind the tall bowl/vase. It still has a faceplate attached. I used it to show Curious people how the bowls are made.

Today, I finished that bowl. 

I also had a small bowl I'd started on, but given up on because a pretty bad crack surfaced. And remembering the small, cracked bowl that exploded, I anbandonned it. This morning, curious to know how it might have ended up, I stuck the faceplate back on the lathe and began turning. To my surprise, the crack proved to be shallow and by reshaping the piece, I have what looks like it might be a nice, little bowl. 

(When I say to people that the wood will tell me how it wants to look, they look at me like I'm crazy. But this is what I mean. The shape I originally intended to go for was out of the question with that crack where it was. But by turning away the crack, the wood's desired shape was revealed.)

I had a piece of wood that was an off-cut from another bowl blank. I couldn't figure how it might be held. No chuck or glue-block would work and the same was true for a faceplate. Ideally, I would have considered a wood-worm screw, but I can't find it. So it suddenly came to me to try turning between centers. I thought "Don't be crazy!" But all the while I was mounting it on the lathe between centers. It looked ludicrous and when I soun spun up the lathe it was horribly out of balance. I had to stand in an awkward position, with one foot on part of the lathe stand. When I applied a freshly sharpened spindle roughing gouge, chunks started to fly off. But the wood spoke to me again, and told me exactly what shape it wanted to be. So I used the roughing gouge until the chips were coming off hot and burning the back of my hand! But jngotvitvriughed I got it roughed out into something that has potential, with a fit foot on the top for finishing the bottom, and a foot on the bottom for hollowing the top.

Have a look.

Closest, is the partially completed bowl from before, which I finished today. 

Behind that in on the left, still sitting on a faceplate, is the little bowl that I reshaped to eliminate a crack. The outside is sanded and finished, but it still has to be hollowed. Let's hope another crack or some similar disaster does not surface.

And to the right, looking very pale because it has not seen any wax/oil finish yet, is the off-cut that I crazily turned between centers. It is only rough, but I've put it on the chuck and after lunch I will try to do any final turning on the outside and foot. I've already moved the chuck to the other foot to expose the base. When the base is done, I can re-chuck in the orientation shown above, remove that central tenon and finish hollowing the bowl. Hopefully this too, will not present any unexpected difficulties. No flying off the chuck, disintegrating, releasing a cloud of minor daemons...

Now, I will go and eat my half-bowl of cold gloop with cold flatbread for lunch and wash it down with a 100% flat Sprite Zero. Will give Mo his lunch first, but that won't save me.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Where are my shoes? Oh. Might have known.

Cold gloop and flatbread went down great for lunch. Gave Mo his meal and then had to watch him eat half of mine before going back to polish off his own.

Put that bowl on the lathe and while turning, it came off at high RPM.

It smacked me right on my left hand and gave me a bruise and is now swelling up.  

What fun! Come to think about it, the bruised part looks better than the regular part.

Got another big, old chunk of scrap and put it between centers. After a lot of turning, I ended up with this:

It still has to be hollowed, but the base (it's upside down) and exterior have sanded up nice, with no signs of cracking or other flaws. So I grabbed another weirdly shaped chunk of scrap and produce this:

Again, it needs hollowing and finishing, but there is now a tenon on each end to allow for finishing the base and exterior, and then it can be hollowed. It's an interesting shape, and I don't know how much of the sides I will be able to hollow out. The undercut hollowing is always a problem because I don't have any of the fancy hollowing chisels which are available.

Anyway, Mo is now demanding his dinner. Loudly.

[Netfoot]

This is the bowl that hit me on the hand yesterday and raised a little bit of a bruise:

Finished this morning; didn't come out too bad! Next, I took a little fat-bellied bowl that needed hollowing, and hollowed it. Even gave it a bit of an inner under-cut. Could be better, but it isn't totally crap. And the colours!

I put a block on a faceplate and span it at lowest possible speed. Observe:

If you look at the piece, you can see that some parts of what you are looking at are, well, transparent.  There is a solid core visible, but there is a cloud of transparent wood hovering around it.

The transparent parts are those parts which have wood sometimes and air sometimes. Cutting those parts is called "air cutting" because part of the time the tip of the chisel cuts the wood and part of the time it cuts through the air between wood. 

The wood speaks. You can't make anything out of the transparent parts. Those parts must be cut away, before you can start designing your shape. This is quite violent. As the blade transitions from air to wood the tip of the chisel takes a whack that must be met with a very firm grip. At slowest rotational speed, this happens 500 times a minute. 

Some wood is more transparent than others. If there is a lot of wood and a little bit of air, the wood is only slightly transparent. And vice versa.

In this case, removing all the transparent wood reveals the shape that the piece of wood wants to be. Which is:

A rounded bottom, with a gentle sweep narrowing to the top.

Now, from here, you could remove even more wood and alter the overall shape of the finished piece. But  I like the shape I see and wouldn't generally look to reshape this any more. However, I am going to have to. The pinkish patch at the bottom is inner bark and should probably be removed. And some sort of foot will be required because this chunk of wood must be hollowed if it is to become a vessel, and it will need a foot to grip in the chuck, and to stand on upon completion.

And now, my keyboard is playing the fool...

[Netfoot]

I think the Garden Patrol is soon to he axthing a thing if of the past.

Every night since he came home, weighing only 5 lbs., Even we've done our patrol. At first, baby was a little afraid of the dark, and I was a little afraid he would try to eat a crapaud and poison himself. For months, I took a crapaud bucket with me, and used it to scoop up any crapauds that appeared and fling them over the wall. 

Now, Mo isn't the least bit afraid of the dark,  and we haven't sent a crapaud in probably six months. But we still kajeciur continue Garden Patrol every night, come rain or shine. (Moon shine, I guess it would have to be.) 

But Mo has not really been participating for a few weeks now.

Normally, we walk around the front of the house. When we get to the corner, we go right down to the far end on one side if the yard, then loop around and come all the way back up, and back around the front again. Last few weeks, Mo has come as far as the corner, where he sits and watched me go down to the far end alone. When I make my way back up, we then go back across the front of the house and inside.

Obviously, the necessity of the Garden Patrol has long passed, but it was a never-missed father & son ritual that I will regret seeing the end of. 

Listening to Lucy In The sky With Diamonds while Mo looks out the window. I'm tired but I have not touched my book for several days, so I will read a few pages. I think my two fingers injured late last week just be getting better. They are marginally less painful, and the little finger has dried up completely. The ring finger will still produce ick from under the nail if squeezed, but only a tiny bit.  For reasons I do not understand, Mo is fascinated by that icky ring finger. He would lick at it for hours at a time if I let him. He has gnores ignored all other fingers, but he is always sneaking up on that ring finger.

Bank tomorrow, to make a small deposit. Dr. Kristi should be back by tomorrow, too. Not that I need to consult her or anything, but it's nice to know she's around, in case I do something stupid and injure more fingers.

Now, book!

Edited November 23, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Couldn't find my phone when I woke up (when Mo woke me) this morning. Searched everywhere but couldn't find it. Did find a shoe out by the front gate, but...

Tried calling it but remembered I'd turned the ringer very low, so nov no surprise I heard nothing.  

Eventually located it under the pillows and sheets. Apparently, I'd fallen asleep with it still in my hand last night. 

Anyway, this morning I hollowed out a piece I showed before, and here it is:

Then grabbed a faceplate and a chunk of wood and started air-turning. When finally trued up, it had adopted a trumpet shaped appeatance appearance. So I went along, only insisting that I add an external ring to break up the clean sweep from base to lip. Don't know if that was the right thing to do or not.

I have two pieces that still need hollowing, and two raw chunks of tree (one already on a faceplate) that have not yet informed me of their preferred shape.  If these can be completed successfully, that will be nine pieces since Saturday. But I doubt I will get all four remaining pieces done tomorrow.

Anyway, after that, I will have to start cutting up logs again. Of which I have only a limited supply. But I have some chunks of purpleheart which I might try doing something with first. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Listening to Lose Control by Northern Irish band Ash, from their debut rock album "1977". (The yowling guitars are fantastic! Remeniscent of a cat in a room full of rocking chairs!) Since the album was released in 1996 I can't tell you why it was called what it was. If you know, please nod me the wink.

We did our Garden Patrol early this evening and Mo participated fully. But I don't think that will be a regular thing going forward.

Running early because I wanted to get in early. Falling asleep too often recently with the lights on and even with the door to the house wide open. Twice! If I could only figure out a way to get Mo to let me sleep on a morning! As soon as he is up at 4:30 or even earlier, he barks loudly in my ear and used his claws to try to roll me out of bed. Which hurts. So I'm getting out of bed too early, working too hard, nodding off during meals, and dropping to sleep at night before securing the house. I wish I could send him off to boarding school, or something!

Had the remainder of yesterday's macaroni for lunch and a plate of beans for dinner. Would have fried up some bread tomgi to go with the brand beans, but last time I did that the blood sugar soared. Will check it again in the morning and hopefully it will be more reasonable.

Will be turning tomorrow again. Hope to get four pieces completed. Not likely to succeed but that is my goal. This evening I remembered a chunk of kabukalli I had, and I went and dug it out. It's 6"x6"x29" and I could barely lift it. Never ever worked with kabukalli before. It's from Guyana and my neighbor gave it to me years ago. It was a scrap from some project he was working on at the time. It's been in my garage under axheapmof crsp a heap of crap for prolly 10 years. No idea how it will turn, but according to Google it is hard, generates large quantities of dust when worked, and dulls tools quickly. 

Speaking of dull tools, my ½" bowl gouge is getting short. (Lathe tools are sharpened often, by grinding a fresh edge. This slowly erodes the tool, which must eventually be replaced.) I was looking at a nice, replacement ¾“ bowl gouge today and a cheap one is U$124!!! I can save  a whole seven bucks if I get it without a handle and make my own, but to make one would probably cost more than the seven bucks I'd save.

Also have to grab TAR tomorrow, and find time to watch it.

Ok, let me try to read a chapter and go off to sleep. And damnit, I suddenly feel to take another shower, despite taking one earlier...

Edited November 24, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Just back from my shower, shivering with cold as the fan blows on my damp skin. Winter is coming! Door locked, Mo looking out the window...

Ok book, sleep, tomorrow. In that order.

[Netfoot]

Was working on an interesting vessel today 

when I spotted an ugly crack in the upper, concave section. I chased the crack, hoping to find the bottom of it, but that was not to be.

I ended up with this tiny little dish:

which may not be as pretty as it might have been, but at least it has no cracks in it!

[Netfoot]

In bed early. Not even ten, yet. Very tired and back hurting. I'm singing Santana's Black Magic Woman to Mo, who seems satisfied with my singing voice. He is lying on my foot and nibbling my toes.

Seven bowls completed since the weekend, although not all of them are significant. I have two more chunks of tamarind already on faceplates and roughly trued up.

Would really like to finish the outsides and get these hollowed tomorrow. All the physically difficult work is done, with large chunks of bark and wood flying off forcefully and landing on my hands hot enough to burn. Sometimes I have to break off a cut before it's finished, just to make the burning stop.

Anyway these have to be finished outside and a tenon or a recess added to the bottom to hold the piece in the chuck while hollowing. I also try to go in from the headstock end and hollow as much as practical around the faceplate. Because no chuck can ever hold a 10 lb. chunk of wood as securely as a faceplate, so the more I can do on the faceplate the less chance of the piece coming loose during the hollowing process.

Here is what the bottoms look like so far:

The one on the left has a mighty small tenon, given the size of the rough blank. So I might remove it and cut a larger one in it's place. Just hope no cracks or unforgivable flaws show up to make these pieces worthless.

Remember the piece of kabukalli I told you about? I wanted a 6"x6"x6" piece to experiment with. Put the big block on the saw today, and it was a strain lifting it on there, I can tell you! Popped it on the cross-cut sled. With the blade all the way up, I get 2¾" depth of cut on that sled. Since the piece is 6" square, I had to make four cuts, one on each face. I could hardly move the sled across the top! But the blade didn't hesitate. Three horses hiding in that saw ..

 Anyway, the four cuts left the piece attached to the remaining block by a little square in the very middle that the table saw blade couldn't reach. But the Japanese pull-saw quickly cut through that remaining square in the middle.

You can just see the little square bit in the middle that had to be cut by hand. The wood looks pretty.

Kabukalli is supposed to stink when first cut down, but lose the odour when it cures. This piece had been cured before I got it and been sitting around here for close to a decade. It didn't have any unpleasant odour atvall, smelling only like freshly milled wood.

If I get finished with the two pieces mentioned earlier i may cut the kabukalli cube into two pieces, maybe? 6"x6"x3"? And see how the stuff turns on the lathe. 

Dr. Kristi says my two errant fingernails will probably stick back down return to normal, as the nails grow out. Pleased to hear it. While waiting to see her, I noticed a little tray on the center table (where magazines used to live before athlete's foot put an end to magazines in doctors offices). The tray bore a little posy of flowers in a glass vase, a bowl of peppermints, and one or two other trinkets. The peppermints were in a live-edged bowl turned from spalted casuarina. I gave it to Dr. K. years ago, one Valentine's. It was filled with Hershey's Kisses (my trad. gift to Dr. K. every Valentine's.) The chockies were the gift; I considered the little bowl disposable. 

Went to the bank to make a deposit. My replacement debit card was supposed to take 5-7 working days and today was the 10th. The lady said "Your card came several days ago!" "I thought you would call," I said. "But I did!" I looked at her and said nothing. But my face probably reminded her that these days, phones record and log all calls, and inform you if you missed a call, and that none of that occured because the call never happened.

Anyway, I'm getting a cramp in my foot and I have sawdust in places i can't mention so I think I will take a shower, offer Mo the choice of in or out, and call it a day.

[Netfoot]

Finished the two hunks of tamarind. They came out very similar, but not the same:

Next, I put faceplates on a block of kabukalli and a block of purpleheart.

Started turning the kabukalli (it was very hard but cut cleanly). Unfortunately, I quickly spotted a couple of serious cracks!

My only option was to cut away the side of the block with the cracks, and reposition the faceplate on what was then a much smaller block of wood.

[Netfoot]

I drew a white line following the largest crack and extending to the edges. If I could cut along here, I should be able to make a small bowl out of the bottom piece. 

The block is so heavy and so hard, I had to cut perpendicular to one of my octagonal sides. Thank goodness I had not made it entirely true as yet! But I couldn't cut exactly along that ideal line. Anyway, the faceplate was then reattached to the newly cut face.

I started turning and the base of a small bowl began to emerge from the block.

This photo shows something easily missed. Right at the top of the photo, you can see a hole in the side of  block of wood. This is where one of the faceplate screws were, when it was mounted in the other orientation. Before the block was cut in half. It's an inch deep, and can't remain in the finished piece. 

This means that everything from that hole up, has to go. The huge, 6"x6"x6" block will produce a tiny bowl, no bigger than a baby ashtray. 

Here you see the bowl emerging bottom-first from the block. I've already begun cutting through the block right where that damned hole was, to isolate the bowl from the remainder of the block.

At just about this time, I decided to call it a day. I've been fielding e-mails from UK and phone calls from Canada all day, I've called the bank 5-6 times to get information to send overseas (each time they gave me conflicting info), my back was (is!) hurting, and I decided I'm done for the day. Now I can consider actually eating something other than prescription meds, and having a hot shower.

But look back at that last photo. The surface of that bowl has not been sanded at all! Pretty good finish straight off the chisel! And I have nine grades of sandpaper to spruce it up with. As soon as I give the outside one final pass with the big-ass scraper chisel...

Oh, and before I forget: Mo was barking up a storm a short while ago, so I went out to calm him down. My neighbor's cat again. Blasted creature is only happy when posing in front of my gate and driving Mo crazy. But while out there, what do you think I found lying on the ground? No, not my underwear. That was yesterday. It was my chuck key!! Mosie got a serious ticking off for that, I can tell you!

Edited November 25, 2022 by Netfoot

[Browncoat]

That is a very pretty tiny bowl!

[Netfoot]

34 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

That is a very pretty tiny bowl!

Well. Let's hope it does turn out that way!

Listening to So Much Time by Dishwalla. Drying off from my shower with the breeze in the window (brrr!) With the help of the fan. Mr. Wavy-Tail is looking out the window. Sometimes when he is doing this he just sits down. On what ever is behind him. Like the top of my head. Or my chest. Oh, he's headed out, so I guess something out there needs talking to. 

During Garden Patrol I saw something out there lying in the grass. It was an old bowl I'd fouled up in the making. (I previously showed a photo of it, with the bottom so thin light could shine right through.) I had it on the table here, and used it to corral the screws I use to attach faceplates. Fortunately, all the screws were in use (both faceplates attached to something) or the screws would be who knows where? But the thing is, I use that same table to hold the tamarind bowls that I've finished! He could just as easily have picked one of them to steal away for a plaything! 

Now he is mounting a concerted attack upon my right ring-finger. The one with the injured fingernail. Don't know why he is so determined to play with that.

Ok, so tomorrow I try to finish the kabukalli and then try the purpleheart. If I am successful that will make 11 pieces, plus what ever I can make in the coming week. (By the way, next Wednesday is a public holiday -- it's our Independence Day. Anyway, with any luck I should have 15-16 pieces which should be enough for me to go to Brighton Farmer's Market on the 3rd. Remember, as a "Visiting Vendor", I get to go on an "as available" basis.

I've also been thinking of turning some stuff from blocks glued up from pallet wood. In my experience, pallet wood is usually of a variety of types and colours. Gluing up the boards side by side might make for an attractive, stripy appearance. The boards could be vertical, giving stripes across the turning, or horizontal, giving stripes up the side. Hell, it should be possible to glue them up at a variety of angles for various effects. Will definitely need to buy more glue, though. There was a time when I bought Titebond by the gallon!

Even considered glue-ups where I deliberately leave gaps between boards. After turning, these gaps will make for holes, spaces and slots in the finished vessel. Making it more of a basket than a bowl. Nail holes will only add to the final effect. As a buddy told me, if you make junk, call it "Modern Rustic" and double the price! Unfortunately, Heidi arrived at my house a few months ago and completely cleaned me out of pallet wood. All neatly denailed and sent through the planer. So now I have to go pallet hunting. At least with the van I can bring home more than I could with the old Suzuki.

Anyway, it's a quarter to twelve, and Guitar Man is playing. I took two Panadol for the first time in days, so my back is quite comfortable, and I'm going to go read my book.

Garden snail: Chanson D'Amour...

Lawnmower: Rat-Ta-Tat-Ta-Tat!

[Netfoot]

Well a huge chunk of kabukalli that I could barely lift up... Came down to this:

Hardly seems worth the 4-5 hours work I put into it!

Let's hope this piece of purpleheart doesn't shrink in the same way...

When I'm done with it (but before waxing), I'll put it out in the sun to see if any of that nice, purple hue will emerge.  I should get myself a UV black light for when I am working purpleheart. It might help with the colour.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

What a gorgeous bowl! I’m so excited for your next venture to the market! 

[andidante]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Well s huge chunk of kabukalli that I could barely lift up... Came down to this:

Hardly seems worth the 4-5 hours work I put into it!

It's beautiful! Will you be taking the tables you made also to sell those? I bet someone would snap those right up!

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

I’m so excited for your next venture to the market! 

I'm still scared witless!

Here is the purpleheart piece sanded on the outside and standing out to catch some rays. Since it is in a very grabbable position for anyone passing my gate I am sitting out next to the car to keep an eye on it.

My son is with me - between us I hope we can keep it safe.

It's good to sit and relax for a change, rather than spending the entire day hunched over the lathe.

All I have to do now is attach it to the spindle (it's already chucked up) and hollow & finish the inside without destroying it. Which, given the hardness and unforgiving nature of the wood, is by no means guaranteed.

3 minutes ago, andidante said:

Will you be taking the tables you made also to sell those? I bet someone would snap those right up!

I did take two of them last time and had a couple of low-key enquiries, but nothing serious. I was invited to come and sell woodturnings. They don't want multiple people selling the same thing (although it still happens). Also, I arranged with a store to sell them on commission, left one with them and promised I had three more I could let them have at a moment's notice. They called a couple days ago to say that with Christmas upon us they were hoping for some movement. I have to consider what would happen if I burnt my bridges with them by selling the very tables I promised they could have. Especially if I sell at a price less than they are because I don't have to collect 17½% tax for the government! So I have to be very careful deciding what to do there.

Thinking of a very simple, "Modern Rustic" version of the same tables, knocked together out of pallet wood, using nails instead of wood glue and screws, sanded only enough to remove splinters, and with chips, cracks and nail-holes deliberately left in place. Could sell for maybe ⅓ what the nice, pine ones are selling (well, actually not selling for, not yet) for at the store.