Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Mea culpa! Typo. Fixed now.

Glad it’s fixed. PB ice cream sounds scrummy! 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

Glad it’s fixed. PB ice cream sounds scrummy! 

My mum used to make us Peanut Punch in the blender. PB, milk, sugar/syrup to taste (if required at all). Sometimes chocolate milk, sometimes with a mushy banana. Always great. Later in life I started making them myself and I learned the important lesson: do not use crunchy PB. The crunchy bits just sink to the bottom of the blender as soon as you switch it off. 

Went spelunking through my computer and found the video from which that 5-mibute clip of Buddy in the van was originally cut. So glad not to have lost that footage. I just don't understand why it was thrown off Google Photos. Could it be because there was music playing in the car? Some sort of copyright issue? If so, wouldn't they have said something?

Life on Mars by David Bowie. I could say it was my favourite Bowie track of all, but there are a couple dozen other tracks I could say the exact same thing about! It definitely does come from my favourite Bowie album Hunky Dory! Or maybe my second fave? Aladdin Sane is pretty fantastic too...

Named after the song, Life on Mars (and the sequel Ashes to Ashes, also named after a Bowie track) are my favourite Philip Glenister TV series. A third series was nearly produced (again, named after a Bowie track) but The Beeb didn't want to spend the money.

Spent the afternoon making a jig to help assemble the chairs. A jig should be as accurately made as possible, because any errors will appear in each unit built using the jig. With a full-sized chair or even a juvenile sized one like the one I made for Nora an error in alignment of say 1mm might be overlooked, but with these tiny ones (⅓ size) 1mm is huge so you have to build your jug to a much higher standard. It is doubly tricky because you're using such small parts and pieces. It's been a fiddly job and I'm not done yet.

Had two cups of tea today, with coconut bread. Also no lunch, no dinner. Will eat tomorrow. Out of pak choy but I have some white cabbage. Might even have a couple of spuds. Not much macaroni left. 

Sent a message to Heidi asking if she would make a rag-doll for me. I thought if she said yes, she could make an occupant for one of the chairs. Not to sell but to decorate the chair. First of all she said she didn't know what a rag doll was.  By time I had given her a description of what I was talking about and answered all her questions the conversation was over and she neatly avoided saying yes or no. 

Tired. Going to fetch Mo, lock up and go to sleep. Mo woke me several times last night and I was up early this morning.

[Netfoot]

And now! A lesson in using jigs! (You can stop reading, now!)

This simple assembly of scrap pieces of wood help with the alignment of front legs with rear feet/seat supports when gluing together the micro-Adirondack.

 

The little piece tied with yellow string is a spacer that gets used and the string prevents it from getting lost.

The seat support fits on the jig with it's rear end butting up against the left block of the jig. The bottom of the seat support lies along the angled top of the front block. Glue applied to the appropriate spot and the leg put in place, touching the back and pressed against the side of the front block. Notice the little block placed in position. It is exactly the same thickness as two front legs.

Now, the second front leg is positioned on the jig and the second seat support is added with a dab of glue where needed. The string-tied block keeps the seat supports parallel and horizontal and a gravity clamp (lead weight) placed on top to hold the joints together while the glue sets up.

A matched (left/right) pair of leg/support assemblies come off the jig at once, glued together but not to each other.

Making the jig took time but it allows the leg/support assembly to be put together in one or two minutes. Plus glue drying time.  When these two are ready to come out of the jig, another jig awaits them, meanwhile another pair of leg/support assemblies can go into this one.

Slept soundly all night except when Mo insisted I let him out at 3:00 AM. Didn't wake again until the 8:00 AM "Breakfast Meds" alarm went off.

Think I will go get a glass of iced water and take it with me while I have a nap 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Once the legs and supports are joined to each other the next thing is to attach the support brace/bracket for the armrests which will be added later. This highly complex item will help with that:

Again, string prevents a key part from getting lost. 

The leg/support pieces will be placed  in these slots with a gap open at the top for each bracket to fit.

Considerable care must be taken to have the left and right sides as identical as possible or the two sides of the final chair won't match.

I also used wax/oil sparingly applied in the key spots and melted in with a hot-air gun to minimize the risk of gluing the parts of the chair into the jig permanently!

Leg/supports going in...

Braces/brackets fitted via slots...

Weird contraption placed on top... (Note flat spot built on top for gravity clamp to sit)

...to put pressure on the braces/brackets as the glue dries.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

In bed after an uneventful Garden Patrol. Mo is out by the door or perhaps round the front of the house on the verandah stairs, catching a light breeze. It's been hot enough that I don't blame him... Ok, he just walked into the bedroom and hopped into bed, but I don't know how long he's planning to stay.

Myself, I'm experiencing the cool pleasure of the fan (plus what ever there is in the window) on my damp skin from the shower. Mo is now looking out the window.

Let me start the "gramophone" and see what I get... Rikki Don't Loose That Number from the Citizen Steely Dan album. I just realized, this phone only has as many tracks on it as we're on it in 2019 when I retired it. My playlist had expanded by at least 500 tracks since then! Time for me to refresh my music folder, I think. Let's see: I've got another 15 gig on this old phone, and the music already on here only comes to 6.5 gig, so there should be plenty of space. I'll do that tomorrow. Mo has departed...

Sanitation Services supposed to collect trash tomorrow. The wheelie-bin has been out there since last Monday, when they failed to pick up my trash. Reason unknown. So let's see what happens tomorrow.

Heard from Toni (Gmail) who says she will try making some doggie-treats for her next time at Brighton. I'd spoken to her previously about considering making some baked dog treats from mushed pumpkin, peanut butter and flour. I would have handed them out to the occasional puppy who comes around, and hopefully engage with the owner. Toni says she makes dog treats by thinly slicing liver and drying it in the oven. I think she is planning to make them for sale, but the first time might only be a trial balloon. I don't know when she will be up there next. She only goes every other week, but if she misses a day I am never sure if she will compensate or just lose the day. At any rate, I never know when to expect her.  But she did say she would set aside some of her dog treats for Mo!

Think I will try to make some pallets. Small, trivet-sized pallets. Also maybe some made by cutting a shape and scrolling flowers, fish or something like that into it.

Seen several "coasters" that have scroll saw patterns in them:

I thought the whole idea of a coaster was to prevent frosty condensation running down and leaving a puddle on the furniture? These would be absolutely useless at that! But a little larger they would be of as a trivet, I suppose....

Going to try for a chapter of my book and then lock the puppy in/out and go to sleep. When he gets locked out he waits by the door and oozes through the crack the moment I start to open it later. Unlike Buddy - and Dotty before him - Mo hasn't learnt to bark under the bedroom window. And I hope nobody teaches him how! 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Building the prototype chair via the jigs I've made, and contemplating improvements. So going slow. Hope to have that finished by this evening.

So far all working reasonably well, although the jig for the seat back assembly leaves something to be desired. I think if I had all the jigs perfected, I could start building chairs jig by jig and get a chair finished in a few minutes ifff! I was using CA glue.

Sanitation services usually comes early in the morning so when midday came and my trash was still in the wheelie-bin, I didn't know what to think. But the neighbors' trash was still in their wheelie-bin as well, so...Around 12:30 I started cooking lunch: Spaghetti & tomato sauce out of a tin. Guaranteed to be horrible, even though I added some cilantro. And just as it was starting to warm up, I heard the SS truck behind the house. Now, they usually pass my house on the main road, go down to the bottom, then work their way back up to me through the development. I turned off the stove and hung around the gate because I wanted to see what would happen. After a while I gave up waiting and returned to the stove. Heated up the contents of the tin, poured it into my tea-mug (which doesn't get used for tea very often these days) and went back to the gate. Mo jumped up on me and caused some minor spillage of tinned spaghetti on my shirt. Less for me to eat, thank goodness. Eventually the truck arrived at my house and the guys emptied the bin without any comment. I asked one guy, "Everyt'ing cool?" and he replied "Yah, Skipper!" 

I gave Mo the remainder of the spaghetti, and of course he ate it but he would eat potato peelings if I gave them to him! So let me go have a look at the next jig to be used in the assembly process and see what else it needs. Photo may follow.

[Netfoot]

Here is the top and bottom back supports clamped to a jig, with five tapered back-slats glued & pinned to them. 

The bottom of the back is a bit snaggle-toothed and the top is not cut into the usual rounded shape, but the jig allows those cuts to be made while the part is still in the jig!

Meanwhile, here is another jig with the leg/support assembly (with armrest supports in place) clamped in. This jig is being improved to locate and hold the seat slats on place while glue dries. Work on that is ongoing.

And here it is with the completed seat back assembly being test fitted:

Starting to look good! But still quite a ways to go.

[Netfoot]

The light has gone and the first/prototype chair is still not finished. I've been finessing the jigs and they are looking better and better. I'd hoped to finish the prototype chair today and then build the remaining three quickly, tomorrow morning. But it didn't work out.

So tomorrow, then. And I have to try making a few pallet-trivets and some toaster tongs. I've got a strip of purple heart cut out for the tongy bits of these, and must find an appropriate something to use as the middle but. Preferably a bit of mahogany, but we will see. Maybe some different piece of wood? Then find the right Forstner bit for the magnet part.

Was considering hot-glue to retain the magnet, but upon consideration that seems like the wrong type of adhesive to use on a hot toaster! But what else to use, I just don't know - I don't have any epoxy which would be my first choice. Have no idea how to finish things intended to experience heat. Wax/oil would get icky if really heated, I think. Not sure about varnish with regards to heating. 

Almost time for "Dinner Meds" which implied almost time for dinner. Got alphabet pasta in a tin but the spaghetti in a tin this lunchtime was not great. Might unpack some instant mashed and have it with a corned beef sauce. 

Yep! There's the alarm: so let me go swallow some tablets.....

[Browncoat]

I am looking forward to seeing the finished mini-chairs!  I hope they work out well.

[Netfoot]

It was bucketing down most of the evening but there was a lull around 10:30 where the rain slowed and Mo and I took the opportunity to go on Patrol. Actually, it was the second Patrol of the day because for some reason I can't remember, we checked out the garden completely at about midday. I got sprinkled on this evening of course but Mo made no effort to avoid getting soaked so in a moment a damp puppy will join me in bed.

It was half past nine before I decided to cook something for dinner and all I could bring myself to cook was oatmeal. Don't actually remember if I had lunch at all, far less what it might have been. 

Listening to Gardens In The Rain by Claude Debussy, as performed by Isao Tomita, Japanese composer and  pioneer if electric music. Tomita was famous for producing music using analog synthesizers. Debussy wrote this piece 120 years ago and Tomita recorded his interpretation 49 years ago. When I heard this album (Snowflakes Are Dancing) it was the first time I ever enjoyed a piece of classical music and was forced to admit there might be some merit to that old-fogey music after all!

Mo just arrived, jumped into bed, stole half the pillows, plunked himself down on them and zoned out. Still, I imagine he will rouse himself when I go to lok the door!

Apart from working on jigs all day, I also went a little way towards getting electricity to the lathe/scroll saw/grinder cluster. The grinder sits on a pedestal with four outlets on the back. They are wired via a long lead to a plug and because of distance, had been powered via a heavy duty extension for months. Now that I've repositioned it, it's a little closer to the socket and when I checked, the long lead will now reach the socket directly with no extension cord needed. 

So with the grinder pedestal powered, the outlets on the back come alive (via the safety switch on the front) so the grinder itself, plus the scroll saw and the lathe can be powered by the pedestal. And I'd also like to have a power strip so I can plug in things like the heat gun. Plus I want a long extension that I can use for the ShopVac that finds itself getting used far and wide. There is still a pile of crap that needs to.be cleared out and the tools put in their preferred positions. But making a few sellable items is taking priority right now. 

Well, I will clamber out of bed and kick the house. When I did this last night Mo raced me to the door and slipped out, refusing to come back inside. After a minute or two I shrugged and locked the door. Wonder what will happen tonight?

Sleep time....

[luv2lurk]

OK have to chime in about the toaster tongs. I don't see any glue for the magnet.

The ones I have are a round magnet - and looks like drilled part way through the middle part and tapped in.

Do you want a more close up pic?

I think Toaster Tongs for Dad would be a huge sale for Fathers Day 😀

[Netfoot]

Re: Toaster Tongs. Just dug out a scrap of wood and located some of the magnets I have here. It is my belief that although they are officially ¼" and ⅜" sizes, they are actually made to some close metric size. 

I drilled two ¼" holes and a ⅜" holes and jammed in appropriately sized magnets. The ¼" variety were quite snug, whereas the ⅜" one was a little bit loose. Not that it fell out or anything, but it pushed home much easier with my thumb.

Turning the board face down, I gave it a sharp rap on the desk top. Sort of like if it had been tossed carelessly on the counter or dropped on the floor.

The larger magnet was dislodged (and stuck itself to one if the smaller ones) but the smaller ones were unmoved. I repeated this several times with the same results. 

Note that I've located a tube of CA gel. I paid $5.95 for this tube and it contains 0.07 oz. (seven hundredths of an ounce!). Ang gel is awful stuff! When I was building models a lot I would order something like this stuff from Amazon. The word to look for when buying CA word is "Thin"! (But take care because it runs all over the place!) The first to pop up in a search, even at 2 oz.  pricing ($13.79) and converted to my money ($27.58) it is still over six times more economical! But kes ranting. I've got this little tube and I believe it has a fee drops left in it. And it looks like I won't even need the glue at all!

Now I have to repeat the test with what ever type of wood I actually end up using. Because when it comes to tab A fitting into slot B, the materials that A and B are made of are significant.

[Netfoot]

Made 9:00 last night and left for the glue to cure overnight - a drilling jig for the armrest support brace/bracket pins:

The slot allows the brace/bracket fits in the slot so the foot has two blocks to rest on as the drill pressed down.  Pencil lines help indicate where to drill so as to hit the brace/bracket from this side of the leg.

Two pins already inserted in this assembly. 

ETA: drilling down through the armrest into the top of the brace/bracket and the top of the leg... Is going to be interesting indeed!

Edited June 13, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Jig holds leg/support assemblies while front seat slat is glued in place and held by #64 rubber band.  Jig holds slat level with the bottom of the seat support and spaced evenly on each end. 

[Netfoot]

I'd hoped this little fellow would be finished today. And his three brothers as well!

But it's after six and I don't want to do any more today. Some wood pins to be cut short and sanded flush, and the bottom of the rear struts need to be trimmed/sanded flush with the bottom of the rear feet so it stands squarely without any wobbling.

The two arms are still to be added which will take a little fettling and then some drilling, gluing and pinning.

I'm a little unhappy with the seat back. It is not quite as symmetrical as I would have liked. That's why this chair took so long to get to this point. I will have to take steps to ensure the other three chair backs are better made. 

Anyway, I'm hopeful the assembly of this chair will be finished by early tomorrow and (fingers crossed) the remainder by tomorrow evening. 

I had powdered mashed potato with corned beef & cabbage for lunch. Not the rather tasteless powdered mash I've had in the fridge these past 2½ years plus, but a different lot of powdered mash that tastes somewhat better. I have another sachet of that mash to make a meal another day. 

Now I only have to figure out what I want for dinner. There is a small amount of macaroni, a small number of potatoes and a small bag of rice. There is a little corned beef and a couple of carrots plus one or two onions. There is a fair amount of flour...

Ok! I will make some dumplings and some more corned beef and cabbage, and fill up on that. 

Today is the anniversary of the wedding of my grand niece - mother to the two baby girls. I sent a message of well wishes this morning. Her first daughter (who "owns" the white chair I copied) has a birthday next week. She will be four.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Here we go again....

[Netfoot]

Allllmost finished!

The armrests are glued and I am just giving that glue a while to cure a bit before I drill and pin the joints. All joints are drilled & pinned except the seat slats, if which only the one at the very front is so pinned. This is the one you might lift the chair by but the others are not likely to be lifted. In the bigger one I made for Nina the front slat had four screws and the rest only two.

Not easily visible in this photo is that the seat back is slightly misaligned. This makes it necessary for the armrests to be notched slightly more on one side than the other.

Got to work on the seat back a bit before building the other chairs. Don't want them to have this same issue if it can be avoided...

Edited June 15, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

All finished!

I am in the process of building the rest but I am worried about the seat backs.

I am thinking I will give these a squirt of satin clear lacquer. The alternative is white paint. I will decide when I have a few more completed. I could do some & some.

I am a little unhappy about them as a cell phone stand. I have an idea which will require some thought and s minor modification to the arms. That's why I am putting off the spray job. Got to think it through first.

It looks good tho! In a photo without something else for reference you could mistake it for a fullh-sized chair. At first glance, anyway.

Do you think some fool would pay $50 for this?

[Spunkygal]

The little chair is darling! I don’t know about the $50 price. I guess it depends on what use you suggest for it. So much work goes into making it that you do deserve $50. When I was little, I would have loved it to set my doll in. I was all about doll furniture! But I guess girls don’t play with dolls that much anymore. It’s all about electronics these days!

[Netfoot]

Half eight, and I'm still working on chairs. They are small enough I can bring them inside and work on them at the desk 

Adding the first four seat slats to the seat:

The third one has to be notched to fit around the front of the legs. Right near the tip of the scalpel and on the other end as well. Slat #4 is also modified but simply by shortening them to fit between the front legs.  All four chairs are at this stage. [Well, one chair is complete, the other three are at this stage.]

#5 [slat] will also need to be hand cut/shaped to fit around the back of the leg. The last three are glued down together with a pad and weight to hold them in place.

It would help if I stopped doing stupid things like this:

I needed 8 x 4 = 32 seat slats and I made 33 but this is the second one I've ballsed up so I am now one short and have to go make a new one (tomorrow).

I have also constructed one seat back and I used a different procedure to the first one but I'm not sure the results are any better. I will hold off on the remaining two until I see how this one turns out when attached to the chair.

Once again, a chore I thought would occupy me for one maybe two days now looks like it will occupy my entire week. And the other stuff I had planned to do this week is still waiting in the wings for a few minutes of my time.

Part of the problem is me. Mo and I popped up to Kooyman this afternoon for something. It's only 5 minutes away and the "Check Engine" light came on on the way back. I dunno whether the van will even get to Brighton on Saturday far less get home again.

Of course, this put me in a foul state of mind. A huge wave of depression hit me to the point I felt physically nauseous as well as at a low ebb mentally. Then Mo up-chucked some of his lunch as well, so now I'm worried about him too.

Expenses are mounting. The monthly stuff is bad enough but now I have car insurance to pay as well, from early next month, and in September (I think) I have a big annual bill of $500 to $600 that will come due.

Meantime there is not much food in the house three half-packages of macaroni, three modest potatoes, some rice and a few tins of corned beef. I think there are two onions and two carrots. Plus a tin of alphabet spaghetti in tomato sauce. And also a small amount of food for my baby, that will need to be replenished this week.

While waiting for glue to dry on one project I could in theory switch to something else. But I am at a low ebb, and that plus back pain makes me go sit down, drink iced water and wait.

Don't know what to have for dinner. Been skipping meals in recent days but can't do that too often. I will think of something. I could fry up some bread but I have run out of red butter to eat it with.....

Edited June 15, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I guess it depends on what use you suggest for it.

Well, I didn't want to indicate any specific use. It's a cute conversation starter, possibly a cup-holder (? Must try that in the morning.) Tried persuede Heidi to make a rag doll to sit on one of the chairstomdiynikmomr But what I have been using the first one for is:

It works fine in portrait mode but while it appears to work fine in landscape a well,

it has a tendency for the phone to slip down onto it's back, on the armrests. It only takes the tiniest little bump or vibration. Now I can think of two or three ways to solve that problem.

First, I could glue tiny little strips of wood (coffee stirrer size across the armrests a suitable distance from the back to prevent the bottom of the phone slipping forwards. But this would spoil the asthetic of the tiny little chair. (I sent Heidi a photo and she thought it was another child-sized one.)

Second, I could take a little file and cut a groove across the two armrests but this would also spoil the look of the chair like the coffee stirrers.

Third, I could drill a small hole in each armrest and insert a short length of tight fitting dowel in each. The armrest is 6mm thick so assume I use s 10mm length of dowel. That would leave 4mm sticking up from each armrest to prevent the slide of the phone. If you didn't want to use the chair like that you could push the dowel down until the top of the dowel was flush with the top of the armrest. The extra length would be underneath and less likely to.be seen. 

The last option is the most difficult to implement but the other two leave permanent visible signs on the armrests whereas the dowels have the potential to vanish "into the furniture". Git to decide which I like best but will all four chairs are otherwise complete.

Cool, gusty wind during the Garden Patrol with hardly any clouds visible but hardly any stars either. I also noticed a rainbow effect ringing all the lights. Could be my glasses. Or eyes. 

Mo has his head on my 8nner thigh so as soon as I get up to lock the door he will.make a beeline out.

Better do that now while my eyes are still open!

[Netfoot]

Started the morning by trimming/notching a seat slat and adding it to one of the chairs. 

Now, if you read my earlier post, you may recall that I screwed up a seat slat.  Obviously, I had to set up the saw and make another. So while the glue set up a bit on the seat slat I went ahead and did that. Well, I thought I'd better make a few, in case I screw up again, right?

44 sest slats on the bottom of the picture. So with one stolen out to finish my current chair, there are enough for 5 new chairs and three spares. 

Above and to the left, 35 tapers. Enough for 5 chairs with (alas) no spares.

Above right 13 front feet. Enough for 5 chairs and 3 spare. 

If these things don't sell, I know what everybody is getting for Christmas....

Also done some work on toaster tongs and pallet trivets. But the first chair will have set up enough by now that I can do another, meanwhile set the remaining three slats into this one.

[Netfoot]

Damn! Good think I made a few extras because I immediately ruined another one. I managed to slice open a knuckle on my left hand and baked bled all over the slat, the saw, the cross-cut sled and the floor. 

Luckily I had a tissue and a roll of masking tape right there so I slapped a bandage on it immediately. Hopefully the bleeding is stopped - the throbbing has not. But either way, I'm flying with only one wing. 

Years ago I found these great utility knives selling cheap. (Today there are still under US$14) and over time and a series of Amazon purchases I bought a bunch of them. They are the Gerber EAB Lite and they are a nice little workhorse! Liner lock, deep-carry clip (doubles as a money clip if you are into that) blade changes with a coin.

I have probably a dozen around the place. They work well, they are obviously sharp of if you keep a fresh blade installed...

but you gotta be careful with them!

I'm gasping for a cup of tea, and my last blood sugar test on Tuesday was 4.4 but I have no sugar and no milk.

So, back to work!

Edited June 15, 2023 by Netfoot

[Browncoat]

I like the tiny chairs!  FWIW, when I use a phone stand, I generally keep my phone in portrait mode, so that's perfect.

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, Browncoat said:

FWIW, when I use a phone stand, I generally keep my phone in portrait mode...

Isn't life strange? I almost never have my phone in portrait mode unless the app I'm using benefits from that. When in a stand of some sort it is always in landscape.

Stop! It's a trick! The parts are cut and the magnet glued in place but the two "arms" are only held in place by my fingers. It's too dark to do any more work so I will glue them in place tomorrow. I have the parts for four of them. And once the glue has set up I will slightly round the tips and final sand them.

Also made a few pallet-trivets which need the edges sanded on the disk sander and the faces by the random orbital sander. So first thing tomorrow. 

Chairs. Significant progress on only one more. The stumbling block is again the seat back. The second one came out fine but I have to devise a method that doesn't require a couple hours fettling. 

Lunch was a bowl of oatmeal, but I used the oatmeal that I bought in 2018 and it tasted like it. And I had no sugar to sprinkle or milk to pour over it. I flushed it. Think I will eat two of the remaining potatoes and a carrot with some corned beef and onion.  Yes, I'm mostly on an iced water diet, but tonight I will eat potatoes and some macaroni tomorrow.

Hopefully I will get some sales on Saturday so I can get some groceries on the way home. Assuming the van gets me there and back again. If I get no sales I will have to stop and spend some of the $60 in my wallet that I make change with, because Mo will be out of grub by Saturday lunchtime.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

So, this is as far as I've got with chair #2. It is all finished except for the armrests. 

All the other joints are glued and pinned and it is all square and looks good. The armrests need to be notched to attach to the rear struts and possibly to relieve the edge of the seat back. Once they are glued in place I will wait for the glue to grab and then drill and pin.

Note this is armrest shape #2. I have two shapes and I cut armrests for both of them, two chairs of each type.

Tomorrow morning I have to glue up the toaster tongs, and then sand edges and faces of the pallet trivets. Later when the glue on them has set up fairly firm, I will sand the tongs too. Meanwhile, I have the rest of the day to work on chairs. It would be nice to finish at least one more, but the seat backs are still terribly fiddly and time consuming. I still can't find a good way to jig them up for rapid assembly. I suspect I will be working on that all weekend long.

[Netfoot]

Brain Stew by Green Day (off Insomniac). I was recovering from a house fire that destroyed almost everything I owned. And significant areas of me, too. One of the things lost was a collection of 2,000+ novels and 1,000+ text books.  Also, my small vinyl collection which had journeyed with me to England and (six years later and considerably larger) journeyed back with me too. At first, I was all consumed with getting back on my feet, but eventually I decided I had to replace some of those lost albums. I started with an order from CDnow for 8 compact disks, one of which was Insomniac.  From those 8 disks my collection grew. Asking the system, I am told that I now have 2006 albums from 587 different artists. A total of 26,978 tracks with a total playtime of 79 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes and 6 seconds. (I spent quite some time developing software to manage and analyze my music collection while confined to the house during lockdown.  I felt it important to be able to find out on demand that the average album is 57 minutes, 6 seconds and the average track is 4 minutes, 14 seconds.)

I'm lying in bed and hurting. There is a pleasant breeze in the window but when I turned off the hot water the cold water in the shower was still comfortably warm. My cut finger still aches but looks good:

Such a tiny cut but it poured red. The stuff was all over the floor, the crosscut sled... I guess it must have been deep. Throbbing. 

But worse, I went out into the garage to turn out the light over the table saw and I tripped. There was a small lath concealed in the sawdust and my foot caught it and down I went. Hard. Landed on my hands and my right knee and right shin. My hands were all right (except the finger throbbed extra hard for a little while) but the knee took a hell of a lash. And my shin bone smacked onto the edge of a sheet of plywood and I was sure for a split second that the bone was broken. 

To make matters worse, on my way down as I tried to forestall the inevitable, I managed to pull a bunch of stuff down on top of me. Some large wood scraps, a garden hose, some clamps, a blue bucket, etc.

Fortunately the intense pain in my shin quickly faded to a throb and I was able to.concentrate on getting back to my feet. And that was not such an easy task. 

Mo came running when he heard the crash. He didn't know what to make of it and stopped about 12 feet away and watched my unsuccessful attempts to stand. I talked to him in a normal voice and I guess I put him at ease because he ran over and gave me a huge fuzzy kiss then wandered away about his own affaires. 

I was halfway between being on my right side and flat on my face on my face and  I figured out I couldn't stand because I couldn't pull my knees up. I was too confined by the things I'd fallen between and what had fallen on top of me. (Mo just came in and curled up against my back.) So I had to inch around onto my back and then I was able to push things away and sit up. From there I could lift or push things off of myself and eventually stand up. 

Damned good thing I wasn't carrying something dangerous. Like a sharp tool or a pot of molten lead!

Anyway, I have some aches and pains to enjoy. Right knee feels like it was hit with a hammer. A small hammer, but still.

Shin has a scrape and given how sure I was that I'd broken it, it's in remarkably good condition. Mo.found  a small puncture in my right calf up close to the knee and found a long, fine scratch in the skin under my left arm, just down from the armpit.

Most painful is still the finger but only if I bend or flex it. If I don't use it the ache diminishes to the point where I forget and grab something with it. At which point the bonfire is immediately rekindled. 

Tomorrow, it could go one of two ways. I could be feeling much better, or it could really start to hurt.

Dinner was potatoes & carrots boiled and served with a corned beef & onion curry with raisins. Enjoyed every bite. 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Expected to wake feeling somewhat the worse for wear after yesterday's mishaps. But although I woke late (7:30) it was no surprise since I was awake until at least 2:30 last night. 

And no lingering aches & pains from the fall, thank goodness.  The cut finger still throbs but not by much. Mind you, I wouldn't want to drop a hammer on it...

Glued up the toaster tongs and set them aside for the glue to dry. Then I sanded my four pallet/trivets and made two bundles of two.

They aren't perfect pallet replicas because while a pallet will have several boards across the top it generally has fewer across the bottom.  Usually only three. But I wanted them to be symmetrical so you could put either side up. And with three boards the spacing between boards was larger and I didn't want small items to possibly topple over.

Not sure what to ask for a pair. $30? $25? $20? I don't see people using them on their antique mahogany sideboard but they would be fine in a kitchen and perfect when barbecuing outdoors.

After these were completed I did some work on chair #2 which should be finished soon. But it seems highly unlikely that a 3rd chair will be completed today.

I paused to sand my toaster tongs. Here they are, magnetically attached to my rusty old front gate. Again, not sure what to ask. $20?

Back is hurting and I'm gasping for a cup of tea and BS this morning was 4.3, but still no makings so a glass of iced water and then back to itty bitty chairs!

ETA: It's Friday, so...

Edited June 16, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Look at this closeup of the armrest of chair #1:

Do you see two circular marks, one in each armrest? I drilled 3/16" hole in each armrest and inserted a small section of 3/16" dowel, and sanded it flush. It is a tight fit; no glue is in use.

Now, the dowels are pushed up from underneath. They protrude just enough so a phone laid landscape across the arms won't slide onto it's back, no matter how slippery! 

I have to remember to remove them temporarily before spraying with clear lacquer or the lacquer may glue them in place permanently.

[Spunkygal]

I don’t own a toaster so couldn’t begin to put a price on the tongs. The Mudslide looks good but in a much smaller glass. If I’m going to have a drink with whipped cream on it, I prefer coffee drinks. Good luck at the market!

[luv2lurk]

The tongs look fantastic! They were selling for $10 CDN here a few years ago.

[Notabug]

3 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

The tongs look fantastic! They were selling for $10 CDN here a few years ago.

@Netfoot, from the prices you've quoted in Barbados, it seems like things are a lot more expensive there than they are in the US or Canada; so you should be able to charge substantially more for the tongs than someone might pay here on the mainland.

[Netfoot]

Horse Tears by Goldfrapp. This is from their debut album Felt Mountain didn't do that well. I think this track alone makes it worth a purchase. 

Thought I had $60 in my wallet but it was only $50. Had to put $10.in the van so I have only $40 left. If I get no sales tomorrow $30 if that will go to buy some Purina One, because you know who ate the last of the chow for dinner tonight. Then he came to harass me for some of my dinner, which was only a handful of raisins. 

I really need to make some money tomorrow. Bills are $950 for the month and I've made zip this last several weeks. After tomorrow there is only one more Saturday before the end of the month. And if I don't pay the bank they will hit me with another late fee and another over limit fee.

Anyway, the van is loaded,

my clothes are ready and the EDC in the pockets ready to go. Assuming the van can get me there and home again I will do my best to sell a few items at least. Alas, I'm a poor salesman at best, but I will do what I can.

Mo was here a moment ago but has rushed out and can be heard barking at the gate. I will go lock up shortly so I can get some sleep before the 4:30 wake-up.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, we (the van and I) made it to Brighton OK. 

Everybody loves the chairs! Even the other woodworkers. But nobody is interested in buying. Not yet, anyway. But it's early..

 So, fingers crossed!

Mo woke me at 2:09 and insisted I let him out. This didn't make it easier to get up at 4:30!

Edited June 17, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

No sales.

Left Brighton with $40 and spent $28.70 on food for Mo. $10 put aside for entrance next Saturday. Which leaves me with $1.30 to my name.  Not sure the gas that's in the van will get me back to Brighton next Saturday, and I doubt that $1.30 will help much at $4.14/liter. 

Everyone loved the chairs, but nobody was interested enough to even ask me what price they were.  Another woodworker who uses a large CNC machine came by and we chatted for a while. I said "Your CNC could cut out the parts for a chair like this in 3 minutes - but please don't!" He responded that he wouldn't be interested in the assembly process so he wasn't going to make any for himself. But that if I wanted, I could provide him with the plans for an entire chair and he could pop a sheet of 6mm ply on his machine ($74.99) and he could cut out all the parts for a bunch of chairs at one time for me, no charge. I told him mthat was very generous of him to offer, but that there was no point proceeding with that plan if the chairs weren't selling. He made the point that with all the parts cut out automatically, I could lower the price, which is true. But again, if nobody asked what the price was in the first place...

Anyway, I will have iced water for lunch and some rice plus for dinner. Meanwhile I am fooling around on the computer for a while and will then go to bed for a nap, I guess. I was looking around to see what I need to complete the wiring for that cluster of tools (lathe, grinder, scroll saw, and possibly the spindle-sander too) but I can't find half the stuff I know is around here somewhere. And let's face it, if I need a plug or a socket and it costs more that $1.30 I'm "spinnin' top in mud" to use some local vernacular.  

[Browncoat]

Could you make a cardboard model of a phone and set it in one of the chairs?  Maybe people don't get what they're for.

 

[Netfoot]

10 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Could you make a cardboard model of a phone and set it in one of the chairs?  Maybe people don't get what they're for.

 

I had my actual phone standing in one of the chairs all morning. Obviously you can't see that in the photo I posted because I used the phone to take the photo. Also, I cheekily asked everyone going past with a phone in their hand whether they would test-fit it in the chair, explaining that phones vary in size and I only had my own to use for testing.

<shrug>

Well, I'll finish the other two and hang on to them. Maybe they will sell come Christmas. Assuming I survive until Christmas...

[Netfoot]

Obviously, a disappointing day. 

Spent the afternoon trying to clean up/ clear out an area of the garage right next to the table saw. Got most of the wood out of the spot and found a literal mountain of sawdust up behind it. Couldn't understand it... until I realized the space was directly in line with Mr. Noisy's exhaust port. So most of the wood has been moved from a very inconvenient location to... an even more inconvenient location. But hopefully I can figure out how to get rid of what is not worth keeping and find a more sensible location for the rest. If I can clear out the space in question I will be able to organize the table saw a bit better than I have been. I'll also consider moving the saw maybe a foot to 18" to give myself more room to handle longer cuts, etc. Moving that 500+ lb. monster is going to be fun! Good think I'm a very smart guy!

No surprises by Radiohead. I really like the early Radiohead albums. Their debut (Pablo Honey) for instance, featured Creep, a great tune. But their third, OK Computer was note-perfect. You just couldn't find fault anywhere. After this there came Kid A, a significant departure from their norm, and one that not every fan appreciated.

Was planning to nap this afternoon but never got to it. Instead I watched a 20 year old movie with Jackie Chan & Claire Forlani (who I always thought was very attractive). The movie was silly but I just switched brain to neutral and watched all the action without trying to make any sense of it all.

Mo has come in and was lying with his back touching my tummy. But after a session of window gazing he has relocated to behind me... and now he's out the window again... and now lying against my knee with his head on the side of my calf.

Just turned midnight. Mo peered out the window and departed rapidly. I want to lock up and get some shut-eye.

[Netfoot]

Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, from Machine Head. Between Blackmore's guitar & Gillan's wide vocal range this band is a favourite of mine. I'm sure everyone in the world knows the story of the song already but I'll tell it anyway!

The band travelled to Switzerland to use the Rolling Stone mobile recording studios. The electronics for the studio were built into a large truck. This allowed bands to record  wherever a suitable building could be found. Deep Purple had arranged to use the Montreux Casino which would close for renovations allowing the band to use the building for their purposes. 

The last night before closure, the casino staged a Frank Zappa concert. And as the lyric says "some stupid with a flare gun/ Burned the place to the ground."

Apparently it was a huge fire, with the smoke rolling out over Lake Geneva, and the casino was totally destroyed. Leaving Deep Purple in a spot, since they were scheduled to start recording the next day. 

They had the mobile studio so they went looking for somewhere to set up, and settled on the Grand Hotel which was closed. Machine Head was duly recorded and this track was a last minute addition that none of the band expected would go anywhere. How wrong they were!

A while back, TAR had a challenge wherein racers had to assemble a trap set while being serenaded by 200+ guitars playing the riff from Seven Nation Army. Always thought it was a brilliant challenge, similar to the deafening violins while racers tried to eat Hungarian paprika soup. Smoke On The Water is another track that motivates people to gather in large groups and play the riff. I don't know what the record is but I think that the record is somewhere over six thousand guitarists playing it together. 

Soaked a package of black beans for 6 hours and then cooked them in rice. The beans were still too hard. But in I ate them anyway. 

I put two large bags of sawdust in my wheelie-bin and another huge bag on the ground next to it. Here's hoping the SSA takes it away in the morning. It is only a fraction of the cleanup I'm looking at around the table saw. 

Mo is being especially snuggly tonight. I will end here and kill the lights so we can both catch some sleep.

[Netfoot]

Hungry. Found two large jars of whole Vlasic kosher dill pickles. Been in that cupboard since before the lockdown. Just ate two for lunch. They aren't all that crunchy any more but that taste fine. Trying to think how best to make a meal(s) out of them. Mash into a paste, mix with flour and fry? Dice and add to rice?

I put my black beans in some water on the stove and raised the water to a gentle simmer. After 3½ hours they were palletable so I will put a scoop of them into some rice for dinner tonight. 

I found over a dozen packages of beans/peas in the fridge. Mostly lentils & black beans but one package of field peas and a couple of red beans, plus one package of pinto beans I'd forgotten I had. If it takes several hours boiling to get them ready to eat, I will run out of gas long before I run out of beans! And out of rice too, for that matter. 

Found a "loyalty card" with $40 on it that I can use to buy some food. Got to go see Dr. Kristi in Friday so maybe I will buy some more rice then, while I'm out the house.

Need to "find" $377.77 by Friday morning or the bank slaps me with more late & over-limit fees. No way I can make that happen. Got to find an additional $30 by Sunday or the rent doesn't get paid and the landlord is not the type who will be cool about any delay. No way to make that happen either. The loyalty card can't help with the rent. It's only good for items from that grocery store. 

Been feeling low, so I've sat here drinking iced water and watching crap movies and TV shows all day. SSA hasn't come around yet which is strange because they usually come early a morn. But they do sometimes show up late afternoon. Or even the next day! But as I said, that isn't usual.

[Netfoot]

An uneventful Garden Patrol. It's a cool night outside, with virtually no breeze blowing.

In bed, wet from my shower with the bedroom fan blowing on me, and Mo's butt in my face as he peers out the window. He just gave me a big, wet kiss then licked his butt. It could have been worse, of course. He could have done those things in reverse order.

I have a big glass of iced water and a bad case of The Trots. My beans g rice came out pretty well, except somehow it was very salty. This leads to extreme thirst which leads to excessive consumption of water which leads to...

Spent the afternoon working on a program to copy all the files listed in "current.playlist.MP3.txt" to the Music folder on my phone. I will use the FTP protocol to do this. Just couldn't get it to work. And I've written literally dozens of programs using the FTP protocol with servers all over the globe and never had any issues before.

Eventually, it turns out I was failing to present my credentials and log in! What an idiot. But that's what happens when you're in a different headspace.

Autobahn by Kraftwerk. Love this band and admire them even more when I stop to think what they achieved with primitive equipment. These guys were truly the pioneers of electronic music, operating before the age of even the analog synthesizer.

I understand that at one time Michael Jackson offered to purchase one of their master tapes but was rejected by the band. Just shudder to think what would have been the result of MJ acquiring the IP rights to some of Kraftwerk's classics.

Mo has disappeared after raiding my glass of iced water. It's the ice he wanted and he got a fair amount of it (I gave it him). I am have been yawning since around 11 AM today so I could easily close my eyes right now, but I don't remember taking my dinner Meds tonight. So I got to go check that and same time I will lock the door. I will refrain from getting another glass of water no.matter how much I want to.

Oh look. He's back. And looking in the glass to see if any ice is left. (There isn't.) Now he's burrowing under my legs. He's wet! Is it raining outside? Wet Tummy Trampoline. Oooof! Aaand he's gone.  That tumor will be easy to get out now that he's jarred the kidney loose. Speaking of which, wasn't Dr. Nebhnani supposed to get back to me?

Jump by Van Halen.  A great lullabye. Going to lock up. Mo is outside barking at the night. Nodding off with the phone in my hand!

[Netfoot]

<groan!>

[Netfoot]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I don't remember taking my dinner Meds tonight. So I got to go check that and same time I will lock the door.

Locked the door OK but forgot to check about the meds. No, I hadn't taken them. didn't realize until I went to take my breakfast meds. Well, too late to worry about it now. Not like I don't have other things to worry about...

SSA never collected my trash but looking around the neighborhood, everyone else's wheelie-bins are out and some have trash poking out from under the cover, so I suppose SSA will come today.

[Netfoot]

I'm feeling very low on the scale again today, for some reason. So to prevent myself from just sitting here watching a load of crap on YT and downloading rubbishy movie torrents from YTS/YIFI and zoning out in front of the computer, I decided to force myself to do things!

It isn't working, really.

But yesterday I dug out a salted pig-tail that's been in the fridge for years and this morning, after letting it soak overnight, I boiled it for an hour to drive out most of the salt and cook it a bit. It isn't for me. It's for Mo. A treat for the Monster! I tasted a little bit of the meat (just a flake off the end) and it isn't salty any more. It doesn't have much taste but then I didn't chow down through the far fat into that cartilageous bones. I'm sure Mo won't have any issues with it at all. If he doesn't like how it tastes he doesn't have to eat it. But have you ever tasted a dog biscuit? They are completely tasteless but my boys all loved them.

Then I located a "surge suppressor" with a long lead. I quoted that name because most of those things don't even have an MOV in them, so they're completely useless against surges. And after taking this one apart I can confirm: no MOV.

The lead was just about 20' long. It didn't start that way of course. I buy these cheap power strips (a more accurate name), take them apart, desolder the 3' lead they come with 

and replace it by soldering back on an extension cable from which I've cut the head. Or sometimes I will buy a specific length of wire and solder that in place before adding a plug to the opposite end.  I am always careful to use a heavier gauge wire for the replacement so I don't have overheating issues due to the extended length. 

Sure, I could just plug the 3' power strip into the 20' (in this case) extension. But where's the fun in that? Besides, it's not an option when you buy the wire by the yard (so, not an extension cord). And I have come to know that the point where the 3' meets the 20' is a point of possible trouble. It can come loose when you least expect it, and of course it isn't water proof so you can't use it outside except with especial care.

So I end up with a 20' power strip or a 20' extension with six outlets on the end. Depending on your PoV. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I attached my power strip to a little "house" I built for it and fixed it to my lathe with zip ties.

It's on the far end of the lathe from the spindle but it will still get a share of the chips and shavings, so the little roof should help keep that from building up on any plugs inserted. 

I have plugged the lathe into it and there are five more outlets available to any other devices I may need. Such as a heat gun to help when finishing with wax or wax/oil, or a drilling machine, a lamp to help when the sun starts down or even the ShopVac. And you can see that even though it is already plugged into the yellow stand of the bench-grinder, there is plenty of room wire for the lathe to move even further, should I decide to introduce something else to the circle. Like a spindle sander and/or a drill press.

While I was halfway through writing this post Mo came along with his entire rear end wagging and gave me a couple of kisses, then stood still while I gave him a good scratch and back rub. After he had wandered off, I leant back and  looked over my shoulder at his food bowl. The pig-tail was gone!

Just gone noon. I might cook myself some corned beef & cabbage for lunch with rice again for dinner. Two meals a day is excessive when the cupboard is bare but I am feeling peckish!

Edited June 20, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

By the way...

If anyone uses the Telegram app I can try to get the robot to send these direct to you...

 

[Spunkygal]

Oh Lordy, Netfoot! Please don’t remind me of my younger days with that dirty martini! I have a headache just looking at the picture! 🤣 I thought I was so chic and sophisticated!

[Netfoot]

Don't think I've ever had a martini, dirty or clean. Used to drink gin with indian tonic and a wedge of lime. My vodka with OJ or Clamato juice. 

Found myself asleep in my chair and almost fell out of it. So 8 gathered up my puppy and we went out to patrol the garden. It had rained off and on all afternoon and fortunately it had just stopped. So off we went, squelching through the puddles and dodging the drip from the eve of the roof. We didn't dilly, neither dally and it's a good thing because no sooner had we returned than we began to observe flashes of light and hear rumbles of thunder. I would say that the one is getting brighter while the other is getting louder. Buddy was not in the least phased by thunder & lightning whereas Dotty was terrified by it. Unlike Second Max who used to find a hole under something to crawl into to hide, Dotty preferred to keep one step ahead of the storm. So he would run back and forth from one end of the house to another. Guy Fawkes night got him running as well, poor fellow!

(Second Max was a dachshund that my mum got to replace Ludvig Maximilian Von Stonk (First Max), another dachshund who tragically died when he was only 6-7 months old.)

Hmm. Thunder & lightning seems to have stopped. Mo will no doubt go out and get thoroughly wet, then hop into bed and dry himself off by rubbing vigorously against the pillows and me!

Had instant mash and tinned spaghetti Os for lunch. Not much cop, despite my adding some pepper sauce and dried cilantro. Dinner was a cup of black beans, another cup of shredded cabbage and a slice of corned beef. It tasted surprisingly good. I have plenty of the beans remaining so I will probably have some with the last if the macaroni. 

Still no sign of SSA so the neighborhood's trash is still out there just waiting for some paro to come and toss it out on the ground in search of the price of a rock. And with my bin full, my clean-up efforts have been stalled. But I got started on a project which I hope will turn out as planned. More tomorrow.

Wonder where Mozie has got to?

Edited June 21, 2023 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Just went to lock the door. Came back to find

that Mo had decided that all four pillows and the sheet were going to be part of his nest!

[Netfoot]

New project! 

Started it a long while ago. Would have had to because the initial cutting of the wood must be done on a bandsaw. One of which I no longer have. 😪

Cut these yesterday on the scroll saw and just had them on the disk sander, followed by some tortuous hand sanding. 

And next.....

[Netfoot]

The individual pieces are glued together in pairs, large to small.

Because I can think of no way to clamp them, I have to hold each pair together for several minutes using my fingers until the glue grabs. There are nine pairs. Only because I ran out of wood. 

It will be 3-4 hours before these pieces can be refined any further. It should be overnight so the glue has a chance to fully cure, but I am hoping that in a few hours the glue will have grabbed enough to allow me to proceed without the glue-joint separating. 

I'm not saying what I'm making because I'm pretty sure you have figured that out already!

The trash has been taken away, so I assume the SSA visited early. And I didn't see it go. I slept late and didn't rise until it was time for breakfast meds, so I assume they came prior to that.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Netfoot