Archie's Christmas Projects

 Below are a Salt and Pepper grinder made for my grand daughter.  The strips are epoxy paste placed in a grove.  Near white for salt and black for pepper.  The salt grinder has a ceramic grinder while the pepper has a stainless steel grinder.  

The wood is curly maple and each is about eight inches high.  

Below is a train display box I made for my grandson.  He has a large number of wood trains.  I used a router to put track groves in each shelf to help keep the trains in place.  

The 3' wide by 2" high box is made from 1x4 pine boards with a clear coat finish.  I ran out of boards and my neighbor Tom gave me a rough cut 1x5 and I planned it down to the 3/4" of the commercial board and cut it to the correct width and length.  I used a router jig to cut the track groves using a Rockler router bit designed for cutting the track groves.  I used dado blades mounted on my Montgomery Wards radial arm saw to cut the slots for the shelves.  I tried using my router table but could not keep both boards straight.  The radial arm saw allowed the boards to be fasten to the table top for cutting.  Perfect every time.  The top is reinforced so you can hang it on the wall.  The back is 1/8 inch luan wood I got from DoItBest.  On the back I center two 16 inch apart mounting holes partially drilled from the back. 

 Harold Eickhorst has been busy with his carvings.  Below are some of the Santas he has done.  Nice work Harold.  

You will also notice the nice natural edge table Harold has made.  Another well done project.

Steve Promo's Cherry plates

 Steve set out to make 8 dinner plates.  He starts with a Plywood faceplate with non skid rubber shelf liner glued to the surface and pressure friction driving a 10 x 1" cherry plate blank for turning.

 

 

Cherry plate blank is friction pressed to the faceplate rubber surface by the tailstock pressure.
 

First six of service for eight of UP cherry wood was air dried 20+ years (104" x 12" x 1" board for about $40).  What is missing is the turning, getting rid of the nub in the center, flipping the plate around and turning the other side, getting rid of that nub, along with all the sanding and finishing by Steve.  I marvel at his ability to make them all look the same.-ajp2

Here is a closer look of bottom of the 8" diameter dinner plate from the 10" x 3/4" blank.  Made for Steve's son and future daugher-in-law for Christmas.  Oiled with WATCO brand Danish Oil by Rust-Oleum then waxed.  Linseed oil blend paste wax as needed.  Another beautiful job by Steve Promo.-ajp2 

Steve Promo mades some mathing spindles in September.

Steve Promo has been working on another kitchen project. He has built all the cabinets and an island.  Front of island has a wide overhang of granite countertop.  Steve laminated 1" thick by 4" wide cherry boards to make 4"x4" spindle blanks about 3 ft long.  Below are some some his spindle sketches and he chose one he thought was simple yet most pleasing.  He turned both posts on 29 September and oiled them.  

The spindle design on the far right was chosen by Steve as the best.

The blank is mounted between centers and turned from both ends.

The finished first spindle.

The second spindle next the first but not completed.

The final two finished spindles by Steve Promo.  Another great turning.  Well done Steve.
 

Steve Promo's July Project

 Steve had a project to turn knobs for a customer.  He created a large number of cherry blanks to turn from. 

He turned some knobs using a home made plywood screw chuck.   

After turning a number of different knobs he put samples on a board for the customer to choose from.  then he could go back to the lathe and turn from his stash of prepared blanks. 

Photos taken 6/23/20 by Steve Promo.  Well done Steve.  Thanks for the input.

Soft Wood Burl - What is it- Help Needed

I need help identify a piece of burl that I had setting in my garage for several years.  It was nearly 2 feet by 1.5 feet in size and I finally decided to do something with it.  After cutting the burl in half it turns out half the burl was pulpy and I could not use it.  The rest of the wood has wide grain, is soft, seems wet and is very aromatic.  Just walking by the room and the smell hits you.  It reminds me of pine but my wife says sandalwood.   Below are some pictures to help you identify it.   I have two moisture meters, one says 4% and the other says 22%.  Based on the feel of the wood there is moisture in it. 

This the exterior of the turned bowl after cutting with the pulpy material cut away.  No real shavings but lots of flying small material. I sanded with 60, 120 180, 240, and finally 320.  All the sand paper plugged up quickly.  Soap and water and a tooth brush cleaned it off the paper and rubbing the spinning bowl will remove the sanding buildup there.  You can still see a few soft spots going into the wood.   Even after sanding there are tears in the wood.  What is this wood and can the project be saved?  -  Archie Patterson

This close up shows some moisture coming out of the wood after years setting in the garage.

This it is the interior of the bowl after sanding with 60 grit.  Note the rough bottom of the bowl.  The sand paper clogged up quickly.  

These are the shavings.  Very soft and feel damp but not wet. 

A squeeze of the the shavings and they clump.  Which explains why the sandpaper plugged up. 

What is this wood and can it be saved?

Off Center Turned Candle Stick

Last time I showed three off center turnings and this time I took the one on the right and made it into a candle stick for a 3" diameter candle.  As I originally turned it the top and bottom were not a true circle so I had to return the ends to make them a true circle so they would fit into a true circle recesses on the top and base.   The center, top and bottom are all made from the same wood.  Not real happy with the shape of the top and bottom, though.   Maybe a little too thick or could flow better into the center.   What are your thoughts?