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Finally!

Started by Kirk_Allen, January 08, 2005, 06:52:47 PM

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Kirk_Allen

After convincing Jim not to cut any more trees without me being with him at 6:00 am this morning I put everything else aside and went out to the shop and pulled out the lathe.

I have never turned a thing in my life, other than my wifes neck when I walked by many years ago ;D

I made some cherry blanks for a pen and some Spalted Maple blanks for some letter openers.

I HAD A BLAST TODAY.  I had no idea turning would be such great therapy.







I think they turned out OK for a first timer.




WV_hillbilly

  Great looking finished pieces Kirk . I just want to let you in on a secret . Those lathes and scroll saws are just as addicting as a sawmill if not more  . :)    Some people call them tools but as you found out they are better  than a real therapist and oncall when ever you need them .

 How about some pics of the stuff you have been scrollsawn .
Hillbilly

Kirk_Allen

Havent bought the bullet for a scroll saw yet.  I was planing on going to Indianapolis this month for the Woodworking Show and picking up one there.  

I only want to buy it one time and I want the top of the line!

The wife is flying to California to spend a week with her brother and Mom so she is out of town during the show.  I want to bring it back and have it set up in the living room for her.  

She is the one that really wants to do scroll work. I may pick it up but right now Im hooked on this turning stuff.

Mad a handle for Police Night stick out of Osage Orange.  WOW

Now Im looking for the perfect peice to make the whole stick out of Osage.  I bett a few cops would love to have a custom made night stick from Osage Orange.  

My luck some cop will beat some homeless person with it and they will trace it to me and charge me with selling a deadly weapon ;D

chet

Kirk,
I think it is fairly safe to say you have been hooked.   :)  One thing your going to find, is as you acquire more woodworking tools, you'll need more tools to support those tools. And more tools and more tools and more tools.  ;D
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

isawlogs

 Kirk
 If you need any envellopes to try that opener with I have a pile of bills here you can have ..... then you can try your pen out writing them checks  ;D ;D

 They look great .... when are you openning a store  ;D ;) :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

WV_hillbilly

 What  are you thinking of buying ?  R.B.I  , Henger , Eclipse , or a Dewalt  . I don't think you would go wrong with any of them  but I'd buy the Dewalt .
Hillbilly

CHARLIE

Kirk, you did a very fine job. I'd have never known it was your first attempt. I really enjoy woodturning. I've been turning since 1995, but just a few weeks ago, I turned my first pens. I turned 5 of them to be sent overseas to our soldiers. The club I belong to volunteered to make 50 pens for this project, which is nationwide.

You will find woodturning addictive. The biggest problem with woodturning is that there is no scraps. No matter how small the piece of wood is, you can always make something from it. So your shop will be overrun with scraps that you used to throw away. ;D

Just be sure you wear your faceshield at all times, no matter how small the piece of wood. There are a couple of people in my woodturning club with false front teeth from being hit in the mouth from wood flying out of the lathe. The wood could have just as well hit them in the eye. :o
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Frank_Pender

Yep, I concur, that turning is very asddictive.  I have three lathes; tow minsis ( jet and delta) as well as a standard Jet. :-/  There are lots of scraps under and around each. ;D
Frank Pender

Curlywoods

The Freedom Pens Project is a very worthwile cause.  

  We sponsored a Freedom Pens Day here at Curly Woods back on Armed Forces Day of 2004 and local woodturners brought their lathes for the day.  These men and women turned  over 350 pens for the troops in Iraq that day!  I was humbled by their efforts.  I supplied all od their pen blanks, coffee, donuts and lunch as my part in the effort.

 I have never been prouder than to have been a part of an effort.  My father, a life long military man, having served in WWII and Korean War, I hope was smiling down on us.  He always had a mesmerizing smile and never had an enemy in his life that I was aware of.  He was the kindest man I have ever known.
All the best,

Michael Mastin
McKinney Hardwood Lumber
McKinney, TX

jflytle

Kirk,

Great work. I hope to be addicted soon as well. I just bought a Delta midi-lathe. I've done some messing around making bun feet for a sewing cabinet for the wife. It is alot of fun. Haven't tried a pen yet, but have it on my list.

John
Don't ask me too many questions. I'm just soaking up the brilliance.

Kirk_Allen

OK, call me a wimp or what ever but I sit hear reading this shedding tears.

As a retired Air Force vet I want to first say thanks to all of you who have in some way or another shown your support for our troops.  Its such a humbling experience to see those not in the service stepping up and showing their appreciation.

I have several freinds in Iraq as we speak and the thought of loosing them or any soldier realyy hurts.  They need all our support and I thank you for what you are doing.  You have no idea how much those guys in the field appreciate it when things like this are sent.  It meens the world to them.  

Its sad our counrty did not do the same for our past war vet, particulary Vietnam vets.    

Mike, thank you and your family for the support you gave your father during his time of service. Its not easy being a Military Brat.  I can see your Dad must have been a fine man.  Good apples make good apples!  

Thanks so much to everyone.

Kirk_Allen

Dan,
Not familiar with the names of any of them other than the Dewalt.  I was leaning towards the one sold out of Missourie.  I think its called a Hawk but dont remember for sure.  

Guess I need to start doing some serious research before the show.  

Thanks for all the kind words on the turnings.  I now understand why turners are so addictid to their work.  

jflytle: Where in Chicago are you located.  We have a home in Algonquin, but hopfully not for long.  We stay at the farm 90% of the time and the house in the burbs is for sale.  

Frank: Know what you mean about the scraps.  I was stoking the wood stove in the shop yesterday and had to throw 6 chuncks of spalted maple firewood off to the side.  Cant believe I was going to burn that stuff.  What a learning experience.

I do see a major problem building though. As a woodworker and a sawyer its hard enough to get rid of a board.  Now I'm going to start saving scraps 8)

Chet, your right, more tools needed..........................and a new building to store the scraps 8)

sawwood

 Good looking pens and letter opener you have turned Kirk.
 Yes the lathe is addictive as i got hooked 4 years ago.
 The scroll saw is a RBI Hawk in Harrisonville Mo. Its a
 great saw but a little high in price. Delta also makes a good
 saw. I think you will see a lot of scroll saws at the wood
 show and can deside what one will be best for you and the
 wife. Here is a vase i made for the wife at Christmas time
 for here to put flowers in. She is going to put it into the tall
 clock i made.

 Sawwood

Norwood M4 manual mill, Solar Kiln, Woodmaster
18" planer/molder

WV_hillbilly

 Kirk

   The hawk is made by R.B.I  as sawwood said . it is a very good saw  . Another one I failed to mention is the Excalibur .  It  is personal choice on all of these metioned as they are all good saws from reputable manufacurers. I am looking at an  Excaliber  because it has a 30" throat . That would help me out when I'm doing larger plaques .

  So I quess that means you won't be givin up more of those scraps you brought me at the PigRoast ? It is an addiction  . I mean 3/4 x 3/4 x 5 " is a small piece of wood to not throw in the woodburner . :D   If you get overrun with more spalted maple scraps like that let me know .  Now I can see you have that look in your eye like I did  when we were loadin up my truck .
Hillbilly

Buzz-sawyer

I saw that look once.........I was selling a load of walmut, hickory, and oak to a fellow..........

Turned out he was a member of the international wood collectors club.
I started throwing all the "interesting stuff" I cant bear to throw in the burn pile in his truck (spalted curly odds and ends) He didnt say much but his eyes told the story ;) :D
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

WV_hillbilly

  Buzz  I know  what that guy was feeling . I  get it often . Just Friday I was at a local kiln dry place I frequent and had that look . I ended up giving the guy $60 for all I could haul in my  8' bed of my 3/4 ton  truck . The peices range from 5" x 5" x  3/4" to   10"x 48" x 2" and anywhere in between   . Most of it is q/s white oak , red oak crotches and cherry crotches .  I have shelves built in my shop for storing these cutoffs . I have them separated by speicies .  That way when I need some I don't have to dig thru it all .
Hillbilly

Frank_Pender

Yep, I do the same sort of thing when someone buys a goodly amount or a small amount; toss in several other small but good pieces at no charge.  

Kirk, it almost has to be sawdust before I will throw it away and then, I usually sell the sawdust some time down the calendar road.  


As to the kind of scroll saws I have a Hawk.  I have not really used it to any extent, but I have it as the wife said she would like to try doing some of that kind of work.  Ya, Right!  I had to drag her to the shop to even show her the saw after I brought it home. :-/
Frank Pender

shopteacher

Had a vendor give a price on the Hawk for the school renovation. He priced out 2 for the shop at 2000.00 each.  4000.00 for 2 scroll saws, I don't think so. Not in this life.  I have a brand new 20" Delta in the shop now, biggest piece of junk I ever purchased. It's so noisy you have to run it at it's slowest speed. Needless to say it sit 99.9% of the time. I don't like to put down anybody product and have many, many  Delta machines in my home shop as well as at school, but that company should be ashamed to sell a product like that.  They drag their own name down by putting items like that out for sale.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Kirk_Allen

The Hawks on the their web sit are no where near that price.  Mabye you should try dealing direct with Hawk in stead of a vendor.



jflytle

Kirk,

We live in Bolingbrook. We have a horse boarding/training facility out in the Yorkville area. I spend most of my time traveling for business so don't get to spend much time with the horses.

I know the Algonquin area well. It certainly has changed alot in the last 20 years.

John
Don't ask me too many questions. I'm just soaking up the brilliance.

Kirk_Allen

jflytle,
I know the Bolingbrook area well.  We have done a lot of work with your fire department over the years with my full time job.

Cant say that I would want to be in that area though.  Weber road has become a cluster of trucks and I do everything possible to avoid it.  

I go through Yorkville pretty regular on our way back and forth from the farm.  Right up 47.  

Looks like there is a pretty neat wood working store on 47 just south of Morris, Illinois.  Stopped in there a couple of times and they have just about everything you can imagine that is quality.  They dont sell any junk brands from what I could see and have quite an inventory of wood on hand.  

Don_Papenburg

I have been to the woodworkers Shop in Morris . Nice place.
Look for something with a little weight to it . helps to cut down on viberation.  I have a very old Craftsman  that I bought at an auction for 25oo . It was a lot rusty ,I blasted and painted it and spent a half day flattening and pollishing the table.  I put my $1,oo  3ph 1/4 hp motor on it .  I used a hawk at a show once , that is a nice running saw.
 I have the Delta lathe that my uncle bought when he was 16 about 75 years ago. I also have a large lathe that I built ,12' bed 24" swing and a four speed truck tranny with two step pulley input and out put making 16 speeds .All run by a 5hp motor  . Turning is fun.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

jflytle

Kirk,

I agree, Weber Raod and I-55 has gotten terrible, and will only get worse. We are looking to move everything out to the Yorkville area, or further West if I have to. That shop in Morris has gotten some of my money already. Very nice people.

Don't ask me too many questions. I'm just soaking up the brilliance.

Kirk_Allen

OK I have the bug real bad.  HOW BAD you ask?  Bad enough that I took the sawsall out to one of my Red Cedar trees and cut off a 4 inch branch so I could turn some Cedar pens for my mom.

I cant believe how much fun it is to turn stuff.  
1. New handle for two of my lathe tools
2. New handle for a Hammer.  
3. Night stick out of Osage Orange
4. Several letter openers
5. several pens.

Things I wont try anytime soon.  
1. Putting a 34" long 8 inch round chunk of Osage Orange on the lathe and try to turn it.  :o  I wanted a ball bat for my nephew and figured he could never break the Osage.  Guess he probably couldn't swing it either considering it was so heavy.

That big chunk was so out of balance that it came of the lathe with vengeance. :o  Lets just say it woke me up real quick. Good thing I had on my steal toe boots on.  Otherwise I might have broke a toe or two when it landed on the right foot........from three feet away.  As soon as I turned on the lathe I knew it was coming off and quick.  No time to get to the switch on the motor.  As I stepped back the chunk came towards me.  

Next project: Move the switch to a location that it can be hit ASAP in an emergency.!

jflytle

Kirk,

Sounds like you do have it bad. Not a tree safe in your neck of the woods now.

I had forgotten how much the shavings get thrown around. I started with safety glasses, then added a hat, then buttoned my collar. 8)

Don't ask me too many questions. I'm just soaking up the brilliance.

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