HERE'S WHAT CAN HAPPEN....

There I was, just a bookin' along, cuttin out the
inside of a nice candy dish for my folks, and I
decided to stop and check things out...good thing
I did!














The bowl had dried out overnite on the lathe,



and had developed several big cracks in it. Thats the
chance you take when turning green wood...and I
sincerely hope the 2 bowls I made prior to this don't
develop cracks. Oh well, it all part of the learning
process...

BOOKS I HAVE YET TO WRITE...

"I Don't Have Time for Percolater Coffee"
-a look at today's too-fast-a pace and the things/tastes we give up as sacrifice in the name
of expedience

"Life's Too Short to Drink Crappy Coffee"
-choices we make in the name of "self-sacrifice" that maybe shouldn't be made

"This is Something I Know"
-the dumb things people around us say to us as if we "didn't know that already" and "do people really think we are that stupid?"

"Boy I'm Glad You're Home, Somebody Pooped in the Hallway"
-a pictorial glimpse of the "life of riley" of a pair of pampered Welsh Corgis

"We Need to Get Together Sometime..."
-why is it that people lie to you and never invite you over after they make this promise...

"Man, You're as Ugly as Ever!"
-why some people, especially those that think they are your friends, have to greet you
with a derrogatory remark

MOVE OVER, HILLRICH & BRADSBURY!

Well, Louisville Slugger its not, but its homemade by mwah, and its all handcrafted on my lathe!

I laminated 2 pieces of oak to a piece of mahogany, then got busy with the lathe. Took me all afternoon last Saturday, wore me out, but it was fun to turn out something nice! I have it resting here next to my ole, reliable Worth, that got me team high "most base hits" several years running during the heydey of my "softball years"!

This is not what those brackets were designed/built for, but the gun can be stored in another place and my masterpiece can be on display. Don't know that I'd let it be used for hitting a softball, but it definately can me used as an heirloom and handed down (i guess i should have signed it too!)

BOY, I'M GLAD....

Boy, I'm glad your home...somebody pooped in the hallway!

Can you tell that I'm on a tangent...

Here's a quick pic of my last 2 projects...I just turned out the coaster from the drop-off piece from turning the bowl. Rubbed both of them with several coats of mineral oil..hope they don't split! (in this pic the coaster is still al la natural...no finish on it yet)

Me in action on my new toy! Got a bunch of nice pieces of oak and mahogany from Kropf yesterday for only $15 {used to be free :-( }

I really enjoy my new tool! and Funks Hibrids got their first order for the lathe department...Melvin requested a candy bowl! So its time to get to work.... Behind me you see the start of my next turning...glued up some oak & mahogany to turn a baseball bat!

"This is something I know...."

That title has nothing to do with anything...it was just uttered by a ventriloquist on a Christian comedy dvd we were just watching entitled "Thou Shalt Laugh" with host Patricia Heaston (Everybody Loves Raymond star). We laughed our beatitudes off!!!

This is my 2nd attempt at bowl turning...and the first on my very own lathe w/o any help! The pciture doesn't due it justice, it looks gorgeous if I do say so myself (i have a love affair going on with beautiful pieces of wood, I see a piece of wood and imagine how beautfiul it could be if I made it into a _____)*

*note- is it possible to type with dyslexia...i get my mix words up a lot!

My Christmas Present finally is ready...

If you look real close, you can see that once upon a time Delta & Milwaukee were 1 company!

She' an oldie, but I think she's a goodie. I got several different tool rests, including a huge

double rest like I've never seen before. Also included was a drill chuck & a set of cheap chisels.

I replace the old wire of the 1/2 hp ball bearing motor and installed a switch at a handy spot! If you look real close, you can see the motor I mounted up underneath the work table...that was a job!

Here we are, all ready to go. Got my whetstone mounted up front to keep the tools sharp, and the safety goggles ready. I never took any lathe instruction in high school, so this will be a self-taught adventure I'm embarking on. Lathe work has recently pricked my interest, so I decided to dive in. And why not...I got the whole lathe, motor, tools and accessories for $150!

2012 - GET BUSY LIVING!

I like the motto of the Dylan Meier Memorial Foundation (quarterback from KSU that died in a hiking accident a couple of years ago)..."Get Busy Livin!" I think I'll adopt that this year as my motto.

So along those lines, its 10am New Years Day, and so far I've...

-got ready for the day & took my vitamins & Reliv

-had breakfast and a 1/2 pot of percolated coffee..yummm!

-did my shoulder excercises (10 minutes twice a day for rehab of my shoulder surgery)

-got out venison to make summer sausage

-made up a double batch of cracked wheat bread for late Christmas gifts

-baked an apple pie (kicked it up a notch...added a TBSP of Amaretto liquor and 4 TBSP brown sugar to my standard 6 cups apples , 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 TBSP tapioca recipe)

-am ready to go out to the garage and clean it up, unload my new used Delta wood lathe and start to mount it/get it ready for use.

So, no sitting around in a lazyboy watching some lame parade or another football game (well, maybe later) for this guy...ITS TIME TO GET BUSY LIVING! MERRY NEW YEAR!