Gayus Wood

Good Morning Everyone,

I got up early today and re-started the coffee scoop project. Heres how it went:

I decided to remake the wooden base for the pvc collet chuck. The original one was made out of pine and it didnt look nearly strong enough to withstand the shearing forces produced by a lathe. So I discarded it and remade it out of some red birch:


Since it was rather rough on the edges, I decided to round it down and promptly broke it:



Good grief. Since the rest of it was in one piece, I decided to use it temporarily as a holder while I worked on the pvc portion of the chuck.  I inserted the pipe into the slot on the birch base and placed another piece of wood on top of the pvc pipe and placed the whole thing between centers to mark and drill it:


The walls of the pipe will have slots cut into them and also a large hole-slot drilled and cut into it to allow the handle of the scoop to protrude while the piece is being turned. So I marked and drilled and cut  into the sides of the pipe with a drill and a hack saw:



And here is a photo of the completed chuck with the hose clamp in place:


With that done, I removed the broken base and re-made it out of a piece of solid maple. Here is a photo of the completed chuck:


I glued the pipe and the base together and they are drying in the shop.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I turned our red oak scoop blank down more:


Hmmm...now it looks like a small lemon on a stick and the reason it does is that the x, y, z axis of the piece are not equal in length, or in other words, it isnt round yet. So back to the lathe we go for more turning, sanding and finally I cut it off:


...too soon. Its too large to fit into the pipe. So Im going to manually cut down the ends of the blank until it fits. Oh well, its a nice morning to work outside.

Now it fits, very tightly, but it fits:


When this is placed back on the lathe in a couple of hours, I will shave off the top of the scoop and then hollow it out. If all goes well, I should wind up with a scoop with the handle attached. The glue really needs to dry hard so Ive removed the blank and Ive set it aside. Ill go back to it later this afternoon.

In the meantime, I finished the first walnut bowl. Here it is:


And here is a side shot:


Its been polished and its ready for delivery. Ill have to plug the holes in the base where the screws for the faceplate were drilled but that will only take a minute. Im going to go and email the happy owner.

Ill be doing another posting later today so stay tuned.

VW

Sam finished up his railing Wednesday .... He and Jim spent an hour and a half on site bolting the posts to the shoes ... It took longer to drive there than to install the whole thing ... Good measureing and careful planning get the job done ....

Approaching the terrace .. Click the pictures to enlarge them

Now you know why they needed a railing

This has been kind of a big railing project. Its out of town, (New Hampshire), its a long one. (40 or so) and its complicated. The builders placed tubes in the ground where they wanted the posts and backfilled around them, planning to pour the posts in place also, I believe. It turned out to be more complicated than that. Sam worked through it, and even though it made for some extra work on his part, he went the extra mile to get it right. Theres a gate on the left end where the steps are ....
To start, we decided to make a portable form and construct the posts with detachable shoes. Each shoe with a piece of 3/4" rebar welded to the bottom of it. The form was designed to hold the posts level straight and square while the concrete was poured and setting up. He had to go back after the concrete set up in the tubes, snap his level top lines and measure from inside of post to inside of post on each section. With the jogs and level changes, it involved a little fancy engineering, but when he makes the two hour tip this week with the finished railing parts, were both confidant that it will bolt right into place. I have not been to the site, but its on the Connecticutt River and appears to be a striking spot .... Click the pictures to enlarge them.

Setting up the jig for a test run outside the metal shop in the backyard

The posts with the hangers welded on

The 2" tubing with caps welded on and ground smooth...

Some of the spindles and frame parts

A close up of the connections

Ready to paint

a light fixture!

This gorgeous bedroom by Martha OHara Interiors was the inspiration behind my diy version. 

via

When I first saw this room, I absolutely fell in love with the pendant!

Here is how mine turned out ...


Not as grand and polished, but it does resemble it (at least I think so :)   

My original plan was to hang it in the guest bedroom, but I am also loving it on the landing above the front door.


There is currently a recessed light there, so it would act as a diffuser ... I would have to find a good way to secure it (temporarily secured with wire)

Actually, in both cases it was secured with wire since the Mod Podge isnt hard enough to support all of the weight. It is currently off, I am hoping that it will fully cure in a few days.

This was my first time using Mod Podge hardcoat, so maybe it will still harden up? If not, it will be on to plan b (maybe resin?)

Ill be back tomorrow to let you know how I made it!