Borat

 I watched Borat last night along with I expect millions. Words are hard to find, Cohen holds a really ugly mirror up for us to see and of all the views Rudy Giuliani's performance was the most unbelievably gross. 

How anyone that knew he was being recorded, and I'm not talking about the bedroom portion, could be so skin crawling disgusting and just fucking dumb was again unbelievable.  The questions about our country just from Giuliani's scene are frightening.  

It was not my most enjoyable hour or so but was time well spent.

ken

MsBubba Has Landed

 After 20 hours driving up to Medford, ~30 hours resting and waiting for MsBubba, and just under 24 straight hours driving home we are back in Tucson. The big difference in time up and back is mostly the 55 mph speed limit on towed vehicles in CA and a little traffic in LA.

Biggest observation of the trip was the increase in 18 wheeler traffic. While on I-5 and I-10 there would be 5 to 10 miles of trucks running nose to tail and if one pulled into the hammer lane to pass you were stuck behind it for miles. The other was all the rest areas were full and many times blocked where you could not pull in much less stop for a rest and any flat area along the highway was also chock full of trucks at night. 

There is a better way to move goods and we need to transition to it soon.

It is good to be home and all back to normal with MsBubba cleaning and pointing out I haven't a clue about dirt. BTW, she likes her new kitchen trash can and even more amazing it only took a couple of hours before she noticed it.

ken

Going To Retrieve MsBubba

 This post is a little early, I don't leave Tucson to pick up MsBubba and the Honda Fit in Oregon until Saturday. Between now and leaving there will be little time for the shop or anything else other than erasing three months of evidence that there was no adult supervision for either Sweet Maggie Dog or myself.

The Motorhome is still missing the right hand mirror so we will be going in the truck, faster, cheaper, but nowhere near as comfortable. Bottom line a quick run to Medford, OR to be in position to meet MsBubba on the 19th. RON in Medford and hit the road hard on the 20th. Medford is just a little over 1100 miles from Tucson, basically a Saddlesore 1000 Iron Butt ride which is the easiest of all the IBA rides. Damn I miss my motorcycle and doing IBA rides and rallies but there is a time for everything and its time, like flying airplanes, has passed. The only question is can MsBubba sit in the truck that long. Sweet Maggie Dog and myself, no problem.

See you guys on down the road,

ken 

Shaping The Arms

Shaping the arms, first rough cut with the band saw, the draw knife followed by spoke shave, and now rasps. They are starting to look like bow saw arms.

 

 

 

A good rasp is a wonderful tool, getting to a finished arm would be very hard without at least one or two.

A week from today I will meet MsBubba in Medford, OR for the drive back to Tucson. The mirror still isn't fixed on the Motorhome so Sweet Maggie Dog and I will drive to Oregon in the truck. It is a quicker and less expensive trip but no where near as comfortable. We will come on straight back to Tucson from Medford instead of spending a few days on the beach. My guess is MsBubba is ready to be home anyway, she didn't fuss much when I told her about the change of plans.

 

ken

Starting The 12" Turning Saw

I've both Beech and Hickory in the shop and have gone back and forth on which to use. I may end up making one from each wood, today I'm working with a Hickory blank. I'm sure there are a dozen ways to start but my first step is to drill the pin holes while things are still square.
 

 

The next step will be roughing out the shape with the band saw then refining it with a draw knife, spoke shaves, and rasps. While not necessary a shave horse is handy.

ken

Finished Filling Out My 2020 Ballot

 I've almost finished voting, the ballot is filled out and sealed all that is left is dropping it off tomorrow. No one person can fix the last 40 years but if each of us votes we can begin the job of fixing the last 4.

 

Vote as if your life depended on it, because in fact it does.

As a reward for a job well done I'm having a big bowl of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. You can't get more Texan than that.

 ken

12" Turning Bow Saw

 I've many posts praising the TFWW bow saw. Of all the turning saws on the market and that includes the Knew Concepts saws the !2" bow saw is the best of the lot. Full disclosure: While I do not have or have tried all the Knew Concepts saws I have a couple and while nice they do not hold a candle to the TFWW 12" bow saw. For a couple of reasons, the first is simply a 12" saw will cut faster than a 6" or even a 8" saw. The second is the TFWW saw blades. They are thinner than a coping saw blade and will fit the kerf of a Japanese pull saw as will a fret saw blade. The difference between the TFWW blade and the fret saw blade are two things, first fret saws are slower than xmas and fret saw blades break. In the years I've used the 12" bow saw I've never broken a blade.  Faster than either a coping saw or fret saw, turns as easily as either, the saw blades do not break, and cheaper than many of the Knew Concepts saws. What's not to like.

TFWW 12" bow saw with saw kit:

I was looking around for a small project to piddle with and thought "self you could use a second bow saw so one could have a fine tooth blade and the other course tooth". While not a done deal, I should have a second bow saw soon. Photos of the build to follow.

ken