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

 

I Lied, One More Trash Can

 I want to post a photo of the final pull because you can't see it in the last photos.  It is simple, easy to make, and fits the hand well. In keeping with the rose head nails the pull is attached to the lid with two nails.

ken

Fat Bottom Girls Make the Rocking World Go Around

A artist friend sent this link https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/09/nicolas-lichtle-a-la-fin/ Which in turn made me think of one of my favorite versions of the Queen song "Fat Bottom Girls Make the Rocking World Go around" https://youtu.be/yPK5NAzqf64 

Last of the Kitchen Trash Can

 The kitchen trash can is finished:

And in position holding trash:

I may build another after a couple more projects are finished. The can is functional but there are a couple of small mistakes that most folks will or would not notice but I expect will bug me to distraction. Besides it is a quick fun build.

Still feeling guilty for my giddiness, but not much. If there is a god, she has a wicked sense of humor but whatever, Karma is a bitch.  

ken

There Is a God

 

Most of Today's Shop Time Spent on Cleanup

 A lot of shop time today along with some house cleaning to get ready for MsBubba's white glove inspection once she is home, started a little after 0300 and I'm just shutting down. For all that time there is not much to show. I finished up the inside fixtures of the trash can and spent way too much time trying to figure out and make a pull for the trash can lid. Here's one of the pulls:

 

Another that has a major design flaw:

I've not a clue where my head was when I put this one together other than stuck up my ass. The one good thing I can say even thought the glue joint is end grain to long grain I sized the end grain so the glue joint is strong. At least I was thinking well enough to make a strong joint but still major head up ass. I kinda like the idea but made with a long grain to long grain joint. Finishing the lid is all that is left to do, one way or another the fat lady is singing tomorrow and the can will be holding trash before night fall.

ken

Short Comment On UnPlugged Shop

As I've posted this Blog has been removed from the "Unplugged Shop" aggregator because a snow flake got his feefees hurt when I posted a truthful but negative entry about Trump. Here is a re-post:

"Trump has been a despicable person for all his life and because his family had money he has never paid the price. Having spent most of my adult life serving and cleaning up after folks much like him I know the type well.

The grabbing 'em by the pussy and mocking the disabled should have been enough to disqualify him from the Presidency but because he hates and verbalizes the hate of people about 30% of the US hates he threaded the Electoral collage needle. It has allowed the vermin to crawl out from under the rocks and have voice and has maybe ended the rein of the USA as the world leader of democratic ideas.

If this last abomination isn't enough to drive a stake through Trump and Trumpism then this nation is not saveable and does not deserve to be saved.

I promise to get back to wood working and maybe food soon. There is 60 BF of Alder out in the shop waiting for my abuse. I need the distraction and sanity break.

See you guys on down the road,"

Compared to my real feelings about Trump it's pretty weak tea. 

As I have posted before, my blog "OK Guy" is my journal and while a good part of my life is spent in the shop there are also other aspects that frankly have been somewhat neglected once "Unplugged Shop" started posting "OK Guy". It was done with knowledge because "Unplugged Shop" is a wood working aggregator and I figured correctly that if I posted mostly things that did not apply to wood working the blog would be removed.

The good news is now those self imposed restraints have been removed. I expect the postings will not be a lot different, mostly wood working, some food and cooking, art and photography, and maybe a little more on politics but not much. The difference may be I will say "what I really feel" with no pulled punches.

Hope to see you guys on down the road,

ken