Last Line Tomorrow

 Monday @ 2100 MST I start my last three day line. Thursday morning I finish the paperwork shortly after 0230 and "That's All Folks". 

It has been a long, strange, but wonderful journey starting in 1958 with my first flight lesson in a Cessna 120. The flying part ending with flying a Lear 35 from Abu Dhabi to McMinnville OR in 2007. After that flight I drank the kool-aid, donned the gray pants, white shirt, red tie, blue Blazer, and strapped a Flight Simulator to my butt expecting to only work a couple more years.  Damn that couple of years ended up taking 14. 

Was not a bad life for a dumb old West Texas farm boy, I got to see the world, most of the time at Flight Level 410 or above and M .80. Someone paid me to stay in the some of the world's best hotels, eat in world class restaurants and paid for my whisky. Of course there were a few hotels and meals at the other end as well.

I even met MsBubba in the back of my airplane, from the first time I saw her with her mop of curly blond hair I thought "That's the one for me". Then I chased her until she caught me.

More after I finish Thursday morning,

ken

A Pie For Pi Day

 As per the title, I made a Chess pie for Pi Day. You do not see Chess pies that often in the store or bakery but like Mince Meat it is one of my favorites. 

Maggie update, she is resting most of the time but seems comfortable with doggie smiles and tail wags. How long she lasts is unknown but as long as she is isn't in pain we will be there with chin rubs and treats.

The boy child, wife, and grand kid #2 will show up late tomorrow for most of the week. This will be the first we have seen each other in over a year. I'm really looking forward to some time with Abby. 

MsBubba got her second shot Monday and it kicked her butt, she is just recovering and now functional.

ken

Maggie Update

 First the good news, Maggie is OK. 

We spent the night tending her, at no time could she do more than a slight lift of her head. Anytime she tried to stand up she would fall into a loose pile of bones. By mid morning she did not appear to be better and we made an appointment with the Vet fully expecting to put her down. While waiting to go to the Vet we were visited by a neighborhood friend who sat with and petted Maggie for close to an hour. After her visit I walked with her to the street and we talked for 5 or 10 minutes. When I went back into the house Maggie was standing with her tail wagging, wanting a treat as if nothing had happened.

We went to the Vet anyway and she said Maggie had cluster seizures, with no need for meds at this time. She may or may not have more and if she has more there may be a need for meds to help.

It is good to have my shop dog back, thanks everyone for your concern.

ken

Sweet Maggie Dog

 Sweet Maggie Dog is a rescue Chocolate Lab who joined our family a few months after our other rescue Yellow Lab, Sam the Wonder Dog. Last year at an age of around 14 or 15 years we had to put Sam down, I still tear up when I think of Sam. Maggie is 13 years old and suddenly, over night has become unable to stand and walk. I expect we will take her to the Vet either today or tomorrow if she does not improve during the day.  

Maggie comes by her name naturally, everyone who has met her almost without exception will comment that she is the sweetest dog they have known. This will be the first time in over eleven years we have been without a dog in our life, as much as I have missed Sam I expect we will miss Maggie even more.  

 We will miss you my wonderful friend and shop dog.

Eating My Words

 With a side of beans and a little BBQ sauce they are not too bad.

As anyone who has read this blog knows I've been a pretty strong advocate of free hand sharpening mostly because of speed and the ability to sharpen all your tools with little of the monkey motion required by many sharpening jigs. 

Lately I've been playing with the Tormek and the results are really good. The big difference was after watching one of Tormek's instruction videos I took another look at the Tormek's leather stropping wheel and I realized with using the leather wheel to buff after grinding on the standard wheel followed by polishing with the Japanese water wheel I ended up with a Unicorn profile and not just a Unicorn profile but a damn sharp one.

The process still has the problem of not being usable on 100% of my tools but it gets close and some of the tools like shavespoke cutters (using the small knife jig) work much better on the Tormek than freehand. The new "77" jig puts a beautiful smooth camber on plane cutters and is very controllable with as little or much as you want. The biggest group that does not work with the Tormek are the Japanese chisels and with those I really like the look of the bevel finished on JNATS and a flat bevel anyway. So it isn't a deal breaker.

If the cutter isn't in bad shape, it is close to as fast as free hand and if using synthetic water stones I expect faster because there is no need for stone maintenance.  

Over the years I've had a love/hate, mostly hate, relationship with the Tormek and have come close to selling it many times. I'm glad I didn't. If you have a Tormek it is worth a go.

ken

Still Here

 This is the start of my last four weeks with FSI and I expect the last four weeks of full time employment. It has been busy but with little time for the shop, I hope that changes once March is in the rear view mirror.

Some of the things taking time are installing a WiFi booster and cell phone booster in the Motorhome. I figured both would be pretty simple, an afternoon project with plenty of time for a whisky or two. As with most projects it hasn't gone as planned, lots of butt scratching and I'm still not sure either are working correctly. 

I still haven't found time to put the greenhouse together but the other time killer is getting the spring/summer grow started from seeds. Like Guy Clark said: "There are only two things money can't buy, true love and homegrown tomatoes".

Shop things are mostly cleaning, repairing things for MsBubba, and getting all our knifes sharp. 

It is time to hang up the monkey suit and move on to the next stage of life. I've lived a charmed life and have enjoyed each stage as it happened. I expect the same from this final stage.

ken

Plow Planes

 Bob over at The Valley Woodworker posted a good write up on plow planes. As I replied to his post I have a major plow plane jones. Here are some of my plows:

From the other side:

From left to right:

1. Unknown Maker

2. Auburn

3. Auburn

4. Sandusky, my favorite user

5. Edward Carter Troy, NY, used almost as often as the Sandusky

6. Unknown Maker, good user

7. W. Greenslade Bristol, good user

There are several more stuck around the shop but most of 'em need work so they are good dust collectors.

BTW, click 'em to big 'em.

ken

Tormek

For the last couple of weeks I've worked in the shop almost every day but mostly doing house keeping and sharpening of tools and kitchen knifes. The Tormek is worth the note just for sharpening knifes, it does a great job, very easy and quick. I've also found by using the small knife jig it works a treat on shavespoke cutters. I have a low speed grinder with a CBN wheel and while the Tormek is slower than the grinder by the time you stop to cool the cutter several times the time to shaped is about the same or even faster with no danger of overheat.  In spite of my love/hate for the Tormek it is a keeper.

The woodworking has been making kitchen tools, I'm lucky MsBubba's favorite wooden tool is a very simple spatula (bottom row of the photo).

 There is a ton of work to do on the Motorhome to be ready for the Oregon trip, while it is several months away I can see a last minute rush in my future. There are also the decisions on what tools to take, which to leave, and finding room to fit the final kit. It is good the month of May is all PTO, the only question is do I work in June if called.

ken

 

 

CoVid 19

 I received my first CoVid19 shot today, the second will be on Feb. 22nd. It is a relief, now MsBubba needs hers.

My last day to work will be March 31st. The month of April will be covered with PTO pay and official retirement day is May first. 

My program is the Old Farts club of the Tucson Center and has been very stable for the last ten years. Not so this year, most of the OF are retiring within a few months of each other. In some ways it is good because it will bring in new blood, folks that have actually flown an airplane in the last year or two and know how the current system works. The bad is a lot of knowledge is walking out the door almost at once.

ken   

eBay

I do not rust hunt often because truth be told I have too many tools and little need for others. That said I've become a fan of folding draw knifes and would like to add one to the stable. eBay had a Jennings 10" folding drawknife with a high bid of $22 USD and just a few hours to go that looked ok, not great but ok with not much pitting and the handles looked usable. I bid $25 USD and forgot about it, I just received a email from eBay that I missed out because the drawknife went for $122.50 USD. That's howling at the moon crazy.
 

12:01 EST

 I know the colon doesn't belong in the time stamp but it does make it easier to recognize as time notation.

At 1201 EST/1001 MST MsBubba and I toasted the new President with champagne, followed by burning of Sage to ward off the evil spirits left behind by Trump. An hour or so later we had a champagne and Eggs Benedict lunch. I can't remember a better vacation day.

The long national nightmare has ended and it is time for the RWNJ/racist assholes to crawl back under the rocks where Trump found them. I know it will take time, it took 50 years of Nixon's Southern strategy to produce its logical outcome of Trump. I hope it doesn't take another 50 years to recover. 

 

Back to the shop: 

I've come close to selling the Tormek so many times but have always backed off when it came time for the nut cutting. I'm glad I did. Lately I've been playing with it and the "unicorn" profile and the results are very good. The funny part is if you follow the Tormek instructions for sharpening cutters you have a "unicorn" profiled cutter. Being male, "I don't need no stinking instructions", it didn't dawn on me that was the case until several weeks ago while bored I watched a Tormek video.

ken

Two OF's In The Shop

 Having a whisky with a friend in the shop. Nothing like two Old Farts trying to remember what day it is while enjoying a whisky.

A photo of the "sharpening wall". It is a work in progress but when finished will have all the sharpening tools in one place including the saw vise.

I've started using the Tormek on the kitchen knifes and shavespoke cutters, it really works a treat on both. I've gone back and forth between stone wheels, CBN, and Diamond wheels. While slower, the original stone wheel is the best all around option. As posted earlier, the leather buffing wheel with compound seems to give a "better" Unicorn edge than the soft cotton wheel on the grinder. I'm still playing with it but really like the results so far.

ken

Everyone Needs a Shop Critter

 Sweet Maggie Dog is a good shop dog. The machines do not bother her, the only downside is she is usually asleep in the one spot you need to stand and maybe MsBubba blaming me for the wood chips in the house

 

I've been playing with the Tormek buffing wheel to see if it will give a "Unicorn" effect. The first uses have been promising, much more so than the soft cotton wheel on the grinder. This has caused some moving of sharpening "stuff". I now have a sharpening "wall" not just a sharpening bench.

ken

Whew, Dodged a Bullet

Ran the table, whatever you want to call it. Maybe we can start the return to being who we claim to be and the vermin will craw back under their rocks. I know it will not happen overnight but let us at least start the process. It is not OK for fat fucks wearing a red cap and a "Fuck Your Feelings" t-shirt to ride handicapped scooters down the aisles of Costco. Just one of the things I hope to never see again.

ken

First Use of The Shavehorse

 I made a simple spoon this morning using the horse and the bench. MsBubba likes mostly flat one like this which is OK with me they are much easier to make.

I burned a big hunk of Walnut a couple of days ago with out thinking that it would have made a dozen or so spoon blanks. Of course when I pointed out we were burning over $30 USDs of Walnut MsBubba had a cow. I just had flat head syndrome.

ken

Shavehorse Finished

 Other than maybe a little Tung oil the shavehorse is finished and works a treat. I may need to remake the swing arm after some use, it works fine but I do not trust the Honey Locust to not split out and I had rather make a new one in the shop vs. on the road. 

The finished shavehorse:

 Rear view:

 

 

Ralph asked for photos of the metal rod (pivot pin). At the time it was straight and long because I had not sized it or shaped it.  A close up of the pivot pin:

If you do chairs, spindles, spoons, or just like to turn bigger hunks of wood into smaller hunks a shavehouse is a good tool to have. If I had been working with a better wood instead of trying to rid the wood pile of future firewood it would have been an easy, quick build and most important it will break down and store in a corner with the portable Moravian workbench.

One last thought, I've used twin swing arms and now this dumb head, first impression is the dumb head is a better system.

Close to Finished

 All the parts are made and more or less fitted, still lots of clean up to go but I had to give it a go as is. While the dumbhead is not attached and pegged to the swing arm it holds tenaciously. Once cleaned up this sucker will be a very good shavehorse.

ken

More Shavehorse

Work on the shavehorse stopped over xmas week because it is also MsBubba's B-Day week. Today was my first chance for shop time and as expected the Honey Locust bit my butt like I knew it would before finishing the shavehorse. While chopping the mortise for the rear leg wedge a big chunk blew out, the wedged mortise will hold the leg OK but it sure is ugly.

Left to do: fit the treadle to the swing arm, glue and peg the dumb head, cut and shape the swing arm pivot, and clean up and oil the whole thing.

A couple of photos:

 

ken

Patagonia Lake State Park

MsBubba, Sweet Maggie Dog, and I spent TMIDFTY (the most important day of the year, MsBubba's B-Day) "camping" in Patagonia Lake State Park. The park is between Nogales, AZ and Patagonia, AZ just a look see north of Mexico. The area was a major Wintering site for Native Americans and is one of the most beautiful parts of Southern AZ. 

Just one problem T-Moble coverage in the area is sparse and the Park's WiFi is spotty, our camp site for a couple of the days was missing WiFi. The satellite receiver worked so we were not totally cut off from the world but even MsBubba mentioned missing her cell phone. We somehow managed to survive the five days of roughing it in the motorhome by walks around the lake, throwing rocks into the lake for Maggie to retrieve, birding, talking, playing cards, cooking, eating and drinking way too much. I expect MsBubba would say it was one of the best TMIDFTY.

ken   

Venn Diagram of Sharpening

 The Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two, Venn diagram applies to sharpening with the minor change of Sharp, Fast, Durable for Good, Fast, Cheap.

I wish there were some magic where you could get a sharp, durable cutter quickly. The closest I've seen is the Unicorn profile folks are posting about on Wood Central. I've had mixed results using it, maybe I need more practice or it could be as I've seen posted the most noticeable results come from improving cheaper chisels, making them act more like a premium chisel.

The shavehorse build is coming along, the day job (guess I should call it the night job ) went into the backside of the clock last night and will for the rest of the week and MsBubba's B-Day is next week so progress will be slow.

I'm working on fitting the dumbhead and swing arm.

Once the swing arm and dumbhead are fitted I'll need to shape a treadle, chop a few mortises and made matching wedges to finish it up. 

ken