Practice makes ...

I spent a long time on the phone this morning with the father of a friend arraigning for some private woodworking instruction. It was a pleasant conversion, most of that nature are. He just picked up a used lathe, some turning tools and some passion for turning. We talked for about a half hour, mostly about sharpening and then about turning. He told me that he was practicing on some firewood. I love turning air dried wood. But then a bit of panic struck for me.

I studied classical guitar for several years in my youth. I've taught guitar, martial arts, computers, math, all kinds of stuff. I panicked when remembered some advice I got from a flamenco guitarist I studied with in my late teens.

He said, "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes you better."

Later I heard it better as, "Practice makes permanent."

I gave him some turning exercises on the phone and we are getting together next week. Turning is a lot like playing guitar, you can produce some interesting stuff before having any idea of what you are doing. Both also share the possibility of hurting yourself by using poor technique.


Thanks for reading. Next post should be some pictures of recent projects.

Happy New Year!

W. C. "Bill" Sias, Joiner and Cabinetmaker.

Some times you just have to make something silly

I made a bunch of these as Christmas gifts. I assumed I'd sell a couple. Nope, I sold eight of them before really offering them for sale.

The "dynamite" is birch, rounded to a 1 inch cylinder 10 inches long. There are seven of them in a circular bundle. The tape is for effect and is not supporting anything other than itself. There are joined by two tiny butt joints on each one. Since long grain to long grain glue joints are very strong and the rods are very light, butt joints are more than adequate.  The rods are painted a deep red using a technique that causes the surface to have a slightly rough texture.

The clock is in a piece of Black Walnut 5 inches long by 3.5 inches tall and 1 inch thick. The walnut is planed smooth and then finished in Boiled Linseed Oil.

The wires are epoxied into small holes in the center rod and the side of the walnut. I chose random colors cut to random lengths.

The clock has a diameter of 2.75 inches.

No power tools are used to make the "bomb." The rods were made with a drawknife and a spokeshave. All crosscuts were via a backsaw in a miter box. The walnut was ripped to width with my Disston #8 hand saw. The surface of the walnut was smoothed with a #4 1/2 Stanley plane that is about 80 years old -he still works hard despite his age. The edges were "shot" using my -even older- Stanley #8 on my self-made shooting board. 

I can build a few more before Christmas but probably can't be shipped for a pre-Christmas arrival. They are available for $39.00.