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I bought a table drill press at auction one day while spending some time close to South Fork, Colo It was just the thing I had been looking for so I could mount it up high so my eyes were next to the small drill bits I used for drilling very small holes when I did inside scroll sawing. I wanted to see if having that drill bit up where my eyes stay most of the time I could actually see where the end of the bit would be going in to the wood and not on the lines like I did sometimes causing a little trouble making the holes disappear when finished sawing a pattern out.. Well, as I was leaving I noticed a garage sale sign next door so as I was pulling in I noticed this old lathe laying in do-do of a horse coral. I looked around for a while and couldn't see anything I was interested in and said you got anything else you want to get rid of???? He said yes I do have some stuff I had almost all my life and it just sat there in my way for I bought a new better one. I offered 20 and he said I will help you load it. . I also bought a used dust extractor sitting there under the picknick table that I only use for one of my drum sanders. Sitting in an Rv park for 3 months got a little boring so the next year I Loaded every thing it took to saw out the four jewelry boxes I glued together after getting back home. Amazing what you can do with these old machines.

After an eternity, these two podiums are in place at two local funeral homes. I instructed the owners to bulk up and work out because they are heavy.

Well I just got home from the hospital, my dad had a stroke sometime yesterday or this morning we are not sure. This morning he made it down to his neighbors home, walking, and they brought him into their home and he could not talk. Then he could not walk, they called 911 and the fire department got there and then the ambulance, long story short I spent all day with him in Emergency and he's had a stroke. At this time, his right side is very weak, and his cognitive state is impacted along with this speech. I am sure many here have experienced this with their own family and or friends so you all know what it's about. Doc says he'll be in the hospital for a week, then transferred to an In-Patient care facility for physical therapy. He's 90 years old, so no doubt his recovery may be long, if at all. Ultimately when he's discharged from his therapy, he'll stay with us, his days are over on top that ol mountain all by himself with his dog. I've been trying to get his stubborn arse down the mountain to live in our valley closer to us so we could keep a better eye out for him, now the rascal has no choice! Prayers are appreciated my friends, thank you very much

Visited Dad today at the stroke rehab center, he is doing better. His motor skills are returning pretty good, he's walking now, with a walker. But his memory is worse than before, the way it sounds his memory will only deteriorate more at his age and with his challenges. This Monday we are picking him up and taking him to his new care facility just blocks away from us. Right now he is an hour away, and we have been visiting him every several days, at his new location we'll be able to visit at will, we could almost walk there it's so close. Have a wonderful weekend folks, stay safe, and be well!

Might be my first Ryobi tool

As many of you know, I make a lot of small things out of exotic wood, such as Christmas ornaments, with my mini lathe. I recently gathered some scraps and made some ear rings. My wife loves them and they aren’t hard to make. Sometimes my big fingers make it challenging, but I manage. All of the hooks and tiny metal pieces are avilaable at Hobby Lobby or Jo Anns. They make great gifts.

Finally solved an issue trying to prevent chafing / marring a finished bowl mounted in my Cole jaws. Starting with an ordinary kids toy, a pool noodle simply cut a slice off the noodle about 1/2 in thick and place the donuts over the rubber inserts on the Cole jaws. The bowl point of contact normally against the metal Cole jaws now nicely rests on the foam donuts. They pretty much will work with any of the Cole inserts for ID or OD workpiece gripping. Best of all they stay in place so there is no fussing around to get them to stay put or having to take the chuck off the spindle and place on a bench to keep the cushion material in place till you can load the workpiece against it . The pictures tell the whole story. calabrese55

It was a rough week, but we made it to Friday folks! Still recovering from having to go "Caveman" removing a hub-bearing on the stepsons 08 Equinox here. I asked Bruce not to remove the plow on the Blazer until at least late April, he didn't listen so of course we're getting 3-6 inches of snow today. Not much else happening here "Two Weeks From Anywhere". What's on Your Weekend Agenda?

In 2020 I was ask to take the logo for a friends ranch and make a wall hanging with the logo. Their daughter ask me to do this about 2 weeks before christmas and it was to be a Christmas present. Well I finished it on Christmas morning and it was delivered unstained. They brought it back to me after Christmas thrilled with it but wanted to make a tray out of it instead of a wall hanging. Since I had removed material, it couldn't be a tray or things would turn over when placed on it. So the decision was made to pour it with epoxy. So we got it poured and all seemed good. So I was waiting for it to dry and I went out to check on it and it had rolled like a potato chip. Anyway that created lots of work. I had to sand it off and start over and pour the back first and then pour the front. So long story short after pouring it that way it stayed flat and they were excited to have it as a tray. I couldn't find the picture with the handles on it. But it was an interesting project that took a lot of time but worked out in the end and made them happy and that's what counts.

When I retired many years ago, I built on to the side of my shop and added another 12'x32'. It was divided into three rooms, one being an office. I had intended to put a door on the office to keep the noise and dust out since that is where my computer and 3D printer lived. So I finally got around to building the door sometime back. It is on a barn style rail and the rail is mounted inside the office. I build the door out of a lot of the pieces I had left over from cutting boards I made and thought it would be cool if the door looked like some of my cutting boards. The top has double pain tempered glass so I can see out if someone were to come into the shop while I was in the office. Don't like surprises. Frame of the door is Cherry and the trim around the door and the window are Hickory. I still have a few things to tidy up and need to put down the threshold.

A toadrunner drinking from our garden fountain.

Started this project as a way to use small pieces of wood and add to product line. Got started with Spalted wood and it seems I have a lot in the shop. So I turned some plain buttons for the JaHo also. Started trying to use JaHo today and after starting found that the chuck holding par was too big to go all the way around so more tomorrow when I get couple screws. Oh also experimented with gilding wax and liming

Over the years I've read about sharpening on Japanese whetstones and always cringed slightly when I looked at the cost of a set of them. Besides I have plenty of other ways to sharpen my chisels/plane irons/scrapers/whatever. But on another forum a fellow posted he had a set to gist to someone, it had already been up 10 minutes when i saw it and no one asked for them....so I did. He even paid to ship them to me. The USPS wasn't kind however, and one stove got a small chip in a corner (still in the package), and the opposite side of that same stone was cracked. Regardless, both are still usable, flat as Kansas, and he even gave me the stone holder for use. I've wanted to try these type of stones for some time, now I get the chance. I only know the grrit of one, the one in the holder is boldly printed 800 grit, no idea what the others are....but I'm sure I can find a use for all of them.

I inherited my father's woodworking equipment when he passed in 2014. One of the most cherished pieces was his Craftsman RAS. This was his only saw. He never had a table saw. He did rip cuts, bevels, miters and all with it. I can remember standing beside it and watching him as he would cut his projects out. I'm 6.1 and my dad was about 5.9ish. When I brought the saw to my shop the first thing I did was the one thing I'd wanted to do for years, that was to raise the saw table to my height. I could not stand to have to bend over to see the blade. He would always say when I'd suggest things that "when it's your saw you can do with it whatever you want.". I removed it from the original stand and built a new taller stand. Since I was in a small workshop I put casters on it to make it mobile. I also added a drawer to hold blades and tools for changing them and recalibration. The table top was still the original 3x2x2 particle board from the mid 80's so the second thing was to replace it. At first I was just going to use a regular piece of plywood but, then my brother was moving and had to get rid of his old dinning room set. I had one of those epiphany moments while toting one of the leafs out the door. It was good solid wood, factory made and finished, smooth sliding surface and the perfect length and width. It was as if all the planets were aligned and everything was right in the world. Now all I had to do was figure out how to attach it so it could be removed easily if need be. My first thought was to have recessed bolts through the top. That was quickly shot down cause I wanted a smooth solid top. After some serious pondering and several failed ideas I finally had the solution. I took the piece of plywood from the original idea and mounted it to the saw. Then I cut some brackets that fit flush so I could slide it off when it needed to be replaced or removed. I attached it to the plywood from the bottom with 1 1/2 inch screws to keep it from sliding front to back. It worked like a charm. He also wanted the shortest fence possible. If it would just catch the wood and hold it he was happy. I like a tall fence so that was another thing that got changed. It had finally emerge into "my saw now". Over the years there has been many a board foot cut on this saw. Every time I use it it makes me think of my dad and that makes me smile.

Hope nobody minds, this just MIGHT be a long post... Lay out work.. Need to account for that groove, so that it does not show... Saw work? Note the other essential tool? The well worn shop stool..had to adjust a bit while cutting.. Adjusting on the fly? The tails will go off of whatever these pins call for. Chisel work.. Chopped half way down, on the show face...to prevent blowouts from the other face being chopped.. The pin with the groove, will be cut down to fit into another groove..chisel selection, today? There is a 24mm one down in the tool well, too. Use these pins to lay out the tails, cut the tails while leaving the lines..chop out the waste..Dry fit? There is no tail at the groove showing...Had to cut the pin down to match the groove. And, chop out a bit of waste with a chisel.. Cleaned up with a router. And the grooves still line up Set up for tomorrow? Will try to do the other end of the case, the same way. Front piece will be a little different.. There will be a couple dovetails here, but.. I still need to cover a groove...Might just cut th black lines first, then lay out the pins...? Stay tuned..

Still working on the magnets. Some new designs. Here is one still forget to make lots of pics.

I had that exact saw. I bought it for $100.00 from a guy that bought it new but never put it together for use. There is a detailed set of instructions in the owners manual for setting up the saw for accuracy. Making the stand is a good idea. The rigidity will keep the saw accurate once it is set up. The Craftsman saw bases twisted too easily. Every time the saw base moved the saw went out of wack.

You need to get to the shop more often

Anyone have the plans for making one of these?

Thank you Gramps, we saw my dad yesterday and he's already looking really good, but he will not be able to lead a normal life at this point. I can't see his memory getting any better, as he was already dealing with memory issues before the stroke, and now his memory lasts about 10 minutes before he's asking the same questions again. We are working with his case manager, and we decided that he would be best served in a professional facility where he can be served 24/7. At this point, this weekend I am scouring facilities here locally, and trying to find one that is nice and well rated. We'll be doing a couple visits today to see the facilities. My wife and I have discussed this exhaustively and we just can't see how he'd be safe in our two story home, he can not be left alone ever, I'm working full time, our son is working full time, and mama leads an active life where she is out much of the time. It pains me, but it is what it is. The fortunate thing about all this, is that Dad appears to be happier now than before the stroke! I don't mean to make light of this, but he remembers very little of his life before the stroke, he does not remember his mountain home, he doesn't remember his dog, yet on the downside of this he barely remembers he has grand children unless we remind him. Through all this, he's constantly happy, he jokes around, he is completely engaged in the discussions we have with him, and when I asked him if it's ok if we find a care facility for him to live in, he was happy about it, he said "oh yes!", and he asked if they are going to have decent food, and exercise, I assured him they would, and then he said the only thing that is very important to him is that he is near us, and we can visit, and I assured him that would be the case as well. And after all of that talk, he sat back in his chair, and he stated "well then, I got nothing to be worried about!". He even looks better than he did before the stroke, it dawned on me how much he was not taking care of himself before the stroke, because he was living a hermit lifestyle on the mountain, he was not eating well, he was not cleaning well, but we all just chalked up too "hey, he's 90 and he's on his own doing well and he eats what he wants and whatever he's doing got him to 90!". But now looking back, that was not the best way to view my dad, he needed some help before all this. Of course we made sure he always made it to his doc appts, but that wasn't enough, he should of had some sort of professional care a year before his stroke. So, I guess this is a fact of life now, he is where he is, and as long as he is happy, we are happy, and he is forgetful happy, the old saying ignorance is bliss, but he's not ignorant, he just doesn't know. Thanks for reading guys PS, I also found out that we can take my dad away from any facility for a day, or even extended weekend overnighters if we want, so that is what we are going to do, it's kind of the best of both worlds I guess, he gets the care he needs, and we get to have him with us when he wants and/or when we want.

Well, I made a spray can shaker. I have atheritis in both hands and hand tremors. Sometimes I drop the can I’m trying to shake. So I seen a YouTube video and decided to make one. Not much to look at, I used some scrap walnut and a piece of plywood. I covered the plywood with some plastic my daughter got from her work that were to be thrown out. It has a 12v motor, a (forgot the technical name) a converter that goes from 110v to 12v. I wanted to wire in a timer, but I just can not figure out how that is done. So I got frustrated and wired in an off and on switch until I can figure out what I’m doing wrong. I just wiped the walnut down with some walnut oil and made a little video. Seems to work well.you can see the timer (a gray box with 4 buttons on it). IMG_0701.mov

I picked up some hard maple and cherry from a guy about an hour away. The maple is 3.5” thick and the cherry 4” thick. Both are kiln dried. Man this maple was some hard stuff. Here is a box from the maple.

Maybe 30 some years ago, when I first got access to the internet, I chose ByHammerAndHand as an email address. Later, I used it as my company name and web site. It was a logo of old British guilds for joiners and cabinetmakers, or maybe blacksmiths, according to some. For Christmas, I got the poster back in stock at LAP and just got it framed.

Took advantage of the garden shed being emptied out (stone guys used the leftovers from a previous project I did. Serviced the mower. Probably the last season for that old faithful. I'm not allowed to mow- don't ask! Mimi's philosophy is- if it's on the ground, I'm gonna mow it. Consequently, New blade works much better! Stored the snowblower, so I know we have at least one more snow in our future. Will spend the rest of today helping Mimi get ready for a birthday bash she is throwing for a friend of ours. Always a big deal for Mimi. The rest of us, not so much.

I get to hopefully finish up a project 2 for the sis in law. Hang blinds in my daughters room(though she is only home 3 weeks a year Maybe do a fun project for me (nah I am sure wife will nix that lol) Fred that sounds like a fun festival

Just another Friday...same old, same old. May go and visit the Boss, tomorrow. Beyond that? Seeings how I just woke up, haven't quite figured out the schedule, yet.. Raided the supply of Donuts, this morning...as one of the pill bottles says "Eat with FOOD"...

Welp, today me and the missus is going to Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary Festival nearby a couple hours away in Simi Valley where the show was filmed. There is lots to do today, we have pictures lined up with the cast, wife reserved pictures with Melissa Gilbert and a few other cast members, there will be book signings and much more, it's shaping up to be a good ol fashioned fun time. I grew up on Little House on the Prairie for it's nine seasons it was on in the 70's through mid 80's. I loved it then, and all three of our kids loved the reruns, they watched all nine seasons as well sometimes over and over. It was and is one of those wonderful shows that capitalized on life lessons, goodness, family, neighbors, God, and good solid principles to live by, it's too bad our younger generation of today don't have something like this to fall back on during their evening prime time tv watching habits. I've always said, it seems our country started going off the rails in some ways about the same time shows like Little House and The Waltons became not the norm. Hmmm, wonder why. Anyway, here is the festival linked below, I'll report back later with some images and stuff! I have wonderful memories of Karen Grassle (mom) and Charles Ingalls, I grew up in a confusing time, and sometimes this family on TV was all I had of what a family should be This'll be really fun! I hope I get to give Caroline a big ol hug, she was my prime time mom. My wife still watches Little House to this day, she'll do marathons, it's funny. Little House On the Prairie – 50th Anniversary Cast Reunion & Festival – Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce LITTLEHOUSEFESTIVAL.COM

Starting Easter prep this weekend. Marie is trying to bake and really struggling with it so I'll likely be in the house to help when needed. may have to mow sometime before Easter....I keep trying to hold off until April bat may not make it that far this year. Screwy weather has the grass growing earlier than usual.

Today, check over granddaughters car. She'll return to campus later on Sunday. Church responsibilities also Sunday, then likely taking granddaughter out for lunch. It may be warm enough to pretend to do something in the garage later today after I get my domestic obligations fulfilled. We'll see.

The forecast calls for rain over the next 24 hours. I will be prepping a couple of mirrors so that I can sandblast on the next warm & dry day. Outside of that, my orders are clear... SWMBO says the outside must be presentable for company next weekend... the only response to that is "yes ma'am" To that end, I had the house washed a couple days ago. Also delayed mowing the lawn until after this rain event to minimize the dust & pollen that will be kicked up and yesterday extended the back patio with a few additional landscape paver blocks.

Hi everyone Finished my newest custom intarsia project titled "Woodworker Needs a Shop". This is the second of 3 pieces I am creating as part of the Aavegotchi Intarsia Collection. 501 pieces from 40 different woods. Book matched Zebrawood frame with purpleheart inlay banding measures 21" wide x 16" tall. No stains, paints or dyes were used in this project. Lots of little pieces , detail carving and texturing bring this project to life. Fun Stuff!!

Back on the internet about an hour ago (went out last Thursday about 7:30P). Was piddling in the shop practicing some toll presentations when the 'net came back on. So now I have some catching up to do on it.

Strut/Steering Knuckle assembly removed, and now soaking backside of hub-bearing. Almost time to go, on it!

Meeting the Howe family from WY this morning at our favorite place to eat breakfast. The rest of the day TBD. No shop time anticipated, though.

Picking up two more table tops from the church this morning to replace the edges.

Got the table finished and the owner drove up from Florida and picked it up. Sunday afternoon did my qualification for church security under the Alabama Security Guard protocol. After that just a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Got to replace the seal in a window today. That'll be a little bit of a job.

Holy Cow, Cliff! Hadn't heard for a while and thought you both had recovered well from the illnesses. Glad to know your missus is on the mend

Yep, that's what happens when you put the stuff away, and then try to remember where you put it.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were “piss poor.” But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot; they “didn’t have a pot to piss in” & were the lowest of the low. The next time you are washing your hands & complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. Since they were starting to smell, however, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it … hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath water!” Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, resulting in the idiom, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed, therefore, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, leading folks to coin the phrase “dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way, subsequently creating a “thresh hold.” In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, and thus the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.” Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, “bring home the bacon.” They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the fat.” Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the “upper crust.” Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up, creating the custom of holding a wake. England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive, so they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. And that’s the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring?

Mine looks like the one above or at least exactly like the box where mine resides. Picked it up at a flea market a good while back. Too good of a deal not to purchase it. No real place to permanently mount it so it remains safe from my hands. Like me, it now is considered "vintage."

I also own that saw. There was a recall out for it a couple decades back that provided a new/better blade guard and new table top. Mine is living happily in my garage shop area and is often used for crosscuts too wide for my Bosch glide compound miter saw. I have it set up with a collector/deflector behind the blade routed down to a dust vac which prevents any blowback of chip it throws when cutting. Best update I've done for any tool I own. You might check online to see if it still is available. Didn't cost me anything other than needed to register the saw to get the updates.

Steven, thanks for picking up the Monday topic again, I am taking the day off work to find a skilled care facility for my dad today, the case manager told me last Friday they need to move him to a more permanent location this week and I need to make a choice and submit our request today. Didn't leave us with much time to investigate facilities nor talk with anyone as all the admissions departments don't work on weekends, so I am scrambling today to shove two weeks worth of research and facility visiting into one day I was glued to the internet all weekend looking at and investigating facilities in our area, and looking at Medicaid.gov ratings for each. So I have a good idea what is going on, today it's down to a few visits to those facilities and make a choice. It'll all come together, it always does! Thanks again Steven for stepping up to the plate, and temporarily taking this off my plate!

Yesterday I woke up to a light covering of snow and 30°. To top it off t was windy and didn't improve al day. Not any better at the moment, it's 27° this morning though we are supposed to be near 50 later...again with the friggin' wind. But after last Thursday's storms this will be a piece of cake, besides:

I can't tell you how heartfelt all the posts above are to me. We got through the storm with no damage, but we lost power for 24 hours and internet/cable/land line phone until about 90 minutes ago. All that stuff is one the same fiber optic network so it all goes out at the same time. The storm was quite close to us, and we were in the basement for about 45 minutes....and we are a lot more lucky than many around us. Steven mentioned the 3 deaths at Indian Lake nearby, but there's a large private campground less than a mile from us that also got hit dead center. There are permanent residents there, and the place was practically wiped out; 8 people went to the hospital but no deaths. Many thanks to all for the prayers and wishes and kind thoughts...love you guys!

About all I managed to get done was, I got a year older. Waiting for it to warm up to freezing before I go out and pull the passenger's side strut/steering knuckle assembly from the stepsons Equinox so I can get to the back side of the hub-bearing to try driving it out from the backside. 5 lb. slide hammer won't budge it.