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I want to thank all of you for your concern and prayers. I was diagnosed six years ago with worsening heart failure a legacy from my grandmother on my fathers side. With today's medicine I have lived almost 20 years longer than she did and a couple uncles died early too. This go around my heart decided to go racing sometimes hitting over 150 beats per minute but was not AFib. Doctors were not sure what was wrong. Anyhow, they got me a concoction of drugs regulating the heart but I get short of breath just walking from the living room to the kitchen. Hopefully this will improve. Nine days in bed took a lot out of me on top of the heart condition. I'm working on that and feeling better daily. You guys are the best!!!

Last Thursday I posted a thread about how to weather proof wood that stays outdoors 24/7. Several of you gave me some good suggestions and I appreciate that. So over the weekend I cleaned up my outdoor windmill and then did what I usually do, I went El Cheapo and rattle canned it red, white and blue with some paint I already had in the shop. I figured, "What the heck............ it ain't a Mozart ................ it's yard art.

Digging through a box of stuff that came from my folk's house when they down sized and moved out I came across this old oak box. A little google research suggests it was made in the early 1900s. Many other examples can be found with a google image search. This one though has what I think is an assortment of recipes collected by my mother and grandmother. Many of the recipes in it I recognize from family meals served to my family of 8 over several decades. I have no offspring to hand it down to, but thought sharing all the recipes broadly would insure they survive. I started "The Recipe Box" blog to post photos and the text of each recipe from the box. https://myshawwalkerrecipebox.blogspot.com/ I've been adding a few each day. I'll stop when every recipe in the box has been posted there. Have a look. 4D

Just a tease.. Had to cobble up a latch for a storage box... About as far as I got with this Project.....may try to varnish it tomorrow..

morning project, replaced one that died and i couldn't get parts for it. just a minor amount of cussing was required this morning.....

This morning I finished the sailboat build I started last Friday.

Friday already! Son is visiting from AIT, graduated his UH-60 Blackhawk mechanic school and he's doing a two week layover here at home before he heads to his permanent duty station Ft Lewis Washington. Dad will be barbecuing for him and his buddies tomorrow as a welcome home sort of get together. We picked him up from the airport last Friday, he arrived just in time for his older sisters baby shower on Saturday, so this weekend is his weekend with his buddies. Proud mom with our son, orders to travel in civi's, no uniform, thus his street clothes, I always love seeing young military in their uniforms in the airports, but this time he had to come home incognito.

My Shop hasn't changed much

This is what you end up with when non-domesticated bunnies march to the beat of a different drummer along the road less traveled. (And any other appropriate cliches I may have missed. ) Mesquite outer shell protecting an oak inner bowl. Osmo poly-x oil finish.

Got my 2 inch insulation boards cut to fit windows in finishing room. Found out when the exhaust fan is on they get sucked out. So installed brace boards across them to hold in place. Then hung my HF tarp/ curtains. Back in business.

Worked on getting a switch put into this KREG router table. Used a piece of stainless we cut off a SnapOn truck. Waiting on bolts to arrive to mount router to table top. Making brackets to hold 20 ft extension cord to side.

In process of working on a box for my gents saw. Shou Sugi Ban box with finger joints and Greene and Greene features. Everything wood.

Another week of rushing around with more of what was added to the calendar over the weekend. Sister and BIL left Saturday. Got the pool dismantled and stored away for the winter. Dr. appointment in an hour. Mowing before it rains tomorrow.

Recently I made this hammer for setting and adjusting my hand planes. Here are some details that you may find of interest. “Spoon Peening” a Brass Compression Ring I wanted to dress up the intersection of the shaft to the handle and decided to use a brass compression ring (see Red Arrow). The problem was that the compression ring inside diameter was 0.378”. This was okay where the ring actually butt against the handle but on the top side it had a little 0.023” gap. This meant I had a slight draft on the handle. I didn’t want to try to sand the shaft diameter because the problem would worse. So I decided to “peen” the top edge of the compression ring. When I was a kid we used to make rings out of coins by drilling holes and then peening around the edge with a spoon. I decided to try this on the top edge. Unlike making a ring, the peening would be only towards the center in order to close the diameter to what I needed. Excuse my ugly thumbs! They don't normally look like this. LOL! After peening carefully, the top edge was now 0.355” diameter and the bottom edge was at 0.378” inside diameter. A complete success! Tapping the PEX Brass Tee (The Head) Next, I wanted to make replaceable head ends. I decided to make these out of 3/8”-16 hex bolts. First I tapped the inside of the Tee at both ends as shown: Making the hammer head ends I used two 3/8”-16 x ¾”L hex bolts. I chucked them into my drill and removed most of the flats on my bench grinder. It would have been better to do this with my hand grinder. Hand grinder discs are cheap next to wearing a bench grinder stone down and having to redress the flatness. Then I finished up with a small file in my drill press. I touched up with some 600 and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. On the tops of the bolts I smoothly filed off the raised nomenclature. It’s starting to really look good now ! Brass Plating the Hammer Ends Next I brass plated the steel hammer ends and reassembled. Next I spent some time polishing up the brass tee with some Autosol. I love this stuff! Finally, I shellacked the torrefied maple shaft and handle. Then a once over with some wood butter. Here’s the final beauty!! Thanks for Looking! Feel free to comment, ask questions and "Thumbs Up " if you like it! Cheers! MrRick

Spent first night in new house last night, after hauling a trailer load from old house. Today loaded the trailer again. More tomorrow. Will be glad when it all gets here so things can get to a new norm and maybe get back to setting up the shop.

Here's some of my practice doing Inlaid dovetails. Thanks for looking! Cheers! MrRick

Sycamores are always dropping limbs and the limbs are almost always gnarly, misshapen, and often spalted before they ever hit the ground. In other words, they are ideal for turning little rustic birdhouse ornaments.

Sorry @Gunnyand @John Morris. Just having a bad day. Got a covid shot and a flu shot a couple of days ago. The following morning, I didn't even have the strength to get out of bed. Never had this problem before but it really hit me this time. Couldn't even sit up in bed until later the next day. Still feeling kind of blah. Today I had all kinds computer problems and then problems that were eventually solved with the VA.. MY patience is really lacking these days. Never had much luck with carving John.

I know a guy that owns a sawmill. He sells me wood for $1 a board foot. He will cut any size I want. These are 10” to 12” wide, 3” thick and 64” long to fit in my bed. Got 160 board feet for $160. I have to supply the wood for my students at my Woodcraft classes and this works great for that. Looks like I will be cutting bowl blanks for a couple of days. Also going to cut some spindle blanks and box blanks.

Saturday we had company over to celebrate Marie's 77th birthday....so nothing outside of being social got done. Sunday we had some miserable weather so I baked a turkey. We usually have a turkey 4-5 times a year, but this year the hot weather steered our diet into more grilled stuff than baked/roasted. So this was the first turkey since last March or so. BTW, I told Marie she's now as old as me....her reply was "Not quite".

Apparently overdid things a bit last week. I didn't accomplish much over the weekend; took out the trash, retrieved the mail and took a nap. Weather forced me inside so since I was already there watched the IU football game. At least that's my story so I'm sticking to it. I also managed to polish off a few cinnamon powered donuts with my wife's permission. Week ahead will be mostly outside work preparing for the long winter to come; also harvest the last of the gardens before the freeze hits by week end. Plenty more of those cinnamon donuts to inspect.

For our November meeting one of our lady turners demoed an ornament she turns. It's a basic globe ornament but she does an applique of contrasting wood on four sides of the globe. She uses a scroll saw to do a cutout on the added piece. She had some with Christmas trees and some with crosses. I do not own a scroll saw, by choice, in fact, I have un-owned one three times now. Scrolling is just not for me. I do however, have a router and guide bushings. I also happen to have a 3D printer. So, I printed a template for a cross and routed that into 4 pieces of wood for an ornament. The main body is walnut and the appliques are spalted maple, I think. Still have some kinks to work out but I'm overall happy with the look of it. I think it works this way but if a little more is turned away the pattern pieces will isolate on each side and I think that would look good too. The lady (Rhonda) who did the demo also had glued a piece of veneer between the main piece and the applique. That made a nice outline around the feature.

Mechanics Christmas Tree

My shop.

Pharmacy and insurance rejected this Rx. They said if I was well enough to take donuts, get off my butt and get to work.

Dr. John prescribes twelve (12) Donut pills. Take one (1) to three (3) pills whenever the urge strikes until they (the pills) are all gone. Unlimited repeats!

Mimi just left for an appointment so I'm currently unsupervised for which I will probably pay dearly later on...

Good Monday morning! Good Monday morning Patriot Woodworkers! What did you get done over the weekend, and what have you planned for the week ahead! Inquiring minds want to know. Please tell us what's happening in your shops, your life, and any events going on with you. Thank you for being here folks! Welcome New Members To view our newest members and welcome them to our digs, please see our Members Page, you can "Sort" by join date and click on their names and be taken to their profile page where you can leave a message of welcome. Thank you for making our newest folks feel welcome. Featured Topic I absolutely love this Featured Download Adjustable book rack, a classic. Featured Video I'm a huge fan of Craft in America, and I don't think I've ever seen this interview with our former President Jimmy Carter, a good watch, about 5 minutes long, have fun!

This is a Hand Stamp Spacing Guide that I made a few years back. I designed it to be used with Lee Valley's 2mm, 3mm and 5mm letter and number stamps. It allows you to punch mark wood or metal with clear, evenly spaced characters. Here's the setup: I've clamped it on top of a workpiece secured in my vise. Then you just slip in the Punch Stamp as shown... ... and give it a couple taps with a small to medium size hammer. To punch one letter or number after another, You can move the punch holder by lifting the locking knob to next hole and putting it down to lock. Put in your next letter or number punch and away you go! You can also move half spaces by moving the locking knob to the left hole as shown here. Here's one of my boxes where I've used my Hand Stamp Spacing Guide and punch stamps to identify the box. Thanks for looking! Cheers! MrRick

Worked on a box. We're headed out of town for a late brother-in-law's memorial service. A niece and nephew are putting us up overnight and feeding us, so I made a box as a thank-you gift.

Been busy this evening. Router is mounted. Added rubber trim to edges you will rub against using it. Got electrical all mounted. Router top came out good. Bought 3 longer M5 bolts.

I really didn't have anything planned for the weekend but yesterday morning I woke up with this idea stuck in my head. These days for anything to get STUCK in my head is rare so I got up, fixed coffee and started in on the idea. For some time I have wanted to improve on the palm router table I built months ago. To secure the bottom of the router to my workbench I have been using a zip tie. Not the most stable hold and I always had to cut the zip tie to free the router from the workbench. So here is the idea that came to me out of nowhere. Some time ago I added the router fence that locks into the t-tracks you can see in the background. I came up with the idea of using two 1/4" all thread rods through the face of the workbench, a metal strap with two layers of shrink wrap for cushion and two wooden knobs with an insert nut in each that I made with my handy-dandy knob making jig. On the underside of the workbench face I used piece for wood with two 1/4" insert nuts that the all thread rod screws into. This allows me to put pressure on the bottom of the palm router by screwing in the two wooden knobs. When the router table is not in use I am able to just push the two knobs and metal strap in against the workbench face to keep them out of the way. OOPS! Time for me to go pick my granddaughter up from school. Yall have a good week.

Essentially did nothing over the weekend thus achieving all my Friday goals monitoring the grass growing, leaves falling and spider web construction inspections. Week 2 of post surgery recovery increases my lift restrictions by 2x up to 10-15 pounds plus allowed to drive; still waiting on approval for circular pastry consumption levels. Week ahead, grass growth inspection 2.0, leaf migration rate, Charlotte's Web neighborhood watch and newly added responsibilities as Papa Smurf HOA overlord. So far, I have overcome any temptations to cross over into the center of this unauthorized settlement.

SWMBO is out of town, I'm "Home Alone" and Un-Supervised for the weekend!

Well the work bench is full so I took advantage of the great weather to rip some of my Butternut to make strips which will be steamed to make wooden orbs. This is the Whiskey barrel hoop version

I use JB Weld 2 part metalized epoxy weld stuff. I see the same company has a “steel stick”

Very little on my docket this week or next. Under too many restrictions and medications. Had surgery Monday morning in Indianapolis (planned; continuation from last years ordeal; one year and two weeks, but who's counting); Was told I would be spending at least one night in the hospital; apparently things went extremely well and most importantly no surprises or issues like the strokes last September; just another 20mm bladder stone. Anyways, checked in at 9:15A; in surgery by 11:30A; wheeled out at to the car 4:30P. Long day but only gone from home a total of 11-1/2 hours. Pretty rough first night at home, but still better than a great night in the hospital. Yesterday, wasn't too bad; last night better; today, I assume everything is catching up; just really tired, some nausea, but able to function OK; Mrs. went back to work knowing I'm not allowed to drive yet plus she still has my drivers license and debit card in her purse. May walk around the yard or up and down the road in a bit; felt pretty good doing that yesterday a few times. Aside from this brief setback, life is good.

Looks like you put a lot of thought into this and it shows. That's a lot of weight to move and your answer looks quite suited to the job. Nicely done Steve.

Just sitting here wishing I could do something useful. Getting old really gets old.

I did this just before dinner last night. I've done two corners of a cedar and pine box. These are actually inlaid with a square hole punch from Lee Valley.

This weekend I started exploring and practicing different Greene and Greene techniques. The details of which are found on furniture, boxes, frames, etc. Here... I pillowed the box finger joints and temporarily placed a pillowed plug to see how it would look. The journey continues.

Had a good weekend with woodturners meeting demo went great . ad a friend handling the video but have not gotten a chance to see what he did. This was the first use of new mics and everyone was pleased, Well I have been trying to tell them it would be for about a year. Started seeding all that bear ground with rye when I got home. Today finished the seeding, Took a truckload to Goodwill , we are just about on a first name basis. Started on turning curtain rods late this afternoon.

Exactly!! Do tell!

And that is why I try to come up with some of the 'off the wall' stuff I do!

A few years ago, my school started a "Pre-Engineering" course where the kids have to design, build and work on their creations. Hopefully, it will give them some respect for the repairman who has to service what is made.

Good to see you posting again, stay well my friend!

Thankful you're on the mend, feeling better and home. Prayers for you to continue to improve, regain strength and the medications to be effective. Take care and don't overdo. You were greatly missed from here.

Dan, it's so good to see you back! It's sounds like you still have some recovering to do, fingers crossed for a speedy one.