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My own dad, John H. Morris in his shop we built together back in 2005. He lives in the mountains nearby, he is Papa Jack to my wife, Grandpa to our kids, and at 86 years old, he's doing pretty danged good. He loves building birdhouses for the locals where he lives, and he has earned the nickname "Birdman" and he wears it proudly. Actually he didn't even know he had the nickname till just a few weeks ago, he heard it through the grapevine and he was tickled to death to know that he has an official nickname in his community. Love ya Dad! Just thought I'd share to you all my Dad. Class act he is, he loves solitude, self reliance, his garden, and building these little bird homes. Next to the shop is his single wide trailer that was pulled up on the property in the late 60's, the trailer is old, but he made it home. He's been living there since 2004. Dad, smiling for the camera Dad's shop looking out the front door He has a work station with the belt sander, palm sander, and cutoff saw, that only he knows why it's set up that way, for his birdhouse, and he gets a lot done DeWalt RAS, I know I know, don't say it, the blade guard, I used to get on him bout this, but he's been doing this since I was a kid, I used to cut wood all day myself without the blade guard on his RAS as a kid in his other shop, matter of fact I learned some of my worse safety or non safety practices from Dad, and later learned through working in the trades, what safety really meant, but hey, like I said, you aint gonna convince an 86 year old man otherwise, is what it is. I did however get on him about using a 10" blade on an 8" RAS, he did heed my warning on that, promptly switched them out. Dad, with his hands on his hips, he walks around most the day like that, I think he got that from his own dad, my dad was raised on a farm in the Catskill's of New York, the farmers all walked around like that when they got old. @aaronc, some of the antler I told you about. See, hands on the hips still, told ya! Old hand made three wheel band saw I gave my dad, I got from an estate that turned over hand made machinery to me to distribute to folks in need, I asked them if my dad could have this old three wheeler, they loved the fact it was going to dad. Sent them pics of Dad with the BS and they loved it. The saw works great by the way. Just another view out the front of the shop This is shot from his trailer, looking out, he actually has a stick built sun room built off the side of the single wide, he spends all of his time there with his dog Susie. He watches TV, reads, surfs the net, and he has this view, sorry the image is blurry, but it kind of gives ya an idea of what he sees every day, just beautiful country up there, 45 minutes from us. Thanks for reading!

Got back from the recruiters awhile ago. Here is the low down with contract. Cryptologic Linguist (35P) for 5 years with a $30,000 bonus to be distributed in $10,000 increments over her first three years. Meps return trip next week for physical and another exam that she'll pass with no problems. Swearing in to Delayed Entry Program next week. Then return to MEPS September 28th for the real deal, another swearing in at which point she's a soldier in the US Army and starts getting paid. Next day fly's out of San Diego to Fort Jackson South Carolina for Basic Training 9 weeks and a day. Then after basic she fly's back to CA to attend Monterey Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center for 9 months to 16 months depending on the language and AIT to be performed at same school. Then assignment to her duty station. My goodness, she actually did it!

I use the spoon for the lathe, the butter knife is my go to for everything else.

John, you are a blessed man to have your father for so many years. Most of us lost our parents years ago. Cherish the moments!

A very big congratulations John, all around. What little bit I know about this girl's family, I would say the Army did good today also! As for furthering her education, she is soon to get that! And there will be all sorts of college available to her if she chooses to pursue those while in the Army.

First of all Gunny, you gotta stop using a sharpened spoon for your plane blade.

Anytime, the door is always open. if you do come maybe you can see what exactly I do wrong trying to butcher wood with a handplane….

Been there back in 1999 when I was married to ex and she went through boot camp. Not a bad drive from where I live in Atlanta. You are welcome to fly in to Atlanta and stay at my place when she graduates. Even let you borrow the Tundra to drive up to Fort Jackson. Save you some money anyway.

Yeah, the CS and a guide is much better than the TS for sheet goods and, for getting a straight edge on rough lumber. Ths SCMS does my cross cuts.

@Larry Buskirk, I had one for several years. I was skeered of it every time I turned it on. My trepidation probably made it more dangerous than it should've been. A contractor offered me $150 for it and I jumped on it.

John, your Dad seems like a very happy content person. Not really possible to have a more satisfying life than that.

@Larry Buskirk, on the subject of dad's, your sig line reminded me, when I was a kid and I had a boo boo or aches and pains, dad never showed much compassion for any of it, he'd dismiss it with "Hey John, don't sweat it, it'll feel better when it stops hurting!". I've always said the same to my kids since they were little, it confused the heck out of em at first, now they just moan when I state it to them.

John, I might break the mold, but I don't think I care to see the century mark.

Larry, you are going to break the mold on this one, you're just too busy to die any earlier than 101yrs old! I was named after my grandpa, John Courtland Morris, I am John Courtland Morris II. If I was named after my dad, ya I'd be Jr. My mom hated the whole Jr. thing, so she talked my dad into naming me after his dad.

Thank you Gerald, as we all get older I am starting to see how important it is to do as you stated, when I was younger, death for anyone in our family seemed so far off, but we do all leave this life eventually, and my dad aint getting younger, as a family we are working on seeing more of him, and being more tentative to his needs. He's the only dad/gramps we got. 70 is pretty young Gerald, I bet your dad is living his dream elsewhere.

Good story John. All I can say is enjoy every day and ask questions and write down the answers now. Make copies of what you write and these articles for your children .My Dad died at age 70 and was still working. Often wondered what he would do in retirement but thinking now he would be gardening. He used to have a dream of having a farm with Hereford cattle .

Thanks Cal After researching the language institute she'll be assigned too, it is college! Man do they study and study and study, with immersion into their assigned culture and language, she may even get transferred to the country of origin at some point, and study there for full immersion into the culture, we may not get back our American girl after this is all done, but a hybrid cultured girl. Well she's already hybrid Spanish/North American, now she can add another great culture to her resume. If she decides to not make a career out of the Army, after her enlistment is up, she should have opportunities available with the CIA, FBI, and other security three letter agencies that protect our nation. At least that's what the recruiters tell us, take that with a grain of salt, but knowing how motivated our young lady is, she can make it happen if she wants too.

These manuals may have been there already, but I received an email from Shop Smith stating they are starting to put many of their manuals online. Here is the link. Shopsmith -- WWW.SHOPSMITH.COM Shopsmith Owner Manuals Available For Download

I have something similar but added convenience to it. My sides are able to roll up and down via a power window motor, 12 volts. To set up, press switch and roll down each side. When done, press switch it rolls back up and out of the way. Give me a few days to make new pics. Lost that project picture set when last laptop died... OOps.

I'll remember that Gunny, thank you!

Congratulations!

In all honesty when I first look at it I thought the same thing. Looks like a bird on a branch to me.

Rusty if you could take us with pictures from start (blank selection) then glue up then each phase of turning that would be wonderful almost as wonderful as your finished bowl. We are hear to support, applaud and lean.

Danl, a good thought but I finally sold it in May of this year. All these years my wife wouldn't let me sell it cause she said she would live in it when I died and sell the lake property for food expenses. And I would suggest getting in and out of the motor home especially getting older would not get easier each year and finally she realized I was right... I washed it right before he came and got it.. We told our kids it was only made to haul two people. It looked as good 20 years after we bought it for it stayed inside unless it was going down the road.

Quite so, my friend. You know it's often said that if we knew we'd live this long, we'd have taken better care of ourselves.

You get the advantage of having to pay for all of the things you did to yourself while working.

Very true indeed, Pete.

My dad was proud when I graduated from OCS (in '68, right after Tet), but I never really understood how proud until my oldest son volunteered for Army (Intelligence...yes, I've heard them; he says they're partly true). The Army made me the man I am today, but they can't take all the blame! I was a C- student before joining, A+++* after getting out. It was all motivation: I just told myself that if I didn't do good in college, I could go back in the Army. That's what you learn in The Real World: not facts, not really skills, "just" motivation. *A+++: I picked the courses worth getting an A, and the others got B+ or A-. It was all transactional: I knew what I needed to get a good job, and I wasn't about to do any more work than that. What the Army gave me was the insight of what to target and how to get there. THAT is priceless. THAT is what no school teaches. I feel sorry for kids who dodge public service: they really don't know what they're missing.

He mentioned this thing about payment for the ticket. Kinda killed my vibe...

Thank you Ron, it's amazing how healthy he is, I take encouragement from that fact, that hopefully I'll have a full long life as he has. We will cherish the moments, I promise!

Love it!

The waterborne finishes have improved hugely over the past several years. Good thing since that's all that will be available some years from now (says me). In any case, don't be misled by the moniker "lacquer" on the label. The waterborne finishes are by-and-large acrylic finishes with different names to appeal to more woodworkers. That doesn't take away from how much they improved or how good they are. I agree the GF products are as good as any available; but the Target Coating products are also very good. They do have the downside of not being available in retail location s (AFAIK) and they come in gallons instead of quarts. There is a new version of a waterborne finish I haven't found any info on though: it's labeled a "modified oil" finish. That one may not be primarily acrylic, or it is. In some emails with Flexner I still couldn't figure out what "modified oil" means, but if want to try one GF Endurovar is one such finish. Flexner did say these weren't new finishes, but have started to gain in popularity.

Michael the way I sprayed lacquer in the winter way back yonder I used two open face natural gas heaters sitting out in the room and lit them early in the mornings and got the temp up to spraying temp then turn them off and sprayed everything. Then after they dried I repeated the process if it stayed cold all day...humidity was my worse enemy in the winter for the clear lacquer would dry hazy white if I didn't check the weather before spraying.. It might be in the thirties out side but I could get the room above 55 to 60 before I would turn the heat off and start spraying.. Now I chance it using a couple of electric heaters the same way. You would think a person gets wiser as they get older but no for my thinking is, I will turn things off just before there is an explosion. Back then I bought lacquer thinner 54 gallon drums at a time and that sure would have woke up the neighbor hood... If I had to clear off the hazy coat I would add some reducer in the lacquer to slow down the drying time and keep adding more coats while the finish was still wet to slow down the process down... Sure had to watch the movement in the shop while the drying took place. I also used a product called Smoothie if cat eyes started appearing in the finish while it was still wet...Pledge polish and wax was bad for the furniture refinishers back then. If you are old enough you will remember clear lacquer was very thick back in the sixties. It had to be thinned almost 50% to be able to get it out the end of the spray gun....If you wanted a finish looking like lots of spider webs just raise the air pressure to 100 lbs or so and shoot it straight with no thinner. Little strings would be floating all over the shop...

What is this a Roshard Test?? The Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both.

My wife brought this to my attention. On Cracked Egg this design looks like a bird on a branch. Come on stretch your imagination.

Sorry Mike, I do not have the answer for your spray system question. Danl

Show Off!

that's really good. i didn't do well at Category 0 language

I can imagine, according to my Daughter my ex is suffering badly from our son going to Merchant Marine Academy. I'm with you though, hate to see them grow up and move on, but ya gotta let them spread the wings and fly. Hopefully he doesn't have the same insanity streak I did at his age. Jumping out of airplanes, blowing things up and all.

Congrats on the first place win! You deserve it!!

No, it's a thinned polyurethane. You can probably do a couple of coats without sanding but you should sand between coats.

Does this stuff melt into the other finish or does it require sanding between coats?