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My Grandpa seemed to find things all the time. He got this brass old time truck off something. I made it into a key holder.

Mama took off to her home country Panama for a couple weeks to visit her aging mother and siblings, I'm here, retired, house to myself, like a kid at the park, the world is wide open! It's breakfast time, think I'll go eat some Apple pie leftover from Thanksgiving, then for dinner I might have a couple bowls of ice cream.

Yea, that’s Lake Huron. Probably the main reason we put up with the weather here.

I've been making moulding planes and doing both the woodworking and metalworking. Sometimes when I make the blades I've been cutting out what I need from old hand plane blades. I can't bear to throw scrap away because it could be useful. So in the photo you will see a piece I started shaping for making a Birdcage Awl. I turned a shank insert and a handle out of torrefied maple. Here's the exploded assembly of the shank, shank insert, and handle. This is the fully assembled Birdcage Awl. Do you like it better with (1) or without (2) the brass ferrule? Cheers! Thanks for looking! MrRick

Sometime folks leave our school after being passed over for a promotion they clearly deserve. Mostly the promotions are given to "DEI's" and this leaves a tremendous hole in what was a well oiled machine. For those who leave, I have made a small gift that answers the question- "Will you ever return to the school?" Project 3.mp4 I did use the lathe to turn the knob! Oak, 150+ year old pine for the frame, cherry, walnut, poplar and acrylic paints.

Kind of snowed in, this morning... BAH ! Humbug! View of the backyard...

My son-in-law has an aunt and uncle in Alpena and they meet there sometimes in the summer for a family get-together. But he and my daughter live in the Keweenaw Peninsula, which I describe as being surrounded on 4 sides by Lake Superior. They get 200-300 inches of snow a year. Too much for me.

Still digging out from the weekend storms. New says we got 21” but my measurement is closer to 19”. Either way it’s a ton of white stuff to clean up. My brother in law came by yesterday with his plow but I still have plenty of shoveling to do today.

I have so very much to be thankful for, and I hope all of you do as well! Happy Thanksgiving.....and to our Canuck friends tuck this away for your Thanksgiving day.

I recently sold one of my tools and have to ship it to San Fran from Ohio. The buyer asked for an estimate on shipping and I used the estimator on UPS, Fedex, and UPS to run the costs. This is a somewhat large, heavy package (45#) and the estimator s came in at USPS: $132, UPS $140, and Fed Ex $118. So we chose Fed Ex. Then after I actually packed the tool up and got the real weight I entered the addresses. (mine and his) and ran the cost....Fed Ex came back at $172! So in collaborating with the. buyer, he still wanted it and we would try the other with actual data. USPS came back right at what the estimator said, $132. But the real surprise was UPS....their cost turned out to $58. I'm not sure how it wound up so cheap, I double checked everything to be sure the inputs were all correct and all was good. I quickly printed the labels before they changed their mind. The buyer is out of town right now and asked I not ship until 12/15 (also put into the UPS costs) so it sits here waiting for me to drop it off. So if your shipping something this season don't trust those estimated costs, they can be off a fair amount.

Just a dusting here-

I'm back from a 3 week trip to the Balkans and have the missed-yard tasks completed, except for the snow shoveling today. I've been gluing up the basswood pieces, to form the carving blank, for this cat. There is almost 14 board feet used for this glue-up. Once done, I can proceed to do the carving/shaping. I'm very unsure about how to approach the carving but I'm thinking there will be some back saw work involved, initially, followed by the gouge details. I'm also thinking that I'll carve the bottom half first, followed by the top half details.

Just a little (but wet) snow here in SW Missouri. Glad I didn't need to get out as I guess the roads got slick for a bit and typical traffic issues followed. Back yard view of the snow. Should be gone tomorrow when we are back above freezing.

Folks, we have a winner!or would that be a winter?

Not doing anything more than absolutely necessary, last month kicked my butt.

My Brother spent a bit of time at the Air base there....rated it about the same as the one down in Biloxi.. Scale of 1-10? both were a -5...

Appears we're still missing our Wisconsin chief of staff @Larry Buskirk; hope he hasn't become lost two miles from anywhere in the steam heating tunnels over at Bruce's place. So I'll give it my best shot again to fill the gap. Here in West Central Indiana we're bracing for the first big Winter Storm ahead of winter with somewhere between one inch and one foot of blowing, drifting snow predicted by Sunday. Only shop work will be getting the snowblower queued. So, what's.on your Black Friday and weekend agenda? Were you out early or still shopping those big sales?; still recovering from the turkey and ham feast from yesterday? Perhaps planning how to recycle those leftovers for the next few days; watching one or more of the regular season FBS big rivalry games or maybe headed to the shop to begin those last minute Christmas gift projects? Nosy minds need to know.

Yes..all of this did make a mess on my shop floor...swept up into a pile.. Then cleaned up and into the Fire Pit Bin... Still a bit dusty...oh well..at least it isn't Carpet....

Roh-kay, Raggie..Friday was a busy day, anyway way..Panel came out of the clamps... These 2 took turns at flattening both faces...then This one smoothed out a few spots Next, got out me Drawing Kit Needed 4 lines that this "Thing" could follow.. And do all 4 corners with.. Deabte is for which face will be the "Show Face".. Aprons? Was not happy with the short one..meanwhile, there were "Steps" between the curves and the straight sections...we have ways.. With THAT taken care of..back to the apron problem... Had a chunk of 2 x6 Ash.. Laid the short apron down to find the best section... This was on it's way to the Fire Pit bin Used the short apron one more time..ripped the 2x for width..then stood it up and resaw to thickness... That needed a bit of clean up.. We have ways of making you flat.... So..NOW I have 4 aprons I am happy with.. Next..Legs.... My Stanley #45 does not include any cove bits...but..my router does.. The face that get a cove, had not been planed smooth..so I did that first, router had to be pulled back towards me.. Repeat 3 more times... Not quite a true "Cove" but..I like it.. Will see about milling tenons and Mortises later today...stay tuned By the way..this is the other face... Trying to decide which will be the "Show Face"....or.. Hmmm...

Had time to kill yesterday morning..before the long road trip for dinner...so..went with Option #1.. Made a mess on the floor, too.. MILLERS Falls No. 15 Jumbo Jack...flatten both faces...then smooth things over with the No. 62.... Ends needed squared up.. Set up a Guide fence..for.. Measured from the side of the saw's blade to the edge of the saw's foot...Framer's Square to mark across to aline the fence..I merely had to keep the saw vertical and pressed against the fence, and make a cut...turn the panel end for end, and repeat... Ends needed a tongue milled... But this bit did not need a fence to run against...first cut was a hair deeper than I want...but.. Imagine this one...a Harbor Freight rebate bit in a Craftsman Router... I used a rip fence to make the tongues a bit longer..as the bit only goes to 1/2".... Then set up the tablesaw to mill a almost matching groove.....I also had cut 2 bread board ends to the same width and length needed.. Then a dry fit or 4..until the ends fit.. Hmmm, one more try..then, glue and clamps.. May take off the clamps, today, and clean this thing up...need to cut a curve onto each corner... Stay tuned..

Another way..... Often people use a kerfmaker like the one I showed in an earlier post to help make perfect dados for mating parts. But there's another way I often use that's just as quick and simple to do. The details You'll need a gauge (of sorts) that takes into account the mating part thickness and the saw blade kerf. Here's how its done. Set a fence stop approx. 6" from blade but this doesn't have to be exact. Once you cut the scrap length the fence stop does not move. Next, you insert the mating part (This will be the part that inserts into the finished dado; marked "A") between the scrap length you just cut and the stop. Then you cut off the portion sticking out from the left of the blade. This is now your gauge. Seen here with a "star". Save this piece. You will use it to make your perfect dado. Set your blade height for the dado depth. Make your first cut. Insert the Gauge and make your second cut. Remove the waste in between the two cuts. The Perfect Fit! Now you'll have perfect fitting parts! Thanks for looking! Cheers! MrRick

Hey guys, it's my first day, I am sure this new found freedom will wear off by sometime tonight when I'm awakened with a massive GERD attack, just to remind me that what I did today was not good. And I'll be back to my normal diet tomorrow, but hey, give me one day guys!

Kept going... Got the last mortise chopped... Decided to just go ahead and glue things up.. Diagonal clamp to pull things into square..with a bit of help from the Tablesaw.. these ridges, are square to the front edge of the Tablesaw's top...works for me... Decided to work on corner braces...sooo.. Had a decent enough piece of Pine scrap...made a bunch of 45 degree miter cuts....drilled a few counter sunk pilot holes... And, a few slotted mounting holes...glue & screw into the corners....add a screw and a washer to attach the base to the Top..... Letting this sit a day...still have to run a cove around the top of the Top..and see about a finish.. Stay tuned..

And, I can be real dense. A conversation with my lovely missus might go as follows: Me, "What came in the package?" Her, "A top from Talbots." Me, "Do ya like it?" Her, "I liked the other one." Me, "Do ya like it?" Her, "I liked the one I got before." Me, "Do ya like it?" It went on like that for several iterations, and finally I asked: "Do you like the one you got in the package today?" Still, the answer given was not as to the question asked. Finally, after some effort, I got a more targeted answer. Now, this is a theme; it's a thing that happens a lot. I ask a question, and I can't get an answer to the question. The response I do get is as to some other related thing. I think I've figured it out. She wants to have a larger conversation about more stuff. So she answers me with things I wasn't asking about because in her subconscious, she's already half into that larger conversation. Women can be so complex.

That's a pretty awesome view to wake up too, jealous!!!

Watched Ole Miss win #11 Saturday. Spent a bit of time in the shop cleaning up and putting stuff where it belongs. Sunday after church more shop time after lunch. Today went back to the house to set up a limited Christmas decoration.Turned some executive tops and a few snowmen. Started painting but did not finish that. Tomorrow have a Dr appt and then back to shop. The wife has a GI series Wednesday so That will probably kill the day.

Great to have ya back Larry, was thinking you moved from two week from anywhere to 1 month from anywhere!

Great to have you back with us. The extra workload on Fridays was starting to wear me down

Friday got the snowblower out of summer storage, prepped and queued. Saturday all day watched some football and the snow blow sideways. Sunday, the drive to Sunday school & church was terrible due to the ice plus the unexpected detour due to a power line down across the road. Week ahead, youngest grandson has (had) basketball games every night although tonight's has already been canceled due to snowmagedden part two beginning later today. Only 20 more days until Winter begins. Shop is now officially closed due to environmental issues and the Indiana winter law prohibiting tongues sticking to tools. However, being December 1st, the winter donut hunt season has officially opened.

Months that start out on Mondays...meh.. Will see how today moves along...

Something I'm going to have to save up for. My career always provided me a laptop and I was able to use it for personal stuff as well, now I gotta bite the bullet at some point for a purchase.

Beautiful image @Gordon! we are supposed to get a light dusting tonite. Probably not enough to fire up the snowblower. Worked on setting up new laptop for a friend and retrieving information from the old one.

@Gordon, are my eyes deceiving me or is that a body of water in the back ground, and if so, what's it called? Absolutely beautiful imagery!

I am getting to the last stages of the closet now. It has been a long one. Somehow life keeps getting in the way of my woodworking. I am down to the drawer fronts and sliding doors. Paul

A virus has we pretty knocked out for the last 5 days, but I am enjoying "The Game".

Like everyone I look for bargains on tools. Many years ago when building up my clamps Woodcraft came out with a parallel clamp much like Bessy k bodies. Well I bought several . This week while working on a project one had the clutch break in two and another badly cracked . Decided to give them a call and maybe get parts. They connected me to tech support. We talked a bit and he said he had two laying around and would send to me. They came in today . Talk about Service with a capitol S.

I brought the snow thrower up to the house from the barn, but this weather problem we're about to have may mean i need to get the tractor up here as well. Some reports are calling it a "wet snow", which my snow thrower definitely doesn't like. Aside from that, I usually ignore the Black Friday sales, but Menards had one item that I though I should go get. BIG mistake, the early crowd at Menards looked like Black Friday of 20 years ago. The register lines (all of them) were at 20 people deep, and it was ard to get around the store trying to find anything. After about 15 minutes I was about to give up and leave before the shopping gods smiled on me (that's never happened before). I was walking out and spotted my item on the end of an aisle. Picked up what i wanted, resigning to wait in line. Then I got to the registers and one only had 4 people in lne...5 after i quickly stepped in. For the shop, I should be able to get some time in there this weekend back working on a pet urn (I need to make 2) and screwing aropund on the lathe futzing with some ornaments.

Watched the video but he is not highly knowledgeable on finishes because he left out one of the big one for food safe Mahoney's Walnut oil . It has no allergens from walnuts in it and can be applied whenever it is needed. I make spoons , spatulas, honey dippers, biscuit cutters, and rolling pins and use the walnut oil on all. This one is food safe and does not seal the wood from other oils. You can actually get some shine with repeated application and a buff.

With friends like these, you sure don't need enemies!

Seeing this post reminded me @HandyDanmade some beautiful awls with the shanks being made from recycled engine valve stems.

We have 3" on the north side of the valley, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I'm liking the way those legs will look! The second "top" picture has lots of character.

I guess everyone else is still out there in those long checkout lines. Watched Ole Miss win another Egg Bowl. Got mostly thru with a walk to the shop. I just keep forgetting to take pics. Put up a cabinet in shop and cut and glued some blanks for special tops I make. Got to get moving for a show next week.

I want to say I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!