Ron Altier
-
Posts
3,558 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
37
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Military
Glossary
Events
Downloads
Blogs
Store
Links Directory
Community Map
Everything posted by Ron Altier
-
I’ve been thru some sickness (not covid) and it really drug me down. Not many projects. I’m back now feeling much better.
-
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.
-
All of those ornaments were made from a dead Red Elm (I think) limb in my back yard. I was cleaning up branches that a nearby tornado blew out. After the initial cut, I looked at the inside of the cut and saw. a mixed up composition of rot, dark dead spots, etc. I had to turn it down and see what secrets it held. I finish with 2 part 30 minute epoxy, while the piece is very slowly turning. It cures into a glassy finish. The strength of the epoxy fortifies the piece and gives it a very beautiful finish. Epoxy is tricky, much depends on the temperature in which it cures and the rpm it turns while it is curing. It takes a delicate balance. Now that the weather is turning cold………so is my unheated garage…….which again effects the cure. These ornaments are Christmas gifts for my family.
-
As I was trimming some small dead limbs from a Red Maple, I noticed the end grain looked colorful. I turned down some small pieces and it was beautiful. The limb was 6 feet long and the largest diameter was about 2”. I let it dry and turned about 15 tree ornaments. They are pretty and will make great Christmas gifts. I did have problems with rot but I used 2 part epoxy as a finish to stabilize and enhance the beauty of these pieces
-
“Did you ever forget what you are doing" Not only yes but as I age (80 now) it becomes more prevalent. The one thing I try very hard to maintain is my safety. If in doubt don’t turn it on and if it is running……….turn it off. The part that really bugs me most, Is where that little Demond hid what I’m looking for. If I replace a bad screw diver with a red handle with one with a green handle………….I’ll look for the red handle for 5 minutes.
-
Another thing I like is a feature that looks like a flame in the upper right corner. It is in either black or orange. If you click on it, it will delete (or burn) all sites you have visited
-
I recently changed browsers and switched to DuckDuckgo. I was amazed at the trackers on nearly every site. Especially Rockler 104 trackers and Woodcraft 89. I know I"d be even more amazed if I knew how many Google has. Duck Duck identifies and blocks all of them. The Patriot Woodworker showed NO trackers. I am NOT promoting any web site, but I feel safter knowing I am not on a browser that doesen't tell the world my info.
-
I use dowels often when tuning small to tiny turnings. Many times these dowels crush or come apart. I turn my own dowels when using a colorful wood. I saw where I could get bamboo dowels in standard sizes and ordered a few to see how would turn. When I received them I was amazed at how light and strong they are. I turned one down into a sewing aid for my wife. Here is what I found out. 1. Even tho they are advertised as being in standard sizes, they are metric. Holes must be bored with metric bits. 2. Even tho it is very hard to see, many turning come off in tiny needles. Ask me how I know. ouch. 3. Even tho it is super hard, it absorbs finish like a soft wood. 4. I will use it, but only as support for small turnings and then turn the bamboo down to a point on the ends of the ornaments.
-
More than “cool”. Show us more -
I’m still trying to solve issues. The epoxy must be mixed in equal parts and temperature plays a huge part in curing, as well as rpm. Im not ready to give info yet……I thought I was. Maybe soon if I can stick with it (pun intended)
-
I think I have a handle now on using epoxy on small turned pieces. These pieces came out good and look like a glass finish
-
Perhaps it was the only way to widen the entrance for a wheel chair.
-
Welcome to my little corner of the world..........won't you come on in?
-
I had to think about this one for a while.........
-
What's on my workbench? Not what you'd expect. I was moving some things out for disposal and one was a plastic bottle of dandelion killer concentrate. It slipped out of my hand and hit my work desk. The lid popped off when it hit and splattered on one corner, as well as on my hands. As a Viet vet with agent orange damage, I ran into the house to rinse and wash ASAP. I opened all the doors and did a cleanup with fans blowing, with all my PPE. I then removed the dest top and tossed it. I cleaned up (with protection) all that I could see and installed 3 fans to push and move all the air in the garage thru the open double door. The next day I repeated the whole clean up procedure. The fans still running. When the odor was gone, I installed a new plywood desk top. Next I had a super sensitive odor detector(wife) inspect after the garage was closed up and no fans running. (She can detect odors a mile away) I got the "all clear" and am back in my shop. I still have all doors open, as usual this time of the year.
-
I'm still playing with the 2 part, 30 minute epoxy. I have refined my set up and application process. I am still learning. Here are some rules I use a low RPM manual setup to regulate RPM 1. MOST IMPORTANT! Clean your lathe and surrounding area of all dust. Just one little mistake will show up and stay. 2 Apply slowly with a small brush while turning at slow RPM 3. Go over any areas that look like they need it. Remember that curing time can creep up on you. 4. Once you are satisfied, allow the piece to continue turning for 45 minutes (curing time is 30 minutes on the epoxy I used) 5. Shut down and allow it stand in the lathe for 24 hours for a full cure. It does look like glass. NOT everyone likes Christmas ornaments that look like that. I do.
-
My wife and I walk at a nearby lake that has lots of trails. Some are isolated and allows us to release our dog. The area has few trees and the only large ones are Oak trees. I keep an eye out tor possible wood for turning. Many of these oak trees have been down for years. Since this is Colorado, the humidity is low and rotting goes at a slow pace. I pick up interesting pieces that I can carry, mostly small ones. Most of the time they are too far gone and will not turn. But when they do stay together, they can make some beautiful pieces. I usually make Christmas ornaments out of them. The pictures aren't good, but you can see the beautiful wood.
-
I agree with you and I do like to let the wood beauty shine on its own without the help of epoxy. I certainly did learn a. lot setting this up and it was the kind of fun that I'm sure you understand. If all my fun experiments were in one barrel, I'm sure ti would full it to the top. Your bowl looks great! I would never attempt to use epoxy on a large piece, I'm sure it wold NOT work well or look good. The biggest reason I chose this piece is that I found it after it fell from my Red Elm tree. When I was raking I noticed the end grain looked interesting. As I turned it, I saw that it needed reinforcing........thus Epoxy came to mind.
-
I have been trying to use epoxy for a deep finish on turned pieces. I think I finally succeeded. I used 30 minute epoxy and I used a technique that turned the piece on my lathe at or near 10 RPM. This kept the epoxy in motion to smooth out as it dried and gave the piece a thick glass like look. I liked the results. However, when I asked my wife and others, their reaction was NO. As my wife put it, "it makes it look artificial or plastic" I have to admit, she does have a valid point. I do like it because it does showcase the beautiful wood. You can compare this one with others in the background. What do you think?
-
When I was a young man, early 1950s, my father worked at a prison farm as a stationary engineer. A place where the least of offenders were allowed to finish their time. One of the favorite ways of passing the time was to make rings. They started with a 50 cent piece and would pound on it with a spoon on the edge until it had flattened to the desired size. Then they would somehow drill out the center and polish it. One of the prisoners gave dad an unfinished ring that did not have the center drilled out. Dad gave it to me and I drilled it out my size. All went well until a basketball game. My ring got caught in the net and nearly jerked my finger off. It did enough damage the way it was by stripping off the skin and flesh on my Knuckle down to my next joint. I found the ring and tossed it in the river.
-
I found the problem.........camera lens messed up
-
TRY AGAIN, I was in the process of correcting colors........didn't work
-
I haven't been in my shop lately much. Cold weather and life seems to get in the way. Last Spring I made a project out of Yellow heart and had 4 triangular pieces left over. They sat on my desk for a long time and each time I looked at them I'd think, "I've got to make something out of them" So you see what I came up with. The dark center circular piece isn't Purple hart as I thought it was and it is a piece of exotic wood from another project that I couldn't toss. So the final project is 8" high, a bit big for an ornament or maybe just right for a Christmas wall hanger or gift. For some unknown reason the colors are NOT true and kinda blotched????
-
For some time I have wanted to finish a small piece (ornament) with 2 part Epoxy. I gives a great luster with depth. My first experiments were using 2 part 5 minute epoxy. It didn't do too bad, but I quickly found out that I'd better be set up to do the job BEFORE mixing the epoxy. The project and epoxy must also be at room temp. My lathe does not have RPM control that goes low enouogh and is located in my garage that can drop to 50 degrees. After a dry run I did get some promising results. However it did harden to enough to foil my attempt. I purchased some 30 minute epoxy from Amazon. There again I learned another property of epoxy. It does begin to harden enough in the first 7 minutes to prevent flow. Which makes touch up a bit tricky. Just when I though I messed up, I discovered that the epoxy does actually flow after 7 minutes.......but very slow. I allowed the piece to turn the full 30 minutes and it did even the the surface. The picture shows my set up and the final piece. As you can see, it is still in the drill, It is set up, but far from being hard. I had to let it set overnight in the drill to accomplish a tack free surface. I like it and will use it again. I'm sure I will learn more..................like use a small paddle instead of a brush, the epoxy will pull loose hairs from the brush. Most chucks will not close enough to take a small shaft, you can see my aux tiny chuck is chucked up. The speed control is my tiny clamp.
- 3 replies
-
- 5
-
-
- time
- temperature
- (and 1 more)
-
When I moved here, I had a large Cherry 3 person outdoor swing. The finish with uv protection lasted one summer. I tried another finish that was supposed to be the best. Same thing. I did find a solution. Porch paint. It lasted 5 years. Now I have a permanent solution, a roof. Made more sense anyway, now we can it in the shade most of the day.
