Vending Machine

After taking some time off this summer, I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I had my best show so far the the Manassas Fall Jubilee. It was so good, I've been at a loss to re-inventory since the show and get my stores back online (sorry!). And we were set up on the outskirts of the festival! If I'd have been on the inside, it would have been a whopper!



At that fair, I was invited by Cathy Davis to attend her Myrcles Think Pink vendor show for breast cancer research at the Westridge Swim and Raquet Club, which was another great success. I met some great people and had a great time, despite my eye exploding out of my head.

About the eye patch, I'd love to have a great war story about how I was knee-deep in sawdust and had some horrible shop accident. But the truth is I always wear eye protection and this was just an infection (starting to feel much better).

And in-between these two shows, we were excited to appear at the Fredericksburg Fall Home & Craft Show at the Expo Center there. Again, had a blast and met lots of great people.

Little Suckers

As a military photographer, I should have realized ahead of time how hard it would be to get a good image of a hummingbird at one of my feeders.

Those little suckers can move!

But I liked these images so much I thought I'd share some of them here.

Bird-brained

So this seriously happened. The wife saw the stack of 5 new liquor bottle bird feeders I finished while she was out of town. She then announced that there is officially no more room in the house for them and that I couldn't make any more until I sold the ones I had.

I smiled and sheepishly told her there were three more in the workshop being finished. Turns out I was wrong. There were four.


Here are some of the others ...

Just some random stuff

For those who think I've given up on blogging ... well, you're pretty much right. So here's some random stuff I've been working on lately:

Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holophernes

Zebra wood, very nice

Well, duh.

sticks to fridge and catches caps

It's a bird feeder

Pyrography on spoons

Dali's Persistence of Memory

Stash key chain

Japanese camphor

Burmese teak and bloodwood

Glows in the dark

Glows in the dark

Cocobolo

Stash key chain

It's a book safe

It's a book safe

It's a book safe

Japanese book safe

DEEEEEP book safe

Start to Finish for Ghostly, Part V

So here's the final product. I hope you've enjoyed the journey!

Start to finish for Ghostly, Part IV

Now that the oil has set overnight, it's time for the CA coat application.

This part is really a two-handed job, hence no still images and one quick video. You can't fool around with CA. I apply nine layers of CA and again let it rest overnight.

The CA is now wet-sanded to make it shine. The water merely keeps it from getting hot. We'll go up to 12k grit.

Sometimes at this point in the process, it goes too far and the wood gets exposed. That was the case with this pen, and I had to re-apply more coats of CA and let them rest before continuing.

Now after cleaning up the ends it's the for assembly.

And here's a link to the final product!

Start to Finish for Ghostly, Part III

Sorry for the blurry image! It's dark in the workshop and the flash just washes out all the color, so I leave it turned off.

Anyway, here I am fine-tuning the shape with the last gouge I'll use before switching to sand paper. You can see the shape of the pen now.









I start with 100 grit sandpaper, bringing the wood down closer to the bushings. Between sandings, I'll also turn the lathe off and sand with the grain to remove any marks.

I do 100, 220, 320, 400, 600 & 800 grit successively. It's really the most boring part. Tedious, but worth it on the final product.







Now this pen in particular requires that a tenon be cut from the upper portion. Here I am with a parting tool doing that.

And so here's the sanded piece. Yes, that's Guns-N-Roses in the background. You're welcome. Check out the swirls on this burl!

And finally, this pen receives a coat of 100% pure tung oil to bring out the grain. Notice the difference in color when the oil is applied. This will truly be a gorgeous piece.

Here's a link to Part IV.