Watcha Makin'?

[Raym]

Man, that is patience! Not to mention precision getting those angled cuts right to form the circle. You are a better man than I'll ever be Ray.

I made a "wedgie sled" which made cutting the pieces a breeze. You can google Jerry Bennet wedgie sled. Thankfully there are some incredibly smart people out there.

[Raym]

Awesome stuff. Funny how it reminds me of weaving, weaving with layers exchanging to get solid colored squares. 3 colors, means weaving 3 layers. I'm actually weaving in 4 layers on a rug, making 4 solid colors in rectangular shapes.  I diverge. 

Yes....Kinda like quilting with wood.

I posted this on here somewhere but the first segmented piece I did I captured on video. It is an interesting watch.

It also shows the wedgie sled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVyzCxj29vs&t=8s

[SwampDonkey]

Like bird beak bits, used to make octagonal beams. Gotta get the width dimensions all identical though. Off by an 1/8th" and might not come together tight. Not to mention the proper width to begin with. :D

[SwampDonkey]

Love the video. 

[Raym]

Here is last years project. Inspired by John Wilson who passed away last year. 

Sort of a serving tray/display tray. The wood is walnut and holly (which seems to be my favorites). The overall dimensions are 19-1/2" long, 13" wide, 3" tall

A couple of things to note.....copper tacks with copper pegs in the base. The walnut band that was steamed and bent is 63" long. Tried a new finish on this piece which was 50/50 tung oil and citrus solvent (natures orange) and was very impressed with that. 
Indeed another fun project to work on.

[thecfarm]

Beyond nice!!!!

[SwampDonkey]

 Looks great.

[Resonator]

Believe it or not, I was able to turn the entire inside with a traditional grind bowl gouge. (with a stabilizer set up).
 

Reminds me of a turning video I watched many years ago. The guy had the bowl set up to turn, and right next to the lathe he had a bench grinder going. He'd scrape and shape a while, then sharpen. Scrape, sharpen, repeat. He was of the school of thought: "If you think the tool you're using is ready to be sharpened, you should have did it 5 minutes ago."  

[beenthere]

The wedgie sled was intriguing too. 

[Magicman]

Thank You Ray for making and sharing that Video.  For a "non-turner" it was an awesome experience just watching and admiring. 

[Wlmedley]

Made another step stool while waiting for my leg and foot to heal. Glued up some poplar for the frame and used red oak for the seat. Took a coat of primer and two coats of paint to get it covered good. Now need to put something on the seat. I think I'll start working on a proper work bench as my plastic picnic table leaves a lot to be desired.

[Old Greenhorn]

Another beauty Bill! Was it a pain to mask off the seat when you painted the rest of it?
 How wide is this one? looks like it might be closer to 12"?

[Wlmedley]

Thanks Tom, you're right 12" wide and it wasn't to hard to mask off. I had three quarts of paint left over from a barn quilt I made several years ago so I had three colors to choose from. I didn't know if it was still good but I think being it was in plastic cans that helped a lot. It took me a lot longer to finish it than I expected but that's pretty normal for me. If a person was going to make several they could probably be built fairly quickly. I don't know how popular they will be but I like the looks of them and think they would be pretty handy. I'm going to give my niece one of them and keep the painted one up here. When my grandson comes up he can use it to reach the sink. If my DIL really likes it I'll give it to her and make myself another one.

[Wlmedley]

Finally working on a proper work bench. Decided to use pitch  pine for the top mainly because I had several dry 2"x4"s that looked fairly straight. Ripped 8 of them in two and ran through the planer. Glued up three sections yesterday so they would fit in my planer and then glued sections together today. Ended up 30" wide and 8' long and 1 1/2" thick. Now I'm wondering what I should put on it for a finish. I'm thinking about just waxing it with wood wax I use on my cutting boards. I'm not planning to baby it and it will probably take a beating. Any suggestions?

[Magicman]

Looks like this will be interesting !! 

[Resonator]

A wax or wipe on oil finish would probably be good, then the surface could be "refreshed" after a few years of wear and tear.

[Wlmedley]

I still need to sand it a little but it actually glued up pretty level. I've been working on the top for two days which is something I would never dreamed of doing before I retired. It's nice to be able to take my time when doing something and as long as I have a project going I have something to look forward to every day. I'll probably go with the wax and like you said I can always add a little more. 

[doc henderson]

maybe even use penetrating epoxy to harden it up a bit and then finish with hard wax oil.  @tule peak timber . 

I always worry that a generous coat of wax, may get on a surface and interfere with the final finish of projects.

[GAB]

Wlmedly:
Be very careful who sees this top of yours before it is finished, as it could get repurposed to something else like maybe a potting bench top.
Even without finish it looks very good.
I'm getting the feeling you like you new planer.
GAB

[Wlmedley]

GAB, I love having a planer. I keep saying I'm not going to buy any more tools but I end up selling a little lumber and then I end up using the money to buy something else. I have no regrets from getting this planer and it makes my little projects a lot easier and they turn out a lot better. The  last little lumber sale got me enough to buy a router and I'm planning to incorporate some sort of router table into this work bench. The building I'm using for wood working isn't very big so I'm trying to get everything organized so I can work inside in the winter. If anyone has any pictures of their setup I would love to see them. Doc, I have some epoxy but I'm pretty stingy with it. I'm afraid that pine would soak up quite a bit.

[SwampDonkey]

I was planning on building a Veritas carpenter's bench out of maple this winter, but I'm holding off until next winter. I plan on reducing it from 80" long to 60" , otherwise it's too big for my needs. I want to be able to walk around it. I'd never be making anything that 60" wouldn't handle.  I've already spent lots of money on the new shop and a couple tools. I am still going to make those new bird houses at some point. But I have a big project I need to complete at the loom. And it takes a long time to set up for what I'm trying to do, way longer than a traditional weave on such loom. It's been an experiment to test the limits of a basic loom. 

[aigheadish]

Nice bench Bill! It's neat to see how much you are getting done! I'd like to build something much more substantial like that than the bench I'm using which is a rebuilt 4'x8' sheet of plywood that was a sloppy fold down workbench left by the previous homeowner. I beefed it up a bit, but it leaves a fair amount to be desired, other than it's big and can hold a lot of junk. 

[doc henderson]

swamp, do you have a thread for your weaving stuff.  I would like to see some pictures of what you are doing.

[SwampDonkey]

On my Facebook page. There are lots of 'strings' and 'sticks' involved and weaving jargon.  I think you would be lost among the strings.

https://www.facebook.com/bill.crawford.3781

[doc henderson]

Well, most of us are old fashioned in our own way, and I do not do fakebook.