So the wife came home with a hundred dollar kitchen sink faucet and tells me its time to replace the old leaky one.  At around four a.m. this morning I get to work while she's asleep in the barkolounger.  Wonderful help mate.

The faucet is connected to the sink by a 6" threaded bolt and a 3/4" rusted nut.  Needless to say the nut was rusted to the bolt and there was no room for a wrench in the small space the faucet sits upon.  I hit it with some PB blaster and wait a few minutes.  A six inch pair of vice grips, some busted knuckles, under-my-breath swearing and one hour later the nut finally loosens. ^&(^$$&&**((^&*^^%&&%$*&%*&***()&)






Open the new faucet box and read the instructions.  First thing is to run a bead of silicon around the plastic mating plate between the sink and the faucet base.  Run down to the store room and find a tube of clear silicone and my caulk gun only to get back in the heated kitchen to find out the silicone had gone bad.  







Off to Walmart for a few items.  Seventy buck later and a couple of hours wasted with the MRS. I get back to the project and assemble the faucet and connect it to the sink.  Open the cocks and water sprays all over the inside of the sink cabinet. 










Come to find out the hose which sends the water to the spout had a screw in joint which had not been tightened at the factory.







So at ten a.m. this morning I finally finished my sink replacement project.  Not bad considering the labor was free, the wife never one bit(#3& and the sink faucet doesn't leak.  

Merry Christmas.

I needed one last stocking stuffer this morning so I decided to make a quick spoon.  I had some fun and filmed the process.  I don't have a carving knife or curved chisel for doing the spoon bowl but I do have a nifty jig which allows me to quickly carve it.   The jig is shown at around 3:15 or so.       This is my first multi shot video and I don't have any decent software so feel free to fast forward over the dull parts.      Raw log to finished spoon using a bandsaw, carving head, lathe and edge sander.

is there some ancient chinese secret for cutting, to the correct length, on the first (or at least second) attempt, a dang miter cut for face frames (or, anything, for that matter).

i saw some esoteric calculator thingy once. didn't work at all.

i have to believe nibbling my way to nirvana just can't be right.

[be gentle...i'm a newbie...]

A fellow member in the Tools for sale section had recently put up a Norton stone with 6000 and 8000 grit for sale.  That got me thinking about sharpness.

I sharpen my irons to 1000 grit.  Would they perform better if I sharpened them to 6000 or 8000 grit or is that splitting hairs?  I've seen Japanese planes sharpened to 10000grit and the shaving was very thin, almost see-through.  Do our planes need to be that sharp or is that like purchasing a Cadillac when a Chevy would do?

Old Craftsman sharpening jig with a customized crank handle. These usually come with some mounting brackets, I only have what's here.

$20 plus shipping

I like to combine turning and simple carving.  Saw a recent project by Mary May where she carved a Chinese proverb on a round wooden disc.  I liked the idea of Chinese characters on a turned wooden plate.  So, I Googled Chinese characters and found them to be very interesting then planned some projects using some Cherry blocks I had.  Result is a group of hand-held thick plates with Chinese characters carved on the tops.  They'll be good for holding in the palm of the hand and stroking the carving details with the fingers.  These tactile gifts will be nice Christmas mementos for family members.    

Here are photos of one of the mementos.  The character carved on this one is "Courage."  The wood is Cherry.  The item is 4 inches diameter x 1-1/2 inches thick.  Finished the turning with Minwax Antique Oil finish then buffed to a smooth glossy finish.  

Happy holidays.


Tom



           

I plan on purchasing an adjustable chuck. I searched the topic but didn't see anything.  Getting the grandkids into woodworking an turning is a good start to finish type of project it kept their interest.  What brand and features should I look for? 

I have a Jet 36" lathe.

Thanks,

I purchased a quantity of building materials from Menards and when the project was nearing completion I had two windows and a few pieces of siding to return. I also purchased 18 doors and some trim and hardware. It took FOUR HOURS!

I wanted to try reverse turning so today I whipped up this little 3-1/2” ornament.



I will be doing more of this!

Looking for plans for Advent calendars that would fee stand like a small, narrow house.