About three years ago there was a piece of driftwood washed up on a NC beach. Most of a tree about 40 feet long. Someone took a chain saw to it and cut it up in manageable pieces. I carted one of the pieces off the beach it’s been in my garage/basement . I’m in the proc s of sawing it up. Following are some pictures. I would appreciate your help in figuring out the species.

I ran across this video from the 1940s and thought it might be of interest to others on the forum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGAyBdUxWaU

jason

Zebrawood and spalted maple.  The one on the right the only tool I used was my straight chisel.  It turned out better than I expected but not quite as good as I wanted.  I need to re-learn finishing cuts.    I'm also still trying to figure out why it's easier for me to use my straight chisel than my skew.  I'm wondering if it's my skew has a relatively long angle.  most of the turning videos I see the bevels on their skews are shorter.  

These will be gifts for my kids and some friends of theirs.  I still have one more to make.  I'm going to get some drawer pulls for the handle ends.

 

Figured it out. Cannot delete post.

My son Built this for his son. That's cool in itself, as I built things for him when he was a little guy, so goes the circle of life

I think he has a good imagination and knows how to uses it.. he turned a rocking horse pattern into a dragon. (he's into dungeons and dragons)
Cherry ,ash ,walnut and some bloodwood for the eyes. My grandson is going to love it. He will have to get this last' otherwise he won't open any other gifts


 

   
   

   






Don (aka Grandpa)

This old compressor leaks air out of the oiler cup. How does air pressure get into the crankcase? And is it fixable? Thanks for replies.

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Hey All,

I was goofing off in the shop yesterday and made a honey dipper out of holly that I had cut down because, hey, I like honey and why not. But the raw wood has a significant "wood" smell. I like the smell, but worry that it implies that it will impart a flavor to honey.

Similarly, I made some chopsticks years ago, and I noticed that the unfinished ones had a definite "flavor" unto themselves when eating with them. Granted, I don't think I noticed the flavor mixed in with the food, but rather when my mouth is in direct contact with the chopsticks (which obviously is frequent with such an implement).

I know there is info out there about toxic woods for kitchen use, but I'm having trouble finding info on woods that do/don't impart a flavor of their own. I'm sure spoon makers must deal with this. So what woods are best to use to avoid getting an unwanted flavor from the wood itself? And is mineral oil and/or paraffin/beeswax usually sufficient to block this, or would something that hardens (walnut oil, BLO, shellac, etc...not saying I'd use these necessarily) need to be used?

I know there are large arguments about what is ok to use for finishes on kitchen items, and I'm not looking for a debate on that. I've read the pros/cons of what can be used.

Thanks,
Tyler

We have some kitchen cabinets that would really be a lot more useful with drawers behind the doors. These cabinets all have two doors with a center stile in the face frame.   For each drawer, I can space out from one side, but behind the center divider is something I still have questions about. I guess for the bottom drawer, I could use undermount slides.

 I know there are slide hangers and sockets.  It seems like it would be difficult to get the center slide to work properly.  I am sure Blum has a solution for this, anyone have any suggestions?

So we just had a new water heater installed with our new furnace ( 50 gallon BW natural gas) and I thought I remembered that it was recommended to turn off and drain the tank once a year?
Does anyone do this and is there any benefit?

Thanks

I may be asking the impossible here, but I've got some Pommelle Maple veneer I'm using on a project...the grain looks FANTASTIC, but I want to keep the Maple basically white. Minwax Polycrylic works fantastic for that, but it doesn't quite highlight the grain as much as I want. If I turn the wood at certain angles it really shows up a lot, but I've seen some videos on popping the grain and I love the contrast they get between the figure and the rest of the wood. The problem is, it seems like there's always some sort of stain, dye, or penetrating oil used that not only pops the grain, but also changes the color of the wood. I'll test some BLO on another scrap piece of the veneer (it's already been glued to a scrap of BB ply) tomorrow and see if it contrasts well with Jatoba (my main wood), but ideally I'd like to keep the Maple white while still highlighting the figure. Is this possible? Is there such a thing as a "clear" stain that can soak in and bring that figure out without changing the color, or is there always going to be some compromise?

Thanks!