Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. I would have much preferred making a pen out of a lighter blue.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
We'll See What Happens
I dropped some of my work off at a local consignment shop today. I will see what happens with it. I am also going to do some smaller items for a different shop and see if that shop is willing to sell them.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Going Bowling
Spalted Oak/Oak Crotchwood. 10" diameter.
Natural Edge Pear 6" diameter
Undercut Oak 7" diameter
Maple 10" diameter
Friday, November 30, 2012
Had Some Fun
Also did this. Mahogany. I need to find a kit that either has a cap or lets you reverse the pointy bit into the handle.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A Retirement Gift
My boss retired last month. Best boss I've had. Anyhoo, he is a woodworker so I made him this. I wanted something small enough that if he chose not to use it, he could also display it. I made sure to give it to him on his last day, just so he wasn't tempted to use it as a head knocker. :)
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Mess That Is Programming Visio
So I am writing a program that among other things will draw the diagram of a network. Unfortunately the .COM interface to Visio is a disaster, at least from the OO model perspective. First, here's how you create the Visio document. This is C#, and I am skipping all the using statements you might need as well some variable declarations.
// create the application instance
Visio.Application va = new Visio.Application();
va.Documents.Add(@"");
//grab the document in the application
// since you can't just write a file in the .vsd format
Visio.Documents vdocs = va.Documents;
// now open it - of course casting arcane arguments as short
// makes perfect sense
// and no, I don't know what that does
Visio.Document vc = vdocs.OpenEx(@"Basic_U.vss", (short)Visio.VisOpenSaveArgs.visOpenDocked);
// it gets a little better here, this is pretty straightforward
Visio.Document vd = va.ActiveDocument;
Visio.Page vp = vd.Pages.Add();
// but now we need to get the master shapes collection
Visio.Masters vMasters = vc.Masters;
// and select the shapes we are using from the collection
// I had to open the collection in the debugger to figure out
// which ones I needed - there wasn't a way to just get a list
// oh and another annoyance - the C# convention is to have
// members start with upper case. For Visio, some do and some don't
Visio.Master RectangleMaster = vc.Masters.get_ItemU(@"Rounded rectangle");
Visio.Master ConnectionMaster = vc.Masters.get_ItemU(@"Dynamic connector");
Visio.Shape MyselfAsShape = null;
// now let's drop a shape on the page and set some parameters
// here's where the fun starts
MyselfAsShape = vp.Drop(RectangleMaster, xaxis, yaxis);
// set the width - you can't just access a width property
// on the shape MyselfAsShape.get_CellsSRC((short)Visio.VisSectionIndices.visSectionObject,
(short)Visio.VisRowIndices.visRowXFormOut,
(short)Visio.VisCellIndices.visXFormWidth).FormulaU = "1.0 in";
// same for height MyselfAsShape.get_CellsSRC((short)Visio.VisSectionIndices.visSectionObject,
(short)Visio.VisRowIndices.visRowXFormOut,
(short)Visio.VisCellIndices.visXFormHeight).FormulaU = "1.5 in";
Other operations on shapes and connectors are similarly arcane. I won't show the code but to connect 2 shapes you first get the shapes, then you figure out where the connection points are, then you use code similar to the above to connect them. You can't just do something like:
shape1.Connect(shape2)
// create the application instance
Visio.Application va = new Visio.Application();
va.Documents.Add(@"");
//grab the document in the application
// since you can't just write a file in the .vsd format
Visio.Documents vdocs = va.Documents;
// now open it - of course casting arcane arguments as short
// makes perfect sense
// and no, I don't know what that does
Visio.Document vc = vdocs.OpenEx(@"Basic_U.vss", (short)Visio.VisOpenSaveArgs.visOpenDocked);
// it gets a little better here, this is pretty straightforward
Visio.Document vd = va.ActiveDocument;
Visio.Page vp = vd.Pages.Add();
// but now we need to get the master shapes collection
Visio.Masters vMasters = vc.Masters;
// and select the shapes we are using from the collection
// I had to open the collection in the debugger to figure out
// which ones I needed - there wasn't a way to just get a list
// oh and another annoyance - the C# convention is to have
// members start with upper case. For Visio, some do and some don't
Visio.Master RectangleMaster = vc.Masters.get_ItemU(@"Rounded rectangle");
Visio.Master ConnectionMaster = vc.Masters.get_ItemU(@"Dynamic connector");
Visio.Shape MyselfAsShape = null;
// now let's drop a shape on the page and set some parameters
// here's where the fun starts
MyselfAsShape = vp.Drop(RectangleMaster, xaxis, yaxis);
// set the width - you can't just access a width property
// on the shape MyselfAsShape.get_CellsSRC((short)Visio.VisSectionIndices.visSectionObject,
(short)Visio.VisRowIndices.visRowXFormOut,
(short)Visio.VisCellIndices.visXFormWidth).FormulaU = "1.0 in";
// same for height MyselfAsShape.get_CellsSRC((short)Visio.VisSectionIndices.visSectionObject,
(short)Visio.VisRowIndices.visRowXFormOut,
(short)Visio.VisCellIndices.visXFormHeight).FormulaU = "1.5 in";
Other operations on shapes and connectors are similarly arcane. I won't show the code but to connect 2 shapes you first get the shapes, then you figure out where the connection points are, then you use code similar to the above to connect them. You can't just do something like:
shape1.Connect(shape2)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Pool Is Open!
After finishing the backfilling last night, the water looked really inviting, so I jumped in. Perfect temperature and much bigger than the old pool. I can acttually swim in this one.
Here's a better shot of the pump and chlorine generator
Here's a better shot of the pump and chlorine generator
Monday, June 18, 2012
Almost Done!
The pool project is almost done. The pump and filter are in. Testing last night I need to add more water to the pool and there is a leak to take care of. I also need to replace the pressure gauge on the filter, but I am still on target for swimming this week. In the picture the line in the lower left comes in from the pool to the pump. The line in the middle is the return from the filter. The line on the right is the waste line.
The pump and filter setup:
The pump and filter setup:
Sunday, June 3, 2012
The Pool Is Up
After a very long day Saturday, the pool is up. We did final grading, got the vertical supports up and got the wall up. It took 3 of us about 3 hours to get the wall done. In this picture I am shaping the sand berm inside the pool for the liner. I installed the liner today.
Monday, May 28, 2012
A Setback
So... today was supposed to be setting the metal uprights for the pool and doing the finish grading. The directions for the pool say the uprights should be 42" on center, except the metal pieces that span between them have holes at 45". Needless to say I was rather put out after discovering this, so I spent the afternoon digging and resetting 9 of the 10 blocks. This also has implications on the size of the pool. When I bought it, the seller said it was 15x30. The directions call for a 15x30, but they also assume 4 uprights each side. I have 5, at 45" on center so I am wondering if the pool is an 18x33. Of course I bought a liner for a 15x33....
Monday, May 21, 2012
Beginnings
A partial view of the first steps to the pool install. There are 10 of these blocks, each set about 3" below eventual finished grade and all are level and level with each other. I am a little under 1/4" out across the 20' width of the pool, which isn't bad. This was the worst spot. There are 3 blocks in that pic spanning 84". I had to excavate an area about 2' wide by 84" long 4" or so down so I could start leveling the blocks.
A side shot:
A side shot:
Saturday, May 19, 2012
All Sparkly Clean
I went to put some stuff in the dryer last night and found a cell phone in the washer. I didn't expect much, but took the battery out of the phone and put everything in a ziploc with dry rice. I left it there overnight. The phone seems fine this morning. So, if you decide to give your electronic gadget a bath, stick it in a bag of rice overnight afterward to dry it off. It seems to work, I have rescued two phones this way.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
You Win Some You Lose Some
A few tools and handles I made recently. Left to right walnut, mahogany, and 2 oak handled tools.The mahogany tool was my first handle. I like the design of the others better. It gives my hand a place to grip close to the tool for control on lighter cuts. The bent tool is supposed to be a hollowing tool but the curve is too large. I don't have enough leverage to keep the tool steady against the wood. I think I need to reforge it to so a shorter and deeper curve.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Woodworking Tool Definitions
Credit to Bill Wilson, who lives somewhere in PA:
Dust Collector (inhalisis giganticus)
A ravenous scavenger, which will consume vast quantities of sawdust and woodchips via a network of highly developed appendages. It is a reclusive creature, generally isolated in remote shop corners or in attached outbuildings. It must also be noted that the DC also has an appetite for other objects, carelessly left lying within its tentacled reach, like small tools, pencils, scraps of paper with measurements written on them, etc.
Shop Vac (inhalisis diminutus)
A smaller cousin to the DC, with a similar appetite. The shop vac is a nomadic hunter, roaming about the shop in search of food. Its piercing, high-pitched howl has been known to burst the eardrums of unsuspecting woodworkers. It is otherwise relatively harmless to humans.
Push Broom (sweepus seldomus)
The most primitive and oldest species of wood shop animal. It is believed that ancestors of the contemporary push broom were domesticated millions of years before the first wood shop animals appeared and often cohabited with humans. They gradually were relegated to garage, basement and shop environments during the Electrolux era. This venerable and simple scavenger has survived the eons due primarily to its ability to go for long periods of time without food. By conserving its energy, it can appear to fall into a near trance-like state of suspended animation for extended periods of time. Unlike the voracious Dust Collector and Shop Vac with which it competes, the push broom is content to sit idle for days, even months.
Table Saw (unisawrus rippicus)
A solitary and regal predator, the table saw employs sharp powerful teeth, well suited for ripping even the hardest woods with relative ease. There are several varieties of table saws, ranging from the small bench top, to the king of table saws, indeed the king of the predators, the Unisaw. Though primarily a stationary creature, it is perhaps one of the most active of all woodshop animals. Table saws have proliferated and are found in nearly all shops where wood is in adequate supply. They prefer choice, imported hardwoods, but when hungry will readily feed on cheaper domestic softwoods. They have become less of a threat to humans, due to careful breeding and training, but still are to be considered quite dangerous, especially while feeding. They have been known to, with minimal provocation, disgorge their food and attack their handlers with breathtaking ferocity.
Radial Arm Saw (fleshamus maimasaurus)
The RAS is perhaps the most vicious and feared beast within the woodshop community. Repeated attempts to domesticate this savage monster have largely failed. As its name implies, it has been known to tear the arms off of unwitting human victims and devour them in the blink of an eye. It is perhaps even more desirous of human flesh than its natural food. Because of these dangerous tendencies, they have been banished from many home woodshops and are rapidly becoming an endangered species.
Circular Saw (spewicus sawdustumus)
The common circular saw, or Skil saw as it’s often called, is a small but feisty predator that is one of the most agile & mobile members of the saw family. It is perhaps more at home in the outdoors than the confines of the shop, but will thrive wherever there is food. The circular saw is usually a bottom feeder, preferring mostly construction grade boards and sheet products and is one of the few saws able to tolerate pressure treated wood. Relatively submissive, it will, occasionally, exhibit aggressive tendencies, but they are usually limited to merely annoying behavior such as cutting extension cords and filling eye sockets with sawdust.
Compound Miter Saw (anglus frustratis)
The result of genetic manipulation and cross breeding of the fierce RAS with the more domesticated Skil saw. This hybrid member of the saw family has quickly filled the void left by the rapid decline of the RAS. It is highly adaptable. Like its genetic parent, the circular saw, it is very well suited to outdoor environments. But it also maintains many of the desirable characteristics of the RAS, such as speed, stability and accuracy and can often be found set up in semi-permanent workstations within the wood shop. Many observers have noted its peculiar tendency to consume vast quantities of choice crown molding in vain attempts to achieve some desired angle, but otherwise it is only marginally more dangerous than the ordinary circular saw.
Scroll Saw (breakalotta bladecus)
One of the most docile members of the saw family, this gentle creature endures quietly in the shadow of its larger, more aggressive relatives. It is well suited to cramped spaces. The Scroll Saw can be a finicky eater, preferring to satisfy its delicate tastes with smaller, thinner, exotic woods, but it will, on occasion, exhibit scavenger-like tendencies, indulging in scraps leftover by other saws.
Band Saw (toothus abundantus)
This creature is distinguished by the hundreds of teeth it employs to devour a broad range of material. Beyond the typical fare of hard and soft wood, it has a unique fondness for unprocessed timber. Its diet may even include some plastics and light metals and the occasional frozen turkey.
Planer (kneedeepimus inchipicus)
While not a member of the dominant saw family, this unusual fellow has many of the same aggressive, predatory characteristics. A voracious eater, it can reduce thick pieces of wood to a veneer-like state in short order. It is however, generally regarded as safe around humans, providing they exercise caution when feeding. It is distinguished by the copious amounts of excrement that it generates. For this reason, scavengers are usually found in its proximity and in fact are generally deemed necessary lest the entire habitat be overwhelmed by waste.
Jointer (knuckelum mutilatum)
A cousin to the Planer, this creature has similar characteristics, but its eating habits are noticeably more restrained. However it is also regarded as moderately more aggressive toward humans. It has a greater tendency to strike without warning and its bite is swift & powerful.
Router (devilus tasmainicus)
The whirling dervish of the wood shop, this small but dynamic fellow is barely able to constrain its raging speed and power within the confines of a table, but unleash it to run free and it will devour its prey with reckless abandon. Despite its seemingly unrestrained nature, it is actually one of the more sophisticated of the shop predators. Brutish and delicate at the same time, it is a paradox among the wood shop creatures.
Dust Collector (inhalisis giganticus)
A ravenous scavenger, which will consume vast quantities of sawdust and woodchips via a network of highly developed appendages. It is a reclusive creature, generally isolated in remote shop corners or in attached outbuildings. It must also be noted that the DC also has an appetite for other objects, carelessly left lying within its tentacled reach, like small tools, pencils, scraps of paper with measurements written on them, etc.
Shop Vac (inhalisis diminutus)
A smaller cousin to the DC, with a similar appetite. The shop vac is a nomadic hunter, roaming about the shop in search of food. Its piercing, high-pitched howl has been known to burst the eardrums of unsuspecting woodworkers. It is otherwise relatively harmless to humans.
Push Broom (sweepus seldomus)
The most primitive and oldest species of wood shop animal. It is believed that ancestors of the contemporary push broom were domesticated millions of years before the first wood shop animals appeared and often cohabited with humans. They gradually were relegated to garage, basement and shop environments during the Electrolux era. This venerable and simple scavenger has survived the eons due primarily to its ability to go for long periods of time without food. By conserving its energy, it can appear to fall into a near trance-like state of suspended animation for extended periods of time. Unlike the voracious Dust Collector and Shop Vac with which it competes, the push broom is content to sit idle for days, even months.
Table Saw (unisawrus rippicus)
A solitary and regal predator, the table saw employs sharp powerful teeth, well suited for ripping even the hardest woods with relative ease. There are several varieties of table saws, ranging from the small bench top, to the king of table saws, indeed the king of the predators, the Unisaw. Though primarily a stationary creature, it is perhaps one of the most active of all woodshop animals. Table saws have proliferated and are found in nearly all shops where wood is in adequate supply. They prefer choice, imported hardwoods, but when hungry will readily feed on cheaper domestic softwoods. They have become less of a threat to humans, due to careful breeding and training, but still are to be considered quite dangerous, especially while feeding. They have been known to, with minimal provocation, disgorge their food and attack their handlers with breathtaking ferocity.
Radial Arm Saw (fleshamus maimasaurus)
The RAS is perhaps the most vicious and feared beast within the woodshop community. Repeated attempts to domesticate this savage monster have largely failed. As its name implies, it has been known to tear the arms off of unwitting human victims and devour them in the blink of an eye. It is perhaps even more desirous of human flesh than its natural food. Because of these dangerous tendencies, they have been banished from many home woodshops and are rapidly becoming an endangered species.
Circular Saw (spewicus sawdustumus)
The common circular saw, or Skil saw as it’s often called, is a small but feisty predator that is one of the most agile & mobile members of the saw family. It is perhaps more at home in the outdoors than the confines of the shop, but will thrive wherever there is food. The circular saw is usually a bottom feeder, preferring mostly construction grade boards and sheet products and is one of the few saws able to tolerate pressure treated wood. Relatively submissive, it will, occasionally, exhibit aggressive tendencies, but they are usually limited to merely annoying behavior such as cutting extension cords and filling eye sockets with sawdust.
Compound Miter Saw (anglus frustratis)
The result of genetic manipulation and cross breeding of the fierce RAS with the more domesticated Skil saw. This hybrid member of the saw family has quickly filled the void left by the rapid decline of the RAS. It is highly adaptable. Like its genetic parent, the circular saw, it is very well suited to outdoor environments. But it also maintains many of the desirable characteristics of the RAS, such as speed, stability and accuracy and can often be found set up in semi-permanent workstations within the wood shop. Many observers have noted its peculiar tendency to consume vast quantities of choice crown molding in vain attempts to achieve some desired angle, but otherwise it is only marginally more dangerous than the ordinary circular saw.
Scroll Saw (breakalotta bladecus)
One of the most docile members of the saw family, this gentle creature endures quietly in the shadow of its larger, more aggressive relatives. It is well suited to cramped spaces. The Scroll Saw can be a finicky eater, preferring to satisfy its delicate tastes with smaller, thinner, exotic woods, but it will, on occasion, exhibit scavenger-like tendencies, indulging in scraps leftover by other saws.
Band Saw (toothus abundantus)
This creature is distinguished by the hundreds of teeth it employs to devour a broad range of material. Beyond the typical fare of hard and soft wood, it has a unique fondness for unprocessed timber. Its diet may even include some plastics and light metals and the occasional frozen turkey.
Planer (kneedeepimus inchipicus)
While not a member of the dominant saw family, this unusual fellow has many of the same aggressive, predatory characteristics. A voracious eater, it can reduce thick pieces of wood to a veneer-like state in short order. It is however, generally regarded as safe around humans, providing they exercise caution when feeding. It is distinguished by the copious amounts of excrement that it generates. For this reason, scavengers are usually found in its proximity and in fact are generally deemed necessary lest the entire habitat be overwhelmed by waste.
Jointer (knuckelum mutilatum)
A cousin to the Planer, this creature has similar characteristics, but its eating habits are noticeably more restrained. However it is also regarded as moderately more aggressive toward humans. It has a greater tendency to strike without warning and its bite is swift & powerful.
Router (devilus tasmainicus)
The whirling dervish of the wood shop, this small but dynamic fellow is barely able to constrain its raging speed and power within the confines of a table, but unleash it to run free and it will devour its prey with reckless abandon. Despite its seemingly unrestrained nature, it is actually one of the more sophisticated of the shop predators. Brutish and delicate at the same time, it is a paradox among the wood shop creatures.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Archaeology
This week I embarked on a journey to finally get my shop organized somewhat from the chaos it normally is in. For instance, after looking for my dustpan for a while, I found it on the floor under the shavings from the lathe. Last night I swept the floor and cleared the work benches. In the process I found a hammer I was missing, 3 pencils and an adapter plate for the filter on my shop vac. The adapter plate has been missing for 6 months... I wonder what other forgotten treasures I will find?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Some Excitement In The Shop
I pulled a mulberry bowl off the rack today to start the second turning now that it has dried. After I got the tenon round again, I put it in the chuck. I was truing the rim when the tenon sheared off and 3lbs of bowl went flying. It missed me, but knocked the trash can over. Things like that are why I wear a face shield.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
And So It Begins....
My first post on my first blog. It still has that new car smell and I haven't thrown away the packaging yet. The intention of this blog is to primarily showcase my woodworking and woodturning efforts. I also will be posting the occasional musing, not that I have enough hubris to expect anyone to be terribly interested in that.
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