Monthly Archives: August 2021

Newsletter Vol 36 / Issue 08

Greetings

Thanks to Pete Miller for sending me these two points having to do with persistence (from Charles Stanley’s website.) I’m going to use them for my “What I’m Thankful For“ series.

  1. Learn the difference between being a failure and experiencing failure in life. —
    You’ve all heard of the all-purpose cleaner Formula 409. It’s named that because that’s how many attempts were made before the inventors were satisfied with the results. What if they had given up at #408?
  2. Learn that encountering difficulties and tests does not automatically mean we’re to change direction. —
    Once you’ve set a goal, focus on the end result. You may have to occasionally change course, but keep your eye on the destination.

The comments after the two points above are mine and, generally, hold true. I’m thankful that persistence usually overcomes difficulties. However, there are always exceptions. Case in point – “If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving may not be for you.”

Now let’s get started with Splinters!

July Meeting

The July meeting was my first meeting back. We had to meet in the library instead of H111. There were some difficulties getting folk hooked up to the Zoom meeting but Jim kept calm and worked things out. All in all, it felt good to meet with fellow woodworkers. See you August 17th.

LIVE/Zoom Meeting August 17

We will have our next meeting on Tuesday, August 17th from 6:30-8:30.  Our program will be the Annual Auction to benefit the club treasury. So look around the shop for duplicate tools or items you’ve made and we’ll have a great sale! The proceeds help to keep our dues low and enables the club to assist with various community projects.

Please send Show & Tell pictures and information requested below to the email address below. This will save time getting pictures ready for the meeting.

By Sunday, August 15th – Provide pictures and descriptions of your Show & Tell items to tnvalleywoodworkers@gmail.com 
Descriptive information for each photo/related set of photos should include:

Woodworker Name: 
Project Name:
Wood(s)/Materials Used: 
Finishes applied:
Lessons Learned (if any): 

July Show & Tell

Here are the items that were shown in last month’s Zoom/Live meeting. See pictures in the online version.

Mickey Knowles showed a spalted hackberry bowl he turned. He showed a hackberry cheese tray and glass dome.  He showed a walnut hanging blanket stand.  All were finished in sanding sealer and lacquer.  The walnut blanket stand also had walnut stain.  He showed a roughly 2 inch thick piece of stump he tried to turn into a bowl.  After rough turning, he put the piece in a bag with the chips.  When he went to retrieve it, the warping and splitting were beyond repair. Several suggested he simply sign his name to it as a unique, one-of-a-kind piece.  Another suggested adding a clock movement and hanging it on the wall.

Chuck Taylor showed a finished pepper mill and one in progress made from spalted maple. He also showed a live edge bowl made from apple wood with beautiful grain.  All pieces were finished in walnut oil and wax.

John Hartin showed some four beautiful lidded bowls he recently turned. One lidded bowl was solid cherry.  He discussed the form of turning lidded bowls and “The Golden Ratio” for turning vases and bowls.  The second lidded bowl was made from maple with a dark textured rim around the bowl body.  The third bowl was made of a cherry bottom and a different type of wood top with a very unique textured top (made of glue and tissue paper, aka “toilet paper and snot”).  The fourth lidded bowl was made of a blond wood with a natural finish. The bowls were finished with a cabinet grade lacquer then buffed out.

Judy Bennett showed an intarsia barn and birdhouse she made.  She emphasized that she uses a large wood variety to match her project’s features and that she rarely stains any wood with other than natural stain.  Once exception were the barn windows and open door.  She stained those a dark walnut color to provide the shadow.  She used walnut, mahogany, poplar and cedar for her projects and finished them with spray-on poly.

Bob Brown showed a picture book of woodworking projects he built for his kids and grandkids. The kids and grandkids made the scrapbook for him to show his work. The projects were too large to bring to show and tell and scattered throughout his children and grandchildren’s homes.  The book’s entry included pictures of him as a youngster, “The little boy from Jackson County”.  The projects were of large variety and all beautiful!
(Pic1, Pic2, Pic3, Pic4, Pic5, Pic6, Pic7, Pic8, Pic9, Pic10, Pic11, Pic12, Pic13, Pic14, Pic15)

Jim Jolliffe showed a finished cottonwood bark carving of Christ with Crown of Thorns he carved as part of a Zoom Seminar with instructor Alec LaCasse.  He added honey locust thorns to the carved crown vines as carving small, fragile thorns was impossible (in his mind!). He sprayed with 2 coats of rattle-can satin polyurethane.

Fred Heltsey brought an “Impossible Triangle” he and his grandkids made during their stay at “Camp Jewel’s”.  The triangle is an optical illusion made of three pieces of wood that are not connected as a triangle.  It is quick to make but challenging to position so it looks like a continuously outlined triangle.
(Pic1, Pic2, Pic3, Pic4, Pic5, Pic6)

Gary Bennett asked for support to make 18 identical balusters for a friend’s railing as he didn’t have a duplicator lathe.  The membership provided Dean Lutes’ name to Gary as a possible solution.

Larry Wendland mentioned that a vendor named Starbond makes reasonably priced high-quality CA glue and guarantees it for 2 years if kept in the refrigerator below 40 degrees.

Internet Links of Interest

  • Fine Woodworking has compiled a plethora of articles about hand planes on their site.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/handplanes

Note: There may be a limit to how much you can view without an account.

  • Wanna see a $40,000 puzzle pedestal? It’s probably not overpriced!

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2021/07/12/craig-thibodeaus-holy-grail-puzzle-cabinet

Carver’s Corner

The Splinter Carvers continue to meet first and third Saturdays of the month from 8:30 am to 10:30 am (whether Jim’s there or not).  The shop is located at 201 Jolliffe Acres Ln, Tullahoma. Tools and wood are available at the meetings, just bring yourself and try your hand at carving!

 Sweeping Up

From Pinterest:

    

Submissions to the newsletter are more than welcomed. Send funnies, tips, or other content that may be of interest and you may see it in a future edition of SPLINTERS!