Blank Wood

The Man Who Makes Little Fish from Sticks

Webmistress — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:55:44 +0000

Wearing only a green loincloth, a barefooted indian approached me. Lean and muscular, his straight black hair hung down past his ears in a “page boy” style cut typical of “Cholos” or straight-haired people. His flat, broad feet were caked with sand. A two and a half foot long machete was slung across his back by a braided vine thong.
photo credit: Podknox
A small drawstring pouch hung by its cords under one arm. We looked at each other. Glancing down at the scattering of wood shavings around my feet, the Embera finally broke the silence.
“What are you doing?” he asked in his native tongue.”I’m making a fishing lure.”
Tipping his head curiously, he squinted at the near minnow-shaped blank of wood in my hands. I continued whittling. More wood shavings fell around his feet. He didn’t move. The Pacific Ocean surf roared and pounded like a lullaby no more than 100 yards away down the sand-paved street. Late afternoon had painted the sky with burnt orange and purple hues. A light breeze easily carried the salt scent to us and felt refreshing against the crushing humidity.
“It will be like one of these”, I said in Spanish, holding up another finished minnow-imitation top water plug. The Rapala-type fishing lure had been finished only yesterday.
Heavy rain and roiling seas had scuttled any fishing plans I’d had for earlier this morning. In the clear afternoon, I opted to work on a couple of lures to pass the sauna-like conditions of Colombia’s Pacific coast. The Choco region is one of the wettest regions in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. More than 43 and a half feet of rain fall each year – enough to flood a building above its fourth floor.
He took a lure from my hands and turned, holding it up, to show another more elderly Indian man who now approached. They spoke a bit between themselves, turning the lure over and over in their hands, mindful of the tail and mid-body stainless steel treble hooks. The first man undulated the lure in a swimming motion imitating a dancing, bobbing fish. Smiling, he handed it back to me.
“I’ve never seen anything like that”, the tan skinned man continued. “Do you have more?”
I nodded a response.
“Do you sell them?”
“Not these. I’ll be using these myself tomorrow.”
“The fish will really like these, especially this one.” He pointed to a red-headed five inch minnow imitation lure with a white body: Its treble hooks glinted in the evening sunlight.
“I hope so.” He proved right couple of days later as I fought a 14-pound Dorado to the gunnels of my boat. My hands cut and bleeding, it took two of us to sling the blue and gold, spotted scrapper up and into the locally built 25 foot wooden launch. I would sport a shameless, white-toothed grin all the way home that morning.
Showing off a few more of my finished lures, we conversed a bit more. They left in wonder at my ability to “make little fish from sticks”. So from that day on, I have been known by the Embera Indians of the Jurubida region of the Choco, as “The man who makes little fish from sticks.” Kinda of catchy, ain’t it? I still can’t quite say it correctly in the Embera’s language, but let me tell you, it’s a mouthful.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free.
For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost PDF Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, immediate delivery details and no-obligation information are available online now at: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com/
Need professional, original content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and teaching materials mailing list? Then contact the author at this website for a prompt response.
Article Source: Larry_M._Lynch

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Pen Turning on the go.

TCBC — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:03:39 +0000

Being a pen turner and recently retired, I was looking for a small lathe I could take with me in my travels. After a lot of research, I settled on the little Grizzly G9247 VS Mini Wood Lathe. It is not a high quality machine, but it does a satisfactory job for turning pens, bottle stoppers and other small turnings. The biggest advantage for me is the variable speed and the portability. Overall I am pleased with this little lathe. It may not be the best quality, but it does the job for which I purchased it.

Woodturning Tools – What to Look For

Webmistress — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:53:21 +0000

By Darrell Feltmate

photo credit: [[MorphoMir]]
One quick look at a woodworking or woodturning catalogue will expose a bewildering array of tools from which the woodturner can choose. If we consider such things as chucks, centers and other methods of holding or measuring wood and restrict ourselves to hand held tools that cut wood, there is still an overwhelming assortment.

For the sake of simplicity, it is easier to divide the array into gouges, skews, scrapers, parting tools, hollowing tools and simply others. A look at the assortment of beginner’s sets on the market gives evidence that the first four are the most used tools in the wood turner’s kit.

Gouges are generally divided again into roughing gouges, spindle gouges and bowl gouges. The roughing gouge is usually the first one a wood turner reaches for to rough down a spindle on the lathe. It should have be a robust cross section of steel and be shaped to a half circle. It is sharpened straight across and all parts of the edge are used for cutting as the tool is rotated on the tool rest. One of the things to look for here is a long and strong handle for good leverage. Widths of 3/4″ to 1 1/2″ are readily available and a 1″ tool is a good, general compromise.

Spindle gouges on the other hand, are generally used after the rough shape of the spindle is set and it is now time to smooth the work and cut beads and coves. Thus the steel may be lighter in cross section and the end is sharpened to what is often called a “lady’s finger nail” shape with a long bevel. Most of the cutting is done just past the tip with the tool riding the long bevel for fine control. Widths range from very small to quite large but a 1/4″, 3/8″ and 1/2″ will suit most people very well with the 3/8″ likely being the most used.

Bowl gouges are not usually included in a beginner’s set but are necessary for anyone interested in bowls and most face plate work. Look for a strong steel shaft and a nice cross section profile. This may vary from a “V” with rounded bottom to a “U” but should be proportional in its use of sides and bottom. While styles of sharpening vary, straight across with a 45 degree bevel is a good start. Long and strong tools are the norm with 18″ to 22″ long tools being common. Widths vary but 3/8″ is a good starting place.

The skew is the magic wand of woodturning. Under a practised hand beads and coves appear from a tool that is itself flat. In fact it excels as a spindle plane. Looking down on the tool one sees a skewed tip, ground back at an angle of about 70 degrees and beveled to about 30 degrees on either side. There are two cutting areas, each being the third from the long or short point. Cutting at the center of the tool is asking for a rather dramatic catch. Widths generally range from 1/4″ to 1 /12″ but larger and smaller are available. For most people a 3/4″ and 1″ will suffice.

Scrapers are capable of great hogging cuts with lots of tear out to be repaired or of taking delicate shavings. Profiles range from straight to all sorts of strange curves. Usually one straight and one rounded in the 3/4″ to 1″ range will suffice.

Parting tools are primarily for parting the work from the lathe cut are also used to size work to dimension and for some other cuts. In other words, they tend to be used for a straight in cut with lots of torque involved. For this reason they are used on edge to give a small cut with a lot of support. The cutting edge is found most often in the center of the tool with a bevel of 45 to 30 degrees. Profiles will range from flat to diamond and a 3/4″ to 1″ tool should meet most needs.

This should give a kit for a great deal of enjoyment to the turner. With that said, all tools need practise in their use but the practise itself is fun at the lathe. Also individual tastes vary as do styles of turning. Eventually, many wood turners settle on favourite themes in turning and their range of tools decreases. For others, variety is the watchword both in the style of turning and the vast array of tools. The important thing to remember is to have fun and enjoy the tools you have while dreaming of new ones out there.

Darrell Feltmate is a juried wood turner whose web site, Around the Woods, contains detailed information about wood turning for the novice or experienced turner as well as a collection of turnings for your viewing pleasure. You too can learn to turn wood, here is the place to start. Wondering what it looks like? Follow the page links for a free video.

You can easily ask your questions about wood turning at his blog at Round Opinions as well as comment on any thing related to the web site, this article or other aspects of wood turning, art and craft.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Feltmate
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Woodturning: Introduction to Making a Bowl

Webmistress — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:16:19 +0000

Woodturning Projects – Four Things a Beginning Woodturner Should Look For

Webmistress — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:12:48 +0000

By Darrell Feltmate

For the beginning woodturner, woodturning projects need to meet four criteria: They should be instructive, inexpensive, interesting, and quick. Meeting these simple conditions will enhance the learning experience with enjoyment and have finished projects that serve to encourage the beginner to woodworking with the lathe.

photo credit: mandiberg

First they need to be instructive. While it can be argued that any woodturning gives instruction to the beginner, there should be a deliberate thought given to choosing a project that teaches one or two new skills. Ideally, the project will work on existing woodworking skills and build from that experience to gain confidence on the lathe.

The first tools to learn are typically the roughing gouge, the parting tool and spindle gouges. These allow the new woodturner to rough a square to round; shape with straight lines, beads and coves; cut to a determined diameter; and part off the finished project.

Second, the wood worker’s project should be inexpensive. Most of the price of a project is determined by the wood used. In fact, the first few projects should consist of local woods that are cheap or free. Any other embellishments should be easily found and inexpensive indeed, such as tea lights or copper pipe sections for handle ferrules. If a band saw is part of the shop set up it is simple to reduce a section of firewood to turning squares that will be fine for a variety of projects.

Third, the project should be interesting. Realizing that the beginning woodturner is intending to develop and refine skills, it is encouraged that the project be repeated several times. It is far better for the would be wood turner if the project maintains its interest through several incarnations. This is achieved in at least three ways.

1. It is developing new skills which has an interest value of its own

2. Most projects can be embellished with beads, coves, grooves, deliberate burn marks and other decorations, each of which is a learning experience for the beginner.

3. Projects can be used by the turner or given to friends and family unlike practice sticks that are at best highly decorated kindling.

Fourth, the woodturning project should be quick to produce. After all, the project is really secondary here. The primary need is to develop new skills on the wood lathe. One of the great ways to do so is to repeat, repeat, repeat. As the project is turned one time after another, the results can be lined up and compared to decide what is needed for improvement and where the new wood turner can pat himself or herself on the back for a job well done.

One such project for the beginner is a file handle. The lines are simple and can be performed with roughing gouge, spindle gouge and parting tool. Maple or ash from the firewood stash will do a great job and the only addition needed, if desired, is a ferrule cut from some scrap pipe. Besides, every woodworker can use another file handle as can almost any amount of friends who can give encouragement as they exclaim in awe over the beginning wood turner’s new skills.

There are several wood turning projects fully explained on the web site. In particular, a selection of beginner’s projects may be found on the Beginner’s Projects page complete with explanation and step by step photos.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Feltmate
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Making Your Own Tools

Webmistress — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:32:52 +0000

Making Your Own Lathe Tools