Storm of 2012

Today, out of nowhere, we had a very wicked thunderstorm.  The news reports were saying 70-80 MPH winds and I believe it.  The girls and I took a bike ride after the chaos ended.

Note to self, take care of business before or after a storm, not during.

Cleanup crew.

This tree was on one of the tee boxes.

This poor guy lost 2 really nice trees beside his house.

I'm guessing Columbus craigslist will set the record for 'free firewood' in the coming weeks.

This was by far the craziest thing we seen.  This is the 18th green of the golf course.  I'm guessing the tree in this picture is about a 200 year old Oak.  It got a whole in one, dropped dead center across the green.

Might have a divot or two to replace.

Pulled the pin.

Here is the damage on our property.  No major damage, but it's very scary how much the tall pine trees bend in the wind.  I can't believe they all stayed standing.

Lathe practice, small wine glass

Wood Bracelet

Miranda sent me a picture of a wooden bracelet when she was out getting her ring fixed.  The jewelry store wanted 3700 for this thing, even thought it did have a gold bracelet wrapped around the wood.  Anyway, I thought I would attempt the wood part.

DIY whittling knife

When hiking with the girls I often carve various things along the way.  I have been using an old pocket knife which gets very uncomfortable on the fingers after a while.  A good whittling knife has a much more substantial handle, however they are not cheap.  I decided to try and make one.  I started with an old sawsall blade and a scrap piece of maple.

I used an angle grinder and a belt sander to shape the blade into a knife shape.

I polished the blade to 12,000 grit with my micro mesh pads.  I shined like a mirror.

I heated the blade on our stove until is was red hot then dipped it in oil to harden it.  I then baked it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to temper.

 I used the belt sander to shape the handle.  It's not the prettiest but it is very comfortable.  It's sanded to 320 grit and finished with a coat of boiled linseed oil.  This thing was razor sharp for a while.  I could shave my arm with it.  However, the edge didn't last very long.  I either need a different type of metal or some work on my metal hardening steps.

More wood buttons

Well, the first wood button was just a test.  I got suckered in to making a whole bag full of them for a friend of ours.  I did end up being good lathe practice.

Wood button

Miranda asked if I could make a wooden button.  I said sure.

Kids and boxes

Good thing we have a play set, swings, sandbox....

I found Avery in here watching what appeared to be the Japenese version of America's Got Talent on mom's iphone.  I guess she is getting bored with the American version.

New outfeed table

My table saw outfeed table always turned into a storage/assembly/paint table. When I wanted to cut something on the table saw I had to go through a time consuming cleanup. Here's how it would look after a while.

Here's the new one.  The construction is the same as the old, but I took some time to stain and poly the top.

French cleat storage - how to

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Walnut candy dish

Cutting board

I started this end grain cutting board probably 6 months ago.  It sat in various build stages for a long time.  I finally finished it up and put on a coat of mineral oil.  These are supposed to be really good for knives as the end grain of the wood does little to dull them.