I have seen part of this poem used a signature block. Apparently DH Lawrence was troubled by modernity. Things men Have Made Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into Are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing For long years. And for this reason, some old things are lovely Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them. DH Lawrence
I keep thinking I'm going to make little creative projects but I never seem to shake off repairing things. Currently I have been fixing a garden seat which had a broken slat. The likely culprit is the dog. Then I discovered that it had a rotten back rest. This meant that I had to remake part of the backrest. In reality the repair is worth more than the bench. But management wanted it preserved as it was a gift from our son. I'm am also fixing an old radiogram so that it can be sold. The problem with this is that the veneer on the cabinet is lifting. It is so damaged that it could probably be thrown out. However it belonged to my inlaws so my wife wants it fixed and sold. Im not even sure that any of the electrics work anymore. The record player hasn't been used in years and the radio frequencies are no longer in use. I'm not game to plug it in as it might blow a fuse!The unit predates FM radio and we won't evenmention DAB+. Then there is a chair waiting renovation , another ready to re-upholster (since 2019) and a dining table that could be refinished for sale. Somewhere in the middle I made a stand for a prot barrel sadly not my port barrel. So it's all repairs at the moment and we are downsizing. Garden Seat Back Garden Seat BackPort BarellRadiogramRadiogram VeneerChair FrameAssembled Chair FrameWaiting to be finishedRepairs Repairs
Upgrades to the van We have a A'Van Cruiseliner campervan which I seem to be endlessly upgrading or modifying. The photos in the attached gallery show the installation of an Ikea fold down table and a shelf above the sink. We found that the original table takes up too much space inside the van particularly when its cold and we spend in the van. I have of course kept the original table. I fitted the new Ikea table in such a way that if I decide to reverse the fitting you wouldn't notice. Although the table would benefit from having the right front corner as you look at lopped of. We have been away a couple of times with the additions in place and all seems to work well. most recently oy the Eyre Peninsula.
Of Mountains & Printing Presses The goal of this new editor is to make adding rich content to WordPress simple and enjoyable. This whole post is composed of pieces of content—somewhat similar to LEGO bricks—that you can move around and interact with. Move your cursor around and you’ll notice the different blocks light up with outlines and arrows. Press the arrows to reposition blocks quickly, without fearing about losing things in the process of copying and pasting. What you are reading now is a text block the most basic block of all. The text block has its own controls to be moved freely around the post... ... like this one, which is right aligned. Headings are separate blocks as well, which helps with the outline and organization of your content. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Handling images and media with the utmost care is a primary focus of the new editor. Hopefully, you’ll find aspects of adding captions or going full-width with your pictures much easier and robust than before. If your theme supports it, you’ll see the "wide" button on the image toolbar. Give it a try. Try selecting and removing or editing the caption, now you don’t have to be careful about selecting the image or other text by mistake and ruining the presentation. The Inserter Tool Imagine everything that WordPress can do is available to you quickly and in the same place on the interface. No need to figure out HTML tags, classes, or remember complicated shortcode syntax. That’s the spirit behind the inserter—the (+) button you’ll see around the editor—which allows you to browse all available content blocks and add them into your post. Plugins and themes are able [...]
More TensionTemporary FixReplacement Tension WheelTension Wheel I have an old Stanley 110 block plane which used to belong to my father. I can remember him buying it in the early 1970s. With house moves and things over the years parts of it got lost. Importantly the blade and tension wheel went missing. The blade was fairly easy to replace but the the tension wheel was another matter. I have tried to order the part from Stanley but never had any luck. In fact ordering spare parts for tools can be a cause of tension as they often do not follow up on orders. In the interim I managed to make a tension wheel from a large flat washer and a quarter twenty bolt secured with a couple of square nuts. The old adage of temporary becoming permanent comes into focus. This has in fact served me well for quite a number of years. However I always wanted to replace the temporary repair with a real one. As is often the case you get a bee in your bonnet, so I decided to see if I could order a tension wheel online. It came as quite a shock that I would have to pay over $50 Australian dollars for the part from the US. Luckily I am a member of the Australian woodworking forums which has an active buy and sell section. There is a guy who regularly sells s lot of planes so I sent him a direct message asking where I might buy the part. He very generously offered to send me the part for postage only. The Stanley No 110 and the tension wheel are now happily working together. In the end my [...]
A testy post
I have been fiddling with my phone in a vain attempt to post. The deal breaker is posting with a photo. So here goes. Two is the number
Pen on the LathePen Blanks Preparing Pen BlanksPen Making Pen Making is interesting as you can make nice pens with what amounts to fine timber veneers. Using relatively small amounts of timber great results can be achieved. Typically a timber blank somewhere between 15mm square to 25mm square will suffice. It's a great way to use up offcuts and scraps The pen on the lathe picture shows a completed pen which has a celery top pine veneer Phyllocladus aspleniifolius. I also used some applewood which does look quite similar in colour. The last picture features some fish tail oak Neorites. This is a darker timber but proved a little troublesome when turning. I have tried to stabilise it with this superglue. I usually glue the brass tubes which reside in the timber blanks with five minute two part epoxy. However this time I decided to use up some old regular epoxy , this usually cures in 24 hours. This time around a week later the glue had not set causing me quite bit of grief. I had to use superglue to to reinforce the two part epoxy. Even then when I was squaring up the ends some of the brass tubes worked loose. A lesson learnt in penmaking dont use old two part epoxy. I have managed to get on and make the pens.
I have been absent from the blog for a bit. I keep thinking that I will post some woodworking but I never seem to get around to it. As the title suggests I have delved into some leather work. I was prompted to make some covers for a range of spoon carving knives that I have. Being new to leather working I have got diverted from what the original idea of making covers for spoon carving knives. Theses will require wet forming which is a little more difficult. The first thing I had to investigate was saddle stitch. But before I could do that I had to make a stitching pony. I made the stitching pony as it was a fraction of the price of buying one. Then of course I needed thread and needles. Luckily I had been given some leather work tools some years ago so this was a starting point. Laying out and cutting hasn't been too difficult. The skiving knife and saddle knife pictured below were laid out using the tool. By the time I did the axe sheath I made a pattern which in hindsight was a better idea. I'm still coming to grips with the stitching. They say the tread should be four times the length od the stitching, I have found this to be an underestimate. Thanks to YouTube there are many channels out there some better than others and a local leather supply shop DS Horne I have managed to get on the bandwagon. There will be some YouTube video when I get around to editing it. The images below are some of my first attempts at saddle stitch and finishing leather with neatsfoot oil.
The Kreg K4 jig is very handy for setting up and making pocket holes to accept screws. It is quick and easy making relatively strong joints. The only downside is a rather cumbersome clamping mechanism. It has to be adjusted to timber thickness and is fiddly. There is a more advanced jig called the K5 but for my needs the K4 is perfectly satisfactory. Currently the K4 can be purchased in Australia for about $140 and the K5 for somewhere between AUD $220 and $299. I bought my jig some years ago and paid around AUD $100. The Aussie dollar was stronger then. I was very pleased to to see that a company Armor Tools offered an upgrade to the clamping mechanism. A quick and easy upgrade that really works. It was less than $50. even better the K4 still fits in the original box. I have included a video link to the company video on this product. It is available in Australia from Timbecon KReg 4 with upgrade https://youtu.be/f48HUeYUOdw