The Start of the Dried Apple Hollow Form

The saga of turning the hollow form in dried apple begins. This wood was dry and split and had a great character to it. It has been grown for fruit so there are all kinds of stresses in the wood because of pruning and so on. There are also a lot of grain and color variations, so it is a lot of fun and has a lot of character. Even to get as far as mounting it on the lathe took a bit of work and design to consider everything that went on. I have started putting the work on the web, likely a couple of pages at a time since good old time has run away with me again, starting at Apple Hollow Form over on Around the Woods

Back to Wood Turning

Ok guys and gals, enough about plumbing, besides, it is time to call in the pros. The royal flush is not so royal except for a royal pain. Anyway, here is the log that started all the fun with the apple.

It has cracks and checks and all that neat stuff that makes great firewood, but I just did not want to burn it, soo... The idea was to make a natural edged vase with neck, but I thought I would try a fair curve first and see if it stayed together. I will gradually get the whole thing on the web site (note the word gradually) but is there not a lot of dreams in a log like this?

I got to turn!

When I had the toilet off and snaked the lines, I of course wanted to return the toilet to use. Remember the broken flange? I got a new one only to find that it needed to be about 3/4" shorter than stock length. The old one had obviously been cut to fit the fitting in the concrete floor. Ever try to tell a store you need a fitting shorter than the other ten thousand they sold? We call this laughter, so I needed to cut down the flange. I had had to get an adjustable because of the drain size and availability so there was hardly anyway to hold it to cut it. I made a scrap wood jam chuck and turned it to fit the opening. Turning, turning!! Not much and some of it was not wood but it was all fun. I'll stick some info on the web site because some one else might need to do it some day.
Take care and turn safely.

Aaaah! Plumbing!

Is not plumbing fun? Especially when it makes no sense?
I have a problem with water flow and gurgling in the down stairs toilet, sink, and shower. It sounded like a vent problem. So I snaked the vent. No go. I snaked the line thinking it was a partial clog. No go. To snake the line I had to remove the toilet (don't ask). The toilet flange broke (don't ask). I got the old piece of flange separated from the fitting, now I have to get a new one and reinstall the toilet. Then I need to install a new pump and tank. This is called a day off. Turning sounds like fun.
Tonight I visit a family where the husband/father just died. Bad plumbing is not that bad.
Take care and turn safely.

Still Plumbing

Ok, I still have to go and get the oak. Maybe Wednesday. The plumbing is a disaster. I still have no idea what is causing the gurgling, but the vent seems open. The pump and tank both need replacing but that is no big deal. Monday afternoon looks open for now. I have not had any time on the lathe but a while ago I turned a piece of apple about 10" high and 7" diameter. Dry as dust but hard as nails. I plan to gradually get it on the web as I took lots of pictures. Sort of a work in progress even though I have it finished. It will simply take a lot time to write up. Here is a picture of the finished work.
Tomorrow is Sunday and I am preaching on the conversion of Paul on the Road to Damascus. Hopefully I will get in some turning as I prepare the sermon tonight.

(Not) Running Interference

Life can interfere with turning. There are only so many hours in the day and they do get taken up. Work is one thing but lately the plumbing has taken the rest. We have a well here but town sewer. The bladder has gone on my water tank and the pump is old so I think I will replace both. Meantime I have bubbling problems in one of the toilets and am trying to fix it. I think the vent is clogged but I can not seem to break it. Once I get off the roof I have to turn something. Unfortunately or fortunately Saturday will disappear for me this week. A friend a couple of hours from me had to take down a big oak so me and the chain saw have to clean up some of the wood for him by getting it to pile in the yard. Ain't life tough :-) He says the oak was about 18" across. Sounds good to me. I will post a couple of pictures of some apple I have been playing with soon.

Easier Navigation

Sorry to have been long posting to here. It has been a while and a lot has happened. I will try to be more active on the blog in the near future. Over on the main site I have worked at making it easier to get around. Really I had no idea how vast the site had gotten but there are over 200 pages now and lots more to add and to alter. So I made a table of contents page which I think is a lot easier than a site map. As I made it I realized that some things need to be in two categories and some new categories made up. I was not aware of how many video clips I have posted but I realize that they need a menu of their own. One of these days... Any way check out the new contents page at Around the Woods - Navigation and while there you may want to see the pages on making a Quick Oland tool.