Another One Into the Abyss

Vaughn McMillan

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As some of you know, my brother-in-law is seriously into Viking re-enactment. He heads a pretty large group of folks with the same interest, and they're getting ready for a big event next weekend in Solvang, CA. Saturday I spent most of the afternoon and into the evening helping him and one of his Viking friends with a some last minute cutting and drilling for a couple of their tents. The friend brought along his eighth grade daughter, Sutton. She was a great kid...polite and genuinely interested in what we were doing in the shop. Not long after they got to my place, Sutton mentioned that they had a bandsaw like mine in the shop class she'd taken last year. (Which was a surprise, since I didn't know there were any schools remaining out here with woodshops. Apparently, her school is the lone holdout in their district.)

While my BIL and Sutton's dad were busy sanding on separate projects, my task was to make some tapered dowels to be used as pins for the tent frames. It's easy lathe work and I've made a bunch of these in the past...I simply chuck up a short (8" or so) length of dowel, support the end with the tailstock, and taper it from both ends toward the center. Cut in half, and I've got two tapered pegs. Anyway, after I got things set up, I asked Sutton if she'd ever used a lathe. No, but she said she hoped to get a chance to use the mini lathes in woodshop this year. You all can probably figure out the rest of the story. :) I'm pretty sure it's the first Hello Kitty shirt that's been worn in my shop.

New Turner 02 - 700.jpg New Turner 01 - 700.jpg

Since she's also a part of the Viking re-enactment group, Sutton was pretty happy about being able to actually make some things that will be used in their encampment.

And here's a couple shots showing what her dad did with a spalted alder turning blank I gave him a few months ago. This wolf head will be on a ridge pole above the door of one of the tents.

Wolf Head 01 - 700.jpg Wolf Head 02 - 800.jpg

The wood really came alive with a coat of BLO on it. I failed to get the "after" pics, but I'll get some next weekend in Solvang. ;)
 
I'm glad to see she covered her hair...I was turning a couple of bowls on Friday and the wood was pretty dry and sometimes more punky than solid.... when I came out of the shop and when I jumped into the shower, I discovered my left ear was full of wood chips as well as my hair... Mine is pretty short, but I would surmise if you have long hair, the wood chips could get tangled and a little harder to getout.

Good to see our addiction in the younger crowd....
 
I'm glad to see she covered her hair...I was turning a couple of bowls on Friday and the wood was pretty dry and sometimes more punky than solid.... when I came out of the shop and when I jumped into the shower, I discovered my left ear was full of wood chips as well as my hair... Mine is pretty short, but I would surmise if you have long hair, the wood chips could get tangled and a little harder to getout.

Good to see our addiction in the younger crowd....

I knew there had to be some advantage to being follicly impaired!:)

Wood chips do stick rather well to a sweaty scalp though.

Letting her use the lathe is great Vaughn.
 
I'm glad to see she covered her hair...

She was wearing the knit thing when she arrived, but I was also glad to see her hair was contained. Had it been loose, I'd have insisted on tying it back in a ponytail. I tie mine back, but I often still end up with lots of chips stuck in my hair.
 
Catching up here, this is a really great story Vaughn. As my mother would say "Warms the cockles of my heart" to see a youngster in the shop and interested. Also to hear there are still schools that realize there is more to shop class than some think.

The wolf head is fantastic splated and all. Did Bil carve that? Toni needs to see this thread.

By the way since your Bil is into Viking stuff send him this link if you would( BTW its in English). Its a real interesting story and might inspire him and his crew to build a boat.

The link is to a museum in Denmark. I have yet to visit a museum that was so well done and struck such a memorable cord with me. I wont spoil the story suffice to say its worth reading a lot on their site if you really want to understand the Vikings travel and trade means.

http://vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/index.php?id=1246&L=1

This place also knows how to bring history alive for each generation that visits. But the Danes are really great people so one can expect that.:thumb:
 
Vaughn tell him the wolf head is not period correct. It needs to be aged and painted. Our old F&I camps would have nothing to do with something that looked so new. :rofl: Pilgrims...........................
 
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