new project

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I took my brother to a couple of tag sales here sunday morning before football, and before he had to fly back home.
I never know what Ill find, I always look at tools first.
I spotted this marble chess board. I examined it. board was in perfect shape, some of the pieces were reglued, it was marked 40 dollars.
I did a quick internet search, sets like this sell for 100-200 dollars.
I cannot rate quality of marble, Im no expert.this thing is extremely heavy.
The boards alone go for close to 75 dollars or more.(maybe less I didn't go nuts looking at prices)
I offered 20, they said, cant do it, 25, I walked away.
a minute later she said, ok, 20.
so this will be one of my future projects, probably a winter project.
Not sure exactly how I will incorporate it, maybe into a small end table, walnut? cherry? maybe into a small separate wood frame to make it a bit less stone looking. Really not sure, but for 20 bucks, I think Im off to a good start, I don't care about the pieces, I can always purchase new pieces or let someone else purchase new pieces.

been off my feet, still battling this metatarsal bursitis nonsense, but feeling better off my feet.
today was first day back in shop to clean up a bit more and repair a frame I damaged.
I spent most of the day again looking for my hammer. Had the thing for nearly 40 years(maybe 35-40?), and boom, its gone.
The only thing I can think of, is that when I pounded down some outdoor Halloween decorations in the ground with it, I left it outside on the front bushes, and it must have rusted up and the gardener found it and figured it was junk and tossed it.
I haven't seen him in weeks, so I doubt his workers will even remember.
And ofcourse, 2 days in a row, I need a hammer. I haven't used it before pounding down the lawn ornaments for maybe 6 months, and wont need it again for another 6 months.
Im done searching. Im going to buy a new one tomorrow.Its aggrevating. I don't lose tools.
 

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Heck of a deal Allen! That should be real nice once finished. Cherry would look great next to the black and white in my opinion.
 
If you're like me, the lost hammer will show up approximately 7.34 minutes after you get home with the new one. :rolleyes:
 
Nice score Allen. Since you can turn, why not go back in time and find Stu's post of when he made chess pieces and make your own set.
As to you r hammer I can totally relate. And I absolutely hate loosing anything especially tools.

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Nice score Allen. Since you can turn, why not go back in time and find Stu's post of when he made chess pieces and make your own set.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk


its simple. Im not anywhere as talented a turner as stu.
I struggle to turn pens.
theres nothing that ruins your week or month, or year, like taking on a project that is way above your pay grade.
 
Ah, Allen I'd bet you could pull off making a nice set... the main challenge would be to avoid being to much of a perfectionist on yourself from what I've seen ;)

I will be interested to see what you end up doing here as I have an almost identical set although its in rose quartz instead of black.. somewhere around here..
 
...theres nothing that ruins your week or month, or year, like taking on a project that is way above your pay grade.

I disagree (somewhat) with that, Allen. I've often looked at a project or product and said "I'm gonna try that!" even though it was something I'd never done before. I gotta admit, my success rate has been way less than 100% - maybe even less than 50% - but on the theory of 'nothing ventured; nothing gained,' nearly every one was a learning experience.
 
woodworking is a challenge for me everytime I do something.

Im content not trying to do something Im not ready for yet.

I don't have to prove to myself just how untalented I am, I just accept it.
 
That should be a fun project Allen. I can't imagine having just one hammer, seems like I've got about 5 of every hand tool, of course I've inherited some of my dad's. I've also inherited his compulsion to buy more than I actually need, he had at least 3 of everything, but he did make his living with them.
 
just got back from the depot. picked up a hammer, a square, and some one inch brad nails for the pc gun.
also got some 4 inch pine boards to practice some things with.

I have 2 other claw hammers, an upholstery hammer, and a ball hammer, but they are old and cheap, inherited from fil or uncle.
It was 13.99 and it will last me another 40 years unless I leave it outside again.

this past sunday, the estate sales we were at, there must have been 15 hammers between 2 homes.

didn't know I needed one probably could have gotten them for one dollar each.

One guy had a large collection of saws, but not one of them was a disston, all unmarked on handles and blades, so I didn't pick any up.
when I get to these estate sales 45 minutes after they started, I know any tools left are not worth anything.

first thing that goes all the time.
 
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Hi Allen, although late to the thread, I have a question, that chess set are you sure it is made out of marble? I'm asking because usually they are made from Alabaster as it is a quite soft stone that allows being worked with just files and knives, and yes it breaks easily which would explain why some pieces are glued.
 
decided to put any projects on hold, I really needed to get cleaning up(usually a cold weather gig, but after 8 years, Im up to date with requested projects)
first thing, I started pulling all the split, short, unusable pieces of wood I have laying all over the place and first, cut out whatever I could for boards, then cut down those remnants to pen blanks and bottle stopper blanks. 30% waste on projects, nope, Im burning as little as possible.
totally crazy ofcourse, but it keeps me busy. Im on my feet a few hours a day again and I need to keep myself occupied.
not really woodworking, just gonna glue up some strips for boards. Managed to get 5 boards picked today, will continue this into next week and until I use up enough scraps.
IM also practicing using my incra5000 for 45 degree joints to make some plaque style frames, nothing fancy. practicing with pine.like I said, keeps me busy.\ and out of trouble.(trouble-me with nothing to do and sitting in front of the TV eating)

and I got a cell phone, so why not torture some of you with these boring pictures of cut wood strips.

not motivated to start any big projects since with some getaways planned, I don't like leaving things hanging out in garage.
 

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I was looking for an extra pair of sneakers to throw into the car so I wouldn't forget them midweek, and I stepped on something in my closet.
I figured its just a shoe that fell off a shelf, but it was cold? I looked down, laying between some shirts, was my hammer.
Around 3 weeks ago, I needed to hang a belt holder in my closet and I needed to tap in a nail, and I must have laid it down and it fell in back of clothes.
My wife never saw it either when hanging up shirts right on top of it.
Im glad I found it. It was really driving me nutso especially after spending an enormous amount of time looking everywhere, even places I knew the hammer would never be, like kitchen drawers, dresser drawers.......
 
Glad you found it.. My eyeglasses are my most often hunted for item. And I have to have them for most everything...
By the way looks like you have some nice scraps..
Garry
 
Glad you found it.. My eyeglasses are my most often hunted for item. And I have to have them for most everything...
By the way looks like you have some nice scraps..
Garry

When I reached the point of blurry near vision I just got bifocals with no Rx in the top, put them on and wore them full time---It is so much simpler that way. The vision is there whenever you want it and the glasses are always in the same place, on your nose.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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