Rushed Xmas Ornaments

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
First I got to thank a member here I have not seen around for some time.
Bernie if you out there pls chime in. I want to thank Bernie for taking the time many years ago to post a step by step of how he turns birdhouses.

Fortunately for me I save the post at the time and have accessed it several times since then to help with the poor memory.

Any how son came home from Unoversity this week, he is finally done and puts in a order for a few birdhouses to give as gifts to his girlfriend and her family.

Before I could do the project I had to get my new old lathe bench finished up then get the lathe together and mounted on it.

Just my luck I go to run it and the drive diner want to work. Well blast of WD40 and worked it and the reeves drive started working again. Then I lubricated it and was all good and running.

Well I discovered I had forgotten how to turn.

Added to that the wood I chose to use all I had that was on hand and suitable was some incredibly hard baseball bat maple.

Oh boy the pucker factor was sky high. Had a few blow apart.

Ed Thomas if you see this post I need to ask you for some lessons again. Brain seems to have leaked.

Well just got a coat of wipe on poly on this lot and they hanging to dry.

Not my best work by far I really don’t like doing things under the gun takes the fun out and when you add the fear factor all I can say is I am glad they done.

Just waiting to put the tenants on and then they can go in their box.


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Would have like to do a blow by blow post but there just was no time.

Thanks again Bernie.


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Rob those look great. I too enjoyed Bernie and his birdhouses. I printed his step by step process and have it in a file somewhere. I even bought some small little birds to sit on the perch but never got around to making them. You did a fine job on these.
 
Few Canaries stopped by and took up residency , looks like they permanent residents. Lol

Now all that’s left is packaging and wrapping and they will be ready for Santa’s present bag.[emoji4]

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...Oh boy the pucker factor was sky high. Had a few blow apart...

No 80 grit but a lot of pucker.

As counter-intuitive as it seems, it sounds like you need to relax, and perhaps take lighter cuts. Any time you find yourself clenching your teeth and with a white-knuckle grip on the tool, it's a sign that you just need to take a deep breath and try to make the cut in a more relaxed manner. If you're getting catches, that's a sign that you need to re-think your tool presentation. Just step back, maybe slow down the lathe a little bit, and try to figure out why the catches are happening. Turning should be a calming thing, done with confidence. Of course, much of that confidence comes from experience, but if you're fighting the process, it takes all the fun out of gaining that experience. ;)
 
Thanks for the excellent advice Vaughn. You got it I was way too trying to rush it. Really my heart was not in it and I wanted to be elsewhere working on something else.
After Xmas I went back, cleaned up the area, sharpened a few tools, chucked up a fresh piece and gave it another go.

That was also after watching a few videos to get back to basics.

Thanks for the well made points.



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I played an ornithological note on my guitar once, but I tuned it up, and everything was OK after that. :rofl:

I thought the bird was the word, the bird bird bird...

Are those houses about the right size for goldfinches? Do they use them? If so I might have to get the dimensions. We have a whole lot of those around here (especially since I started feeding them.. quite insistent they get if it runs low too).
 
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