Some recent work

Here are a few that I've almost finished.
The top one is a natural-edged birch bowl.
The middle one is a vase from a box elder burl.
The botton picture has a natural edge box elder bowl, a box elder branch vase and the burl vase.
Hope you like them ! Have a great long weekend !

Game Day !!!

Riders host Calgary today! Should be a gooder !!!

Thanks again Bob

I got some beautiful wood and blanks from Bob again yesterday. His shop and wood storage is truly remarkable. Bob is very talented and inspirational to a novice turner like me. I always appreciate his kind words of advice and encouragement. In truth it was Bob who inspired me to turn wood. I met him at the Farmer's Market about 5 years ago and bought my first bowl from him.
Thanks again Bob.

Shocker in Winnipeg !

Defensive line coach Richard Harris passed away today after practice. He was 63. My condolences to his family and the Blue Bomber community .

Riders WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!

27-24 over the previously undefeated Montreal Alouettes ! The glass is still half full ! A good step in the right direction.

Woodturning videos site

Just found this site. I'm sure many of you have seen it before. 10 pages of videos !

http://www.woodturningvideos.com

Now that's Summer !

Great day today , lots of sun ! Spent the morning finish sanding some of my more promising efforts outside. I'll post some of them when I 'm done. Tomorrow is game day. Riders are in Montreal. Should be win # 1 ! I'm more of a glass half full kid of guy.

End of the week

Where did the time go ? I must be busy because the time has certainly passed quickly. I've been experimenting with some pine I got at Silver Star. I made some winged bowls and a natural-edged endgrain platter that looks good. I'm going to do a few more of these. The lathe works very well. I've made over 20 bowls and vases since I got it 2 weeks ago. One of these days I'm going to have to devote more time to finishing. The weather is going to be great the next few days so it will be a good chance to be outside.

Weather

Beautiful day today, but its supposed to rain tonite and tomorrow. Its tough to be inside the shop when its this nice. I used to have my lathe outside in Regina in the fall. Not as much dust but still a lot of chips! i have that lathe for sale. Its an older mastercraft and was a good starter lathe for me.

New Tool

I just got an Easy Wood Finisher. Awesome and easy to use (hence the name). Fine finishing cuts on the inside of the bowls I was turning today. I just saw some video on YouTube on the EW Rougher. I'm pretty stoked about it too. One of the neat things about the finisher is the carbide cutter. It stays amazingly sharp. More time at the lathe and less at the sharpener.

Where is summer ?

Another rainy , cloudy day. I bet it has a lot to do with global cooling !

Happy Birthday Alex !!!

Our lovely Alexandra has a milestone birthday today ! Helene and I are going to see her for lunch and good times !

Riders lose again !

The first pass being intercepted was an omen for the rest of the game. Hamilton won 33-3 and the Rider ship is in disarray. Lack of a pass rush, poor decisions in the passing game and no first downs in the first quarter! With Montreal the next opponent, an 0-4 start looks possible. We'll see what this team is really about.

Friday Night Lights

Here is a good article about "Friday Night Lights" , a great tv series based on the book and movie.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/bryan_armen_graham/07/15/friday-night-lights-moments/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t12_a2

World Football

Canada will mark its debut at the IFAF Senior World Championship with a Gold Medal Game clash against traditional sporting rival the United States having held off the challenge of Japan to win 31-27 and top Group B.
Team Canada includes one of my former students at Campbell, Joel Lipinski .
Here is the story :

http://www.canadafootballchat.com/news/national/3895-canada-wins-thriller-against-japan-meet-usa-gold-medal-game-saturday.html

Thanks Russell !

I had a great visit with Russell, got a tour of his workshop and saw his carvings. A very talented man ! Thanks for the wood too Russ !!!

Down Week

A "down week" is the way Rod Pederson described how everyone felt following a Rider loss. Well, its been a "Down 2 Weeks" as they are 0-2. Things are looking better as the Riders travel to play the Tabbies in Hamilton on Saturday. Hamilton is also 0-2, so in a way its like the "Toilet Bowl" with 2 winless teams competing.
 It could be a "Down Month" if the Riders don't win Saturday. Saskatchewan's  opponent is Montreal the week after.

Busy day

Lathes aren't neccesarily only for making bowls today. I turned some handles for some hand stamps that Helene is using for her pottery. Some birch branches that I had did the trick. Other than that, I turned a couple of fir bowls and did some finishing of some previous work. Todays lesson learned ; Don't bother working with wood that has checks (cracks) in it. Its a waste of time  as one bowl exploded on the lathe!

Time to find some good wood.

Riders 0-2

Well, the football game sucked. Riders lost again ! However the day was not a complete loss. In the morning I travelled up Silver Star Mtn, got some nice pine that was leftover from a clear cut and found a lake that I had never seen on the other side of the mountain. After suffering through the game , I cut 9 blanks with the chainsaw and bandsaw and started on a winged pine bowl. I've added a few pics from today.

Friday Night Football

Bombers go 2-0 with a nice win over the Centre of the Universe Argos. Looks good for Winnipeg after the struggle last year. Now if the Lions can beat Calgary, the table will be set for Riders to beat Montreal tomorrow!
Spent the morning turning . I really like the lathe. Purrs like a kitten. I like the fact its reversible too. Sure makes the sanding easy. I'll post some more pictures on the weekend. I did a nice pine endgrain bowl . My Kelton hollowing tools sure handle the endgrain easier.
Tomorrow I'm looking for wood before the Rider game is on.

All Set up

The new lathe is set up and ready to go. 1st piece was a natural edge maple bowl from a blank given to me from Bob Coombes. Thanks Bob !

The lathe has arrived !

Just about finished setting it up. Pictures tomorrow !

Morning in the Valley

Awesome day so far! Nice breeze on the deck looking out over the city and lakes.The sound of the waterfall in the fish pond below us . Birds singing and the quail and their young feeding in the back yard.  Going to be warm again , 33 is forecasted. Good thing we watered the plants last night.

Summer is here !

+30 all week. How long before we hear complaints about how hot it is !!!

Voiladesignx2

My partner Helene has a great website showing her artwork.

www.voiladesign.ca

You might be interested in her claywork, jewelry and more !

Waiting for the new lathe

Its been a month since I ordered my new General 25-650AB M1 lathe. Today might be the day it finally comes !

The shop is waiting !