The Woodworking bug has bitten and so I have been spending some relaxing time in the garage lately. I originally planned to jump right in and make a bunch of stuff for some craft fairs this fall. However, I decided that would be too much like work. So, it’s back to just taking it easy and enjoying these little projects.
I started off making some Crayola crayon ‘toolboxes’. The holders will carry a total of 24 crayons. I saw these at a craft show a couple of months ago and thought; I can do that! The crayon holders were made using old one by and two by fours lying around the garage. The only thing purchased for the holders was the dowel rod for the handle. My plans are to paint them and give them away for Christmas along with a nice new pack of crayons, of course…
Later came doing a few small projects on a wood lathe. In the past, metalworking has been the source of my lathe experience. However, I thought the woodworking lathe should be a snap. Well, for the most part it has been very easy to learn on. Granted I haven’t done anything real complicated yet - but it is more enjoyable as a hobby than general metal turning. Turning metal is a much more precise process, whereas turning wood can go much quicker and still obtain a great deal of precision when required.
By chance, I happened upon a Woodworking store close to home that I didn’t know existed. In the back, there was someone about to give a Woodturning class that night. I stayed long enough to get some information about future classes and was able to look at the subject for the night while I was there. The class was going to be turning a birdhouse. It was round in shape and had a triangle looking roof that was made separate and glued. There was one already made for reference lying on the desk, which I was able to take a good look at it before I left.
That was the basis of my first lathe project. Here is a picture of the body of the birdhouse:
At this point, I stained the body before parting it the rest of the way off. Next came what was going to be the roof - however it actually turned out to not be big enough. Here is a picture anyway…
In the picture below of current projects, you can see the finished birdhouses. The one on the right is the first one and the other one (left) we’ll call version 2.
Other items are a pencil holder in the finishing stages (still has bottom used to chuck in lathe for polishing between finishes - it will get parted as the last step).
The pieces that are cut in the middle of the picture will end up being a business card holder. The only thing left is to make the piece that will fit in between the uprights.
Finally the long piece on the left will be the body of a lamp.
I’ll be sure and post again, when there is more progress!