February 2014 Workbench Thread

just in time for valentines day. I drug home a couple of shorebirds from Westlake a couple of years ago. The wife actually liked them, go figure. She asked last fall if I would carve one for her to she had something of mine to display. I carved it and it sat there, sat there and sat there. I finally ran out of decoys to paint and was not feeling up to carving any more so I put some paint on it. Not perfect, probably not even the right colors, or phase or any of the above but she likes it and that is all that matters. I hope to do some more in the future and really knuckle down on getting them painted properly and soft.

My counterfeit of a yellow legs.
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Tom~

Beautiful paint job - and shape! One of the great things about shorebirds ....IDing them as "snipe" is good enough.

(I guess it's got its yellow legs tucked up under it because it's so cold there.....)

All the best,

SJS
 
Wow Steve.......very cool Silos.
Lately I've been doing a bunch of stuff with my metal lathe. I have a 10" (24" on centers) Logan Engine Lathe built around 1944. It's easy to thread with this lathe and it has the quick change gears. I just had to replace the countershaft and bushings and upgrading some tooling. Swapped out the lantern style tool post holder for a new QC (Quick Change) Tool Post and a half dozen tool holders. (If you have a metal lathe...seriously, look into getting the QC Tool Post & holders...phenomenal.) I also picked up a bunch of new tool bits, boring bars and carbide inserts (it helps that my oldest son is a machinist). I also worked up a jig to hold the scull oar holes for machining the ID.


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You can see the new quick change tool post (red label). All your tooling is automatically indexed when you drop them
into the tool post. No lost time adjusting. Very cool.


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Shows a close up of the tool post and boring bar.


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Threaded fixture to hold the scull oar hole while I machine the ID of the fitting.


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One of the fella working with me also works full time as a woodworker and needed an adapter to run their 12" CNC saw blades
on their table saw with a smaller arbor. I turned several adapters for them for several blades.
 
Lou~

I am completely ignorant of metal lathes - and of metal working in general. My Dad did, however, work (he always had 2nd and 3rd jobs...) in a machine shop when I was very young. In fact, I am guessing that he made the bronze deck flange/mast partners on the Scooter I am restoring.

I hope you have lots of fun will your machine - and show us the scull oar holes when installed.

All the best,

SJS
 
Steve,
Are any of your silos for sale? I love the 2nd bird down (on the right) just below the Kestral. Awesome 3d effects.
One of those would work great out at the lake house...on the dock...keep sea gulls at bay. ;)
Lou
 
Another lathe project though not duck related. ;) I fly a lot of Radio Control Model Airplanes and one of the 4-stroke engines (Saito 180) needed a flexible exhaust system but I couldn't find any sleeves to do what I wanted done. So...had my son (machinist) pick up some aircraft aluminum for me and I made what I needed. It also gave me an excuse to buy some more tooling. I needed a new metric tap, metric die, new die holder and a larger drill chuck with #2 morse taper. Fortunately, we have a lot of machine supply companies around here.
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This shows some of the exhaust system parts that need a female coupler/sleeve to make it work like planned.


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Sleeve chucked and power threaded with a metric tap.


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Another piece I needed for another project which required male threads, necessitating a new metric die and die holder.
I also bought the bigger chuck to hold the larger die holder.


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Couple of the sleeves fabricated and threaded.


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Full exhaust system installed with 2 sleeves and one is tapped for fuel tank pressure.
 
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You are a man of many talents (and hobbies) Mr Tisch. It would be handy to have a guy like you around my neighborhood.

None of my stuff these days is actually on my workbench which is currently piled high with crap. Got some decoys finished up for sealing, in the paint room, also known as the laundry, recyclables storage, and freezer room. They only get to sit on the China cabinet for the photo.

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It seems a shame to cover this kind of grain with paint. Looks like it should be a guitar or something.

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Made some smokies in my fancy "smoker" also known as Jane's oven.

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The walk out cooler. They chill pretty fast at -25C.

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Good stuff everybody!

Mike
 
Figure I may as well throw some more calls on the workbench thread. An assortment of predator calls and duck whistles I just finished up...

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And here are some new strikers I'm starting to make - acrylic with a wood topper, they sound pretty good on my slate calls...

Amboyna Burl...
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Curly Maple...
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Mike,

Nice looking birds. I have thought about staining/washing colors on a nice grained bird and then adding paint for the rest of it. That way you could still get some grain lines in and add a little artistic touch.

I haven't done it, only thought about it. But, I think about doing a lot of things and they never realize. Could be a curse or blessing I guess....
 
Mike...thanks, much appreciated...life is too much fun.
You're right on hating to cover up that cool grain with paint. There were bunches of decoys I carved that I merely stained and lacquered and they hit the shelf and never saw water. ;) Does that mean that they're truly...not a decoy?

After seeing your smoking setup...I went to the fridge and got out some venison sticks to go with a bit of bourbon. Ya made me hungry. ;)
Later partner, keep up the great work.
Lou
 
Steve, Your silhouettes are amazingly nice. Your talent is so painfully obvious along with the rest of the carvers on this site. I'm still at it here in the sunshine state. This is what I have been up to. A BWT and a fulvous tree duck. I haven't made the switch to oils yet, but plan to try on the next blocks I have cut out. The Fulvous is my 30th bird any pointers or comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Jeff


 
Jeff,
I like those. I try not to get into the pushing of oils or acrylics to each there own. But I do paint in oils and looking at those decoys I think your style is going to really work well with oils I am looking forward to seeing your next batch. I really like the teal.
 
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