Shavedwood Blog

So this is the first post to my new blog. It has been a while since I was able to turn or do any wood working. I’m currently finishing an all mesquite shelf unit for my living room. I plan to finish it this weekend so i can clean up my garage and plan to start turning again. To get back in the groove I wanted to try some small turning projects. As luck would have it i found out the local WoodCraft was putting on The WoodWorks Show! here in Austin.

I figured this was the one company I could trust and paid the money for two seminars and a hands on class. The show was small as far as exhibitors are concerned but not in the quality of exhibitors. I was very impressed with the new tool manufacturer Steel City, they have a full compliment of excellent tools that are really built well. I expect we will start seeing reviews on these very soon.

My bandsaw box class used 5 of there saws to do hands on instruction. Now I really thought they were great saws and the instructor said it was the first year they came out of the box ready to go with no problems. Apparently the Jet bandsaws last year were so bad they only could use 3 out of 5 shipped to the event. The class was informative, a nice refreasher and the teacher was a great guy.

The teacher had invented this great work bench they were selling at the show called the Adjust-A_Bench. It was a fabulous design and really functional addition to any shop. Since my divorce I have not had as much room for wood working but I really wanted to take one home. The guys from Legacy were there and I love that machine but its very hard to justify. There were many other vendors with many new and exciting tools.

I took a seminar called crazy sharp and it was incredible all the stuff I didn’t know. In fact I have never had any formal training on most woodworking subjects but it is amazing all the little tricks you learn in these small personal settings. How to hone and sharpen are essential to so many parts of woodworking. What i learned most was my idea of sharp isnt even close to what it should have been.

The final seminar I took was on making an end grain box on the lathe of course. since only two of us showed for the class it changed from a seminar to a hands on class. The first thing I learned was some different techniques for texturing the boxes. I think I will be trying many new techniques in the texturing arena very soon.

The next tool i got my hands on was a termite tool. I looked at them online and in the stores many many times and always wanted to try one but not invest the money to just try it. I have several tools that I love to use when using the lathe. Many of them I’m extremely confident in using and then there are the other tools that I can use but just don’t have the confidence in them so I seldom use them.

Back to the termite tool, I was amazed at how well it worked on end grain and I used it efficiently the second i put it to the wood. It was amazing how well it worked. with just a tiny bit of sharpening with a diamond sharpening card. That little card turned a sharp tool deadly and I am so glad i saw it used. It will be an effective addition to my tool sharpening set.

All in all I left the show ready to get back in the shop and be a wood worker again.

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