I wish I would have known

A few weeks ago I lost my lass grandparent.  It was kind of expected, but he always had a funny remark or did something to brighten your day.  He was a good father and grandfather and friend.  He was also the jack of many trades. 
Among his personal belongings was a box that he made while he was a Trail Builder.  Now I didn't know what that was or what they did.  Apparently before the 11year old scouts, (Which I am the scout master for now) and before the Blazer Scouts, (which was the program I was in) was the Trail builders.  In my Grandfather's box was his log of things he had to do to receive the various patches.  Some of them were quite funny like, bushing teeth and hanging up his hat.  I was fun to see his writing and his mothers writing.

Here is the instructions on how to build the box

My grandfather penciled in "Trail Builder" on the top.  You can actually see the pencil marks because of the flaking paint

Here is one of the trees he stenciled in.

Part of making the box was understanding the wood used and how it was manufactured.  He also signed his name under the lid.  Unfortunately the box has been weathered and the paint is chipping off. I hope that I can put a clear coat and save what remains of the paint job.  There will have to be some minor repairs also.  A lot of the glue bonds have deteriorated.  It is amazing how much time and care he put into this box and it is one of the few things he saved through his entire life.  I don't know if I can say that I have something from when I was 10 years old that I have made.  I take that back, my mother has several ornaments that I made much to the dislike of my siblings. As they fall apart we get rid of them.

Transforming Trucks

This is the first of several designs in the Transforming Toys book I received two years ago.  I thought I would have more done by now but I am happy to have one.  The basic concept of this toy set is a bunch different size blocks with various patterns cut into them.  They all have the same center hole drilled into them big enough for a 3/4" threaded dowel to go through.  There is a wooden nut for each end of the threaded dowel to hold the vehicle together.  My eldest son helped me put some of them together.  It is age appropriate for him but not for the youngest.

This is the pick up truck

 The wheels attach like a tinker toy.  The book said to use a thin kerf table saw blade and a jig.  I used a band saw.

 Here is the Coupe

 Tanker truck

 Bus

 Log truck

Think of all the possibilities with all these pieces.  I would say the possibilities are endless but the threaded dowels are only so long.
It was not a difficult project, but it was a good project to learn some things about the precision of the transforming toys. It also got me use to the lay out of the book.  I am not one abut following the instructions much but on the more complex toys I tend to be following the instructions more.  For those that are interested the main wood used is Poplar. The accent wood is walnut  and the dowel and nuts are maple.  Now on to to the lessons:

• When centering a hole on the block measuring from one side does not cut it.  I was off by about 1/32 of an inch.  Just enough to offset the blocks when they are put on the dowel.
• Dowels at the local hardware store are not the dimension they say they are.  They are about 1/32 -1/16 of an inch over sized.  This is enough to not work in my treading tool.  Very frustrated with this because it means that I have to go to Rockler to buy the dowels.  Here is my feeling on Rockler:  They really like their stuff.  It tends to be on the pricey side especially their lumber.
• Double check the dimensions in the book.  For the most part they were right.  One critical one for the length of threaded dowel was too short for the tanker.  The other was the length of the wheel axle.  More of a frustration than a show stopper.
• Making threaded dowel is more work then just turning a tool around a dowel.  The grain on the dowel is also important.

Kids are having fun with in and that is what counts.

On the "sand it till it looks right" toy, here is the next step:

Does it look good? 

Who Needs Geometry?

Schools is just a waste of time, right?  Everything you see in the picture I learned in my 9th grade geometry class.  Yes, I am a geek.  Yes, I aced the construction chapter of geometry which is the mess you see in the the circles.  For those of you who were wondering, geometric constructions are ways to divide, make angles, copy, and make parallel and perpendicular lines with a compass and ruler. Sometimes it surprises you what you use from school.

IWF International Woodworking Fair

One of the perks of working with a cabinet manufacturer is being able to go to a couple of woodworking shows.  This year I was able to go to IWF in Atlanta, Georgia.  This is the largest wood working fair in the world and hosts exhibitors from the person selling an idea to the established large scale machine manufacturers. In addition to hardware, wood mills, tools, lumber and anything else pertaining to the woodworking industry.

Before I get into the show I am going to rant on airlines for a second.  Now it is not their fault that the person in front of me constantly hits his head against the back of the seat like he is fluffing up his pillow.  No matter how hard you try there really is not a comfortable way to sit in coach.  So, please, stop smacking your seat so hard that you are hit me in the head while I am trying to read a book on the tray.  To the guy behind me, no matter how much and hard you dig your knees into the back of the seat I cannot move forward or I will be knocked out by the guy pulverizing his headrest.

Airlines, you have a gauge that measures carry-on luggage, please use it and enforce it.  Two carry on pieces should not fill up an overhead bin.  If the piece of luggage, no matter how it is turned, makes it so the door does not close it is too big.  I carry on a back pack that is it.  To be asked to put it under my seat so that some one else can put their over sized carry on and their "personal" item up there is a little annoying.

I know that I have some experience in process flow.  I don't know whose brilliant idea was the number loading groups but they missed one key part: Fill the window seats first then move to the aisles.  It makes no sense to fill the aisles first so that everyone has to climb over them.  Yes this is who the loading groups work: aisle first then window.

Now onto the the fair.  It was a lot of fun and there were several companies I work with there.  It was nice to be able to put a face to the name.  The other interesting part was how well known, for good and evil, the company I was representing was.  About 80% of the booths I visited knew some one in the company and had worked with them.  We had some interesting conversations and talked about different ways we could accomplish tasks.

The other fun part of the show was meeting with vendors before and after the show.  It was nice to get to know them outside of the work setting.  Some of them are a lot different outside of work. 

Then of course there are the freebies.  I brought my kids home several souvenirs.  I had a lot of fun the three days I was there.  I hope to go next year to the one in Vegas.

Finally, since no one knows anyone who would like a bucket of blocks I will donate to a children's group.

Spooky Old Tree

If you are wondering where this title came from, it is the title of one of the short stories of the Berenstain Bears.  My oldest has the story almost memorized or he can read.  So this puzzle was cut.  It is another pattern, but I can honestly say my scroll saw work has become a lot better.  It is out of walnut.  I cut the pieces out of a number 2 blade which is the smallest blade that I own.  There is no binding in the pieces and I am happy with it.

The next puzzle was something that I wanted to make out of poplar.  It was easy and shows the thickness of 5/4 material.  It goes in my board library at work.

I have another bucket of blocks to give away.  So this is how it is going to work.  I am taking nominations on who to give them to.  You cannot nominate yourself or a member of your immediate family.  You can email me or put the name in the comments a long with why they should receive the blocks.  In two weeks I will create a poll on this blog and viewers will be able to vote on the nominees for one week. The person who nominated the winner is responsible for shipping.

Please remember these blocks are from scrap lumber.  They have a coat of mineral oil.  If they are thrown they can do some serious damage.

Work on it until you like it

I am working on some trucks.  I have the cabs rough cut out and followed the directions and pattern.  The next step is to sand and file the cabs until they look good to me.  What is that suppose to to mean?  I am good at following a pattern and design but be artsy, that is not me.  So yesterday I took out the vice and files and went to town.  I think I am going to be making more sawdust then product.  I am not the person to say something looks artistically correct or balanced.  So here is my first pass.  I have the rough out block and the good enough version next to it.  What do you think?

I also completed another puzzle.  This one is an Elephant.  I am getting better at the scroll saw.

More puzzles

 I have completed some more puzzles.  The first has been done fora while but needed to be sanded. This is is the dinosaur one. It is very similar to the barn and safari puzzles done earlier.  This is also a Wood Magazine plan.

This is the complete set.

The brontosaurus and the two trees

This is the Triceratops and one with the fin like back

 Then the background

These are from the puzzle book I received this year.  I am having a lot of fun with them and I can do these at my house because the tooling is there.

Yes it does say "MOOSE"  It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Big dinosaur and little dinosaur

An elephant. not particularly interesting but it is made out of aspen

This next one is the alphabet snake.  The hardest part of making this was finding a piece of wood that was wide enough.  It was an easy cut out. The instructions said to paint the pieces several colors.  I was told not to by my significant other.  I had a problem getting enough ink on the stamps for the first part of the upper case letters.  Other than that it turned out nice.

The reason I decided  to do stamps was because they were clean and I can use them again.  The book suggested stencils but I have not had good results using them.

The nice thing that these puzzles are teaching me is:

• I can not rush them.  Too  much pressure or faster blade speed tend to break blades and burn wood
• There are major differences in the size of blades.  A lower number blade in the puzzle makes for tighter fitting pieces but it takes longer.  While the outside of the puzzle can be done with a higher number blade with out sacrificing the detail
• I have to push the wood straight into the blade.  When doing curves and tight radii it is very easy to push from an angle.  This causes the blade to bend just slightly.  Even though it is slight it causes the pieces to come apart in only one direction.  I have to be more aware of how I am pushing the piece into the blade. 

As a side note I am working on a wood library for work.  They do not realize it but I feel it is going to be useful as we start talking about substitute wood species for oak and maple.  I am doing this through puzzles.