The agony of de Feet (har har har)

... and the back. And the throat!

I flew through minor throat surgery with flying colors. It kept me
out of the shop for 5 days. In that time, I managed to work up a pretty
decent backlog of orders. (I create and sell custom tools for hand
spinning yarn.)

Catching up has been a mixed bag. I’m feeling a little off my
sculpting game. So my first spindle, while functional and to the order
of my client, just didn’t please me. The weight was too much, the Cherry
bruised, the bead was off…

BTW, Cherry can bruise when scraped. It left dark areas in my
detailed work when it soaked up polishing oil. It’s not something they
tell you at the check out counter when you’re buying the stuff. You find
out when you’re finished with a project and it has welts all over it
and you are frustrated and banging your head against a wall because
there went 3 hours of your life. Too bad, so sad.

Next Cherry wood turning, I made sure that my skew tool was nice and
sharp. I avoided scraping. Yet, I still experienced some bruising, but I
anticipated it and made sure I could sand a bit and it was minimal.

I liked my second Cherry spindle design and shape a lot more than
the first, so I am going to go back to the client and offer them a
choice between the two.

Also… I learned that I need to pick up a floor pad to stand on. 4
hours at the lathe (with breaks) is OK. 6 hours wrecked my back. And, I
wish my stand was 3 inches taller.

Also… I bought an inexpensive Skil bandsaw as a get-well gift for
myself. I’d like to set it up this weekend. I wish I had a drill press
too. Drill press for me? Anyone?