Bloggy Christmas and a Bloggy New Year

It has been quite a while since I blogged, I was busy ok.  The lead up to Christmas is always busy at Quackadoo, so I spent many days in hotel rooms, chasing lost passengers and the setting sun.  Luckily this year I was rostered of for Christmas so got to spend it with my loved ones, but I did spare a thought for all those out there working.  Funny, when I was younger I thought only firemen and policemen worked Xmas, how wrong I was, for many it is just another working day.
Not only was the aviation game busy leading up to the big day but so was my workshop.  It was my youngest' last year at pre-school, so we wanted some good presents for her fantastic teachers.  Last year my wife led the way with mug rugs and coffee cups, this year was my turn and pens.  My daughter picked the acrylic colours and my son helped to drill the blanks.

The pens were well received by all the teachers, especially as they had my daughters input.  I also had some pens to knock out for a great project run on the woodwork forums sight called “pens for the troops”.  A couple of times a year pens are sent to service personnel overseas as a gift from home.  This is the second time I have participated and am sure I will be back for more.

Finally was my pen swap for the IAP Fall PITH.  This is always fun, swapping pens with people overseas. Here was that I sent, rosewood and she oak Polaris. Pens swaps are great and if you want to be involved the woodwork forum is holding one here.

Now that the silly season is over what does this year hold?  Hopefully a few more blog posts, hopefully a new house to talk about and maybe I will get around to some more reviews including this bad boy .

Until then sit back, relax and enjoy the journey.

In the Beginning

In the beginning there was a yearning, a need for something creative, a need for a hobby, a need for something for me.  I had always had an interest in wood (i think I've said that before) but I needed a push.  My wife had been nagging me to get a hobby, but I had been putting it off. It was only after a trip to Tassie that I caught the bug (and it is a bug).  A trip to Strahan where I watched an experienced man turning wood and I smelt the Huon got the heart fluttering.

On return from that family holiday I scoured eBay looking for wood lathes.  Everyday I would log on and see what was new out there, but they all seemed expensive.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money, I didn't know if I would enjoy it, or be any good at it.  Then one day it was there.  It wasn't a great looking lathe.  It was a fairly common Chinese made lathe that seems to have been produced for GMC, Ryobi, Dynalink and many, many more (mine was Brook Crompton).

It was very simple.  Four speeds changed by a pulley, with a disc sander on the back of the headstock.  I loved this lathe for two reasons, it was local and came with some tools, plus it was cheap, I guess that's three things.

I paid about $150 for it which I thought was good, especially when I found it came with three Robert Sorby tools as well as a pack of cheap tools.  All I needed to learn and practise.  I bought some cheap pine to play with and I was off and running.

This was my first effort, its abstract but I just wanted to combine steel with wood and make shavings.
After a few months I had realised the limitations of the lathe without a chuck and bought one of those (I will review that later). Then it was a pen mandrel, and lots of pen parts!  But I needed to upgrade and after twelve months I did (I will review that to sometime).  This old machine went back on EBay, and sold minus a few of the tools for $100.  All in all I had found a hobby and a passion all for the bargain price of $50, I love bargain!

What was your first wood working toy?

Mystery Box

It's Mystery Box time of the year, a fun time for us pen makers on the woodwork forum.  Yes we are a crazy wacky bunch that live on the edge.  Contrary to popular belief we are not all old, glasses wearing, appron wielding wood lovers (some of us are actually young glasses wearing, apron wielding wood lovers).

Yes once a year we send a cardboard box from state to state full of wonderful pen making goodies.  A few days I got an email from the last recipient saying it was my turn.  I was excited waiting for the box of wonders.  What cool things would be inside?  What would I take and what would I leave for the next person?  The rules are simple, take out whatever you want and replace it with other things pen makers would like.  It could be wood pen blanks, acrylics, pen kits, something for casting, the choice is yours. The only rule is the box should way under three kilos and be posted on to the next on the list as soon as possible.

Now I can't show you what dark secrets lie within, that would spoil it for everyone. However I can show what I took out.

Having taken my goodies the box has been topped up and is ready to continue its cosmic journey.