Some kind of guitar-like instrument?
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Made this for my little cousin recently, heās just getting into wood carving, and needed a good marking/carving knife. My scalpel-esque version of a kiridashi. Handle is wrought iron salvaged from a destroyed 100+ year old bridge with a kobuse (V-notch) style welded in piece of 1084 HC steel for the cutting edge.
(crappy picture under crappy light)
Carved his name in before I did the etch. Made it a lot less clean. Should have carved in his name afterwards.
I donāt have too many āin processā pics for things like this, but do have some tutorials that do have at least step by step pics that I made for a site that I used to admin on some years back. I can upload those somewhere like imgur, and have a āprocessā series for those interested in what things look like step by step.
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That would be great, Iād love to see them.
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Hereās one that I did for a collector in NY some time back. Have another for a kitchen knife, but have never uploaded the pics. I also have a bunch for a lot more technical stuff like making indexed handles etcā¦ but thatās probably a bit in the weeds for everyone.
Obviously, a lot of steps are left out. Nobody wants to watch (or see pictures) of each step of the polishing process for example. Not much difference between "here Iām using 150 grit to work out the grinding scratches, now 6 hours later Iām using 280 to get the scratches out from 150, and 6 more hours later, Iām using 320 to get the scratches out from the 280, then 400, then 600, then 800, then etch, then 800 again, then 1200, then 2-0 pumice, then 4-0 pumiceā¦).
Also, Iāve gotten back into doing ceramics.
No really good pics of this, but I made a micaceous slip pot. Found out I can fire low temp earthenware in the fireplace, and ended up with decent results even without a saggar. (detail pic of the mica and some color flashing):
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Oh man, your neighbors must hate you until they need something fixed (turbine noiseā¦).
But talk about an amazing childhood! Grew up with a dad that made luciferin for Halloween, and let us throw small gobs of sodium fluroescein into the street when it rained, but a hover rideā¦!
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I bought some steel bracelets but I didnāt want the standard high polish so I got them with a gunmetal finish. it was ok, but a little too dark.
so I made a rock tumbler:
and after 3 hours of tumbling:
itās not the best pics, but it really is different. the gunmetal finish was charcoal colored but high shine. the tumbled bracelets have a slight bit of the dark finish still there but more silver, but also dull and non-reflective despite being very smooth. pretty much exactly what I wanted.
Iām toying with the idea of putting them back in for 45 min but I donāt want to goof it.
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cool!
Kelseys are fun! you use lead type or photopolymer plates?
ink and typewash run in my veins. 40 years in letterpress printing, foil stamping, die cutting on many presses from 3x5 Adana, to a Kelsey like yours, Kluges, C&P, 13x18 windmill, 23x35 cylinders, all the way to 28x40" Bobst. last 15 years of that spent in package design.
still keep an etching press in the studio to play around with in my retirement.
please share your work progress!
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I made and placed some new birdhouses yesterday. This one (and one other, not pictured) is for the bluebirds.
Weāve been getting a lot of bluebirds at the feeders lately. Hilariously, a few days ago a bluebird tried to stuff itself into a wren house but was too big to fit. Thatās when I decided to put out bluebird houses. Of course, as soon as I took down the wren house (which had gone unoccupied for years) and replaced it with the bluebird house, along comes a fuckinā wren and checks it out! 
This oneās for screech owls. Itās slightly tilted, but the tree is leaning and thatās as high as I could get the box. Iām very interested to see whether I can get one to nest here. Our neighborhood is full of owls.
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I hadnāt thought of making a box for owls. I usually make birdhouse kits for the boy scouts in the spring (probably not this year though) and I guess I could up the size a bit.
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Screech owls will occupy a nest box year-round, according to this publication (page 22). The house is quite large.
I canāt find the plan I used online anywhere, so hereās a photo of a shitty printout from like 25 years ago:
This oneās easy because it uses a single 1x10. I added a small strip on the underside of the roof, right behind the front, to help hold the roof in place. Per a suggestion in the text, I also added a cleat on the inside below the hole as a perch for owl sunbathing.
ETA: If youāre making this for scouts, just be forewarned that youāre supposed to place these pretty high ā like 15ā or more. I used an extension ladder and it was kind of scary.
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Do screech owls make sounds other than that soothing trilling noise? If they make anything befitting their name, a next box maybe isnāt something we need near the house.
Weāve got one of these bastards who roosts in one of my trees, and it can be a peaceful dark night, then all of a suddenā¦ Is that the devil? Did the gates of hell open? Are souls being tortured somewhere? Nope, just the barn owl screeching:
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Iām building a barn. Well, technically a large ārun-in shedā, but since it will be used to house livestock and itāll be the first entire building Iāve ever built, Iām using the B-word, damn it! (Fear not, I have a very experienced master carpenter advising/consulting.)
ETA: For those of you wondering āHey, wasnāt that the dude what said he was building a laboratory, too?ā, the centrifuge arrived this morning.
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Upcoming (and current!) projects require a proper workbench. Step Number Next is to haunt thrift stores until I find the proper donor surface.
Whatās that old saying? āGive a man a fish and heāll eat for a day, but give a man a miter saw and that huge pile of lumber in the driveway better watch its back.ā
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Iām not sure what kind of saw that is, but can haz?
Iād feel a lot more comfortable watching that GIF if that person had their hair up. And I say that as someone with three feet of partially purple hair folded up above his collar for the day.
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YIKES! Long hair, a rapidly spinning blade, what could go wrong?
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Sliding compound miter saw. Itās the beeās knees!
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That appeals to me, but I canāt claim to actually have a need for one. (Yet?)
We have an old jobsite table saw (i.e. turns into a handtruck) that lacks all the appropriate guards and suchlike. So I am trying to learn to do everything without it, as neither of us is ever excited about using it. Ripping thin panels safely and sanely with a circular saw has yet to become an enjoyable, calming experience, though.
Did I mention that the shed I am turning into an Ikea-esque workshop is smaller than the office in which I just typed this? So all such ripping is an outdoor improvisational activity, often involving things clamped to a tailgate. But nothing worth doing is ever easy, right?
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Why, why, why did you have to post this!
Iāve been resisting the urge to buy one at Lidl for over a week now.
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