winter projects to stay busy

[Jay Fetters]

I saw the little Toro Zamboni in action yesterday, it works great. The guy who put it together has some ideas for the next season's improvements already; it's pretty impressive as it is though. I believe he said they put between $200-$300 into it.

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That thing is NICE! I am about $15 into the one we are building. Everything has been scrap steel from the local transfer station, even the barrels were scrap. The only thing I've purchased is hardware.

 

[Curt Doles]

It looks like it really does the job!

 

[Jay Fetters]

Jay, what's that old phrase ..."if you build it they will come" hats off to you and the others that helped...

Gary, here's a gift idea for you, if you know a dog lover. My wife had a coworker take a different position at the hospital she works at, and this gal is CRAZY about her dog. It's a French bulldog/ put bull mix. So as a going away gift, my bride had me widdle this out for her. It's a leash holder, and you could make it for almost any breed. I made one for my parents a few years ago for their mini schnauzer, and of course I got one for my labs. I had some scrap walnut and curly maple that I was tired of looking at, so I used them up! The "tail" is just a hardware store hook of your liking.

 

[RAllison]

View attachment 147938
Gary, here's a gift idea for you, if you know a dog lover. My wife had a coworker take a different position at the hospital she works at, and this gal is CRAZY about her dog. It's a French bulldog/ put bull mix. So as a going away gift, my bride had me widdle this out for her. It's a leash holder, and you could make it for almost any breed. I made one for my parents a few years ago for their mini schnauzer, and of course I got one for my labs. I had some scrap walnut and curly maple that I was tired of looking at, so I used them up! The "tail" is just a hardware store hook of your liking.

That's pretty cool Jay!

 

[gary noblit]

I love the character left in the walnut !!..Thanks for thinking of me..I could see that as a hat hook too...here's my latest..a $2 garage sale brass clock remounted in walnut was expensive new...broken wire inside...batt. run

 

[Jay Fetters]

I love the character left in the walnut !!..Thanks for thinking of me..I could see that as a hat hook too...here's my latest..a $2 garage sale brass clock remounted in walnut was expensive new...broken wire inside...batt. run

That looks really nice! I like the cove cut in the base to bring the time piece forward as the focal point. I wouldn't have thought of that, until now! I was gonna remove that knot from the walnut, but I couldn't remove it without taking out the grain that I really liked on that side of the board.

 

[gary noblit]

Jay, not be overbearing !!I can teach you how to make curly maple dance.I'll include an ex. again just offering if you don't know...

 

[Jay Fetters]

Jay, not be overbearing !!I can teach you how to make curly maple dance.I'll include an ex. again just offering if you don't know...
Boy... that stock pops! Is it the dark stain that does it?

 

[Curt Doles]

I'd love to know the secret also. That is a beautiful example of curly maple.

 

[gary noblit]

Jay,Curt...quick but thorough explanation..sand and polish with 4-0 steel wool...chromic acid,a concentrate (muzzleloading suppliers carry it) is applied liberally ,usually within 20 mins it will turn black.you need to watch it closely if it is too black it's hard to bring back(use gloves) remember it's a liquid so it will raise hair grains of wood...saturate 4-0 steel wool with boiled linseed and start polishing ..the linseed stops acid action....you will notice it getting lighter is some areas ..that's between the hard grains that didn't absorb as much...work the whole piece not just one area. once it's oiled you CAN'T restain......Practice on a piece of scrap and you will learn quickly when to stop polishing....It may lighten just a little over the yrs so I leave my guns a little darker than household pieces.....Wear Gloves!! for a final finish I use tru-oil on guns and rub it on/in..for others I use a spray minwax helmsman spray urethane..It does take a little longer than I took to type this...practice first !! let set for 24 hrs before final finish ,rub clean first

 

[Jay Fetters]

Jay,Curt...quick but thorough explanation..sand and polish with 4-0 steel wool...chromic acid,a concentrate (muzzleloading suppliers carry it) is applied liberally ,usually within 20 mins it will turn black.you need to watch it closely if it is too black it's hard to bring back(use gloves) remember it's a liquid so it will raise hair grains of wood...saturate 4-0 steel wool with boiled linseed and start polishing ..the linseed stops acid action....you will notice it getting lighter is some areas ..that's between the hard grains that didn't absorb as much...work the whole piece not just one area. once it's oiled you CAN'T restain......Practice on a piece of scrap and you will learn quickly when to stop polishing....It may lighten just a little over the yrs so I leave my guns a little darker than household pieces.....Wear Gloves!! for a final finish I use tru-oil on guns and rub it on/in..for others I use a spray minwax helmsman spray urethane..It does take a little longer than I took to type this...practice first !! let set for 24 hrs before final finish ,rub clean first

I got some acid ordered, hopefully it comes in and I too, will be making maple dance!

 

[gary noblit]

Jay, you impress me as a man who likes to do quality work..When it comes to curly maple buy high quality and you will never be disappointed...the 12 ga in the first pic is 63" long,came from a dealer in Tenn. curl is marvelous from end to end ...cost $300....worth it? hell yes.....I sweat bullets while it was enroute by ups...

 

[Jay Fetters]

Jay, you impress me as a man who likes to do quality work..When it comes to curly maple buy high quality and you will never be disappointed...the 12 ga in the first pic is 63" long,came from a dealer in Tenn. curl is marvelous from end to end ...cost $300....worth it? hell yes.....I sweat bullets while it was enroute by ups...

Thank you... It's funny you say that because I drive my wife nuts. My aunt Paula always told me "your work is your reputation, and a man is only as good as his reputation" That has stuck with me.
We have a local hardwood and exotic dealer up here called "Belle forest products." They do 99% of their business online, but allow locals to come in and buy. They have EVERYTHING. Any wood you can dream of, bubinga, zebra wood, and cocobola, to cherry, ash, hickory, or walnut, and everything in between. You should give them a Google when your bored. Last week they had white ash for $3.00 per board foot, so my trailer got loaded!
Those smoke poles are gorgeous , and definitely ones to be proud of! I recently sold my business, I was into the import and export side of the fire arms industry, dealing mostly with shops in Canada , with a little bit of local retail. I have seen many pieces of lumber strapped to a nice rifle, but that stock is definitely NOT lumber! It's art...

 

[jmacdonald]

A local gunsmith that has since passed showed me a few muzzel loaders that he had hand crafted the stocks.
They were all curly maple. He stated he burned the stock to bring out the curly part of the maple. They sure were beautiful stocks.

 

[Stevenovick1]

 

[Stevenovick1]

 

[gary noblit]

Thank you... It's funny you say that because I drive my wife nuts. My aunt Paula always told me "your work is your reputation, and a man is only as good as his reputation" That has stuck with me.
We have a local hardwood and exotic dealer up here called "Belle forest products." They do 99% of their business online, but allow locals to come in and buy. They have EVERYTHING. Any wood you can dream of, bubinga, zebra wood, and cocobola, to cherry, ash, hickory, or walnut, and everything in between. You should give them a Google when your bored. Last week they had white ash for $3.00 per board foot, so my trailer got loaded!
Those smoke poles are gorgeous , and definitely ones to be proud of! I recently sold my business, I was into the import and export side of the fire arms industry, dealing mostly with shops in Canada , with a little bit of local retail. I have seen many pieces of lumber strapped to a nice rifle, but that stock is definitely NOT lumber! It's art...

Thanks Jay..Aunt paula was a wise person.....I'll look Belle up...I've used cocobola and zebra for knife handles ..never heard of bubinga...purple heart from So. America and Mexico is the hardest wood I've ever done,never again....Some ash has a gorgeous grain...45 deg, got to work outside today..

 

[gary noblit]

A local gunsmith that has since passed showed me a few muzzel loaders that he had hand crafted the stocks.
They were all curly maple. He stated he burned the stock to bring out the curly part of the maple. They sure were beautiful stocks.

I could see where it would work soft grain hard grain would be quite difficult to judge depth of burn..

 

[Curt Doles]

Jay,Curt...quick but thorough explanation..sand and polish with 4-0 steel wool...chromic acid,a concentrate (muzzleloading suppliers carry it) is applied liberally ,usually within 20 mins it will turn black.you need to watch it closely if it is too black it's hard to bring back(use gloves) remember it's a liquid so it will raise hair grains of wood...saturate 4-0 steel wool with boiled linseed and start polishing ..the linseed stops acid action....you will notice it getting lighter is some areas ..that's between the hard grains that didn't absorb as much...work the whole piece not just one area. once it's oiled you CAN'T restain......Practice on a piece of scrap and you will learn quickly when to stop polishing....It may lighten just a little over the yrs so I leave my guns a little darker than household pieces.....Wear Gloves!! for a final finish I use tru-oil on guns and rub it on/in..for others I use a spray minwax helmsman spray urethane..It does take a little longer than I took to type this...practice first !! let set for 24 hrs before final finish ,rub clean first

Thanks Gary!
How far are you and Jay from each other, I know Michigan is sizeable...
I don't think I've ever heard of chromic acid, looking forward to trying that on a pen project. It's a good place to start, the typical pen blank is 3/4 x 5 prior to sizing. The most common finish is turning polish which is applied and turned applying pressure to generate heat, so this will be a different path.
I also have a couple of gallons of resin that I bought to dabble in the live edge/river table arena bit haven't done my first project yet. A man has got to have some hobbies....
Curt

 

[cubs4lifeofme]