Next Step: Loads of Research

Today I met with Mr. Cowell and he told me I needed to start some research behind my tools. He told me that I need to learn how to sharpen the lathe tools because it will be important to have sharp tools in order to carve smoothly. For our meeting today, he put me on a computer and told me to start researching. I found some interesting information. There are many different tools and they all require a different angle of sharpening in order to serve there purpose. The easiest way to ensure this accuracy is with a jig. Instead of just free handing the tools against a grinder to sharpen the tool, a jig is a sort of stabilizing tool that will hold the tool at the desired angle. Jigs come in all different shapes an sizes and you can buy one or you can find instructions to make your own. Given the creative nature of my WISE project, Cowell and I have decided it is better to make my own jig. In a little under an hour of research today, I learned a lot about sharpening and found a few templates for jigs and have a solid base to conduct more research on my jig and then sharpening my tools.

Out of the Rut Journal Activity

This is an in class journal designed to help us spruce up our journal and strengthen our weak areas. Mine is definitely research and planning.
- 7 things I want to accomplish in the next week are researching my wood, price shop for wood, learn how to sharpen my tools, assemble and engrave my second pen, find some scrap wood for a second mini bat, research dimensions for my big bat, and scale down my dimensions and make another mini bat.
-5 people I should talk to are Mr. Cowell, Mr. Suave, My older brother, Mr. Peters, and Reuben Brenner-Adams.
-Supplies I need include scrap wood for more miniature bats and real wood blanks to turn my full size bat. I will probably get two in case I make a big mistake.
-3 things I should discuss with my mentor are what I should accomplish over break because I won't be able to woodwork, when we will glue blanks for mini bats together, and we should also evaluate my progress and to see how I'm doing.
-7 things I want or need to know more about are what speed to turn the lathe for the bat, how to form the knob better, what type of wood will be the best, where I should order my wood, how to sharpen my tools, what type of finish is used on baseball bats, and CRC lathes and mass production of bats.

Great Progress After School

So today my goal was to get my second pen assembled, laser engraved and take some pictures of my next step, turning the mini bat. The laser engraver wasn't working so I didn't get that accomplished and I can't assemble the pen until it has been engraved. However, I got a ton of other work done that is more important. After school I had plenty of uninterrupted time on the lathe, and not only did I get to start turning my mini bat, I finished it! Here are some before and after pictures of the little bat.  

This picture is a little bit far away, but I wanted to capture the whole lathe. It is almost exactly the same as the small lathe just bigger. The black knob on the left side is the on/off switch with speed controls ranging from 1000-3000 rpm  The wheel on the right ride with the red knob is used to tighten the wood further after you make the larger adjustments by sliding the green apparatus on the right. In respect to the wood, it was just a simple block of scrap pine that Mr. Cowell had. 

That is near the finished product. The wood underwent about an hour of turning and 10 minutes of sanding in order to get down to that size. I wasn't expecting to make my mini bat today so I just eyeballed the dimensions and the shape. I have played baseball for the majority of my life so I am very familiar with the general shape of a bat.

This is the final product after I took it off of the lathe and used a band saw to cut off the excess. Overall, my product came out better than I expected for a freestyle.  However there is always room for improvement and I definitely learned a lot from my experience today. For example I got a little bit carried away and carved the handle a bit too thin and the bottom knob is not at all what I wanted it to be. Also since nothing was really planned or measured, there are some other size issues. All of this being said, I am very happy with how today went. I plan on making at least one more of these, maybe even two or three because Mr. Cowell has lots of scrap wood that I can use, and practice makes perfect. Also Mr. Cowell suggested that I do some research on how to properly sharpen the tools that I will be using because they get dull with use and dull tools cause errors. I hope to get this research done this upcoming weekend.  

Work Suspended a Bit

I wanted to get into the classroom 4th today to assemble my pen and take some pictures of my next steps but unfortunately, the classroom was occupied. Thankfully, Mr. Cowell has offered to stay after school so we can get a little bit of work done and I have late practice today so it works out perfectly.

Second Pen and Wood for Mini Bat

Today I waxed my second pen and tomorrow I will be able to assemble and engrave it. Also Mr. Cowell gave me a piece of scrap wood today that will be perfect for me to carve a mini bat on. He had carved a little of the wood down just to experiment but it's still a good piece of wood. Expect some pictures of the new pen, wood and the big lathe to come soon!

Gleaning from the Past

2-3 real gems of the project
-he made great community contacts
-he worked really hard under pressure

2-3 oops, could've been better
-his timeline and organization could've been better
-he wasn't very diligent about following through on his personal goals

2-3 things I'm going to borrow
-make some community contacts and hopefully learn from them
-I'm going to borrow what not to do in time management, I have learned that time management is important and necessary for a wise project to be a success.

First Independent Woodworking

Sorry for the overload of posts, but today was a big day for me. I was able to get into the classroom and get some real woodworking done today so I felt like I had to accomplish a lot. I snapped a few pictures of my equipment and the setup, but I also did some woodwork. Earlier in the week I glued together some more pen blanks so I could turn another pen to practice my new skills. Today I put them to the test without Mr. Cowell watching over my shoulder! Up until today he had been guiding me along with all the woodworking, but he was busy so I decided to take it upon myself and see what I could do. There was an adult in the room, but he was running a class so I set up and turned the pen all by myself. It was a pretty rewarding experience! I felt like it was my first sink or swim moment in my project and I'm pretty sure I swam. Cowell came into check on me toward the end and was impressed with the amount that I had gotten done. I got the whole pen carved and sanded down nice and smooth. Now all I have to do is wax it so it comes out nice and shiny, and then assemble it. From what I did today, I think my skills have really improved and I feel a lot more like I know what I'm doing in terms of woodworking. Lots of my peers ask me questions and I find myself explaining things to them like I've known them my whole life, this is definitely shaping up to be quite an experience for me.

My Tools

This is a picture of the primary tools necessary to turn a pen. On the left is the skew. The flat angled edge allows you to get a nice smooth surface on your wood and really work out any dips or impurities. On the right is the roughing gouge. This is the heavy lifter, you use this tool to carve off the majority of the wood in order to get a circular shape. The gouge has a bowl shape so you can angle it different ways in order to expel less or more wood, depending on what you are making. I have learned a lot about these tools just by using them a few times. They are very intuitive and the best way to master woodworking is to just experiment.

Lathe Set Up

So here is a picture of what the small lathe looks like set up with the wooden pen "blanks". Blanks are basically just blocks of wood that you spin on the lathe. A little insight, you turn the lathe on to start spinning the wood, then you smoothly run your tool back and forth on the wood to carve it down to your desired shape and size. Some names of parts on the lathe in the picture from left to right are, the head stock, the tool rest and the tail stock. The head stock is where the mechanism is that actually rotates the lathe and the tail stock is the back of the lathe that slides left and right to accommodate the wood you're working with. The tool rest is the most important piece. This is adjustable in all four directions and provides you with a stable base for your tools so you can get nice and smooth strokes.

Slight Snag Friday

Mr. Cowell and I were supposed to meet Friday to glue together another pen blank so I could turn my second pen on Tuesday, but we both got tied up in other work. I made it to his room with about 15 minutes left in the period and he said he was busy all period and hadn't even eaten lunch yet. So we decided to glue on Tuesday and be ready to start my second pen by Wednesday.

My Next Move

So here I will outline the next few steps in my project. I have some lathe experience under my belt and am starting to see my project coming together on the horizon. My next step will be to make another pen on the small lathe in order to really familiarize myself with how to handle the tools and manipulate the wood. After that is complete Mr. Cowell and I will glue together some scrap wood to make a block that I can turn on the lathe and make a miniature baseball bat. This will be useful because I will have some more freedom to shape the bat into what I want. As far as research goes, I will finalize what type of wood I will order for my bat, (I'm leaning toward ash) and I will study up on making bats by watching videos and reading sources that I documented in my bibliography. I'm looking forward to getting back on the lathe to make some new things!

First Lathe Project Reflection

This is a few days late but here it is, my first experience on the lathe was exciting to say the least. Handling the tools felt natural to me and I felt like I got the hang of it very quickly. It was a unique experience and I felt accomplishment watching the block of wood that I started with transform before my eyes in a matter of minutes. The machine is quite easy to operate. Basically you flip a switch to turn it on, spinning the wood and then you run your tool against the wood to shave it down to your desired shape. As far as time is concerned I was able to shape the pen in a little under a half an hour and with sanding and waxing my total time was about 50 minutes to make my pen. I am feeling good about my project and am ready to take my woodworking to the next level!

First Lathe Project!

Yesterday and today I was finally able to get on the small lathe and make my pen. It was much more exciting than I was anticipating and I am ready to tackle my next project on the lathe. My mentor suggested that I make another pen in the shape of a baseball bat in order to practice technique that I will need in order to make the real thing on the big lathe. I am pleased with my progress and now can't wait to get back on the lathe.