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Fixing Mushrooms

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So after the last exploding mushroom, I tried turning the last two chunks of log into their mushrooms. And both times, it was looking soooo nice…

And then on almost the last finishing cut with the spindle or bowl gouge on the underneath of the cap, it caught and half the cap snapped right off, hitting me in the faceshield.

Well, maybe I had more hollowing out to do 😀
But I figured since these are going outdoors in the woods for the hedgehogs, maybe I can live with a rustic look, so I experimented by using some titebond to glue the pieces back together…

And after a day to let the glue cure (and no, I couldn’t get clamping so these were just rub joints), I put them back on the lathe at the lowest setting just for sanding and finishing.… Read the rest

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Mark Dennehy in No Comments

Thank you Tom!

WoodturningWoodworking

Tom Murphy was the mad eejit who got me to try woodturning first, when I was perfectly happy making stuff like boxes and tables. He’s been into it for quite a while now, and was always telling me I should try it. Though he also did the Jackie Chan end credits thing of pointing out the times it went sideways on him, and constantly scaring me into always wearing a faceshield…

First up today, I had to sharpen the lathe tools. I was lucky enough to get a cheap wolverine jig clone (which is well made to be fair) before we locked down and I found my original 80 grit gray wheel for the grinder as well, so today I put that back on where the wire wheel had been.… Read the rest

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Mark Dennehy in 3 Comments

Stole a branch…

WoodturningWoodworking

Okay, so part of the lockdown in Ireland is that we can go outside to exercise so long as we stay within 2km of home. And Fernhill is well inside that circle for us, so we go there to walk around somewhere that doesn’t have ceilings…

I mean, look at it, who wouldn’t go there? Calum even gets to chase squirrels. And they do the whole fairy-door-in-the-tree thing as well. Like this, only this is from the woods near Seafield hotel in Wicklow last year:

But Seafield has mushrooms and toadstools as well and Fernhill doesn’t:

Thing is, Fernhill had the tree surgeon in before the lockdown and they haven’t had a chance since to haul away all the logs…. so I stole one. Just picked it up and walked away with it.… Read the rest

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Mark Dennehy in 2 Comments