Canberra Working with Wood Show 2007 – day three
It was not my intention to return to the Canberra Working with Wood show for a third day, other than to collect the lathe I had bought from the demonstration stand at Timbecon. But sadly, while assembling the jointer I noticed a problem. As I was wiring up the switch I saw that the motor chassis was not quite sitting right. On closer inspection it became obvious that the base had suffered damage on its journey across the Nullarbor desert, and was badly bent.
The folks at Timbecon were very helpful and quickly substituted the base for one of the display models – and threw in a pair of push sticks for my trouble. And before long I had the jointer fully assembled. It is quite heavy and the instructions were far from clear. So it took quite some time to complete the job. The fence setup was fairly straightforward and has positive stops at 90 and 45 degrees, and once assembled the machine is remarkably quiet.
Another trip to collect the lathe and again it was quick to set up, quiet in operation and adjusting the tool rest and tailstock were a breeze with the L-bolts.
The mortise tapers in the head and tail-stock made it easy to set up for pen turning and within about an hour I had my first rough pen fitted up. It will take practice but the early indications are good 🙂
I had bought several pen kits and some acrylic blanks and the kits are fairly straightforward – but it will take practice to get the diameters right and the finish perfected.
Once I have mastered the acrylic – which is easy to turn, but I’m wary of the dust and appreciated the Dust-Bee-Gone mask – I shall look at turning timber pens. There are some excellent Australian hardwoods that would make excellent pens 🙂
I’ll keep you posted on developments
Cheers
Jerry
