Bill and Al

This week I am working with Bill Patakas and Al Steunenberg. They are a couple of rowdy oral surgeons from California. Bill came last year and made a continuous arm and this year will be making it in rocker form (a very popular chair). Al will be making the continuous arm with baluster turnings. Neither of these guys live in a region with a good green wood supply, their eyes lit up when they say my new white oak log! Yesterday they assured me that shaving wood can be more daunting than shaving a human jaw. If you take too much off of a jaw, there's a chance that it'll grow back! I'll post their progress this week. Al told me that he didn't know what I meant by a pillow block in my drawknife grinding post. A pillow block is a free standing drive shaft that you can hook up to any motor with a belt to run grinding or buffing wheels. Because the motor is not between the wheels, it doesn't get in the way while grinding large tools like drawknifes. If all that you have is a standard grinder, try using a wheel truing device to put a bevel on the outer corner of the wheel. This will allow you to use it at an angle that doesn't run into the motor. Good luck