Hunkering Down

Yep, the cold has finally come to New York and we are all running around making sure that we are ready. Mikey seems pretty secure with his room full of hay, and not a moment too soon.


We decided to give the chickens run of the garden, after taking the last mint out for some ice cream. These are the girls that we got last year, and I'm happy to say that they are still laying, although slower because of the short days. They have been working the compost pile over and nipping away at the last remnants of greens.


This week is all about turning. I'll be teaching turning this weekend at North Bennet Street and am getting warmed up by making parts. Turning often is the best way to turn well, and I'd hate to be rusty in front of a crowd. I made couple of jigs to help things along at the lathe. A steady rest, which I'll detail in the next post, and this little handy center marker shown below.


I used an old hacksaw blade that I ground to a knife edge on the back and sunk into a saw kerf. It really comes in handy when I trim my roughed out blanks and need to recenter. I know that you can buy one, but it seemed like a perfect candidate for a shop made solution.


A couple of hammer whacks and rotations and you've got it.


I've found it particularly helpful when recentering a piece that is dried and gone oval. I just use a few more rotations and don't expect the lines to all meet in the center, instead, they leave a little vacant circle right in the center.