Father's Day weekend - Crystal Lakes

For Father's day weekend we went up to the cabin to see my Parents, play around in the mountains and get in some fishing we'd been promising the kids. The sat we got up there we went down to one of the public lakes to show the kids how to fish. Unfortunately being father's day weekend, and a public lake, it was packed. It seemed like there were people every 10 feet or so. But since this was all about the kids, we weren't actually worried about catching much, just letting the kids try their hand at it.

Amazingly we caught several fish... a couple keepers, mostly let them all go. (Rainbow Trout in case your asking). Kayti and Daddy throwing out the line...


Sitting waiting for those darn fish to do something.



Hey Troy, look what we caught.
Hey wait, these worms are fun to play with too...
As I said, both kids caught fish... Here's Troy pulling in his. With a little help from Daddy.

They both wanted to touch the fish, and then proceeded to scream about it. :-D
Very Proud fisherman here.

Oh yea, the other big event was that Papa and Granma bought Troy a battery powered 4 wheeler. He jumped on this thing like he'd been riding it his whole life and that he planned on staying on it until we told him he had to get off.



The kids also did some rock climbing with Grandma
And Ventured down to a patch of rocks called Elf lane as people have been hiding Ceramic Elf statues all over the rocks. Here's a row of little angels'.


Back to the Fishing Adventure. While we were standing around waiting for the next fish, we all heard a commotion behind us. Turned around and about 20 feet from us was a Huge Cow moose. We all startled, the moose turned and tried to find an opening to swim across the lake.

You should have seen Tammy yelling at us to be careful, then realizing she had the Camera in Hand and should take a picture... Hence the picture of it Running away. :-D


Fortunately it found a spot to swim across and eventually found a spot to get out as well.

Some Fun with the Kids too

So I haven't posted much about the kids, figured I should change that. Last weekend we all went out to the Garage sales going on. At one of the sales we found a Hockey Chest protector for a much bigger kid, but it Fit Troy for something fun. So we picked it up and here is Troy showing off his new protective gear.

Hang Loose man!!!! :-D


We evidently found a couple of Jackalope's as well.


And Kayti had to show that she is working on being one of the best pouters in the world.

Some of Tammy's Cakes from the last week

The first cake is a creation after a Christmas ornament for some friends of ours. Each year the daughter get's to pick a new Christmas ornament for the tree. The Parents and Daughter liked this years ornament so much they decided to have her Birthday cake made to look like it. It's a Curious George coming out of a present. Everything but the lid is edible, and you can see the actual ornament in the first pic. The main present is all cake, and George is molded out of Rice Crispies.



Next is a cake made for some friends this weekend. Very big Scooby fan so Tammy made it look like Scooby was coming out of the cake. You can see pieces of the frosting breaking open or on his face to add to the effect.



And the final one was for a Baby shower done this weekend as well. Another great looking cake by Tammy with a little baby sleeping on the shape of the moon. They were very pleased with this cake.

Dale Nish Collection - Open House April 2008

As mentioned in a prior post, during the Craft Supplies class the class had the opportunity to attend an open house at Dale Nish's to see his collection of turnings he's collected over the years. To say this collection was impressive would not do it justice. I'm posting a small amount of the pictures I took just to give you an idea of the quantity and quality on display, but there is many more pictures I took that I just couldn't fit in the post.

In Dale's living room there was 2 good sized display cases of turnings. Some shots below of one of the cases. (I imagine the display cases are a requirement to cut down on the dusting) :-)

A collection of smaller turnings. Most of these are 3-4" tall.


There were also some pieces more prominently on display. Below is a great platter with a beautiful feather inlay.
A very impressive piece from Ray Allen on display. This was a segmented piece approx 2' wide
One of the Signature Puzzle pieces by a gentleman who's name escapes me right now. The bird is not part of the piece but in the background.


One of Dale Nish's unmistakable pieces. It's amazing how he makes a wood platter look so much like basket weave.
A fantastic Segmented piece that was as impressive on the inside as it was from the outside.
A Northfolk pine piece with amazing translucence.

Dale also had an Office full of turned pieces that were simply amazing. Below is a walnut hollow form that I really really like.


I believe this may be one of Rex Burningham's pieces. I really enjoy these natural edge burl cap pieces. The color and shape of them is great.

This is a great segmented piece that was done during a class there at Craft Supplies. After the demo was done, they evidently decided not to part if from the face plate and just leave it as it. A great looking piece like this.
I really liked the embellishment put on this piece. The black portion is a carved wavy 'crack'? that really added to the design of the piece.

I believe this is one of Johannes Michelsen's turned cowboy hats.. these are amazing turned and shaped hats. And weigh less than one from Felt.

I really liked the natural edge top to this hollow form.

Can you see the spider?
Some turned fruit, and mushrooms.
The piece in the bottom right corner is a natural edge rim with a parted away center ball. The amazing part is that the ball is parted from the rim, but still contained in it so that it spins freely but will not separate from the rim.

A very impressive wall hanging segmented piece. Each color variation is a different piece of wood.
Dale pointed out to us that he and his son's built this house he and his wife lives in. This is a picture of the Front door that they made.
And pictures of the collection would not be complete without some of Dales wonderful Birdhouses
and a Shot of Eric holding one of Dale's signature pieces.

Some Thursday Humor

A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
A chicken crossing the road; poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia; The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory, which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture: a jab well done.

Dale Nish woodturning class - Provo 2008

During the Rocky Mountain Woodturners 2007 Symposium in Loveland I had the opportunity to bid on an win a gift certificate for a basic wood turning class at Craft Supplies USA in Provo Utah. Scheduling worked out that I was able to take the Dale Nish class offered in April 2008. My Dad joined me for the trip over from Colorado and with the exception of a Windy trip through Wyoming, and a nice Spring Blizzard driving into Salt lake, the trip wasn't bad. The accommodation's at the Hampton Inn, while there, were very nice and the weather improved daily.


Class Started on Thursday morning. Showed up around 8:00 to a very nice setup. Each station had a full stash of tools, chucks, visor, and calipers.

There was a variety of Lathes to choose from, and I opted to use one I had not yet had a chance to turn on. A Oneway Lathe. They also had a couple of Vic-marks and a Powermatic.


Prior to the Class starting, we met Paul Chilton who was going to be the assistant to Dale during the course. He introduced us to his wife who was joining us in the class. Here, he's getting all the tools sharpened prior to the class beginning.


The first project in the class was to work on a Bead and cove stick. We turned an aspen spindle round, and worked on making even, repetitive beads along the length. Then, turning down every other bead, we worked a cove in between to end up with something like this:

It didn't turn out to bad, and gave Paul and Dale a measuring stick on our abilities on the lathe. I tried to make sure I pushed myself out of my comfort zone during the class since I had both instructors there to assist me when I had troubles. Most of the bead and cove stick above was done with a Skew. A tool I was previously hesitant (never) in using. :-D

Someone managed to get a shot of me turning... I guess I had to prove I was there somehow.
Obviously I wasn't the only person in the class. There was 7 others in the class. They ranged in location from Arkansas to Oregon and skill from a very experinced Pen maker to this being their first time touching a lathe. It was great fun and I met some great new friends.

Below Earl gets some advice from Dale Nish on working the Bead and Cove project.
Eric and Paul discussing the project as well.

Our next project was to turn a twig pot. Another project using aspen. This project was done by transferring some basic measurements given to us in an handout to establish the basic dimensions and shape of the pot. We established the Height, and major width points (Top, Bottom, neck, widest base point). Then using a drill bit in the tail stock we drilled a hole to allow for a test tube to be fitted into the pot. It was a very neat little project.

We broke for lunch after working on these for a bit and most of the class went to lunch together. It gave us time to meet and chat about turning, which was fun. After lunch Dale demo'd a project I had been intimidated by for a while. Turning a wooden egg. The reason I was intimidated was that someone had pointed out how difficult an egg or wooden fruit shape can be. Bowls, vases, etc come in all shapes and sizes. While Egg's do too, everyone pretty much has an idea of what an Apple, Pear or Egg shape should be. So it makes for increased awareness of the angles and shape of the form. Using another handout of base measurement points I was somewhat successful in this attempt. I made sure I tried a few more times, practice makes us better right?


Day two expanded more on our experience. Our Morning project was to turn a bowl shape and work on the hollowing of the interior. The kicker of this project was that after turning your bowl you took it to the bandsaw and cut it in half. The idea is, that this allows you to see and judge your work of hollowing out a consistent thickness through the bowl. This bowl ended up fairly even, but was a little thin at the very bottom. I likely would have made a very nice Funnel during sanding :-D

Friday afternoon we got to work on a bowl that we'd end up finishing. Paul spent some time with me working on the basic form and shapes on the outside of my bowls. As with the eggs I was having difficulty with a curve that looked like it flowed all the way through the bowl. This one actually ended up pretty flowing similar to if it was taken out of the portion of a larger sphere. I really liked this imagery to work on my shapes. Additionally, Dale and Paul explained that often times the tool marks on the outside of the bowl are made when your hand closest tot he bowl is guiding the tool rather than your back hand.. something I had not previously heard.
I thought this was a great shot of Dick turning and getting some great shavings coming out of the bowl.

Thursday night we had the amazingly fortunate opportunity to visit Dale's house for an open house and see his wood turning collection form around the world. This was a fantastic experience and I'll make another post with the tons of pictures I took.

Friday I realized that I had not caught a shot of Dale demoing during our class. So... below is him demoing the Sat morning project of a Platter. Another project i had not yet tried. During this project Paul worked with me again on the Ogee design on the side of the platter and how the inside curve and outside curve of the Ogee form should compliment each other.


Eric Turning on his platter,

Here is Dick working on the Bottom portion of the platter. Probably the most important part as when you run your hand from side to side the bottom is the part your hand feels the most deviation in if there is one.


Here Earl has his platter all turned and sanded and is working on applying a coat of Lacquer finish on it.

Here is a shot of Ron working on his platter. One of the two local students that were in our class.
Here is Virginia, Pauls wife, working on a small turned box. I got to see a couple stages of it and it was a very neat project I'm going to have to try at some point.

Here is Bill working on his platter. He had a great hat on during the class that I really liked. It simply said "RELAX"

And finally Steve, who drove all the way from Arkansas to take the course, working on his platter. By his head you can also see a collection of the turnings turned as demo's during various classes at Craft supplies.
This was a great class and I believe everyone had a blast learning from Dale and Paul. I highly recommend taking a class at Craft supplies if you get the opportunity.