Still alive - and a first video!

I'm sure many of you have been wondering what is happening. There hasn't been any updates in my blog for ages. Well, I'm still here. I haven't been completely lazy either. I even got a proof about that. A brand new video!

Please take a look and let me know what you think.



More videos are coming, please stay tuned and if you like them, please subscribe my Youtube feed as well.

Spring (is finally here)

It has been so quiet in my blog for a long time. There has been so much everything in my life. Life, universe and everything has took all my time. I just wanted to say that I'm still here, noticing that spring has arrived. April, April moon, life in that cold ground, amazing survival stories which are evident when you go out and really look around you.

Vacuum pump, finally!

I managed to buy this vacuum pump from a Internet auction and finally had time to test it moment ago.


This pum is good quality industrial pump. It is quiet, wired to use three phase power, it's capasity is great. However still it is unclear to me if this can generate good enough vacuum for my purposes. I hope I can use this for vacuum pressing and clamping as well as with some routing jigs.

There has been some debate about vacuum pressure and ways to tell the amount of vacuum. This pump is rated "150 mbar (abs)" which shoud mean, as far as I understand, that this pump generates vacuum which is 150mbar from perfect vacuum. Which would mean vacuum equal to 25.1 inches of mercury.

If you know which way that "150 mbar (abs)" vacuum should be read please tell me.

Woodturning @ Plektratrading

I was teaching woodturning at Plektratrading at last weekend. What a nice weekend it was even thought now I'm quite tired and suffering that hangover which you get after such a busy weekend.

Saturday morning was cold. I hadn't slept enough but that cold and beauty of the morning did wake me well.


First day we spent practicing basic tools and techniques including sharpening. With only four students it is possible to tailor the course well and keep the pace of the course right.


The course days are from 10am to 6pm and after the first day I was pretty tired. At Sunday morning it was quite absurd feeling to wake up after, again, too short sleep. But nothing beats the smell of the exhaust at cold Sunday morning...



Sunday was busy day, first going through again Saturdays topics and practicing and then some bowl turning basics.


I'll be teaching on a four day course next week so now it is time to get my tools sharp and was the dust of my clothes and get some rest before that.

Colors of your rainbow?

Usually I'm not so interested in quizzes but while reading Jeanne Rhea's blog I found the "Find the colors of your rainbow" quiz.

Below you can see my results... Somewhat amazing 'cause conclusion is quite accurate...

Your rainbow is shaded brown.

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You appreciate the roughness of nature. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

What are the colors of your rainbow?

Very early spring clean

"...If theres a bustle in your hedgerow
Dont be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the may queen..."

-Led Zeppelin, "Stairway to heaven"

It has been far too long since I have had time to clean my workshop. Situation has come to the point when I just have to do something. Mess is awful, even dangerous. Problem has been that either I haven't had time or I haven't had any
place to actually put the stuff... Well, now I just have to solve both problems and finally clean up.

To get some more space I decided I'll give away some stuff I have been storing. Now I have over 100 small (2-4") bowls, ridiculous amounts of acrylic paints, about 300 sheets of cardboard and plenty of turned 'shrooms and what not for local daycare. I'm sure they'll have much more use for these and again they were more than glad to get these.

Did I get much more room for other stuff? No. I think I have to borrow the umbrella from the wicked witch of the west because some magical forces are now needed... Oh well, perhaps I can find some solution for the storage problem.

New lathe with chuck in use.

Finally I had time to test drive our new Jet Pen Lathe and Record RP2000 mini chuck. I didn't do any deep or complex tests, just tried them out.

All I have to say about the chuck is that it is wonderful and perfect match for this lathe. It really does hold workpiece securely and it works so smoothly. I like!


To test the combination I took a piece of scrap pine to turn a spinning top.

Lathe has only 1/12HP motor. I say only because that is not that much power. However it seems to be plenty for this little machine. Of course it is easy to slow down the lathe with heavy cuts but it seems to be quite natural that one takes lighter cuts when tools get smaller. With sharp tools and decent cuts that power is enough.

The lathe is easy and even fun to use. However there is some problems as well.

Worst problem is that toolrest height adjustment handle sticks so far away from the banjo that it really is annoying. Also tools tend to hit it, my finger is pointing the problem in the first photo.

Second thing is that locking method for tailstock and specially for the banjo is piece of crap. It is very nasty to use and it certainly needs some attention. I have couple of ideas I'll try to make those easier to use.



Finally this lightweight lathe really should have sticky rubber feet or you have to fix it on to a table top. Now without rubber feet it tends to move while you are turning.

As a conclusion I must say that I really love this small lathe. It is so fun and when I can find some fix for those problems this is even better. The chuck makes this small lathe very versatile and mobile tool.

Record RP2000 Mini Chuck

I just got this chuck for our new baby, Jet Pen Lathe. I thought that you may find this chuck interesting so here is short review of the chuck. I hope that I have time tonight so that I can actually turn something with this and the new lathe.


Chuck comes in sturdy plastic case which is traditional thing with Record labeled chucks. Case itself is well designed and it keeps the parts well in their own places. However I'm not that big fan of such cases and I prefer some other method to store such things.


First impression of the chuck is that is so small, cute even. It's diameter is only 2 1/2" (about 63mm). Second thought is that this chuck is indeed made with high standards, it seems to be very sturdy which can be even weighted. This isn't exactly lightweight one. All parts are very well machined and chuck functions without any noticeable faults.

Chuck comes with four jaw sets.

1. Normal jaws, "General purpose jaws"
   • Expansion capacity 35-58mm
   • Compression capacity 23-47mm
   • Maximum recommended diameter of workpiece 180mm (7")
2. Pin jaws
   • Expansion capacity 23-45mm
   • Compression capacity 5-28mm
   • Maximum recommended diameter of workpiece 200mm (8")
3. Wide grip jaws
   • Expansion capacity 71-88mm
   • Compression capacity 52-70mm
   • Maximum recommended diameter of workpiece 180mm (12")
4. Stepped pin jaws
   
   • Expansion capacity 17-53mm
   • Compression capacity 2-24mm
   • Maximum recommended diameter of workpiece 200mm (8")

With these jaw sets I think this is much more than enough for the Jet Pen Lathe and very versatile for that popular midi lathe size which has that maximum 12" swing capacity.


Beautiful thing in this chuck with these jaws is that even when jaws are opened as much as possible (with stop pin attached) it is only 3 1/2" in diameter. So it can still rotate in the small lathe. Very nice indeed.


Only downside in this chuck is that it doesn't have back plate to cover gears of the chuck. That with the fact that there is pretty liberal amount of sticky grease in those gears may mean that the chuck has to be cleaned quite regularly. However I think this isn't that big problem considering the scale of the chuck and the projects it has been ment to hold. However that sure is something one should check every now and then.

As a conclusion I have to say that this is really sweet little chuck well worth of the price. Considering the jaw sets and overall quality I think that this is real bargain.

For more information, pricing and availability, please contact Plektratrading at least here in Finland.

New lathe - Jet Pen Lathe

Our son has been eagerly following my adventures with wood and he has wanted to learn to turn wood also. We have tried woodturning but he is so small and young that it isn't that safe or comfortable to turn with full size lathe yet. However when I visited Tampere last time and met Mauri Kekkonen we talked about this "problem" and he had a perfect solution. He is reseller of Jet tools and he happened to have some of these cute little lathes. Unfortunately he didn't have them with him. However he delivered one for me and my son. I got it today. I haven't turned anything with it yet but tomorrow I'll testdrive it. It seems to be perfect match for our needs. It is perfect as a first lathe and it is perfect for me as well as an lightweight portable tool. But, more about this new baby tomorrow. Next week I'll get chuck for it, there is interesting new chuck with Record label on it. It is small and... well, let's see when I get it.

Jet tools are imported in Finland by JoHe.

We have new website!

www.hiidet.com


Hiidet

Source: www.hiidet.com

"Hiidet" are Finnish mythological goblins that have associated with unexplainable things in nature. Similarly art and artists have been mystified through history. We do not believe that art is unnatural and mystical - life itself is.

New website with another artist. Work in progress still, but plenty of things going to happen in 2009