Want More Information??

Microsoft has a new project in the works called Office Live. This project provides free domain names and web hosting. For more info, check out:Microsoft Office Live.

The reason I mention this is not to provide advertisement for Microsoft, but to mention I've taken advantage of their offer and created darrylmasterson.com. This is a site that I'm going to work on building up to provide more information about the projects I'm working on, and hopefully someday use it as a resource to sell some items.

If you've got the time, have a look, and of course, any constructive critizism would be welcome... (so long as it's positive!). Just kidding of course, let me know what you think.

Thanks

PS ~ I have no intention of letting go of Woodworking Dungeon, so don't delete it out of your favorites list yet!

New Wood Haul

The order I placed last weekend is ready to be picked up. So tomorrow I'm going to cram a trip to the lumber mill inbetween two family events to pick up my new stash.

here's what I'm getting:

- 50 boardfeet of White Oak
- 25 boardfeet of Red Leaf Soft Maple
- 24 boardfeet of Eastern White Pine

The Oak and Maple are going to be used in the dresser for Violet and the Pine is for another Adirondack chair for one of the girls at the real job.

Dungeon Update

I ordered more White Oak this past Saturday. I expect that to be ready later this week so I can hopefully start this weekend building up the sides of the dresser I'm working on. I also ordered some Red Leaf Soft Maple which I'll be using on the drawer sides and backs.

In the mean time, one of my customers at the real job, Gary, was nice enough to send me some scrap wood that arrived today. I got a whole box of what I believe is mahogany. I'll have to verify that tomorrow when I thank him.

I didn't want this new wood to get all dusty in the dungeon, so I jumped right in and started working with it! It cuts like butter. Drills nice, and is really easy to turn on the lathe!!!

I've been talking with Gary about different finishing techniques the past week or so, he's helped push me in the direction of using Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) and Johnson's Paste Wax. I've been messing around with a few pieces of scrap oak to see how the finish will look. I'd like to know a bit more of what I'm doing before I apply this new finishing process to Violet's dresser.

Here's a look at my second cigar pen. I made this with a piece of the wood I got from Gary (if you hadn't already guessed that!). I applied a new finish on this pen than I have on the rest. I mixed some of the BLO with the paste wax until I got a sweet potato / baby food type consistancy. Then applied some to a rag, rubbed it in and buffed it to a nice little shine.

I really like the color tone and the way the grain pops out with this finish. and yeah, I can admit that it is way cooler to mix my own finish than to just use something out of a bottle!

I'll be curious to see how this new finish holds up a real world environment though. The Behlen Woodturner's Finish on the pen that I use daily at work has all but rubbed off at this point, which I do find a bit disappointing.

Not Just Another Pen

One of the girls at the real job had asked me to make a pen for her that she wanted to give to someone else as a birthday gift. She wanted a cigar style pen in this case, rather than the slim style that I've been making. It was initially weird working with the new style, but for a first try, I'm quite happy with the results. Purpleheart was the requested wood for this pen.