Hi Lisa,The agony of de feet.
... and the back. And the throat!
I flew through minor throat surgery with flying colors. It kept me out of the shop for 5 days. In that time, I managed to work up a pretty decent backlog of orders. (I create and sell custom tools for hand spinning yarn.)
Catching up has been a mixed bag. I'm feeling a little off my sculpting game. So my first spindle, while functional and to the order of my client, just didn't please me. The weight was too much, the Cherry bruised, the bead was off…
BTW, Cherry can bruise when scraped. It left dark areas in my detailed work when it soaked up polishing oil. It's not something they tell you at the check out counter when you're buying the stuff. You find out when you're finished with a project and it has welts all over it and you are frustrated and banging your head against a wall because there went 3 hours of your life. Too bad, so sad.
Next Cherry wood turning, I made sure that my skew tool was nice and sharp. I avoided scraping. Yet, I still experienced some bruising, but I anticipated it and made sure I could sand a bit and it was minimal.
I liked my second Cherry spindle design and shape a lot more than the first, so I am going to go back to the client and offer them a choice between the two.
Also… I learned that I need to pick up a floor pad to stand on. 4 hours at the lathe (with breaks) is OK. 6 hours wrecked my back. And, I wish my stand was 3 inches taller.
Also… I bought an inexpensive Skil bandsaw as a get-well gift for myself. I'd like to set it up this weekend. I wish I had a drill press too. Drill press for me? Anyone?
