finding the narrative
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January 1, 2024
Bloganuary: What are your biggest challenges? Self-discipline. It has to be. I realise that it’s just the one thing and the question is asking for a multitude of things. My self-discipline affects many areas of my life, though, so…I am envious of people who appear to have their shit together. I am able to commit…
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Christmas Ornament | Woodturning | Redheart Wood
In today’s video, I turn a Christmas ornament with Redheart wood. This was a quick, fun project. Nothing too exciting but something a little special – it feels good to make things to celebrate with. Thank you all, so much, for your support throughout 2023. It was a great year and I’m hopeful 2024 will be…
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Pen Turning | European Round Top with Palo Santo Rosewood and Chrome Hardware
In today’s pen turning video, I turn a European Round Top pen using Palo Santo Rosewood and chrome hardware. I like turning this wood. I love how nicely it turns and how it finishes. The best part has to be how the wood will change over the next couple of weeks, lightening up and exposing…
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December 16, 2023
It’s coming on 11:30 at night and I’m at the shop working on an order for pens. Brasstracks is playing on the Bluetooth speaker and I got an Afghani takeaway for dinner. At some point, I stopped calling this space my “workshop,” and started referring to it as just the “shop.” That must be a…
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December 14, 2023
Hannah tells me that people ask her what it’s like to live with a boy. She says that this picture sums it up best: This is me, in the bathroom, running the laser engraver. There’s a pile of my laundry on the floor next to my side of the bed. Until she explained to me…
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December 13, 2023
It’s more like me to have an idea that I won’t follow through on than it is for me to see one of them through. There are a number of reasons for this, one being that I have too many ideas. This doesn’t stop me from preparing myself to eventually get to the project and…
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Pen Turning | Jim Beam Whisky Barrel Oak Algonquin Rollerball with Satin Chrome Hardware
In this week’s pen turning video, I turn an Algonquin rollerball pen using Oak from a Jim Beam whisky barrel and with satin chrome hardware. I enjoyed turning this pen. For a while, I was mulling over how to shape it but things came together nicely as soon as I put the blanks on the…
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Pen Turning | Purple Poly Resin and Gaboon Ebony with Gold Hardware Baron Fountain Pen
In today’s video, I turn a Baron fountain pen. Initially, I was working on a RAW brass pen with Black Palm wood but that didn’t work so I switched gears. I tried a new process for finishing this pen, using Yorkshire Grit fine and microfine abrasive pastes. In the end, I’m not too excited about…
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Pen(cil) Turning | Brown Mallee Burl Cigar Pencil with Chrome Hardware
In today’s video, I turn a Cigar pencil using Brown Mallee Burl wood and chrome hardware. This was a trickier one to turn. I found that the carbide chisels kept snagging. A couple of times, I stopped to fill some voids with CA. At the end, after it all came together, the click mechanism wasn’t…
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Wood Turning | Purpleheart Wood Single Seam Ripper
In today’s video, I turn a single seam ripper with Purpleheart and satin gold hardware. I like how this one turned out. The shape looks comfortable to me. This one was fun to turn – the curves made it feel like it was flowing and I got into a rhythm with it. What do you think?…
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Pen Turning | Blue-Green Poly Resin blank Luxor Push Button Click Pen with Titanium Blue Hardware
Hey folks, after a little while away, I’m back! In today’s video, I turn a Luxor push button click pen with a blue-green poly resin blank and titanium blue hardware. This one took a good while to turn, much longer than I anticipated. Luckily, it sanded up and polished real nice. I’m not generally a…
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October 18, 2023
I woke up this morning with a bit of a sore throat — nothing to write home about. After getting home from work, for the last five hours, I’ve developed a cold. Never before have I gotten this sick this quickly. There are usually warning signs that I ignore. What’s also new about this experience…