Author Archives: Bill

Laser Cutting Garden Stakes

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Bill

Today I’m cutting out some garden stakes on the laser. I’m using LightBurn for the cutting software, and my laser is a Comgrow Comgo Z1 10W LED Laser. I purchased a set of vector graphics of 84 different garden stakes … Continue reading →

Raised Bed Greenhouse Top

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Bill

We would like to put up a greenhouse, but for the time being, we do not have one. We’ve been researching crops you can plant early, and found that the brassicas are very frost and cold tolerant. In fact, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Homestead | Leave a comment

I May Have a Problem

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Bill

Am I a hoarder? How many pen blanks are too many?

Posted in Shop Tips, Wood Turning, Work Shop | Leave a comment

Disassembling a Pen

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Bill

If you make enough pens, eventually you may need to disassemble one. Reasons may range from assembling wrong, to breaking something, to screwing up the blank. Recently, Sam was making a pen, and I was helping trim the blank. I … Continue reading →

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Repairing a Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Bill

A while ago, while repairing my old Jonsered 2050 Turbo chainsaw, I bought a Central Machinery Ultrasonic Cleaner from Harbor Freight. I heard they were really good for cleaning carburetors.

Posted in Shop Tips, Tools and Machinery, Work Shop | Leave a comment

HVLP Spraying

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Bill

I’ve always been interested in spray finishing, whether it’s painting the castle fort, painting our house, or applying finish or paint to woodworking projects. Over the years I’ve tried various systems and solutions, from our first Wagner Power Painter, to a cheap LVLP siphon spray gun from Home Depot, to the Wagner Spraytech FLEXiO 5000 HVLP system. This last one we used to paint our house, and it did an excellent job.

[caption id="attachment_1541" align="alignnone" width="338"] TCP Global G6600 with Spectrum System[/caption] Continue reading →

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Tape!

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Bill

We’ve all heard that using painter’s tape to mask off parts for gluing can save a lot of time later on when we are unclamping and cleaning up the squeeze-out. But how many of us actually take the time to … Continue reading →

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Galleries

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Bill

Check out some of our creations!

[foogallery-album id="1213"]

Continue reading →

Posted in Wood Turning, Woodworking | Leave a comment

Corn Cob Pens

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Bill

Yes, corn cob pens! I’ve made a dozen or so of these over the years, they are very popular around here. We recently brought a bunch of pens in to Legacy Outfitters, a store in Logansport that sells items made by local artists and craftsmen, and several of them sold. One of these was a corn cob pen. The customer who bought it asked if I could make three more. So here they are being made.