My DIY Baking Proofer

My DIY proofing unit includes 

these features:

Digital temperature control 

Digital timer

Heating element

Pan for humidity control 

Small air cellulating fan

LED light with two levels of light

Clear plexiglass door

Lockable casters

Holds 4 sheet pans

(two pans shown in photo above)

Twelve freshly-baked burger buns - 

they (and the kitchen) smell delicious.

* * *

Since this is my first baking-related blog post,

I really should mention that bread baking

has become a weekly event since retirement.

We haven't purchased store-bought bread, cookies, 

brownies, or dinner rolls in well over three years now . . . 

homemade is SO much tastier.

Remembering

Inspired by a vase I made 10 years ago (March 2011). 

Height 10.5 inches

Wood - Cherry

 

Published Article and the Cover Photo

American Association of Woodturners has released the 

February 2021  Vol 10 No 1 issue of

The cover photo is of me turning a beverage smoker.

Inside is an eight page how-to article written and photographed by me.

However, this could never have happened without 

the help of my wife Julie doing the proof reading 

and suggesting written improvements.  

Don McIvor, Editor of Woodturning FUNdamentals,

 was a delight to work with.

Overall getting this published was a great experience!

If you are a member of AAW then you can download the publication

 for free at  https://www.woodturner.org  > Resources   

This publication is copyrighted.

If you would like a copy of just my article please email me. 

Perfect Number

(double click to super size photo)

Why "Perfect Number" ??

Six sides on each of the six pieces

with six being a perfect number.

What is a perfect number?

To learn about perfect numbers,
start by doing an internet search 

for sites like this one or this one.

* * *

Each piece is 7" tall.

Wood - Cherry

 

Midsouth Woodturning Guild's February 2021 President's Challenge

February's challenge was to make a utilitarian kitchen item 

that was NOT a bowl and was NOT made from a kit.

Shown above is my decorative canning jar lid.

Wood - Hard Maple

Salt Boxes
Wood - Hard Maple

Mortar and pestle
Wood - Hard Maple & Cherry 

Basket Illusion Tray

Pima Indian design from around 1910

called the Whirling Log Design

Today we call this a platter

but it was originally called a tray.

Wood is White Limba

9 1/2 inches in diameter

1 1/2 inches in depth

Artsy Mirror

Hangs in our living room 

Outside diameter 30.5"

Inside opening 24.75" 

Poplar turning finished with pyrography, 

crackle, and General Finishes milk paint.

Bowls Turned from a Rhodes Tree

I made this series of 10 bowls using Magnolia 

harvested from a tree near Burrow Hall  

on the Rhodes college campus.

Each bowl has the above statement printed on the bottom.

(click on the photos to enlarge)

The bowls have multi coatings of General Finishes Milk Paint

followed by a dark glaze  

and for durability two or more topcoats 

of clear General Finishes High Performance.

The bowls range in size from 11 to 14 inches in diameter.

The rims were left as natural wood.

This bowl features an all-over pattern of pyrography lines.

This large open vessel features

pyrography spirals on the rim and 

along the wood's grain lines on the exterior.

Detail of spirals.

(finished much the same as the red beaded bowls)

2019 Christmas Ornaments

Woods - Maple 

and Birdseye Maple

These three are finished with

seven more turned and ready to painted.

Ornaments in motion . . . 

Inspired by an article written by John Lucas

in the December 2017 American Woodturner magazine.

Twin Stars (basket illusion my way)

Material - Cherry

12 3/4" diameter x 2"

 Back view of Twin Stars

(all photos will supersize if double clicked)

Halloween At My Grandson's House

How do you know when you have 

a lot of trick-or-treaters at your house.  

When you have the police who are 

patrolling the neighborhood stop 

in front of your house and

start to hand out treats.  

Our official counter counter count 

(me with a hand held counter) 

was 622 treaters.

(not counting the adults only the treaters)  

We gave out 1000 pieces of candy.   

The high light of the night was when 

the 3-year old grandson went out the sidewalk 

when there was a lull and 

announced in his loudest voice 

"WE HAVE CANDY"  "WE HAVE CANDY" 

"C'MON PEOPLE - WE HAVE CANDY!"

Red & Black Beaded Bowl

Magnolia

General Finishes Milk Paint
with 

General Finishes High Performance Top Coat 

Magnolia Bowl - Opportunity

13 inch diameter x 3 inch height

General Finish Milk Paint

with General Finish High Performance Top Coat

Walnut Bowl

11 inch diameter x 3 1/2 height
Finish is Walnut Oil

Week of Fun at John C. Campbell Folk School

My three baskets - black straps can be added
to the center basket when it is used as a backpack

The week of Sept 8-14 Julie was an instructor 

at John C. Campbell Folk School 

teaching a quilting class 

and I took a class in basket making. 

The basket class was great!  

Susan Taylor the instructor and 

John Roller the assistant 

exceeded my expectations for the class.  

They must have spent days preparing for the class 

to make the class a success for all nine students.  

THANK YOU Susan and John!

Below is a photo of the class with our completed baskets,

and a photo of Susan and John. 

(photos should supersize if double clicked)

After getting home I removed the straps 

and put a finishing protective spray coating 

of satin clear coat (Valspar topcoat)

on my baskets to keep them clean longer.

Shall We Dance

Overall height is 14 inches.

Ring diameter 13 1/4 inches in diameter.

Ring depth 1-1/4 inches.

Ring is segmented Snakewood.

Eggs are Cherry embellished with pyrography and paint.  

Each egg is 3 1/2 inches high.

The eggs are suspended on stainless steel wire.

The eggs are designed in such a way 

that they cannot touch each other.

Profound

Segmented Cherry ring is 23-1/2 inches in diameter 

and 2 inches in depth.

It is designed so that it always rolls to one side.

The ring is not perfectly symmetrical.

No two surfaces are parallel

and the center of the circle is slightly off-center.

The inner surface is embellished with pyrography and paint.

The outer surface is also embellished

with pyrography and paint.

And the ring contains a hidden surprise. 

Metal objects that come too close

will stick to the ring.