Somerset Elm Bowls

Turned a couple of bowls from the Elm that I was given recently.I am surprised how wet this Elm is because the trees had been dead standing for a number of years.It will be interesting to see how they dry they have a generous coating of Danish oil
bowls 15" x 4"

Somerset Elm

It is very rare to get any local elm of a decent size but I have been lucky a Mate has given me two large trees.I only make Bowls so only interested in the trunk.
The Chainsaw has a 28" Bar so that will give you an idea of the size

These are bigger than they look large ones 24" Diameter

 Stunning figuring

 This will give you an idea of the size Chainsaw with 28" Bar and ripping Chain

Started a new Project.Second wooden Bench seat.

A while ago I decided to restore the Bench seat that was in the front of our Bungalow but ended up making a completely new one.We thought it was too nice to put out the front so it now lives in our back garden.This leaves us without one in the front so I am going to make another one and cut up the wood today
Hopefully this time it should be easier as I learned a lot from the first one.This one will be slightly different but not much.

Grass mowing

This morning i mowed the grass on our property on the Somerset levels it is such a peaceful place.
We have a ride on mower so not hard work and takes about an hour

 Exstending our parking with a load of roof tiles.

Mangle Restoration 7 and completed

I have nearly finished the restoration of my mangle.
Just the shelves to do now.
It has been an enjoyable and interesting Project

A nice bit of Oak 10" x 4" enough to do the shelves and enough left over fo a 10" Bowl blank

 I put a new blade in the Bandsaw the one that was in there had done a lot of work .The saw cut through this Oak very easily I have cut 12" Oak on it .This Saw is for sale if anybody is interested cuts 12" x 17 1/2"

 I am very pleased with the end result jus got to decide where to put it now.

 The tray on the other side is wider as that is the lead on side

Rounded the corners off an improvement I think

Mangle Restoration 6

Not a lot to report today I have painted up all the bits and pieces ready to put together tomorrow.There are two wooden trays that have to be made then it is complete.
I think the Red and Dark Green go well together

Mangle Restoration 5

Not much done on the Mangle today just a coat of Dark Green Hammerite paint.The colour would not have been my first choice I would rather have lighter but now it is on I like it.

Before I could do anything the one that thinks she is Boss wanted me to make some trellis.
It did not take too long a good Bandsaw and Nail gun.

 Frame in dark green it grows on you Honest.

Mangle Restoration 4

The forecast this morning was for rain so although I was going to do the rollers first thing as it might rain it made sense to do outside work first before the rain came.I do the grinding of outside as there is enough dust in the Workshop without adding rust dust to it.

Back

 That is all the bits and pieces cleaned ready for priming.

 I primed these after making the Rollers.

To make life a bit easier i knocked up a quick jig to hold the blanks for cutting of the corners on the Bandsaw not something I would normally do but with this hard old Oak it made life easier.

With square holes in the ends I had to come up with a way to hold the blanks and as the metal shafts had an indent in each end it seemed a possible way was to do them with a shaft in.As you can see the tailstock is not holding by much and with the bar in the whole thing is very heavy.I had a go as you can see but to be honest it was more than a little scary.

 I decided it was just too dangerous and there had to be a safer way.Searching through my pile of Jaws I found this set of small pin Jaws that were very rarely used but they turned out to be a perfect fit in the square hole Problem solved.

 Now that feels safer.

 Both Rollers are turned down to the 4" diameter required and as they had to be dead strait they were checked with a strait edge.The final cut was done with a Skew Chisel that left a good finish and to make sure they were dead flat I used a long board with the first abrasive.

 Both Rollers turned and a coat of Teak Oil applied.

I am very pleased with how these turned out you cannot see the join.

Mangle update 3

Made a start on the Rollers today having found out there is a special tool to make the holes for the shafts square it is too expensive for a one off. If you were making and selling a lot it would be worthwhile.

I would like to have turned the Rollers from Sycamore or Beach but I dont have anything suitable the only thing I do have is Oak not my first choice but should be OK.
The piece of Oak is about 7 feet long and 6" x 4.5" that will be OK for 4" x 20" Rollers
I thought cutting this size of Oak on my new Sliding Mitre Saw would be a real test but it went through it like a hot knife through Butter.

 Two 20" x  4.5"x 4.5" pieces of Oak cut up on  on the Bandsaw.

 I have ripped the two pieces into 4 pieces 4.5"x 2.25"

 The two sides that will be glued together have to be perfectly flat so the joint is almost invisible.
A couple of passes over the planer does the trick.

 Setting up the Router to create the one inch square slot the length of the Rollers.

 This shows the first pass on the Router Table altogether 4 passes on each piece.This has to be quite a tight fit on the bar so needs to be accurate.

 Perfect a nice snug fit.

Gluing up with Tightbond adhesive I am very impressed with it.

Glued and Clamped they will be cured enough to work on tomorrow.

 I will be turning the Rollers this will be on my update Tomorrow 

Mangle Restoration 2

The frame is made from Cast Iron which is good as Cast Iron does not rust as much as steel so the frame is in good condition for the age.
I started off by using a wire brush but it proved to be slow so a wire brush on an electric drill saved me a lot of time.
You can see in this picture that it comes up quite clean with a bit of brushing and there are areas that show signs of the original green paint.

 That is the complete frame cleaned and you can just make out the original green

 A thick coat of Zinc Phosphate Primer will hold back any rust for many years

I think the next job needs to be making the new wooden rollers and the problems that presents.

Mangle Restoration 1.

I have started a new Project the restoration of this very old mangle that was made in Bridgwater.It has been sitting about outside my Workshop for probably about 5 years.
We Were having a look around
http://www.canningtonwalledgardens.co.uk/
Several years ago and I saw them thowing this old Mangle in the back of a truck with a load of rubbish when I asked them what they were going to do with it they said they were going to dump it.I thought it would be worth restoring one day and Lock down is an ideal time to do it.

As you can see it is in poor condition but everything is there exept the wooden trays front and back.

 The wooden rollers are very bad and need replacing

 First job is to take it apart most off the bolts could be undone but some had to be cut off.

 Rollers and gearing removed

 A nice bit of detail that will look good when it is completed

 The name appears to be The Bungalow

 The rollers are as hard as nails and I am sure they are Sycamore

A nice pile of bits ready to be worked on 

Now I have a problem the rollers are 20" long and have a square hole the full length .I have no idea how they did this and it gives me a problem as I have no idea at the moment how to get over it .I will probably make the new rollers in two halves lengthways with a Routered square.