Exciting news!

Well, there has been an unexpected upgrade of equipment this weekend. After winning the grand prize of a new full size lathe I can finally start turning things larger than what my little jet mini lathe could handle. I still need to do some electrical work to get the 220 to the garage but hopefully by the time the temperature cools down enough to work in the garage I should be ready to go. So hopefully there will be salad bowls for Christmas this year!

Summer heat

Well, the summer is upon us and this slows the turning down quite a bit. Even the portable AC can't keep up. Plus with 6 broken ribs I am lucky to get the garage cleaned and organized, let alone some turning done. Plus the garden (brazosgarden.blogspot.com) has to be attended to or it will die. Priorities.
Expect the turning to pick up again in the next month (end of September) with some new stuff and also the Christmas season is just around the corner so ornaments will be coming as well.

Hackberry Commissioned Pens

Well, the 4th of July was a busy day, in the garden as well as in the workshop. As you can see above I finished a group of pens. They are all from the same branch. I was commissioned to make pens out of a limb of Hackberry that had sentimental value to the family as it was at the Grandmother's house before she moved.

Pens out of wood that has sentimental value it a great and treasured gift. This is my second commission, the first being two pens made out of mesquite.

Prices vary on style of pens, type of pen finish (gold, chrome, gun metal, etc...). Also, the wood should be free of major cracks or the piece long enough so I can cut past the cracks/splitting. I can only tell that by looking at the wood.

If you have some wood that you might like pens made out of please of contact me via email.

Farmers Market, (Demo Day) and Texas Reds!

Well, tomorrow (June 19th) will be a busy day at the Farmers Market. It is demo day so there are different people exhibiting how they do their craft (since there is 30 min slots, that is not enough time to set every up and do a turning demo in 90+ degree heat and humid. Hopefully in October sometime I will do a demo.
It is also Texas Reds Festival so hopefully that will bring some early people in as well.
I have new bowls and pens and hopefully I can sell the rest of my wine stoppers. (This will be a discontinued item after the remaining stock is sold unless I get a large request. The parts have gotten more expensive and I am not sure the market would be very good if I had to increase the price to accommodate the more expensive parts.)
So come down 8-noon to the Farmers Market, pick some produce (I have tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs and a little eggplant and squash) and some great gift items!

New templates

Just to give things a different look I have updated the templates on this blog and the brazosgarden blog as well. Sort of like moving into a new house. Let me know what you think!

Welcome to the jungle

Well, I have started the garden blog. Fairly boring right now with what I am growing but if you are interested the link is: http://brazosgarden.blogspot.com.

See you all at the farmers market this Saturday! (Should have italian zuchinni, zephry squash, fresh herbs (basil, dill, oregano, parsely) and small onions.

I am thinking of making an 'italian herb bunch' it would be something like a couple sprigs of basil, a sprig of oregano and a couple sprigs of parsely all fresh and tied together. Would this be something you think people would be interested in?

Let me know your thoughts.

Slow winter

Well, it has been a very limited woodturning winter/early spring. Except for some requests from the Houston gallery, I have barely turned the lathe on. Hopefully that will change as I finally got the insulation blown in for the garage and now just need to pick out the AC unit so I will be ready for turning in the Texas summer.
Also, with a Crop Science and Horticulture degrees I have started a garden. OK, maybe it is a small farm. (6 - 4'X8' raised beds, 2 - 3.5'X7' raised beds, 6 ft x15 ft spot for sweet corn and some raspberries and blackberries in large pots.) So I will have not only woodturnings but fresh produce this summer as well. I will try to start a seperate blog for the garden and if I get my camera and computer to cooperate then put pictures up as the garden grows.
I am behind two wedding gifts (goblets with captive rings) so that will be the first things to come out of the new 'shop.' Will post pics when I am down. I also have a 3ft section of cottonwood root that I am curious to see how it turns.