Bob Easton

Chocolate powered woodworking

Bob Easton

Bowl # 5 – Spring Chicken

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Basswood. Length: 8.5″ Width: 4.5″ Height: 3.25″ Finish: Artist acrylic paints

This one is an experiment in finding the right shape. Again, inspiration from David Fisher, talking about his hens … one of which is the direct inspiration for this bowl. My “aha” moment came when I realized one does not need a crook to make a bird shape. A good block with a roof-peak shape will do.

Rather than hack into a hard maple log, I made this miniature from a 3x3x9 block of basswood. It was good practice in finding the right shape, and easier carving all along the way.

Wuhan Virus Masks

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I already have one of these, but it might be a little scary for a trip to the grocery store. Maybe like this guy’s trip to the pharmacy…

Let’s join the legions of people making their own masks.

Since we are under a “stay at home” directive, let’s use materials on hand, a sacrificial t-shirt and some sewing supplies. The hardest part of the project was getting the 20 year old Fiskars sharp enough to cut t-shirt material. Hint: 5 minutes with a ceramic rod.

photo of materials for 6 masks and some sewing supplies

One of my t-shirts (plain-ole man’s large) yielded enough material for 6 masks. Each mask is double layered. One mask from the sleeves, and 5 from the body.

For “elastic,” cut off the bottom hem and the neckline collar. Both of those are stretchy enough. Cut into 7″ lengths. Don’t bother looking for elastic material in the retail outlets; there’s a global shortage. Our daughter-in-law informed me of such. She is making masks for health care workers in her part of the country.

That piece of cardboard is a 6″ by 9″ marking pattern for the body pieces.

photo of ear straps pinned in place

Let’s make a 3 layer sandwich. First, the ear pieces need to be put inside. (DAHIKT) Pin them in place temporarily.

dull, boring photo of fabric sandwich

Pin the other layer. We’re going to be sewing around the outside edge. Start at one of the blue pins and sew toward the nearest corner. Continue around to the other blue pin.

Yep, that leaves an un-sewn hole we can use to turn the thing inside out.

photo of mask pinned for pleats

Turn it inside out, and do some more pinning. This time, we’ll set up for a couple of pleats … and a couple of pins for that hole.

Now is when I’m glad I rebuilt a 60 year old sewing machine a while back. It’s in much better shape now for handling thread tension as we wander through various fabric thicknesses.

photo of finished mask

A finished mask. It is very obvious that I am not accomplished at sewing. But the wandering seams probably won’t be noticed as we wander out from house arrest to stroll down an isolated country road.

Update: A No Sew alternative

All you need is a common bandana and a couple of hair ties. See Constance Jones’ short video.

Bowl or no-bowl

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photo of bowl #4 - work in progress

Work in progress.  This roughed-out bowl is about 16 inches long.  It sits atop the debris of the half-log it came from.  I’m guessing 1 part bowl, 8 or 9 parts chips. … and there are more chips to come.

What to do with the chips?  Garden mulch.

photo #2 of work in progress on bowl #4

Updated, 4/8/2020 mostly done. Much smaller chips.