I recently made my own beeswax finish that incorporated beeswax and mineral oil.

This was a very straight forward process that created a quality product at a very, very low cost.

I purchased the mineral oil at the grocery store in the pharmacy section and I got the beeswax from a local honey maker. The total cost for both was under $3.00 giving a cost per ounce at roughly .24 cents. This is 1/10 of the cost for similar commercial products!

The recipe that I used is simple and it took less than 15 minutes to make it.

Here’s the recipe that I used:

Continue reading 'A Beautiful Beeswax Finish For Cheap'

This month’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild focused on chucking options, the upcoming Woodturning Week at Lee Valley and a well participated Show and Tell session.

David Wilkins presented an excellent tutorial on the extensive variety of chucking options available to today’s woodturner.

He spoke at length on the four prong spur drive, the two prong center, the Stebcenter, faceplates, faceplate rings, a variety of chuck jaws, worm screws, the Beall spindle tap, live center systems, vacuum systems and chuck keys. Examples of all these items were on hand with some being passed around for closer inspection.

During his talk on the subject of chuck jaws the use of the available whiteboard allowed him to better explain the importance of cutting a dovetailed tenon:

Continue reading 'The NWG Checks Out Chucking Options'

When my son was home in August he turned a paper towel holder for himself. Since my wife had wanted one for some time she then thought that there should be no reason why I couldn’t make her one. Now, when she asked our daughter to turn her one I knew that I better get it made.

It is made out of Maple with a tapered shaft that is approximately 13″ tall from the base, making the overall holder 14″ tall. The base is 5″ in diameter that steps to about 4″. It is finished with Triple E Cream and Shellawax.

The shaft is about 1 1/4″ round at the bottom and then tapers to about an inch. This is only for esthetics during those few moments for when the roll is being changed, and of course, for when my wife is showing all her friends what a great paper towel holder this is. It then widens to the 1 1/4″ again where the top of the paper roll rests, maintaining the same diameter for the cardboard roll to turn on.

You can see this here in this photo without the paper towel:

Continue reading 'A Practical Paper Towel Holder'

This month’s meeting of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association was our After Christmas Show and Tell, where members brought in ‘toys’ that they received as gifts as well as projects that they were able to complete over the holidays.

We also had a special guest from the Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Wilf (Woody) Woods, who dropped by to tell us more about the upcoming ‘Nest Box Project’ which the AWA will be partnering with them on.

This is a project that will require us to build at least 200 nesting boxes that will be suitably sized for the Wood Duck, the Merganser and the Golden Eye. Once placed these boxes will help minimize the impact from nest predators. Placement, monitoring and maintenance of the boxes will be undertaken by a variety of groups and individuals like Scouting troops, companies and other clubs, through an ‘Adopt A Box Program’. We also hope to include local Scout troops in the construction, giving them an opportunity for skill learning and badge work.

The boxes will be approximately 2 feet tall and 10″ square with a sloped roof and an oval entrance hole. One of the sides will swing out for easy cleaning and there will be screening attached to the inside front wall that will help the young reach the exit hole.

Continue reading 'AWA Nesting Boxes And Show And Tell'