Had this idea for a while, but life gets in the way. Anyway I've been made redundant so have some spare time and decided to work my way through the ideas I've had.
Silver birch body, cherry top hat, mystery wood feet, random dowel legs (which I might replace sooner or later), and a beech base. Big mix of lathe and hand tools for this one, so much fun to make!
Found my old ring mandrel and... It's not good honestly, it isn't properly milled and so turns slightly off centre, and it's smallest opening is still too big for most women's sized rings. I've thought about making my own from some hardwood and a tapered screw, but just wondering if there are any other good recommendations around?
Well this is a new one on me, drilling into end grain with an 8mm bit, was getting tough to back it out (it was approx 20cm deep) and by the time I got it out it looked like this. Something tells me it's not proper hss!
I'm looking at buying a reasonably old sea kayak due to funds. This particular one doesn't have a skeg or rudder and as it's pretty windy here a lot of the time I'd prefer to have something to help windcocking. Has anyone got info on fitting a skeg to a kayak that doesn't have one currently or cutouts for it? I'm reasonably handy with wood so happy to throw something together as long as it's secure.
Made entirely out of fallen trees from the local area; main lighthouse is cherry (including the dowels, with no dowel tool, that was fun!) and beech for the base. Stands about 25cm tall and about 7cm wide at the base.
Not quite upgrade I guess as I have a 12ft at the moment for rivers and reservoirs, but I'm looking at getting something for bigger paddles on the sea because the biggest draw of kayaking for me is adventure and exploration, so a touring/expedition kayak!
I'm looking for a budget boat (2nd hand) because I'm about to be made redundant (so won't have a lot of spare cash) and this will probably be how I keep my sanity while searching for a new job.
I'm a very lightweight guy, weighing in at between 60-65kg depending on the time of year, but measure in at 175cm, which is making it hard to find something that I fit in both the weight and the height recommendations - it seems I'm too light for an adult yak but too tall for a kids...
Obviously as it'll be sea/expedition I'm looking for something 15ft+, I'd like to keep weight down as my main vehicle is a full size van, so while I have my methods for loading it on to the roof, lighter is obviously going to be helpful. That said, weight is probably the least important of the things for me.
I'm not too bothered about it's easy of use (tippy); I'd rather have something that is difficult at the start but I can grow into rather than wishing I'd bought something better down the line. I won't be rushing into dangerous waters and as above, will probably have plenty of time to get used to the boat.
It'll be used mostly in Scottish seas and I guess the larger lochs, but probably won't be my primary boat once I'm working again.
From a purely aesthetic point of view, yellow would be nice as all my other sports kit is yellow!
So, what are peoples recommendations? A P&H Sirius popped up and sold a few days ago, and that seems ok except for my being too lightweight, I'm also seeing Nordkapps pop up but the lack of retractible skeg makes me wonder if I should skip for something more versatile?
Finally got back on the lathe after far too long away (fitting out a camper followed by a month road trip, followed by redundancy announcements sapping all my energy, yay!). Decided to turn a mouse using what I think is ash and maple (and a gear cable for the tail). Was a nice little return project.
Now though, how the f do you glue tiny pieces like this without the glue spreading? I sanded as best I could around the pieces after but clearly didn't work as well as I'd hoped and I feel there must be some trick I'm missing?!
I live in Scotland and I've been kayaking in local lochs, reservoirs and the sea(ish) for a couple of years up here now. I'm looking at probably redundancy towards the end of the year, and would like to use some of the free time kayaking more rather than going insane over winter whilst job hunting, however it's usually freezing, biting cold wind and up until now I've had time only for very short kayaking sessions due to work and the very short daylight hours here.
I'm thinking that rather than just a warm wetsuit, and actual drysuit is probably the path forward. I have some pogies for my hands already as I suffer quite severely from Raynaud's, but something additional for hand protection would be very welcome. What recommend headgear is there to keep from losing too much heat up top? Is there safe stuff to put under the spray skirt to keep more heat in the cockpit?
With drysuits, how does sizing work? I also swim outdoors and wetsuit sizing is odd (and usually restrictively tight dry on land); would I be looking at similar sizes in drysuits, or should I go baggier?
Basically, short of spreading blubber over myself, what are the recommendations for cold weather kayaking?
Probably a bit if a niche area, but I have a toolbox that contained chemical degreaser and rubber bands, and unfortunately there was a leak and a chemical reaction and now I'm left with an almost impossible sticky mess. I'd like to be able to continue using the toolbox but have no clue how to even start removing this as it's almost like un drying glue!
I reckon this will need as much knowledge of retail as it will about woodturning in general, so if this isn't the right place for it I apologise (and could someone point me in a more suitable place)?
A shop has popped up locally that is looking for repeatable batches of products to buy and sell in store, and I figured this is a perfect chance to move on some of my pens, earrings and pendants outside of a craft market. Thing is unlike most places I've seen that do commission based sales, this place is actually looking to outright buy stock and sell it on, but I have no idea what kind of money to be asking for in this scenario.
For example, say I shift a bunch of slimline pens to them that I'd usually sell at £20 at markets, what would be a sensible wholesale asking price?