Wednesday – More of Same

In at 8:15, on the “production floor” at 8:30, spent the whole day doing what I did yesterday. Boy, production work is boring! At day’s end I have 76½ pair of handle blanks milled out.

I only lost one more piece to terminal tear-out. This is what it looks like. Most often it happens as I’m coming up the curve of the top of the handle, the bit snags and rips the top of the curve off along the grain. It happens.

Actually, there were two things different about today from yesterday: One, it was bright and sunny today with a nice breeze that just made the day so much more enjoyable. I opened up the big windows in the new shop and let that fresh air roll through. Yesterday was cloudy, dark and gloomy, looking like rain all day -- I wished it would rain; we need it -- but all we got for all the gloominess was a light sprinkle for a few minutes. The second thing was that I had the sense to wear a dust mask all day today. Yesterday I didn't wear it at all -- I normally don't, I don't normally need to. But yesterday with all the machining going on all day long my lungs were on fire when I went home. They still bothered me this morning so I took the precautions I didn't think about until too late yesterday. This evening I'm feeling no more distress than I did this morning. Mission accomplished. Walnut is toxic, I should have known better. But usually I'm not spending the entire day standing in front of one machine tool after the other sucking down the wood dust.

OK, I’m going to clean up the debris, lock up and head home for a shower and a Klondike bar. (no, that's not an eskimo tavern!)

G’Nite all!

Doug