Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, but…… I know it has been a long time since I wrote anything.
No more writings about boats. No more boat. I sold my boat. Here is why:
My last boat was a Tolly 24, a big step down but I could handle it myself and did not need the assistance of my reluctant wife. I was anchored in Nanaimo harbour, with probably 20 other boats within shouting distance. Off I go in the dingy to get provisions. On my return I did that age old blunder, one foot on the swim grid and one foot on the dingy, and the distance is getting bigger until – plunk, I am in the water. Even at my advanced age I was able to scramble out, and there was really no danger with all the other boats at anchor nearby. But boating alone I was frequently at anchor in some bay where I am the only boat. What if this mishap occurred there? What if I could not get out of the water? Time to sell the boat. Time to move on.
What should I do now? With time on my hands and dollars in my pocket I thought back (many many years) to my high school days in Saskatchewan where I had had worked on a metal lathe.
So I acquired a metal lathe, followed by a big geared drill press, a power hack saw, and a band saw. Heck, why stop there, so followed a mill and a wood lathe. Most of these were used items. Now what to do? After the familiarization time had passed I decided to CNC the metal lathe, a BIG project. Lots and lots of research, lots and lots of time sourcing items and then the installation which took the least time of all. And how did it turn out? The installation went fine and the machine worked fine. But programming the machine was a nightmare. I could spend a week writing and debugging a program and then 30 minutes to produce my one off part. It drove me crazy. What to do?
Well I know this sounds crazy but I went out and bought another lathe. An old piece of American iron as old as I am. Manual machining only. And my CNC machine just sat unused. Maybe a bad decision but I then stripped off all the CNC bits and sold them and returned the machine to its original condition. Yes, I now have two manual metal lathes. Both get used and I am even called upon occasionally by PlasticWorks to make something in metal or plastic.
But lately it is the wood lathe that has been taking up my time. I have been making what I call mini bowls, good for keys, coins, paper clips or the like. These items have coloured acrylic (plexiglas) for a base. Lots of trial and error in working out how to do this. I have been giving them away. But recently one grandson set up a booth at a school fair where these mini bowls were prizes in a toss it game of chance. I am told they were well received.
But lately it is the wood lathe that has been taking up my time. I have been making what I call mini bowls, good for keys, coins, paper clips or the like. These items have coloured acrylic (plexiglas) for a base. Lots of trial and error in working out how to do this. I have been giving them away. But recently one grandson set up a booth at a school fair where these mini bowls were prizes in a toss it game of chance. I am told they were well received.
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