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Needed to get some stock for a couple of quick commissions and to finish a couple others. Pictured below are some of the stuff I got today from Ocooch Hardwoods: A beautiful piece of 8 x 3/4 cherry and a couple of book matched butternut pieces. Didn't ask for or need book matched pieces, but they sure did make my eyes pop as I opened the box.

Here is the first Kenny Hopkins pattern I believe I have cut. I have had the pattern for sometime and have wanted to cut it but never got around to it until this week. My wife is in Montana visiting one of our great grand daughters so I was trying to find something to cut in my shop while she was gone and came across this pattern and decided to give it a shot. Here are the results. I cut it from 1/4 inch Baltic Birch. it is 17 X 11 inches. I made an extended backer board to work as a frame as I did not have long enough pieces of wood in my shop to cut one. Dick heppnerguy

I ran across this pattern on Steve Good's site and found it was a really quick and easy one to cut. since I only wanted to spend about an hour in my shop today, I grabbed the opportunity to make it. I wasn't very happy with the stars on the tail and wings as they stood out as being Russian and since I am upset by what Russia is currently up to in The Ukraine right now. But I believe it is Steve Good's use of the star as being American instead and I am using his pattern, I left it as is. When I got it cut and ready to assemble I decided it was a little too plain and decided to round out the leading edge of the wings and the fuselage also the rockets. I thought it made it look quite a bit better and I am planning of giving to to my 5 year old Great Grandson. I made it from a piece of Poplar wood, 1/4 inch Dick heppnerguy

Just having fun in the shop. Cut from MDF baseboard.

Just some of the new bowls. I was pretty happy with them all.

You should feed the poor thing.

good idea. i believe a brittany spaniel which i dont think resembles my rendition.

First picture is of an Intarsia seascape I just finished. Pattern by Bruce Worthington. second picture is of all the pieces I made 2 or 3 or even 4 times

I wanted to make something fun and out of my normal. These desktop catapults are super nifty

which kind of matches my sitting dog.

I have been looking for a small bench sander to go along with the full size sander and my orbital sanders. I wanted one that didn't take up a lot of space plus I want it mainly for my ornaments that I make. This is what I found. Now if I can just keep hubby from borrowing it!! LOL

Very nice work. Your artistic touch is awesome.

Try service@advmachinery.com

Beautiful. Hopefully you’ll post photos of finished work.

Lovely looking pieces. Enjoy. Marg

Nice, Judy. Isn't it nice to have Christmas in July.... err February!

This is interesting. Says that is is made of Aluminum, then goes on to say that it is hard to rust. I would like to know how it works too. Price is right if it actually has enough power to sand and it tracks well.

That's just cute as a bug's ear! Love to hear how the little puppy works for you. Don

Beautiful pattern Dick and nicely cut.

Great choice of green base for playing field. So is there a whole team upcoming? Gnome football teams for the front lawn.

Hi Barb: AGAIN!!! LOL. I can see why, they are cute little buggers aren't they plus the fact that are made by you, sweetens the pot even more Well done Fab4

Beautiful work Barb, RJ

I purchased a 6 pattern set last year and made the truck then. Made the coupe today... at this rate, 4 more years and I'll have all 6 completed! LOL The coupe was made with a Cedar body and some Pine fenders. I used BLO as a finish. I knew that both the Cedar and Pine would probably not look good with any kind of finish so I took the easy way out and used the BLO. Btw, the truck has a Maple body and Walnut fenders.

Here’s the two I did.

The "put together" I can handle. I don't do well at the cutting. I don't have a table saw, just a small 4" circular saw & the scroll saw.

Very nice, I wish I could get my bowls to turn out as good. Always seem to struggle with the angle for the thickness of wood I'm cutting.

n i i i i c e. I like the kidney bean shape.

Very impressive Dick, well done. Marg

You are now the master of bowls. They are all excellent. Marg

Cute little fellas. Great painting too. Marg

I love pieces like this. Outstanding job Dick. It reminds me of some of Jim Blume's American series in the Village library. I'm still working on that series but a couple other projects jumped ahead at the request from the wife.

Wow. They turned out great. Is the first bowl made out of plywood? If so, where do you get plywood without voids?

I've actually got two HF vacs. One slightly larger than the one you have pictured and then I have their big one. I built a cyclone system for the small one and had it hooked to only run when the saw was running. It did pretty well although it was fairly loud. It wasn't a problem because I usually have headphones on listening to books or music. I eventually disconnected it from the saw because I didn't think it starting and stopping that much would cause it to last very long. I've actually had it for about 10-years. I only start it now to vacuum around it after the sawdust builds up. The large one I use for my jointer and planer. I've purchased a cyclone system for it but have to get a container to attach it to. The power on both is pretty strong, especially if you keep the bag empty (small one) or the filter clean (large one). At the price those sell for I don't think you could really go wrong. I will say they don't put a long enough power cord on them. I actually replaced the cord on my small vac with a larger 50-foot drop cord. I can plug it in now and almost cover my entire shop. Again, I would question connecting it to an on/off switch to run with the saw. I'm not sure that many starts and stops in a short amount of time is really good for it. It would be ideal to vacuum after dust buildup or cleaning your car.

I have made this bird feeder about 6 times now. Up till now I have used plywood and each has disintegrated in a matter of a year or so. I was looking to purchase a marine grade plywood for this latest one but could not find any locally and to order on-line, the price was too high. I decided to try a different approach. Western Red Cedar. Cedar fences seem to last for many years, so maybe thisbird feeder will last for a while. I obtained the plans for this feeder a number of years ago. This version uses a modified version of the original scrollwork pattern and I have deviated significantly from their plans for the roof construction. I own a 12” planer but not a jointer. The maximum width available is eight inches, and I needed pieces up to 14” wide, so I was forced to edge join pieces to cut the parts from. I planed the rough nominal ¾” stock down to ½” and used biscuits however the joints were not all tight. Used lots of glue and sawdust to fill the joints. I wanted to make better looking sloping roof joints. So, after lots of calculations and some testing I finally got the four triangular roof pieces cut to the right size but unfortunately, I still did not figure out correctly what the bevel cut angle should be, so the pieces meet to form a nice joint, but I had to use scraps to fill the joints from the back side. Fortunately this is hidden by the inside ceiling of the feeder box. The scroll saw cut side walls were easy cutting using a Pegs #5 MGT R blade. I did not try to sand the cedar to a smooth finish. Where needed I used 80 grit paper to sand with, leaving a somewhat rough finish. Also, I was going to keep the cedar natural and let it turn grey/silver over time. However, my lady wanted it to be white, so I stained it white and then applied a coat of Polyurethane. The stain is somewhat transparent, so the grain still shows a little and the “Clear” Poly actually turned the white stain a little yellow. I don’t think the birds will care. Squirrels love to get to the bird seed, so I have two deterrents. First the metal pole is electrified so when the squirrels try to climb the pole, they get a shock. They learn fast not to climb the pole, but they still can jump over to the feeder from a nearby Fig tree. I have added a row of pointy nails facing out to the bottom piece where they land when they jump. Hoping they get stuck by the nails and learn not to jump. Not sure if this will work. They are smart critters. Here is a couple of pics. Aa always, comments and critiques are welcome.

Neat project.

Bought it off Amazon. It's a LianDu Belt Sander. Had good reviews so I thought for the price it was worth trying.

Thank you. I would be surprised if he doesn't like it as he seems to be happy with everything else I made for him so far. Dick heppnerguy

I would be a bit leery of putting them in an insolated box or container because of heat build-up. But, worth a try I guess. I was lucky enough to find one of the "old" style Fein vacs for sale on Craigslist in almost new condition. It had the HEPA filter in it. Very quiet and has the "on demand" outlet so it only runs when the saw is cutting. Then a few seconds afterwards it shuts down.

Flying HIGH Dick. Very nicely done.

Great job I bet your great grandson will love it.

Beautiful work. You go the extra mile with finishing. I build something and it immediately goes into service with the idea of "I'll finish it later". And that never happens.

Barb. Really cute little guys. Nice job with the painting as well. Dick heppnerguy

They are Steve Good patterns. I had Don modify them for me. Thanks for asking. The Army one was for a birthday present. He said it was the best present he got this year. he really liked it. I always get lots of orders for them. I live near a military base so these are a really big seller.

I wish my wife had some interest other than cleaning house and wanting me to go for walks with her.

Excellent job Barb. I like the paint job.

Very nice Barb, good choice

Hard to not like the gnomes. Those are great!

Lovely work and a lovely dog too !

What dog breed is it? Should be able to find a silhouette image to use and place it into a circle shape for the ornament..

thanks for the ideas! ill take a look and see what i can find. i hope i dont have to resort to making a pattern. the stick dogs i make dont resemble the breed too much.