Tag Archives: art

Affordable Art

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Old Jules | 8 comments

Left to right: Left, Democrats. Middle center, banks, multi-nationals, defense contractors. Bottom middle, US public. Right, Republicans, Tea Party.

8 Comments

Posted in 2011, Politics

Tagged art, culture, democrats, economics, economy, Events, History, home, Human Behavior, humor, Life, lifestyle, misc, miscellaneous, musings, occupy, occupy wall street, other, OWS, personal, politics, random, Reflections, republicans, thoughts, wisdom

Dead Tree to Beer Mug – Gale’s Mesquite Project 1

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Old Jules | 10 comments

Before

Could have been firewood.

The process:

Find a dead tree

Cut it to length

Mark approximate centers for lathe

Make certain your last will and testiment is up-to-date, don your face protection and body armor, adjust the lathe to the slowest possible RPMs and mount the future beer glass in the lathe.

Finding that lowest speed is important.

Change tools and readjust as the cylinder size is reduced. Gradually the RPMs can be increased.

Trim off everything that isn’t a beer mug

When it approaches the shape you want prepare the end for the talon chuck.

The talon chuck holds it by the end so you can begin hollowing out the vessel.

Note the protrusion at the base to serve as a grip for the talon.

If your material is mesquite some filling might be needed at this point.

Gale’s been using chrysocolla for that job lately

Now you’re ready to begin hollowing it out.

A closer view:

Gale prefers to use a drill press to take out part of that center plug because it’s awkward and the speeds of the material vary and directions reverse at the center.

Then back to finishing the rough mug.

The rough part of the job done, cheated death and any more of these one more time:

Other finished, or near finished vessels:

There’s not much money in it for him, though he sells a lot of them. But you have to admit there’s something magic about turning a dead tree into a wine glass or beer mug.

Sometime soon I’ll show you some of his silversmith work.

Old Jules

10 Comments

Posted in 2011, Country Life, Education

Tagged art, crafts, culture, DIY, do it yourself, Education, environment, home, humor, lathe, Life, lifestyle, mesquite, misc, miscellaneous, musings, other, personal, projects, random, technology, thoughts, woodwork

The Greatest Love Songs of all Time

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Old Jules | 10 comments

How fortunate we are to live in a time when all this can be pulled together into a single post. You didn’t put a lot of miles on the dance floor with these songs. You stood still.

To me all these are #1 when I’m listening to them.

Maybe #1. Pick your own performance:

Nat King Cole – Stardust