Some "Christmas" gifts

[Kev]

For those that didn't know, my family is doing the holidays a little different this year.  With all 3 boys being married now, we have to be flexible around their spouses families during this time of year.  Add to that the 11 hour travel (Over 3 mountain passes) for 2/3 of them and my crazy work schedule, it just really gets tricky to plan time to get everyone together.

So, this year we're doing a combo Thanksgiving and Christmas at the same time.  In the early years, me and the boys would often go to the shop together and build many of the Christmas gifts that ended up under the tree.  As the boys got older, this evolve to only me doing this task.  And, as they got married, this transitioned with some sort of craft project in the house or shop that would also include the additions to the family (Daughter in Laws).

This year, my wife had selected some Christmas tree ornaments that the Boys really weren't interested in doing.  So, fortunately I was able to give them some shop options because I keep a fair amount of those project's hardware on hand.  The 2 older boys each selected a different type of knife and the youngest one wanted a pizza cutter.

Since we'll be doing these projects tomorrow, I needed to get into the shop today to do a little set up so that these projects could be pulled off in a couple hours.

Not the best picture below but, this is the skins of 2 knives epoxied onto their knife blanks (Bubinga and Wenge) as well as some Bubinga glued up (using the left over epoxy) to be thick enough to turn a handle for the pizza cutter.  They each chose their own species for their project.

I'll snag some more pictures tomorrow as the boys are working on their individual pieces..

Now, off to do our Thanksgiving - fresh off the Traeger - and then watch the kids put up the tree and load it up with presents.

[Coop]

That’s a neat deal Kev! Glad they are still involved. There are many times I had wished my kids would grow up and be responsible and after they exceeded my expectations, I wish now that they were young again and totally dependent on my wife and me. Well, not totally dependent! 😄

[Kev]

Spent the morning doing a little more prep for the kids to take over...

Got the knife blanks out of the clamps and cleaned up the epoxy squeeze out at the blade with a chisel.  I also added another layer of blue tape to protect fingers as they are sharp.  All ready for shaping with the various tools/options in the shop.

I also got the turning project set up on the lathe.  I didn't start this on the table saw by taking the corners off, I did that at the lathe.  This just makes it a little safer for someone inexperienced on the lathe.  I also set up a couple calipers for him so he'll know what to work to..

All of these project are only supposed to be a couple hours so, we'll see how they go..  I'll make sure they get to take their projects home when they go.

 

[Kev]

Turned out to be an interesting day!

Here's the older boys working on their knife handles..

And the youngest one (You know him as Webmaster) turning his pizza cutter..

It wasn't but a few minutes after these pictures were taken that one of the visiting dogs (The older boys both brought their dogs) ripped off a dew claw and needed a visit to our vet.  So, while most were gone dealing with that, I worked 2 of the projects at one time to stay on pace with the one boy who stayed behind.  So, when everyone returned from the vet, all 3 projects were on pace to be finished up in a timely manner.  This is the reason for so few pictures..  For the record, the dog is fine and doesn't seem to mind his bandage at all.

Here's the finished projects..  Blades on the knives still need some clean up but, that can be done anytime.  Finished with ARS followed up with a few coats of lacquer.  The Pizza cutter didn't get any lacquer..

[Coop]

Very well done! Those are sweet! Glad you got home in time to get the family together.