I got this piece of wood from Clay at Choice Woods. He was having a sale on some wood that wasn't first rate before he moved to his new location. Wonderful wood, just didn't have the grain that some does. It is now the property of our nephew and his new wife. LOML gave it to them as a wedding present. Anyway, it is right at 12" wide and about 1 3/4" tall. Sanded to 400 dry and then wet sanded between coats of Seal-A-Cell and Arm-R-Seal. One of the few pieces that I had no problems with. It went smoothly from start to finish.


Questions and comments are always welcome. I only get better when I hear what folks think.

Christopher Goes To Camp

It finally happened. The summer of his seventh year he wants to go to summer camp. The flyer had come in on the fax machine. Salvation Army camp and there aren't very many kids wanting to go for some reason. We called hoping that he doesn't qualify. They really don't care as long as there is room. So, it's off to camp we go. Seems like just yesterday he was laying on my arm, sleeping, or cooing. Now he's about to heavy to pick up when he falls asleep in the car.

We've not gotten any calls saying that he is disparate to come home so I guess he's fine. Should have known. He wasn't at the camp more than two minutes when he has made a couple of friends with his cabin mates. They were waiting for the councilor to come and escort them to their cabin. These folks had things under control. There was a large screen with something about alligators being shown on it. All the kids were glued.

Connie goes to pick him up on Saturday. I'm sure we'll hear all about it. Should take weeks. There's one thing that I'm sure about even before he gets home to tell me about it, he'll have had a ton of fun. Christopher doesn't do anything without having fun at it. If momma can just make it to Saturday.


We pray for him daily. We pray for ourselves. Sure makes it easier knowing that God is watching over him. Enjoy yourself my son. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Osage Orange

Osage Orange is a really hard wood that resists bugs and rot really well. It is so resistant that farmers have used it for fence posts for hundreds of years. In some areas it is called bow wood because it is really good for making long bows. The bright yellow color will darken to a beautiful golden brown with time and UV exposure. This bowl is 6 1/2" wide x 3" tall. Finish is 2 coats of Seal-a-Cell followed by 5 coats of Arm-r-Seal. Sanded between coats with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper that was dipped in water. Seems to have worked pretty well. Not flawless, but came out pretty nice for this piece. I don't are much for the shape myself. The intent was something a bit different, but it ended up like this. So it is what it is. Might sell it for something less than the normal. We'll see.

Comments and questions always accepted.

Independence Day

Man that sounds like a good title for a movie. Despite that little attempt at humor, today has been July 4th. It is a day when we spend time with friends and family, celebrating the independence that our country declared for itself in 1776. What a day that was for those brave men, women, and children.

That same independence has been taught to each of us. You know what I mean, that idea that there is no one else that we can depend on. So, we must become independent, not relying on anyone or anything else other than ourselves. Our schools teach it from kindergarten through our graduate schools. Only recently have we begun to teach "team" and working together to get a complicated task completed.

When I think about my faith, I have to think that God does not ask me to be independent, but fully dependent. He asks us to place all our faith in Jesus, God's one and only Son. He asks us to sell out completely so that we have nothing else, relying totally upon Him. The only independence I find in the Scripture is that we are to be so dependent upon God that we are fully independent of the world.

And there's the rub. Society teaches independence because Satan is the temporary ruler of the earth. He does not want us to be dependent on God alone. Rather, he prefers us to feel we are independent, that we don't need anyone else other than ourselves, including He who created us.

I've been speaking with several couples who, at some point, felt like they could make their marriages work all on their own. Fortunately a couple of these couples were married and that institution meant something to both of them. They have returned to the root of marriage and God has restored those relationships. Are they perfect? I doubt it. They are still made up of two human beings who still want to be in control, independent, and in charge of what they do with their lives. But at least they have begun to worship and pray together. They have made God the third member of the marriage. Others were trying to play husband and wife without the blessings of God, without the commitment that comes with the ceremony and the certificate.

Point is, independence is great for a country, even a business. We need that. As a country we don't want or need to be relying upon some other country to keep us above water. But as individuals it is a different story. In order to truly live free and happy lives, we must be fully dependent upon God, fully dependent on what Jesus did for on the cross, and fully dependent on the relationship that Jesus affords us with the Father.

As we remember July 4th, I pray we celebrate the independence of our great country and our dependence upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Ponderosa Pine

Roughly 6 1/2" wide x 3 1/2" tall. 1/8" or less thick from top to bottom. In fact, the center of the bottom will let light through without any problem. This is one of those turnings that if I still had a bunch of DO, I would have done the multiple soak and dry cycle thing ala Ron Kent. Finish is several coats of Seal-A-Cell followed by several coats of Arm-R-Seal. This is another case to show us all that too much under the top coat is detrimental to the finial finish. The buffing wheels pulled the top coat right off. I had to sand it back and start again. No more than one coat of the sealer for me from now on.


Let know what you think about it. I'd also love to answer any questions you might have about it.

Box from March 8

Sorry to be so long to post this picture, but I just don't like the picture part. Truth be told, I don't like the finish process either. They both take me way too long to accomplish.


I bought this piece of wood at the AAW Symposium in Louisville. Just recently decided that it had sat on the shelf more than long enough. Box is 3 1/2" wide x 4 3/4" tall. The design is supposed to be ginger jar inspired. Finish is Seal-A-Cell followed by several coats of Arm-R-Seal. Sanded between coats with 400 w/d using water as a lubricant. Turned and sanded very nicely. My only issue with the whole turning was that I got the bottom edge of the tenon too thin and it broke off. You can see the fix.

I'd love to hear what you think about it.

What Is Going On?

Today I come into the office and check my stacked up email as usual. I've been sick over the past couple of weeks and but when I left the office last week I did make sure to clear my office computer of all back email. Just one of those things I do as routine. Anyway, I come in this morning and I have 215 emails sitting there waiting for me to plow through. Fortunately there were only about twenty that I actually had to open. The rest were nothing but spam. One day I'll learn how to adjust those spam filters I supposedly have on my email account. But, that is not what I'm talking about.

Here's the deal. One of my emails is a contemporary, Christian news site that sends me a daily update on the news around the country. Notice I said Christian and so you can safely assume that they are slanted in a conservative way. Fine, that's what I want anyway. What are the headlines of the commentary section? First there is this idea of the meeting of opposites as Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu met and the dichotomy between the two. Nothing new really. We all saw how ill equipped the President was coming into office. But he's a quick study and has pulled together his team of advisers who will walk him though. The deal is, though, that the world is now starting to see the differences between the "leader of the free world" and the other world leaders. Are we really leading the world toward freedom at this point?

OK, I'm depressed now and thinking that if God can just bring us through the next 3 years we'll be fine as long as the GOP can champion a worthy candidate who won't shoot themselves in the foot. However, there is a second op-ed with the title, "SAME-SEX MARRIAGE & RELIGIOUS FREEDOM." This is a problem for me. I stand firm on the teachings of the Bible. And before you get the chance, let me say that I believe that I sin each and every day. Most of the time I realize it. Sometimes I don't, but I admit that I sin often. In my studies of Scripture, the Bible says in both Old Testament and New Testament that homosexual activity is wrong. If the activity is wrong doesn't it follow that marriage is wrong? But that is my opinion and I will also stand for the freedom of the individual to make a bad decision, in my mind, and live with the natural and spiritual consequences of their decisions. What bothers me is that most of this legislation and the unconstitutional rulings that are being passed along do not allow for those of us who still believe that our country is founded on and based upon Christian tenants and beliefs to refuse to give this group what ever they want. Are we as a country, in fact, establishing a state church of atheism? Are we as Christians giving away our rights and freedoms to worship the One True God, The Living God, The Creator of All, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Are we, Christians, allowing our government, all three branches, to do exactly what we said they could not do in the Constitution of the United States?

Alrighty now, I'm depressed, I'm angry, what else is there? Two more opinions, one asking if parenthood as we know it is over and another about the President's recent comments on abortion. In talking about parenthood, the writer is discussing the "morning after pill" and how Obama and his minion are pushing it to be available without prescription to girls as young as seventeen. Are we taking parental responsibilities away from parents by allowing such legislation and rulings from federal judges? What's the deal? Of course we've all heard Obama with all his rhetoric dealing with abortion and we understand that he is pushing for abortion on demand. However, the writer points out, and I think rightly so, that it is only rhetoric and that there seems to be no substance. He talks about talking about these tough issues, skirting around them to give the sound bites that give false hope to his opponents and false expectations to his devotees. There is just enough for both sides to continue the arguments for another couple of weeks. This man, elected by the slimest of margins in the popular vote, is following his Hollywood advisers and speech writers well, never saying anything while giving the supporters enough to make them think they are hearing what they want to hear.

In 2 Timothy 4:3, the Bible says, "The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." Has this great nation come to that point? Do we only what to hear what we want to hear? Are going to allow our "leaders" to tickle our ears with what we want to hear while they do nothing and give our nation away to other countries? Are we as Christians going to sit back and allow it to happen while we sit here in our air conditioned buildings with our heads stuck in the sand?

Jesus was being asked about taxes, but I believe his comment applies to us in this situation today as well. He said, "Give to Cesar what is Cesar's, give to God what is God's." As Christians we must pray for our President Obama. We owe him, and God, that much even if we didn't vote for him. He is still our president and God has told us to pray for them. Pray for his wisdom, for God to lead him, that he would hear, see, feel, and accept God's leading for our country. But, we as Christians need to do more, we need to speak out on all of these issues that we find biblicly and morally objectionable. Let your voice be heard. Stand up on election day and have your vote counted. Democrats shortly after the election said, "It was the Christian community not voting in the presidential election that allowed Obama to win." We can make a difference, but we will not unless we stand up, speak out, and vote. What's your opinion? LET IT BE HEARD!