Stardate: August 25, 2004
Location: East Haven, CT
So yesterday I'm blasting a batch of pipes for the Columbus show. I get through the first blasting stage, take all of the pipes out of the cabinet and set them aside. I put the appropriately marked bucket under the cabinet and pull the plug to "drain" the media. I put the lid on, return the bucket to its proper location and grab the bucket of media for the next stage. I decide to use only about 20 lbs. or so of the 50 lbs. in the bucket. I open the side door and pour a little more than a third of the media into the cabinet. I go into the main room of my workshop and my dog Gulliver trots over and begins tugging on my pant-leg and barking in a low tone. Not his usual "take me out now" bark, but I figure hey, whatever.
Gulliver and I go out for a few minutes and then return to the shop. I grab a pipe, open the door to the cabinet and think "wow, I know I only used about a third of the media, but that seems really low." It is at this point that I realize the plug is still in my pocket. I look down and see a big pile of blast media on the ground, mounded into what resembles a snow-white mountain sitting at my feet. "What an idiot!" I say. It is at this point that Gulliver comes bounding in, pulls up just short of the pile of blast media, sits down, and alternates his gaze between me and the white pile as if to say "Hey, I tried to warn you but you wanted to go outside and plaa-aay" So I replaced the plug, skimmed off most of the top portion, and returned it to the cabinet. No harm done, but man was it stupid. No more 15 hour days for me after this weekend!
Todd
Chronicles of the Galactically Stupid
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ToddJohnson
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Gosh, I thought I was the only one that did things like that, Todd. Glad it only caused you a little frustration. Unfortunately, when I do something stupid, it usually results in a lot of extra work.
My story goes like this....
Once upon a time, a middle aged amateur pipemaker was making his prototype pipe for the 2004 P&T pipe carving contest. While peering through the airway of the 99% completed stem with a penlight, the middle aged amateur pipemaker decided that a little more work was needed near the button.
He got the great idea of using his needle file to file a little more off the area near the button to clean up the airway just a little more. "Hmmm," he thought, "if I chuck this file in a drill and spin it at low speed, it might just do the work a little faster." And so he proceeded....
All was working fine for about two seconds, when suddenly the file, as files are apt to do when used in such a manner, grabbed the walls of the airway and pulled forward.
Pop! went the stem.
"Uh oh" went the middle aged amateur pipemaker. (Well, that is not what he really said, but decorum should prevail).
Presently, the middle aged amateur pipemaker is industriously engaged in making a replacement stem on the prototype P&T contest pipe to replace the one with the hairline crack directly over the airway.
Did he learn from his adventure? One can only hope......
Stay tuned for more adventures of the middle aged amateur pipemaker.
My story goes like this....
Once upon a time, a middle aged amateur pipemaker was making his prototype pipe for the 2004 P&T pipe carving contest. While peering through the airway of the 99% completed stem with a penlight, the middle aged amateur pipemaker decided that a little more work was needed near the button.
He got the great idea of using his needle file to file a little more off the area near the button to clean up the airway just a little more. "Hmmm," he thought, "if I chuck this file in a drill and spin it at low speed, it might just do the work a little faster." And so he proceeded....
All was working fine for about two seconds, when suddenly the file, as files are apt to do when used in such a manner, grabbed the walls of the airway and pulled forward.
Pop! went the stem.
"Uh oh" went the middle aged amateur pipemaker. (Well, that is not what he really said, but decorum should prevail).
Presently, the middle aged amateur pipemaker is industriously engaged in making a replacement stem on the prototype P&T contest pipe to replace the one with the hairline crack directly over the airway.
Did he learn from his adventure? One can only hope......
Stay tuned for more adventures of the middle aged amateur pipemaker.
Another installment in the strange but true adventures of the middle aged amateur pipemaker.....
I was nearing completion of my 2004 P&T contest pipe and was putting the final dry buff on the absolute best pipe I had made to that point. I was holding the pipe very lightly so I would not dent the wood with my powerful grip (ok, you can stop laughing now). I do not claim to be the smartest person in the world, but holding a panel, with its cleanly made corners, against a spinning buff with a light grip goes well below my normally low level of awareness.
I was happily polishing the pipe when the buffing wheel reached out, grabbed the pipe, yes-it really did this- and threw it across the work bench. I have never seen a buffer with such amazing aim. It threw the pipe past the nice, soft cardboard box I had remarkably happened to put behind the buffer for just such an event, and threw it against the hardest thing I had on the workbench -- twice!!!!!
After throwing a mild fit (Ha!, there was nothing mild about it) I decided to look at the pipe. There were two large dents in this creation that I had poured all my creative efforts into. The worst part is that one of the dents was on a nice crisp corner of the bowl. At this point I decided to throw another fit, and I nearly cried. You know, just retelling this story makes my eyes moist.
So, after mulling it over a bit, I put a post on this BB and searched the ASP archives for the word "dent". I got several responses from the kind fellows here, and I read many posts on ASP. So after taking a few days to calm down and build my courage for the task at hand, I introduced my pipe to my wife's iron and a damp towel.
Success!!! It took about thirty to forty five minutes with the iron, but the dents came almost completely to the surface. All that was left was a lot of sanding, restaining the pipe, a lot of padding within ten feet of the buffer, some very careful buffing and waxing, and working through the flashbacks.
I was nearing completion of my 2004 P&T contest pipe and was putting the final dry buff on the absolute best pipe I had made to that point. I was holding the pipe very lightly so I would not dent the wood with my powerful grip (ok, you can stop laughing now). I do not claim to be the smartest person in the world, but holding a panel, with its cleanly made corners, against a spinning buff with a light grip goes well below my normally low level of awareness.
I was happily polishing the pipe when the buffing wheel reached out, grabbed the pipe, yes-it really did this- and threw it across the work bench. I have never seen a buffer with such amazing aim. It threw the pipe past the nice, soft cardboard box I had remarkably happened to put behind the buffer for just such an event, and threw it against the hardest thing I had on the workbench -- twice!!!!!
After throwing a mild fit (Ha!, there was nothing mild about it) I decided to look at the pipe. There were two large dents in this creation that I had poured all my creative efforts into. The worst part is that one of the dents was on a nice crisp corner of the bowl. At this point I decided to throw another fit, and I nearly cried. You know, just retelling this story makes my eyes moist.
So, after mulling it over a bit, I put a post on this BB and searched the ASP archives for the word "dent". I got several responses from the kind fellows here, and I read many posts on ASP. So after taking a few days to calm down and build my courage for the task at hand, I introduced my pipe to my wife's iron and a damp towel.
Success!!! It took about thirty to forty five minutes with the iron, but the dents came almost completely to the surface. All that was left was a lot of sanding, restaining the pipe, a lot of padding within ten feet of the buffer, some very careful buffing and waxing, and working through the flashbacks.
Mark,
I think we all can relate to that.
The first time it happened to me, the bowl did a perfect 3 bank shot and hit me smack in the middle of my forehead.
That was years ago, and no amount of steaming removed the dent in my forehead.
Since then I always wear safety glasses, and use either latex or nitrile gloves when buffing a pipe.
Mike
I think we all can relate to that.
The first time it happened to me, the bowl did a perfect 3 bank shot and hit me smack in the middle of my forehead.
That was years ago, and no amount of steaming removed the dent in my forehead.
Since then I always wear safety glasses, and use either latex or nitrile gloves when buffing a pipe.
Mike
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KurtHuhn
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I haven't had one hit me in the forehead hard yet, but I did almost end up blind when I chucked a piece of briar on the lathe and forgot to tighten the jaws. Turned on the lathe, and that chunk of briar sailed right past my head, skimming my temple, and putting a nice dent in the wall behind me.
Woo!
Woo!