what are you doing while under lockdown?

[LERCA]

When I’m bored with everything else I knit. I love it. It’s something you can carry with you and do anywhere. Any kind of craft is nice. They have videos on YouTube on how to knit and crochet and when you finish you have something useful. Minimal tools and you can buy yarn at every price point.

 

[maki2]

I can see doing it for income and out of necessity.  I have seen some men that want to be women, they would probably enjoy it.

I am a woman, I did not find knitting to be all that enjoyable.  It is not a gender thing, few things are except in the mind of the dinosaur types found in all gender preferences. Unfortunately Brian you seem to be placing yourself into that category, too bad you feel the need to do that.

The closest I will be coming to doing knitting like task with "threads" this week is routing and hooking up electrical wiring. Electrical wiring is not a male dominated thing, by far the vast majority of workers at Boeing who build the wire bundles for the planes are women. A large majority of the circuit boards made in this world are made by women. So try to get past this thing about Women's versus Men's occupations for hobbies or for work. People can now do whatever they want to do for fun or for work.

 

[crofter]

Photo of "real men" knitting.  It was something that was done as a cottage industry and by necessity by both men and women. Those are the "real men".

Also macrame, was net mending craft carried out daily by some salty sailors. Now considered fluff arts & crafts activity. I actually have a macrame lawn chair that will probably last forever. 
-crofter

 

[tx2sturgis]

I started out trying to do nothing today, and I got most of that done.

 

[highdesertranger]

ok can it on the Rosie Grier stuff and the this job is for women and this one for men stuff. anymore post along those lines will be deleted. highdesertranger

 

[jacqueg]

I started out trying to do nothing today, and I got most of that done.

It's absolutely amazing how much nothing I can accomplish in a day. All it requires is a reasonable schedule and a modest amount of willpower!

 

[abnorm]

Hiya Jacque...….

Hi Brian...……Our return to "Winston Station" Texas will have to wait...……..


We're stuck in KENTUCKY...….YARC camp EAST...…….Cammalu is a slave driver...….

We've installed a new RV service 50 feet from the meter...…John ran PEX to the site

This week we need to build 200' of wooden Forms for a new concrete RV pad with a 4 foot elevation change...this is Kentucky !!!

Then about 5 Yards of concrete

 

[user 423]

I am a woman, I did not find knitting to be all that enjoyable.  It is not a gender thing, few things are except in the mind of the dinosaur types found in all gender preferences. Unfortunately Brian you seem to be placing yourself into that category, too bad you feel the need to do that.

The closest I will be coming to doing knitting like task with "threads" this week is routing and hooking up electrical wiring.  Electrical wiring is not a male dominated thing, by far the vast majority of workers at Boeing who build the wire bundles for the planes are women. A large majority of the circuit boards made in this world are made by women. So try to get past this thing about Women's versus Men's occupations for hobbies or for work. People can now do whatever they want to do for fun or for work.

Yeah, it's pretty equal these days. It's not only men that are guilty of excessive 'splainin.

 

[crofter]

ok can it on the Rosie Grier stuff....

Had to look it up. Imagine, he wrestled the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan! What a guy. Here is the link.  -crofter

https://www.maharam.com/stories/boyer_dual-threat-the-needlepoint-of-rosey-grier

 

[maki2]

Many days Covid 19 or not I spend some time learning how to make things. Sometimes I use what I learn right away, other times what I am learning is for future activities. Today I was learning more about the Japanese woodworking art of making Kumiko panels.  I have in storage a lot of thin planks of old growth Alaskan spruce. They are "seconds" gifted to me by a sawmill/factory that makes blanks for guitars and other similar body shape stringed instruments. A very nice wood to use for this purpose. I will take advantage of that free wood to make my own LED light covers and for other small items to generate some income.

So what am I talking about, what does Kumiko look like? I don't have permission to use anyone's image of this so I am posting a link to an image search using the keywords:  kumiko panel light
https://www.google.com/search?q=kum...ULHDQIHQn8BMAQ_AUoAXoECCoQAw&biw=1824&bih=854

I like the looks of the Japanese Kumiko lattice patterns. It is an ancient craft using small pieces of wood arranged in geometric patterns. Being an ancient art it is traditionally done with hand saws and hand planers using only a few simple jigs for making the angled cuts and bevels.

Of course it can be adapted to modern tools for preparing the wood into small smooth strips that then get cut to size.  Learning it is not difficult but it does require a lot of patience because there are lots of little fiddly bits. There are quite a lot of youtube videos that teach how it is done both with the traditional hand tool methods as well as with modern power tool assistance. So if you have the bandwidth that is a great place to go to begin your education in techniques both with traditional methods and newer hybrid methods.  For the final angle cuts on the ends of the pieces the way to go is to use a hand plane with a jig as it leaves a smooth surface that needs no sanding and it is easy to sneak up on the exact fit of a piece in a complex intersection.

One thing for RV dwelling that it be used for is to make very attractive lightweight light fixture covers that can be used over LED lights. These would certainly make a product that could be sold for some extra income as well as for personal use or a hobby activity. There is enough of a challenge to it that it can consume many happy hours exploring designs of patterns and objects to use the kumiko panels in.

As to the wood to use for Kumiko, it needs to have a fine straight grain. Bamboo lumber strips were also a common material used for making kumiko panels. Woods could be cedar, fir, spruce. Basswood could work andit is available pre cut into small strips for model making use. Balsa is rather fragile but would be suitable for experiments and it is sold in small strips in many hardware stores.  As hardware stores are open during Covid 19 shutdowns that might work to get started playing with this woodworking technique. You can also purchase saws and block planes there.

The patterns can be very simple, rectangular grids or very complex grids with a lot of intersections and angle. You can design them using graph paper or using a computer graphics program. There are many free graphic programs and CAD programs that will allow you to easily offset lines and rotate them to specific angles and trim them to length.

I have previously made as  commissioned pieces, a birdhouse as well as a very large outdoor light fixture with a Japanese influence. They have a simple rectangular lattice pattern that I created in Western Red cedar using my tablesaw to size the wood and an overhead router to cut out the material to make the overlapping intersections. Too large of objects for life in a small travel trailer unless I make them much smaller in size. The light fixture itself is 46" tall excluding the base. The designs for these objects are my own original work.

 

[brahmon]

tldr. did u make those maki? very impressive

 

[jacqueg]

Hiya Jacque...….

Hiya back! You and John will I hope be gratified to learn that those batteries are powering my refer and a fan.

Virtual hugs to both of you.

 

[crofter]

I love to weld. It is so electrifying and noisey, while at the same time a creating activity that pollutes the air. If I had a stick welder that is what I would be doing right now.

Also gas welding and blowing holes in stuff with the air torch, and then loudly hammering the piece when it is red hot. But that does not make quite as much toxic smoke as the stick welding.

Not sayin my gender. Nunya bidnz. 

-crofter (can do weaving with his/ her toes).

 

[crofter]

@maki

What do you use for the translucent "glass" pane on those kumiko lights?

I am running a string of lites for a walkway, was thinking of recycled plastic milk jugs to supply the translucent panes.

-crofter

 

[maki2]

tldr.  did u make those maki? very  impressive

Yes I do all the work myself, both the design and the fabrication.

 

[maki2]

@maki

What do you use for the translucent "glass" pane on those kumiko lights?

I am running a string of lites for a walkway, was thinking of recycled plastic milk jugs to supply the translucent panes.

-crofter

Hi Crofter,  good question.  Regarding the plastic milk jugs. There is varying opinion on how UV resistant HDPE plastic is. Many of the translucent milk jugs use that plastic. I would say go ahead but if you are using it in an object you are putting some real effort and time into then make it easy to change out the panel should it begin to fail.

Acrylic plastic will also work for outdoor use, it comes in various colors including white and off white but it is certainly more expensive than HDPE sheet goods and recycled milk jugs. We have quite a lot of acrylic scraps on hand in the workshop storage racks, which means free to me That is probably what I will choose for my mini sized Kumiko lanterns. But I will lightly sand it to dull the glossy surface.

That large Japanese influenced lantern I made on commission has stained glass panels. I went to a wholesale stained glass supplier chose a piece that had the right color and looked rather like rice paper and did not have a super shiny surface to the glass. I wanted glass for its strength and durability. It was not likely to get broken where it sits.

 

[Cammalu]

I cheated and paid someone to clean out my shed. Mostly I’m switching out the winter clothes for summer clothes, cooking, riding down to the pond to feed the fish and tomorrow I think I’ll start the two day process of mowing.

Stuck in Kentucky with Abnorm and his wife and Gotsmart and they are slave drivers [emoji16]

 

[Jimmyflorida]

I been watching YouTube videos about flint knapping make stone knifes arrowheads it seems like it could be a could hobby

 

[user 423]

I'm pining to hit the road but need to see what's going to happen in the next month or so. In a good spot really, renting a little place out in the country in SE AZ that's very isolated. Trying to fix odds and ends on the van and shopping for good deals on craigs.

 

[bullfrog]

I been watching YouTube videos about flint knapping make stone knifes arrowheads it seems like it could be a could hobby

Funny story follows.  I have a friend decided to see how realistic he could make some pieces and they were doing an archaeological survey of an area they were going to put a parking lot in.  It was done by some of your typical government employees.  They are now on display in glass cases at the lodge! LOL!!!