Box for Lathe Turning Tools

I bought an inexpensive set of turning tools at Harbor Freight. I decided I needed a dedicated place to keep them, so I made a box from woods I had on hand. The corners are mitered. The top and bottom are 1/4 inch plywood that is secured in a rabbeted slot. Henges are recessed. The top is secured with a latch. I also made cradles for each of the tools.

secured with a latch

eight tools

tools cradled at the collar and half way on the handle

top cradle with stop

middle cradle 

I have used stain/polyurethane that is on hand. I finished the box with pecan stain. Here it is hanging to dry.

I added foam to take up the space and prevent rattling when the box is shut.

Thanksgiving 2015

Flowers

 

New C-Max

We bought this new 2015 Ford C-Max Hybrid Crossover on Tuesday. Here are some pictures I took yesterday of the car in the carport. It has been fun learning about all the new things on it. It is the first new car we have owned since 1980 when we bought the Toyota Corolla. 

I made this graphic to compare the C-Max with our old car, the 2011 Ford Fusion. The C-Max is about 17 inches shorter but sits higher and has 2.3 inches more headroom. Most of the other dimensions are very close. It also has more cargo area than the Fusion.

Mandevilla and Tomatoes

I got two mandevillas and four tomato plants planted today. One bush and one mailbox mandevilla were planted at the front corner of the house. I got a grape tomato plant that I planted in a pot by the shed. I also planted a Better Boy, roma, and a lemon tomato out back.

Red mandevilla bush and pink mailbox mandevilla.

Three tomato plants

Lemon Boy tomato (yellow meat)

Better Boy

Roma tomato

Grape tomato

What would it look like if...

"OK," said she. "I wonder what it would look like if you painted the top rail dark grey, too?"

"Your wish is my command," said he.

"Looks pretty good," said she.

Hand Rails for the Front Steps

On March 3, 2015, Marcia had her left knee replaced. I decided that she needed hand rails on the front steps. I built new rails and let them weather some. On March 30, I finished the rails by filling holes, sanding, and painted them. On April 3, I repainted the treads. Now it is finished. 

March 7, I painted the porch step. That is the one on the porch going into the house.

To start with, there was one concrete step in front of our porch. The porch was 16 inch high and the step was 7 inches high. That meant that there was a 9 inch step from the step to the porch. Uneven, and of course, difficult for some people, especially of the older variety. I had cut a couple of one inch boards and put them under each end of the step which made two 8 inch steps, but that is stretching it for normal steps which are between 6.5 and 7 inches. So, on June 20, 2013, I made new steps.

I built two steps so that it would be three equal steps to the porch.

Here's the finished product. Two 6.3 steps and one 6.3 step to the porch. So, now three small steps to get to the porch. Easy for young and old alike.

Here are the steps after painting. This is also after we got our new siding.