Still not ready

I got a small polishing motor last week. It is a bit under powered, and it doesn't have a dust collector, but I think it will be good enough.

I'm still not ready to complete any picks. Due to some delays in requesting the sanding belts be sent to me, I don't have them yet. And the other thing I don't have is some kind of wood finishing oil. I haven't been able to find what I want. I think I need to talk to a woodworker here about what to use.

waiting on tools

So far the most frustrating thing about working here is constantly getting to a point where I need a certain tool that I don't have and then having to wait to get it. I either have to ask my parents to send it, or buy it here. Of course, eventually that will stop happening as I slowly get everything I need, but right now I am stalled, waiting on sanding belts for my little NSK belt sander. After I get those I really think the only other things I will need to make picks are a polishing motor and buffs, and some kind of wood finishing oil.

This photo below shows where I stopped. I can cut more wood and grind/file more steel, but I can't finish anything. I will work on some jewelry while I wait for my sanding belts.

This is my outside work area where I do my grinding. This patio area is really the only thing I like about this apartment.

making lock picks again

I got a bench grinder and belt sander last week. I now have almost everything I need to make picks again. I still need to buy a polishing motor and I need my hand files. My files are being shipped from the US right now, I should get them next week. I might have to wait till after my winter vacation to buy the polishing motor. With all the money I have spent on tools recently and with trip I am taking to Japan and Korea at the end of the month, I am not sure I can afford one right now.

I can't use the grinder and belt sander inside; it's too messy. So I bring them out on my patio to use them. 

This is the outside work area. Not very exciting compared to my workshop in the US, but it should be adequate. I now have to work during the day time (always worked at night in the US) and when it's not raining.

I'm stuck at this stage for now. I need to get my hand files to finish shaping the pick blade, and a polishing motor to polish it. 

Getting ready to make lock picks again

I got a drill press today, and have a grinder and belt sander coming next week. I will start making lock picks again soon. 

working again

I'm set up to do basic jewelry work in my home now. I have most of my important hand tools, micromotor, and a small torch. So far I have just done some work on the pieces I started in the jewelry class at my school. It's good to have my own bench and tools here, even if it is just a small fraction of the workshop I had in the US.  

First time at my bench in Taiwan

I finally started working at my new bench last night. I started on a pendant. But I really need a light before I can do much. I'm planning to go to a jewelry tool supplier this weekend, I'll try to get one there. There are a lot of other little things I need, but I have all the other essential things to work here.

new bench

My new workbench arrived yesterday. I'm excited to start making things again. Now I really feel like I am living here in Taiwan, not just visiting for a while. 

workbench

I ordered a workbench today. It should come next week.  It's the same design as the bench I have been using in the US since 2000.  Cost was $227 USD, including shipping, which is much less than a similar bench in the US. 

A workbench is the most important thing for me to be able to make things here since I do everything at the bench: jewelry fabrication, wax carving, lock picks, carving, etc.

I have a lot of tools here, but not everything.  I will go through my tools this weekend and see what exactly I have.  I should have tools here to do some fabrication and carving.  I will go to a tool store in Taipei and buy some more stuff after I get the bench and figure out what else I need.

Cleaning up the studio

Now that Christmas is over I'm taking the week off to do some of the things I didn't have time for when I got back from my trip last month, like getting my stuff out that had been packed up at my parents' house, cleaning my studio, and working on some things I can't really work on at the store where I work.

I tried to work on some half finished lockpicks, but it was frustrating to have to keep searching for tools that had been misplaced years ago and decided I needed to get organized before I started working again.

I also had to clean.  Before I went to Korea I sprayed most of my steel tools with  LPS 3 Premier Rust Inhibitor.  I had used it before and it seemed good.  You spray it on and it dries to sort of a sticky grease.  They claim it will protect metal for up to 2 years indoors.  I was in Korea 4 years and it worked great, though I never had problems with rust in my studio before.

The stuff can be removed with mineral spirits.  Hammer heads and the rolling mill didn't take long, but my lathe took a while to clean.  I didn't finish everything, but I did enough for now.

my new "studio"

Last weekend I finally started doing some work. I started on the snakewood handle of a carving knife I am making for wood carving. I made the blade while I was still in the US. I also prepared two slices of a wax ring tube.

I need another table. Most of the space on my table is taken up by things unrelated to carving. Its really hard for me to work in this small space on a kitchen table, after working for years in my own well equipped studio.



My old studio, where I had more space than I could ever use:

trying to keep my bench clean

It's been over a month now since I did that major cleaning of my bench and its still relatively clean. I hate cleaning and it took so long, I decided I didn't want to have to do a cleaning like that again for a long time. The thing that makes the biggest mess is the aluminum. So I have started putting up newspaper when I grind aluminum to keep chips off the bench top. That's the area that takes so long to clean, cause I have so much stuff on my bench I need to move everything to clean it all. So far the newspaper is working, but I hate having to put it up every time I want to grind aluminum cause I work with it fairly often.

clean bench

Last Wednesday I spent all night cleaning my bench and the area around it. It was really bad, I hadn't cleaned it thoroughly in months. I feel much better now that it is clean. I'll try not to let it get as bad as it was before, but I know as soon as I have a deadline it will go back to being a mess.

My bench

I took this photo of my bench yesterday, and uploaded it to Flickr, it seems people think the mess on my bench is pretty bad.

new toolboxes

I got 2 new tool boxes from Sears last week while they were having a sale.


It looks like theres just one big box here, but really its 2 toolboxes. The new one is the smaller one on the bottom. The one thats sitting directly on the milk crates. The one on top I have had for a while, and it is full. I took this pic while I was still working on the candlesticks and the studio was a mess. The place looks much better now. In the bottom right of the pic is one of the candlesticks.




This is the 2nd one I got: