Stormy Weather

Recent storm damage to the tree in this post, about Basswood, of course. 8-)

Basswoods sans bees

Haven't seen many bees in the basswood trees. Although I've owned tree guides most of my adult life, it's only relatively recently that I bothered to identify the one tree that is quite involved in my life. Thus explaining my recent focus on Basswood Trees.

Flowers

Another of what will probably be daily updates to the state of the basswood trees in my neighborhood.

Flowers

Tah Dah!

Basswoods, Lindens or Limes

Soon, flowers.

The sprouts that sometimes encircle mature and departed trees.

Yadda

My previous post references James Cagney, but google hasn't caught up. James Cagney says "yadda yadda yadda, warden" in some gangster movie from the 30's. Yadda .... blathering on too much; keep it concise.

Carbunkle

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

A strange discovery; this house is on a "courtyard", basically an alley. Hidden. The house seems to be all block, including the decorative columns and pilasters of the porch.

Yadda .... James Cagney .... google ....

Real basswood flowers.

A few posts back there was a post about basswood flowers.  Ooops, wrong tree. This is not a flowering basswood. It's a catalpa. Below are some real basswood trees and soon to be flowers. What fooled me was the large size of the leaves, which the bottom photo shows on the volunteers from a basswood tree. The leaves on the full size tree are smaller.

I deleted the previous post as I didn't have the time then to correct it, and we wouldn't want any misinformation on the interwebs.

The Bandsaw

 Probably the most versatile tool and in a shop full of dangerous tools, the safest, as long as you have enough sense to keep your fingers out of the line of cut. When a blade breaks, and they do, it's quite startling, though not particularly dangerous, as there is no driving force behind the blade.

My 14 inch Delta getting a blade change. The 14 inch Delta is the standard most bandsaws strive to meet.

I've modified my saw in two ways. First, the standard steel blocks in the blade guide mechanism have been replaced with a graphite and resin block, allowing tighter tolerances with out overheating the blade. Cool Blocks.

I never liked the standard fence, so I made one from some walnut and a bar clamp. This allows the fence some angle adjustability, as seldom will the blade or the stock allow a straight, parallel to the blade cut.

I sometimes add the bullnose for even more control of the angle of cut. When ripping a long board, the angle will change several times over the course of the cut. I mainly use the fence when cutting multiple pieces to the same width. Using the fences, you have to watch both the cut and if the stock is running against the fence. If I'm just cutting one or two, I'll strike a chalkline, and just keep the blade in the line, sometimes using my left thumb as a "fence". I used to, and still do cut mats and backings for oversize art by hand, eye, and line, so I have some practice in hand cutting.

Here, cutting circles with a jig. For ovals, I cut them by hand, as well as any curves. 

A versatile, comfortable tool to use. Table saws, planers, jointers and shapers all can do some serious damage, including flinging wood at explosive speeds. I won't even mention radial arm saws.