Kudos from Down Under and Across the Pond
Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your articles, etc. They are excellent. Keep up the great work.” – Stanley Bacon (an Aussie fan)
“A great read! Many thanks.” – David Brock (Iver Heath, United Kingdom)
Michael Brolly
“I had the wonderful experience of meeting Michael at the Craft Student’s League in New York City a couple of years ago. I have been turning since 1960. I learned more from Michael in one year than I had in prior decades. He is an inspiring leader and teacher, and everyone in his class felt that way. I envy the lucky students that will have the distinct privilege of having him as a teacher. I continue to be inspired by Michael’s vision and energy. Best wishes to him and his family.” – Bob Hodes
Correcting the Correction
“Just a note; the quote is “Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast,” not breast.” – Alix Cohen
No, actually, it is not. The quote, from English playwright William Congreve (1670-1729) is “&savage breast,” not beast, but don’t feel bad. That is, in our opinion, one of the two most often misquoted lines in English. The other one, from Shakespeare, is, “Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well,” (the real line from Hamlet is “& I knew him, Horatio“). – Editor
More PVA Confusion
“Now that you’ve explained PVA, what’s the meaning of ‘let down’ in relation to it?” – Sheldon Grand
The comment by one of our English friends was: “Here on the other side of the pond, we seal the edges of MDF with & PVA let down with some water.” In this case, let down means reduce, or more simply, thin by adding water. – Editor
You said “PVA stands for polyvinyl acetate, the technical name for common white or yellow woodworker’s glue.” Isn’t yellow glue more properly called aliphatic resin glue? – Bill Crownover
Yes, that’s another common name for it. It’s a bit like sneakers and tennis shoes, or jeans and dungarees: same item, different names. – Editor
Trestlewood
“I’m not interested in waterlogged timbers, but I enjoyed the clarity and sense of curiosity with which this article was written. You have interested me in something I didn’t know I was interested in.” – Pierrino & Sandy Mascarino
“I really enjoyed the article about Trestlewood. I’m currently removing all carpeting and installing wood flooring at my house in Florida, and I really appreciate people that recycle. Trestlewood seems like a great idea.
Thanks for the interesting article.” – Steve Dockery
Reclaiming Tools from Katrina
“Carol, thank you for your advice to Gloria. I had a house fire in May, and all my tools are in shambles. I had put motor oil on them three months ago, and when I opened up the tool boxes a few weeks ago I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were worse than before. I had decided they were not salvageable, and would have thrown them away this week. I’m going to try your recipe. You’re right about the insurance company! Thanks again.” – Lynda M. Gressner
One reader from South Africa was confused by some terms that are common here. – Editor
“I read your article with great interest but didn’t recognize certain terms, like WD-40 and paste wax. Can you explain what these are please?” – Cliff Card, Johannesburg, S.A.
WD-40 is a moisture displacing compound that, according to their web site, (http://www.wd40.com/) both removes and prevents rust. It is extremely popular over here, and is sold in at least nine other countries. Paste wax varies from brand to brand, but is typically a mixture of various plant, animal, and sometimes mineral waxes blended with solvent into a semi-soft paste. It us usually sold in tins, and is reminiscent of wax type shoe polish. – Editor
Yet Another Way to Transfer Grid Patterns
“To enlarge grid patterns from schematics to full-size, I scan the pattern using my computer scanner. I then use photo editor software and the on-screen rulers to ‘drag’ the grid to the right size. I can print and verify size using a ruler. I save all the scanned items in a folder on my computer for future use by myself or to be e-mailed to a friend.” – Garrick Brown
Nooooo! We thought you liked the eZine, and wanted us woodworking editors to keep our jobs! Seriously, the plans and patterns published in woodworking magazines and books are designed for the personal use of the person who purchases that magazine or book. You are welcome to enlarge pattern grids to assist you in building a project. You are not welcome to provide those patterns to others. This is called copyright infringement and, while we might be nice guys, our lawyers aren’t. – Editor
Fire Drills and Extinguishers
“In the most recent eZine, there was a comment made that you should practice what to do with children when the fire alarm goes off. I would highly recommend doing this, especially at night when the children are not expecting it. When I was younger, my parents decided to run a drill one night and found out that the fire alarms didn’t wake me, or my brother and sister. I remember that we had several alarms in the
house, but I guess they just were not loud enough, or close enough to our bedroom doors.” – Mark Sweigart
“I enjoyed your Web Surfer’s Review of Fire Extinguishers and would like to share a piece of very important information. If you inspect your extinguisher, you will note that the safety pin is normally held in place with a plastic tie wrap. Unless you have extremely strong hands, if you ever have to use the extinguisher and attempt to pull the safety pin, you will find that you cannot break the tie wrap. However, by simply twisting the pin first, the tie wrap will break easily and you will be able to pull the pin and fight the fire. Keep up the great work.” – Al Dynarski
On Spray Booths and Explosion-proof Fans
A thread in our Web Surfer’s Review asked where to get an explosion proof fan for a spray booth, and one person added a note to the message board challenging whether such a fan was really needed. That triggered this note from an old friend of ours who spent a good bit of time in that very industry. – Editor
“First, I love your eZine! I’d like to make a comment about the spray booth fan question. I was the executive v.p. at Minuteman, Inc. for many years. We sold spray booths and helped folks set up small refinishing businesses. Due to my legal training, part of my work was coordinating with local agencies and inspectors, so I kept up on regulations for small shops and hobby shops. It is not required for a spray booth to have an explosion-proof motor on the exhaust fan. This is because the tubeaxial fan required for these booths eliminates the contaminated air source from being able to pass anywhere near the motor. In other words, the motor is housed outside the contaminated airflow completely. These fans always have aluminum propeller blades (non-sparking when/if they hit steel) and are driven by a belting system which runs inside its own isolated housing.
However, the National Fire Protection Association should be the reference resource of fire safety standards. Their booklet, NFPA 33, is the bible for spray booths and spraying environments. It is incorporated in the OSHA standards almost verbatim.
One of my ‘pet peeves’ regarding spraying and spray booths is the misguided notion that using waterbased finishes eliminates the requirement to use a spray booth or spray safety rules. Wrong! In fact, there is a specific annotation in NFPA 33 saying so in a few simple words. The dry dust particles left behind by the waterbased product can be every bit as flammable as their cousins who started out in a flammable solvent fluid. Plus, waterbase products are not all water. There is some solvent in them along with the solids. Be fire safety-conscious when spraying – but spray! It is a great way to finish. Keep up the good work.” – Tim B. Inman
Typo Corner
The web surfer’s review in issue 136 talked about fire codes and contained a message board entry complete with an embedded typo, in which the person posting wrote ‘Class A files’ instead of ‘Class A fires.’ One of our alert readers not only caught it, but felt compelled to add some comic commentary. – Editor
“I have never heard of Class A files. Would that be a new classification for a computer virus?” – S Lahiri
Actually, we thought he meant to write “Classy Files.” All our computer files are pretty classy. – Editor
