What have you learned recently?

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
I have learn't that Turning seasoned Ash on the lathe is hard work, and hitting a hidden split with the parting tool is quite scary:yikes:

I have also Found I seem to be quite lucky. As said lump of ash was shattered off the face plate, and flying towards my face............

By some miracle it split into 2 pieces and passed either side of me.:angel:

I put down the tools, turned off the lathe. And thought to myself "I think I'll stop turning for today":notworthy

:lmao: Nice one.

I learned to check that variable speed lathes are set to minimum speed before you turn them on, a few years ago. I mounted up a big piece of wood, all rough and uneven, still with bark on, and started the lathe. The speed was set to high. Said chunk of wood came loose in about half a second, and flew over my shoulder and out of the window of the turning class (luckily the window was open). Given that the piece of wood was larger than my head, it was a slightly nervous moment, shall we say.

Having retrieved the wood, the tutor told me off, re-mounted the wood himself, started the lathe (having himself also failed to check the lathe speed) and repeated the manoeuvre. :D
 

joe.ford

Forager
Apr 8, 2004
133
0
42
Essex
:lmao: Nice one.

I learned to check that variable speed lathes are set to minimum speed before you turn them on:D

Sort of done this. Had the lathe set on the middle speed having done some smaller stuff. So I set it to slow gear ready to get started on a big lump of log, even turned the variable speed up to the speed I wanted it at.

I get ready and push the go button. At this point I found that I had got mixed up with the pulleys and put it in top gear instead of bottom.

It started spinning a little quicker than I had planned, closer to 2000 rpm rather than 200rpm, turns out I had it balanced better than I thought. The log stayed in the lathe, just the bench shoot so much everything fell off the shelves:lmao:
 

adestu

Native
Jan 19, 2010
1,718
3
swindon
I've just come back from an excellent bow making course with John ryder . highly recommended.

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adestu

Native
Jan 19, 2010
1,718
3
swindon
I learnt to carve my own longbow with John ryder of woodcraft school . It was made easier broken into stages and created a thing of beauty . a new hobby is born.

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marcdjay

Member
Jun 7, 2013
16
0
Cleveland
Today I learned that I really like cheesy bannock bread, and that tampons are great for starting fires.

Whats not great is having your 7yr old daughter ask you what they're REALLY for. *awkward*
 

Colin.W

Nomad
May 3, 2009
294
0
Weston Super Mare Somerset UK
Last week end I did a workshop with Will Lord. Making Bows and arrows is not as hard and complex as I previously thought, yes there is a bit of science with knowing about different woods especially if making a laminated bow. Making arrows was such a breeze I dont think I will ever buy another from a shop
 

hobson

Tenderfoot
Jan 4, 2012
57
0
Devon
I learned why boiling water makes noise! whether in an electric kettle, over a fire or on a wood burner, when water heats up it makes noise!

Turns out its because the water nearest the heat (so bottom of a kettle or where the element is) heats fastest, and as it does it turns to tiny pockets of steam which then rise up into the colder water, as it does it contracts and makes the clicky type noise you get! when the water gets hotter, the heated pockets rising hit warm water so don't contract, that's why kettles are noisy to start but quieten as they get hot

Pointless info, but i found it interesting!
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
68
Florida
I've learned NEVER! NEVER! NEVER under ANY circumstances. take a laxative and a sleeping pill on the same night! Especially on a long, night flight in a small airplane.
 

Chiseller

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 5, 2011
6,176
3
West Riding
I've learned NEVER! NEVER! NEVER under ANY circumstances. take a laxative and a sleeping pill on the same night! Especially on a long, night flight in a small airplane.

:lmao::lmao::lmao: sorry fella but that's funny even when it shouldn't be ;)

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
I learned the "Buy one get one free" ferro rods from Mountain Warehouse really aren't very good at all, incredibly difficult to get a decent spark from.
So the lesson is "You gets what you pays for!"

Dave
 

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