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rafairchild2

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Everything posted by rafairchild2

  1. rafairchild2
    I was CIO at a radio network/ youth ministry for 15 years, and the system did daily incremental backups and a full weekly backup. I was there until 2006. This was done on tape and HD. The daily tapes went into the fire safe, and the officer manager would take the previous night's tape home, so we would not only have the HD backup, but the night's tape in the fire-safe, and then one at her home in her fire safe. The weekly went off-site and rotated back each week. Just before I left, we were able to use the internet to do our backups off-site, so the tapes became a thing of the past. Worse case, we would only lose one day of data via the tape method. Once we went "cloud" and HD, pretty much nothing would be lost.
  2. rafairchild2
    Rainy days and MonSundays...
  3. rafairchild2
    Welcome aboard! Just take your time, go slow and watch your lines and how the blade moves. Where in Eastern PA are you?
  4. rafairchild2
    I'm with you, but I like cats. I have my twin American Bombays, but the one I call "Fat Man" the 19 pounder, is my companion. I hear him mewing as he brings me "gifts", usually a few of his toys. In one afternoon he once brought me 11 of his toys on at a time! His name is Atticus, and he will come up and sit on my lap and snuggle when I am at my desk, or crawl up on me when I lay down for my afternoon siesta... (I am up at 3 am, and on base by 3:30 am each day). Having 19lbs of solid cat on you is something to behold. The cat sitting on the laptop was my companion cat who died in 2018. I had her for 15 years. She was amazing, always bringing me gifts of socks or her toys... Her name was "Indy", if you rubbed her fur backwards you would see that her fur was white with black tips. Atticus' brother is Atlas. He is affectionate, but just does not want to crawl up on me. The 3rd photo was when they were a little younger and smaller. Last photo a little kitty p0rn with a flash!
  5. rafairchild2
    Always remember: Two is one... One is none... I also have a Dell computer with a 2 TB local drive. I not only back up to my google drive, but also to my "Proton Mail", encrypted drive. However, I also have a third... local back-up being a portable SD drive that I back up once in a while. The idea is to have one, "on-site" backup, and two off-site.
  6. rafairchild2
    Funy thing is, I printed out that pattern last night along with the "reeds" pattern. I have some wood coming in, so I want to practice on different varieties and improve my carving.
  7. rafairchild2
    I am getting them off the internet, or modifying other scroll saw patterns. But I just got a book called Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons: Understanding, Designing, and Carving Romantic Heirlooms (Fox Chapel Publishing). I got it used off Amazon for $17. It has the Lillies and also the grapes Scrappile posted.
  8. rafairchild2
    That's ringing a bell. I might have one if you don't. Let me check when I get home from work later today.
  9. rafairchild2
    Personally, I prefer this video
  10. rafairchild2
    Mine was fine. Email them, maybe they'll get out a new one.
  11. rafairchild2
    First modification I made to my Excalibur when I got it.
  12. rafairchild2
    Just put some Old Masters satin finish on this one. Started it yesterday, made out of Black Limba. Overall about 4 hours into it. It's funny, I have so far given all but one of my spoons away as gifts. This one is going to a French Officer who is leaving the USA in 2 weeks, after being here at NATO HQ for 3 years.
  13. rafairchild2
    Wonderful job. I love making wheeled vehicle toys. CArs, trucks, animals... you name it. VVvvrroommm!
  14. rafairchild2
    Well, this type of behavior keeps me out of trouble, so that's a good thing! Working on new designs, and also ordered more wood sized for making spoons. I have adjusted my technique and having "blanks" helps me a lot.
  15. rafairchild2

    Glad

    rafairchild2 replied to Gene Howe's topic in Coffee House

    Do you want to know who the next "Super Power" will be? It will be social media. They have the ability to curate, restrict, delete, and totally control every bit of information you see. People whose message is antithetical to their own will be "canceled". Worse is shadowbanned, where they do not even know that a message is getting out. Add Artificial intelligence (AI) to the info curation, and you could potentially see generations of people manipulated into lock-step beliefs. You are already seeing it happening. But be prepared for the tidal wave.
  16. rafairchild2
    You know it is the simple things in life. My grandson (just over 4 months) playing with a simple rattle I made for him. Put your headphones on and you can hear the "Clack". After a long day in the office, this video made my day. I just gave a similar rattle to a Turkish officer who just had his first child this week. His tour is over at NATO here in the US and returns to Turkey at the end of the month. I made a number of toys for his daughter. Edit.. hmmm no audio? IMG_9693.3gp
  17. rafairchild2
    I am using 1/2 inch. I find the Red Cedar cuts and carves really well. I also like Birds eye maple and walnut. harder to carve, but much stronger. Some folks do their spoons in 1/4, but I find that too thin.
  18. rafairchild2
    These are patterns I found, but I have modified some. I am currently working on my own designs now that I am getting comfortable with carving.
  19. rafairchild2
    Here's is my work for the week. Hand-rubbed Old Master Gel satin polyurethane. What a difference it makes, giving the completed look. I will never use anything else for my finer pieces. Still a few things to master, but overall I am pleased with my first efforts creating Welsh Love Spoons.
  20. rafairchild2
    I don't know.... It's really blurry, like those big foot photos....
  21. rafairchild2
    Next time I make one, I am going to laser in the names. Also, since I do framed backer storage, I will laser in the pattern and names so there is a guide in it. This is one I did a little while back (pre-owning a laser).
  22. rafairchild2
    Your penguins remind me of the work of my cousin Stewart Moskowitz.
  23. rafairchild2
    Start with a low Janka harness wood like basswood. The red cedar is higher Janka, but still carves nicely though prone to chipping if you do not outline with a blade, so that is a good option too. The Birds Eye Maple was a lot tougher, I had to use my mallot for 80% of the carving since it is more than double the Janka of cedar, so I would stay away until comfortable and you have better tools, even with my good gouges, I had to stop and strop my gouges more frequently. Next tip... have a 'squared' (rectangle) piece of wood to cut from so it fits in your vice, (and after cutting out becomes your holding support) then after laying your pattern, carve your spoon bowl first, this way you have full support from the board, then drill, do inner cuts, then the exterior. Finally, carve and shape the rest. I did not do it this way at first and actually broke one of the more delicate pieces because of the pressure of my vice. Thus you see how I had to jury rig support in the vice.
  24. rafairchild2
    It's been a busy weekend, I am now in the home stretch on 3 spoons. The final steps will be hand-sanding and then a finish with Old Masters Gel, then a buff. The Birds Eye Maple is VERY hard, it took the better part of 4 hours to carve, vs the Red Cedar. I use my cut-offs to support my piece as I carve. Being that this was scrap wood, I did not have even edges. In the future, I will have perfectly parallel sides to clamp in. This was a workout today for sure!
  25. rafairchild2
    I love Hampton Inn. That was my go-to when I was traveling the USA for work. When I was out of the country it was Grand Hyatt in order to get the same level of service, albeit the hotels and amenities were way top-notch. Back in 2006, I lived at a Hampton Inn for 60 days as I was relocating for work, and they were paying for my relocation. They treated me like royalty. I had a small suite as my family joined me after the 30-day mark. They even allowed my cats. We used to go to the Hampton Inn by Rochester NY for their "Winter Freeze" special. We got 3 nights in a suite with a gas fireplace. They gave us free pizza coupons, popcorn, and other goodies. My wife and I would go out to dinner across the street and my daughters would stay at the H.I> and have pizza, watch TV, and have popcorn and soda. Then over the weekend my wife and girls would do Christmas shopping as I stayed at the fireplace reading, or enjoying the indoor pool and fitness center.
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