I bought new tuning peg plates for my 1895 bowl back mandolin. The original (maybe?) plates were worn and one peg in particular couldn’t hold its string tight. I purchased Golden Gate A style tuning peg plates and they were almost the right size. I had to sand out the holes to get them seated flat. The old plates came out easily and I replaced one at a time so the bridge stayed in place.
Photo description: back of the head of a mandolin with new Golden Gate A style tuning peg plates, old plates in the background
The mandolin sounds amazing and the strings are holding their tuning. I am happy that she is happy.
I do have to say that as a child of the 80s this week has been a hard hit. Dolly Parton, who was amazing angelically, Tim Curry who was amazing demonically, and Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, who probably started my fascination with the human voice.
In February 2025 I made a turned wood pen holder for my Dad. A month later my first child was born. What is the correlation? When I saw the pen holder at my folk’s house I didn’t remember it. At all.
Photo description: cylindrical wood pen holder with turned bead accents at the top and bottom, filled with several mechanical pencilsPhoto description: bottom of the holder with a glued on non-slip ring (maybe leather?), and hand written “CJH 2005 #1”
I used the information on the bottom to find the original picture, that is how I figured out that it was a month before my first child was born.
Photo description: original picture of the turned wood pen holder taken on a kitchen countertop
There are small indents on the bottom of the cylinder which are likely marks left by the lathe. The two beads carved at the bottom and one at the top also would have been done on a lathe, because the precision is very difficult to achieve without a lathe. The wood grain looks like white oak, which is a common hardwood and one that I had access to at the time. I can’t remember how I hollowed it out, but since the piece is marked #1 and there are no others in the following month, I imagine it was difficult. I know it is difficult to hollow out a form even with a lathe. Getting the wood secured and balanced is tricky, and the angles are awkward for a beginner, which is what I was in 2005. The finish is likely to be a store bought urethane, because that is also what I was using at the time. I didn’t discover tung oil until later.
I do think it is interesting what my brain retains and what it jettisons. This is why I take pictures and mark my work.
The draw knife is held by both handles and pulled along the wood. It is truly excellent for removing bark. I waited until after a rain so the bark was softened, which also helped. It wasn’t quite able to get all the bark off. I was working by myself and didn’t want to unscrew the vine from the supports because it took three of us to wrestle it in place. When I have help, I’ll take the vine off the brackets, finish removing the bark, and give it a good sanding. Then we’ll let it dry before putting on a protective finish.
My husband built a beautiful rustic style curved stone staircase off our back porch. Our challenge has been getting a handrail to match the curve without throwing a lump of money at it. The first attempt involved cedar sapling trunks, but we didn’t have one long enough, and splicing two together was tricky. When I was wandering our woods looking for hand rail candidates, I saw a grape vine that I’ve been meaning to trim because fungus has started into the side of the bark.
Photo description: orange and white fungus on a large muscadine grape branch
I cut off the vine above the fungal damage, and since that vine was a nice diameter for a hand rail, freed it from the canopy. I then cut away the diseased tissue from the main vine and sealed it with pruning spray.
Photo description: sealed main vine, approximately 7-8 inches in diameterPhoto description: muscadine grape vine freed from the woods and dragged to the back yard
It took three of us to wrestle the vine into place as a hand rail, but because the vine is supple and we waited until the rain gave it a good soak, it was possible.
Photo description: grape vine installed as a hand rail on a curved stone staircase
We secured the vine with screws. The next step is to strip off the bark and seal the vine core so it lasts a little longer in the Texas weather.
I found this wicked looking thorn laying in a parking lot. Most likely it stuck to a tire and fell off in route, and I’d like to say I picked it up so no one impaled their foot, but the was a secondary benefit. Really I wanted to see what I could make with it.
Photo description: approximately 4” thorn cluster with opposing spikes 1-2” long held lightly in my hand
I used my pocket knife to cut the side thorns off. The tips are wickedly sharp and hard, so I wanted to try to make a needle. I approached it as I would for carving solid wood. The center of the spikes are soft though, so the needle hole didn’t have enough support when I whittled both sides down.
Photo description: single thorn with the end carved into a needle eye, which broke, pocket knife on the side of the picture
If I were to make the attempt again, I would put the needle hole in the outer bark, and not reduce the integrity of the thorn by cutting the bark away.
Critters and Craft 