In a previous post, I mentioned my reawakened interest in woodworking. The cleanup of the shop and benches, refurbishing of several old tools, and the purchase of others are getting me ever closer to the goal of a proper woodworking shop.
In a previous post, I shared a brief history of the Jupiter lenses, a Soviet-made series that have become popular with mirrorless camera enthusiasts. There are several models, with some — notably the Jupiter 8 — often available very inexpensively on eBay. Intrigued by the possibility of expanding my lens arsenal with an inexpensive but useful lens, I did some shopping, and ended up with one of the 50 mm Jupiter 8’s for about $50, including shipping. Not bad.
In a previous post, I mentioned my purchase of an old, Soviet-made Jupiter-8 lens. It wasn’t very expensive, and would expand my mirrorless camera arsenal with a short telephoto prime lens. As I mentioned though, it didn’t focus properly through it’s entire range — more on that later — but had a great story. How did a pre-WWII Zeiss lens design come to be mass produced in the Soviet Union after the War?
A couple of years ago, I purchased an Olympus mirrorless camera as a way of upping my photography game. I had been using a variety of super zoom and point-and-shoot cameras, and wanted to gain the advantage of interchangeable lenses. The micro four-thirds (often called “m43”) platform seemed like a great way to have access to a wide variety of lenses from at least two manufacturers: Olympus and Panasonic. I learned that it was possible to adapt other lenses to the m43 platform, leading to an adventure in classic old lenses.
We live on a wooded acreage here at Roy Creek Ranch, and I’ve always imagined using some of that wood to produce furniture. Consisting mainly of Texas Live Oak and Ashe Juniper (“cedar”), some of the trees are substantial, and might produce some usable lumber. I prune the Live Oaks regularly, and have worn out several chain saws trimming back the “cedar”, so a ready stock of wood is always available.
At least a dozen years ago, I helped my Dad and his wife clear out their home in Colorado in preparation for a move to a smaller home in Southern California. They had been there about 10 years, and had a lifetime of accumulation that included some things from my Dad’s childhood home in Fontenelle, Nebraska. There were tools I remembered from visiting the family farm that had belonged to Gramps, and others my Dad had collected over the years, I was very pleased when I learned that many of them would be going home with me.
In the course of working on some friends’ Tiny House, we learned that the non-standard nature of it had a big effect on cost. For instance, the Tiny House required a front door that measured 78 inches by 27 inches — very non-standard. We could find one manufacturer that would supply a door that size, only it cost $1400. Not very practical. So, we decided to design and build our own door.
I’ve always had an interest in George Gershwin. A friend who knows this got me The Gershwins (copyright 1973) by Robert Kimball and Alfred Simon for Christmas, and I’ve been enjoying it. I read it when researching my thesis 40 years ago, and had forgotten how interesting it is. He must have found it in a used book store, because I’m sure it’s been out of print for some time. What a treat!