Fed Up!!!

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artme

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
1,149
Location
Dundowran Beach, Queensland, Australia
It has taken me 3 months here in Brasil to get organised to turn some pens.

Brasil is not a hobbyists paradise so getting machinery etc. meant having adapters made. endless chasing around and visiting turners to get things done.

Sanding paper, which I assumed woul be easy to get, was a revelation. Plenty of stuff for metal but very little for timber in the grades and quality I am accustomed to. So I took apunt and bought what I could. Wrong move.!!!!

Today I finally fired up the lathe - by the way I had to go to the turner and use his drill press to drill my blanks - I turned a slimline in Purple Heart, sanded and carefully wiped between each grit. Applied finish. :eek::eek::eek: The darned metal sanding sheet had left- despite my care - enough garbage in the grain
to turn the whole pen a dirty colour.

OK, next job , a Lace Sheoak Sierra. Beautiful grain. Delicately turning to size and thinking "About here I would normally sand, Bt won't. Will finish with the skew" Going well, then bang, Tiny flaw in the blank and blew it!!!

I really am fed up. What I love to do has become a nightmare, an almost despised chore.

I had a small snake skin. Can,t get Isopropyl alcohol so I used ordinary alcohol ( denatured ) with the glycerine.The snake skin is no longer viable!!

I love Brasil, but what they don't have is so frustrating.
 
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I am sure we can mail you some stuff! :wink:

Hang in there, you may just have to keep looking a bit to find the "right" tools to use to get the job done. Chalk this one up to a lesson learned about substituting products for what you really need.

Michael
 
Artme, take a deep breath. Again. and Again.


Now, before you do anything drastic, take that ugly, muddy looking purpleheart pen and set in the sun for a bit. See what happens after an hour or two.
 
Artme, I use sandpaper thsts meant for metal, I use 3M wet or dry, most body shops down in Volkswagen heaven should have it, I just tried abranet, and it's OK but I still use my wet or dry, comes in grit up to 2500, and down to 80 grit that I know of, I don't know how hard customs are in Brazil, but we can get stuff like that here and mail it to you. at least you should have access to a lot of timber.
 
You can buy abranet at auto body supply shops and that is what I have been using for a couple of years, it will out last sandpaper and does a better job anyways.
 
workinforwood said:
I say heck with the pens. Go check out those Brazilian ladies over there! Hey..I'm going to move down there with you. My new hobby will be waxing!!!
Click to expand...

Better watch out with your new hobby. During Carnival, not all is as it appears!:eek::eek: Even though the country is beautiful and loads of wood.
 
Could you "wash' the blank with metho, start from the middle and go outwards to the edges, may have some success cleaning. When sanding start middle and go towards the outer edge, that way the grey swarf goes away from the grain, also have a moist cloth and clean from the middle to the outer after each sanding. Good luck, sounds like a nightmare--the things we take for granted in our countries! Amos
 
Your present situation seems ripe for a business opportunity. you could start up your own import distribution business. Make up a training video, network with wood workers etc. you could own the market..... Best of luck JB
 
Hi artme,

Reading your post, I realized where you actually are and this question comes to mind, what in the heck are you doing there?

Not that I have anything against the beautiful country of Brasil, I speak the language (well, I did for 31 years, not sure if I can remember much now!).

When it comes to the "girls" well, is a reason why they are beyond a doubt they most beautiful human female specimens on the planet, unique body shape and skin tone unmatched, anywhere!

Timbers, oh yeah...plenty, the problem is that the trees are too bloody big to cut, but the timber industry is very rich and prosperous out there, you just need to know people in the right places...!

Turners and carvers, they are by the bucket full everywhere, particularly carvers but they normally make their own tools, and they are nothing fancy. Pen turning, that I'm not sure but I didn't think that would be that difficult to find common supplies woodworking related in the major cities.

Unfortunately, Brasil has two faces, there is, the very rich and the very poor and nothing in between, this makes crime of all sorts and everyday event mainly in the big cities. Carnaval in Rio has been described before, as the "pay back time" for those who you have problems with. Hundreds are killed every year (mostly knifed) among the craziness of the festivities, as would be impossible to know of done what in those crowds and in the state of mind Brazilians shown/present in that time.

Is just a totally unique and different culture that you just learn to like or learn to hate! Brasil gostoso...!:biggrin:

Good luck, out there!

Cheers
George
 
Sorry about the belated reply folks. Been out of internet reach for a week or so.

Thanks for the suggestions and support. Not really in a big city but Campos, nearest big city is nearing 700,000 inhabitants. It´s an old sugar town and thes city has grown in a topsy turvey manner. Housing, commerce and industry all juxtaposed. There vare dozens, nay hundreds, of small businesses selling hardware stuff, but none of them sell a huge range of things. This means endless, frustrating and time consuming chasing around.

Much of the abrasive I bought is wet?dry but is dirty stuff to use. I guess with metal and auto repair this is of no concern. In fact We were in Niteroi- across the bay from Rio _ where they have lots of industry specififc shops in the one area. The finest grade paper I could find fortimber was 200, and the fellow specialises in abrasives for timber. Its a Norton abrasive and not a prticularlyt good one at that.

I had given some thought to setting up some sort of supply chain here, to training a few turners, and getting some publicityfor woodturning but I really didn´t knock off work to carry bricks and battle the Brasillian paper chain.

For those who wonder why I am here: my wife is Brasillian and her mother is not well so we came to spend some time here and give her sister a bit of a break.

Yes, the girls are beautiful but I´m afraid the population is getting fatter, just lioke Aus. and theStates. Surprisingly Venezuala has had the most winners of Miss Universe despite the publicity given to Brasillian women.

It is a beautiful country, and we have just returned from Buzios, one of the most beautiful places you could imagine. I had been there before, 22 years ago, but the place was filthy. Muito sujo for yoy RBTCN.

One thing I will say for Brasil is that in the last 22 years the general cleanliness of the country has improved immensely. The people are still happy, friendly and helpful. They know how to enjoy life despite a lot of evident poverty and a very unequal distribution of wealth.

The On efeature of the country I have never liked is the maniacal driving habits of the populace. Frightening and very deadly. Driving in the tunnels in Rio is terrifying, especially with motorbikes whizzing between lanes of traffic at unreal speeds and demanding that you give them free passage.

Despite this eau adora Brasil!!
 
Art, sorry to hear about your frustrations, it isn't easy to be out of your comfort zone and not have all the "things" we take for granted.

I don't know what the postal service in Brazil is like but it occurs to me that you could buy whatever you need in the way of the smaller items, like abrasives, CA etc, from the US.

Heck, I have just come in from the shed and I was using Micromesh from WoodenWhimsies, CA from Monty at WoodenWonders. If it wasn't for buying "stuff" from the US my shed would a lot less full and my wallet a lot less empty!

I'm sure that the USPS Flat Rate envelopes/boxes go to Brazil just as easily, and cheaply, as they go Oz.

Let's face it, I just received about $US200 worth of pen kits/components from WoodenWhimsies and the postage cost me $US12.95 and it took 6 days to get here. The same day I received 3 pen kits from a supplier in Queensland, $42 worth, and the postage cost me $A8.00 and it took 4 days to get here.

Guess why I buy a lot of "stuff" from the US?!
 
Hi artme,

Thanks for answering my question, I was curious but not intended to put my nose on your personals stuff/issues, does pleases me to know that your wife is Brazilian, for no particular reason!

I agree with the suggestion made of having some needed items (such as send papers) sent to you by many of us that would more than willing to help.

Was about that time (22 year ago) that I left Portugal and with it any of the contacts (direct and indirect) that linked me with Brasil. I will not be surprised that since lots of things have changed and not all for the better!

I would never go near the big cities, I would gladly live in any of the "Favalas" just big enough to have a hardware store a supermarket and a post office. Don't need a pub, never liked pubs nor a drink anymore but I liked "queixassa" oh, yeah...!

I hope your mother in law gets well soon, so that you can come back to some normality, unless you don't mind to stay there!:rolleyes:

Good luck

Cheers
George
 
G´day Fred, I am actually getting in touch with some people in the US. I have friends there who will be down here on or about the 18th. I am sure they will bring what I need as it is very little.

Greggas, I have had several stiff drinks, believe me! There is a drink here that is the equivalent of Bacardi, a white rum called Cachasa (Note the spelling RBTCN). Mixed with lime juice sugar and ice we have a drink called a Caipirinha. Lovely stuphph, but deadly when not treated with due respect.

The beers here are not very flavoursome but godd to drink nonetheless. The usual PCA is about 4.6%. They can catch up with you because they are so easily quaffed.

My MIL is bedridden and has dementia. It is very sad to see as she was an active enough lady and spoke Portuguese, French, English and Spanish. She now gets these a bit mixed up but most `conversation`is in Portuguese.

A bit of a double whammy for us as my own mother is in the RSL home in Ballina and is gradully going downhill with dementia.

Mum is 88 and MIL is 84. Both have strong constitutions so things could go on for some time yet.

I guess the downside of increased longevity is what we see here with these two troopers.
 
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