Hobby Thread - March 14, 2026 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. As the prophesy foretold, the theme for this Hobby Thread is calligraphy and the written word.

[Top photo: A miniature of the hermit (monk) writing at a desk, 1st quarter of the 14th century (The British Library, London)]

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What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. I understand that some people pay attention to military hardware, tactics and strategy as a hobby. Discussion of current events permitted but must be made in the form of hobby commentary. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

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Calligraphy? Yes, fancy writing.

Your dino host has a small brain and short arms and dreadful handwriting, so calligraphy is beyond my reach. Need your contributions in the gray boxes for help.

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Book of Kells history:

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Cursive is not the same as calligraphy. Calligraphy assembles several specific shapes and pen strokes.

Handwriting quality has nothing to do with calligraphy? Explain how.

"The Happy Ever After Crafter" is a clever name for a YT channel.

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Flex nib fountain pens are a long way from a BIC ballpoint pen, but here we are.

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Japanese calligraphy ink making. Wow.

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Rosetta stone is not calligraphy but is a historically significant part of writing and language:

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Cursive is a close sibling to calligraphy:

Hat tip: Perfessor Squirrel

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Our first daffodils bloomed only to get snowed under a day later... The snow is gone and more blooms are emerging though.

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Marble carving is off-topic but this video is impressive and amusing:

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NOTICE: Next week the theme will be cartography. We'll be talking about maps. Find your way back and enjoy the fun.

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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an paper cutting theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

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Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

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If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things but don't run with scissors.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Welcome Hobbiests

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 05:30 PM (Ia/+0)

2 Hello, Horde! 😊💕

Calligraphy is quite messy if you are left-handed....

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 05:33 PM (S7WXb)

3 Why is the monk holding a knife in his left hand?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 14, 2026 05:33 PM (Cqx++)

4 Calligraphy and 'The Written Word'.

So a small topic. Not much to talk about.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 05:34 PM (zZu0s)

5 What an amazing subject. Every thing from the inks, paper,
pens and the talent of the Monks.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 05:34 PM (+nEug)

6 Seems a lifetime ago that I dabbled in calligraphy, ink wells, quill pens ( well the modern ones) It was fun playing with letters but certainly needs a lot of practice

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 05:35 PM (Ia/+0)

7 I still have a box of pilot disposable fountain pens I liked a lot (probably still at amazon.) Never take one to work and lend it out.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 05:35 PM (zZu0s)

8 I need to find someone who does calligraphy well. We have a 25-year-old blessing parchment from our wedding from Saint John Paul the second. Most of the writing is fine , but the first letter of each of our names was done in red ink , instead of black , and those letters have faded over the years. I can kind of do calligraphy , but I don't trust myself well enough to try to fix this. I'm afraid it will look like the fresco.In the spanish church that that woman did a horrible job on!

Posted by: Frankie at March 14, 2026 05:35 PM (8/lto)

9 "Everything is fine" using Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts (game).
https://tinyurl.com/tp94pwzr

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at March 14, 2026 05:36 PM (cWLG3)

10 Didn't they scrape the vellum to remove mistakes with a knife?

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 05:36 PM (zZu0s)

11 At one time, long ago, I had a pretty sweet Calligraphy pen set. A "pen" with different points for different styles.

Used to address some awesome Christmas cards with it.

I should still have the kit... somewhere. Maybe.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 14, 2026 05:38 PM (jtM2q)

12 Pi Day: 4:16 pm wherever you are would make it 3.1416!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 14, 2026 05:39 PM (wzUl9)

13 3 ... "Why is the monk holding a knife in his left hand?"

The monks were writing on vellum which is prepared calfskin. They would literally scrape off the surface to make changes or corrections. The vellum was so valuable, a piece might be scraped off entirely to make a new document. I've read that some valuable writing was lost to that. Kind of like replacing a page of Canterbury Tales with a shopping list.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 05:39 PM (yTvNw)

14 I wonder how much writing on an inclined surface aided in not smearing the text.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 05:39 PM (+nEug)

15 'Scrape' is a word that does not look right when you type it.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 05:41 PM (zZu0s)

16 Oh, and speaking of carving marble, on our Vegas trip I rather insisted upon seeing the life-size replica of Michelangelo us "David" at the Caesar's Palace resort - realistically, I will probably never have the opportunity to see the original over in Italy.

I did not realize how large it was! But my goodness, what an amazing talent to be able to envision something like that when looking at a mere slab of marble.

We had the "interesting" experience of approaching the statue from the back side 😂😂😂. And the statue was on a fairly high pedestal, so when standing up close to it, one got an eyeful of young David's package.

Dude had extraordinarily large hands and feet...

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 05:41 PM (S7WXb)

17 OK, yet another skill I'd like to have...that list continues to grow. Having gone to Catholic elementary school from K-6, I used to have lovely penmanship (cursive). Since the age of computers, that penmanship has suffered greatly. I'll add this to the retirement list of things to explore...

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 05:42 PM (IQ6Gq)

18 13 3 ... "Why is the monk holding a knife in his left hand?"

The monks were writing on vellum which is prepared calfskin. They would literally scrape off the surface to make changes or corrections. The vellum was so valuable, a piece might be scraped off entirely to make a new document. I've read that some valuable writing was lost to that. Kind of like replacing a page of Canterbury Tales with a shopping list.
Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 05:39 PM (yTvNw)
----
Or the BBC taping over the only copy of an unaired episode of Dr. Who.

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at March 14, 2026 05:42 PM (cWLG3)

19 There are some very helpful videos on YT about calligraphy, like those TRex links in the post. One I thought was interesting was doing calligraphy with a pencil. Certainly would be the cheapest way to get started.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 05:43 PM (yTvNw)

20 Maps will be interesting!

TRex, I didn't get to photographing my first attempts at watercolor painting. I'll see to it this week.

Cursive, to me, was that segment of the elementary school day that really dragged. (Well, they all dragged except for 3:00, when we went home.) I knew I was reproducing the letters on the chalkboard at least well enough that other people could read them. Why all the fuss about making my "G" look exactly like the teacher's?

To this day I do my initial capital "F," "Q," and several other letters as if I were printing them, then the rest of the word is in cursive form.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 14, 2026 05:44 PM (wzUl9)

21 The Grateful, the lost art of writing letters. I noted the other day on the art thread how much I like letters sealed with wax and a personal seal.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 05:45 PM (+nEug)

22 'Scrape' is a word that does not look right when you type it.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026

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"Scrapie" isn't much better.

Posted by: Sickly Sheep and Goats Everywhere at March 14, 2026 05:46 PM (wzUl9)

23 19 One I thought was interesting was doing calligraphy with a pencil. Certainly would be the cheapest way to get started.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 05:43 PM
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Can't remember why it didn't make the cut for the content, but I watched a YT video of two guys showing calligraphy with chalk on a chalkboard. Horizontal lines on the board helped show sizing but it was interesting to watch them show the good and bad of different strokes. I never realized how much true calligraphy breaks down to joining specific shapes.

Posted by: TRex - monkish dino at March 14, 2026 05:47 PM (IQ6Gq)

24 OK, all you woodworking hobbyists.... and hello!

My wifey has discovered a large 'burl' on one of our trees (scientific name, 'tree'). I know they are highly prized by you woodworkers out there and stuff.

I was planning to raze the house and surrounding land to the ground, and start over. But I wonder if there's another, better idea, out there?

Posted by: goatexchange at March 14, 2026 05:48 PM (hyS0X)

25 14 I wonder how much writing on an inclined surface aided in not smearing the text.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 05:39 PM (+nEug)

If my experience with drafting class is any indication, not much at all. I didn't realize that most people do not end up with residual ink/graphite on their outer fist until much later.

We Southpaws do some interesting contortions with our hands - and the medium used - in order to get our lettering to slant the "correct" way in order to not get points off for bad penmanship.

I had to resort to always putting a piece of paper between my hand and whatever I was drafting in order to keep all of the lines and letters looking pristine.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 05:49 PM (S7WXb)

26 My cursive writing has always been legible although not especially pretty. That had value when I began technical writing. It was assumed, correctly, that most guys couldn't type and typing pools, all female, were still used. Write the document longhand and hand it to the typing pool. Turns out I got subtle priority even over the manager because they could easily read my script.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 05:51 PM (yTvNw)

27 The Grateful, the lost art of writing letters. I noted the other day on the art thread how much I like letters sealed with wax and a personal seal.
Posted by: Ben Had
**********
I still write letters and make cards and write in them for every holiday/occasion known. It's just that the handwriting is not as pretty as it used to be....

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 05:52 PM (IQ6Gq)

28 My wifey has discovered a large 'burl' on one of our trees (scientific name, 'tree'). I know they are highly prized by you woodworkers out there and stuff.

Where are you located? Mr. TiFW loves that kind of stuff! I bet if you located a local woodworking group, you would have all sorts of takers - as long as it isn't "junk" wood.

Girls make very interesting turned bowls and other sculptures.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 05:53 PM (S7WXb)

29 A long past uncle did lots of art forms including marble sculpture. Best I remember was what could be described as a chess Knight piece but was about 2 feet high.
I thought I had another that turned out a disaster he said as a flaw in the stone. I'll see if I can find it in my pictures.

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 05:54 PM (Ia/+0)

30 This week in pipe smoking, I bought myself a eBay treat, a Marxman brand pipe. Marxman only existed as its own company from 1934 to 1953, so this pipe could be as old as I am or older. The brand name was taken over by a company called Mastercraft, though, which was later acquired by the people who to this day make the Dr. Grabow pipes. So it could be younger. But for $45 restored, it looks fantastic and should be a bargain.

I also tried smoking some of the "new" Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco. It's now made in the Dominican Republic, and the pouch when unsealed has a strong odor of vinegar -- not something you want in your pipe. When I checked it yesterday after some months unsealed, the odor seemed much lessened. A smoke today left me with a faint aftertaste, not of vinegar, but also not of the cocoa and nuts SWR was known for. So my personal jury is still out on this. Maybe I can mix it with something else.

Posted by: Sickly Sheep and Goats Everywhere at March 14, 2026 05:56 PM (wzUl9)

31 To this day I do my initial capital "F," "Q," and several other letters as if I were printing them, then the rest of the word is in cursive form.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
*************
I do that too, with most capital letter...well, I don't print them, but I created my own script for capital letters, lol

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 05:57 PM (IQ6Gq)

32 Oops. Goats and sheep have naught to do with pipe smoking.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 14, 2026 05:58 PM (wzUl9)

33 My wifey has discovered a large 'burl' on one of our trees (scientific name, 'tree'). I know they are highly prized by you woodworkers out there and stuff.
*************
Anyone making frames would pay big $$ for that burl wood. Commands high prices in that field....

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 05:58 PM (IQ6Gq)

34 https://tinyurl.com/3n52fya6
It was to be a Indian head, shame it didn't turn out

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 05:58 PM (Ia/+0)

35 I can write in Spencarian Script, my implement of choice is a Noodlers Ahab Flex nib with Heart of Darkness, Bernake Blue and Park Red as my goto inks.

I also use those inks as washes in some of my watercolors.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at March 14, 2026 06:00 PM (XV/Pl)

36 Top photo makes me think of "First man to assemble IKEA furniture"

Posted by: banana Dream at March 14, 2026 06:00 PM (3uBP9)

37 "Burls", not " Girls"....🙄🙄🙄

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 06:00 PM (S7WXb)

38 In junior high two of the classes I took were "mechanical drawing" and "architectural drawing." Both required a certain skill at printing call outs (the stuff you were looking at on the drawing.) Printed, all caps in a particular size/font.

I still "write" like this.

My cursive is horrid, but sort of legible.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 14, 2026 06:01 PM (jtM2q)

39 Things I need to address in the future include trying a fountain pen and ink, and sealing envelopes with wax. I know how to seal a wine bottle cork with wax!!!

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 06:02 PM (IQ6Gq)

40 I've played with basic calligraphy but approached it like learning to draw. The decorative aspects of writing, whether calligraphy or copperplate or some other style, always interested me. (I wonder if that was from looking at old historic maps as a child.)

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 06:03 PM (yTvNw)

41 TRex, can’t wait for next week’s cartography. I did several college courses and I’ve always been fascinated. I’ll tell an early story next week

Posted by: RI Red - who is now only somebody that you used to know at March 14, 2026 06:03 PM (ttrGW)

42 41 TRex, can’t wait for next week’s cartography. I did several college courses and I’ve always been fascinated. I’ll tell an early story next week

Posted by: RI Red - who is now only somebody that you used to know at March 14, 2026 06:03 PM
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Looking forward to it!

Posted by: TRex - not all who wander are lost at March 14, 2026 06:04 PM (IQ6Gq)

43 The Grateful, what is your stamp going to be ? Red or black wax? What weight paper do you use?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 06:04 PM (+nEug)

44 Anybody knows if Presdent Obama has a cat ??

Posted by: Mary Cloggistein from Brattleboro, Vt at March 14, 2026 06:05 PM (hVcDO)

45 24 OK, all you woodworking hobbyists.... and hello!

A burl! Talk to me... scohargrove protonmail dot com

Where are you? What kind of tree is it? I'm interested!

Posted by: watchin at March 14, 2026 06:05 PM (dewkg)

46 Ikea, the early years...

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at March 14, 2026 06:06 PM (XMwZJ)

47 I learned block lettering in the 8th grade and never looked back.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:07 PM (RIvkX)

48 RI Red - who is now only somebody that you used to know
************
OK dude, what is with the evolving nic? How is it now that I used to know you?

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 06:07 PM (IQ6Gq)

49 Honestly, I wonder if part of the reason that traditional calligraphy looks the way that it does has more to do with how much of the quill pen touches the paper when held at a consistent angle. On the downward stroke, more ink is going to flow in a "thicker" profile than when the quill is on an up stroke (less of the pen touches the paper).

I could be blowing smoke out of my a**, too....

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 06:08 PM (S7WXb)

50 ok, so if there's a difference then what i do isn't "caligraphy." but if you write cursive with a broad tipped nib positioned so that sliding up right/ down left the line will be thinner, then when the movement is up left/ down right it grows thicker. plus the width will vary as it transitions and tapers back and forth. once your comfortable with maintaining the nib angle, you'll start adding little flourishes and what not.
it makes bad cursive pretty and good cursive gorgeous.

Posted by: cmeat at March 14, 2026 06:09 PM (R11M+)

51 I didn't realize that most people do not end up with residual ink/graphite on their outer fist until much later.

We Southpaws do some interesting contortions with our hands - and the medium used - in order to get our lettering to slant the "correct" way in order to not get points off for bad penmanship.
Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth

The "lefty hook." All us Gen-X'ers who learned "penmanship" in grade school do it.

At least it wasn't like medieval times when they assumed lefties were possessed by demons, and forced them to be right-handed by binding their left hands/arms.

Posted by: mikeski at March 14, 2026 06:09 PM (VHUov)

52 Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 14, 2026 06:01 PM (jtM2q)

*fustbump*

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:09 PM (RIvkX)

53 44 Anybody knows if Presdent Obama has a cat ??
Posted by: Mary Cloggistein from Brattleboro, Vt at March 14, 2026 06:05 PM (hVcDO)

No Mary, but he has a Mangina and not a Pussy ..........

Posted by: Ferd Berfall at March 14, 2026 06:09 PM (YnF8s)

54 45 24 OK, all you woodworking hobbyists.... and hello!

A burl! Talk to me... scohargrove protonmail dot com

Where are you? What kind of tree is it? I'm interested!
Posted by: watchin at March 14, 2026 06:05 PM (dewkg)

Hey! Mr. TiFW was here first! 😂😂😂

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 06:09 PM (S7WXb)

55 TiFW are you enjoying this awesome weather?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:11 PM (RIvkX)

56 I heard they do not teach Cursive Writing in school anymore.....

Also heard stories about this current generation cannot write a check and sign it...

Just use Credit and Debit Cards for everything....

Posted by: Jackson K. at March 14, 2026 06:12 PM (YnF8s)

57 For a year or two in grade school fountain pens became a thing and we were all using them but the moms were in a tizzy because there was always ink all over us and they made the teachers take them away.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:13 PM (RIvkX)

58 I usually preferred fine or extra fine nibs on fountain pens and dip pens. They just gave the best results. Over the years that's changed as my motor skills aren't as precise. Not bad, just not as good. I now prefer broad or even stub nibs. I've found that those nibs give a decorative twist to the writing even when you aren't trying to. It's brought back interest in the physical act of writing. And it's fun trying different nibs, inks, and papers.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 06:16 PM (yTvNw)

59 I learned block lettering in the 8th grade and never looked back.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026

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In eighth grade, for some reason (anticipating Joey Tribbiani's wondering if he needed a new walk), I decided to have a second handwriting. I consciously re-molded many of my cursive letters and how they connected together, so that samples of it looked to me very little like my "regular" handwriting. Probably a handwriting specialist would have seen the same traits in both styles, but I found it fascinating to do.

Possibly, too, some of the re-moldings went on to infiltrate my "regular" handwriting once I got out of school and was no longer being trained in the classic cursive. They might be part of my handwriting to this day.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 14, 2026 06:16 PM (wzUl9)

60 Ben Had,
Red wax, and obviously card stock for the cards and vellum for writing letters.
Please don't tell T-Rex we can make a seal design....

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at March 14, 2026 06:16 PM (IQ6Gq)

61 San Franpsycho,
Do I see you’re in for temps inthe 80s next week?

Jeepers.

And TiFW, as a fellow southpaw, I feel your pain. My pinky finger always had smudges.

Posted by: nurse ratched at March 14, 2026 06:16 PM (A5RD0)

62 I don't like ball point pens so I use a fine point felt tip pen .

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 06:16 PM (+nEug)

63 Try Noodlers Black ink,if a lefty. It's one of the fastest drying inks out there. The Ink Guy has a You Tube channel where he reviews ink and sometimes notebooks. That's where I learned that.

Also The 7 Steps to Elegant Cursive Handwriting is a good book for improving your handwriting. I have the Spencerian workbooks but still haven't used them

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 14, 2026 06:19 PM (gQ15S)

64 The Grateful, parchment is fun too.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 06:19 PM (+nEug)

65 I had calligraphy in art class in high school. I got good with it, then graduated and figured I would never need it again. Kind of like I did with grammar..and math...and chemistry..and...

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at March 14, 2026 06:20 PM (snZF9)

66 55 TiFW are you enjoying this awesome weather?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:11 PM (RIvkX)

Just got here last night, and I am recovering from the flight today (had a chemo fill on Thursday). Will know more tomorrow!

So far, we have only seen SF from the ride from the airport to daughter's house, and most of that was Friday afternoon traffic, so I have kind of been disappointed.

We will hopefully be seeing more of the touristy things later on. SIL's mother is being released from medical rehab in Truckee tomorrow (who knew they do that on Sundays?), so our original plan to see the GG Bridge and Muir Woods has had to be put on hold, as he will need to stay in Truckee (at their current house) to be there to help her out.

We are thinking that this trip may end up just being spent hanging out with daughter and the grandsons, and we will plan on another trip for sightseeing in early June, if I am still doing okay healthwise.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 06:20 PM (S7WXb)

67 Teresa, a tour through wine country just for the scenery is a worthwhile trip.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 06:23 PM (+nEug)

68 I hope you enjoy your visit the Sierra is beautiful just don't stop at Donner Pass.

Yes, 80s in the forecast next week. I'm girding myself for all the "heatwave" moaning.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 14, 2026 06:24 PM (RIvkX)

69 Oh, and speaking of carving marble, on our Vegas trip I rather insisted upon seeing the life-size replica of Michelangelo us "David" at the Caesar's Palace resort - realistically, I will probably never have the opportunity to see the original over in Italy.

I did not realize how large it was! But my goodness, what an amazing talent to be able to envision something like that when looking at a mere slab of marble.

We had the "interesting" experience of approaching the statue from the back side 😂😂😂. And the statue was on a fairly high pedestal, so when standing up close to it, one got an eyeful of young David's package.

Dude had extraordinarily large hands and feet...

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, AoSHQ's Plucky Wee One - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 14, 2026 05:41 PM (S7WXb)

It must have been a good copy. I saw the original in Florence and the first thing I thought was ol' Michelangelo must have been on a bender when he did the feet and hands. They looked like they came from an orangutan. Seriously, the hands looked like they were off scale, just too big for the wrist and arms they were attacked to.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at March 14, 2026 06:26 PM (snZF9)

70 I got two new Bosworth spindles this week. One is Reclaimed American Chestnut. The other is Claro Walnut. I'd never heard of it, but it is pretty. Very similar to Black Walnut.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 14, 2026 06:26 PM (gQ15S)

71 Anyway, hobby today is harley maintenance, getting the fleet ready for the nice weather..if it ever gets here.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at March 14, 2026 06:29 PM (snZF9)

72 Your daffodils will spring back. In past winters, not this dry one, we've had a few blooming UNDER the snow once it melts.

We saw the Book of Kells in the Trinity Library several years ago. Incredible. Always a group around the table but people are kind and you get to see the chosen page for the day up close.

Thanks for the video. I bought a book of this from their gift shop and should study it again.

The entire library is incredible. Thanks again.

Posted by: ChristyBlinkyTheGreat at March 14, 2026 06:29 PM (WONhk)

73 As I've written with my fountain pens recently I've learned a few things.
- Take your time and enjoy the process of writing.
- I need a flat or slightly inclined surface to use an ink pen well. I have a copy of a colonial era writing box with an inclined lid and it does make a difference.
- I do more writing these days, mostly notes and essays for my own enjoyment, and slowing down my writing pace to accommodate the pens helps with choosing the best words and the process becomes a pleasure of its own. Shelby Foote wrote his Civil War books with a dip pen and believed using one made his writing better.

Posted by: JTB at March 14, 2026 06:30 PM (yTvNw)

74 Kindltot, if you're here: You mean the soft wood fuel pellets Tractor Supply offers for stoves will work the same way as the Feline Pine pellets? My local TS has 40 lbs. for $7, and they say they deliver!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 14, 2026 06:32 PM (wzUl9)

75 Waiting for more hospitable weather outside

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 06:35 PM (Ia/+0)

76 I got two new Bosworth spindles this week. One is Reclaimed American Chestnut. The other is Claro Walnut. I'd never heard of it, but it is pretty. Very similar to Black Walnut.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 14, 2026 06:26 PM (gQ15S)

They use it on acoustic guitars, not "too" uncommon. I played a few acoustic guitars that had claro walnut back and sides . They sounded nice.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at March 14, 2026 06:35 PM (snZF9)

77 I acquired some more radio gear this week, but I'm too busy to mess with it now. I did dig out my RTL-SDR and downloaded an app so I can track flight transponders in my area even if I'm not connected to the internet. Kinda fun, just to play with and see what's possible with some dirt cheap equipment and a phone.

Posted by: PabloD at March 14, 2026 06:41 PM (+HNa2)

78 Another fun paper is the torn edge variety.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 14, 2026 06:45 PM (+nEug)

79 I was going to include content about parchment paper making, but omitted to keep the content from getting out of control. It is a fascinating old world process. Messy. If you're intrigued, there is content on YT.

Posted by: TRex - rock paper scissors dino at March 14, 2026 06:49 PM (IQ6Gq)

80 I do have a black walnut dulcimer, so I know that sounds good on musical instruments. I really just love stuff out of fancy wood

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 14, 2026 06:51 PM (gQ15S)

81 I remember barely, at Williamsburg seeing how paper was made, can't see needing to go that far

Posted by: Skip at March 14, 2026 06:52 PM (Ia/+0)

82 the last work mi great. I think we'll see it next week in person.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 14, 2026 06:54 PM (f9h0J)

83 I worked at a paper recycling place once. Used to be a (new) paper mill back in the day (turn of the century.) Fascinating building. Also looked like a health and safety nightmare probably back in that day. Huge rollers. Torches. Catwalk. Blades. Mixers. Coal fired steam generator. Narrow warehouse. Huge rolls of paper.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 06:55 PM (zZu0s)

84 Cursive.. The nuns did not like my cursive, Luckily my printing is plenty fast and readable.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 14, 2026 06:56 PM (f9h0J)

85 Note: that last video is even more funny when you consider that Michelangelo carved the Pieta from a far larger block. With a wooden mallet.

At 18.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at March 14, 2026 06:57 PM (zZu0s)

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