Musings from the workshop of Ox Works

I live in a country, which turned from an agricultural nation into industrial in a relatively short period, after World War II. This meant people traded working long hours on the fields into working long hours in the factories. Hobbies and pastimes had to be functional and serve the community, or at least the immediate family. Not until the upswing of the 1980s, we started to develop more spare time and leisure activities, kind of, and the world was about to open up. However, with that kind of baggage, not ‘til the very last couple of decades, the only approved hobbies or pastimes here have been endurance sports, golf or getting drunk. The last one is now effectively replaced by getting offended by something someone wrote on the Interwebs, though. Such nonsense as collecting movie memorabilia would be considered as ‘kids’ play’, and surprisingly many people from the baby boom generation actually hate science fiction. My in-laws for example. I can remember us accidentally watching E.T. ...

Well alright, it was the year 2016 to be more precise, when Ox Works was established. It’s probably not an epic story, but a story anyway, and now I’m going to tell you it! I had a rather solid career in completely different occupation for over 20 years. Last 13 of those working in a small, family-run company. But business in that company slowed down, and the job I had considered fairly safe turned unstable. I was partially laid off and all of the sudden had three days per week at my disposal. I had to start thinking about what I wanted to do when I grew up. To be honest, some of the traits in my previous occupation had already started to annoy me a few years earlier, so the idea of running my own business, being my own boss had been slowly cooking in the background. But what should I start doing then? My first business idea was, actually, a microbrewery. I had no idea how to brew beer, or cider, but I was interested in it, and eager to learn. Plus my mother brews kvass always for Chri...

If we’re talking about serious sabersmithing, one of the most important tools in the ‘shop will be a lathe. Lightsaber hilts are usually cylindrical, so if you’re working with metals, perfect cylindrical shapes would be extremely difficult to produce with other tools than a lathe. A good lathe is also an extremely versatile gadget, with the right accessories it can do some drilling and milling too. Not to mention, working with a lathe is fun, and extremely rewarding! Although, taking the first step into turning can be steep, because many of the more serious machinists online aren’t very helpful, when you’re trying to search information about lathes. Tool elitism is common, as is hostility against newbies. You may get a feeling that machining is some kind of dark sorcery, and the masters are not willing to share their knowledge. But fortunately, the so-called 7x12” ‘mini lathe’ concept has paved the way for a lot of aspiring hobbyists. This designation refers to a specific machine, made...