New Years Board Gaming
Happy New Year everyone! Survived another year. 
Not much happening on the making-stuff front. Still busy with school and teaching. However, I did manage to sneak in a bit of board gaming geekiness into my holiday. Played some Settlers of Catan, Alien Frontiers, and finally got to play Nexus Ops for the first time. My son is getting old enough now to understand gaming mechanics so it was something of an experiment. Seems to have paid off.
One of fun aspects of boardgaming is upgrading or customizing the components to your games so they look more attractive or thematic or to make them more durable. Nexus ops comes with a three dimensional central board piece that is quite flimsy so I set about making my own. I had some Sculpey polymer clay sitting around so I decided to use it. The project didn't take long at all. I just kneaded he clay and pressed it out to 3/4" thickness and used a template to cut the hexagonal shape. I baked it in the oven for 45 minutes and that was pretty much it. I glued the icon reminders on the sides and then cut a hexagon from a piece of black craft foam sheeting for the bottom to compensate for any unevenness in the shaping of the clay, and that's it. Just a big greyish block to battle over. I have one last day off before going back to the grind so we'll test it out today.
I know, it's a small project. But considering how limited my time has been, I feel it's a small victory. I'll take what I can get.
Until next time!
Whips #72 and #73
So, finally, last week I had some free time to catch up on my commissions and I just finished the knot work late last night. I'm actually pretty happy with both of these, especially in comparison with the previous failure. 6' bulls made as a matching pair but going to two different individuals, 14" fiberglass handles, BB+ball chain+nylon core, 8 plait Dacron inner belly, 8 plait nylon second belly and 12 plait nylon overlay, lead and nylon knob foundation. I went with the nylon overlay instead of the Dacron mostly because I didn't have enough material for two whips, but partially because I didn't think I'd be losing sensitivity especially in comparison to the work involved with the higher plait count. I modified the core construction to adapt better to the lighter handle and overall, I'd say these are probably have the best action of all the whips I've made to date. The solid black was a specific request so I differentiated them by using a different end cover on the knobs.
Whip #71
While I was in school April or May, I was commissioned to make a whip for a martial arts instructor in the US. I eventually had some time to proceed in late may so I thought it would be a good time to try working with my spool of Dacron that I picked up last year. I was asked for a 14" handle and an overall length of 6'. I went with a fiberglass handle for the first time and I really like as a handle core for bulls. Much easier to work with than steel. I used an inner core braid of Dacron, and second belly of nylon and an overlay braid of Dacron, something like 18 plait. The knob has a lead base and is overlayed in black and gold nylon. It's a fantastic looking whip. However, I consider it overall to be an inferior product.
I used too much weight in the core for the thong so the whip feels too heavy. And I didn't find the action to be good as I had hoped the Dacron would provide. In any case, I decided not to release this whip into the wild. It's also a shame since I had also begun work on a second whip to match this one for another practitioner under this instructor. It wasn't until June that I was able begin work on another pair as replacements, and I just finished those last night.
Wet Folded Leather Masks
About two months ago I went to a one day workshop about making leather masks. I figured it would be a nice intro for me into the world of leather crafting. The guy who taught it is actually well known in the film industry for his leather work. It turned out to be a very easy technique that pretty much anyone can do. All you need is some vegetable tanned leather and a bit of water. You cut out your shape, moisten (not soak) the leather then bend, fold, crease, or otherwise shape your leather as you like, mostly with your fingers but some tools can be used to help with the shaping if you like. Then, once you have your shapes, let the leather dry and then paint with acrylics. Easy. These were the masks I made in class. Not bad for first attempts.
Whoa, is it August Already?
Apologies to all who visit my site. As I mention in my last post, I am in school right now and I have had less time for projects than I used to. Not that I haven't done any projects, but they were small and I didn't take the extra time to document them. I expect this lack of availability to continue at least until the end of 2012, but if you check back occasionally, you never know. Something might pop up.
In any case I have a few weeks off and I am finishing a couple of whips for an order so I'll post those this weekend. One of the girls in my class browsed my old project photos on Facebook and saw some of the bracelets I made a few years ago and she asked if I could make her one. I spent the day yesterday practicing and I made up a few for my son to wear. Most use a knot button type clasp, but there was one that I made as a slip on solid ring (not pictured). While I prefer the solid ring look, I personally find them too loose. I ended up making a two tone Solomon bar button clasp bracelet for my class mate.
Lastly, someone named Gary contacted me asking about stock for fighting sticks. Gary, if you are reading this, I got your message but your reply address bounced. Feel free to contact me again if you like, but I'll post my reply here:
"For the batas I use in Irish stick fighting I look for 1" thick pieces. Where I get my hardwoods from they seem to have extras and off cuts that are actually 1" and not 3/4". I don't have the tools to re-saw my own stock so I take what I can get. Beyond that, I use a circular saw and jig saw to rough cut the stick and knob then I use a spokeshave on my shaving horse to shape it. Stationary belt sander to clean things up after the shaping. Hope that helps. Send me some pics of your stick when you get done.