Hello All…I just wanted to update on the progress. There has been…well, not much. I have some material to draw my template up with, some RR, but not much else. Here is why…at Benny’s urging, I ordered a triple stringer blank from Clark. I am super stoked on it! Thanks again Benny. It was suppossed to be in by the 14th of November at the latest. Clearly, that did not happen. It is currently on a truck en route from Cali, and if all goes well, I should be making the drive over to Melbourne to pick it up on Wednesday, the 23rd. As soon as the blank makes its grand entrace, I will be getting underway. I also am waiting on my cloth to come in from my supplier. I will not name names, but FedEx (oops) managed to ship my materials to my parents house in Connecticut, a solid 1300 miles from its intended destination. FedEx apparently thinks this is a fun game. The last two shipments of cloth have all been re-routed to my parents house in CT, even though I clearly list my address properly. So I had it out with them today, and my package is being shipped to Florida 2nd day, so I should see that soon. I did have to convince Dad that HIS 6 oz aerialite was for someone elses board. He is not suspicious though, in the least, so the surprise is well intact. Once everything arrives, i will be in high gear, as I have already lost a good deal of time. Tommarrow I am heading off to the woodcraft store to either get a jig to sharpen my block planes, or just swallow it and get some new ones that come pre-sharpened. This of course in preparation for dealing with a triple dose of thick stringer…
In other news, I tried my hand at foiling up some wood keels. They are 9 inch base x 5 inch height, doubled foiled, no rake. They came out nice despite the admittedly cheap ply I used. I was pretty proud of them. In a late night stroke of…well, I am not sure if i would call it genious…i bought a wood burning kit from Jo-Ann Fabrics, and burned the logo I put on my boards on one of the keels. I think it added a nice touch…unique at least. The best part is that I returned the kit to Jo-Ann for a full refund, because I am out of money and feared I would starve to death if I didn’t. The Visa is taking a hit on this project for sure…
However…while looking at the keels for the last few days…I am not happy with them. While I was proud of my efforts, this keels are begging to be put on a different board. The reason being is that the ghost of WoodMaven’s Keel fins came to me in a dream, and explained that they wanted to be a part of Dad’s board. So…I sent Rolly a frantic PM, begging for his help. I just feel that sometimes, you just have to find the best man for the job, and he is it in this case. I feel that his keels could add a level of craftsmanship that mine didn’t fully possess. I learned from Dad that working with wood takes alot of experience and devotion, because of the soul that wood has…Rolly has that experience and his work shows it. I am hoping that he will consider my request, especially due to the very tight time schedule. We will see…if anyone speaks to him, send him my way!
Well, that is my update, feel free to share. I will probably keep topping this post as I go thru the process, because I am hoping to document this for Dad’s later enjoyment…haha. He will for sure get a kick out of this. And hopefully I can post some photos of my work, despite that fact that after some of the balsa boards you guys have posted, I am gonna look rediculous in comparison. Thanks all…
