Not a big fan of doing taxes, but they aren’t as hard as
some folks make them out to be. I used
to use the paper forms every year, but since Erica’s business has been doing so
well we started using TurboTax.
Unfortunately, this year I apparently didn’t take enough withholding so
had to pay a bit. C’est la vie. At least it wasn’t thousands…
Custom Knives
I haven’t made a custom knife by request in a while, but not
too long ago I was contacted by an individual who had stumbled across this blog
and seen the Custom Kitchen Chopper that I made for my friend Bryan’s mom – an
unusual design, and not one that I ever expected to repeat. But that was the request, for something
similar, with different wood for the handle.
On further discussion, we decided to try a stone handle. I have some beautiful Picasso marble, that
was just waiting for this project, so I ordered some steel (15n20 in this
case), and have been working away at it. It’s a little thinner than I am used
to working, so more prone to warping. I
think I can correct it all… and it
worked! I think it turned out pretty
darn well.
AR91 – Custom Kitchen Chopper Mk2 – 8 ¾” Overall, 15n20
Steel blade, Picasso marble handle with Loveless Bolts. Leather Thong.
Other Knife Projects
Since I bought some new steel, I started a few more
projects. I started a new drop point
hunter/skinner out of 15n20 – along the lines of the series I started last year
– We’ll see how close it turns out to the size and shape of the others.
One of my staff members talked about an Ulu knife, and since
I’d been thinking about making one of those for a while also, I started one of
those as well.
There are also a number of blades that I started a while
back…long enough that I have no idea which steels I used for them. One looks like a steak knife at the
moment. The other… I don’t’ really know
how to describe it, basic knife? I also
have some blades that are potential folders, if I ever get around to making
them.
And I'm trying a couple of tactical knives...
Archery
So, I’ve tried making a few bows now. My red oak bow with fiberglass backing was
pretty good for a little while, and then snapped. My salt cedar bow snapped the same day. I started another salt cedar bow, but it
broke before becoming a complete bow. So
I thought I would try something a little bit different, a laminated bow. So, I bought another piece of red oak, ran it
through the table saw a couple of times, and then re-laminated the pieces back
together, two of the pieces were about 1/16th inch and one about 1/8th
inch thick. I had purchased some carbon
fiber tape, so that went between the thick and thin, and fiberglass tape on the
front and back. I had no idea what the
draw would turn out to be, but I glued it all together (in a couple stages). I also put together a couple fancier pieces
of wood for the riser: Rosewood, a little strip of Honey Locust, and some
Bocote. After a little prep work I
glued on the riser pieces to the limbs (and some extra material for the nocks)
shaped the combination, filed the nocks and strung it up… It’s a little light – maybe 25-30# at
28”. I need to pull it with my luggage
scale, but that is my guess. It
definitely doesn’t have the snap that my recurve does, but it’s pretty
consistent. And, more importantly, it
hasn’t broken! And I spoke too soon, since it was a bit light I
thought I would laminate another layer on, and get creative with some
recurve/decurve. Looked good for a bit
but was REALLY STIFF – I used some Ipe for the additional laminations, and then
as I was getting it down to a useable weight….SNAP – it didn’t crack, but
rather snapped about in half. It looked
really pretty for a little while though.
So, since this failed also, I am still thinking about the
next bow. I’ve ordered a lamination kit from Bingham
archery supplies. Pretty sure I can put
it all together.
Wood Working
Obviously, I like to work with wood, and have griped about
wood allergies in an earlier blog. I may
have just moved to the next level. I didn’t do much wood work last weekend,
ripped a couple of boards (leopardwood and salt cedar), and that was it for the
wood, but I did stop by the Exotic Wood Store in Albuquerque, and the next day
my nasty allergic reaction to wood showed up.
I’ve never had a problem with the woods that I worked with, but it is
certainly possible that they had cut some that I am allergic to at the store,
and just breathing it in has set off my reaction. I apparently need to wear a respirator and
long sleeves at all times now. This does
not make me happy.
In other news, I’m a Roller
Derby referee again.
Not too long ago Duke City Roller Derby split into two
parts. My wife stayed with the original
group. I think at this point she is the
skater in the league who was part of it earliest in its existence. Granted she did take some time off for
children, and we did move to Oregon for a year, but still. I have a long standing connection too, since
my friends John and Nan were part of founding it, and I’d come out to practices
when visiting. After later moving to
Albuquerque, I would hang out with the Derby people since they were the only
ones I knew, and before long I started Reffing.
Since the league split, my wife has asked me to come back and help out –
the game has changed a bit, but with a little luck I can manage. My first game back was April 18th. It went pretty well, awfully nice to have a
full ref crew. Don’t think I made too
many bad calls.
