This may establish some sort of world record! (at least for me) TWO posts in a single day??
It is only 10:15 (PM) and i thought I would post a little about my latest adventure. For a number of years I have had the idea that I would like to try what they call lampmaking or flameworking. That is just another way of saying making glass beads. I have talked with a friend who has done a little work with glass, and I have noticed different books, catalogs, youtube videos about the process. (If you want to see how it is done, just search youtube for "lampmaking" or "glass beads" and you should find any number of videos about the process.)
I finally took the leap from thinking to doing. I found a small kit with a torch, glass rods, mandrels, bead release, marvers and a gas tank holder. Another stop at Home Depot for a bottle of Mapp gas, (hotter than propane) and I was ready to go. (After watching a few more videos of he process.) The first couple of beads were just for "practice" and then I got serious about it. After having a couple of beads fuse to the mandrel and break in the process of getting them off, I finally made a few beads that look halfway decent. It seems that each time I work with it, I get a better picture of what I am doing and what I need to do to make a decent bead.
If you will give me a little more practice time, I will start taking orders for specific sizes, colors, shapes and all. If anyone has a bracelet that they can hang a bead or two from, let me know and I will custom make some for you. My sweetheart has also suggested that they could be placed on a cord to use for a necklace. Just another thing to explore and play with to see what it is like and if I can actually do it.
Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea. A different colored background would be better.
The yak now has 6 coats of varnish on it, the hatch covers are lashed down, the tie down cords are installed and the yak is ready to throw into the lake. All that needs to be done is to re-install the foot rests and the install the foam pads for the hip braces. I finished it up about the middle of January, and I''m thinking that I should have started construction in March 2009 so that the waters would be ready by the time I finished, or that I should have taken another 3 or 4 months in the construction.
I guess it will just have to wait for spring to come and for the ice to melt off of the local waters before I can go out. In the meantime, we have started work on a yak for Darin. A different model, and one that is challenging. The hull and deck are put together; and the next time we can work on it, we will fasten the hull and deck together and start fiber glassing the whole boat, top and bottom.
I have added a couple of pictures, and will add another one or two of the completed yak when I can get them taken in a way that lets you see what it really looks like. One picture was taken while the yak was still in the enclosed shelter I made so that I could apply the vanish without a lot of dust specks settling into the fresh , sticky varnish. The other pic is of my sweetheart paddling across the family room floor with the life coat and paddle that my children were so nice to give me for Christmas. Maybe now we will have to build a yak for her!! LOL
I am, giving serious thought to making a folding yak or one with a seal skin exterior (plastic or canvas) I think a lot of the challenge is just to make it. Later we will face the challenge of actually propelling it through the water and keeping it upright. (or learning to roll it or make a "wet exit" if necessary )
