Cup of pencil shavings

The more shavings made the more design and mark making i have completed in the shop.

cup of pencil shavings

this is not all from today

but

i am definitely contributing to the fill.

Table top baseball game refinish

winter time is tabletop baseball season!

today was time to give it a quick refinish for another season of gameplay.

A few years ago, whilst in the middle of one of my many tangents,  i was on the computer looking for ideas to make new table top game for me and the boys when i stumbled on a dice rolling baseball game.

i liked the idea but thought the aesthetic could use a little enrichment.

the original one i saw was on a built made out of a simple pine 1 inch thick pine plank, and had some simple lines and a scoreboard.

i started with a round oak table table top that had survived a bar fire. it was about 2" thick, finish was bubbled and smelled of smoke. i removed the finish with an old jack plane i use for such occasions and then smoothed from there. i like the heft of a solid wood game.

squared up to the size i wanted and quickly went to creating bolder color fields for the playing surface.

i really enjoy design and the layout (as simple as it is) was extremely entertaining to create.

i needed to contain the dice when rolling

and

i wanted it to be easily replaceable, after all this game is meant for young ones that will be dropping it as some point. the mahogany trim was a quick solution.

there are two types of square cut nails used. one size if for the players and the other size is for the 

game keeping.

mint tins make a perfect holder for the pieces and a place to put the directions.

with an old manual typewriter i applied to paper i made years ago and adhered to the mint tin.

i uses pigmented ink for the colorant. this ink is extremely lightfast and allows the grain to show through. plus this gave me an a color palate i wanted.

"play ball!!"

Collins homestead shipping off to boston

This collins took a fair amount of file work to make the bit more practical.

now off to the east coast.

Deer hunting 2013 - sunday morn

The day started out and continued to be windy as HELL.

40mph

this type of wind will only keep the deer in shelter and not moving one damn bit.

not only does this wind mess with the deer but when given opportunity can absolutely foul up a shot.

if there is anything that i DO NOT want and that is to have a bad shot.

we after hunting the first part of the morning it was obvious that the day could be as fruitful as saturday.

the first have we hunted the south

then

the second part we hunted the north

in this vid we took a quick break. it sort of shows a bit of the wind but by no means shows its force on the body. literally 5 minutes I took after this i found my buck.

sorry about the finger.

from about 125 yards I went at this nice buck. 

fortunately it was from my position that I could claim him first.

2013 mule buck with 24 inch spread

what this photo doesn't show is that this buck actually has a 24 inch spread and there is a nice thickness to the base,

then on top of that, the antlers were very symmetrical. my favorite though was the G5s. they were both curled up evenly.

was able to get a fair amount of meat with this gem. 

as most know we are huge fans of deer meat.

in the end, this may not be a monster buck but damn if it isn't the closest i have ever been (so far).

GREAT hunt.

the next day two other fellows we were hunting with took theirs.

both were good but doc's was a very nice one. another big boy with some nice brow tines and 

great height on his 2s and 3s.

i am already motivated for next year.

Deer hunting 2013 - saturday afternoon

The ridiculously nice weather continued.

the dry spell runs though the afternoon.

at the end of the day, we spotted a monster of a buck.
he stood with 3 does at about 400 yards.
the light was all but gone and the distance was far enough away it is best to try for him in the morn.

saturday night is a full moon. not a good thing for deer hunting.

Deer hunting 2013 - saturday morn

The first morning of rifle season was too nice, nothing to drive the deer. 

Saw a total of 12 does and 2 smaller bucks. 

2013

Dropping hand tools after running power tools

At the workbench and this is the third time i have dropped the tack hammer!

i have been running the orbital sander for quite some time

and

the prolonged use has vibrated my grip away.

for these long sessions with this tool, i may actually have to consider getting one of those 

shock absorbing gloves.