Done, but not Good

Posted on 11 October 2022 by slumco

Has it really been seven months since we’ve posted here? Not that anyone can tell, what with approximately one visitor to the site in that whole time.

So, that Klingon D-7 took a trip to the IPMS Nationals in Omaha back in July, where it was deservedly ignored. Sometime after that, it got accidentally knocked off a shelf and the boom popped off. Since it was only held on with CA glue, it was a clean break and easily repaired.

In the meantime, I finished this Eduard 1/48 Sopwith Camel:

Harley can fix it. She’s got the right tool.

This is the old 2003 boxing, not the new one from 2021. I received it as a gift in 2011, so it’s only been in the stash for a bit more than ten years. It represents the plane of Cat. Ronald Sykes, DFC, in 1918.

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Drawers

Posted on 9 January 2021 by slumco

I finished putting drawers in the workbench back in November, but neglected to post anything about it at the time.

Oh, I do not like this new WordPress editor. Ah; found the old one. That’s better. I prefer to see the controls available to me, thank you very much.

I guess this is done, since I’ve been using it for six months and it’s covered in junk.

Bass, completed enough

Posted on 9 September 2020 by slumco

It’s as done as any mass-market instrument you’d buy in a store, only more expensive and lower quality. Materials info after the jump.

front view

the side no one looks at

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What I’ve been doing, sort of

Posted on 17 February 2016 by slumco

Here’s one of the reasons I haven’t done anything much lately.

Well, also I’ve been putting baseboards in a closet, but this is more interesting.
Dark wood is bocote, the light is cherry. Spray lacquer finish. The dinosaur is about six inches long, to give you an idea of size. The others are a bit smaller, but perspective and junk.

Carousel repair

Posted on 5 December 2015 by slumco

Not much on the bass recently, but I finally got this thing rebuilt.

(Original post about it is here.)

Those are 10″ candles.

It’s really rather bulky. Here’s a closeup of one of the snowmen – their hats needed touchup, and this guy got new buttons.

Will it go round in circles?

I replaced the hub at the top with a thinner piece, built a new spinning deck, and added a bearing to the top of the shaft. It still doesn’t work as well as I’d like, but at least it’s functional.

Calling it Done

Posted on 28 June 2015 by slumco

Well, I need to adjust the action at the nut a bit, but otherwise I’m calling this one complete.

Ignore the foot.

Yeah, it has some flaws. But you can’t really see them in these photos.

The saddle is compensated. It’s supposed to look like that.

First sound sample is available here. Pay no attention to the crummy playing; I was tired. Recorded straight into the computer via dynamic microphone; no filtering, reverb, or anything.

Enough with the shellac, already

Posted on 12 June 2015 by slumco

I am not 100% happy with this (I never am) but I’m not going to do more on it.

The back isn’t too bad, for the most part. There are a couple of dull patches and lumpy areas, but if I mess with it more, it’ll just get worse.

I finally got the spot on this side to take shellac. I ended up just wiping it on with a very small bit of cloth, instead of the traditional muneca, which was taking off as much as it was laying down. Need more practice, obviously.

I removed the tape from the fretboard and as expected, there is residue all over it. I’ve cleaned the first three frets here, but not the rest.

The top has one area I’m not at all happy with, but I can’t fix it without sanding everything down to bare wood and starting over. And I’m not about to do that. I don’t much like working with spruce tops, so it may be a while before I use the rest of the ones I already have.