Posted on 09/24/2005 11:23:20 AM PDT by creeperdavis
A poem
Yellow cab? [LOL!]
(Not long for the world tonight...)
I was married to a technical writer. He called his work "kindergarten stuff...cutting and pasting." But he also wrote text books and manuals for several aerospace companies.
He was "there" when Skylab went up, and was there for the Enterprise. If he bacame unhappy in his work, I encouraged him to look elsewhere for employment. He was never out of work more than two weeks until he retired. For good.
I refused to sit at home and take the residual BS from his bosses. Do yourself a favor: Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of it, from top to bottom. On the right side, write "PRO" ~~ on the left side, write "CON."
Then list all the GOOD things about the company you work for on the Pro side, and the bad things on the Con side. Be honest. Ask your wife to help.
Whichever side has the most things listed is the side you should "listen" to.
(But you didn't hear it from ME!) It's just a suggestion to a friend is all...;o]
*fireworks*
Congratulations! My daughter was born on the 13th of the month...her first son was born on the 13th of the month, and he weighed 7# 13 oz, and was born at 7:13 PM!
Thirteen is a GOOD number!
Actually, in the past few days I went down through and enumerated (listed) the PRO column. I was surprised at how much was there -- even if some of it was only marginally there.
The CON side I am also familiar with, even though it may be incomplete -- it has one absolutely killer element in it.
Resume is already online.
I try not to give "advice"...I try to suggest things that have worked for me. Otherwise, they don't mean much.
I wish you the best with your search...and would like to be kept informed...privately, if you wish. But you KNOW I'm in the Peanut Gallery! Right up there with Howdy Doody! ;o]
I'm "dialing in" the six bamboo elements of the core for the big bow - literally using dial calipers, measuring thickness at 3" increments for each of six 102" long pieces.
I'm actually kind of impressed with the uniformity and low total-length deviation I acheived using a hand-plane - on average the TLD is under .050" and various dips and bumps are +/-.010" and under.
(for reference: a human cranial hair is, on average, about .003" thick)
not good enough, I'm afraid, but enough to impress me ;)
I'm currently sanding down each piece to get uniform thickness (+/-.003") over most of the length with a mild taper (-.020") at each end.
stacking the six, and assuming the minor irregularities tend to cancel each other out, I'm hoping to get uniform stack thickness of .900" +/-.005 with total tip taper of -.120" over the last six inches or so.
Final shaping will be done on the hardwood core-cladding elements which will sandwich the bamboo core stack. I might fatten the stack with an additional hardwood strip right up the center, but might not. Depends on what feels right in my hand, I guess.
Once all the core pre-shaping is complete, I think I'll cheat and pre-glue and pre-bend the total core stack before adding the back and belly bamboo. To do this, I will need to make a rigid bending template. Fortunately, I managed to unearth my copy of "Arms and Armour of the Samurai" and find a good side-on photograph of an un-strung bow, illustrating the curve pattern. It is now simply a matter of scanning that image and figuring out how the curved length translates into linear length, scaling it to match the 102" I have to work with, and plotting the template.
Then... time for more sawing and sanding. Pine ought to do for the bending template, so it won't be too nasty a job.
The reason I'm considering pre-bending the core is a matter of lack of confidence in my skills - I just don't feel sure I can pull off introducing the required curves in the full assembly all in one shot... 10 or 11 pieces, 8(9) aligned one way (the core), sandwiched between 2 more aligned perpendicular to the core.
I'm beginning to favor cheating for this task.
Though part of the point of this project was a deliberate exercise in patience, I'd rather NOT let all this effort pan out as a painful learning experience.
It sounds to me as if you have progressed with your bow-making in a well thought-out manner.
I don't know the technicalities of all the specs, but I do know that bows require a certain finesse in workmanship to perform as expected.
The fact that you are willing to do this for your own gratification is awesome. I have always admired bowmen, and even moreso, admire someone who can make their own..
Are you (have you????) been taking photos of the progress? I would be interested in seeing the steps and the finished product!
In the meantime, please accept a hug and a pat on the back for your work!
I have begun photographing now that my attention has turned to the big bow.
I will post the images once the project is complete -no matter how it turns out- and write up a project summary.
Nice, Bob.
I don't really start rhyming until at least six beers.
It's not Fall, it's Autumn!!
Hello Monkey!!!
You owe me new underwear.
Around here, it's not either one! But it's sure humid.
Actually, it is quite useful. It allows extra daylight time for busy people. For example, you can get home at 5 PM and still: get in at least 9 holes of golf, play a couple of sets of tennis, schedule a baseball game, mow the lawn, etc. etc. For the sporting activities, it takes less energy, as the lights don't have to be on as long.
How do you mean it's not either?
Morning, All!
I was off line for two days. Stupid Comcast modem finally bit the dust.
I went out and bought a new one yesterday, so we're back up and clicking much faster!
What'd I miss?
I mean that I'm still running my air conditioner and we're all wearing summer clothes. The kids are looking pretty disreputable, too!
It is, of course, "calendar" autumn -- but that hasn't affected temperatures.
I see!
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