After spending an inordinate amount of time with my butchtablesaw, bandsaw, router table and lathe,
I forgot how cantankerous a bleeding sewing machine can be…
even with a new sharp, de-burred needle.
And why is he (c'est moi), on about this? Well there has been a changing of the guard and after my confrontation with some shears, pins, chalk, pattern, material, cotton and a sewing machine… a new era began in my workshop couture…
Unfortunately, my 14 yo animal nightie
has surrendered to copious amount of CA and PVA glue removal, through scrubbing board beatings and washing machine agitation, to the point that the material came to pieces with my delicate handling and the poor animals were shedding their fur/snake-skins.
You will never again be able to revel in such glorious eye-candy,
For anyone unfamiliar with my fashion statement, you only need to look at any of my videos on YouTube…
With a dexterous twist of his muscular wrist (plagiarised out of one of my old XXX Rugby song albums) (for the benefit of RC)... I created a new ensemble to grace my distorted body, whilst recording a video in my workshop… Laid out the pattern on some heroic material,
Dragged out my sewing machine... Janome… who promptly answered, “No bloody way! Whoo R U?”... as it was an Elna. EventuallyRTFMing the manual to rediscover how to thread a needle with my failing eyesight, I leapt into a singular production line…
Testing periodically for fit,
(… some people just have no pride…) I was a tad concerned about its workshop's heavy duty machinery compatibility. As I progressed with the aid and inspiration of many vinos, my modest pink boots and armed with a powerful Fe$tooldrill, confidence grew and I was no longer prepared to show my bare face to the camera,
It is currently secreted in my Tardis
for those super hero, quick changes, whenever a new video in need, has to be taken.
While I should have filed this project under Needlework, the saga hasn’t finished as I ventured onto the next stage, which did incorporate just a tad bit of actual Woodworking.
As a tribute, and I mean no disrespect for the gesture behind flag boxes, I felt those blue animals deserved a respectful burial/memory.
Naturally SketchUp took the starting baton and a flag case was designed based on an extrapolation of a base board's measurement of 341mm x 65mm x 12.6mm,
the box then took a shape/measurement of it’s own based on a 90° apex.
I tried to plagiarise Maj’s measurements as he seems to have made a swag of flag boxes in the past… however, I got a tad skeptical as I don’t believe he has any expertise in animal nighties,... as there might be (or should be) a law against them in Croatia. I also didn’t want to make a large box as the nightie will deteriorate even further over time,... requiring more less space (??? - duck speak) ,
Found a wedge scrap in my "timber stash" and managed to salvage a 900mm x 70mm x 16mm board out of it… unfortunately I only managed to take a picture of the waste at the time,
no idea what it was but it was heavy with interesting curly grain pattern,
The 45° cuts were routine for the Kapex, however, I had to fabricate a jig for the 22.5° corner cuts,
Used one of those customised ratchets (compliments of the Boxguy’s { I think } blog on LJ), after closing “the loop” with masking tape,
I cut a slit on the bottom piece
so I could remove the Perspex cover/lid so that I could apply finish without having to clean/scrape the Perspex afterwards.
As for that perspex… had a bright idea of engraving the lid... I left the film on both sides to minimise/prevent burn blowout,
(the text reversed and on the under side), however, totally ignored the fact that the white engraving of the perspex clashed with the white in the nightie… looked OK on the blue mat backing here,
but I did not achieve a “canine gonads effect" once packed.
While on the topic of engraving, I engrave the era of the nightie (starting from my move to downtown Churchill),
on the front of the box… it never had a real birthday… sigh!
I also engraved my $1 coin on the back of the box,
to give it some value, without the future grace of the body beautiful and the pink boots.
Got out my dual kerf spline jig,
made some 22.5° wedges for it
to support the 45° join, and decided to use the thick kerffed blade (3.25mm) to spline the box,
Used some maple splines for contrast,
(Note to myself for the next nighties flag box... watch the spline's grain... chunks came out with the grain, when trimming flush.)
Realised it was a tad too simplistic, so I got some 19mm scrap hardwood and cut a profile on the sides and front and used it as a stand/base for the box,
It also provided support for the piece of timber I placed in the slot to keep the perspex in place. Drilled 2 x 8mm plug holes in the base to “invisibly” screw the box to it,
Engraved it with my “logo and date”,
without my traditional Timbermate backfill.
Sanded and applied 3 coats of Minwaxwipe on poly for a finish, after a quick brush on coat of dewaxed shellac.
Then it was a matter of putting the sandwich together… 1. A layer of pespex,
2. A layer of nightie,
3. Screw the back on
Dare I enter the Tardis and make a video… oops, too late, job finished.
The box now has a resting place on top of one of my model's display cabinet,
but before it could reach its resting place, I finally found a great use for Bos¢h tools and it was presented with an incongruous, low class guard of honour,
Please don’t be green,
with envy and force me to put up my shield
as I’m a tad thor,
after working on this ironic,
project.
If you got this far... Thanks and keep safe!
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
well i say this with a tear in my eye, it's a sad day of the changing of the wardrobe ! but all things must end. i agree with corelz, it should be burned as one would do with a worn out flag. may it rest in peace 😢😬
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Love the expression from your T-Rex in your posing photos 👏
Maybe you should have tossed in a desiccant packet and glued the back cover on? I can envision you getting nostalgic and pulling out the wonder-wear for a galavant around the shop
I showed this post to my wife (I've shared your vids before) and she laughed so hard she had snot coming out of her nose. I think the pink boots did it.
Duckster....I feel strangely compelled to play TAPS right now. In my extended life I have now witnessed yet one more end of an era. I too agree with with Splint that desiccant should have been added, but possibly a thought of adding an entire bottle of Fabreze too? After continual use of the garment to mow in, paint, construct thousands of projects, and God knows how many other untoward things it has witnessed/participated in, I am astounded that it was able to be folded at all...I would have thought it would have stood on its own, similar to the flags left on the moon. Thank you for including us in the last rights of this icon to AUS and Craftisian Wood-working. As for the new smock/abortive icon.....some seasoning should be required, I think. Something along the lines of rolling in Dingo Dung or Kangaroo semen should help. As such, further consideration for new foot wear is in order. Some form of Aussy muk-luk, possibly fushia in color, may be considered. Further, some multi-colored Leo-"tards" might be under consideration, modified to provide "junk-room" of course.
Will some enterprising company soon copy this originality and try to replace the standard shop apron? Soon available on the internet? Will the Duck get a royalty fee? would one run the danger of being committed to the home if you wore one in public? It is very unique and original. Like the story about it.
Looks like you have stitched that one up well! Ever since seeing the animal smock I have searched hi and low to find similar material so I could emulate your character. However I have never been able to locate the material anywhere, Canberra when Lincraft closed down, various Spotlight stores across Australia, internet searches and commissioning of other "ladies" to search for the long sort after "Golden Chalice" however my B.J. Blazkowicz exploits failed me!
hey I just remembered i am pretty good with the Sewing Machine myself. I can knock up all sorts of interesting things! If you were in need of something special drop me a line! Oh and BTW... a maths lesson for you is needed. So here we go Start with 360 degrees and subtract 90 and you get 270, now divide 270 by 2 and you get 135, amazing stuff, but wait there is more, then divide 135, by lets use 2 again! and bingo you get 67.5 not 22.5. So I find that the Kapax not having 22.5 index strange to say the least as 22.5 x 2 equals 45 degrees a fairly common angle I would have thought. Now if your still with me and not too annoyed and wondering how you get the magicial 67.5 all that needs to happen is you make a 90 degree block and Jedd clamp it on the saw. and cut the timber at 22.5 deg to the blade giving you 67.5 degrees Ensuring at all times digits and other appendages are are well clear. Here endith the lesson, somebody say hallelujah
