Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Carrying large and awkward things

The crufter's dilemma: You come across something simply wonderful, but it's too heavy, awkward, or hard to move to the place you want to move it and in a way you want to move it.
I think problems like this are interesting, and I'm going to dump experiences in this post.  Some of them even have pictures.

Summer 2012

motorized 14' long  projection screen - tied to bicycle seat and handlebars, did not attempt to ride bicycle.  would have been uncomfortably heavy to carry a long distance.

all of my stuff. shopping cart and backpacking frame were essential.  bungees and ropes useful also

Hooked carving knife

I tried to carve a spoon a few weeks ago.  It went well until I tried to carve the scoop.  I could really have used a curved blade.  Instead, I gouged it and ground it smooth with rocks.  It worked, but I'd rather have carved it instead.
Back at school, I was reminded of the "crooked carving knives" I saw on this site.  I love it when people provide lots of details on how they make things, even when they're trying to sell them, because it makes it a whole lot easier for me to try to make them.  So I tried making one.


Tongue Drum


I first saw these on youtube a while ago.  They're lamellophones just like the mbira, except made out of wood.  Having recently crufted some nice-ish wood, I traced out a pattern, figuring that if I made the tongues roughly different sizes, I could tune them later.