Not huge, but worth a couple minutes’ worth of words.
My processes have gotten better and faster over the last few months.
A couple days ago, I realized that if I changed my finish to CA glue instead of Solarez, I’d cut about six hours of work time and three days of timespan from finishing a stick. I also discovered that I’ve become quite handy building shafts, such that a test was warranted.
I wondered if I could remove a hanging stick from its hook, cut it to final size, drill, bore, tap, glue the joint pin, drill, bore, tap the weight bolt/rubber bumper, prepare to finish, finish, cut shaft to final size, drill, tap, prepare to finish, finish, IN A SINGLE WORK DAY?
The long story short was, no.
In fact, this is day 3, and I just finished the test. I didn’t complete the stick in a single workday, but I did verify that I can finish with CA instead of Solarez, get an equivalent shine/hardness, and cut days from the process.
The stick I did the test on was PLAIN ASH STICK. I didn’t know how many coats of heavy CA to use, so I started with 3.
Four would have been better. And I discovered a foolproof way to keep my signature from running, when I redid that. That’s what you see in red, in the image.
Anyhow, that’s why the test lasted longer than a day. Going forward, I expect the jobs I listed above to be finishable in a single long, long, long ass day.
Looking back, I originally used CA glue as my chosen finish until I got sick of not being able to breathe in the basement after using it. Now that I have a finishing booth in the garage that I wheel to the driveway for ventilation — designed for using with Solarez, but equally handy for CA glue — I can use the faster CA finish, do it outside, and skip all the steps involved in getting a Solarez finish to look as good as a CA finish.
I feel like I’ve had my head so far up my ass, I need a drink.
Anyhow, realizing my much-faster workflow will be a game changer in my productivity, I reduced prices on finished sticks. I anticipate also changing prices on my in-process sticks, so they reflect both the scarcity of the spalted wood, burl, and live edge materials I use, but also the much-faster production time.
To simplify the experience on my website, I created at page called READY TO SHIP.
These are sticks that I’ve paired with a shaft or two, finished, and are ready to give a final buff, delicately pack in a hard case, and ship to you.
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