Made some sticks
I finally did it. I got in the shop and worked on some boomerangs.
This week I had a bit of free time and headed in the shop. It was 41 degrees F and rainy. The shop felt cold and damp. After a brief attempt to get the motor on my belt sander running, I decided to let that wait for warmer weather. I cut out some shapes out of 3/16 inch thick polycarbonate. I like the idea of using this material for Aussie Round boomerangs but had never tried it out. I cut 8 blanks and shaped 6 of the, Shapes I tried are the Island Omega, Gel's Sunshine, Dragon Lady, my own Omni and a small Vee I make in polypro. I shaped all but the Vees.
With the belt sander offline, I switched to using a 2 inch diameter drum in my drill press. I have the Singley drum sanders where you can use any standard paper or cloth sandpaper. This drum already had some paper on it so I set right to work. It was slower going than normal but that would be expected as the drum does not have the surface area of a 6 x 48 belt. The paper was already been used so it was not prime. I was wearing latex gloves to keep my hands a bit warmer and to prevent them from drying out. This is a regular problem for me, especially in the winter when the air is drier.
I was sanding my second boomerang when I noticed some noise. About the same time, I noticed the glove on my left hand was getting damaged. I shut off the drill press to check things out.It appears that the polycab takes a tough toll on the sandpaper. It was very worn and had torn, only hanging on my a quater inch or so. The rest of the pices was acting like a flap sander and sanding my hand.
I replaced the sandpaper and got throug the next 4 boomerangs with no trouble. I also sanded the paint off a Sabal Anaconda I attempted to paint but got mixed products which caused the paint to krinkle. I managed to gat a new base coat on that before quiting. I now need to test the blanks I sanded. Since I have never made these in polycarb before, I guess they are still sticks and not boomerangs. Once they are tested and found to work, I can call them boomerangs.The paper covering on the polycarb got a bit messed up so I had to peel it off before I test them. With clear polycarb, it turned then into "stealth bomerangs" which will be interesting to try and see when they fly or land. I have learned not to test clear ones on a grey day, they vanish from site.
Testing has been postponed due to bad weather. It had been raining and the fields are soggy and wet. Yesterday was high winds with gusts to 50 mph. Today more wind is expected with gusts above 35 mph. Tomorrow there is snow and rain predicted and Sundays high is expected to be only 40. Looks like it will be weeks before these get tested and proven.
Dave
Photo: six "stealth" boomerangs
This week I had a bit of free time and headed in the shop. It was 41 degrees F and rainy. The shop felt cold and damp. After a brief attempt to get the motor on my belt sander running, I decided to let that wait for warmer weather. I cut out some shapes out of 3/16 inch thick polycarbonate. I like the idea of using this material for Aussie Round boomerangs but had never tried it out. I cut 8 blanks and shaped 6 of the, Shapes I tried are the Island Omega, Gel's Sunshine, Dragon Lady, my own Omni and a small Vee I make in polypro. I shaped all but the Vees.
With the belt sander offline, I switched to using a 2 inch diameter drum in my drill press. I have the Singley drum sanders where you can use any standard paper or cloth sandpaper. This drum already had some paper on it so I set right to work. It was slower going than normal but that would be expected as the drum does not have the surface area of a 6 x 48 belt. The paper was already been used so it was not prime. I was wearing latex gloves to keep my hands a bit warmer and to prevent them from drying out. This is a regular problem for me, especially in the winter when the air is drier.
I was sanding my second boomerang when I noticed some noise. About the same time, I noticed the glove on my left hand was getting damaged. I shut off the drill press to check things out.It appears that the polycab takes a tough toll on the sandpaper. It was very worn and had torn, only hanging on my a quater inch or so. The rest of the pices was acting like a flap sander and sanding my hand.
I replaced the sandpaper and got throug the next 4 boomerangs with no trouble. I also sanded the paint off a Sabal Anaconda I attempted to paint but got mixed products which caused the paint to krinkle. I managed to gat a new base coat on that before quiting. I now need to test the blanks I sanded. Since I have never made these in polycarb before, I guess they are still sticks and not boomerangs. Once they are tested and found to work, I can call them boomerangs.The paper covering on the polycarb got a bit messed up so I had to peel it off before I test them. With clear polycarb, it turned then into "stealth bomerangs" which will be interesting to try and see when they fly or land. I have learned not to test clear ones on a grey day, they vanish from site.
Testing has been postponed due to bad weather. It had been raining and the fields are soggy and wet. Yesterday was high winds with gusts to 50 mph. Today more wind is expected with gusts above 35 mph. Tomorrow there is snow and rain predicted and Sundays high is expected to be only 40. Looks like it will be weeks before these get tested and proven.
Dave
Photo: six "stealth" boomerangs
Added on March 21, 2008 by bvdrangs
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