Sunday, April 15, 2012
Wool Picker Completion
I finished the wool picker and presented it to the fiber arts class on Friday. It wasn't as simple to finish as I originally thought it would be. I thought a simple stain, top piece, and feed tray would only take 2 hours at the most. In that time calculation, I forgot all of the other nuances that needed to be tended to. In order for the top sleigh to be stored inside the box, I needed to trim the handle, the nails were still fighting with each other, the runners needed to be trimmed, metal isn't easily bent, and it ended up taking five and a half hours to complete. I'm not complaining, I love playing in Dave's wood shop! I will admit that when the nails were clashing and the sleigh wasn't sliding as smoothly, I was ready to burn it. It was very discouraging to have put all the work into the design and construction and not have it work. I learned that almost nothing will work the first time you construct it, it takes time to tinker. Thankfully, Dave was encouraging and after some thinking, we trimmed down the runner and found a few problem nails and things were running smoothly. The top was easy, we decided on the size, cut it, sanded it, added pegs to keep it from sliding around and that was all set. Overall, I had a ton of fun building it and now I have a wonderful picker that cost me around $80 in materials. My building projects aren't over just yet though, I am making legs for the picker and I still have a hackle to make! If you have any questions, I would love to answer them!
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Thank you for sharing you project with us Alexis, I have enjoyed using yours and examining how it is different from the other type. Much less scary and also is very stable on the table which is nice. I was also impressed with how inexpensive it was.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with fiber inventions,
Malaika
That was a great presentation you gave Friday. It was encouraging that you could build your own fiber equipment because I feel that the expense of pre-made equipment will hold me back. It will be even more satisfying to spin your own yarn when you know you built the picker too. I'm glad you enjoyed building it in the long run. You should go into the business! Good luck on your future fiber projects.
ReplyDeleteKlaus DeBoer
Hey, I liked how your picker design was not as scary as the swinging one. It was very beautiful and looked well made. The one trouble I had with it was getting it to pull the wool in. I had to lift it up with my hand onto the nails each time. I do not know if that is how it is designed though. I felt a bit worried pressing my hands up against the moving nails.
ReplyDeleteGreat job though, Sierra.