Lately here in Louisiana it has been extremely cold...totally out of the norm. We haven't had a cold spell like this in nearly 20 years. We've been dealing with freezing temps down into the low 20's, freezing rain and ice on the roadways. I've still been going to the shop and working on all this. I feel it is of utmost importance. Last night, after a 12 hr day, I had to run my car 30 minutes to defrost the nearly 1/8 inch of ice on the windows. My car was toasty to go home and I'm glad I left when I did because the roads were getting icy. There maybe 3 cars I passed on the way home.

My next "to do" on this snow day was to rebuild my router jig for shaping the "butt" end of the stick. I'd built two already and they helped get me to my next design. The 1st one never came to fruition. It got about halfway started and I realized it wasn't going to work. That led me to revision 2 which worked alright but left a lot of room for error. There was a lot of chatter from the stick not being properly supported while being pushed and turned into the bit as well as the stick wanting to climb out of the holder. That all led me to the design of revision 3 (shown above) that works MUCH better. It offers good support next to the bit and keeps the stick in place while being turned. I redid the small batch of sticks shown above but then my old router, that was my dad's and nearly 40 yrs old, started crapping out. I'll have to rebuild it when I have some "free" time. Glad I have another that I can mount in the table. I'm very happy with the jig.

My good friend, and fellow drummer, Jermaine had stopped by the shop since he was off from work for this "snow" day. He hung out and we chatted quite a bit about drumsticks. He also watched everything I did while making the router jig. He's really nice guy and always willing to help and gain some knowledge. After I finished making the jig and testing it out, we took the last hour and some change to chop and rip out some square stock out of the hickory I'd picked up the day before. We chopped and ripped enough stock for about 120 drumsticks. My neighbor Josh stopped in at the end of the day and was very surprised at the developments that have come along since he saw me last week.

Even while the machine is down waiting for tooling supplies there is plenty to do to get ready for the production of sticks. I didn't get to the shop very early today due to icy roads. I did get there about 1030 and dealt with fixing a heating issue in the shop. It's all good now. The heater is now able to get the temp up to a much more comfortable working environment. My friend and fellow woodworker Noah came by to visit a little while. He's seen the videos and was curious to see what I'd been doing. We had a very nice visit a discussed some options for getting names and logos on the sticks. He's been another wonderful person to talk to about woodworking. Seems like there is a nice circle growing in the community. Jermaine came by again today for a while and then my woodworker friend Martin came by and we had a very casual conversation about all that is going on in the shop and the outside. Martin and I go back over 20 years.

Thursday will be a short day in the shop since I've got lessons in the afternoon and a gig at night. I've got to run to the hardware store for some screws to mount the "new" router in the table and run some errands so the bills get paid. I'll post more later this week.

Y'all have a good one and thanks agian for your interest.
Talk to ya soon!

We finally began to thaw yesterday morning. Spent the morning yesterday ripping stock and working on a couple jigs for finishing the butts and tips. The lathe is running better and better as I work through some bugs in the system. With it being abnormally cold here in Louisiana, I'm very happy with my oil pan heater that I installed on the hydraulic tank. It keeps the oil warm through the night and takes a lot of strain off the pump motor on initial start up. Before running any product through I still have to cycle it through several times just to be sure the oil in the lines is warm. Some lessons I've learned about turning sticks....sharp tooling and good stock. The stock is a key element. The moisture content needs to be good. I noticed a difference between a couple boards from different suppliers. If it is to dry, the wood doesn't curl when cut with the gouge and you get a splintering on the butt chuck piece from the back knife.

The video below is a longer run of sticks and, go figure, the steady rest gremlin came in on the last piece. I'm still figuring that one out. I feel like its in the pneumatic (air) controller valve. I'll post some pics of the finished sticks later.

Enjoy!

It's taken some time and it was worth it. Drumsticks are now coming off the lathe. The first batches of prototypes will be 5B 5A 7A and 2B barrel tips. I've got to get more material because this machine burns through it. Right now the lathe will spin one every 30-35 sec and I've still got a bit of dialing in to do. The chucks get trimmed and the tip and butt get finished by hand so far. Eventually I hoped to speed all that up with a couple other nifty machines on the drawing board.

It's been cold here in Louisiana. The temp didn't get above 28 degrees today. There are icicles hanging off the house and I had a sheet of ice on the car before I left the shop. Fortunately the shop is staying warm at about 60. The plan for tomorrow is spinning sticks. Enjoy the video below.

Hey everyone, I've been working all week at getting the back knives on the lathe along with making some other tweaks here and there. After some trial and error, shimming certain sections of knives, and adjusting the knife bar... I've finally produced a good stick. At the moment the machine is set up for 5B standard taper sticks and I can finish the sticks with a barrel tip and nice round butt.

Also, I've been making adjustments to the automation features.
-Stock loaders are set
-Hopper has been set
-pneumatic steady rest has been adjusted, may need a minor tweak.
-need to adjust time delay for loader drop out when the stock is "dogged"
-stock removal adjusted and functions, may need a tweak or 2.

Built a die lube tank driven by the pneumatic system. Works wonderful!!

The start of the week will entail making dust collector connections and allowing the machine to cycle several times to make sure all functions are in good timing. The oil heater I put on the hydraulic reservoir is working great. It helps warm the oil and reduces strain on the hydraulic pump on startup with the colder temps we've been experiencing here. Lately, it's been about 50-55 in the building when I show up and I'm lucky to get the shop temp up to 60-65 during the day. The concrete floor, brick walls and block ceiling have finally acclimated to the cool outside temps and will not warm up until we have several days of warmer weather. The forecast, however, is saying more cold weather.

By the end of the week I hope to have some 5B 5A 7A and 2B protos in barrel tips. I've got enough straight grain wood for about 100 pair. Hope to go to get more material mid week. Soon I hope to be getting these protos out for some 'beta' testing. Keep an eye out for them here and at Scott's Drum Center.

Cheers!

Good Morning everyone. As you all may be aware... IT"S COLD!! Even in southern Louisiana...It's cold. I feel for those in the northern country because they're frozen. It's been in the low 20's here the last several nights and we're not used to it. It's been nearly 20 years since it's been this cold. This cold doesn't make for a conducive work environment in the shop. Normally I'd be wishing for A/C i the 3 long hot summer months but this winter I was wishing for heat.

A couple of days ago, while soaking in some warmth before going to the shop, I had a knock on the porch window. "UPS" the guy says. Hot diggitty...the back knives for the the lathe are here. This was my Xmas present and some New Year joy all in one HEAVY box. I went out and brought it in. I couldn't wait to get it to the shop and opened it on the living room floor...well...some of it. These are really cool. Now I've got to get them on the machine and start making some sticks. But wait....Did I mention it was COLD. Even with the heat in my brick shop, the temp doesn't get above 55-60 when its 20 outside. That's a lot of brick to heat up. To explain my dilemma, the machine hydraulics do NOT like the cold weather (as I've explained previously) so today I will be going out to get an oil pan heater, for diesel trucks, to stick on the 12 gallon reservoir.  It should be enough to keep the oil warm so the pump won't struggle so much to start. I should be able to get to setting things up and turning some stock by Friday.

Yes, it is a happy new year. I spent the holiday reflecting over my years of life, especially 2013. Last year had its ups and downs, but it had a couple tremendous downs that brought me down for the holiday. Deborah and I had a rather blue Xmas this year. It was a reminder of the two ladies that were no longer in our physical lives anymore.

I had a pretty good year up to a point, then it all went into a tailspin. I'd spent the early part of 2013 hustlin' gigs, teachin' lessons, workin' at Scott's Drum Center and gettin ' things together in my own shop. I'd taken some time to visit with my mom, and my 2nd mom Mary, on a regular daily basis. Mary was getting into her late 90's and beginning to show signs of OLD age. My mom, although still a young 75, was beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's. She'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2012 but began showing stronger signs of Alzheimer's late 2012. My brother and I had some instances of forgetfulness from her and we figured IT was coming. We didn't realize how fast It was coming.

Early in April, I talked to Brad at Scott's Drum Center and let him know I needed to step away to spend more time with my Mom. He understood. I'd been working there for 12 years and have been the go to guy for repairs, along with handling regular in's and outs of retail. I felt it was important to spend this time with my mom. Little did I know of the time I was getting ready to spend with her. I went to visit her after speaking to Brad and I spent the ENTIRE afternoon explaining to her who I was. This was the first time this had happened. My mom didn't know who I was. I was was very very concerned and sad. She bounced in and out of reality as we know it for a month or so, but this began the fulfillment of the promise that my brother and I made to her. The promise that we would take care of her no matter how long it would be. Everything I'd been doing in my shop got shelved, put on the back burner. My life was now with my Mom... Oh, and helping Deborah and her Mom Mary.

From April 'til August, I would spend twelve hours a day plus caring for my mom. Since my bro is a really good tech, his employer allowed him to be home a little early a couple of days so I could teach lessons. I would be there in the day so my bro could work and he would be there at night. Then I would go home to Deborah and help her with Mary. Some nights I didn't leave my mom due to my bro working late. She was very confused, especially in the afternoon/evening and some nights she didn't sleep AT ALL. The next several months were very trying. Taking care of your mom that doesn't remember you and hearing her talk about her baby, me, that soon did not exist as her mind went in retrograde. I was with my Mom daily and experienced this phenomenon until she could only speak a handful of words, then 2 words, then 1, then none at all. She passed in early August. She loved Xmas... we played lots of Xmas music while she was bed bound....She died to Silent Night. It was early August, but Xmas to her.

We took care of what needed to be done. It took a couple weeks to tend to. After that, I immersed myself in my work at my shop. My Mom would have wanted that. She was a strong life long supporter and believer in me. She wanted me to do what I desired to do....pursue a career in drumming. Her and my father gave me the start. I have and will continue to be a drummer AND a craftsman. My father was a craftsman... as was his father. It was passed along to me. It's taken me years to embrace it. For so long I pushed it away... I wanted to be a drummer, a musician and finally after years of fighting it, I'm learning how to combine those elements of my life. It has been an interesting journey with many twists and turns, uphills and downhills. It's been an interesting ride.

My new pursuit in the shop didn't go to long. Deb's Mom Mary began her downhill movement. She knew who I was up until the near end, and always wanted to know how my day was and what I'd done. I would explain to her what I'd done that day and she was always very excited and very supportive too. She passed in early October, One week shy of her 99th birthday. In my mind she was 99. Her gift to me was...Never to give up on your dreams and your passions. Her and her husband were living proof. They struggled through their early years and got to a point, in their late 50's, that their business was successful. They worked hard and lived modest and enjoyed the fruits of their labor into their older age... both of them into their 90's. I'm very glad to have met both of them.
Deborah and I continue to cope, as Mary would say, with our losses.

I had a slight upturn in progress with my endeavors starting my business last year. I'd made "friends" on FaceBook with a gentleman in Hew Hampshire that has made drumsticks for 30 years... Jeff Rich of Custom Drumsticks. This was early in 2013. He seemed very genuine, sharing information about sticks and processes, along with being interested in "partnering" in some fashion. We'd discussed possibly him doing all the custom stick work and me making all the "standard" sizes. It seemed like an interesting working relationship. He affirmed a lot of research I'd already done. He even shed some light on some things I'd not thought of. During the time for caring for my mom, he even wanted to sell me his business. I'd considered it heavily, but he decided to sell to another interested buyer closer to where he was. His new partnership went sour and, from what I can tell, he walked away from the venture...bitter. We continued to talk over the internet and were getting ideas together to get LA BackBeat drumsticks into the marketplace. We were forging ahead, so I decided to take a trip to New Hampshire and Massachusetts to meet with him in person, go to Maynard Machine and Tool (the makers of knives for the FH30) and meet with John Witt the owner of Goodspeed. It took a lot to make that meeting happen. Overall, it took a lot for me to make the trip happen. It was a week after Deborah's Mom died. I'm glad I went and Deborah is too. Jeff and I  had a wonderful meeting. He showed me around New England telling me history of this place and that. We went to the coast. We looked at hickory. We went to Maynard Machine. We went to the building where the FH30 had lived for a brief period. I enjoyed his company and conversation. I felt closer to him. I didn't get to see him the last day I was there. He had to work that day and was tired and needed to sleep to be rested for his early next day. I dropped off a few leftover groceries at his house the night before Halloween. He sent a nice short email saying how he was happy to have met me. That was essentially the last time I  conversed with him.

I am grateful to have gone to Maynard Machine. Jeff made the arrangements to meet with Ray and Ernie. This machine shop has been making tooling and parts for Goodspeed for a long time...especially knives. I was ecstatic to have met these two men. Ernie was especially helpful sharing info I would have never known. This began the dialog for creating the back knives for the lathe. Ray and I started the process and then Ernie and I began going through different revisions of what I wanted to achieve. After several revisions, I was finally satisfied and they started the manufacturing of the knives. I forgot to mention, Maynard had been sold to a larger company and they were going to take acquisition in early January 2014. I got my order placed in the nick of time. I can honestly say that I have some of the last knives that Maynard made. I very happy that Ernie was involved too. He is a true master at his craft. I'm honored to have met both Ray and Ernie.

I am also honored to have met John Witt with Goodspeed Machine. He has been extremely helpful with helping me understand some of the processes of the FH30. He has helped me with parts and also information regarding setup that there is no manual for. This particular machine has certain options that were special for long slender turnings...like drumsticks. Thanks for all the help John.

The holidays came and the blues set in. I missed my mom and Deborah missed hers. I miss her mom too. Work at the shop slowed to a minimum and we spent time with one another and had family and friends to visit. It was good to be around people. I spent the first several days of the new year reflecting on the year that past and the year that is ahead. With all the death and loss experienced this year, I can honestly say that something new is being born. Like a phoenix rising. There is a lot going on... lots of new opportunities being presented and lots of GROWTH for myself and my partner.

I know there are experiences I've left out. I must say that I am grateful and thankful to all those that are in my life. Anyone that knows me, knows that I genuinely care for everyone I know. It's in my nature... nearly to a fault. Thanks everyone for all your support and interest.

Best wishes to everyone in 2014 and beyond!!
Frank