Stick stock is growing again. So far there are 2B, 5A, 5AX, 7A in barrel tip and .555 (747) acorn available. Working on 5B, 5BX, 5BXL in both barrel and acorn. Would also like to work on the oval tip as well. There has also been a request for a .571 in barrel. Will work on that too. The past couple weeks have seen a lot of development here in the shop. New stick designs are coming to fruition. It takes time, very fulfilling and worth it all. Worked on cleaning up the long straight knife more today. That edge was really out-o-whack. Once this knife is cleaned up and "straight," stick length up 17" will be available.

Been turnin' sticks the past couple days. Those on the list...5A, 5Ax, 7A, and 747 (.555≠) all still in barrel. The barrel is more popular than the ball, so the ball is being discontinued at this time. Hoping to work out some tips this go 'round as well. 5A, 5Ax and 7A are turned, trimmed, shaped, sanded and straight. Tomorrow will stamp, weigh, pitch and match along with figure out a tip for the 747 
-.555 I'm gonna call it. A small run, all together around 350 pcs +/- 

Also been workin' on a 5B jazz stick with an acorn in the eve 'round stopping time. It is a 16" stick with a longer taper, large neck, and a smallish acorn tip. Here it is... already played...

The past few weeks have been very busy. I had a ludwig vistalite come in the shop for an overhaul, wood to chop and rip, a broken water spigot outside and gigs out the wazoo. 

Earlier this month I picked up a load of hickory fresh from the distributor. Fresh it was.... so fresh that it was still a bit too moist. I had to sticker it and leave it in the shop with the fans on to pull some moisture out of it. I had a saw blade get stuck in it while cutting to long lengths a couple weeks ago. Last week I ripped and chopped over 1000 pieces and still have more stock to go. All the squares got stacked so that air can get though them so they can continue to acclimate. It has been quite a lot of work to get this batch ready for the lathe.

There was also a 7 piece Ludwig Vistalite that came in. Started the refurb on that last monday and got 3 of the 7 pieces finished. The 13 and 16 will need to be fixed. The 13 is cracked all the way through the seam and the 16 has fracture about 4 inches long. I've ordered and received the the same acrylic clue that ludwig used to glue these shells. It will be a tedious job but they will look really good when finished. It will be for sale. I'll start on that again when I catch up on stick stock.

Had to catch up on some chores this weekend. Spring is here in the south and the grass is growing... FAST. I had to tend to some grass along with some spring cleaning, saturday afternoon on property. I got back to the shop about 630 and decided to knock out my small yard while the big mower was out. Well, I went a lil to fast and broke off the outside spigot. Ever see water come out of a 1" water main? It's like a geyser!! I scrambled to shut off the water and had Deb run over to the hardware store for a coupling. They didn't have what I needed, so after an hour or so I decided to shut it down and head for home. It wasn't going to get fixed 'til Monday anyway and I was tired, hungry and now all dirty from the mud. It had been a long day. I had gone to the shop early and turned some sticks until grass duty.

I got to the shop early this morn after stopping at the hardware store for some copper fittings to sweat the water pipe back together. I get to the shop to realize the torch set acetylene regulator was on the fritz. There was a replacement but the hose fitting was too small. I returned the new regulator to the supply house and went to see about getting the old regulator rebuilt. My dad had nice regulators on his torch set and worth being rebuilt. I left the regulator at the welding supply and set out to get a temporary fitting to get the water pipe fixed. Stopped at Coburns, got a fitting, went back to the shop and rebuilt the spigot pipe. I jumped back on the lathe and finished turning a small batch before resharpening time.

Pulled the tooling and did a nice sharpening. Got them back on the lathe and started making some tweaks then the phone rang. It was the welding supply. The regulator was fixed. I finished with my adjustments so I could start immediately after returning from retrieving the regulator. I stopped at S&L bolt for some inserts while I was picking up the regulator. Some pieces for a few mod tricks I have up my sleeve for the lathe. 

The previous sanding modifications that were made to the lathe are developing nicely. I am very happy with the results. I will have to fabricate a longer steady rest component to hold the sand paper securely so that it will cover the entire stick. As of now, the lathe is producing a nice semi polished stick. VERY little sanding will have to be made after the stick is trimmed and end shaped. I'm liking the developments on this modification TREMENDOUSLY. 

I've had a long day and I'm getting ready to take off my hats. I'll be up and at 'em early in the morn to make some sticks to fill orders. Currently stock is needed to fill 5A and 7A orders. I've had some requests for a stick between 5A and 7A so I plan on turning some 747 diameter (.551) sticks too. This spring break week will also see turning of a jazz stick, 3A and the beginnings of the oval tip sticks. Acorn will get some further development as well.

'til later.....