Hello readers. By now you've long since given up hoping that something will be posted here. Well...I don't blame you. According to the calendar, it's been almost 9 months since I last posted here. What can I say?
Anyhow, my rule, newish rule is, "Try to never buy what you can make." That covers many different avenues, one of which happens to be coaching tools.
And why not? Coaching tools are expensive. Very expensive. And I believe that you get what you pay for - mostly. So if you spend a little, you're going to get a little. Pitch meters alone can cost upwards of $40 dollars. A pitch meter? The rigging tools I desperately want? Almost $200. Each. Ow.
Last time we chatted, I was in the process of building a height stick similar to the one found on a certain website. That project? Highly successful. Cheaper? Well, once you figure in the cost, plus shipping, yes, but not by a wide margin. Satisfying? Absolutely. So while you could order one, I prefer to build my own. And the bonus of it is, there's a rigging issue that seems to spring up every time I've used an "original" one of these that has been eliminated by me building my own. No more guess work which means while the cost difference was about $10 dollars - that helps these days - the headache issue has been completely negated. Win win.
The latest thing that we've built: A sit and reach box. With some help, I've built one that we'll be using later on this season. Again, ordering, not an issue, but why order when you can built it? Check out the link, and you'll understand why. And while the one you can build isn't as fancy as the ones you can buy - though I can make one that will have the sliding scale on it - at $17 dollars for the pieces needed, I can build 9 of them for the price of the cheapest version.
Granted, building or making all of your coaching tools isn't feasible, so you'll need to do some research. I won't make my own measuring tape because that's just silly though I may alter one that I buy. I won't build my own tool box because I'll never build one light enough and strong enough - mostly light enough - to rival what I can buy - and who has the machinery necessary to do all the bending and cutting right?
But I will say that if you sit down, take the time to do some research, you will find that you can produce what you need at home - still talking tools of the trade here though you can see what I'm getting at - for a fraction of the cost to buy it.
As you can tell, it's been a long while since I've posted here. And if you recall I've got several projects backed up on me from last summer. However, being the person I am, I jumped into a new project before finishing the other ones. You know what they say about shiny new toys.
Anyhow, if you check back on the other blog you'll see that we decided to award trophy blades to our graduating seniors. I believe the requirement is 4 years on the team but I might be getting that confused with something else. These blades came from Concept2 who sells extra blades for such a purpose and at $40 dollars a blade, it's really a great deal. You can even request sides.
I decided to follow a tradition I'd heard of and start getting a blade for each location I've coached at. So far, we're looking at 5 different blades but to make sure that this was something feasible, I went with only two to start.
These are the blades as they come in. The base white is so much easier to paint that the older versions that came in primer gray. Still these need some touching up. I decided that despite feeling confident in my abilities, I'd start with two simple blade designs and move on from there. I chose Pacific Rowing Club and the University of Puget Sound because they shared a base color - important for the thrifty shopper - and again, have a very simple design that allows for multiple takes without tremendous frustration.
If you've never done anything like this, don't worry. Concept2 has instructions on how to get solid results. Otherwise, it's pretty straight forward. These blades are in good shape but they are not pristine and require a little elbow grease. No worries though. For $40 dollars you really can't complain.
Start with very fine sand paper. You're looking to rough up the surface a little and take off some imperfections that might show through, not sand it down to nothing. Clean well. Concept2 recommends rubbing alcohol. I went with a mineral based cleaner applied directly to a rag.
Like I said, very straight forward. Be careful when going around the edges though. The black from the blades can get onto the white parts.
I recommend putting down a base coat regardless of what you're going to do with the blades. I went with a white base because both blades I'm painting as well as two that I plan on making next year will need it but you can go with many colors.
I also went with a quick drying paint. Proper spray painting requires several thin coats. This eliminates runs and drips and a quicker drying time can really help with the down time. These Krylon cans are awesome with swiveling heads to help with angles - unnecessary here but a nice feature - and put down very even coats. I also went with a base paint that had primer in it. I think primer is necessary but I don't believe you need to buy separate primer.
One thing that I strongly suggest is taking your time to do this. Yes you could in theory bang out the blades inside of a day. However for better results I put down two base coats over a 48 hour period. I put down 4 coats on the face of the blade on day then waited for it to dry before applying the paint to the back. So far I've been really pleased with the results with cleaner lines as well as a more solid hold - no touch up required so far - but do as you please.
After two days the blades are ready for the next coats of paint. I went with only two blades this year to make sure that they got done but also to make sure that I got the process down correctly. Even at only $40 a blade it can add up quickly. These are also the most simple designs so I could afford to mess around here without causing myself a major headache.
As I said, I went with blades from Pacific Rowing Club and the University of Puget Sound. Again because of the simplistic design - two personal favorites of mine - painting would be relatively painless. This painting takes a bit longer. The red paint that I chose coats very well but required several passes. The paint for the UPS oar required the same. They are currently waiting their final few passes before getting a clear coat gloss for protection.
Some tips:
1. Don't fret over matching colors too much. I went with a basic red for Pacific and a burgundy for UPS and both look strikingly similar.
2. Take your time. There's no reason to rush this. And don't be afraid to start over. This is not a one and done deal.
3. Tape, tape, tape. Blue painters tape is awesome. So are scrapes of newspaper. Be careful though. The day I started, the wind decided to pick up so paper was blowing around that was protecting the rest of the blade. Tape well but don't tape excessively.
4. I think the base coat is an absolute must. And the two in one primer and paint is a real time saving feature.
I'll post the finished results in a couple of days.
I've completely neglected this part of the blog during the summer and now that the weather has turned, it like most of the projects I was hoping to get done, remains unfinished.
Height Stick - In all honesty this is pretty much done. I need to simply finish putting it together. Alas the final assembly has been what I've been putting off for absolutely no good reason. But there it is. On the work bench, ready to go and simply sitting. Hopefully I won't forget about it until I desperately need it.
Bed Frame - This is the real guilty party here. This should have been done but I've been extra lazy this summer. And of course, it's the one project that I've had on my list that absolutely needed to get finished. What I'll probably do for now is assemble it, add the frame and leave it as it, 1/2 finished so I have a place to put the mattress and then next summer, try again. It looks good, just completely unfinished.
New Computer - This I'm proud to say is almost done. And with pictures. I have two laptops - one personal and one for mobile coaching though it needs an upgrade - but my desktop has been languishing on the side line. No more. The last two weeks I've been buying new components - last updated during the summer of 2004 - and with a lot of help, putting it together. We hit a few rough patches, mostly buying the wrong motherboard to go with the chip that I'd bought but last night it came together and started right up. I'm really pleased with it thus far and will be putting the finishing touches on it shortly; a secondary monitor, external backup hard drive, etc.
Why the second computer when I have two laptops? I wanted to do something with the desktop and decided that the reason I wasn't using it as much as I could have been and had done in the past was because of it's age and the fact that it wasn't what I needed. I thought about simply using the two laptops but I really did want one for complete personal usage and the other for coaching only. I have this paranoid thought that every time I fire off an e-mail with an attachment that I'll attach the wrong file and send some personal thought or a page from my novice novel writing years instead of a split time spread sheet.
When I decided to upgrade the desktop I realized that I had somehow managed to acquire two excellent - albeit not similar - monitors and having watched several of my friends who game use their set up, I wanted one of my own. However, despite loading the tower with components that would make any one of my gamer friends drool with envy, my computer is not going to game. With the two monitors I've come up with a set up that will allow me to run video on one FULL screen while taking notes on another rather than trying to make them fit into one smaller screen, or trying to run it off of two laptops - sounds easy, it's not. This will also allow me to have multiple full page documents open at the same time. I'm a pretty OCD person when it comes to documents and such and I have a hard time adjusting to a split view on a single screen so this will also help me deal with my own personal OCD issues. What can I say?
Sadly while getting the computer up and running was the easiest of the projects it was definitely low on the totem pole. Isn't that how it always is? That being said, I should knock out the new height stick in a couple of days and then hopefully get the bed done either next summer when the weather is more consistent or when I move to a place that has an attached garage.
If you've ever spent any time rigging a boat then you know what I speak of. If you've not, then here's a link.
I need one of these. The problem is that rowing specific tools such as this are rather expensive. I have a hard time plunking down $65 plus shipping for what basically amounts to two pieces of square metal tubing and a couple of screws.
Another issue that I have with this is that having used one, it does it's job well but it doesn't necessarily make your job easier. It's probably me and my lack of rigging experience but I don't like having to eyeball oar lock height. The top piece when it's pushed down to oarlock height, doesn't extend far enough into the boat to measure the way that I want to measure.
So having thoroughly examined the one that we have at the boat house I've decided to create my own using the same sort of design - I saw the one that was created by Willie Black but he's smarter than I am and I don't know how to use his - only modified to help me.
I'm still gathering the pieces that I want for this but rest assured that once I get started I'll let you know how it turns out.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to basic shell repair 101. Throughout the season I've been taking stock of what I've got, what I need, what needs to be fixed and what is ok. The boat that I use is a Vespoli shell that saw it's hey day back in the early 1990s. It's still a very good boat - stiff and fast when crewed correctly - but she is in desperate need of basic repairs that have been allowed to slide.
The first project of the year was cleaning up the oars that we use. That was a rather straightforward project that I don't feel the need to put into picture format. This project on the other hand, replacing the track supports, was a three day project.
And so it begins...
These are the tracks from inside our racing shell. There are two per seat and the seats have wheels that fit into channels on the top. They are supported and angled in the boat by wooden supports - now plastic. As you can see here, the wood that has been holding our tracks up has been well used and is in desperate need of replacement. The wood was so soft that you could squeeze it forcing water out of it's depths like a sponge. 
The first thing I did was remove the old rotting wood. It was a lot of "fun" pulling off this reeking, spongy, molding, rotting wood and the garage area smelled fantastic. I was lucky and managed to remove a whole one to use as a template to back up my measurements but the rest came off in pieces.
Next up comes the new wood. For the price of a couple rounds at the local watering hole I got a 1x10 piece of pine from Home Depot, measured out 20 replacement tracks - we need 16 but extras are always handy - and got to cutting. Unfortunately the table saw I was going to use picked this exact moment to die. After fiddling with it for a while the decision was made that the saw needed to be replaced anyhow and this was as good a time to do it. 
Life is so much easier when you have the tools you need rather than trying to piece meal it together. Having cut the wood to length, I drilled two small holes for the bolts that hold the track to the wood to the boat and then several 3/8 inch holes that would be the guide for the router. Despite having an amazing drill press I had no intention of drilling 20 holes per board to help with drainage. 
So instead I went with slots. I drilled two 3/8 holes then used the router to clear material between them. Note that each bolt hole has an inch of play on either side. Despite measuring the distance between bolts on the boat several times I decided that 2 inches of play would make life a lot better in case I missed rather than having to scrape 16 supports and start over.
At this point the tracks are almost done. To get the angle that I needed I used the old track as a guide. I was going to use the router to get the angle but when that proved more difficult than convenient I decided to go back to the table saw. While the cut is less clean it was far more accurate than it would have been on the router, it was quicker - at this point speed was becoming a priority - and because the variations would be small and that this repair is only temporary till we get the real replacement tracks, the table saw was fine for the job.
The final step was the soak the wood for about a minute or so in water seal and then let them air dry for 48 hours.
16 tracks in two days of work. The cost? Not even a 1/4 the cost of the plastic ones on the Vespoli website. And while it did take a little longer than expected, I didn't have to pay for rush delivery. I put them into the boat yesterday and we tested them and they work great.
So seeing as how a whole month has gone by since my last update, let's see where we are on the old project list.
1. The headboard is still in storage. I checked on it the other day and aside from it looking a little lonely it was none the worse for wear given that it hasn't been touched since fall.
2. The chest of drawers in the garage is still there and still full of model parts. Honestly I'm not sure I'm going to touch that one for several good reasons most of which have to do with not having places to put said model parts.
3. The S-10. This one actually did get some work. I managed to replace the brakes - I hate drum brakes - and the belt and she got a much needed bath although the birds have since left their marks. All that's left aside from another couple of bathes are the door hinges and then removing the old stickers before she can go onto the market. I'm going to miss this old truck.
I did spend this Mother's Day weekend working on some projects from work. When I get the pictures I'll post them here. And yes I did spend time with my mother.
Welcome back sports fans. Clearly it's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog. What can I say? Northwest winters and early spring weather aren't exactly conducive to projects when you've got to work outside - outside outside not outside in a garage or shed.
And of course real life is going on at the moment with the spring rowing season ramping itself up for a chaotic two month stretch. We train for 10 months for 2 months of racing and that's stretching it out. Typically we're talking maybe a month and a half. Dedication.
So what's on the project list?
1. The headboard for my bed. That needs to come out of the storage area and get finished. I've decided that I'm going to skip building a frame and instead settle on getting a metal frame plus a box frame. I've spent my spare moments trying to design the rest of the frame for the bed and I'm either not pleased with the results or the thing would be so big and awkward that I'd probably need to wait till I was in my next apartment/house before starting it.
2. The wood chest in the garage. I'm going to clean it out - it's full of old model parts and such from my days as a young boy - and look into replacing the handles on it with some fancy knobs. This is a very low intensity project but it's one that will be easy to finish.
3. My old Chevy S-10. I need to replace the front brakes, fix a slow leak in the rear axle, put on a new belt and replace the hinges in the door. Despite the complexity that this list lends itself to, the door hinges will be the hardest part and they are relatively easy. Then it needs to be washed something fierce and then get sold.
So that's the project list for now. Stay tuned!
