Last day...

Today was my last day on Senior Project. I went out and got the simple nylon string I needed for my wooden stick today in Concord, and then came back and set out to finishing the weaving of my stick. Again, this is much harder than it appears and sounds. I sat down and studied my mother's weaving on her stick head and for the longest time could not figure out where to begin. However, as I picked a place and started, it started to come more naturally and fluently (the first part that is...). Then, once the first string was strung, I had to figure out the next and thread the string somehow through the tight holes from the string before. As long as this took, I finally finished and the weaving looked almost the same as my mother's stick (somewhat...). My stick was finally complete, and I took it out to throw around a little at our dorm dinner. It was very difficult at first to throw and catch with the wooden stick, but I had been practicing with my mother's stick. It was bizarre, but so satisfying to be able to play with my wooden stick that I had just spent that past week and a half building from scratch. I am sad that senior project is over, but excited I was able to finish my stick and slide show. I am anxious to show my senior project and see everyone else's Thursday afternoon.

Weaving

I always thought the weaving of my stick head would be the easiest part of my stick. Alas, I was quite wrong. First, I soaked the rawhide in water for a while until it became lenient and alterable. Once it was soaked, I thread it through the holes for the side wall and doubled it up and coiled it until it was a sturdy sidewall. Once it hardened, it really hardened and became taught and tight so it is almost and actual wall. From the looks of it, it looks like it will definitely keep the ball in the weaving. After the sidewall dried and hardened, I took the Latigo (substitution for the leather shooting strings) strips and made four taught strings in the middle of the head. I had to replicate the exact way the strings were strung by using my mother's stick as a model. This was very hard and took a very long time. Tomorrow I will go to Concord to get the rest of my strings and finish my weaving tomorrow.

Weekly Reflection #2

This week was my first time in the wood shop besides when giving tours. First, Greg and George helped me strip the wood into strips with a sharp piece of machinery that I did not feel comfortable handling myself. Even though I was not able to do the actual cutting and sawing of the wood, it was cool and interesting to watch and learn from a safe distance how to do it. I had no idea how strong the glue was, but when we glued the strips of wood together and clamped it to the form to shape it, sure enough it stayed together and appeared to be very durable. When I started chipping away with the spoke shave, the wood stayed together perfectly and you could hardly tell the stick was made from strips of wood glued together. After I left it out to dry, I took it out of the form and it was miraculously a wooden shaft. I could shape it with the spoke shave, and then when it was all shaped, I spent hours sanding it to finish the shaping and making it smooth. When all of that work was done, I drilled the holes where they needed to be for the weaving. Then, I finished it off by continuously spraying it with finish to make it presentable and shiny. George and Greg helped me navigate my way through the wood shop and using the hand tools. All of this was so new and interesting to me.

This week was probably the most productive and rewarding for me. I learned how to use the power drill, spoke shaver, clamps, a form, saws, and more. I loved working in the wood shop, despite the infection in my lungs I got from the dust. My sickness was a minor set back, but I persevered and still worked through it. Successfully, my stick is fully formed and ready to start weaving. I hope to still have time to learn how to string a modern day girl’s stick, but if I do not, I have had a very successful senior project and learned a lot this week.

Finishing my Stick

Today was my last day in the wood shop. After hours of sanding last night and this morning, I spent the rest of the day measuring where the holes for my strings were going to go, and then drilling the holes as well. After drilling my holes, I had to spend another hour sanding the stick again, because of the shards of wood that were messed up from the drilling. When everything was perfectly shaped, smooth, and ready, I took the stick upstairs and sprayed it with the finish. I put 2 coats on either side and left it to dry. Later, I will start the weaving with the rawhide i have been soaking for two days and the leather.

Shaping the Stick

Despite feeling like death this morning and having a very hard time getting out of bed, I persevered and got up to work diligently on my stick. I started out using the hand tools to shape my stick that is more resembling a cane rather than a stick at this point. I rounded the shaft and replicated my mother's wooden stick for the head. I made it so it will be easy to scoop the ball and the side wall is somewhat curved for maximum release. After shaving the excess wood off, I sanded the whole stick to make it smooth and presentable. I will finalize the sanding and put the finish on tomorrow as I will also drill holes in it and start the weaving with George. I soaked the rawhide in warm water all day so it will be pliable for tomorrow.

Slow Day...

Today started out with waking up and working a little more on my movie. It's still not done, but with a little more extra time, it will hopefully be completed by Monday. I had class and then because it was a short day, I had to race to lunch and get on the bus to compete in my last high school lacrosse game. On the way back I started feeling very nauseated and when I got back to my room I passed out because I felt so sick. I was supposed to go work on my stick at 7 for a few hours, but I felt so sick, I was not able to work on it too much today. I will just have to make up the hours laster this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Woodshop Work

Today's events started out a little hectic when I got in my car to go get my materials in Chelmsford and realized that I had left my credit card and license at a Mcdonald's an hour and a half away. Luckily, with a little research I found that Gregor had picked up my wallet and kept it safe (thanks Gregor). So with a late start, I raced down to Tandy's Leather in Chelmsford, Mass. There, I talked with the owner about which materials would be best and most accurate for my replicated Indigenous stick. Surprisingly, he was very knowledgeable on the subject and helped me pick out stripped rawhide, leather, and latigo lace for the weaving of my stick head. We chatted for a while about other things that originated from the Native American culture and he showed me various types of shaped objects such as moccasins, spoons, bowls, cases for various different things, etc. It was very interesting to see all of these intricate artifacts and be able to appreciate how Native Americans used there resources.

After I got back, I was able to spend a few hours on shaping my stick. I was able to take it out of the form and clamps and amazingly it had stayed perfectly shaped. Greg then shaved the excess glue off and made the sides smooth and even with a very scary blade. I then made my lines on my stick where I was going to grind the wood and make the stick strategically shaped for the game of lacrosse. It was scary to use the grinder at first, but then, as I got the hang of it, it was hard to stop and I just wanted to do it more and more. After today, my stick is mostly shaped and ground. However, I still have a lot of finishing touches to do before I start my weaving on the head. Tomorrow I will finish that up and hopefully start the weaving on the stick.