Tag: project

Things I’ve made

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Tent progress – Frame now works!

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The tent frame now works.  (Thanks as always for snapping pics, Mike.)  I'd gotten another joint suggestion from GMA fan Carl Smart (thank you!), and we used part of it, to great success. We ended up dropping the height of the ridgepole a total of 7" from where it had been.  I notched the short bits of the uprights to carry the ridge directly, which places the uprights at good section-modulus orientation* when you're pushing the assembled frame up underneath the fabric.  Ridge is now at approximately 8'-9". *This means a rectangular section vertical, rather than horizontal.  Much stronger shape. … Continue reading Tent progress – Frame now works!

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Tent progress – I’ve sewn a house!

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I spent a lot of time in the past week sewing on my tent. Yes, I do all my sewing currently on a 30" x 48" table squirreled away in here.  No pics of the folding required to lay out pieces in a room smaller than they are. In case I haven't said so already, this fabric is Odd.  It's a wool/Something Plastic blend, as determined by a burn test.  Except that I can't keep it on fire.  I can't help thinking this isn't a bad thing in a tent.  I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a sweatbox…but … Continue reading Tent progress – I’ve sewn a house!

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Tent stakes and puller and hardware

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The other half of my weekend was consumed with making tent stakes, a stake puller, hardware, buying wood for ridgepole and uprights, and being shown about a pretty good flea market in Dothan. Stake puller and tent stakes.  They need painting next. Red iron is fun. First we cut 10′ long square rod (10-45 steel?) into 20″ long pieces, with angle cuts on the ends.  12 of these.  So long because of sites like Gatalop, which have sand for dirt, and occur at shoulder parts of the year, with unpredictable and windy weather.  Each stake got a notch mark at … Continue reading Tent stakes and puller and hardware

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5th century Irish Tuam (a camp chair)

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I've been wanting a camp chair that was strong enough for anybody to sit in, and for me to sit in someone's lap in.  And, since it's mine, it needed some "in the range of" documentation, even though it's a camp chair.  And it had to fold up or break down nicely.  And I wanted it to be more comfortable than a plywood chair. Here's the one Michael Moulton and I worked on this weekend: 5thc Irish Tuam; I haven't seen the book that this guy's instructions are based on yet, and I'd really like to see the original information there, but I figured … Continue reading 5th century Irish Tuam (a camp chair)

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I can haz tent geometry!!!

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Finally, something that backs up my claim that I am an architect, really, truly I am: A graph paper geteld!  This guy is scaled 1/2"  = 1'0".  It's using a 12' long ridge, with 10' of it over 9' uprights… Here's the "open one side and put on poles view", a la this real tent: that I was talking about here.  I waved the pattern around to various people, and decided in discussion that I wanted a taller tent.  (I have tall friends, and I want to use the raised version of an airmattress.  No, don't try to talk me … Continue reading I can haz tent geometry!!!

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String Skirt 7 – Metal bits on

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(Metal tubes on, and as hoped, taking care of the fraying issue.) These were fun to figure out, and not time consuming to do.  Here's some photos of the extant tubes: I just sort of guessed that a nice size would be an inch long, and the pieces I cut to make the tubes are 1/4" wide.  If I had gauge measurements for the Egtved skirt (or actual measurements of the tubes) each would have informed the other, and I'd have a much more precise idea of how far I'm off.  I like making things in sizes of an inch … Continue reading String Skirt 7 – Metal bits on

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String Skirt 6 – Weaving done.

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Here's how the skirt looks now.  It's 144 cm by 38 cm, fringed area, with ties of 27 cm and 40 cm. Here's the Egtved original again, for comparison. (hey look!  the original ties are very different in length, too!  Hmmm…must think about this, in the backstrap vs. extended weaving configuration issue.) I took the skirt off the loom and despite having used a jig to get the fringes all the same length, the deviation from the mean was more than I expected.  However, the fringes all have to be connected still, and loops constructed, and that will change the … Continue reading String Skirt 6 – Weaving done.

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String Skirt 5 – Weaving, and deep thoughts

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(the skirt progresses.  I've got overtwisted doubleplied weft on the spindles, and am extending the weft beyond the tabletwoven waistband by passing the spindle around the dowel on the right.  Periodically I pull the loops off the dowel and allow them to twist up, creating the fringe of the skirt.) One of the things about weaving that I really enjoy is the ebb and flow of the creative work.  There's a crazy dense bit of planning at the beginning – much of the structure has to be figured out just to get started. Then the repetitive work begins, and a … Continue reading String Skirt 5 – Weaving, and deep thoughts

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String Skirt 3 – The size of the thing

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More gratitude to the Danish National Museum, and their citizens who pay more than 50% in taxes to provide hobbyists like me with cool eye candy, among other good things. So, this page and lots of other places describe the arrangement of Egtved Girl's string skirt thus: The Egtved Girl was dressed in a striking cord skirt. It went down to her knees, was wound twice around her waist and was 38 cm long. This kind of skirt was in use throughout the Bronze Age. Some small female figures of bronze from Grevensvænge, Zealand, are also dressed in cord skirts. … Continue reading String Skirt 3 – The size of the thing