This is what the classroom looked like the day before students arrived in it. Are the masts too subtle?
The 3/8" eyescrew fastens the chain to the actual construction pole.
The chain is looped over the red iron roof joists to secure the masts in place.
These poles were dontated to this project by William Plant (President) and Ronda Catlett (Project Manager) at Building Products Plus down in Houston. Be sure to check their website at http://www.buildingproductsplus.com/. Without their help, this project would be just an idea.
This half-barrel is soaking on my back patio to keep the staves from drying out and letting the barrel fall apart. This summer is was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several months. The barrel is scheduled to hold a hundred fathoms or so of 1/2-inch harpoon line.
Twenty-eight wooden teeth on the piano in my shop at home. I have whittled the teeth from spruce, pine, and fir which I picked up this summer from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I've lettered the base of each tooth to remember when it came from. The red one is Number Twenty-One. This tooth bit back when my carving knive slipped and opened a five and a half-inch gash in my left knee.
My wife was not amused when I suggested I had thought of stumping into the classroom an a real peg leg . . .
The sperm whale skeleton photos I have seen had twenty-eight teeth in the mandible. This is how they laid out on the western red cedar 2x3 in my wood-shop.
Western Red Cedar 2x3 fence stringer sitting on the tablesaw in my shop at home. The kerfs on either side of the piece will let it bend in the S-shape of the Sperm Whale's mandible. I'm going to bend-and-glue the thing after soaking it for a couple of days, hoping like a madman it doesn't break. Just moving it from the saw scared me.
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The same barrel soaking in the Science Department Labs at school. While it is considerably cooler inside, it isn't any dryer. I admit I was surprised; I have never considered the humidity. I always considered it a function of the heat. I wonder how I'll deal with summer vacations . . . probably take the think home and soak it on the patio.
The Ship's Bell was donated by the guys at the marina at Lake Dallas. I have to dig their business card out of my records to give them credit. The bell is mounted on the portside of the mizzenmast and the hours are struck according to the time by the duty personnel.
These poles were dontated to this project by William Plant (President) and Ronda Catlett (Project Manager) at Building Products Plus down in Houston. Be sure to check their website at http://www.buildingproductsplus.com/. Without their help, this project would be just an idea.
