I just glanced at the blog and shamefully realized it’s been a week since I updated it. I apologize. It has been a busy week, but I’m not sure it’s been all that interesting. Let’s see.
Okay, last Sunday was yet another trip to Burger Barn, this time with Bonnie, Ellen and Larry. Yum!
Monday was back in the shop to work on molding more boot parts. Wound up having some issues with part of the process which was aggravating to no end. As much as I love making the DODGE carbon fiber ski boot parts when all goes well, I get pissed when glitches cause me to throw away bad parts (and lots of dollars each time one goes bad.) Worse yet, we ran out of silicone rubber sheets we use in the molding process, so that put all molding at a standstill. Argh!!! So, it was a long and frustrating day.
Tuesday and Wednesday dawned a little better as focused on assembling boots from all the parts we’d made earlier and felt pretty good about what we were seeing. We were still waiting for our shipment of silicone and band saw blades (another critical item), but the lowers and uppers were coming together nicely. And, Wednesday was a hockey morning so it didn’t suck all that badly!
By Thursday we had the new 255s built, including new ones for Warner Nickerson to take to Europe. Then I was able to start doing the fitting for his boots, which includes some pretty big ankle punches. People ask all the time about punching the DODGE carbon fiber ski boot and, yes, it is possible. However, it has to be done with a special heated ball punch and someone who has been trained to work with it. Believe me, if you don’t use the right tools or take the time to do it correctly, it is bad. The good thing is I am able to work on other things while the boot press is operating, so I don’t spend too much time twiddling my thumbs.
By Friday I was back molding more parts and liking how the new 235 uppers were coming out. Warner’s boots were all ready to go to Europe. Had new band saw blades and silicone. Life was good! And to top it off, made some killer pizza Friday night for Bonnie, Dave and myself.
Saturday was dedicated to things around the house that had to be done, such as a trip to the dump and closing the pool (always wait until Columbus Day weekend … that’s when it’s cold enough to mean something!) Then a nice time watching niece Meredith play rugby at St. Michael’s College and lunch at sister-in-law Betsy’s. Great to see nephew Peter and his new girlfriend Chaundra.
Yesterday I was able to mold a few more parts in the morning then Bonnie & I headed to West Lebanon to meet up with Warner and present him with the new boots as he was off to the airport for Europe. Nice drive down, nice lunch, great chat, and nice drive back. Even took a few moments to drop off a pair of skis for some base tuning (I’m getting too lazy to do the big tuning by hand anymore.)
Now it’s back to the shop to mold more parts, then meet up with Dan Loman who will be here this afternoon to purchase his new DODGE Ski Boots.
Yeah!
Later.
Bill