Attempts at amateur gunsmithing, citizenship, and other skilled trades
I took my recently refurbished 25-year-old Reflex Xtreme to the range to try it out: I clocked 425-grain arrows at an average of 245 fps, which equates to 56.57 ft-lbs of kinetic energy and .46 slug-fps of momentum.
In other words, it was hitting pretty hard. Not grizzly bear or Cape Buffalo hard, but certainly enough to dispatch the stoutest of zombies.
In a previous post I talked about paper tuning an old compound bow. Never one to leave well enough alone, I decided to go back and recheck the tune on my traditional bows while I was at it.
First up, my Howatt Savannah.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought my first compound bow–a refurbished 2016 PSE Stinger X–from the bargain cave at Cabela’s. Having only shot recurves and longbows before that, I was hugely impressed by this newfangled technology .
It recently occurred to me that it was past time to change strings and cables. You should do that every couple of years–it’s been seven and my Stinger still had the originals.
But rather than take it back to the pros at the bow shop, I decided to do it myself.
Continue readingI opened my can of Aluma Hawk Jon Boat Green at first light, having first etched the aluminum hull with white vinegar. After about 15 minutes I wiped off the vinegar with isopropyl alcohol.
Blue painter’s tape across the stern kept my lines straight, but gunwales and strakes served the same purpose–without tape–on the sides.
I took a ride on my stationary bike this morning, back to a simpler time…
Continue readingI’ll spare you the suspense: the hatch installation went better than I feared.
First, I was very careful to align the hinges so the hatches would open without binding.
Using a single “piano” hinge instead of separate cabinet hinges would’ve made this much easier, but that’s not how I roll.
Continue readingWoodworking has never been my forte, nor has wood finishing.
Unfortunately, there was plenty of both ahead.
Now that the trailer was all set, it was time to get started on the boat.
First I removed all of the old hardware: more than half of the bolts on the boat were rusted to the point where they wouldn’t turn and just sheared off.
I also removed the old battery rack. It was well put together (other than the corroded bolts), but I needed to get at the deck under it to clean and paint.
My only complaint about my 12′ MirroCraft is that it’s a little cramped.
Although I usually go to the lake alone, I thought it would be nice, once in a while, to invite a buddy along without worrying about snagging a hook in his ear or, if he was of any size at all, about foundering the boat under our combined weights.
So it was that less than a year after buying my first boat I started checking the listings again. I was looking for another MirroCraft–but bigger–since I knew and trusted that brand. I thought a 16-footer would be about right.
Unfortunately, none were available, at least not in my price range. I eventually widened my search and found this 1976 14′ Gregor all-welded aluminum boat online.
Continue readingI previously claimed that the boat project was complete, but it turns out that was a lie.
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