But, I just haven’t had time to spend on the keyboard with non-business related stuff lately, and I need to get some progress photos posted of some new Hatmaking Tools I’m designing and getting built, so I’ll leave the big #100 Entry Celebration Flint Hills Travel Guide for another time.

This blog is to show the progress on some special new hatmaking tools I am building that custom hat makers can use to take a customer’s head size and shape, and convert the head shape to a hat shape. This custom shaping makes hat customers very happy.

The big ring around the oustide with all of the fingers is an aparatus that I’m calling a Conformer at this point. The elliptical shaped thing in the middle with all of the small fingers is called a Formillion.

Of all the hat tools I’ve made in the past months, this Formillion/Conformer contraption has been the most sought after tool by hat makers finding me on the internet, and so I’m hoping they will still want one after they see photos and pricing.

These three photos are just some quick shop photos of the Conformer & Formillion sitting on the Centerline Platform, with my off-shaped head used for testing it out, 7-1/8” size if you gotta know. If you are an interested buyer looking for a Formillion/Conformer, let me know and I can send other photos, or more details directly through an email.

There are antique Formillions, Conformers, and Conformatuers out there that need some repair work, or replacement parts made for them, and I’d be happy to do that for you if you wanted to send it to me. Several hat makers have asked in the past if I would do that, and now I feel that I’m ready to say that I can handle the repair work.

Yea, But Why?:
Ok, for the non-hatters out there, I know you are asking yourself, “Why would any self-respecting Hatmaker want a contraption like that one?”

As hatmakers have written and phoned me over the past year looking for custom made tools, many have expressed that the problem with making a custom hat, is not so much getting a customer’s head size, but rather getting the “head shape” and finding a working tool to do the job. To make a hat really fit well, it takes a lot of skill, and some specialized tools. Those that do it well and have the tools have customers that want that service.

Ok, So I’m Probably Not Alone:
In the process of my constant tinkering with this contraption, taking my own head shape measurements, I discovered something that apparently I had to wait until I was 44 years old to figure out.

My head ain’t symmetrical.

The problem for wearing a hat is that the right side of my skull is bigger than the left side, by quite a bit.

If you draw a center line from between my eyes over the top of my head, to the center of my neck, the left side doesn’t look like the right side. That might explain some things, but I’ll let the rest of you make the jokes, I’ve probably already heard them all anyway.

Ok, so now it makes sense why I have never been able to wear a baseball cap without the Bill sitting crooked on my head. Now, I know.

I can put on a hat, get it straight while looking in the mirror, only to find the next time that I looked in the mirror that the hat was crooked on my head.

I could never figure out why…..until now.

I’m guessing that there are probably a lot of folks out there with odd shaped heads that can’t figure out why their shelf-bought hats don’t fit, or sit crooked on their head.

Well, this tool is designed to give the custom hat maker the ability to take a customer’s head shape and size, and convert that information into a hat that fits like a “glove.”

Ok, But Why Me?:
This is not a new concept, there are French antique examples of this type of tool, but I haven’t discovered that anyone else has tried to design a contemporary version of this tool….....until now.

And after making a be-jillion little keys and parts that didn’t work well, I can understand why nobody else has been crazy enough to try designing and building one of these rigs.

I think though, as a project, it fits me pretty good.

I’m a woodworking Mechanical Engineer that got sick of sitting in desks, and so doing some fiddling with a little contraption like this that is made mostly of wood is sort of right up my alley. It’s been fun to figure out, but for every mistake I’ve made, or better idea that I developed, it caused about three more days work to make new templates and fixtures, and so this has sort of been a long process.

I think I’m about on top of it now, and to the point that I could actually sell one of these babies. So, that’s the silver lining to this sweaty August.

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There are 40 little fingers on this First Pass prototype Conformer, with 46 little fingers on the prototype Formillion.

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Ok, so how does it work?

Well, the Hatter places the Conformer on the customer’s head. Carefully, makes sure that the brass centering pins are lined up between the eyes, and at the center of the neck. This gives the centerline measurement, so that the hatmaker has a reference to use. Then, the wing nuts on the Conformer are tightened to clamp the fingers.

The Conformer is then placed on the Centerline Platform, and the Formillion is placed on it’s platform. All of these components are kept centered to each other with line-up pins on the Platform. The Formillion wing nuts are loosened, and the fingers are pulled out to touch the fingers of the Conformer, copying the shape of the head.

The Formillion wingnuts are then tightened, and the Conformer is removed from the Platform. Now, the shape of the hat crown can be ironed out against the Formillion Fingers, translating the customer’s head shape to the customer’s new Hat shape. The centerline of the Formillion is marked on to the Hat Felt with a tailor’s chalk to use for reference when sewing in the hat band, and finishing up the Crown Shape.

The key to the whole rig is the Centerline Platform which keeps the Formillion in position with the center of the Head measurement, so that the hat can be shaped and the hat band sewn in with the proper orientation. No more guessing, or telling a customer that they will just need to, ”....wear the hat for a few days to get it shaped.”

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Here is a photo of the second pass of the prototype, taking what I learned on the first one, and making some improvements. This prototype is designed for the upcoming “Economy Model,” where bolts/wing nuts allow the clamping of the fingers.

I’m using Walnut and a black lacquer finish, but any wood, or color could be used.

On the final version of the “Deluxe Model,” I’ll be using spring loaded handles to do the locking/unlocking mechanism, but I don’t have that prototype ready for exposure yet.

Thanks for reading along,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com
email: mark@decoustudio.com

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More Hat Tools?:
If are you into “Hatmaking” or “Hatmaking Tools” you might enjoy seeing these other projects I have posted:

1. Hat Brim Cutter; Rounding Jack made from Maple Wood on a Walnut Bench Top Display Stand
2. Custom Rounding Jack; Brainpan Hat Shop in Sumner, WA Ready to Cut Fedora Hat Brims
3. Custom Rounding Jack; Steve Delk's Adventurebilt Hat (new Indiana Jones movie) Fedora Brim Cutter
4. Custom Rounding Jack; Marc Kitter's Adventurebilt Hat (new Indiana Jones movie) Fedora Brim Cutter
5. Custom Rounding Jack; Pyrate Trading Co.'s Brim Cutter for Triangular Shaped Pirate Hats
6. Custom Rounding Jack; Walnut Brim Cutter for the Infamous Hatman Jack at Wichita Hat Works
7. Hatmaking Tools: Hat Brim Cutter, Rounding Jack
8. Prototype Hatmaking Tool: Brim Cutting Rounding Jack

1. Elk Antler and Birch Tolliker on a Display Stand
2. Walnut Wood Tolliker on a Display Stand
3. Three White Birch Wood Tollikers
4. Walnut Brim Shaping Foot Tollikers
5. Wooden Tollikers, Double Birch Set on Display Stand

1. Hat Brim Edge Two-Piece Pencil Curl Curling Iron
2. Hat Brim Edge Pencil Curl Curling Iron

1. Birch & Maple Brim Puller Downers

My Website with other woodworking, including furniture, walking canes, scrimshaw artwork, custom knives, and other misc. items

Mark DeCou Studio Website

(Note: this is a “patent pending” project, and all text, photos, and the design are protected by copyright 2008, by the author, no unathorized use of this material is allowed. Weblinks to this page are acceptable without permission. Thanks for your help).

If you are a new reader, and like custom walking canes, follow this link that will lead to other project postings of several of my finished walking canes and hiking sticks:
Carved Walking Cane

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Walking Cane #1
Figured Bubinga Carved Cane with Face of Christ with Crown of Thorns.

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Walking Cane #2
Red Birch Natural Limb Walking Stick with Native American Face Carved, Deer Antler, &Scrimshaw

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Walking Cane #3
Mexican Bocote Wood, Elk Antler, Elephant Ivory, w/Silver Work, & Scrimshaw

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thanks for reading,
Mark DeCou
http://www.decoustudio.com

(This walking cane design, photos, and the sketches are protected by copyright 2008, by M.A. DeCou, all rights reserved.)

This blog could easily be subtitled: ”Facing Your Fears with Hot Air.”
Read on further to find out why.

July 29th, 2008:

I was diligently working in my cramped, dusty, tiny, little shop (it’s a real mess) last night about 7pm, when my “next door” neighbor Christine stepped into the shop. She was there to tell me that they were getting ready to launch their new Hot Air Balloon, and they wanted to know if I would help. She had been trying to phone us, but the phone wasn’t working for some reason, so she drove over.

Christine can walk into my shop anytime and I’ll drop everything to see what she needs. Sometimes it is car trouble, or she’s stuck in the mud, or needs help replacing her window wiper blade, or a strong back to load something in their truck, or some other time when she needs a helping hand. Christine and David have been good neighbors and good customer’s, paying my living expenses for many months while I built projects like these for them:

Carved Tilt-Front Laptop Desk
Orchid Plant Stand with Wine Bottle Storage
Morris Chairs
Arts & Crafts Entertainment Center
Arts & Crafts Prairie Couch

and several other projects.

I had been standing in that cramped little shop space since 6:00 am whittling out Hatmaking Tools for a guy in Virginia, and I was quite ready for some fresh air and daylight.

I have been watching several shows this past week on television during “Discovery Channel’s Shark Week” being very glad that Kansas is a good long way from the ocean. We have other ways to cheat death than swimming in the ocean, our neighbor has a hot air balloon! Ha. So, I rushed in to change clothes, brushed my teeth, put on a ball cap, and grabbed the car keys

My daughter Rachel and I were home alone since my wife and son were gone on a grocery getting trip, so we left them a short note…..

“S: gone to ride in the balloon, I’ve got Rachel, Love, M, 7:15 pm”

....and then we quickly headed to the “next door” neighbor’s house about a mile North of us.

Once there, a little less than a mile north of our house, we saw another couple of our neighbors, and we all started to do the unrolling, and laying out, and setting up of the balloon.

My neighbors, the Heinsohn’s, have a dream of helping support the cost of the balloon by giving hot air balloon tours of the Kansas Flinthills tallgrass prairie in which we live.

Numerous stories in magazines and newspapers, and television over the past few years have been drawing quite a few tourists to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve which isn’t far from where we live.

If you would like to read more, and see more photos of the Flinthills (or Flint Hills), here are some nice blogs:

Dennis Toll's
Dr. Bill Smith
Flint Hills Tourism Coalition
Protect the Flint Hills

As I discover more links and blogs, I’ll add them. So, if you have a Flint Hills Blog going, send me a note so that I can add it to the list.

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Their Ballooning Tour business is called:
- Heart of the Flint Hills Aviation
- David & Christine Heinsohn
- Their phone is 1-800-776-3521 for reservations

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Their first step to setting up the business was to buy the balloon.
Their second step was getting their license to fly it.
The third step is practicing with the balloon, and so I was happy to get involved in this third step.

I remember when they were first looking at ordering the balloon several months back. They sent out emails to several friends with photos of different balloons, asking us for input on which color to choose. I remember writing back something like, “pick whichever color is easiest to see from the air-rescue plane.” I was joking, sort of. You see, I’m a little scared of flying, but more on that later.

Heinsohn’s named their Balloon ”Conflict of Interest” since it is Red, Blue, Purple, & White.
(Kansas University’s colors are Red & Blue, while the better college, Kansas State University, has colors of Purple & White). I went to KSU, but that other college keeps winning at sports, so they have a lot of fans also. And, I hate to admit it, but KU has an excellent reputation for academics also. It is strange, we live fairly close to another great college, Emporia State, with black and yellow colors, but it seems everyone is a sports fan these days, and so the bigger colleges with more sports television time seem to get most of the allegiance.

Out on the Field:
David-the-pilot filled up two small black balloons with helium, and let my daughter Rachel release them to indicate the wind direction, and the speed of accent. It was neat to watch them very quickly disappear into the sky. Until I realized how quickly, and how out-of-control those two little helium balloons were moving.

As I was trying not to imagine a small wicker-basket with me in it, swinging wildly under those little helium balloons, I set about trying to be productive by holding up the bottom of the flat balloon while it was being filled with air from a high powered gas run fan. You can see how “hard” I was working at it in the photo below that Rachel shot.

David the pilot instructed all of us, ”......the most dangerous thing on the Field right now is that high powered fan, and you need to stay clear of it…...”

I thought to myself, “Yea right, that wicker-basket thing is the most dangerous thing on the Field…..”

But, I did heed his warnings, and Rachel and I stayed away from the running fan which amazingly filled up the balloon in a short amount of time, while David and Christine made rounds checking all of the ropes, and vents, and air pockets, clamps, fabric, and other equipment.

As we set up the Ballon in the Field beside their house, Rachel took this photo of me. She took several other photos, but she is only 7, and the other photos didn’t turn out so well. Besides, I don’t like seeing photos of myself anyway.

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This is Rachel muffling the sound of the big fan that is forcing air into the balloon. I didn’t think it was that loud, but Rachel has not the spent years I have with power tools, and loud music concerts.

And, my Wife thinks that I don’t hear well…....let’s just let her keep thinking that way, huh?

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The ballon is force filled with air from the big fan, and then the air is warmed with the gas burner, all with the tether line tied to the front of the chase truck.

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The Passengers start loading up.

It was at this point, that I figured I was staying on the ground…..with my fears.

Afterall, I don’t have health insurance, and even if Obama is elected, getting his whizz-bang health plan passed into law will take years, and it surely won’t be retroactive back to a ballooning accident. I think we have better odds of weaning our country off of foreign crude oil first.

David-the-pilot said, “Mark, get in here, we are ready for you.”

The moment of truth….......

Face the fear, or run?

I looked at Rachel, and she looked at me, and I said, “Rachel you need to stay here on the ground.”

Rachel didn’t like that much, but then again, I’ve had to get the “Carnies” to stop the kiddie rides at the State Fair to get her off of them since she was crying hysterically. I remember that screaming ride she took on the “big-mean-bumble-bees” in 2005.

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Rachel said that she wanted to go, but I could tell she was scared of the idea also.

Heck, I was scared, why shouldn’t she be?

“Another day,” I assured her.

Besides, I hadn’t gotten her momma’s approval first, which was the most fearsome thing I was thinking at the time. I feel that my wife could handle my dying in a fiery ballooning accident, but not my daughter’s death.

So, I told Rachel to ride in the chase truck with Christine, and that she could ride another time, with momma’s approval. David-the-pilot said that he would like to get some more practice before he took Rachel, or other children up in the air anyway. Besides, if something happened to her, and I survived, my wife would kill me anyway. You may chuckle, but she’d do it, and I’m the one that enrolled her in the NRA handgun class back when we first got married in the early 1990’s, back in the days when I traveled a lot leaving her home alone.

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Then, four of us got in the basket, which means that I got in.

I make it a bad habit to watch all of those “Most Shocking” and “Stunts Gone Bad” type television shows that often have hot air balloons seen crashing into the ground, running into power lines, dragging along the ground bowling down crowds of people, and executing all manners of death and destruction to the passengers and bystanders.

As the gas burner heated the air in the big balloon and the basket started to shift and move on the ground, all of those television shows came flashing through my mind. I tried to joke about it a little, but one of the other passengers told me to stop reminding him. He’d seen some of those shows as well.

You see, I really just hate to fly.

It all started for me as a little boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, on a joy ride in a small Cessna plane that my parents set up for me. I was in the co-pilot seat, and we were flying over my little Kansas hometown of Hutchinson. I was rather enjoying it, until the pilot noticed that my door was not fully shut. So, he reached across me, opened the door, and slammed it shut. During those moments of the door being open, I looked out, and down to the ground, and saw how far it was. It was pretty scary for a little kid, and the need for flying sort of left me after that. I’m not much of a daredevil as you can tell.

Fast foward to the adult world. Adults just don’t have time for sissies that are scared to fly. “Get on that plane and go make us some more money…” I would hear The Man say.

You see, I used to be a traveling salesman for an industrial construction company in the oil industry. I used to fly on a commercial jet and small puddle jumpers 3-5 days a week, with multiple “legs” and plane changes to get anywhere. Kansas may be in the middle of everything, but try to fly in, or out of it directly. You can’t. So, it takes a lot of “legs” to get somewhere.

During those years, I survived many aircraft mechanical problems, emergency landings, lost baggage, delayed schedules, canceled flights, fog landings, etc. And to top that, most of the time I had a middle seat ticket. I used to always wait until the end to load the plane, trying to settle my nerves, and so you can imagine the hundreds of frustrated looks I got over the years, standing in the aisle, looking at my ticket and pointing to the open middle seat after everyone was already settled in, thinking they had a lot of room. Not a good way to make friends. I learned to just read and keep to myself in those days.

On top of all of that, I have a right ear that doesn’t equalize pressure well without giving me a lot of pain and several days to do it. So, I just flat out got sick of flying.

I so much hate flying, that I’ve only been forced onto a plane one time since leaving that job for the “Man” in 1997, and that last flight was in 1999.

What I learned to do as a coping mechanism for my fear as I would get on each plane was just to assume that when my foot stepped onto the plane, I was a dead-man. Then, if my foot stepped off the plane, I was thrilled. Sitting on a plane skimming through the same Air-shopper catalogs knowing that I was a dead-man made the trips so much easier to manage emotionally, or at least I thought then.

Nowadays, I don’t even open up the envelopes that get mailed to me showing the frequent flier miles I have on account. I watch on the nightly news all of those poor people standing in airport lines after the 9/11 security changes, and just shake my head. I yell at them on the television, “Just stay home!”

From packing to unpacking, I just hated it all. I didn’t realize how much I suffered from those years of traveling until about a year after I left that job in 1997 to do woodworking full time and I was driving on the main road that passes by the Wichita airport.

When we reached the exit to the airport, I noticed that my palms were sweating. “Hmmm,” I thought. I wasn’t even going to the airport that day, and my body was already going into meltdown. It was then that I realized the real tragic impact of all of those years of frayed nerves on my body.

I’m not saying that flying is a bad thing, it is just filled with bad memories, and numerous times I said my final prayers during lighting strikes, and mechanical problems, emergency landings, ice-on-the-wing-alerts, and other assumed near-death experiences. I realize that for most of the world, flying is a great thing, and I respect that.

My wife says that I’m a “drama King.”

Now, you know why.

Ok, back to the Peaceful Ballooning Story.

So, I was standing there in the basket, gathering my “dead-man courage” again, and trying to shake off the nerves and the mental image of my impending death hitting the electrical high line wires while my daughter watched from the ground.

David-the-pilot said, “Here we go,” and we just effortlessly popped nearly straight up.
The sudden rise was so straight up, so quick, and so smooth, that we easily cleared the electrical high line, the old concrete silo, the house, the old barn, the trees, and we quickly made our accent up into the sky above the hills in which we all live.

As we moved above the trees, I realized that I was still alive, and set about trying to enjoy the experience.

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It was incredible. Nothing like flying at all.

This is the view toward the South, toward my house, just after we took off and cleared the trees. We live behind the big hill in the back part of the picture.

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Looking back at the ground and take off area, you can see why I was a little concerned. Look at all of those “things” that could have jumped out and killed us as we took off.

But, with great piloting skill, we just popped up so fast and straight, that we were never even close to the ground obstructions.

David-the-pilot did a great job.

“Why wouldn’t he?” I reassured myself, afterall, he is an aircraft pilot, and a professional pilot instructor.

I decided to let him fly, and to just enjoy the trip. “Trust David,” I kept reminding myself. In a couple of minutes, I started to relax, and enjoyed the trip.

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I live in a little valley with the Flint Hills all around on all sides.

So, I don’t see too far out when I look out of my shop window, or house, or running the lawnmower around the yard. Not only that, most of the time I’m either inside that small, dusty woodshop, or sitting in the house. So, the new “bird’s eye” perspective from the Hot Air Balloon was a real treat, ever-expanding as the extreme beauty of the Flinthill’s landscape spread out before us in all directions.

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As we headed Southwest toward my house, soon I could see my old barn, then the house, then the little dusty woodshop with it’s rusting roof.

I love that old barn, it is the reason we bought the place. I have it listed now on the State’s barn preservation list, and it is photographed in the “Barns of Kansas” book by Bob Marsh. I have big dreams of remodeling it into my workshop studio, office, and show room. All I need is a huge amount of money…......

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We passed over the rusty roof of my little studio shop, and headed on toward the Southwest, not really going anywhere. As we flew by, I was glad that I still don’t have those 16 Bison Leg bones drying on the backside of the roof of the shop.

The others in the basket might have started to worry about how weird I am if they saw those….....but then again, they already know me.

One day a couple of years ago, my wife was out with the kids talking to the neighbor’s cattle on the other side of the fence behind the shop. She came in and asked, “Should I ask why there are gross looking bones on the roof of the shop?”

I said, “No.”

We floated on by.

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As we gained altitude, I was overwhelmed by how “small” I am. Really small. I’m a nothing in a big world. I remember Gideon in the Bible feeling that same way. “Whom am I?” He asked. Moses asked the same thing. Seeing things from that perspective is good for the human spirit, normally filled with self-pride and the feeling of accomplishment.

There have been many times in my life that I have felt too big for my britches (as my mom used to say). But, as I watched my small existence of six acres disappear in the big expanse of the open countryside, I could see how incredibly small of a person that I really am. “Thanks God, I needed that,” I said.

1. Psalm 25:9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. (NIV)
2. Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.(NIV)
3. Proverbs 3:34 He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.(NIV)
4. Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.(NIV)
5. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.(NIV)

That last verse with the “Fall” in it, worried me a little while riding in a balloon, caused me to meditate on that for awhile.

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Seeing my little “world” comprised of six acres, a tiny house, and smaller shop, I couldn’t help but to feel the humbling. I can only imagine that the same feeling is given to an astronaut who watches the earth out the space ship window.

Happy to get the perspective of the bigger picture, it was easy to realize that “I’m nothing” in this vast world. I’m one little guy, who eats too many M&M’s, drinks too many Coke-Zeros, and breathes too much wood dust. That’s it. The good thing, is that if I do accomplish anything, it is isn’t me, but my God working through me. He’s got the bigger picture.

For us in the ballon, we were just floating. Nothing to do. Nowhere special to go. Just a short journey to somewhere, anywhere, the “journey” was the reason for the trip. Wow, if I could just take that mindset with me after the trip, I might enjoy life more!

This type of “lolligagging” is a rare moment for me, as I rarely do anything that doesn’t have a direct purpose and plan. The floating-to-nowhere feeling is a little unsettling, yet it also feels good at the same time.

We flew over the curious groups of cattle in the pastures. They weren’t scared, just walking our way looking up, calling at us.

We watched several groups of Deer run for cover, all Whitetails.

I looked for a Mountain Lion as we floated along, as the State Wildlife Department admitted this year that at least one of them lived in the State, since it was shot by a guy living down by the Oklahoma border. Neighbors all around us, including my wife, have stories of seeing them. But unfortunately, we didn’t spot any Mountain Lions.

I decided to stop taking photos of “where we’ve been” and more toward “where we are headed.”

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About the only people that we saw during our tour were the people driving fast in their little cars on the highway, probably late to whatever appointment they were headed to.

They were probably thinking to themselves as we floated by the highway, “Who has time to lolligag around in a balloon…?”

As I watched the cars run the highway, I was thinking, “slow down friend, enjoy the trip.”

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Hot Air Ballooning is good for a guy like me.

I have no control. I have no agenda. I don’t know where we are headed, and it doesn’t matter.

Suddenly, the “dead-man” is starting to enjoy flying for the first time.

I have been in a hot air balloon before. In the early 1990’s my wife set up a surprise hot air balloon ride for us while we are on vacation riding our Harley’s to a big HOG rally in Albuquerque, NM. We went up, over, up, back over, and down, landing about 100 yards from the take off. They called those “Box winds” that time. But, I was never able to get over the fear, of the fact that I hated flying on that trip.

Not so with the Hot Air Balloon tour of the Kansas Flinthills today. It was just excellent, and I started to forget at times that we still had to land this thing.

We watched the houses of our neighbors go under us, most of them I’ve never met, nor know their last names. I stay so focused on work, that unless it is Sunday morning, I seem to hardly ever get out of the shop.

Feeling the shame of living somewhere for 7 years and never meeting the folks on the other corner of the section line is a bad feeling indeed. Another good “perspective” for me to see. I need to go out and enjoy meeting the folks that live around us.

We floated on toward the Southwest.

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We floated over Highway 150 and saw the chase vehicle with Christine and Rachel watching us go past. I waived really big to Rachel and took her picture.

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we floated on toward the Southwest, and the pilot started going up and down, following the terrain of the land, which was interesting in a scary way.

As passengers, our job was to watch out for cattle, fences, electrical lines, and trees, and call them out to pilot, just to make sure that he saw them.

“Trees coming!” No problem, just a puff of flame, and we cleared them easily.

As we neared the point of needing to land due to the failing daylight, we started all looking for soft pasture ground that was next to the gravel road, AND that had an unlocked gate.

We didn’t want to trespass, but how do you get permission to land, when you don’t know where you are headed?

I think David-the-pilot could have skillfully landed in the gravel road between the barbed wire fences, but he elected to land in the grass just beyond the fences.

Then David-the-pilot gave us specific instructions for the landing. “Don’t touch this, or that, or this.” “You can touch anything else, and grab two points of support, and hold on, bend your knees a little…......and whatever you do, don’t get out of the basket.”

The jumping out and losing of the weight from the basket, would have meant the balloon would have surged unexpectedly up with the others in the basket. So, I stayed put, grabbed a strap in each hand, and bent my knees a little, and hoped for a soft touch down.

We very gently touched the bottom of the basket onto the deep flinthills prairie grass, bounced once just a few inches, and set back down, the pilot pulled the rope to release the hot air, and we sat down. Wow, was that a smooth landing, or what! No dragging on the ground, no scary moments at all. What a deal!

I stepped out of the basket, “alive again.” David-the-pilot had done a very skillful job of controlling, and landing the balloon, and I was quite impressed.

I stood there in waste-deep prairie grass, and felt like kissing it. That would look strange to the others, so I just picked a long shoot of “tall bluestem grass” and chewed on the stem awhile. Sweeeeeet, I can see why the cattle love it.

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The next steps were quite a bit of work, as we all worked to deflate and roll up, and bag the equipment and load it in the trailer. By the time we were finished, we were all sweaty, and enjoyed the air conditioning on the ride back to home, maybe something like a 7-8 mile drive by gravel roads.

We returned back to the pilot’s house, and we all toasted the experience and had a cool drink. Rachel was already planning how she was going to ask momma if she could ride next time. She decided on the drive back to our house, that she would just let me do the asking.

“Afterall dad, I’m going to be 8 years old in December, I think I’m old enough…....”

What a great adventure, sudden and unexpected, and a lot of things for me to meditate on.

If you’d like to visit the Flinthills and take a Balloon ride, give David & Christine a call, and I’ll throw in a free, no obligation, sales-pitch for some custom furniture, or a souvenir walking stick, or knife, or something…....

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the tour.
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

(all text and photos, in whole, or part, are protected by copyright 2008, by the author M.A. DeCou, all rights reserved. Weblinks to this page are allowed without permission.)

This prospective customer is a disabled Air Force veteran who wants a custom walking cane, due to a right leg injury he suffered during the war in Iraq.

I have had several weeks, maybe a couple of months now, to think through this design, and it has been quite an honor for me to be considered to carve such a cane. I’m hopeful that the design will give him something he can feel honored to carry, and something that will allow him to tell others his story as they ask him about the cane he is carrying. I have studied historical canes for a few years now in connection with my work building them. Some of the most collectible, and valuable heirloom antique canes are ones that were made for war veterans. I am humbled when I consider the amount of valor, bravery, and honor that is required to leave a family and fight a war, and then to return home permanently disabled. I designed this cane with that thought in mind.

The main feature of either cane option is an American Bald Eagle with trailing Red, White, & Blue banners that will be carved protruding from the walnut shaft of the cane. I will use thinned acrylic paints, an air brush, and an antiquing medium to put the colors on the cane, finished with lacquer, both clear, and air brushed tinted lacquers.

Height: 37”
Handle Size: XXL (left hand carry)
Cane Heft: Large Sized Cane for a big guy needing a lot of leg support.

The tips will be brass with a replaceable rubber tip.

Carved down the White Banner are letters spelling:
“Global War on Terror”

Carved down the Red Banner are letters spelling:
“United States Air Force”

Carved down the Blue Banner are letters spelling:
(not yet determined) The customer’s name and rank, or maybe something in Latin that means “We Came, We Saw, We Conquered” or something else typical of a phrase the Air Force commonly uses.

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Cane Option #1

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Cane Option #2

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thanks for reading,
Mark DeCou
http://www.decoustudio.com

(This walking cane design, photos, and the sketches are protected by copyright 2008, by M.A. DeCou, all rights reserved.)

Also, since I can’t sit down and do the entire blog at one time, I will start today, and finish it as I have time,
adding the detail photos of each step as I can get them loaded and typed up.

The Design:
The customer came up with the concept of a cane of symbols, and worked with me to develop a list of symbols to tell the story of the Gospel, and I translated the ideas into pictures that I felt that I could carve and paint well enough to depict the message.

The final photos will go into the project posting, along with the “Story” of the cane and it’s symbols, when I get to that effort in a few days.

This blog is to show the details of the work, and the progression.

Thanks for reading,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com
email: mark@decoustudio.com

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The start of the process was a concept sketch used to communicate with the customer.

This is the concept sketch for the lower three carvings:

Here is the concept Sketch for the next three carvings:

Here is the concept Sketch for the top four carvings:

Here is the concept sketch for the handle:

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Photos of the Finished Cane:

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Making the Handle

The raw Wood is Olivewood, that I cut down at my parent’s place, as the tree was dying and needed to be removed. I rough planked the log with a chainsaw. Here I’m beginning the process of of preparing the wood on the Jointer.

The Front of the Handle has a piece of synthetic ivory that I used to Scrimshaw some original artwork, depicting the “Right Hand of Christ” on the Cross, with a hand-wrought Silver Nail through the palm, and one drop of red blood. The name of this cane was given by the man that commissioned the work, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”

This is the back end of the handle, with the customer’s name in a style similar to his signature. He anticipated that this cane will be an heirloom in his family, and so he wanted to have his name on it for future generations to appreciate. I have found that many of my cane customers have come to realize that more than one person in their family wants their cane when they are through with it, so I always recommend that they plan ahead on how that transistion is to be done, and to whom in the family.

Here is the “meaty” hand I used as a model for the Scrimshaw. Look, 40 some years of woodworking, and I still have all of my fingers!

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Details of the Cane Carvings:

Starting at the bottom, the tip is a turned brass material, with the serial number, my signature, and on this side, the Triquetra symbol engraved.

On the other side of the tip, the “Infiinite” symbol has been engraved.

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“Carving #1: Creation”
This carving depicts the Hand of God, creating the Sun, Stars, Planets, Moons, and Earth.

The concept sketch converted to the wood ready for carving:

The Rough carvings:

First Carving after the Painting, Antiquing, and Finish was applied:

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Carving #2: The Fall:

The final painted carving:

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Carving #3: The Flood:

Here is the Final Painted Carving:

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Carving #4: The Law:

The Rough carving

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2621188952_146d21d73a.jpg

The Final Painted Carving:

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Carving #5: The Sacrifice for Sin:

Ready to Carve:

The Rough Carving:

The final Painted Carving:

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Carving #6: The Manger:

Ready to Carve:

The Rough Carving:

The final Painted Carving:

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Carving #7: The Ultimate Sacrifice:

The Rough Carving:

The final Painted Carving:

The Hand with a hand-wrought silver nail:

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Carving #8: The Empty Tomb:

Ready to Carve:

!!

The Rough Carving:

The final Painted Carving:

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Carving #9: The Glorious Return:

The Rough Carving:

The final Painted Carving:

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Doing the “Work” Photos:
The customer asked that I have some photos taken where I was working on the cane:

Carving the Shaft

Doing the Scrimshaw Work on the Handle:

Doing the Engraving Work on the Brass Tip:

WARNING: (This text, all photos, project design, and the concept is protected by Copyright 2008, by the Author, M.A. DeCou, permssion is required before using for any purpose.)

I’ve been trying to fit into my spare time the tedious work of making of several different hatmaking tool prototypes. Each of them has come along as a result of a custom hatmaker asking for one, and so I have met some cool folks that are passionately working at something they love doing.

Hopefully, all of us will get tired of ball caps at some point and look for a style that is better looking, and actually keeps the sun off our faces and ears. It may take a big epidemic of skin cancer before we all decide to try something other than ball caps. The mullet hairdo keeps the neck safe, but doesn’t do anything for the ears and checks. I’m trying to be funny.

The process of engineering a new hat tool starts out by determining what the hatmaker is currently doing, what is not working in their methodology, what type of material they are working in, the hat design they are after, what tools they currently have, the quantity of hats they want to make, and the speed that they want to make them in.

This may come as a surprise, it did to me, that custom Hatmaking is also a growing hobby. There appears to be way more hobbyist hatmakers than there are professional hat shops, but each of them has a real passion for the craft. A couple of locations where they hang out together on the internet is the

www.fedoralounge.com & www.gladhatter.com/forum.

Another nice website is: http://glorioushats.blogspot.com

(if you are a hatter and want your forum listed, let me know and I’ll add you.)

I’m sure there are other websites, but that is the two that I know about and recently joined.

I’m no hatmaker, or expert in hatmaking by any means. But, I do like hats, and also like to work wood, and so it has been an interesting diversion from the other work that I do, and I’ve discovered a market ripe for someone to spend some time making hat tools. I say “spend some time” because that is what it takes. There’s no fancy woodworking tools used here, a bandsaw, carving tools, and a lot of sandpaper.

One tool that several hatmakers have been asking about is something to curl up the edge of the hat brim. One style of curl is called a “Kettle Curl” on western hats, the type you might see on a Montana region cowboy, or cowgirl. There were also Fedora hat styles that were curled back when folks wore cool hats in the President Roosevelt and President Truman era.

The brim curl looks simple, but making it is another thing altogether. The curl must be smooth, and consistent, and it must stay in place once the hatmaker is finished with the shaping. All of this work is done by hand with hand tools by the hatmaker.

These photos show the first stages in designing a Curling Iron for the hat brim. The example on the right side of the photos is the old cast iron curling iron that is rusted, pitted, the handle is broken off, and the mounting bolt has broken off in the body.

Hatman Jack at Wichita Hat Works has a boat-load of hat tools, and I found this one in a big box of broken tools in his back room warehouse. He lets me borrow tools when I need them, and it helped me put together the concept. He’s been selling my walking canes in his shop on consignment for something like 5 years now, and I really enjoy working with him and his team, and he sells quite a few canes for me.

(www.hatmanjacks.com)

My wooden prototype was made from a scrap piece of knotty alder, and so some cracks had to be stabilized, and I made a couple of mistakes with the bandsaw that had to be patched. But, the concept is complete, and can now be tested on a real hat.

Going from what has been explained to me, in the old days, the cast iron curling iron would have been heated on a hot plate, and the brim curled when the iron was hot. The downside of that work methodology, is that you can burn your fingers, or scorch a $150 hat felt blank, ruining it.

The other problem is that few of the old tools are workable without leaving rust stains, or changing the texture of the hat felt. So, it seems that today’s hatmakers must “make-do” with the old tools they find on eBay, or use their hands for the shaping (the oldest tools on the planet).

What they tell me is that they first steam the hat felt, and then quickly, use the old tools “cold” to roll the curl, cycling through several times, hoping their old curling iron won’t leave rust stains on the hat. One small smudge of stain, and the customer won’t want the hat. The hat felt blank is very expensive, and constitutes the majority of the cost of the finished hat. So, stains, and smudges, and scorched spots are a bad deal indeed. There are some versions of the curling irons that were made in aluminum, which also “rusts” and leaves stains on a hat felt. Brass can do the same thing.

One custom hat maker Mike Moore at www.buckaroohatters.com discovered on old wood curling iron that he uses with the steamed felt, and rolls the hat brim easily, and without worry. He loves it, and wanted another one, but couldn’t find one available. I’ve made some other hat tools for him, so he asked about my designing and making a wooden curling iron for him. As he talked about the concept with his contemporaries, there are several hatters that want a wood curling iron as well now. Cool for me.

Mike is going to try out the prototype curling iron I made, tell me what modifications to make, and then I can make the changes, and come up with a production version of the tool for him, and for other hatmakers to order. The production version will be made in hard-rock maple.

Thanks for reading, more information later as this project gets legs,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

(this text and photos, and project design are protected by copyright 2008 by the author M.A. DeCou, all rights and privileges reserved, no use, or copying of any part of this information is allowed without permission from the author in writing.)

I haven’t done many blogs without photos before.

I was taking some photos today with my trusty Kodak digital camera, and trying to save a few steps, carried it by my pinky, while carrying some woodworking.

But, let’s backup a little.

I have a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (ME).

I remember suffering through some Electrical Engineering (EE) courses at the State College, and absolutely hating them. I had to take them to do something “interesting” after I graduated with my ME degree. So, I took them, but never did respect them.

I didn’t do particularly well in those EE clases. In one class we spent an entire semester drawing circuits and calculating things, without ever seeing one single electrical, or electronic item in person. I suppose, that’s why I hated the class so much. I need to see things in person.

From that experience, I never did really give any respect to EE’s. Not that they aren’t smart, or create great things. I just didn’t like the class. I decided that EE was not for me. I need to touch things. Always have. Some things don’t change.

Ok, so I’m carrying the camera by the carrying strap with my pinky, with the camera still on, and ever so gently bumped the protruding telephoto aparatus thingy on the “woodworking.” The woodworking won.

I sat down to pull off the photos, and the camera wouldn’t work. Listening closely while cycling it on and off a few times, I discovered that something was wrong in the protruding lense looking thing. It must have been that gentle little “bump” on the woodworking.

Ok, so I got mad.

Then a few minutes later I tripped over a shoe laying below the step into the house, and twisted my only “good” ankle.

I got madder. Wrapped up the ankle in a bandage with an ice pack, and decided to eat.

So, I ate lunch, watched something silly on tv, and then, the thought hit me, “Hey, I’m an ME, I can fix anything.”

Fixing that camera would be a good project, just sitting on a stool, staying off my sore ankle.

So, after lunch I went out to the shop and started removing screws on the little camera.

There was a bunch of them screws, of various sizes, thread pitches, and lengths. Then, some pins and springs fell out. That wasn’t good. I didn’t see where they were before they fell out.

I got it all torn apart, parts laying all over the little tray I was disassembling over.

I found the little motor and the little gearing system that drives some type of gearing in the little protruding lense thing.

Ok, no problem, must have just “jumped” a gear when it took the “bump” with the woodworking.

I did that little “jump a gear thing” one time trying to restore an old Corvette in my ”pre-married-I’ll-spend-my-time-and-money-on-what-I-want-years-thank-you.” Some things change.

At the time when I worked on the junker-Corvette (a single and lonely man), I pulled out the Distributor and it’s attached shaft, but didn’t think to mark where it was sitting when I pulled up the gear. Well, to be honest, I didn’t know when I pulled it up that it had a gear on the bottom. I know that now.

I did get the distributor back in place a few weeks later, but must of gotten it just one cog out of alignment, but I didn’t know it at the time. Several weeks later, my friend Mike Patterson told me that something must be wrong, after he helped me try to “time” the restored engine. He saw that we couldn’t adjust anymore, and asked about the “distributor gear”. “Oh, yea, that thing.” So, I fixed it by raising it and slipping it one tooth the other direction. I guessed which direction to turn it and put it back in place. The engine ran like a champ then. That sorta builds your pride a little with a thing like that. After all, I’m an ME for crying out loud.

So, I’m sitting there on the stool with my sore ankle throbbing, thinking I can fix this little gear driving thing in the protruding lense thing in this simple little camera.

By this time, I’ve lost control over which of the 8-10 different sized tiny screws went where.

I kept tearing it apart to get the tooth to slip one cog. Oops, that little lense looking thing with the rubber gasket has to go somewhere back in there.

Rats, I bet that little gold colored strip of plastic with little gold looking circuit connectors inside of it shouldn’t have gotten torn.

Ok, now that I have it apart, I finally get those little cogs apart. I never did get them back in the place it should be, as I couldn’t remove the steel pin that has set the little gear in place when it was assembled. Only way to get it past that tooth…...is to force it a little with the screwdriver.

Well, that didn’t work.

Better put it back together, maybe it will work by a Miracle.

ZAAAAAMMMM! “Ouch! What in the world was that sharp pain in my finger?”

I must have touched something that allowed the Flash Battery to short out on my finger tip. Man, that hurts.

Ok, going back together, assured that this camera is now a piece of junk.

Back together. Oops, 8 screws left over, two springs, two pins, two plastic parts, and one metal thingy. Where did they go?

I turned it back on , and it does fire up, but the protruding lense thingy just stays in one position, making little “I’m stuck” noises.

Ok, it’s finished, now to the trash can. No, wait, I’ll let my kids see what cameras look like on the inside. I used to tear everything apart when I was kid. Some of them went back together. Some things don’t change.

As I was destroying this little electronic gadget today, I was completely overwhelmed by the “Miracle” that occurred when all I did was point that camera at something (when it worked) and pushed the button.

What an amazing achievement that little digital camera is, both in it’s past ability to take photos, and the mechanical motor and gears, and the electronics that can take an image, and convert it into a file that I can either print, put on the internet, or give to someone on a disk.

Wow, what a Miracle a small digital camera is. The real Miracle is that some hard-working EE’s designed this thing. Course, they needed an ME to put it together. An ME better than me.

I have a whole new respect for EE’s now.

Too bad my fat ME fingers messed with the camera, and that the “woodworking” got in the way with that little “bump.”

Too bad I already spent my “economic stimulus check” as I now need a new camera.
I’ll be photo-less for awhile I feel.

I hope you have a better day than I’ve had.

Thanks for reading, sorry no pictures in today’s blog.
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

p.s. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 16:18

(This story and text is protected by copyright 2008, by the author M.A. DeCou, all rights reserved, not to be used without permission)

This new blog communicates the design process on one cane as I prepare to start the carving, and get approvals on the final design.

The customer is a Youth Pastor, and needs to use a tall walking cane to support a bad knee. He and I have been designing this project for several weeks now, and I’m getting to the point in my backlog where I am about ready to start turning the ideas into actual wood.

Story Sticks, or History Sticks, are a “very” Historic Folk-Art concept where a walking cane, or hiking stick, is carved to depict a story.

Some historical examples portray a person’s life journey, others are about wars, adventures, political processes, and other stories that humans carve from the story of their life. In addition, there are many historical examples of Biblical stories carved into wood to tell the story that the user, or carver, wanted to portray.

The main point of a Story Stick, is for the Cane to prompt others to ask the cane user about the carvings, and then the user gets to tell the story each time. They are also very personal, and rarely are sold, as they become family heirlooms.

In this case, the story of “The Gospel”, is told through the entire Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible summarized in 10 small pictures that I will carve.

The cane will be 38” Tall.

The handle will be Olive Wood. The front and back ends of the handle will have synthetic ivory end caps, with Scrimshaw artwork that I will do.

The tip will be a brass lathe turned tip with a replaceable rubber end.

The Cane Shaft will be Kansas Black Walnut.

Top-Bottom Layout Plan:

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The “Story” will go from the bottom to the top, with ten small carvings, tied together with small carved feet. The small carvings will be painted to bring out the detail, while the walnut shaft will be natural.

1. The Universe/Earth at it’s creation
2. Lady’s Hand Reaching for Forbidden Fruit
3. Noah’s Ark
4. Ten Commandments
5. Tabernacle Tent with Vail Closed
6. Lamb Sacrifice
7. Manger in Bethlehem
8. Crucifixion
9. Empty Tomb
10. Christ’s Return in the Clouds

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Thanks for looking,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com
email: mark@decoustudio.com

(This project design, all photos, all sketches, and anything else that could possibly be protected, is protected by copyright 2008 by the author M.A. DeCou)

Thanks for looking,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com

(All photos shown are protected by copyright 2008 by M.A. DeCou, the author who reserves all rights and priviledges.)

I just don’t like doing anything the same, more than once, or twice. And, I’ve been trying to find ways to make a niche for myself in the vast internet woodworking world. To that end, I try unique crafts, and do cross-discipline, mixed-media work, in the hopes that my work is unique enough to find customers to make this little one-man studio shop pay it’s bills.

So, I’ve been wanting to do silversmithing for about 30 years, and finally made time to do that this Spring. The idea I have is to bring silver work into my Custom Knife ,Walking Cane, Powder Horns, and Furniture work. I still don’t know where any of it will take me, but I am enjoying the thought of a journey with an unknown destination.

I’ve taken many journeys in the past with unknown destinations, and all have proven to develop my character, and have taken me places I would not have planned before hand to go, or success and achievements I could not have envisioned at the beginning. Some folks don’t like mysteries in life, but I have a constant faith in something I can’t talk about on LJ anymore. That faith has brought me through many scary things..

So far, I’ve made a couple of simple finger rings with scrimshaw insets, and a necklace with antler and green rock, and now this cane handle cap, and I’m working on a silver banding for a powder horn, which I think will really make my powder horn work stand out from the crowd. When I get that project finished, I’ll post it, but I’m a couple of class sessions from doing that at this point.

My silver projects have started to be interesting to me, and I have way more ideas than time to do them. I don’t anticipate that I will make jewelry, but rather cross-discipline, mixed media work in the future. But who knows?

These photos are of my first walking cane handle cap. It was sort of difficult work, requiring me to manipulate the silver banding with a hammer, to stretch and shrink the band just perfectly to fit the oval, mishapened, tapered, antler shape. I learned a lot working the material to my will though, so I’m glad I tried the project.

The handle is made of Kansas Elk shed antler, and the end cap material is legal pre-ban Elephant Ivory. The cap is hand-wrought sterling silver, with a fine-silver straight bezel. Soon, I will mount this handle on a walking cane shaft, and scrimshaw some artwork on the handle ivory cap.

Customer Note:
If you are interested in this handle being mounted on a cane for you, let me know soon, so that I can work with you to do the scrimshaw artwork you want, and choose the right style cane shaft for you.

thanks for reading,
Mark DeCou
www.decoustudio.com