Solo Baare Bones

Cleon learns how to make a surf board.

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Syka is a new settlement of primarily humans on the east coast of Falyndar opposite of Riverfall on The Suvan Sea. [Syka Codex]

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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on April 8th, 2022, 6:55 pm

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18th of Spring, 522 A.V.

Cleon wasn’t a hard man to find which worked a little in his favor from time to time. This time however he was looking to be sought by Randal in particular, hungry for the opportunity the man had mentioned off hand days ago. As such he found himself loitering outside of the founder’s surf shop with his kit bound neatly near where he stood.

He’d come early to make sure he wouldn’t miss him, and sure enough he saw the man coming down along the beach, looking a bit more unkempt than usual. This was a different sort of unkempt, aside from the usual as through the hair on the top of the man’s head Cleon could see horns emerging, although an attempt had been made to disguise them with the way he had brushed his thick hair. Cleon didn’t know what to make of it in the slightest and wondered if it had anything to do with what Faye had been experiencing, although he decided to keep his mouth shut about the subject for now.

Whatever was happening, Cleon wasn’t going to press the point. He was here to work, not ask unnecessary questions and besides he had his own problems to think of. That was partially the reason he had come here in the first place as he hoped keeping busy with work, enough so that he wasn’t just constantly dwelling on his fixations. He needed to feel productive, and this was as good a way as any.

When Randal got close enough, Cleon picked up his kit, and closed the few stps to the founder with his set of tools firmly cradled in his arms. Now with a bit of a better look, he could see that portions of the man’s face had changed as well to something a shade more bestial that matched along his loping gait. It was a little disconcerting to see him so afflicted, but Cleon swallowed past his reservations as he approached the man.

“Excuse me Randal? I was wondering if you still needed a hand? I brought my own tools.” Cleon said. Randal gave him a briefly confused look, then recognition slid across his features and he smiled.

“Sure. As it happens I could really use a clerk to mind the shop when I’m away, and if you are any good with those tools, I might even let you work on a few boards eventually. Have you ever surfed before?” Randal asked as they shook hands, and then walked up the stairs to the second level of the shop.

Cleon shook his head. “I’m not that good actually, I was hoping to learn as I went.” Cleon explained hastily.

Randal nodded. “That’s fine, it will mean a slower start, but I’ll show you what you need to work on in the meantime. You’ll also want to get on learning how to surf as soon as possible. Kind of important even if you are just going to be clerking here for now. Hmmm… When are you usually free?” Randal asked.

Cleon narrowed his eyes and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as a eye watering headache came to the fore. It wasn’t anything Randal had said, rather it was a side effect of these fixations that had left him feeling more than a little hollow lately.

“Sorry, headache. That sounds great, and I guess I’m free whenever I’m not needed here.” Cleon said with a shrug as he got a good look at the shop’s interior. It was quite nice, the upper level anyways as the space seemed quite cozy the way it had all been laid out. He wouldn’t mind working here one bit even if he hadn’t the faintest idea about what he would be doing yet. It couldn’t be as stressful as thieving he consoled himself.

“Alright, we’ll work something out so I can show you the ropes. Its easy enough to get the hang of once I show you what’s what, although it might be tricky with the sea the way it is currently. Oh well, the community pool should do the trick to at least explain to you the basics. Are you any good at swimming? Up here we’ve got our service area where people can come take a look at the finished boards and hang out when they aren’t out there enjoying the surf. I don’t expect to see much of that except from the more confident swimmers, and people that are familiar with the dangers the water presents during this season. We’ve got our own limited bar up here to keep our guests entertained and generally keep them looking at the boards so they might make a purchase.” Randal said, walking across the room till he reached a stairwell that lead down.

“Underneath here is my workshop where I put the boards together. Before that, take a look at some of the finished boards up here so you’ve got an idea about what we’re going to be making down there. Here, I’ll take one down.” Randal said, sliding one of the wooden boards off of its pegs, then setting it down across the counter.

“This is a full sized surf board, and when used properly it will let you stand on top of it while riding the waves before they crash in the shallows near the beach. The bigger the wave, the more fun you’ll have, but you have to be careful and know the water you are surfing in. Right now you’d likely to not survive one trip as you could be caught by a riptide or a confused shark if you even tried so we’ll keep you beach side for now. You’ll want to be at least decent at swimming before you even try to surf those waves.” Randal explained.

Cleon nodded, chewing on his pinky nail as he gave the surfboard a good look, wondering how exactly he got it into this uniquely solid looking shape that felt lighter than it had any right to be.

“We’ll put that on the to do list. Manning the counter is pretty self explanatory. You offer our patrons drinks, show them the boards, chat them up about the subject and generally try to be as accommodating as possible while they are here. Also we offer painting and repainting services, so make sure everyone new to the shop knows that if I’m not around. With that settled, how about I give you a look at what’s below. I’ve got a few boards in various stages I can show you before we see what we’re working with.” Randal said gesturing to the stairwell, and then Cleon followed him down where he saw just that. There were a couple of half boards already set up, looking more like odd wooden fish skeletons held together by small green ropes. He continued walking over towards the back where he had several sheets of thin wood set up along the wall while on the table there was a set of cut outs, a small black jar, and a charcoal pencil.

“Just set your tools on the table.” Randal said as he pulled over one of the sheets of wood that looked like two wide boards had been glued together in the middle with a soot colored substance. “Like I said earlier, it is not particularly hard once you get used to it, but it is a complicated process so pay attention. We start out with an outline before you make your cut.” Randal said, picking up one of the cut outs and holding it to the sheet of wood before tracing the curved outline with his free hand. Then he flipped the sheet around, and handed over the charcoal pencil to Cleon. “Here you give it a try.”

Taking the charcoal pencil, and with Randal holding the wood cut out for him, he traced around its curved top, first outlining the left side of the board before going on to do the right. The cutout helped considerably to keep his line straight, though he doubted his ability to do the same when the tools would come into play. Perhaps sensing his hesitancy, Randal went over to Cleon’s kit bag, unrolling it and examining the tools for a moment before he picked out a fat blade pole saw and walked back over to the wood sheet.

“Here, place you hand on the handle, and just follow along where I guide you with my motions.” Randal said, and Cleon did as he as asked, gingerly laying his hand over the handle before the man’s much larger one clasped the handle over his. Then Randal started rocking his had subtly back and forth, Cleon watching on as the saw bit into the sheet of wood before continuing to cut smoothly along the curve of the board, basically following the outline as he continued all the way to where the board ended. Then they did the same on the other side, again gently rocking the blade back and forth rapidly as they continued along the sheet of would until the outline was completely cut out. Then Cleon took a step back as Randal pulled it away from the wood sheet and then let the sheet fall onto the floor while he set the board on the table.

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Last edited by Cleon on May 4th, 2022, 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on April 8th, 2022, 6:55 pm

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“This is going to be the bottom outer shell of the board we are going to be working on. Before we can continue however, we’ve got quite a few more outlines to make, and these ones are going to be significantly more difficult so I’ll take over for the finer details while guiding you along the broader parts, alright? Before that though we need to get all of it traced out onto a sheet of wood, and we’ll be using these to do it. Here, I’ll find another charcoal pencil.” Randal said, setting out the cutouts on the table before going over to retrieve a sheet and another charcoal pencil. Then after setting the sheet down, but before he got to tracing the outlines, he took the black jar, and took it over to a fire place.

While he was getting that started, Cleon busied himself with tracing the outlines for the pieces Randal had laid out, doing his best to keep them in an orderly row on the sheet of wood. They looked a lot like the ‘bones’ of the board he saw at the far end of the shop, and he wondered if this was why the boards felt lighter than if they had been made of solid wood. He supposed that made a sort of sense if you really where supposed to stand on them on the water, although he hadn’t the faintest clue why it worked the way it did. He decided he’d ask when he got the chance, but for now, he traced the cut outs dutifully and was halfway finished when Randal returned from having gotten the fire going.

“Good, you finish these up while I’ll grab a few more tools we’ll need to get these pieces out.” Randal said, going back over to Cleon’s kit as Cleon finished up the last of the outlines. Once he was done, he stepped back as Randal laid the tools on the table, including a delicate looking saw, and a sanding brush. Then same as before, after slipping the wood so the outlines came over the edge of the table, Randal guided him along as Cleon tried his hand at making cutouts with the fine toothed saw. If he hadn’t had Randal helping him along with the motions he would probably have stayed snagged on the first cutout as the edge caught on the outline before Randal still guiding Cleon’s fingers, shifted the grip on his hand along the handle of the saw so as they rocked back and forth he was able to trace the broad neat curved line that went for the largest of the wooden ribs he had outlined. The didn’t cut out the bottom part for now, most of it anyways as they continued to move on from one piece to the other till the broad strokes where done, then Randal went back with the saw and finished tooling the finer edges of the outline which after looking again at the half finished surf board, Cleon realized would be an interlocking part of the wooden ribs that would fill out the middle of the surf board.

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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on April 8th, 2022, 6:56 pm

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Then with all of the cutouts made, Cleon helped arrange them in a small pile before going back to the thin sheet of wood and helping Randal with a long outline he’d drawn across the base of the sheet. With the fine toothed saw again, Cleon broke into the sheet at the edge where the outline started before carrying it up in a rocking motion along the swift curve it took till it somewhat flattened out across the middle before tapering on the other side. Randal guided him along the motions gently, pulling him away from the sheet if he was exerting too much pressure, and pushing when he needed a little more to keep the lines as smooth as possible. Then Randal put the finishing touches himself on cutting out the wooden spine and making the necessary divots where Cleon suspected they would be slotting in the ribs.

Before all of that was to occur, Randal returned to the fire place and checked on the jar. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he took it out of the pot of water with a pair of metal tongs, setting it gently on the edge of the table where Cleon could see clearly the brackish substance boiling from within.

“This here is tar which we’ll be using to give these joints a nice seal. It will protect against sheer force which is what you have to prepare for when out on the waves. Here put some on these slots where we’ll slide in the other pieces and then we’ll get it set out on that board cutout we already made.” Randal said, handing one of the brushes to him which he then used to liberally apply the tar on the joints after watching Randal do a few. It didn’t take very long to work his way down the spine and once he had, they slotted in the ribs they had just cut out, curved side up. Then Cleon helped paint the underside of the spine before they set it carefully across the board cut out.

“Alright, now hold it in place while I tie it all together. We want to keep a nice curve across the bottom, so we’re going to let it cure for several hours before we do anything else with it.” Randal explained as he walked Cleon over the edge of the board where he curved the pieces of cutout together to meet the curved ribs and Cleon did his best to hold it steady as Randal quickly wrapped a cord tightly around the ribs and underside of the board till the first quarter was neatly kept together.

“You’re going to want to keep an even pressure across it all so none of it sets the wrong way. You can kind of tell at the end if you’ve done a good job by seeing if any of it moves the wrong way when you’re finished. Come on, lets get this all set before the tar cools off.” Randal said, hurrying them along down the board where Cleon held it all in place while watching Randal tie it all up. He wasn’t very familiar with knots but the one Randal used to tie the whole thing together looked like a upside down horse shoe threaded through a hole, then back again through another before a line was pulled to draw it all taught against board and ribs. Cleon struggled to keep up, as it took most of his attention to make sure the wood was flush against the board as they moved on until whole bottom of the board had been attached. Then they took a step back to admire their handywork.

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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on April 8th, 2022, 6:57 pm

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“Well, that’s the first half anyways.” Randal explained, taking a step back to lean against the table. Cleon did the same on the one opposite, gingerly though so as to not jostle the board.

“I’m assuming we do the same for the other half.” Cleon asked.

“Pretty much. Only there will be a slot across the bottom for this part, and the we’ve already got the rest in place. Once that has set, you just need to put on the outer shell, let that set, and then sand it all down. Here, we’ll set the top part for one of these other boards and then I’ll let you help me finish one that I let rest overnight.” Randal said, guiding him further along to another table with a half complete board strapped across the top of it. With a few neat pulls, he had the thing halfway undone, and Cleon barely had the chance to undo a few of the knots before Randal had the rest already off.

Having a chance to admire the completed product, half completed product at least was an interesting experience and he hoped their board only turned out half so well as this one was solid as it stood. The ribs had been framed much like theirs had with the skeleton outline of the board which ran about an inch and a half thick with the raised middle. Where the ribs stood flush with the flat top of the board, you could barely even make out the tar he’d used to line it not that it much matter with this being the inside of the board.

As it happened, Randal already had a cut out made, but he set that aside as he drew out a fresh sheet of wood and set it across the table. Knowing by now what was expected of him, he got the pieces together he was supposed to trace around and did so on the fresh cut of wood before setting them aside and the sheet back across the table. Then grabbing the pole saw, he started to rock back and forth, though stopped for a moment when Randal didn’t step in to help. Smiling nervously, he looked down and continued, trying to remember the way Randal had him hold the saw as he worked it down the curve of the outline, slowly adjusting his pressure when he would frequently get snagged on the way down.

When it took him nearly five chimes to get a quarter of the way down the outline, Randal at last stepped in, guiding his hand along the sure strokes necessary to make the cut out and before another few chimes they had it.

“Not bad for a first timer.” Randal grinned as he helped Cleon set the section of board across the curved top of the ribs, and they moved it in place until it seemed flush with the skeleton outer shell. Then they took it off, and painted the edges of the ribs with more of that tar from earlier, making sure every surface that would be touching the board was covered before they gingerly slotted it back across the top. This time they curved the board around the ribs, and Cleon had to press down as Randal went along the length of the board to make the necessary tie offs. In addition the the ropes, this time they also used these curved, thick pieces of woods that Cleon held in place along the middle of the board as one by one Randal secured them in place until the whole board was bound end to end.

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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on April 8th, 2022, 6:57 pm

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“This will also need a long rest before we touch it again, but its like I said, the hard part is in the beginning with setting up the inside of the board. The rest is just touching everything up really, and putting it all together. Now I’ll show you what an almost completed board looks like.” Randal said as he walked them over to just such a board that was similarly tied off to the one they had just walked away from. Again Cleon only managed to get a few off before Randal had the rest done, and together they set the pieces aside on another table then Randal handed him a brush which Cleon used to clean off the surface of the board. Once he was done with that, he saw Randal had returned with a couple of curved sanding brushes, and handed one to Cleon.

“Work your way around this edge here and stop when we meet on the other end.” Randal explained and Cleon did as he was asked, working the brush stiffly across the rough curved groove of the board till both sheets were flush with the inch and a half skeletal curve. Like everything else, Cleon was a bit slow at this, and made all the more sluggish by the stiff ache that had taken root in his right hand where the skin felt a little raw across the top of his palm. Gritting his teeth past all of that, he did his best to brush away the wood edges without too much grunting on his part, but he was already feeling stiff in other areas of his body about a quarter of the way down the board. Looking over at Randal however, you’d think he was lost in conversation with a beautiful woman with the ease he took to this kind of work, brushing out these edges as if there was nothing else in the world at that moment.

When it was all done, there was one more cut out to complete that would slide into the base of the board. As Randal already had most of it cut out having finished his sanding long before Cleon had, all Cleon had to do was walk over and complete the outline with the saw, cutting through the thin lines of wood that still kept it attached to the sheet. It was not particularly difficult which was obviously the intent, and Cleon was grateful for the help as he soon after popped out the cut out to hand to Randal. Then he watched as the man set it into the base of the board before turning back around with a fierce grin.

“Once that has had time to set, and we get it sanded down, there isn’t much left to do besides staining, then sealing up the wood. Of course, then there is painting it, which is always a fun part. Have you ever painted Cleon? I’m sorry if I’m asking to much of you, but I really like to know who I’m working with.”

Cleon nodded, not really taking any offense as he was feeling a little too groggy to make such complicated social constructions, imaginary or otherwise. “Not at all, and I’m afraid I haven’t given it much thought. Could be fun though.” Cleon said hopefully.

Randal smiled. “Well, maybe you should give it a shot on that board we started earlier once its all put together to see if you’ve got a taste for it.” Randal said, walking away from the board and halfway to the stairs before turning around.

“Its a little early for a drink, but how about I walk you through your clerking duties upstairs as there isn’t much left down here that we can do. Then afterward, I’ll give you a demonstration of what these surfboards can do out on the water.

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Baare Bones

Postby Cleon on May 25th, 2022, 2:13 pm

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Grade Award!

Cleon:

SKILLS:

Carpentry: 5
Drawing: 2
Observation: 5
Surfboard Making: 5
Socialization: 5






LORES:

Randal: Appearance & Mannerisms
Randal: Cursed with bestial features
Ride the waves surf shop: Location & Appearance
Curse effect: Magically Induced Withdraw Symptoms
Surf Shop: Clerking duties & Responsibilities
Community Pool: Good place to practice swimming
The Sea: Threat of riptides and sharks early spring
Surfboard: Appearance and usage
Polesaw: Appearance and usage
Drawing: Using a wood blank to trace
Drawing: Using wooden shapes to trace
Carpentry: Making surfboard cutouts
Carpentry: Using a polesaw
Carpentry: Using a finetoothed saw
Surfboard: Base shape and properties
Surfboard: Top shape and properties
Surfboard: Middle shape and properties
Carpentry: Making the surfboard ribs
Surfboard making: Placing the ribs
Surfboard making: Attaching the ribs
Fine-toothed Saw: Appearance and usage
Tar: Appearance and Usage
Tar: Useful adhesive
Surfboard Making: Binding the pieces together
Surfboard Making: Creating a curved base
Surfboard Making: Cleaning the finished product
Surfboard Making: Staining the finished product
Carpentry: Sanding rough edges
Carpentry: Blending rough edges

Feel free to pm me with questions or concerns about your grade, and don’t forget to edit your grade request! :)
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Cleon
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