9th of Summer, 522 AV
Cleon woke up early that day to get some practice in down by the shop. He was finally ready to take the leap and purchase his own surfboard, and he wanted to have a hand in making it himself. Over the course of last season he had gotten quite decent at working wood, and had most of the basics down when it came to surfboard construction. This however would be a true test of what he had learned so far, and the reward would be his very own surfboard. After he paid for the materials of course.
To better enjoy the morning outside, he was wearing a pair of light gray isuas breeches, sandals, and gloves to protect his hands while he was working. Fortunately for him, he already had a split of Koa wood to work with that him and Randal had prepared last season. It was ready for him to shape. All he had to do was lean it up against the shop before he grabbed his tools. It was just over ten feet long which made it shorter than most of the boards they sold at the shop, but Cleon didn’t mind that too much because he felt like this would be easier to work with.
Taking out a chisel and a hammer, he positioned himself squarely in front of the long piece of wood, taking a tick to appreciate it before he set about the business of shaping the blank. He stared with the edges, stripping the hard bark before flattening out the rounded edge. To do this he had approach it strategically as different parts required their own tools to make sure he achieved what he was after. Of course he could probably do the shaping all with one chisel but it was easier if he switched it up, and he was still very green and in the process of experimenting with his work flow. Switching tools kept him on task and focused, something he sorely needed the previous season with all of its distractions.
Using a chisel with a wide set base, he stripped off most of the bark from the outer layer on the right side before he switched to one with a narrower point that allowed him to really get into the hard but brittle wood. Koa was much nicer than the other woods he had worked with because it tended to break off cleanly which helped him a good deal in achieving the precise shaping he needed to make this blank. It didn’t have to be perfect, but he needed to get it close enough with this first step of the process so that the next step would go smoothly, and the next after that.
Koa was also a very hard wood, which made it more than a little labor intensive to work with as Cleon really had to hammer down on the end of the chisel to make every break, but then again that made it easier to avoid mistakes because he had to be really focused on what he was doing. Because to top of the split was much taller than him, he worked first on shaping the middle while it was laid up against the building like this. Later when it came time to work on the ends he would lay it across the sand, and raise it up a foot so he could make sure that he could get a uniform shape wrapped around the blank. The middle part he was working on was relatively easy in comparison and for the most part involved him flattening out the distinct curve on one side of the split log while on the other side he would be putting a slight curve into it.
Barkside was by far the most laborious part of the process so he of course started with that first, working his way across in strips until he had reached just about all he could at this angle. Already his arms were getting tired with a dull ache that pulled around the joints and occasionally arched down his back when he rotated his shoulders. His right ached more than his left because that was the side that brought the hammer down and before he flipped the blank over onto its belly in the sand, he decided to take a quick break. Syna was well over the island now which meant he had probably a couple of bells before he had to go to work.
Taking a long pull from his water skin, Cleon sat down in the sand beside the wooden blank he had been working on and pulled his backpack between his legs before he remembered what he was after was actually in the charm bracelet on his wrist. Holding his hand out, he imagined himself holding the large, red leather book he knew to be stored within. A tick or so later it appeared in his hand, and was expectantly grimacing at him.
“What do you want?” The book grunted, moving that mockery of a mouth in the center of its face as it spoke.
“I can put you back?” Cleon joked, reaching to touch it against the charm and drawing an eye roll out of it that caused Cleon to smirk.
“Oh please do. I would just lo-” He touched the book to the charm on his wrist, sending it back into the magical compartment that was the messenger bag charm that currently dangled off of his wrist. This back and forth between him and the book he’d learned to keep brief, and since being gifted this charm not so long ago, he’d decided to make good use of it to muffle the ornery books complaints. Ever since acquiring it at the library of Reclaimed Knowledge it seemed like it had done nothing but complain and honestly Cleon was in too good of a mood to speak to it when it came out of the gate hostile. He’d let it simmer down for a bit, and try to speak to it later on to see if it was a little more amenable but he strongly doubted that it would be.
There was another book he could draw upon, but he decided to wait upon that for now and instead imagined his pipe and tin of tobacco in his hands. When they popped into existence, he set down the pipe in his lap before drawing out a pinch of tobacco from the black tin etched with silver leaves. Today it was a dark black tobacco with a strong, almost sour aroma that made him crinkle his nose as he stuffed a bit into the bowl of his pipe. Grabbing a piece of tinder, then flint and steel, he set about striking the two together towards the oil soaked palm fuzz until it caught alight and he hastily brought it to the bowl of his pipe before he burned his fingers. He’d never worked out an easier way of doing this which was in retrospect rather unfortunate, so it took a couple of pieces of tinder to get it just right before he got a proper cherry in the bowl going.
By then he needed to take the edge off, and so he didn’t mind so much how distinctly sour this tobacco was as he pulled the smoke in, letting it sit in his lungs for a while before breathing out through his nose. After a few puffs, the familiar buzz washed in at the edges of his conscious and he settled back against the side of the Surf Shop, looking out towards the beach while he contemplated what the day was going to look like.
WC - 1,280
.
Cleon woke up early that day to get some practice in down by the shop. He was finally ready to take the leap and purchase his own surfboard, and he wanted to have a hand in making it himself. Over the course of last season he had gotten quite decent at working wood, and had most of the basics down when it came to surfboard construction. This however would be a true test of what he had learned so far, and the reward would be his very own surfboard. After he paid for the materials of course.
To better enjoy the morning outside, he was wearing a pair of light gray isuas breeches, sandals, and gloves to protect his hands while he was working. Fortunately for him, he already had a split of Koa wood to work with that him and Randal had prepared last season. It was ready for him to shape. All he had to do was lean it up against the shop before he grabbed his tools. It was just over ten feet long which made it shorter than most of the boards they sold at the shop, but Cleon didn’t mind that too much because he felt like this would be easier to work with.
Taking out a chisel and a hammer, he positioned himself squarely in front of the long piece of wood, taking a tick to appreciate it before he set about the business of shaping the blank. He stared with the edges, stripping the hard bark before flattening out the rounded edge. To do this he had approach it strategically as different parts required their own tools to make sure he achieved what he was after. Of course he could probably do the shaping all with one chisel but it was easier if he switched it up, and he was still very green and in the process of experimenting with his work flow. Switching tools kept him on task and focused, something he sorely needed the previous season with all of its distractions.
Using a chisel with a wide set base, he stripped off most of the bark from the outer layer on the right side before he switched to one with a narrower point that allowed him to really get into the hard but brittle wood. Koa was much nicer than the other woods he had worked with because it tended to break off cleanly which helped him a good deal in achieving the precise shaping he needed to make this blank. It didn’t have to be perfect, but he needed to get it close enough with this first step of the process so that the next step would go smoothly, and the next after that.
Koa was also a very hard wood, which made it more than a little labor intensive to work with as Cleon really had to hammer down on the end of the chisel to make every break, but then again that made it easier to avoid mistakes because he had to be really focused on what he was doing. Because to top of the split was much taller than him, he worked first on shaping the middle while it was laid up against the building like this. Later when it came time to work on the ends he would lay it across the sand, and raise it up a foot so he could make sure that he could get a uniform shape wrapped around the blank. The middle part he was working on was relatively easy in comparison and for the most part involved him flattening out the distinct curve on one side of the split log while on the other side he would be putting a slight curve into it.
Barkside was by far the most laborious part of the process so he of course started with that first, working his way across in strips until he had reached just about all he could at this angle. Already his arms were getting tired with a dull ache that pulled around the joints and occasionally arched down his back when he rotated his shoulders. His right ached more than his left because that was the side that brought the hammer down and before he flipped the blank over onto its belly in the sand, he decided to take a quick break. Syna was well over the island now which meant he had probably a couple of bells before he had to go to work.
Taking a long pull from his water skin, Cleon sat down in the sand beside the wooden blank he had been working on and pulled his backpack between his legs before he remembered what he was after was actually in the charm bracelet on his wrist. Holding his hand out, he imagined himself holding the large, red leather book he knew to be stored within. A tick or so later it appeared in his hand, and was expectantly grimacing at him.
“What do you want?” The book grunted, moving that mockery of a mouth in the center of its face as it spoke.
“I can put you back?” Cleon joked, reaching to touch it against the charm and drawing an eye roll out of it that caused Cleon to smirk.
“Oh please do. I would just lo-” He touched the book to the charm on his wrist, sending it back into the magical compartment that was the messenger bag charm that currently dangled off of his wrist. This back and forth between him and the book he’d learned to keep brief, and since being gifted this charm not so long ago, he’d decided to make good use of it to muffle the ornery books complaints. Ever since acquiring it at the library of Reclaimed Knowledge it seemed like it had done nothing but complain and honestly Cleon was in too good of a mood to speak to it when it came out of the gate hostile. He’d let it simmer down for a bit, and try to speak to it later on to see if it was a little more amenable but he strongly doubted that it would be.
There was another book he could draw upon, but he decided to wait upon that for now and instead imagined his pipe and tin of tobacco in his hands. When they popped into existence, he set down the pipe in his lap before drawing out a pinch of tobacco from the black tin etched with silver leaves. Today it was a dark black tobacco with a strong, almost sour aroma that made him crinkle his nose as he stuffed a bit into the bowl of his pipe. Grabbing a piece of tinder, then flint and steel, he set about striking the two together towards the oil soaked palm fuzz until it caught alight and he hastily brought it to the bowl of his pipe before he burned his fingers. He’d never worked out an easier way of doing this which was in retrospect rather unfortunate, so it took a couple of pieces of tinder to get it just right before he got a proper cherry in the bowl going.
By then he needed to take the edge off, and so he didn’t mind so much how distinctly sour this tobacco was as he pulled the smoke in, letting it sit in his lungs for a while before breathing out through his nose. After a few puffs, the familiar buzz washed in at the edges of his conscious and he settled back against the side of the Surf Shop, looking out towards the beach while he contemplated what the day was going to look like.
WC - 1,280
.
