Shave Soap made by Wanda!!

So I have been using a honey/oatmeal goat milk shave soap for years and I love it.  I was down to the last bits of that soap in my shave mug and thought it would be nice to have some scents that matched our regular shower soap I get from  Goat Milk Soap Naturally Made by Wanda. So I contacted her and discussed this possibility and she thought it was a great idea.  PHEW!!

She brewed up four scents, the most important being the lemongrass scent that I wanted. Well goat milk soap takes a month or so to age properly which stinks in our instant gratification world.  POO!!!  I waited impatiently but today it was ready and I went to pick it up at a local craft fair.  I ran right home and shaved, having avoided shaving this morning for just this occasion!  Glad I did. 

First report on shaving is good.  Soap foams up just enough, face feels great, and I smell awesome!  That's my personal opinion of course but I'll update in a week or so with my wife's opinion.  Heehee...

The link above is for Wanda's FB page.  I also make shave brushes from badger hair if anyone is interested.  I'm contacting a local potter we use to come up with a nice shave mug as well that we can pair up into a nice package deal at some point.  Take care all!

-ChrisD

NEW Lawson IronWire!

Just received the NEW Lawson Equipment IronWire for review and testing!  This kernmantle type 2mm line is reverting back to Lawson's roots of rope making as it appears the braided hollow core dyneema line market has gotten somewhat saturated these days.  Below are the details from the website  https://lawsonequipment.com/Cordage/Ironwire-High-Strength-Accessory-Cord-p1132.html:

Product Details: 

We manufacture our Ironwire to be extremely strong, low stretch, and tangle resistant.  It is constructed with a High Tenacity Polyester Jacket and a Dyneema SK75 Core. It can be used for any application you can think of and will become your new favorite HIGH STRENGTH accessory cord.   Made in the USA, using the best materials on Earth!      

Construction Type, Technical Details & Materials:

Kernmantle Construction. Not Spliceable.  High Tenacity Polyester Jacket w/ Dyneema SK75 Parallel Fiber Core. Very High Strength.  Very Low Stretch. UV Resistant. Does not Freeze. 

Size: 2mm (5/64"),  Weight Per Foot: .035oz (.99grams),  Avg. Break Strength: 650 lbs

Size: 3mm (1/8"), Weight Per Foot: .07oz (2.0grams), Avg. Break Strength:

Size: 5mm (13/64"), Weight Per Foot: .00oz(0.00grams), Avg. Break Strength:

What sets our Ironwire apart from other high strength Accessory Cords?

We use the best yarns possible. We braid the line so its strong, low stretch and very tangle resistant. We give you more product for less money. We design the line to work really great and we make it ourselves.

FAQ.. How to melt the core and jacket together?

Since the core is made from Dyneema and the Jacket is make from Polyester. The ends do not like to melt together due to the different chemical makeup.  The simple and easy solution is to go back from the end about a foot or two and milk the Polyester jacket over the core.  Once you make the Polyester jacket longer then the core (you only need to make it about 1/8"), then its time to melt it the ends again.  The Polyester will encapsulate over the Dyneema locking it in place.  It works great and is a permanent solution.  You can use this method will all cords/ropes with Dyneema, Spectra, Technora, or Vectran Cores and Nylon or Polyester Jackets.

I received 3 hanks of the 2mm IronWire Accessory Cord to review in purple, yellow/orange, and a really nice blue color.  The purple is seen here on the HungryFish Cord Winder.  It fits 50' perfectly although I suspect one could fit 100' on there as well.  

I will be using this cord as much as possible over the next month or so mostly in hammock application but will try and use it for other purposes as well.  Stay tuned!

Chris D.

Lawson Equipment Guywire Accessory Cord

I'll admit, I've been a fan of Lawson's cordage for a couple years now. I started running his 2mm GloWire on all my hammock tarps coupled with his bar tensioners, which I will review separately of course.

I also use his IronWire in my folding buck saws as tension line. It has a 500# rating and tensions my saws beautifully. That is a spliceable line which may or may not still be available. At this time it appears Lawson may be focusing on "kernmantle" cordage. That was a new one for me but essentially it's a German term for "badass", or translated more purely, "core" and "sheath". A core which embodies the strength of the rope and a sheath which protects the core and makes it slippery or not slippery or reflective or not, etc.

For this review I have been provided with a spool of 2000' of the Lawson Guywire Accessory Cord in an OD green color. This has no reflective fibers woven in like the GloWire. On initial inspection and use, it has similar properties, feel, and knotability as the GloWire. I use the tautline hitch and the perfection loop constantly and this line seems to work fabulous with those.

More info later. Headed to the Maine Cast Iron Hammock Hang this weekend and plan on using this cordage as much as possible!

10/7/19 Update

I have been using the accessory cord now for a while and I am very impressed with its knotability, strength, versatility, and durability.  It does not tangle like many other 2mm lines and works fabulous for hammock tarp tieouts and even ridgeline tieouts.  We used this line on our tarps that we had installed on our Tensa4 hammock stands all over the West from Seattle to Montana.  The Tautline hitch works fabulous with this line!  Looking forward to using the new IronWire by Lawson now as well.  It feels similar but the core is dyneema, so even stronger and no stretch!  Regardless of the core, I did not find the Accessory Cord to have much stretch anyways.

Gear reviews coming soon!!

As many of you know, I have done gear reviews for a friend's review website for the past couple years. I come across some connections with cottage vendors and they occasionally send me gear to review and get my input. I have decided to mostly dedicate this page to those reviews. Stay tuned for some great gear coming up and my thoughts on a few pieces of gear I have recently tried out.

Hanging around in this cold place...

It's been a long winter here in Maine.  But we have been making the best of it.  Sometimes you just have to run with it, so I said, screw the cold and the snow!!!  I'm sleepin' outside at LEAST once every month!!  So THERE!!  And I have.  Got down to 16 degrees one night and was toasty warm.  Of course, getting up and going inside the house sucked, but it was worth it!

The other part of getting into hammock camping that is right up my alley is making our own gear!!  Fortunately my wife has a sewing machine and she taught me how to thread the darn thing.  Now that I am a pro at that, I can concentrate on sewing straight seams and such.  I have made three ridgeline organizers, a curly maple pack frame, a pack to strap to it, and today I made a gear hammock (a small hammock that can double as a chair!).  This DIY thing is fun and using gear  you made is so rewarding.

Been a while since I posted to this blog.  I became a chaplain since the last time I posted!  Who would have thunk??  I guess my desire to be a counselor way back and my faith in Jesus stirred up this calling later in life.  I do the chaplain thing through the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization.  I work with a great bunch of people locally in that area for sure.  Oh, I got back into playing the drums too.  Got to play a gig at a local party last summer even!  What fun!!

That's it for now.  Keep on rockin'!!

Pocket T's not good for woodturning...

Looks like I solved my pocket T dilemma. Those suckers get filled with shadings when I am turning wood, so this fancy masking tape should do quite well to thwart that deal.

Dudley's Dagger Dungeon?

Well, this semi-custom knife gig has rolled along quite nicely.  I have a steady stream of knives and sheaths to do and it is a great diversion from building big furniture.  Honestly, sometimes doing furniture gets a little boring and doesn't have the creativity that keeps me whole.  Which is why I come up with all these crazy small projects and products to play with, like concrete table tops and custom knives and fishing lures!  It just makes me happy.  That's all.

So then the question arises, do I develop another company name for the knife thing and another website?  Sort of like the www.woodenammo.com thing?  As a good friend suggested, maybe I call it Dudley's Dagger Dungeon!  With the motto: "Gut, Stab, Cut, and Slash Your Way Through Life..."  Maybe that's a little extreme though and draws away from the focus.  Basically I do hunting knives, survival knives, and kitchen knives.  In that order.  How about Wild Cherry Knife Co.??  That might work.  I do a little restoration work as well.  Someone has an old knife that needs a new handle, like a family heirloom or something.  Gets a bit pricey, but sometimes it is worth it.  Motto: "Make that old knife slice and dice like new again!"  Well, we shall see how this goes.  I am going to try and get one knife made in the different styles that are commonly ordered for Fryeburg next year so people can see and hold them and hopefully order their own.  The key is to order it AT Fryeburg, because I have had numerous folks call the end of November about Christmas delivery.  Already booked!!!  It takes about 3-4wks to get a knife done.  I have to order the knife blanks and supplies that I don't have already, which takes a week, and then it takes a week to get the knife done and sheath as well.  That is assuming I have nothing to do in front of it, so I would say 6-8wks is probably a better thing to say.

Well, regardless, I have been able to invest in new machinery to make the process go smoother and the final product come out better.  I may or may not come up with a new website.  That all costs money and then you need to design the site and all.  Stay tuned on the Wild Cherry Woodworks FaceBook page as that is where the newest pictures show up first...