Blog Archives

July 27th, 2013

7/28/2013

              The next dates for playing with gourds in Kalamazoo
                          12, 19 and 26 August.
                           11:am til 4:30pm
or whenever you are ready to head home to beat the 5pm traffic!
Drop an email to Rita at michigangourdsociety@gmail.com and put Kalamazoo Gourding in the subject line if you have any questions and for directions!
                                See you then!

1 Comment

GOURD SANDING MOP

7/27/2013

5 Comments

Hi All,
I had asked Bonnie Adams for information on the sanding mops that she uses to clean her gourds and this is the information that she shared:
      The 4" single sanding mops, 120-180 grit, are $28 unassembled OR $31 assembled for gourds. Sorry, though I always order 120 grit, I'm at my suppliers mercy as to what grit he sends me. I may get 120, 150 or 180 grit. All work equally well on gourds. The 180 grit may be a bit smoother than the 120 grit is all. I sell the exact same sanding mop that Sears sells online but mine is quite a bit cheaper than theirs (@$38.75 plus shipping). They offer many more sizes, styles and grit while I only offer the size, style and grit that I have found to work best with gourds. The large sanding mops have 1/4 inch drive and are used with your household drill or on a drill press. They cannot be used with your Dremel or other carving equipment. A sanding mop, used on gourds, is assembled differently than the packaged instructions. I include assy and startup instructions for use with gourds. My first sanding mop has lasted for 4 years and I am still using it.
      The sanding grit balls, if you use one, have their place in cleaning thick gourds with the styrofoam like interior. Hang on to your grit ball, you still may need them for the initial cleaning of the thick foam. I clean the styro out of mine with a 3/4" wood chisel. The sanding mop will clean and smooth the gourd interior after the grit ball leaves the interior chewed up. Your grit ball is too aggressive for our thinner Northern gourds though.
      I also recommend a 1/4" X 6" extension, available at Sears for approx. $5-$6. I don't stock those as most folks live near a Sears store or can order them online.
      1 1/2" Mini-mop sets are $14. They include 6 mop heads (3 different grits) and an 1/8" mandrell. Mini-mops have a 1/8" drive and are used on your carving tool, any carving tool. I include assy and startup instructions for use with gourds. Each of the sanding mop heads in the kit should last 1-2 years of service on cleaning out your smaller gourds and up into the necks of gourds. I am currently out-of-stock on mini-mops and haven't had any luck contacting my supplier. I'm still trying to place an order for them.
      I DO sell 1/8" X 2", 4" and 6" extensions for the mini-mops for $5 each because they are not available on the market. I use a 6" extension with my battery op carvers for gourds with less than a 3" opening. My extensions are handmade and should be used at SLOW speeds as they are not hardened and will flex and bend at high speeds. If you use a power flex shaft on your carving tool, the 1/8" extension is NOT necessary.
   Postage generally runs about $6 for orders containing one each of the items above or a single 4" sanding mop.
      If you want to place an order, email me your choice(s) and include your name and home address. I will email you an order total and ask for a check through regular mail. Sorry, I don't handle credit cards or paypal. I ask that a check made out to Cabinmade Artworks and be sent to the address below. Upon receipt of your check, I ship your order out. You should receive it within 3-6 days after shipping.
      Thanks for your interest in the sanding mops!

Bonnie Adams
Cabinmade Artworks
21516 - 71st Ave N
Port Byron, IL   61275
http://cabinmadeartworks.angelfire.com/cabinmade_artworks/

5 Comments

GOURD BOOK

7/20/2013

1 Comment

I've been asked many times about books on gourd crafts and art and people have browsed thru the books that I have collected over the years. There certainly are a lot of gourd books that have been published, but to me the "bible" of all is The Complete Book of Gourd Craft by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess.
This book can be the backbone of your own collection as it has everything you can imagine inside the covers - 22 projects are included and lots of pictures to walk you thru the process of creating each one. Just do a search online to see who has it for sale - I am sure you will find many places to choose from. In my opinion if you only buy one book on gourds this is definitely the one to have; it tells you about everything you can think of from growing and harvesting to different techniques on the gourds that are dry and ready for you to create you own works of art.
Happy gourding - Rita
Membership Secretary.

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Grand Gourds - Rockford

7/15/2013

0 Comments

The schedule for summer is:
July 17 - 10am - 3pm
The class for today is Pine Needle Coiling on a gourd rim - taught by Kathy Priest.
Bring along your cleaned - inside and out - gourd. It doesn't need to be large - anything about 6"in diameter will be just fine.

August 21 - 10am - 3pm
Class to be announced later so stay tuned!
Meetings are held at the home of Joanne Peltz'
7969 Gator Trail NE, Rockford, MI.
You can email to Joanne at Michigangourdsociety@gmail.com

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July 27th, 2013

GOURD SANDING MOP

GOURD BOOK

Grand Gourds - Rockford

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