Object: a man indoors holding a mounted deer antler rack on a wooden post. Action: he grips the post and smiles. Context: a hunting-themed room with green walls. Text (transcription): BOWES

Readers’ Projects, Issue 32

Spring 2011

Deer antler racks and more

Scott Oldanie has found many unique uses for WEST SYSTEM Epoxy around his Lemont, Illinois, home. These are just a few. He built two whitetail deer antler replica racks, bonded and carved; a wooden bear head attached to the end of a beam; and repaired damaged moose antlers and rotted log ends of his log home.

Spray foam insulation forms a pale, bubbly tree-like branch, expanding and hardening around a small pipe joint. The scene is a dim workshop/basement with concrete wall and wooden block nearby.

Oldanie built this reproduction whitetail deer antler rack by first building an armature of welded pipe and 1/4″ steel rod. He then covers it with fiberglass cloth and builds up the antler shape with epoxy thickened with 406 Colloidal Silica Filler. He mixes in pellets from Beanie Babies for texture.

Carved wooden bear head mounted on a thick wooden post, snarling with an open mouth and exposed teeth; displayed indoors among dark beams and museum-like surroundings.

When Oldanie isn’t not creating deer antler racks, he makes things like this heavy, carved bear head mounted to the end of a log beam. He used WEST SYSTEM Epoxy thickened with 406 Colloidal Silica filler for this project.

Oldanie also built this beautiful dogsled of ash and WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. The curved parts are laminated with 6 – 7 thin layers of ash.

Kell High School Robotics Extracurricular Activity

The Kell High School Robotics team is an extracurricular activity at the Kell High School in Marietta, Georgia. Students in the program designed and built a robotic system that will be used to recover debris from lakes and rivers. The vehicle’s two hulls are built of laminated Styrofoam covered with fiberglass cloth using WEST SYSTEM Epoxy.

Object: an orange pontoon raft with a metal frame and multiple black motors mounted overhead, floating on a calm lake. Action: stationary. Context: tree-lined shoreline reflected in the water. Text: banner reads "kel robotics".

A long green beam rests on sawhorses as three people wearing safety goggles sand it with electric sanders; outdoors beside a white building workshop.

A long, pale-green foam panel clamped on wooden supports. Two people in gloves smooth its surface with tools, working outdoors beside a building with a closed garage door.

Visit Kellrobotics.org to find out more about Kell Robotics and watch a video of the ROV in action.

Mayan Throne

Object: a metallic throne with geometric reliefs and an arched back. Action: stationary. Context: in a dim workshop, bathed in blue light, with two sculpted animal heads on its armrests.

Designed to be used for photo ops at trade shows, in the Modelo Beer booth, this massive Mayan throne was built by Saginaw, Michigan, artist Frank Smeker. As pictured above, it has just a wet coat of primer, but the plywood, foam, and WEST SYSTEM Epoxy chair will get a crystalline sparkle texture, then be painted monochromatic gold. Smeker has been building museum exhibits, trade show displays, and architectural details since 1982. Visit Creativity Displayed to see more of his work.

15′ Strip Boat

A polished wooden dinghy sits on a trailer, bow toward the viewer, with varnished interior and benches; it rests on gravel in front of a white house under sun.

Matthew Gunning of Gunning Wooden Boats LLC, Summerville, South Carolina, sent this photo of a 15′ strip boat he built for a customer in Virginia. He used 105 Resin/207 Special Clear Hardener with 7.5 oz. fiberglass cloth on the exterior and 6 oz. fiberglass cloth on the interior.

Baker Boat Works(Plan No.76) “Rose”

Wide sugar pine, Redwood, and Western red cedar boat by David Harry of Chester, CA.

Built by David Harry of Chester, California, over four months of weekend and evening work, this 11′ 2″ Wherry has a 42″ beam. It was launched in October 2010. The boat was built from plans purchased from Baker Boat Works (Plan No.76). Harry built the boat from locally available woods. The hull strips were 1/4″ – thick, 3/4″ – wide sugar pine, redwood, and western red cedar. Douglas fir and black oak were also used. The boat was laminated inside and out with 6 oz. fiberglass cloth and WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. Harry says, “It weighs 60 lb. and is fast under oar, obtaining a good speed in about three strokes of the 6′ 6″ oars. My daughter was my clamping assistant in the construction and she named it rose.”