Make Cool Stuff Carving IVORY! (Part Deux) (Kotzebue: house, living)

[blueflames50]

just a heads up..I see your model has the tag warning on it....

Ecoquest Vollara FreshAir/Living Air Purifier Review

The latest edition of the Fresh Air user manual has it right on page one:

"CAUTION! - The Away Mode feature of this unit
is to be operated in unoccupied areas only."

Some units, like the Living Air depicted at the bottom of this page, have a warning near the ozone control knob: "DO NOT OPERATE WITHOUT OWNER'S MANUAL".

[Rance]

I used to sell those units under a different brand name (Alpine Air and Living Air). Still own two myself. They work very well on a large assortment of situations and conditions. And the filter is washable. No buying new filters over and over, plus they use about the same power as a 30 watt light bulb. Good choice!
When it comes to the ozone, less is best. You can always ease the level up. Too much creates a stink. And can irritate some folks eyes or breathing.

[SityData]

Originally Posted by Rance

I used to sell those units under a different brand name (Alpine Air and Living Air). Still own two myself. They work very well on a large assortment of situations and conditions. And the filter is washable. No buying new filters over and over, plus they use about the same power as a 30 watt light bulb. Good choice!
When it comes to the ozone, less is best. You can always ease the level up. Too much creates a stink. And can irritate some folks eyes or breathing.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean Rance about less is best.. We noticed the difference immediately.

Yes the fresh rain smell is apparent when you first enter the room, but you don't notice it after a minute or so.. That's exactly what the specs say also. We love this thing.. Whoa what a change in the atmosphere in the whole house. I've noticed a huge difference.

No more dust floating about the room. When we sand or cut or drill it used to float, but now it sinks like a rock.

I've also noticed I sure can breathe so much better!

[SityData]

When we first began carving in Kotzebue, (2004) we didn't know too much; we made lots of mistakes and paid the price dearly; I lost 3 computers one of which just burst into flames. Ivory dust is conductive! I also lost 3 very high end color printers. Clogged with too much ivory dust. We learned our lesson(S), many - the hard way. At least we can point out,(our failures) and you are now well informed of some of many different hazards of producing too much dust.

We have quite the nice setup now in our little shop area; We are waiting for some new items to arrive before we show & tell! This is our busiest time of the year!

[Rance]

The negative ions will go through walls (basically anything but metal) so your also probably helping the neighbors with their dust problem too! Any dust particles within a 60 foot radius should be affected.
You can really tell the diff in dust particles visible in sunbeams shining through a window.

You will need to periodically clean the ceramic plate inside. It is highly delicate so treat it gently, scrub it with an old tooth brush in soap and water, and make sure it has completely dried before installing and starting the unit again. Those units last a long time if properly maintained.

[SityData]

Originally Posted by Rance

The negative ions will go through walls (basically anything but metal) so your also probably helping the neighbors with their dust problem too! Any dust particles within a 60 foot radius should be affected.
You can really tell the diff in dust particles visible in sunbeams shining through a window.

You will need to periodically clean the ceramic plate inside. It is highly delicate so treat it gently, scrub it with an old tooth brush in soap and water, and make sure it has completely dried before installing and starting the unit again. Those units last a long time if properly maintained.

It comes with 2 of those ceramic plates. Some units require two, But this unit only requires one. We read the instructions slowly many times before we even plugged it in and started it up.

Yup.. we could 'smell' the ozone coming through the wall here in the living room. We made a minor adjustment and all is well.

Awesome unit indeed! I'm noticing a very pronounced difference and improvement in my breathing! I can last longer on the treadmill with ease.

[SityData]

Plain is boring.. .. a plain hex bracelet is boring and sharp edges are a major distraction.

NOTICE: how much of a 1 1/6th inch drill bit we cut off. We cut off the entire shaft. We want to be able to adjust that bit so it can only go 1/2 way through the piece when drilling the holes. These pieces that we cut off are saved. They are perfect when we have to use pegs to glue pieces together such as for a jewerly box of ivory & baleen.

Broken coping saw blades ? Don't throw them out; save them. They serve many different purposes. Once you begin to carve and create, then and only then will the obvious become apparent! You have much time to think when performing each of the many different steps. Again & Again & again & again. Many thousands of times over the years.



Once an inset is added - by hand - then we have something to look at that is not so plain and boring. But, unless this inset is absolutely perfectly centered all around. It will immediately show that it is 'flawed'.



The three pieces up top; did not pass my inspection. The one on the far left cannot be used. It is scrap. It is junk. We make lots of mistakes and so won't you. Do not dispair, try again and again. Soon you will be an expert.


The total size of these pieces are very tiny. The size of a dime! These pieces are not yet hand sanded to remove all scratches. When polished to a brilliant shine.. this bracelet will have an extremely short shelf life (in the native hospital).


Exceptional skill and pride in your work. shouts out - without you having to say one word when you present something of this quality.

It makes one wonder... ... how did they do that by hand? ANS:. .. . "very carefully!

Total time per piece = 45 minutes to an hour. This is a 14 piece bracelet.

[SityData]

Here is the final finished product.

Notice how much nicer the pieces look; now that the edges have been rounded off and smoothed.



This beautiful bracelet was sold to the first person that saw it today!

More have been ordered. The boys got rid of 14 bracelets today. A very good day indeed!




NOTICE: The knots in the back. they haven't been pushed into the larger holes that are drilled for this one purpose - to hide them!

[SityData]

No matter how well your plans are made; something always goes wrong. Can go wrong or will go wrong. It's commonly referred to as Murphy's Law.

Our plans of producing 100 bracelets; fell apart yesterday when the phone calls began. Native Hospital, Museum, Alaska Native Arts Foundation, Captain Cook Gift shop; all wanted / requested more bracelets to be delivered.

One of the reasons we offer lifetime guarantees for all our products; is to keep the customer satisfied. No matter how well we make these bracelets; something can go wrong. If it does, we fix / repair for free.

Here is an example of one thing that rarely happens. An inset pops out, and is lost. No problem, we will make a new one and there is never any charge(s). Restring; repolish; replace cracked pieces. We aim to show our appreciation for investing in our products.



To fix this properly. We have to remove the elastic shock cord. Clean uot the old super glue residue; Glue & insert the inset; then re-drill that piece so the cord passes through the new holes in the inset. Sand the inset until it is flush with the rest of the bracelet piece then re-polish the entire bracelet after it is re-strung and it looks brand new!






Another day; staying @ home working and having lots of fun. We need / want to purchase more ivory today & possibly some baleen. As I said before; this is our busiest time of the year.





More & more people have been contacting us; saying, Hey I want to try this. Yes you should; there is no easier way in this day & age to make a great income just by copying all these steps we have posted.

[SityData]

More photos illustrating the many different simple steps of making kewl stuff @ home.

The final step in stringing up a bracelet. Tie the knots and apply super glue so they can't come undone. Those knots are going to be 'hidden' inside the holes - not those two tiny ones you can easily see. But in the other hand - you can barely see the two larger holes that will hide these knots quite well. NEVER use a sharp obect to push those knots into the piece. Most likely you will end up breaking the piece and have to make that one piece over again. Some lessons are learned - "the hard way".
just pull the string from behind thise knots and pull them in using that method.




Cutting out insets requires a little practice; Always go up to the line but do not include or erase any portion of the line. After you attempt 2 or 3 insets; then it will become much easier each time. First you must fail - to learn - how to succeed!









Lots of pieces in our pre-fab area; Once you get serious about making bracelets. Then, then you will learn very quickly - but it requires practice to achieve the results you will soon acquire. I've said this a dozen times - Children learn exceptionally quick with incredible resuts to display in only a few hours.