I’m associated with an organization working to build a scenic trail along the lower 25 miles of the historic Appomattox River. The third weekend of every September the organization has conducted a paddle or battle event on the river, where the entrants can do a leisurely paddle, or race, down the last ten miles (flat water on this stretch) of the river. For the last five years I’ve been asked to make the trophies for the races.
In 2021, when my Glowforge was brand new, I pursued a much too ambitious course, making the cherry kayaks on walnut pedestals. The GF was used to make the acrylic inserts and the waves that support the kayak (made with the help of a 300 watt heat gun). The kayaks were made from cherry stool legs rejects I picked up at a Central Virginia furniture manufacturer. Needless to say the trophies were a big hit.
After 2021 I went on a different path: making edge lit acrylic designs instead. They’re not nearly as ambitious but they went over well. My one failure, from the perspective of the powers that be in the organization, was the framed mirror-etched segment of the racing segment of the river next to the profile of a heron. I was struck by the similarity. I really liked this design but it never saw the light of day. (The frame in the image was not finish cut.)
I think they are all fabulous! And I don’t understand why they wouldn’t like the framed one with the heron on it. Isn’t that supposed to be part of the joy of canoeing? See the wildlife, and herons seem to be a bird that is usually seen, even around our little streams and large rivers. At any rate, you did a tremendous job on all of them.
About 75 hours all told to make six --four to winners. I kept the one with the fiddle-back walnut pedestal, being a lover of all things wood. (It’s the one with only a single acrylic disc.) The kayaks involved a lot of handwork.
