Recent Inventions

Yes, it's not just the odd poem or limerick that makes up my creative life.  With the lack of software development I've got some creative energy left for other things.

One of the earliest items was golf club holder to be used when you have an extra club or two and need to lay them down in a wet fairway.   This was fashioned from a piece of deer antler that had a nice fork in it.  I added a rod to the bottom of the fork to push into the ground for stability purposes.  This came out pretty well.  It doesn't weigh much and is flat enough to slide into a front pocket without disturbing well tailored lines. 

The new bag I got has too few pockets and I was tucking phone and keys into various places making them hard to find and a general pain.  This added to my woes in re this bag -- more details probably later.  I found a padded slip case for a tablet computer and with the use of my sewing machine, added some seams and now it has a nice pouch for the phone, one for keys and another for wallet and card case.  It folds nicely and tucks into the jacket pocket. 

I can hear you, dear reader, wondering about this sewing machine.  I saw a YouTube video on a cheap Chinese manual sewing machine that would sew through multiple layers of leather and just about anything else.  With the odd projects that crop up, this looked like an ideal tool to have around.  I didn't hesitate to order one up.  This is a manual machine with a hand crank to make it all work.  It is a bit rough more an industrial product than a consumer item, so there was a learning curve and various parts needed some filing and oiling.  But that was part of the fun.  It's been useful and fun to play with.  It's mounted on a board and I clap it to the work bench when I need to use it.

Finally, I have the habit of clipping a towel to my belt loop.  In the winter, I've been not wearing shorts but have some pants that don't have a belt loop.  So I've been clipping the towel into the waist band.  That chewed up the waist and I had to resew (did I mention my nice sewing machine?) the band.  So something had to be done.  I cut a piece of leather about 5 inches long that ended in a narrow point.  I put a grommet through the point and I can tuck the fob into pants and the point with grommet hangs out and allows an easy way to clip the towel.  This has worked quite well.  The leather has enough texture to keep the towel from pulling the fob out.  Got it in one!

There are a couple of other little things, like tethers for the range finder to keep it from falling off the bag and some items to organize the trunk.  But the highlights are above.