what's a deely bobber?

We have less than 10 days  before Christmas and the time is running out for big projects. But some things don't take as long as one might think. With just a few tools, some materials and inspiration, a simple gift can be simply made.

Yesterday was the last day of school before the Christmas holiday, so I asked my upper elementary school students to assist in cleaning the wood shop. Where there's lots of sawdust on things, cleaning can be a pleasurable task. They wanted to take turns with the vacuum cleaners. (I brought an extra from my home shop.) As a reward for their service, I had a gift drawing, allowing them to choose from some things I had done as demonstration projects (turned pens, fidget sticks and a turned object I identified only as a deely bobber.) The students drew numbers from a box and were able to choose in order of the number drawn. The student who got the deely bobber asked, "can I turn this into a candle stick?" "Of course."

At one time, deely bobber and doohicky were synonymous, meaning objects that had no apparent purpose or whose purpose could not be described. Then, in 1982 a company trademarked the term deely bobber to mean a headband with two balls attached on springs. I use the term in reference to its true and original meaning: An object with no apparent use.

Apart from doing progress reports on each student, I can now apply myself to other things. I have an order of boxes to do for the University of Arkansas, supplying them with gifts to give to visiting dignitaries. I will begin making those today.

Yesterday we got the keels installed on Bevins Skiffs, leaving me with the skeg, foredeck and quarter knees to complete on my own before painting.

Copies of my new book, The Box Maker's Guitar Book will arrive here on Monday and should be showing up at Amazon.com some day very shortly thereafter.

Make, fix, and create...