The only trouble was....it was still in The Netherlands. It is heavy, a weapon and made of brass...which meant it was tricky to ship to Canada. I got in touch with his Aunt and Uncle and tried to figure a way to ship it here for him. Then his mom stepped in...and I mean this in the best way possible...don't mess with a Dutch mom. She was amazing. And somehow it arrived here in no time flat. We also have to thank his Om Folkert (his Uncle near Amsterdam) for arranging the whole shipment.
When my mother-in-law went to pick it up at the airport with my sister-in-law, the customs agent was great. She said he told her exactly what to say to get it into the country with no problems. She then presented it to him for his birthday. He loved it!! It meant so much to have a little bit of his family history right here in our house.
The only trouble was that the original base was too cumbersome to ship...so we had to make one.
Funny how things work out because that same week I was walking back from my morning run and spied some old timbers in our neighbours' dumpster (they are doing a major reno so there's lots of treats daily for me!!....there will be more posts later about other projects from those same cast offs).
They were perfect...old....about 8" square and lots of character. I ran home, got the wheelbarrow and loaded up. No doubt my neighbours think I have lost my mind by now!
I measured the right height for the base and cut it down with the table saw. I cut through one side, flipped it over then cut the rest of the way through on the other side.
Then I took out my sander and started cleaning it up. I was worried about Asbestos etc so I made sure to wear a mask and full face protection when sanding this stuff. As always, start with the lowest number of sandpaper (or coarsest) and work down to the higher (or finer) grade. I find with old wood it doesn't take very much to transform it. I like to keep the original character and colour as much as possible so I try not to take too much off the surface. I love this part of any project because you see results so quickly. I am not a very patient person. Soon it was finished and smooth so I gave it a coat of Tung Oil...love that stuff! Gives a really nice finish that looks natural and still maintains the raw beauty of the wood.
and then drilled a hole in the middle to house the cannon attachment.....and here it is with the cannon on its new base.
Meanwhile.....I still had quite the length of timber left over so I decided to "get Crafty" and make a candle holder. I cut off a slice of the timber
and then drilled 3 holes into it for the tea lights.....instant table impact!....this project was so easy that I now intend to slice the rest of that length up to make some more. I think they would make a nice hostess gift....you?
