Making noise

It's that time of year again. Well Christmas, yes, but also The New Year. Or more specifically, New Years Eve. A good opportunity to make noise that doesn't necessarily sound like a power tool.

I've been working on a noisemaker. Something loud. This is one of those projects that went round and round in my head for quite a while. Every time I came up with something, I would sketch it out and discover parts that I didn't like. Eventually I came up with sort-of a wood bell. It also looks something like a cowbell.

I haven't completed it yet, but here's an idea what it will look like.

It has been fun building, plus it gave me an opportunity to use my lathe. I really enjoy turning and should do it more often. And, for the clacker inside, I'm using another one of those wood balls that I got for the advent calendar.

*****

Last year's noisemaker

I don't think this year's will be as loud as last years, but in case you missed it, here's the simple noisemaker I built last year. It is so loud that after about one second of its use, I guarantee people will yell, "STOP THAT RACKET!"

As an aside, this was one of the first videos I made with my new camera and hadn't quite worked out the settings, which is why it's kind of dark. But here it is a year later, and Friday's video will be the first to feature my new lighting setup! I can't believe how much better they make every shot look. I was really getting frustrated dealing with certain high-contrast scenes and inconsistent lighting. So I guess once a year I'll kick the show up a notch.