Saturday, February 6, 2021

What hath Covid Wrought

 It's been a difficult year for all of us, and it is far from being over.
Lives have been turned upside down, careers ended, economies shattered, etc, etc.
But within the upheavals, opportunities exist.
For me, my longtime career working in live entertainment is done. There will not be a return to live performances on any large scale anytime soon, so for me the life as a arena rigger and stagehand is over.
Retirement was approaching anyway, but the loss of a major income stream came at a bad time. Last March I was on track for an entire season working at the Shakespearean Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Instead I got one week and 2 hours before  it all shutdown.
Fortunately I have my custom building and kit businesses to fall back on, and they now make my sole source of income.
Part of the pivot forced upon me was a rethink of out sourcing my casting needs.
I have spent the last 2 months learning the fine art of resin casting, aided by some very talented people.
And I'm pleased to say that I'm now quite comfortable with the processes.

A little bit of stirring the shop and investing in pressure vessels and vacuum pumps, as well as learning about tin cured rubber vs platinum cured rubber and the idiosyncrasies of various resins has put me in a position where I will now be doing the lions share of my casting.
It's actually been fun learning a whole new skill set at my age, and I've had some good teachers along the way.
Now I'll only have  myself to blame. lol

4 comments:

pullmanboss said...

Well done, Pierre - welcome to the club. Invest in some spare tank clamps - the threaded eyebolts and handles. Eventually one or two of them will strip and it's nice to have replacements on hand. (Exper1ence talking!!) Also enjoy the relative cleanliness of your workspace. It won't last long.

Eugene said...

Sorry to read of your misfortune with the job situation

Sounds like you have conferred with a fellow down in FLA

Stephen Gardiner said...

Pierre, I'm sorry to hear that it has forced retirement on you, but excited that you have turned things into a positive to take control of your casting for your business. I look forward to seeing many more great kits come out of your workshop for the business!

Stephen

Bernie said...

Good luck with your new venture.