Ships, Folk Art, and Whimsey in Bottles

I am a retired Jig and Fixture Toolmaker living in Bayport, Minnesota. My line of work was like hobby to me, as I had a free hand in building whatever devices, machines, or gizmos the engineers of the corporation had in mind. I have always enjoyed working with my hands and have built numerous models including a 1" scale firing Napoleon Field Gun and a small working hit-n-miss gasoline engine. My hobbies seem to have few limits, and I work with everything from metal to wood to leather. I built my first SIB over 30 years ago, and it was just a matter of time before I got around to building another. I have a well equipped wood shop in our garage, but when I work on small parts and components such as Gambling a tiny ship model, I do a lot of my work while sitting on one end of the sofa with my very understanding wife on the other, while watching tv.  

 

I served in the US Navy aboard a guided missile destroyer leader, the USS Farragut (DLG-6), so that is obviously the inspiration for the model you see here. I hope to build more SIBs in the future. Behind me is my "Farragut Wall", with mementos of three of the five ships that have been named after Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the Navy's first four star Admiral, who uttered the words "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead", in the Battle of Mobile Bay.