09/05/2024
I thought I'd give a little information to the buyers of Eric Taylors "Hole in my Heart" ornaments he started making Saturday morning of the Labor Day weekend to benefit Shawn Griffin and Chris Riley's familys.
First, Eric got the old street signs and cut them to width, then we marked each one with as many hearts as would fit on the strip and marked the center with a dot, struck 3 marks where the center hole would be and one hole at the bottom to hang the beads, and one at the top to hang the ornament. From there they go back to the bandsaw to cut out the heart shape, then to the drill press to cut the "Hole" in the center. At this point they come back to the table where we sand the edges and clean up any burrs that are in the "Hole in my Heart", then over to the polishing wheel. After being polished, they are immersed in diesel for a minute then sent back to the table where the upper and lower mounting holes are punched out and the number "27" is stamped. It's at this point that they go inside the house where Karen, Eric's wife, and Sharayah, Eric's youngest daughter, do their magic with the beads and hanger.
Not every number stamped is perfect. Not every hole is centered. Not every shape is exact. Not every polished side is super shiny (I polished 20 on Saturday and Eric rejected 19 of them, I was not allowed on the polishing wheel after that). But like the people they were made for, they are unique, they each are different in their own way with their own personality.
I want to give a shout out to Eric, Bob and Laura Jackson, Karen, Sharayah and Russ for all the work and dedication they put forth.