Over the holidays an intrepid group of volunteers took on the task of re-finishing our well-loved training floor.
The floor was installed in late 2009 when we moved in (by another intrepid group of volunteers) so has lasted a good 3 years of almost daily use. With some sections being a little gouged and other sections having the finish completely removed the floor was in need of some love.
First thing was to seal off the training floor from the rest of the studio. Plastic sheets went up from ceiling-to-floor.
We used drum sanders to remove the finish from the floor. These are essentially revolving cylinders with belts of sandpaper wrapped around it. They can be pretty challenging to use but our hard-workers were experts by the end.
Here's a look at original vs. sanded. The original is in the center:
The drum sanders even cleaned away the really worn sections. Big Nick shows his approval.
Drum sander racing!
I'd like to thank all the volunteers who helped out on Day 1:
- John Manestar (our foreman)
- Walker Lunsford
- Scott Martin
- Matheus Olmedo
- Nick McWilliam
- Jessie Ye
- Russell Smalley
- John Gudlaugson
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.