First week of back to school, and what do I have to show for it?

Well, first off I started the sanding process on what I had thought was a hardwood table, to find out later that I had in fact sanded through some badly gouged veneer whilst attempting to restore the eating surface. I was very disappointed by this revelation regarding veneer. That took the restoration job down a peg to a mere repair. So I ended through all the grits I felt it needed, stopping at 220. I stained it twice with two heavy coats of Danish Oil Dark Walnut Stain, and eventually caved into adding a spray on Varathane brand diamond clear satin finish. Very light mind you. I sanded that with 400 grit once dry to take down any micro bubbles or lumps. My shop is dusty and particles get everywhere regardless of how much I vacuum the space.

Once that was all squared away I turned my attention to milling up some simple Ash legs, instead of gluing up a bunch of Walnut legs. So I spent a full day jointing, edging and then planing some three inch thick legs. I rounded those over with a repeatable stop at one end. As I need to capture the square end against the table to properly align the inserts for the bolts. I’ve made the legs 36 inches long, which feels like the right height. I should double check that though. I’ve sanded all four legs up to 220 grit. I am going to stain them a dark black/ebony to hide the lesser quality wood used. We’ll see if that works at all. Ha. Then I need to build the caps, match the drill holes, countersink the rim of the holes, add the inserts, and assemble. Take a photo for my records, and then bring the whole lot down to the basement for use with Lego, puzzles, and homework. The folding table currently in use can get put away beside the basement fridge where it lived for ages, out of the way, but accessible.

Besides the table, I  did a fair bit of reading, played some video games, worked a little, did the lawm and gardening, laundry, dishes, and floors. I didn’t do any fair entry stuff, but I still might? Hard to say. I really was focused on the table because I had high hopes it was of a better quality than it really was. I was terribly disappointed to find the veneer. Just gutted. What a let down. On the upside it is still real wood through, and through. Just not the rich Mahogany of the top most layer.

Doing wood working with a cough is not much fun. Wore my dust mask so as to not make things worse for myself. Still floats up into my eyes though, goggles be damned. I think I will turn my attention to a new sculpted fair entry once I get the table build completed. I’d like to keep making furniture as my time in the shop is limited by the weather (temperature). By November it’ll be too cold on there to use hand tools comfortably without them making my hands go numb. My tiny little heater may keep my back hot, but it’s not enough to warm up the entire space, and everything contained within it. I usually like to spend June/July in there, and Sept/October too if I can find the time away from paid work. May not be as big a concern this year. If we get a warm spell in November I can be out there between 10:00am and 2:00pm to putter around. By then the leaves take up 90% of my outdoor activity. Raking, blowing, vacuum bagging, mulching, and dumping them all back into the beds to protect my flowers through the winter, and add clean fill for the following growing season. Soil levels drop faster than I can replace them!

Happy Saturday out there in internet land. May your coughs be short lived, and not aggravate your throats/lungs too much. Ciao Bella!