Huzzah! The rough cuts for the top most portion are done and now I can find my sharpening kit and go to town on getting my chisels up to snuff. A sharp chisel will make short work of this Cherry wood. I’m excited. While this is more technical, and somewhat slow going the end product looks so much nicer than the rough cuts. I will be several days rough cutting and then fine tuning with a chisel these two sides with four mating sections that I have to do. It’s all progress!
Pretty soon this is really going to feel like it’s coming together. It’ll be pretty heavy so I’m going to need to enlist the aid of my wife to move it into the front hall once it’s actually done. Should be this calendar year after all! Moving the dog crate just in time for winter boots, coats and snow pants will be extraordinary timing on my part. If we can get 4 x 8ft of open area to enter/exit the house and store our gear without having to climb over one another that’ll be a massive win in my book. I hope the kids choose not to write on or carve their initials into this completed piece like they did the other one from a few years ago. That was pine, so I didn’t care too much. But this is hardwood with hand cut joinery so I’ll be a little more concerned if it happens again. Still not heirloom quality, but better than Wayfair/Ikea. Real solid hard wood made on the premises. Means more to me anyway.
In other news the paper mache sort of dried but the under lying cardboard is soggy, so I switched to masking tape and then duct tape. It weighs more now, but shouldn’t melt under duress. Next up is cutting out the eyes and mouth, gluing in our plates and figuring out my daughter’s eye level for sight. Then she’s free to paint it and decorate it however she sees fit. With weeks left to go she has not got to rush. I like that.
Happy Friday of the Thanksgiving long weekend!
