fruition

seriously, what do I write about finishing

~*o*~ Oh! today I put the fifth coat of oil urethane :)
tomorrow I'll sand it at 400 till it's dull :P
then I'll alternate three hour stints of polyacrylic ;&
and 600 grit till I collapse from exhaustion ~*o*~

I've exhausted more Borg store packets of sand paper than I'd care to admit

I've encased

no
mummified this top

that was a few weeks ago
life happens in between

the table is done
so far
like the chairs
everything needs another coat
maybe someday I'll sand every surface of everything I've done and give it another coat

or not

my friend stopped by and together we moved the table to its
for now
final resting spot

the cats approve

climax

 a fortuitous temporal alignment

huge jobs
strenuous after eight hours of labor
weeks of tiny steps

tiny projects of a few minutes

stepping into the abyss
face first

the two pieces are finally joined

an exploration in detail

unspeakable thoughts seeing it the first time

it's a treasure hunt
each detail hints to the next
a roadmap of the struggle

each step reveals yet another wonder

for once I'm speechless

thaw

I am very conscious now
of the vast spans of time
that must be earned
and fought for

the time neglected
and stolen
the times of triumph
and awe

I'm transformed and almost complete
surprised with every entrance
all four stand in unison
in conversation

I pause
and touch
sometimes I pull one out and sit down
just for the hell of it
I'm intrigued by my decisions
and ponder their influence

more than ever before the desire to see the table comes to hand
the prototype has been tweaked
dimensions coerced
aesthetics refined

a head-long plunge is all that awaits
I may have to install a chainfall for working the top
the massive underside cove will only shed a few pounds
and the walnut breadboard ends will easily make that up

envision

As the full snow moon rises
and meteors rain down from above
persistent blankets of fluffy white
trace my nervous trails to and from the shop

the months have paid off
the final piece in my set of four
ready for good weather
so the finish will dry

I'll go back and make some changes to the second two
by the fourth many design considerations have finally matured
but for now a well deserved break has been earned

Having also spent the last three years pondering and tinkering
I'm prepared to plunge
we'll have to live with this setup, so I've decided to mock up the table beforehand

some scraps from around the shop
and a good excuse to clean up
I feel free to band saw re-purposed lumber
grab the screw gun and tack it together
take it apart and adjust
cut off an inch here and there
just have to find the courage to clear off the detritus from the sheet of plywood in the rafters overhead

by seeing the piece full size I notice the subtlety in the curves
begin to understand the structural forces
check for knee clearance
for four and six

now I know the changes I need to make
I can return to Sketchup
and judge the results

forget about .00001 shavings here!

trudge

every day this close to the end
finds itself ever nearer the goal
cracked and sore
the twice daily shovelling
has extracted its toll
on my digits

yet there are times of lust
those moments of refinement turn to ecstasy
a sore spot for months
can find its solace
in beauty

I have an hour now
upon arrival
a fading glimmer of gold

and there's a multitude of minutae here

I step away
and bask in its form

and of course find another distraction

details

this winter has been not for naught with snow
really paying for last year
but this is good

no glue-ups
no finishing
sometimes it's just too damn cold
so no working

well...
almost no working

it's been a week now,
basically rebuilding the entire table
thrice
the geometry works
the planes are flat
and the joinery fits

and no...
I'm not talking about any piece currently in production...

Sketchup needs to be finessed occasionally
flamboyant design can lead to very foul geometry
and sometimes it's easier to simply rebuild components
than it is to clean them up

too bad there's no CONTROL Z in real life

I've spent over three years in notepads, sketchbooks, and on the computer
I've tried influence from magazines, books, and the internet
and each time I return to the original dimensional box and start over

this time though, I think I got it
the dining room table is finally beginning to reveal itself

and then Arielle asks if I can fix something
usually it's something simple
this time, however,
....