work

Oh there are days

yesterday for example, no amount of self-inflicted personal growth counseling could force me to work in the shop
not to say I did nothing
just not in the shop

whereas today, I couldn’t step away
transfixed on the goal

it’s just steps away from assembly, the order preordained by its design, modules which must be assembled before smoothing and finishing

however, other components must be smoothed and finished before assembly

it’s always my least anticipated part of the process but the one which yields the greatest rewards

and I’m not going to go on with this tirade. you’ve read it countless times on your way to this post, finishing sucks

all fours sides are in place

mistake #300451: see if you can guess

all the stretchers joined

the elevators (what else do I call them) are chamfered and sanded

only the drawer components need to be fabricated and I’d be stupid to do that before the entire table is assembled and glued

I hate not being able to work on the drawer

like having cake with no icing

conversely, that will be dessert

the f-bomb

I had all these great ideas today for a video
just a sweet little thing
maybe a bit of bluegrass to quell the heart of the Schwarz

incredibly quick little details
a few swipes of my dovetail saw
a whack or two from my chisel and mallet
a lithe touch of the finest rasp

no one will ever see these but me
no one will ever take the time to kneel down,
peer through the portal
discern the shadows
embrace the detail

of course
you will have to pull the drawer to ever glimpse of these wonders

why? you ask

I laugh
just because
I didn't do shit like this before now
so there's no video

why
because I suck at documenting these things
you're lucky I take the photos I do

and for Pete's sake, actually take the time to post them
I have to STOP
yes, stop, working
and take a photo

and later when I'm not working and seeking satisfaction through the myriad aches and pains of the day
dig through those photos, sort and process them
add them to this god-forsaken blog that none of you (at least as far as I know) even looks at

...by the way, thanks for commenting...

seriously, three years
has none of you ANYTHING to say,
constructively
unabashedly
or anything otherwise

fine, I'll just keep doing as I've done and write this for myself

I do like looking at the photos, especially the seasonal ones, makes sense of the years and months and days gone past
I love seeing the snow in July, the flowers in January

I love going backward through a piece, dissecting it,
then fast forwarding, nine months in a few minutes

I hope all you vicarious trolls out there are enjoying this
I sure am
:)

confluence

Ah,

life

when you really feel like getting down and dirty

there’s always a boulder

there's always something waiting to trip, something waiting to devour, to suck away your time and money

April menaces from the future, lurking in the shadows of Saturdays wasted,

yup, taxes

nonetheless this is a magical time for me

always

that time between solstice and equinox

I’m home for three or four months
I live at the museum

and in my shop

in both I set challenges...
...no...
...mountains

this piece will be just as its predecessors

scary

I’ve got to raise an entire tabletop plus drawer and apron
at least three eighths of an inch atop a seriously strong base


and put my forty pound ficus on it
and a cat or two

oops, not gonna do, haunched tenon anyone?

the “struts” as they are now endowed need to support the weight and torque
of cat and plant

a scant scrap or two would work, a quick ninety degree grain reversal, had to find burl

luckily there’s a lot of those just laying around

that’s the end you cut off, silly!