therapy

 

Seriously! How am I to write about anything but rage?

450,000 Americans dead, a federal government that is only just now getting on the right page,  I'm on 1/4 income and enduring on-line kindergarten at least three days a week. I'm trying to do whatever work I can at home in the midst and I have no creative thoughts whatsoever. 

But I was busy. 

47 weeks 

that's how long it's been since we shut down CLE

I finished the functional part of the bed, not the drawers yet, gonna have to wait till lumber prices return to normal

I envisioned and created a bed stand for my daughter

and I haven't found even the tiniest inclination to write it

I took great and comprehensive photos of the entire process, well lit, nicely composed, able to be described by a single word

and totally neglected my poor readers (all three of you)

It was truly liberating to design and build a piece in less than two months. 

so following that revelation I'm embarking on a whole new project, twin pieces in two completely divergent species, pieces that can be produced in a relatively short period of time and can be made in duplicate.

I'll try really hard to keep you updated.

molasses

What follows is a visual essay

I've performed and recorded every one of these steps before

there's nothing new here

although eliminating the shooting board and just using my benchtop has been liberating

and I guess woking in pine has been new

everything goes twice as fast

everything

and everything unplaned comes out fuzzy

and it's prone to spelch

and dings

and pretty much just breathing too hard on one spot

and it's impossible to erase errant marks

and you really have to watch the end of your cut

and take it easy

but joinery is almost cheating in pine

my tolerance in maple

fits the first time in pine

pine makes me feel like a woodworking demigod

in an hour I can realize something that in maple might take days

sorry, my "days" is simply "minutes" to someone else

although I did rough then smooth the curves on the legs in under an hour

that was my Tuesday

 the dry fit is so tight I feel the need to caress some of the joinery and just give it all some breathing room

a decision on finish is yet to come, I have just begun to walk that path

contrast

This is wood

but not like any wood you've ever known
this wood is from a tree that sprouted from a seed long before any white European ever set foot on this continent
it was cut down by a white European and nailed to the side of his building
it will now adorn the top of a piece for Matt

this is also wood

wood from a tree that was more than likely grown on a tree farm specifically to be harvested and put on a rack in your favorite big box store

it is also for Matt

I will give both my undivided attention

and try to do my best to make the most efficient use of all of it

though just through the simple act of what I do, it will still be an incredible waste

see

that was only the first round

the final outcome sans two movable shelves