toil

where do I begin to describe a week of work

dimensioning four pieces of hard maple

bench-sized pieces

it's one thing to flatten a board
take out the wind
make it an even thickness throughout
it's another entirely to mate it flawlessly to a second
now make all those faces add up to a bigger piece with no wind, warp or curl

are you confused yet?
I realize the images are not following the commentary
it's been a week
a lot's been done
many photos have been took
most of them boring

Monday
Tuesday
that's all a blur now

I keep thinking;
it's only five more boards
I can do a tool trough on the back quarter

then I get to planing

the majority of my week has been working through the planes

course
medium
smooth

the joinery is my rest period

 a time to think about details far in the future

just glad the band saw made it this far

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

vortex

oh endless malestrom
bringer of sloth
so many perfect days dashed by your frigid embrace
shoveling becomes my ritual
a scant day it is when the freeze abates

gifts to others still in the works

I'm avoiding the table
of course

it's lustrous surface sheds the dust which tries to settle
I've watched it move all winter
it should do fine in the house

finally the massive lapped leg joints are cut

it's such a big joint I'm actually a bit nervous of movement
how far can I cross glue walnut before it rends itself twain

the prototype is now gone
all further work stems from this point
and this piece
these are all new angles

and new joinery I'm going to have to envision

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,
....