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.

frozen

in these depths of winter freeze
the lure of a cozy faux-leather office chair
adjacent to a free blowing hot air vent
is nearly impossible to overcome
 

but I do get my moments

while finishing up a few details the lumber I needed finally was had

I still needed a board jack to support the  big slabs

basically, a stick with holes with another stick stuck through

combined with the crochette, and now very ample leg vise

I can finally do this safely and efficiently

once one edge is flat the cut can be marked with a panel gauge
and ripped

each 70 inch length is trued on the top edge
a careful eye for wind and bow
and at least flat on the bottom

one face is brought square to the true edge
then carefully flattened completely

from there it is a simple job of marking the opposite face
and planing it to the line
re-square the edges if necessary 

I'm going to leave each slab in this state and move on to the next
I'm sure they will keep moving throughout the winter
and will need to be adjusted before gluing is possible again in the spring

this was a one time run tool I purchased over the summer
it finally arrived last week
used in conjunction with the Veritas sharpening jig it sure makes setting up simple

sisyphus

my weekends have been spent hunting down elusive slabs of wood
how many beauties I've passed
I'd have a garage full by now if I stopped to pick each rose

what I seek instead is one with straight, even grain
boring old pieces yellowed from the store's florescent daylight

as I plane the transformation is unspeakable
some have been hiding immaculate fiddleback
most of which will be concealed once again

with each new section, the original bench is dismembered
only a couple bits have given me any fight

I really didn't know that much back then

the only thing holding some of the sections together was a Masonite spline

amazing what you learn in a few years

I still need a bench

it's my feeble attempt to keep enough mass containing dog holes to continue work

right now the center section remains the original bench top
the tool trough will inhabit the right hand upper third
for me, the most rarely used parcel except for stashing my winding sticks and hold fasts

the mountain I alluded to earlier is that from my planes
an endless stream emanates from the various versions of my bench

so many surfaces!
and they must mate
at least as close as I am willing to take them
I remind myself that it is a bench
the only one who will look at it closely is myself
and that, I will
so any imperfection will nag at me forever

in creating three sections
or rather two new sections and wedging in an ever dwindling core of the original
I've been able to manage the wind that plagues a multiple lamination

the end vise has been properly installed as is currently in heavy use

and making high marks for both of its intended purposes

each face presents a new challenge
a new work out
some more aches
a couple blisters, though those are by now few and far between

and a hell of a lot more glue than I would have imagined

and no you are not imagining; the front apron is not pounded home
I can still get a flat bar in to pop it free and the whole top comes apart

oh
just a funny thought...

all those years ago I bored the dog holes 4 and a half inches apart
guess what the optimum distance based on the travel of the end vise is...

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