Making it through another year '21-'23

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I've been busy trying to push it and crank out some work that might crank in some cash. Working in the shop in the mornings for a few hours then head to the mile for a few hours, then a few more hours back at the shop. Most mornings I have been at it early (well, earlier than I used to). The cost of everything has got me concerned and the balance in my account is not encouraging with the tax bills looming. SO I am currently running 4 or 5 projects at the same time in different stages. The second half of the week I ran into major problems with the mill and got no production out. That's being chronicled in another thread. 

 I was supposed to head down there today and dig a little deeper. But as I was headed out the door at noon, I got a text informing me my cousin David in VT had passed away this morning at 10am. That about brought me to my knees. David is 3 years younger than me and raised in the VT woods. He was a hunter, a trucker, a heavy equipment mechanic and operator, the supervisor for his town highway department and served as his FD's Chief for a number of years and through a very difficult LODD. He built roads, bridges, houses, and just about anything he put his mind to. He was just finishing up his dream home with a 100 mile view on the old family farm that his grandfather bought in the 30's. I felt very close to David. In fact, when were both in our 30's we even looked the same, so much so that one time my 3 y/o daughter latched onto his leg at a family reunion thinking he was me. Boy was she surprised when she heard his voice and accent and realized she had the wrong leg. Funniest thing was, I was ten feet away, but she picked his leg.
 David did have cancer, but it was in remission. Last week he had a stroke but they got him home from the hospital Wednesday but he couldn't walk without help and wasn't moving much. I never thought I would outlive David and this is messing me up quite a bit. He was always stronger and healthier than me, better looking too. So I guess sometime this week we are headed to VT. This is going to be tough, really tough. I am still in shock. Sorry, don't know why I shared that.
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 ANyway, been pushing it in the shop as I said. I finished off that first cherry bench and am just now starting to apply some wax on top of the Danish oil finish. The second one I started early in the week is cut and jointed up, and epoxied together. I just took the clamps off this morning.
 This is the bench before glue-up just the splines holding it together.


 

This one is about 12" high, because that's the wood I had.


 

 The edge meetup showed promise.
 After gluing (epoxy actually) and sanding the joints came out pretty nice. I don't know if they meet the standard for the 'Tule Peak knife edge (tm)" but it's as close as I'll ever get.



 



 

Right now I have that upside down and waiting for the fillet pour to cure on one inner corner and tomorrow I will do the other one.

 While I was messing with that off and on and waiting for epoxy to cure, I started a 3rd bench. This one will have more standard square legs inboard from the end, but again with splines to support them. It's something different. I started with the draw knife again.


 
 
 I'm using 2 short slabs for this one, one for the seat and one for the leg material. I am still waiting for epoxy to cure on this one and there were some fairly good cracks in them. I lost track, but I think I did one side yesterday and poured the other this morning.

 Today I started a thin slab and planed that out to about 1" but it is a neat looker, cut off the hump of a bent logs and giving an elliptical shape. I had no idea what to do with it, but I thought it would make a neat backing plaque for a wall hanger rifle. So I draw knifed all the bark off and shaped the ends a bit and need to fill some holes in the next pour session. I figure it might sell as a blank or I can finish it to the client's needs.

 Work continues on the bar as well with each pouring session. I added some rocks into the 'pond'.



 

 It's hard to get a photo that shows how deep the 'pond' is, but roughly 1-3/4".


 

 It's a lot of epoxy to fill in with, so I am doing it in layers, evaluating, and adding texture or color as I go.

 I have been sanding and draw knifing so much this past week or two that my arms ache. I guess that's good. My pile of available slabs in the shop is dwindling, which was part of the goal. I have to start thinking of some new stuff to make. My wife is pushing me to make lamps. I dunno.

 Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

[thecfarm]

Sorry to hear about your cousin.

[trimguy]

I'm also sorry to hear about your cousin.

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks fellas. I am sorry too. He was a good man, worked hard, had 2 kids who also work hard, and a few grandchildren. He had a good run, but it should have been a lot longer. I had hoped we would would be two of the old timers sitting together in the shade tree at many reunions down the road teaching bad habits to the little ones around us. Ironically, we are (were) of separate generations. His dad is my first cousin. 93 and still kicking and driving.
 Some of these things just hurt a lot more than we thought they would. This one caught me. I did find a bottle of moonshine on the shelf with some left in it so I can sleep tonight.
 Yeah, David was a great guy that I wanted to emulate as a kid, even though he was younger, I thought he had the life, living on a farm, driving tractors, and doing 'stuff' that made a difference at the age of 14 or so while I was stuck in the suburbs, which I hated. I longed for those weekends and vacations in VT. Still do, even though we have been 'rural' for a long time. You don't see a lot of guys like David anymore, but his son Dan is one of those too.

[Walnut Beast]

Looking good with all your projects 👍

[doc henderson]

sorry to hear Tom.  I also just found out that Rosie of "Kenny and Rosie" just passed this am.  He is my mentor and taught me to build houses.  His wife was a nurse and inspired my mom to be a nurse.  she died in her sleep.  Kenny is failing with Parkinson's and dementia and may not be able to live alone in the house he built for his parents 40 years ago.  they are/were in the mid 80s.  Doc.

[aigheadish]

Sorry to hear it, Tom. Losing anyone sucks, losing them before their time is always harder. Take care man!

[terrifictimbersllc]

Sorry to hear about your cousin, Tom.

[SawyerTed]

Tom, so sorry about your cousin.  You are fortunate to have been close.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks guys, we will head over early Thursday morning to arrive in time for the private service and then head home shortly after. It will be a long tough day, but that's what we have to do.
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 Well I try to get to the mill every day the weather allows. I finished one order today and am about 1/4 through the next one. All framing stuff now.

 I can tell tonight that I am dog tired because I can't seem to get warm enough. Always happens when I put in too long day. Today I was in the shop before 6:30 anxious to get things done before heading to the mill. Next thing I knew it was nearly noon. I rotated through the projects. I have spent so much time with that ROS in my hands that I can barely feel them. I alternate with the drawknife work and belt sander, which isn't much better. 
 The first cherry bench has 2 full coats of wax on it now and is looking really nice. The second one has the fillets done and I started working on finish sanding. I found 2 or 3 tiny spots of surface imperfections that I really needed to fill, so I did that, plus two spots on that display board. Lots of drawknife work and sanding on the 3rd bench to get the cambium off, but this one is holding on for dear life. I am low on discs. Tomorrow is predicted as a rain out, so I will head to town, tank up for the Thursday trip and get some supplies at HD. Their website says they have 60 grit discs in stock which they have never had before, I will try a box and get more 80's. I have been alternating between the regular grit discs and those new diablo's that are a mesh design. I am finding the finer grit mesh give a lot of life and sanding, but the coarse (80 grit) ones don't last worth a dang. Live and learn, right, just sharing. I am low on general supplies, but also low on cash, so just what I need until the next influx.

 I'll try to get some newer photos up tomorrow when it's more relaxed. Just 10 hours today, but I'm pooped even my feet are tired.

 Tomorrow is another day.

[Old Greenhorn]

Another long one today, but different. Up early and on the road as the sun was just coming up. Drove over to VT and arrived about 20 minutes before the funeral. I wound up being a pall bearer which was an honor and pleased me to take part. Very simple old time funeral. Very nicely made pine box in a simple hole dug by a neighbor. In new york they have too many stupid laws laws requiring cement vaults, family may not be present when the coffin is lowered, etc. In VT, the family did the service with a minister friend, and we lowered him the grave and covered it ourselves. Plain and simple. I am kind of sorry we couldn't make his coffin, there wasn't enough time. We visited at a local restaurant for a bit to warm up, which opened up just for us (family connection). It was about 28° at the cemetery with a steady 30MPH wind, and it was COLD. Plus that cemetery location was apparently picked because the ground is so steep that nobody could grow and cut hay on it. Many of my family are buried there since the 60's and David's Grandfather's side goes back a far piece longer as they were in the area since the 1800's. A total of 5 or so hours in the driver's seat and we were home by 2:30. Tough day, none the less. It'll be a while before I don't have him in my mind every hour.

 Got home, changed clothes and got out to the shop. I needed to do something. ;D SO I put a coat of finish on that wall plaque or whatever it is.


 

It's got some nice figure coming out.



 

So I will just get a finish on it and maybe somebody will bite and want something made out of it.
 That first cherry becnh is starting to look better with every layer of wax I lay down.


 

 The second one sanded up pretty nice and you can barely see the joint lines. 



 

 So I put the first cost of finish on it this afternoon. This time I am using Tung oil finish because I think it brings out the colors better and more natural. I tested it on that plaque, before I did it on the bench. Looks promising for a guy that's not a woodworker.



 

 After I buffed these off, I went back downstairs and sanded off the rest of the cambium on the 3rd slab I draw knifed last night for the 3rd bench. This one is different and I am having to think everything through anew. It took me a couple of days to decide my first thoughts weren't working, so I went with a 3rd slab to get what 'I think' I need. I have no idea how this is gonna go. No photos yet, y'all know what raw wood looks like. Tomorrow I plane that 3rd slab and then start cutting out the parts.
 I also have to get to the mill and try to get that belt tension figured out, then try to mill out a rush order of some 2x6's. I haven't even looked at the weather yet, I am tired.
 I'll think about that tomorrow, which is, as we all know, another day.

[aigheadish]

I think the idea of burying your loved one yourself sounds very sweet. I've been pall bearer more times than I can remember but I've not shoveled dirt after, something touching about that. 

The plaque looks great Tom. I can't tell how long it is (that box leads me to believe it's about 49-50" by 8-10" or so?) but I could see it being a coat rack (with low hooks, maybe dowels?, so you can still see the wood) or maybe a shotgun rack for over the mantle? I could also see it as a centerpiece on a big dining room table where you'd set flowers or your salt/pepper shaker, etc? Or maybe a name plate over a doorway with a nice laser engraving? 

[Old Greenhorn]

The board is 60" long and I think about 12" wide at the center area. You have some good ideas there. A clock was also suggested. There are a lot of possibilities, so I just decided to finish it and see what a client would want. I can re-do the finish, add pegs, put flush hangers on the back or whatever they want.

[SawyerTed]

I recently saw a coat rack using a piece of driftwood and recycled boat cleats.  Some type of novelty type hooks might make a coat rack very desirable ($$$)

Your projects are looking great BTW

[Old Greenhorn]

Another interesting idea Ted. Those hooks aren't cheap new and they really don't look great. I had a drawer with a bunch of old ones from the 50's but mix and match. The last coat/hat board I made (a few pages back) I used  the few I could match. Something re-purposed is a great idea. Now I just have to find or think of something. I don't suppose I could use recycled nails, could I? ;D

[aigheadish]

If I were in the market I wouldn't mind unmatching sets of hooks... There are weirdos out there like me that that sort of thing doesn't bother. 

[Ljohnsaw]

I don't suppose I could use recycled nails, could I?

Rail road spikes?  Or...


 

[SawyerTed]

One our area girl scout leaders has asked for help with various projects for her troop on occasion.  One the last one she needed a "rustic piece of wood with hooks" to display some sort of awards.  Then she wanted cookies to attach the awards to so she could hang them on hooks.   

I didn't have any "hooks" but I had plenty of cut nails.  She loved them.  

So nails might not be wrong.  

[Hilltop366]

I like the contrast from iron to wood but a lot of places a iron hook would rust and stain the clothes unless coated.

Another interesting hook I have seen is to take a branch with a fork and cut the part that you are going to fasten to the board in half leaving a flat surface to mate with the board, cut the mount side off at a angle top and bottom to smooth out the look.  Rounding the hook side will be more clothes handy if that is the end use.

I will add that cutting the mount side of the branch long will give you better/safer control when cutting on a powered saw and a place to clamp that will get cut off so no worry about damage.

[Old Greenhorn]

Super ideas guys, thank you. I will file those away for now and see if I can find a client that has a particular desire. If not, I will pick something to do with it.
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Well when it rains, it pours. Today it did both. I began my day by learning I lost another friend earlier this morning, and it was another lick in the chest. Michael was a musical friend, he played with man of my other friends, including Bill and my SIL, Evan. Sweetest guy you could ever meet and generous to a fault. A good musician and a good friend. He was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor just 2 and a half weeks ago. There was noting they could do. Today he left us. I never really knew how old he was, but a good decade younger than me, likely more. His day job was as an electrician and gaffer for movies and TV shows. He traveled all over the world doing that. I only just learned today he also acted in 3 episodes of Law & Order in bit parts. A sweet guy who will leave a big hole in our community. I thought about him and the fun we had all day today.
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Yesterday was cool, but clear. I worked in the shop in the morning then headed to the mill to fiddle with some more adjustments and milled out the 'rush' order of 2x6's that I bet will sit for a week before use. ;D Got some more work done in the shop later in the afternoon.

Today, after dealing with the above news, I pushed myself out to the shop, prepped the 3rd bench for glue-up, mixed epoxy and got that done and used the excess epoxy on some of the 'bar pond' features, adding another layer.

Got clamps?


 

Then I poked around for some other ideas and found some 2x2 RO stock and decided to make a batch of rustic legs up so I can make stools out of the offcuts from the bench slabs. So I cut 'em up, planed one side, joined one side square, then planes the other sides. I also found about 8 that I had made before I had a planer and jointer, so I brought those in to square up tomorrow. I think I will set up the table router to put a nice heavy 45° bevel on all the corners tomorrow too. I think also, I may try some alternate mounting method than the simple trough tenon on some of these if I can.

Around quitting time I was coming down the stairs and saw what I thought was a long stringy cobweb handing down from the stair wall, so I pulled it down and realized it wasn't a cobweb.


 

I don't have the whole thing, but what I have is about 18" long. Not sure what to do with it, maybe I'll memorialize a piece of it in the bar. :D

I'm tired and I don't think I am going back out to work tonite, just fill the stove. Tomorrow is another day and I'll likely spend a good part of it thinking about Mike and his family. Here is a tune from his band band, he played in many different groups, but this one he put together. It's Michael, my SIL, Evan and two other fellas. Michael is the one with the ball cap and Evan is on fiddle.

The Chestnut Hill Gang - LIVE at the Hudson Valley Harvest Festival 2013 - YouTube

[SawyerTed]

Tom, sorry to hear about your friend.

[thecfarm]

More deaths.  :(  And young too. 
Hang in there, it will get better.

[terrifictimbersllc]

 :'( Sorry to hear, Tom 

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks for the thoughts fellas. I got a phone call today from the guy that is the owner/ creator/Director of the Woodstock Luthiers show. He is also a musician who has played with Michael countless times and we are all in that same circle of friends. He was really broken up as he just got the news today. He was in tears, which got me in tears and I think he may have been having a few drinks to soften the blow. It's a hard hit as the news gets out around a 4 town area.
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 Today I just buried myself in work. Was at it in the shop by 8:30, skipped breakfast until noon. The glue-up on the bench turned out just fine, but getting it to sit flat is always a challenge. The last two I was able to tweak in with some creative belt sanding. This one has a very slight twist in the top and with everything else being square and true, that twist shows up where the legs meet the floor. It was too much to sand out, about 1/4". So I laid out a line on one leg that should have matched the other leg. The question was, how to cut that line. So I did a little table length mod on my RAS and this is what I came up with.




 

 That allowed me to run the saw blade over the cut and line it all up, then add 2 more clamps, lower the blade, and cut it.
 Worked like a charm, just nailed it.  Accidents happen, right? So after that I put in an hour or so doing the final shape sanding for corners, etc, then did a 1st pass finish sand. It doesn't look bad.



 

 Then I set it up to do the fillet pours on the leg to seat joint. For these I have to get each 90° joint line level and dam the ends, then pour the fillet. I can only do one at a time. As it happened I also had one live edge to seat joints at the right angle, so I could get that one as a bonus on this pour. It's a funky setup.


 

 I can really only do one edge per day, but as I did this one around mid-morning, after I finish this post I am going to go out and see if I can get one more in tonight and save a day. But that has set there all day curing and I used the leftover epoxy to add to the bar and included part of that snake shed skin, about 4" with the head, in the 'pond' area. It will be 'submerged' when all is done. I don't know if it will even be visible as more than a blurry object.

 Then I turned back to stool legs and I used the jointer to square up the old legs I found before I took all the legs upstairs to the table router. I set up a 45° bit and made hexes out of all the legs. SO I wound up with a nice little pile.


 

 Then another flurry of looking for stuff ensued as I could not find my big 5/8" drill and thought somebody borrowed it without asking. Finally located it, tried it on a test leg and still not happy with the results. So I drilled a test hole in a block and took the leg over to the belt sander and started 'whittling it down' and making it round. Not too hard to get it to fit right and be square in the hole. Then I moved to the bandsander and did the transition radius to look a bit smoother. Since these are for short stools, I want the legs square and solid. I can clamp them square when glued. The test was a self declared success.

 I had wanted to get to the mill today, but I just got on a roll and wanted to keep it going. I'll get there tomorrow. Right now I am going to head and get one more joint curing.

 Tomorrow is...

[Nebraska]

A mystery.... yesterday  is history....today is the gift we have been given.

Sorry you've had a rough week. The benches look really good.