Sunday, February 4, 2007

One day's progress and a new topic

I'm a little disappointed, in the progress of Thursday and Friday this past week. Nothing was done on Thursday itself as I had stopped by the house after work. On Saturday afternoon, when the following shots were taken, there was then just Friday's work done which would have been the completion of the floor joists, which would have included the bracing between them and the laminated rim joist that was applied. Then almost all of the sheathing of the floor minus a few sheets and the trimming of the excess.





As the title of the entry suggests, I'm thinking of turning this into a dual purpose blog. To talk about the House of course, and to talk about my related hobby, woodworking. So without further ado, I'll put up some shots of the latest project and talk about them.







Jenn, late last year, posted a number of pictures of a mysterious project that I was working on in the basement workshop. A number of people made guesses as to what it may be. Though I am unsure of who was very close to the mark, these pictures, no doubt give away the answer. A 5' x 5' dining table made from knotty pine. When the leaf is removed it's 5' x 3' in size.

I've really learned a lot about knotty pine in this project, most notably, how easily it is affected by moisture and warping. In fact, I'm not sure if many other projects will be constructed by me in the wood without a jointer purchase for the shop. I like the look of the table, and it was designed and built with a rustic, well used look in mind, but it's frustrating when every time I make a cut, a couple days later the piece I just cut is not straight anymore.

It was a struggle but I guess it adds to it's character in the end. The next steps are to distress it (aka beat it up so it looks old and used), do a final sanding, dismantle it, then stain everything, apply a coat of urethane, assemble it (with wood glue this time), and apply another 2-4 coats of urethane and sand between coats. We're looking at least another month away from completion I think. I'll keep you posted.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a lovely table
My mans father is into wood turning in a big way

Anonymous said...

Ahh! Very nice! I don't remember what my guess was late last year, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't even close.
Is it bittersweet to distress it? You work so hard to create a pristine piece of craftsmanship, only to beat the crap out of it. Nevermind...now that I think about it, it's probably quite cathartic.

I'll look forward to seeing more pics!

Lori

Anonymous said...

Hi D:
Have been reading all about the house, and it is nice to have description with the photos. I never understood why and what was going on in our own when it was built, so it is nice to have the running commentary. I sure love your blue, blue sky too. I'll keep reading and watching.
Love MOM