New Testingstan

Oh, and another thing : do not touch or rub your eyes, it'll only make things worse.

I've been there, I know it's awful, but trust me on that one.

Yeah, I'm having to catch myself. Rubbing just irritates it, so I've been leaving it be.

Much as I'd like to do otherwise....

Anyhow, this is what my eye is suffering for:

Hope it's worth it in the end.

So do I.

Nah, I'm feeling much better. It'll look really good, the tote not my eye, once I get a few more coats of the varnish on it and I think I'm going to use black paste wax on it to darken it up and bring out the pores and grain pattern.

Edit: And now I'm getting "commissions". Had an acquaintance call me up and say he and his wife are looking at buying a house and once they do I'm building him a workbench. It sounds like perfect practice for when I replace the current Horror-Freight-special that I work off of.

My eye's alright. It was extra crusty this morning, but I cleaned carefully with some eye drops and it's been normal, if a little raw at the corners, for the rest of the day.

Tool tote waxed with black paste wax. This does two things: 1) it darkens the wood (duh) which gives it a little age and 2) it highlights *EVERY MISTAKE I MADE*. Which sounds like it would cheese me off, but I'm okay with it because it will motivate me to do better next time. Which is good because I'm already starting to plan the new one in my head.


Wax before I buff it off:


What that crap does to my hands:

I had to wash my hands like 10 times and then use degreasing hand cleaner to get it all off. And I still have a bunch of gunk under my fingernails like I was a mechanic.

Anyhow, once it finishes drying/hardening I'll put my layout tools and tool care stuff back inside and it'll be functional.

Lessons learned:
1) I probably used the wrong plane to trim up the dovetails. 2) I need to fettle my planes better. 3) I need to keep practicing my joinery until it's airtight.

I also need to figure out how to use my cornering tools. They're for putting a fillet on corners (i.e. turning a sharp angle into a radius), but I had some tear out from using them. No sure if that's just the red oak or improper technique, but I'll have to work it out.

Maybe you should also wear gloves when playing with the wax ?

I normally do when I'm finishing, but I didn't think to do so with this stuff for some reason...

Fortunately, it's not like the wiping varnish I use where you very clearly want gloves on.

Saw bench and horse Mk2. The bench came out alright, but the little mistakes on both are bugging me and I'm already planning #3 in my head, much like with the tote.



On the plus side the bench isn't wobbly and they stack with my first saw horse and can even hold my tote (and, by extension, something else I needed to work with).

These came from that big pile of lumber I posted back in June, which is now just a little bit smaller.

Going back to the tote, for a moment, I figured out the how's and why's of the mistakes I made:
1) My planes *were* set wrong. They were set too deep; I needed to back out the blade. I also needed to be more careful about changing grain direction around the joints and use a different plane for that. Result: I ended up with tear out I couldn't repair.
2) I was using the cornering tools wrong. I pressed down too hard, I needed to sharpen them and I needed to, again, be aware of grain direction. Result: I ended up with tear out I couldn't repair.
3) I was trying to cut kerfs into the waste of my dovetails before removing same. Not really a problem with doing that per se, but I tended to cut too deep. Result: I ended up with cuts still visible after assembly as well as gaptacular joints.

Other than that...

Nah. More seriously, it's just stuff I need to think about and work on for the future.

I spent some time last evening and again this morning cutting tenons (tabs) for the legs and stretcher for the table I started building back with that big pile of lumber.

Next weekend I'll cut mortises (slots) into the feet and the hips, so to speak, and then fit the top to it.

Also, I don't think I posted any pictures of the top for the table, which I actually built a few weeks ago:

(That's looking at the bottom of it.)

First leg for the table. Still need to cut a mortise in the middle for the trestle that stretches between the two legs. Second pic is of the mortise/tenon joint.



I cut the tenons on my table saw, just making paring cuts until the tenon had formed. The mortise I made by laying out some lines and drilling holes at the corners. I cut out the bulk of the waste with my jig saw and then chiseled out the rest by hand. One came out really well, the other could have been a little tighter. Still fits though.

The legs and stretcher assembled. Originally, this was to be able to be disassembled into three pieces for easy transport. But it ain't coming apart...

The top sitting on the trestle. There's still detail work to do (like actually attaching the top), but it's otherwise ready to use.

Salsa Verde Charro made with Hatch Chiles:

Okay, so I've not made much lately because I was on vacation (I went back to Germany), but I have brewed a couple batches of beer since then. Three actually (Kolsch, Hefeweizen and a Marzen). I also painted one of my saw benches so I can take it to Texans games for tailgating. I.e. to sit on.

I also started the joinery on a pair of benches to match the table. Which I promptly fucked up by measuring from the wrong point and, consequently, having a slot that's roughly a quarter inch too wide. Or about two saw blade widths.

DOH!

On the one hand, I've done this sort of thing before so I really wish I was physically capable of kicking myself. On the other, I think I can still make it work, so it's likely not too big of a deal. Maybe...

The table and benches are coming along!

Is that a giant cup holder in your bench?

Yep. I modified my first saw bench to hold a giant glass or cup.

I love it.

Considering how many times I've spilt drinks I put on my old bench, I approve

Here's a closeup for you:

BBQ SAUCE!


And the table top is red now:

(upside down)
I need to add another coat of red and then a coat of polyurethane. After that I'll add a couple of coats of blue and it'll be ready to go.

Then I'll need to get started on the base...

Now the table top is blue (after a coat of polyurethane over the red.

First coat looks like crap.

Second coat looks better. You can't quite see it in the picture but the red is still showing.

But the third coat, the third coat was just right.

And now the trestle is red:


Tomorrow (I hope) I'll put on a coat of polyurethane. And Saturday I'll try to get a couple coats of blue on it. Three would be better, but I don't know that I'll have that much time.