Limping Along, Pushing Decisions Ahead

Since March I've been on a suspended state with work. No work from home because there is nothing I can do but allowed to stay home with pay and benefits. That has been the status, it was expected to end on May 15th. I had a big decision to make, go back to work on the 16th or retire. I got a call this morning that gives me a third option which is a temporary (75 day) layoff. No pay but retain my benefits. The layoff also will allow drawing unemployment.

While I really had no option on the 16th, there wasn't any way I was going back to work and sit in a very small black box with two clients who could very easily kill me.

Bottom line I've kicked the can on down the road for an additional 75 days. Every day closer to December, when MsBubba starts drawing SS, which also was my planned time of retirement helps.  We can do it now but I will ride this pony as long as I can.

ken

Leg Module Rough Fit

Both legs have been fitted with the cross piece. Next is chopping the stretcher mortise and cleaning up the leg moduals .

This sucker is getting close to the short rows. My problem once here I start losing interest, I need Ralph to move next door so he can do the finishing.

All my life I've been a framer, never a finish carpenter.  I use to love framing building, getting them to dried in then at the end of the day sitting back with a beer and enjoying seeing what we have done.

ken

Fitting Slab Cross Support To Uprights

So far today I've stayed out of MsBubba's line of sight so some work is being done on the table. Today I'm fitting the table cross supports to the leg uprights. I'm using a bridle joint that will be draw bored with I'm thinking three pegs. The only difficulty with bridle joints is getting all the nasty bits out of the corners and the floor flat all the way across.

I've a trip to the wood store coming up to find wood for the slab. The slab will somewhat depend on what I find there at a reasonable price, MsBubba likes smooth, I like to feel tool marks and wood texture. On the slab she will win so I avoid the side eye every time she sits at the table. That kinda eliminates the Oaks, either Walnut or Cherry would be nice but have you seen the price of either. I hope something at the wood store inspires me.

The good news; Because of the way the table is constructed, if I start getting the side eye I can remove the slab and make another.

ken

Table Uprights Fitted

The table uprights have been fitted to their mortises. The shoulders still need a little trimming but that will come.

Next is cutting the uprights to length and sawing the bridle joints for the table supports. BTW, the long board behind the table feet will be the stretcher,  the table support boards are to the right on the drill press table.

The slab is still undecided, I guess a trip to the wood store is in the near future.

Stay safe,

ken

More Liquid Hide Glue

The first batch of liquid hide glue is finished. Next up is testing the glue strength of the liquid vs. hot. Short story, the liquid joint failed at the glue line. The hot did not. Here are the photos:

Liquid hide glue joint done with clamps:

Liquid hide glue joint failed at the glue line:

Same wood cleaned up and joined with a hot hide glue rub joint:

I did not clean up the glue line so it would be easy to see that the glue line did not fail.

BTW, click 'em to big 'em.

Both failed with about the same pressure per my calibrated muscles. To be definitive more test would be needed but if the results held my first question would be, where do you want the joint to fail. Clean at the glue line or the wood itself.  I think that answer would be, depends.

Almost finished with the roof, just a couple of clean up items to go. I will say this for sheltering in place, a lot of things that have been pushed off are getting done.

There are a couple of inexpensive "toys" you need to help survive COVID-19. From my reading what is happening to folks infected with the novelvirus is they are showing up for help too late. The virus suppresses oxygen exchange in the lungs but does not affect carbon dioxide. Too much carbon dioxide is what makes you feel "short of breath".  Because they do not feel shortness of breath folks are showing up for medical treatment with oxygen levels below 50% and by that time it may be too late to save them.

The first "toy" is a fingertip pulse oximeter , the second is just a easy way to take your temp. I found a cheap instant read thermometer at Costco for less than $80USD. If you do get infected use those two toys to tell you when it is time to go for medical help and not just go but jump up and down, hair's on fire demand help.

Be safe out there, hear.

ken

Making Liquid Hide Glue

I've a pot of what is intended to be liquid hide glue cooking.  I'm using Don Williams' method' and it is finishing the final cook period. One of the advantages of his method is using table salt instead of urea. With salt there is no shelf life limit, we will see if that is true.  Once finished I'll do a test and report the results.

Not much progress on the table's base although the first M/T is fitted and I've started the mortise for the second. The reason for the slow shop time is MsBubba and I are on the roof every morning before it gets too hot, doing the every 4 to 5 year re-coat.  The year is more work because we needed to pull the pool solar panels off to coat under them. Anyway, the solar panels are re-installed and we are down to 100 or so square feet of coating to go. What a miserable job, I feel for anyone doing it for a living. After the 3 or 4 hours on the roof my ass is kicked for the rest of the day.

BTW, Summer is here in the desert, no 100F+ days yet but they are coming and soon.

We are still sheltering in place and hope to do so for awhile. I saw a post on Digby from a "red hatter" dated 03/15/20 stating no government had the right to tell him what he can do. The second part was his death notice dated 04/15/20. Cause of death CoVid-19.

Be careful out there, hear.

ken

Fitting the First Tenon

Fitting the tenon, making sure it is vertical and square.  Not hard just fiddly.

This is an easy build, just a few joints, all simple.

ken

Chopping, Paring and Fitting

Tenons on the table uprights are cut. Next up is chopping and paring the mortises on the feet and fitting the two.

This may be a little slow going, MsBubba has plans for my time, as always damn that line of sight, that involve pressure washing the roof and moving the solar panels so we can roll on new roof coating. That's the bad, the good is I can take only so much of roof work at a time. a couple of hours a morning before it gets too hot is about it.

ken

Still Playing With Video

I made a short video of sawing one of the tendon cheeks on the table upright. Mostly I wanted to show using a pattern maker chisel to "v"grove the cheek and to showoff my bald spot.

I haven't got around to learning to use the Go-Pro or video edit but it is coming.

The table is coming along, the two base feet are roughed out as are the two uprights. Next up is chopping the mortises for the foot/upright and cutting the bridle joints for the upper support.

ken 

Rub Joint Revisit

It has been a couple of days since I made the demo rub joint so it is time to destroy it. I took the lumpy and a block of wood to the joint and as expected after 3 or 4 hard wacks with the lumpy the wood failed. The joint is still strong. The results would be the same with any modern wood glue so that part is no big deal.

This is with 192 gram strength glue instead of 253 gram strength, I can see no reason to go stronger than 192.

Another view:

Click 'em to big 'em, if you do you can see the glue line and the break of the wood.

ken

Started on Kitchen Table

The new kitchen table will be modular with two end pieces/legs and a wedged stretcher between them. I haven't decided on a slab yet but I expect it will be "blind pegged" like my workbenches so the table can be expanded by changing the stretcher and the slab.

Here is the first rough cut of one of the feet. BTW, the base wood is Alder. I'm still doing the "yes but" about the slab.

Stay safe,

ken

Rub Joint

I had the glue pot full of glue and nothing to glue. What to do, what to do. I know, do a rub joint to demo how well one works with hot hide glue. After a little scrounging around in the cutoff pile I found a short Beech cutoff that looked like it had one edge planed. I split it, slopped some hot hide glue on both edges and rubbed them together and then held it for a minute or so before setting aside.

Today I cleaned up the faces and tried to break the bond with no joy. I expect if I took a lumpy after it it would break but then with a lumpy I can break any joint.

I've started the layout of the new trestle style kitchen table and already have a head scratcher.  My stock is 8/4 and I'm trying to decide between gluing up the feet for 16/4 feet, going back to the wood store for some 4/4 stock to make 12/4 feet, or just making 8/4 feet. Right now I leaning towards 16/4 feet with 12/4 uprights.

BTW, I've marked out on one board enough feet to glue up two 16/4 feet.

ken

RIP John Prine

John Prine is dead. His songs have been a part of my life almost forever. From "Please Don't Bury Me"and "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You in Heaven Anymore" to "Paradise". John told his stories with both humor and deadly truth.

I will miss his work.

ken

Small Box

Other than sharpening and moving a few things around in the shop I've not made anything mostly because of dealing with AFib for the last three months. The AFib is gone for now and my energy is returning to normal. It is time to make something and what better way to start than a small box made from shop scrap.

Here is my return to the shop box. Lots of things where the forehead met palm but it still made a box. Biggest problem after installing the hinges and mounting the top the lid started doing stupid wood tricks.

That's the bad news, the good is (big if) if I wish making another top is easy.  Some of the wavy edge chamfer is from trying to clean up a bad lid, some from hadn't done it in months. So shoot me :-).


Next up is the much talked about kitchen table, most of the wood for the base is in the wood pile I just have to stay out of MsBubba's line of sight long enough to get started.

MsBubba asked if I would show her how to make a box using hand tools. We spent a couple of hours yesterday breaking down stock by hand and getting it square and ready to mark out. BTW, ain't no way we will do anything on the machines, not even the band saw, I like her hands with all ten fingers.

It should be fun making making a box with MsBubba because this really is starting from zero skills and it is making me think about the basics.

ken

Hide Glue

Patrick Edwards the maker of "Old Brown Glue" has posted links to a FWW series of videos on Hide Glue. They are well worth the time to watch. There is also a link on "Unplugged Shop".

Hide Glue

ken

Shop Dog

Not much in life is as good as a good Dog. About the only thing better is a good shop Dog. Maggie loves the shop, the machines do not bother her. She finds a place close plus close to the treats and will stay there until I move her because I need the spot.

Sweat Maggie Dog just off the working end of the Main bench:

I miss Sam the Wonder Dog, but he was a wuss, when the first machine was turned on he was out of there and never made it as a shop Dog. Not so with Sweat  Maggie Dog.

ken