BBQ Finished

The brisket was put in the pit around 0700 and finished at 1600. After pulling the brisket I put a half dozen Luling City Market sausages on to warm while the brisket was setting up.

My favorite piece  is the first burnt end cut, it usually tells the tale, a great brisket or just ok.

This is a great brisket. 

It was hard to wait, the first few cuts disappeared before I could take a photo.  A near perfect brisket. Tender, juicy, and full flavored, see the smoke ring.

On to wood working.

The changing table has two base coats of milk paint. We (maybe MsBubba) will start the finish coats in the AM and I hope to have the top glued up before it gets too hot to work in the shop. The drawer just needs to be cleaned up. Of course MsBubba in the pool with a Martini changes all plans.

ken

BBQ Today

The pit is smoking, the brisket has been rubbed and placed for the last couple of hours. The WX is good for BBQ, little wind and hot so the pit stays on temp with little tending. That's the good news, the bad after kinda putting one coat of milk paint on the changing table MsBubba finked out. I believe her words were "no mas, no mas".

Anyway, dual duty today, paint brush in one hand, BBQ chef's hat in the other.

The drawer is glued up, the Cherry is rough dimensioned and is waiting to be joined and glued. I hope this sucker will be finished by the early part of next week and shipped out. I'm ready to get it out of my shop.

Shop sized Moravian work bench is next. It will be very much like the portable bench except with a thicker slab (I expect a glue up), and some place close to 2400mm long and 600mm wide.  For the base I'm dithering between Oak and Poplar, Unless something else wonderful comes along the slab will be Beech.

BTW, between BBQ, the bible thumpers, and political folks at my door it is hard to maintain concentration. I may just give up and watch the pit with whisky in hand...it's Saturday.

ken

Being Old Sucks

I've been feeling ragged out for several days. I blamed it on work schedule and lack of a good night's sleep. Yesterday as I was doing my prep work for the day's Sim I thought "this feels like Afib, let's check it out with the little handy dandy portable EKG attachment on my phone." Sure enough it reported "possible Afib" with a pulse of 120 bpm. Damn, I thought that shit was over. It had been several years with no trouble. I went ahead and did the Sim secession and once home took my meds, MsBubba gave a listen and said while the rate was a little high the beat was trying to convert. I'll monitor today and decide if I can give the afternoon check ride or go to the Doc. The good news is after today I'm off until the 9th. The bad is I'm still old.

Just checked pulse and BP, the heart rate is near normal of high 60's low 70's and BP is a little low. I may be converting. BTW, sorry about the old fart's rambling about medical conditions but this blog is my journal and is how I keep track of "stuff".

On to, maybe, something of more interest. The changing table is together and is waiting on MsBubba finding time to paint the base. I'm putting together the drawer. The tails are cut, next are the pins and the bottom grove. As I fully expect in a year or so the changing table will become fire wood the drawer will have a applied front of what ever wood the top ends up made from and the drawer will have metal slides. That said, the table is stout with all the joints either draw bored or pegged.

The top will be attached with "Z" hooks and I plan on putting a rail around it to help hold the changing pad. The rail will be attached with loose fitted dowels that have been "blind pegged" so the rail can be removed when no longer needed. As stated above I've a few days off before the 4th's trip to the White Mountains (I'm still advocating for Mexico but expect to be overruled) so my part of the build should be finished in a few days.

BTW, we in the States are fucked. When you think it can't get any worst, it does.

ken

Changing Table Glue Up

MsBubba saved my bacon today. Two hands are seldom enough for a complex glue up even when using a long open time liquid hide glue. She stepped up to the plate and made difficult easy.

Then afterwards shot a few photos. Gotta love that woman.

Cleaning up glue:

One more:

Out of the clamps tomorrow for MsBubba to do her magic with Milk Paint. 

I may start the drawer this evening after it cools off....If I don't have too much Whisky and fun chasing MsBubba around the pool this afternoon.

ken 

 

Changing Table

Some progress on the DIL's changing table in spite of few days off over the last month or so. I expect it will be finished before the big event if I can find a couple of days to work on it.

The base is Poplar and MsBubba has volunteered to paint it with Milk Paint. Which is a good thing for several reasons, I hate to paint and it usually shows plus one of the draw bore pegs blew out the back side of the leg. A little pooky and paint and no one will know.

It is together to measure the lower slats. Once the slats are made I'll clean up everything and hope I can get help on the glue up.

Then it will be on to making and installing a drawer to finish the base. The top will be some nice Cherry from the wood pile unless something else catches my eye.

A couple of photos:

From the other side:

BTW, that's a story stick with markings for the lower stretchers and slats inside the base. Story sticks come in very handy for fitting those kind of pieces.

ken

Love From The UK

USPS dropped a couple of boxes off today. One had the Late 19th early 20th Century Marple Paring/Pattern Maker chisels. Also in the goodies was a UK made plow with a full set of irons and a Washita stone.

The Marple chisels are as close to mint as any I've seen that were not new. I've been looking for a set of pre-WWII Marple paring chisels for it seems years hoping to pick up one here and one there. Almost every one I've seen had something wrong, mostly pitted back sides and for these I wanted chisels with clean blades.

This set just fell into my lap a couple of weeks ago via an email for one of my UK dealers. The photos looked very good, the chisels look even better. It is hard to believe these chisels are at least 85 years old and may be over a hundred.

The Plow and the Washita stone, what can I say other than I'm a sucker for both wood stock Plows and natural stones. Good Washita stones are getting very hard to find.

Here's the group:

I keep telling myself I'm not a collector, I'm down sizing, and this is the last time I fall off the wagon. We will see.

ken

White Mountains

We spent a long weekend in Alpine, AZ. Alpine is just over 8000' MSL, the nights were in the 30's and days not over 75F. It was delightful. I left the portable workbench in Tucson because it was going to be a short stay. We are going back the 4th. of July for a longer stay and the bench will be going. It will be good to give it a proving run before Oregon in Sept.

I'm making a "Changing Table" for the expected new Grandpeanut. It is marked out for the most part and about half the mortises are chopped. I expect it will be slow going because it is Summer in Tucson and shop time is limited by the heat in addition to my work schedule.

Because the mortises are narrow and a little deep I'm using the drill and pare method. I must say it is going well so far. You gotta love a good set of Jennings bits and a brace.

These are the two back legs, the front legs will connect with a double tenon lower stretcher and a dovetail top stretcher. In addition to the drawer there will be a lower shelf to hold wicker baskets.

More photos to follow once there is enough done to kinda see what it will look like.

ken