Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

In bed. A sweet breeze is blowing. Mo is sleeping in the living room. He is using my tool bag as a pillow. The same bag I broke my foot on some weeks ago. (It still gives me a painful twinge now and again.) I have not turned on the music yet, but I will after I post. Feeling tired, so I will not read much of my book tonight. Last night Mo woke me every hour, pretty much on the hour. Hope to sleep a bit better tonight. Maybe I should build him a dog house and just put him out to sleep each night. Will go out and lock up the front door in a minute. What a pity we live in a world where you can't leavevyour door open!

26 minutes ago, luv2lurk said:

I know Barbados cut ties with the monarchy last year...

Yes, and I don't remember anyone asking my opinion before doing so. But it's done, so no point crying about it. And anyway, I still hold a British passport, because I was born a British subject and have been one ever since. I legally hold triple citizenship. Trinidadian, because that's where I was born. British, because Trinidad was a British colony at the time (not yet part of the Commonwealth). And Barbadian because my mother was a Barbadian, resident overseas, and as her offspring I am entitled to Barbadian citizenship, and have had my Bajan citizenship ratified by formal application (granted) about 50 years ago. I am a legitimate citizen by birth of each of the three, and each of the three allow citizens to hold multiple citizenship.

I think Charles III will do OK. After all, he's been in training for it for a very long time. 

I'll end by reiterating my message from yesterday. If you haven't already done so, go get yourself a pupper, a kitty, a parakeet, or a pot-bellied pig. Your choice. But go looking, and when you find the right one, you will know. Bring your new companion home and give it your love. Great will be your reward!

[Netfoot]

Happy TAR Day!

I've not watched it yet. It's on the computer but I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Two days now. Going to see Dr. Kristi in the morning. Also got to go to the pharmacy, and I need a few essential groceries like salt and cooking oil. 

Contacted the shippers today, speaking to a guy at the aeroport. He said it is in the hands of customs and the lap of the gods. The package might be released tomorrow, or it might be another month. Or two.

How does an island economy that relies upon imports for virtually everything survive, if imports can take days, weeks or months to process? Don't ask me. I have no idea. But I look around the world and I see impossibly stupid economic policies being enacted by major countries around the globe. Policies with what appear to be the goal of rendering the ordinary man in the street destitute, therefore dependent and therefore controllable. Maybe it's happening here too.

I had turkey and beans for lunch and tuna and beans for dinner. Tomorrow I may try to make bannock bread. I've made it before and it came out smashing, but it was a long time ago and I don't remember how. And I'm wondering: you can put things in the dough like blueberries and so forth, but what about savoury things? Like red herring? Curry powder and red pepper flakes? Or vegetables like sweet peppers and/or corn? But first let me try and make a plain loaf (is 'loaf' the right word?) before I go and cock it up with chopped onion and slices of dill pickle or something equally unlikely.

Mo is sleeping with his head on the tool bag again. Dunno why. It can't be comfortable. He did come to bed last night shortly after the lights went out, and snuggled until first light before demanding the door be opened. I hope he comes and snuggles again tonight. He had a big turkey for lunch and another for dinner, including the entire bone out of a drumstick. So he isn't hungry for sure.

I made a couple push-sticks today, because I was tired of pushing wood through the table saw with my fingers getting close to the blade. Tomorrow I will blow a little red paint on them so they don't get lost in the general clutter. 

I was looking into making a box joint jig so I got out my box-joing blade. (Still can't find my brand new stacked dado blade!) The box-joint blade is not new but it is in fine shape.

Mo just joined me in bed, so I will cuddle him for a while, read, and power down for the night.

Looking forward to watching S34E01 tomorrow, first chance!

Edited September 22, 2022 by Netfoot

[andidante]

8 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Tomorrow I may try to make bannock bread. I've made it before and it came out smashing, but it was a long time ago and I don't remember how.

Pictures please if you do make it! I have never heard of that kind of bread before. 

[Spunkygal]

I am not a bread baker but am a lover of savory breads. I wonder if the herring would make the dough too wet? I watch a million baking competitions and a wet dough seems to often be a problem. Is it a dough with yeast?

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I wonder if the herring would make the dough too wet?

The herring I'm thinking of I'd fry is dry and leathery. Here is a photograph of a piece I have in my fridge. 

This piece is a bit more fried dried out than usual because of how long I've had it, but it's never wet. Tuna or any other type of fish from a tin would obviously be a different story.

I have a batch of bannock on the stove right now and will report back later. I hope it's at least edible. I didn't add anything experimental this time.

Went to see Dr. Kristi.  Blood pressure was "perfect"or at least in the good range. Then she stopped my Lasix because the BP was tending low. I've also lost a few pounds, despite all the rice, pasta, potatoes and actual sugar in my tea. Asked her if I should send her a new "Blonde" joke. She said yes and laughed when I did. Clauda came and made a fuss over Mo who didn't know what to do with himself. He loves attention. Went to collect my meds which I'd already paid for (including a new supply of Lasix which I'm not supposed to take anymore...) and bought salt, cooking oil and wood glue.

Going to turn over the bannock now... Oooo! It puffed up and looks all speckly brown on the bottom! Which is now the top. Lowered the heat a bit and will go back in 15-ish minutes to check if it's ready!

Edited September 22, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Wow! That was great! I turned the stove to low and heated a drizzle of oil. Then placed the flattened dough ball in it, and put a cover over it. I was planning to cook for 15 minutes but I peeked in after about 12-13 minutes and it looked done. So I flipped it over lowered the heat a little more and gave it another 12-13 minutes. Here is the first side, cooked with more heat.

And this is the other side, after I turned down the fire.

The darker side was not burnt in any sense. The dark patches were only skin deep. And the lighter side is not raw in any sense either. Personally I'd have been happier if the two sides were about equal in colour.

Next time I will start on the lower heat and give it a full 15 minutes or maybe even longer, per side.

The important thing is how it's cooked on the inside! This not undercooked and tasted good. I think bannock is not a light bread at best so this one being a little heavy was not surprising.

I ate some with some seasoned beans. It's nice to have something to dip it in, if you don't want to split it open and use butter. It was good! Mo loved it too, and kept demanding more until I showed him the plate was empty. This made more than I expected and I will eat the remainder for dinner. I just hope it's as good at room temperature as it was warm from the pan.

I read three recipes of the net and then using that as a guide only, I did my own thing. It can be made with regular flour, regular plus corn flour, or regular flower flour and oats. (This last is the Scottish recipe, apparently.) I used:

• 2 cups regular flour
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ cup of vegetable oil
• 1 cup of water.

Mixed it all together and it was a little gluey so I added a tip more flour. Turned it out on a lightly floured surface, kneaded it as little as possible until it was all one ball. Flattened it out and popped it into the oiled pan. 

Do not follow this recipe! There are 1,000 variations in the net and I suggest you read a few and then combine them into one that suits your own taste and your available ingredients. Starting with three cups of flour makes more that I want to eat in one sitting, even if that's all I'm having. Make less, or perhaps cook only half and leave the other half in the fridge and cook it later? 

Any way, I am calling this a result!

Edited September 23, 2022 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

I will eat any piece of bread put in front of me. The day I can’t eat bread, dear Lord , take me home! My last meal: bread, cheese, red wine. 

[luv2lurk]

I remember being "Chief Bannock maker" during a two week canoe trip when I was 14 or 15. As you can imagine bread ran out after the first few days but we had bags of premixed bannock - I suspect flour, baking powder or soda and salt. Definitely no oats. And no oil - I used lake water to make the dough.

I used to make it after we had dinner in a frying pan over the campfire. Since it was July, the days were long - not getting dark until after 9pm. We would have it the next day for breakfast and/or lunch. Sometimes I added wild blueberries if we found them.

[Netfoot]

30 minutes ago, luv2lurk said:

I remember being "Chief Bannock maker" during a two week canoe trip when I was 14 or 15. As you can imagine bread ran out after the first few days but we had bags of premixed bannock - I suspect flour, baking powder or soda and salt. Definitely no oats. And no oil - I used lake water to make the dough.

The recipes I've looked all vary considerably. Some use only regular flour. Some use a bit of corn flour in the mix. I saw a recipe (Scottish, supposedly) with 2 cups of oats to one of regular, but I reversed the ratio. Some use baking soda, some baking powder. Some say add vegetable oil, or melted butter or buttermilk.

That's why I recommend googling a few different recipes and looking at their differing ingredients before coming up with your own take. 

I think blueberries are pretty common. Even I have added blueberries, despite the real difficulties involved in sourcing them here. But I suspect you could add virtually anything. Currents or raisins, dried apricots, chopped nuts, grated coconut, diced ham, bacon bits... You name it! Maybe replace the oil/butter with syrup to make a sweet version?

Some cook multiple, individual small loaves rather than one large one. My attempt was about 1½“ thick, but a thinner loaf would probably cook faster and since it would be bigger, you would get more crust!

I ate the balance of mine for dinner with a drizzle of syrup and a cup of tea on the side. I thought it was really good and Mo agreed with me.

I like that it's fast to prepare, versatile, quick to cook and tastes good. You don't need an oven, you can put your pan over a campfire. You don't even need a pan! Some folks have been known to mould a lump of the dough around the end of a stick and place that over the fire. I've not tried that myself. 

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Mo is around here somewhere. He was just leaning against my back but he's gone off now. I am tired and will set the timer on the music and try to get some shut-eye.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Mo and I are in bed, with the music playing. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat by Cocteau Twins. I love Elizabeth Frazier's voice, and really wish I could understand what she is saying. A problem made worse by the knowledge that very often her lyrics deliberately have no meaning! If I can quote some if her Wikipedia page: Her distinctive style has received much critical praise in her four-decade career; Melody Maker's journalist Steve Sutherland once described her as "the voice of God". She was described by critic Jason Ankeny as "an utterly unique performer whose swooping, operatic vocals relied less on any recognizable language than on the subjective sounds and textures of verbalized emotions".

I gave Mo a brush-down earlier. He was torn between wriggling with pleasure and trying to steal the brush and eat it. Right now he's looking out the window and will soon try to persuade me to let him out. He demanded I let him out a little before dawn this morning. His barking woke me around six, and I looked out to see him barking at a wizened crone who was walking past our house. The rain was lashing down. I thought "Oh, no!" But it was too late. In a flash, he was in through the door and drying himself in my bed. 

Set out to make a small table today. Size dictated by what wood I had on hand. I ran two boards through the planer to flatten them and reduce thickness a bit. I'd prefer the table be more lightweight than sturdy. Statement of fact: that planer is the noisiest tool I own, by a factor of about six. I thought the cops would arrive at any moment with s noise complaint from the next parish! It also covers everything with a deep layer of wood chips. I could hardly find my table saw when I was done. 

The trouble started when I went to make the legs, of which the table will need four. So, I need four pieces 34" long which will be cut to final length of around 32½“ after they are sized in width and thickness. I will use 2x4 pine lumber and trim off each edge to eliminate the rounded corners. I will also reduce the thickness and finally, taper them very slightly at the bottom.

I found three suitable sized pieces of 2x4 but all the other pieces of 2x4 lumber I can find are treated. Since they treat lumber with either arsenic or mercury, treated lumber is to be avoided for in-home use. Besides the treated stuff has a slight greenish tinge and I don't want one leg looking different to the other three. I do have another piece of untreated 2x4 but it has two large knots in it which make it undesirable.

I will have to dig through my lumber pile but I've already had a good look and no luck so far. They won't sell me 3' of wood at the lumberyard. I will have to buy at least 10' which will cost $30.09 which I'd rather not spend, seeing as it's 3x the wood I need.

Had breakfast at 9:00 PM this evening. (Breakfast is the first meal of the day, right?). Macaroni elbows with corned beef and beans. Garlic powder and cilantro. Lemon iced tea on the side. I had quite a large portion but still left some for a meal tomorrow. I liked it. Mo liked it too.

This is the start of weekend #5 my chuck parts have spent at customs. The situation has reached a comedic level. Or at least it would be funny, if I didn't  actually need these parts to proceed with so many projects. While I suffer my inconvenience, I can't help think of who knows how many people, who are desperately waiting for tools, parts and materials to produce goods for sale, to feed their children, keep the lights on at home and prevent their small businesses from being forced to close.

Anyway, time to read few pages of my book and then perform an orderly system shutdown.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Table construction continues. I found another 2x4 which unfortunately had nail holes in it. With nothing else available, I decided to use it. I will have to drill out and plug the nail holes with dowels. (I sure wish I had a dowel-plate right now!). After sanding the plugs should all but disappear. Not ideal, but the table will be fully functional. I only have to decide whether to tell the new owner about the plugs or keep schtum and hope they don't notice. I prefer not to be misleading when I deal with people. Straight talk is best.

On the left you will see four legs. Lengths vary between 33" and 36" because they have not been cut to final length as yet. Which will be around 32". They are currently 2⅜" by 1⅛" but I will give them a skim through the noisy-arsed planer which will reduce that. By no more than a hair I hope.

In the middle and lying on top of the legs are four cross-pieces. The same dimensions as the legs, but a lot shorter, in the order of 24". They are that length because they were cut from a single 2' long piece of 2x12 lumber. They will have to be skimmed as well, and shortened to final length of around 14".

On top you can see the two boards that will go together side by side to make the top of the table. They have been laboriously planed down from ¾" to just under ½" to flatten them and reduce weight. No more planeing required there, thank goodness. They are currently 11¼" wide each but they will have to go through the saw to shave each edge flat. Hopefully no more than say ⅛" in width will be lost in all, so a final table width between 22¼“ and 22½" will be the result. These boards are 28" long, but they will be trimmed using some sort of trammel I will make for the purpose. This will allow the ends of the table to adopt a slight curve rather than be flat and square. Probable length at the outer edge of the curve hopefully in the order of 27¾“.

I might go ahead and add a modest taper to the bottom of the legs. Some sort of tapering jig will be required but one specific to the job will be easy enough to make. What will prevent me from doing this is the fear that I cock it up and ruin a leg. Because there is definitely no more wood I could use to replace anything I ruin now. As it is, I still have to cut the ends of the legs at an angle so they sit flush on the ground (they are not vertical) and shape the top ends accordingly while cutting to final length. Actually, I will do the top ends first and then when they are all complete, I will cut to length with the angled cut on the bottom. 

Everything will be sanded of course. Starting with a medium grit and going finer as the sanding progresses. In my experience the best way to know when you have sanded enough is to keep on until just before you are so sick of sanding you actually want to throw up. I won't use a router on the edges. I will leave them square and break only the sharpness while sanding.

Mo is very interested in all the activity but he doesn't like the sawdust. Not like old Dotty who would lie down under my old, rubbishy saw and go to sleep with the sawdust raining down on him, until he vanished under a pile of the stuff as if in a snowdrift.

But then, Mo's wire-hair is like a magnet for chips, shavings and sawdust, so I can sympathize with the sweet little baby!

I am not working continuously on this project because my back hurts after a while and I have to go sit down, drink a glass of iced water and watch a movie until the pain goes away. Which I shall do right now. (Why is autocorrect changing "I shall" to "inshallah" do you suppose?) I'd be taking Panadol but I am almost out and saving the balance in case I break another toe.

Later, I have to power up Mr. Noisy and skim all those pieces except the top) on all four sides. Fortunately they can probably go in four sides at a time, and eight edges. 

[Netfoot]

Final width of table after truing up the edges is 22¼" and the legs and criss-pieces after noisy planeing are 1¹/¹⁶" thick.

Just remembered I will need two stretchers to join the legs closer to the ground. They can easily be made from a piece of wood inhsvechere, but they will need to be planed down to the same thickness as the table top. Which is s lot of planeing and a lot of noise.

Better get started on that then, before the evening sets in...

[Netfoot]

Ok, two additional stretchers cut and planed to the same thickness as the table top, and ripped to 3⁷/¹⁶" width, because the original board had two splits in it and cutting two narrower planks while avoiding the splits, this was as wide as I could get. Ideal would have been 3½" so I'm only ¹/¹⁶" short of that. 

Not yet cut to length, as this will be determined by the final layout of the table. (You have probably realized I am not building this table to any accurate dimensions; just holding close to my original idea of size.)

Dappled sunlight indicates the end of power tool use. Certainly not that planer! 

Mo, mean while, keeps an eye on the proceedings. But not a close look. Laying on the ground several yards from the action and wagging his tail every time I give him a word, he enjoyed a pat on the head between each operation. 

He will be coming to ask for his dinner, soon. He comes a little earlier each day, and I have to make him wait. Otherwise in a couple of weeks he will be having his dinner shortly after lunch! Cheeky monkey!

ETA: First photo shows my new push sticks (in red). I plan to build another pair of push sticks (different type) soon, but not immediately.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

It was getting on to time for me to take Mo around the garden. I've been doing this since he was a tiny puppy and a little afraid of the dark. And I didn't want him playing with the crapauds in the yard. Now, far from being afraid if of the dark, he wants to run around in the dark all night long, barking at what ever catches his attention. He thinks he owns the dark! And I chucked do many crapauds over the wall I have not seen one in the yard for months and months! But I still go out with him every night.

Anyway, as the time drew near, I went to put on my Crocs. Where did I leave them? Was it in the bathroom? Not there. Searched the house. No luck. I'm sure I left them in the bathroom... Oh, now I understand. 

Got my torch and my puppy and set out barefoot. 

That's the first one, and...

That's the second one. Mo is incorrigible. 

I had the balance of yesterday's mscsroni macaroni elbows for lunch and a bowl of Ramen soup for dinner. Just want you to know that when I was renewing a couple of prescriptions on Thursday I noticed that the Ramen had gone from 45¢ a package to 90¢ a package. Doubled! Oh, and the Public Utilities Board has given permission for Light & Power to increase their prices, too. So life is going from difficult to impossible. Thank goodness we don't have cold weather to deal with. I pity you lot up North. Sure hope you got wooly drawers!

What annoys me most of all is the degree that our economy gets majorly affected by the idiotic economic policies enacted elsewhere! But that comes from being a very small nation that relies upon our larger neighbors to survive. Our hospitality industry doesn't do well when half of Europe is in the dark and fighting over food. Or when suppliers of critical items (think pharmaceuticals, parts for imported machinery, agro-chemicals...) just double their prices because all of their production costs are skyrocketing as their own economies collapse. Idiotic policies instituted here don't help much, ad I know only too well, with my stuff still stuch stuck at customs!

I am listening to Liontamer by Faithless, with Grammy-nominated Zöe Johnston as a guest vocalist. Monkey is sitting on my chest, which makes this difficult to type. Still have to lock up, then read my book for a while and then sleep. Will test blood sugar in the morning.

Tomorrow, I have to plug done those nail holes in the wooden parts of my table. Then I have to shape the ends according to the design (how to accurately cut a 22½° angle?) And drill some holes. I'm going to be putting this together with glue and screws. If all goes well, I will remove the screws one by one (after the glue has cured) and re-drill the screw holes to accept dowels. The finished table will have no metal fasteners.

I will not becowinting be painting or varnishing this table at all. The eventual owner is free to do so if they wish. I know how to paint and  it usually comes out pretty goodm good but it takes forever to do it correctly, every item of clothing I wear while painting has to be thrown away afterwards, and generally I hate painting. I will paint it or varnish something I make for me, but everyone else is our of luck. 

Ok, while Mo is polishing his sphericals, I will go and lock up. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, this morning I cut the leg stretchers down to 3" because there were some nail holes right on the edge of one of them. Rather than try to plug the holes I trimmed them away by removing just under ½" of wood. 3" is fine for the width of these pieces, although my original mental picture was for 3½". 

But with the leg of the table, there was no avoiding it. Thankfully these holes do not penetrate to the other side so I only need to plug one side of the leg, and that for cosmetic reasons only.

I started by drilling out each nail holes a little bit bigger, so they would all have a consistent size.

Then I ran a piece of scrap (one of the strips I'd just removed from the leg stretchers) through the saw to produce a little square stick. With a sharp knife I whittled the end into a circularish shape with a slight taper. (This is where a dowel-plate would have been a big help!) A drop of glue and a tap from a baby hammer sent the tapered end into the hole.

With a saw I trimmed off the remainder of the stick and sharpened, glued and trimmed the other holes.

That is a flush-cutting saw so in a couple hours when the glue has set up, I can trim the plugs flush with the surface of the table leg. Any remaining unevenness will go with the sanding.

But now my final problem is this:

Two divots out of the edge of one of the legs. They are not nail holes. They are actually two small knots.

Here is a closeup of one of them. They are very similar in size.

They are about ⅜" wide, ⅜" deep and ⅜" in from the edge.

I am considering my options for eliminating these blemishes. I will report back with my options later. Youse guys can tell me what you think and which option you like best.

This table is becoming a PITA, what with all the crappy wood I'm forced to use due to it being all the wood I've got and me being a cheap bastard! Scottish genes, I guess.

Mo insisted on being let out last night. He prowled the dark until about six this morning when I let him in. Then, when I went back to bed for an additional 40 winks, he used his claws to roll me over and force me to get up! I mean, there are limits! I'll take him up today if the van will hold together. He can use the opportunity to run around, and we can both use the fresh air.

[Netfoot]

I gave Mo his lunch and then I cooked mine.

I measured out 50% more rice than usual, added a half tin of corned beef that was in the fridge, a tin of channa, a scoop of Bajan seasoning and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper. I considered adding a carrot but decided not to bother. I ended up with more than I usually get when I cook rice (obviously). So I dished out slightly less than usual, and the remainder I can have for dinner.

It was tasty and I enjoyed it a lot, despite Mo barking crossly because I wouldn't hurry up and give him "his share" of my meal.

I was eating with a long handled spoon with a bowl about the size of a teaspoon. I use this sometimes because you have to take more spoonsfull to eat the same amount of food. This fools your subconscious into thinking you got more than you actually did. 

Will be heading out to the club in about an hour. If you never hear from me again, the car broke down on some crazy detour and I got eaten by cannibals.

[Netfoot]

OK, how to fix those two knots on the edge of that table leg? Well, the options I can think of are as follows:

1. Ignore it, and position the leg so that edge faces inward.
2. Use a ½" round-over bit in a router and make them disappear.
3. Cut the board narrower, as I did with the leg stretchers.
4. Drill out and plug, as I did with the nail holes in that other leg.

The problems associated with these options are:

1. Ugly. Easy to accomplish (do nothing) but ugly.
2. I wanted the boards to retain a square profile.
3. The boards can't be much narrower than they are due to the design. 
4. A whole lot of work.

But #4 is the one that appeals to me most. See below:

I ran a test on a scrap of board. I used a Forstner bit to bore a ⅞" relief hole right on the edge, which would eliminate any little knot. You can see from the little dimple left by the bit that the hole is slightly larger than a half-circle.

Then, with a ⅞" plug-cutter I created a matching sized plug in a scrap of similar wood.

This plug was cut free on the bandsaw, 

glued into the relief hole and clamped until the glue set. Because the hole is slightly more than half a circle, the plug can't fall out sideways.

The protruding parts of the plug, top and side, were cut away and the area sanded to smooth out the repair.

I admit I could have done a better job with aligning the wood grain, but in pine with it's pronounced grain, you will never completely disguise the repair.

I think this is the best solution, giving what I want the finished table to be. This or the first option (do nothing). The only problem with using plugs is the huge opportunity to screw up somewhere along the way and ruin an irreplaceable table leg once and for all. And there are two plugs to be done, don't forget.

Opinions, please!

Edited September 25, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Oh, by the way, here is one of the nail-holes, finished, flush-cut and sanded:

The grain once again is anything but a perfect match, but the unsightly hole is gone.

[Browncoat]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

The protruding parts of the plug, top and side, were cut away and the area sanded to smooth out the repair.

I admit I could have done a better job with aligning the wood grain, but in pine with it's pronounced grain, you will never completely disguise the repair.

I think this is the best solution, giving what I want the finished table to be. This or the first option (do nothing). The only problem with using plugs is the huge opportunity to screw up somewhere along the way and ruin an irreplaceable table leg once and for all. And there are two plugs to be done, don't forget.

Opinions, please!

That's a pretty good match for the wood grain!  I would have had to look really closely if you hadn't told me that there was a plug.  And if the other one is just a small nail hole, I think it will be fine, too, on the finished product.

[Netfoot]

Couple quick photos from the club today:

I wish this crap camera could do do justice to the vibrancy of the all the shades of colour!

[Netfoot]

Ok, in bed, with a nice breeze coming through the window. Cool and somehow moist.

ELO's Mr. Blue Sky is playing. The house is not locked up yet, but I will do that soon. 

Had a nice afternoon at the club. Went up the highway to the aeroport and on from there. Same route home. Didn't push it at all, and no Check Engine light appeared. Halfway there, with Mo's head out the partially open window, the rain began to drizzle. Rather than pull his head in to avoid all the raindrops smacking him in the face, Mo decided it would be easier to fight them! He began snapping at them and catching him in his mouth. But of course, no matter how many he caught, there were more to torment him. He ended up howling in frustration, barking angrily and snapping at the raindrops which continued to come down.

Fearing he would expire with apoplexy, I distracted him for a second and rolled the window up with the switch on my side of the car. That isn't as easy as it might sound. There is a button on the armrest on his side and he always stands directly on it. This rolls the window right down and he is then at risk if falling out, because he hangs out, with only from his little hips down, on the inside. I have to use the drivers-side window lock to stop that from happening. So he has to be distracted from standing in the armrest, then the window lock can be turned off, the window raised or lowered as required and the lock reengaged before he jumps back on the switch!

Tomorrow, I will continue on with my table build. It's been days and I'm still only so far forward as milling the stock to size. If I'd gone and bought what I needed it would have been much more straightforward. It's the monkeying around looking for suitable wood and then fixing all the flaws in what you find that's taken all the time!

Unless I wake up to messages giving good reasons why I shouldn't, I will pocket and plug the two little knots in that leg. While the glue is setting up, I will try to figure out a way to make accurate 22½° cross-cuts on the ends of the legs.

There is a device called a "Wedgie sled" that woodworkers sometimes make for themselves. You saw the crosscut sled I made (you simply have to have one) which allows you to make crosscuts at 90°. Sometimes people make a "Miter sled" that produces cuts at 45° to create mitered corners in things like picture frames etcetera.

A "Wedgie sled" allows you to make cross-cuts at any angle, or at least at a selected set of popular ones. They are often used by wood turners to create segments for use in segmented turning. I have always been fascinated by the idea. A wedgie sled set to 22½° would produce wood turning blanks of eight segments (180° ÷ 22½° = 8 segments). It would also perfectly cut angles on the ends of my table legs! It's a great pity I don't own one. Nor do I plan to go to the trouble of making one until I can get some decent Baltic birch ply to build it with. But I will have to collyfox some sort of quick and temporary jig to get these cuts made.

The table saw came with a big "miter gauge" that is supposed to allow you to make angled cuts. But it needs to be extended by screwing a piece of board across it. I've been meaning to do that for a while but have given up trying to find the right sized screws. But seeing as I have to go over to the mall tomorrow to deposit a few bucks in the bank, I might pop next door and actually spend some money on a handful of suitable screws. The bandsaw came with a similar (but smaller) miter gauge, so I guess I'd better get screws to do them both. Then we test with some scrap to see if the modified miter gauge can be adjusted accurately enough to give us the 22½° cuts we need for the table. Actually, the cuts really don't have to be spot in accurate, so if I can get within ½° I guess I will be satisfied with that.

Now that I have the saws working, it's amazing how many things keep popping up in my mind and demanding to be built. Some of them for use with the saws themselves to make them more versatile. But a lot of stuff that would be generally useful around the house.

Like a new toolbox. A computer desk. Tincan sequencers for the kitchen. A clothes horse for the bedroom. A dog house for Mo to use on the nights he decides to spend outside. (Not that I think he would ever actually use it...) A cutting board. Storage boxes and a chest of drawers.

Plus other things that would be fun to make, if not actually much use. Something that would allow me to make good use of the scrollsaw. A jewelry box. Perhaps a piece of intarsia. Bangles. Ear rings.

Anyway, it is exactly midnight so I will race Mo to the front door, lock that, then read and sleep.

Oh, by the way. The bowl I was turning that broke free of the glue-block and hit me in the face a few days ago? I glued it back on to the glue-block this evening, so it will eventually get a chance to hit me in the face again! But not right away.

So for you morse code users out there, I will say:

GN GB BCNU 73 DE 8P6SM QRT ES CL

[Netfoot]

Woke up to find a heavy drizzle falling. Mo, who slept leaning against my tummy all night (cuddly sweetheart) was making Let-me-out! noises. So I opened the door. He immediately rsn out intonthfcrsin and started complaining about it for all to hear. I went back to bed. 

Several times during the next half an hour, Mo came to bed, rolled around to dry off, then ran straight back out into the rain. Then, the fan powered itself off.

Power cut.

For the next 40 minutes or so I was feeling helpless. I have fiber to my door and the internet and landline both run off the same router. But with no power, there is no landline and no wifi. So with nothing else to do I went outside and started to work on that final table leg. 

When the power returned I thought of going back to bed but decided to make x a mug of tea instead. 

Not feeling myself this morning. Voice sounds like a toad with bronchitis and my tummy is unsettled. Occasional twinges running through my body. I thought I slept pretty good, last night, with no Lasix forcing me to get up every couple of hours.

But I have discovered the answer to a mystery: How is so much sawdust ending up inside the house?

Right under my lathe! The normal 6-8" deep mound of sawdust has been shoveled up, but enough remains. I have not taken the ShopVac to it as yet.

Anyway, back to that table leg...

Edited September 27, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, the rain has got heavier with twinkles of lightning and slightly rumbly thunder. This has put a wet blanket (not literally) on my plans for the morning. I wanted to walk over to the mall and do some banking and a little light shopping, but I'm not walking out in that rain, so it will mean taking the van. And Mo.

Who I found lying on the bed, looking a little bit mopey.

So, I jumped into bed with him and it wasn't long before he was curled up against the base of my spine. I can keep him company here for a while and read a bit more of my book.

I've been looking at my two miter gauges and they can both be adjusted to 22½° and locked at that angle.

How accurate that angle is remains up for debate but it will be good enough for my needs. However, the edge of the gauges come nowhere near the saw blade so I will have to add an extension fence.

Now, rain or shine I really do need to go make a deposit at the bank so I'm going to give the weather 15 minutes to clear up a bit then take the van and go. Hoping that things don't get worse in that 15 minutes... but things do appear to be clearing.

[Netfoot]

With a couple screws I attached an extender board (too tall, but never mind) to the miter gauge. Here you see it set to the required 22½° angle.

Also, you can see a scrap board that has been cut with the appropriate angle on each side, resulting in a very shallow point.

I also finished up the board with the two little knots. 

You can clearly see the inserted plugs, but if you weren't looking for them, I doubt you would notice them from halfway across the room.

I may run all the boards through the planer once more, bto to thin them a hair more. They are currently at about 1⁵/³²“ and anything from an inch up would be suitable. I want the final table to be light weight.

I've also set up a stop-block on the rip fence so as to make cutting the shallow points on each board easier. But before I do that, I have to decide whether to plane the boards again, and also I have to very carefully work out which cuts to make on which ends of which boards. The boards are not all the same and even the two ends of the same board aren't the same. With no extra wood to remake axpiece a piece that I screw up, I want to make absolutely sure I am making the correct cuts!

Now, Mo has had his lunch and is annoyed that I have not given him some of mine as yet. Because I have not cooked it as yet! I need to do that now. I think I will make a double portion of rice, again.

I wonder. If I spelunk through the back cupboards, might I find a slightly larger pot? The small pot I usually use almost overflowed with two portions being cooked.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

My spelunking discovered several saucepans but none any better in size than the one I was already using. So, rice, tuna, black beans, a carrot, some Bajan seasoning and a little red pepper flakes. Lunch and dinner all at the same time! But a miracle the little pot didn't boil over, seeing as how full it was. 

This afternoon, after checking that I had everything set up just right and cutting some scrap pieces to confirm, I added the peaks to one end of each board. Tomorrow, the boards are to be drilled and then the other ends cut to length and shape as required. There are two holes to be drilled into the legs and one into each short cross piece.

On the right, the eight boards with their peaks cut. On the left, a drilling jig that will clamp to the drill press. With that securely fastened, each board can be slotted into it, the quill brought down, and an identical hole drilled in the exact same place on each board in turn. If you see a pencil line drawn across the jig, that marks the position of the desired hole. Zoom in you might see a little awl hole on that line. That's where the drill bit must be centered before the jig is clamped.

A second hole will be drilled in the legs using a similar technique. The pencil line and awl hole for that is off camera so you can't see it.

When this table is all finished, I might build a similar one for myself. But I'll make it a bit larger and will use some reclaimed plywood for the top and what ever I can find for the legs, etc. It will be used outdoors so treated lumber would be appropriate in case it gets caught in the rain. In fact I think I got some 1x4" or 1x6" treated boards that can replace plywood for the top. And another one with reduced dimensions to make it more stool than table.

Got to make some stuff. Need a telephone stand for the landline phone. The one I had broke this morning. I can improve on that one when I build the next.

I could just keep making crap forever, were it not that lumber is so expensive. And I'm talking "cheap" construction grade pine. Suppose I went to visit Mr. Blades at Exotic Woods? Sea-grape, anyone? Lignum vitae? Mango? Guava? Plus the imported stuff like maple, cherry and walnut at several hundred bucks per board? 

Just about 10 PM with Mo sleeping at my feet, the rain came howling down. But about half past it slowed to a drizzle so Mo and I went out on garden patrol. I would have been happy with a quick pe and scuttle back under cover. But the boss insisted on a full inspection of every inch of the yard l. So we did that. Then we retired to bed. The rain has been gradually been getting heavier and heavier. Mo has gone out twice since we came in, and returned to wipe his muddy feet on my sheets. 

Went to the supermarket today, to buy a pot of red butter. The Ramen soup packets have now increased to 99¢ each. 

So, here I am listening to O'Malley's Bar from the "Murder Ballads" album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Avoid this album if you get triggered by murder and mayhem because that's the subject of every track of the album. 

I'm tired again, and I've had a strange pain in the back of my neck all day. Maybe I slept funny last night. Or maybe I've contracted IGD (Involuntary Guillotine Disease). Either way I'm going to read s bit, lock up and try for some sleep. Uh-oh! Mo just looked out the window then shot off at speed. I expect more muddy feet will soon be incoming.

[Netfoot]

Hmm. What could I do with these random scraps of wood?

Now, my phone stands upright on my desk (or any flat surface) and doesn't take up as much room!

Not only that, when I'm not using it (which is most of the time) it hangs on my cleat-wall, well out of the way!

[andidante]

nice! I love your phone holder!

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, andidante said:

nice! I love your phone holder!

Thanks! I like it too. I had one similar to this one but it fell off the desk and broke. One of the improvements I made to the new one was to ensure it would stand upright on my desk. The previous one was either upright but teeter-tottery, of lying flat with the keypad angled away from you.  This new one is much more stable. 

I made another phone stand a while ago, for my cellphone. I like my phone to stand upright on my bedside table so I can use the Night-Clock screen saver in case I wake in the night. That phone stand got eaten by the puppy within only a few days, forcing me to make a repair. 

Tonight, when I came to bed I couldn't find the stand. Shoes, pants, torchlight and I went out and frisked the garden. 

So I guess tomorrow I am going to have to make another phone stand. And I have a couple changes I will implement to ameliorate the puppy-dog issue. I will explain tomorrow when I have the thing built and can show as well as tell.

For lunch I had macaroni and Spicy Thai Chili Tuna with a little onion. Dinner was late; beef flavoured Ramen soup. Mo was very angry he had to wait to get my leftovers. Because after he finishes his own meal, he considers it his right to finish mine!

Apart from the phone stand I did very little in the garage. Thought of making a little box to keep some stuff in, and began prepping some stock. Mr. Noisy came into play again. But it occurred to me (and as I've said before) it really helps to have a box-joint jig if you want to make boxes. So maybe I will attempt to make a super-simple box-joint jig tomorrow. 

Listening to Paradise by Sade. Mo is using my feet as a pillow. I still have to lock the door, but in the mean time I will read my book. The protagonists are climbing their integral tree from their tuft on the innermost end, to the outer tuft. Between the tufts lies a trunk 100km long and 1km diameter, inhabited by all manner of weird creatures, predator and prey. 

The idea of a solar system without planets but with a sun-orbiting toroidal gas cloud of breathable air populated by 100km long free-falling trees may sound outrageous. But the system is the brainchild of Robert L. Forward, American physicist, science fiction writer and acknowledged genius.  Larry Niven just took up the concept and ran with it.

Forward conceptualized other unusual systems. The system described in his own novel Rocheworld (and it's sequels) is a good example: two egg-shaped planets - one a waterworld and the other a desert - orbiting around a common point and separated only by a few tens of kilometers distance. And the whole lot orbiting their sun. I have not seen those books in ages. I must see if I can find them. They were a fun read! If you are going to read about exploring alien systems, why waste your time on systems just like your own?

Anyway, going to close the front door and get back to The Integral Trees.

[Netfoot]

New phone stand for the bedroom!

I cut down a very ugly 2x4 and ran it through Mr. Noisy. Then I set the height of the blade to suit and made several shallow cuts, shifting the fence a hair each time, until I got the width of slot  needed for the phone. Finally, I angled the blade, and sliced a slope into the rear portion of the stand. Just for the asthetics. 

No, that isn't my phone, which I needed to take the photo. It's a faux phone made from a wood scrap, and dyed with a sharpie. (It shows.)

I made the new design out of pine because purpleheart is too rich a diet for Mo. And I made it taller because my bedside table (really need to build a better one) has a lip around it to prevent things falling off. Since they fall off anyway, because Mo (and Buddy before him) stand on it and things go flying, I don't need the lip. But it's there already and would be very difficult to remove without demolishing the bedside table. The taller phone stand will make it easier to see the phone without that lip occluding the bottom of the screen.

Now, you may have noticed the stand is a little on the wide side. What can we do about this? Thank goodness I made that cross-cut sled for the table saw!

Properly sized phone stand, and a bunch more available on demand! Because you know the puppy's work here is not done...

[Netfoot]

I just had some lunch. Found some chow mein noodles in the back of the fridge and while they were on the boil I made a sauce from corned beef and beans and diced tomatoes and red pepper flakes. With a little chopped onion. Tasted pretty good. Maybe I will cook a 'loaf' of bannock for dinner and have some of the remaining sauce with that.

Of course, when I said I had lunch, I'm sure you realized that isn't an activity I am allowed to pursue on my own...

It's like this in the kitchen as well. He insists on standing between me and the counter. Just in case a morsel should fall...

Not that I can complain! I apparently did something very similar when my mum was in the kitchen. Only, I would stand facing the counter, because I wanted to watch her cooking!

[Netfoot]

Added a French cleat to the wall opposite the entrance to the kitchen. 

It is about 69" above ground at the top of the cleat and runs 8' long. It's attached with concrete screws, 2¾“ long, and as the cleat is ¾“ thick, that means 2" into the wall. 

Shown here with the carrier for my venerable R/C transmitter being used to test it out. Naturally, this will be put back where it belongs and anything else I like put here in its place. One thing I'm thinking about is a  simple rack of pegs for things like kitchen towels, caps, plastic shopping bags waiting to be unpacked and so forth.

Here it is, seen from inside the kitchen. It's directly opposite and roughly centered on the kitchen entrance.

The screws are pretty well fastened and are spaced 8" apart (11 screws). This is more sturdy than I usually make them, but I think I might put some good load on this cleat, so I wanted it strong.

I made the cleat ages ago and never got around to putting it up. It's been here in the passageway, cluttering the place up. For some reason, I decided today to get the finger out and put the cleat up.

Straightforward in principle, it was quite tricky to hold that long board aloft against the wall, use spirit level to keep the cleat horizontal and mark the wall for pre-drilling the holes. 

Anyway, got it done, and with a cordless drill/driver set, too! Without having to pause to recharge the battery pack.  The concrete screws are much easier than the ordinary screws and rawlplugs I've used in the past!

Now, let's see what imaginitive uses come to mind in the days ahead.

[Netfoot]

Damned mobile editor ate a long, carefully crafted and very witty post! And it being late, I don't have the energy to try to remember all what I said and type it in again. Hold your applause! So I'm going to listen to some Dishwalla (Pretty Babies), read my book, and get some shut-eye!

The new cellphone stand is working perfectly! And Mo hasn't eaten it as yet.

[Netfoot]

To make a box-joint jig, you need to use a box-joint jig! Or at least it's easier that way.

So I set out to make a dead simple box-joint jig for ⅜" box-joints. It is really a simple beast, but it is finicky to make because you want your sizes and clearances to be as accurate as possible, or your box-joints won't be.

Here is my super simple ⅜" box-joint jig, using the saw's miter gauge. Please zoom in if you want to see the details. You can see the handle of the gauge upper right, and just make out the steel runner in the track.

The jig is the piece of wood with the cutout and protruding tongue, attached to the gauge. The width of the cutout,  the width of the tongue and the spacing between them all have to be exactly the same or the jig does not work properly. The less exact, the less successful will the resulting joint be.

Bottom left is the ⅜" box-joint blade peeping out of a wide clearance throat plate. This blade is actually two blades that are stacked together to give the width. And cleverly, if you stsck stack them together the other way (back-to-back instead of belly-to-belly) they form a ¼" box-joint blade. 

Upper left is a test I ran on two scraps of ⅜" ply. (The jig works with any thickness wood.) You can see the way the fingers of each piece are cut so they interlock. This type of joint is very strong because of the large gluing area. Zoom in and see that there is tear-out (AKA chip-out) on the edges of some of the cuts. This can easily be prevented by using a sacrificial backer board. If you do this, the tear-out occurs on the backer board and your good stock is cut cleanly.

Let's have a closer look at the final objective:

You can quite clearly see the stacked blades that together give a cut with a ⅜" kerf. And you can see the pieces fit snugly together, enough for our purposes. At the top, see how the jig automatically cuts a partial finger in one board and a matching, partial slot on the other board, to fitbthecsize fit the size of your boards.

You want your joint to be tight, but not so tight that when you push it together all the glue is squeezed out. And when you add glue the wood will swell slightly anyway, making the joint even tighter than with a dry-fit like this.

With this joint, if you fit the pieces together and lift them by one, the second piece is tightly enough held by the unglued fingers that it does not fall unless you deliberately shake it loose. This is quite good enough for my needs for a dead simple jig attached to a miter gauge.

It is customary to make your fingers a shade longer than your stock is thick. This results in sticky-outy fingers which can be sanded flush. A much better state of affairs than having them a shade too short. They have not yet developed a way to sand wood back on when it's been cut too short.

Now that I can make box-joints, I will be able to make a strong, sturdy box which will be the basis of a more sophisticated, stand-alone box-joint jig. I hope I can make a jig which goes onto the table two different ways. That should allow me to set it up to cut ⅜" box-joints one way, or by turning it around, to cut ¼" box joints the other way. I have not worked out the specifics of how this will work exactly, but I think I will be able to collyfox it somehow. 

Now, I built the jig and cut my test piece before lunch. I went out for lunch with a couple I am very friendly with. Mo stayed at home On Guard for the first time! I've left him for 10-15 minutes in the past but this was 2+ hours. My baby made it through with flying colours (as I expected) and now I'm home again and very glad to see him! Over lunch I had a great time catching up with my friends who have been semi-reclusive since the outbreak of athlete's foot. Now that the mask-mandate has been rescinded by the PM's office...

As for the jig, I am tempted to start by building something immediately. But I had a pork chop with steak cut potatoes and coleslaw for lunch and finished with cheesecake! So I think that rather than make noise and sawdust, I will retire to the bedroom and "saw wood" in an entirely different way! Mo is sleeping in the middle of the bed and taking up more room than a giraffe, but I will fit myself in there somehow.

BTW: today is five weeks the chuck key and jaws have been sitting at customs.  There is no sign at all, of any movement in that regard. It is things like this that make people buy a good rifle and go up in a tower! Which suits the government fine, because for them, it would be easier to shoot you dead, then cry crocodile tears over the collateral damage, than to fulfill their statutory duties and obligations to the public!

Edited September 30, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

It's quite early but I'm already in bed, listening to Redemption Song by Bob and The Wailers. A breeze coming through the window is actually quite chill, and I haven't even turned on the fan. 

My afternoon nap turned into more of a cuddle. I didn't get any sleep but the giraffe slept the afternoon away, getting his tummy rubbed, and generally wriggling around to occupy every imaginable position in which he leant against or rested his head upon or sank his claws into every part of my body he could.

He's sleeping on the floor of the living room right now, but hopefully will come in for a snug soon. It's chilly and I could use a little hot water bottle!

I'm in early because I feel a bit tired. I've had this pain in the neck for a few days now. A literal pain in the neck, when ever I tilt my head forward. Dunno what is causing it. At first I thought I'd slept badly, but then it got worse over the next couple of days. Now it seems to be getting marginally better again. In the mean time it's tiring. I suspect arthritis.

Tomorrow, I have to walk over to the bank in the morning, then I really want to get back to that table I was building. Hope I am up to it. Got to finish the parts, sand, and then final assembly.

Weekend coming up. Apparently, there was so much rain up at the club this week that our pond overflowed and the runway was under water. A lot of the guys drive 4WD vehicles of some sort, but my TownAce is not the best performer in mud. It's got good tires for tarmac and dirt and I've had some interesting (in an oriental way) times driving it in mud and don't recall ever getting stuck. But if the state of the area is as bad as they say, it may not be practical or even possible to take Mo up there on Sunday.

Mo has joined me. He gave me a little cuddle and now stands on the bedside table and is looking out the window. I will read my book and when I feel the time is right, I'll douse the lights and call it a day. 

PS: did you like my box-joint jig?

[andidante]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

PS: did you like my box-joint jig?

I did! I am finding all of your wood working very interesting. 

[Spunkygal]

41 minutes ago, andidante said:

I did! I am finding all of your wood working very interesting. 

Me too!

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, andidante said:

I did! I am finding all of your wood working very interesting. 

Same here!

[Netfoot]

Ok, back to the table. One end of each board had been cut with opposing 22½° angles to give a flat point. Next, drill holes in the end for a dowel. I had. 1" dowel so I fished out my 1" Forstner bit and the jig I made a few days ago. The jig was painstakingly positioned on my drill press so the drill was centered on any board fitted to the jig, and 1½" from the peak. Then the jig was clamped immobile on the drill press table.

Without moving anything, the ⅛“ drill bit was replaced by the 1" Forstner bit. Then, each board in turn was fitted to the jig, and a 1" hole bored.

It was at this stage I noticed that the hole was somehow not vertical! A spirit level confirmed that the table was tilted. A whole 3° somehow! I don't know how this happened. I suspect Mo did it.

At that point I cussed for about 15 minutes and at first Mo hid under the bed but when he realized I wasn't cussing at him, he crawled out and began giving me mega-kisses. So we got in the car and went next door to the bank, then along to the nearby grocery store, where we bought a big bag of spuds and two tins of corned beef for $20.

Returning home, I had to get the ¹⁵/¹⁶" spanner out, and relevel the table. But the holes were already drilled wrong! So, I had to change to a 1⅛" Forstner bit, re-center the jig, reposition the boards back into the jig, and bore them out to the slightly larger size. I didn't take photos, because apart from the size of the Forstner bit, the operation was identical.

Why go to so much trouble over a 3° error in the bored holes? Well, those holes have to be connected. And if they are not a square and true as best as I can make them, I would not be able to do this:

If the holes had been left out by 3°, the boards would not be parallel to each other. Each board would have to be angled to compensate for the wonky holes. But as you can see, the finished ends all line up nicely and the boards sit on the 1⅛“ dowel (good thing I had one!) nice and square, and parallel to each other. 

Now these ends are finished, the jig must be repositioned to drill one additional hole in each of the four table legs. Then the other ends of the boards can be cut to length and shaped in accordance with the design.

But this additional drilling, cutting and shaping will have to wait. I'm tired after dicking around with this table all morning, and I'm hungry. More importantly, so is Mo!

Edited September 30, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

So, with one end of each leg finished, it was time to trim to length and shape the opposite end. I cut two 22½° angles as per the first end, but in this case the 'peak' was offset to one side. The two facets were of different sizes, the longer one being 1⅞" and the shorter being ¾" from edge to peak. 

Since these were cut separately, I'm pleased how well they matched up afterward. Shown here with the holes aligned by the dowel. 

The legs went back into the jig on the drill press, which had to be readjusted and realigned to place the new holes 14½" from the first. With the first holes dowel-aligned and clamped to prevent movement, the dowel fits into the new holes confirming that they are correctly slligned with each other and the first set of holes.

Finally, the four support boards were cut to length on the sled, and then a 45° angle was cut on one side.

Again, pleased with the uniformity, given they were cut individually.

Getting closer to final assembly. Next step is to locate my random orbital sander and give all these boards some sandpaper love. Once that's been done, I have to carefully predrill holes for all the screws that will be used to put this table together. Don't want to risk the wood splitting! Off the top of my head, 14 screws will be needed. But I may have counted wrong in my head. And if I decide to cover the screws with dowel plugs, I will need to go buy a dowel. Should have grabbed that today, just in case. I was practically next door, when I visited the bank. Dummy.

But I think I'm done for the day. Done with the table, at least. May wander out and start playing with something else. But that will be another story.

[Netfoot]

Of course, I went back at the table. 

I located the random orbital sander and selected #100, #150 and #220 grit disks. Starting with the roughest grit (#100) I sanded each board on both long sides and both narrow sides. I kept sanding each board until I thought it looked "good enough." The ends will be hand-sanded with a sanding block, which will also be used to break the edges of each board. Right now they are sharp enough to cut, if handled incautiously.

The westering sun told me it was time to stop working. The fact that my right hand was a completely numb appendage halfway up to my elbow, agreed with the sun. (Carpel tunnel is not a joke.)

Tomorrow, I have to repeat the entire process. Twice. Once with each of the remaining two grits. Then the pilot drilling, and some final final sanding, and then assembly.

I sure hope I don't discover at that point, that I've done something stupid that will turn my table into nothing more than fancy firewood!

[Netfoot]

The Rubber Rand Man by The Spinners is playing. Mo had his feet on the bedside table and his head out the window. No breeze tonight. Thank goodness for that fan!

Hungry. A little bit, anyway. For lunch I cooked a chicken leg and two wings, andvatevthem and ate them in my fingers. Not exactly filling, but ionly I only felt like a small meal, so it was sufficient. Thought I'd simply skip dinner but around seven I found myself looking into the fridge. And to my surprise I spotted a pack of crackers. So with a little dried basil, a little Worcester sauce and a little mayo, I made up some corned beef into a paste which I spread thinly on the crackers. A fuzzy face appeared like magic and breathed hotly on my hip, so I fed it corned beef and crackers. Wanted a cuppa tea, but have no Stevia and after cheesecake yesterday I thought a day without local brown sugar might be in order.

Anyway, I'm a bit peckish but I will eat something tomorrow for lunch. I bought potatoes today, about 4 kg, so I can have a couple of them, but I went spelunking again and found a can of whole kernel corn, so I'm thinking I might cook some rice with the corn in it.  But, I recently cooked some rice and I diced the last potato into the pot. The rice came out very nicely and the pieces of potato added a touch of unexpected and enjoyable flavour and texture to the dish. So maybe I'll have rice and potato tomorrow!

An old workmate used to bring rice and macaroni, cooked together but I could never figure out how he cooked them together since rice is roughly 20 minutes to cook and pasta rarely more than 10 and usually much less. Mind you, I never ate his lunch, so maybe the macaroni was criminally overcooked and mooshy?

Mo has departed. 

We are now entering weekend number six. I've pretty much given up on getting the parts and want now to claim on the shipper's insurance to have my money returned. I will say they have lost it, they will say it's not lost, just at customs. I will ask them to produce the items, they will say that they can't. I will say the parts are beyond recovery. They will say they know exactly where they are. I will say that if the package ended up at the bottom of the ocean they would know exactly where they were but that wouldn't mean they aren't lost!

Mo is back. No, he's  gone again.

Of course they will never pay for the parts. 

So with the lathe essentially out of order, I find myself thinking of all sorts of things to make with the table saw. I was thinking of making a cube, from six squares of plywood. If the squares were 18-20" on a side, the cube would make a  good sturdy stool. And I could drill holes in each square in such a way that the completed cube was a big die. Box joints would be a good way to fasten the squares together. 

Also considering drilling a series of holes along each edge of each square and stitching or lacing the squares together with Paracord. But to prevent the Paracord wearing through on the bottom face of the cube, you would have to cut channels to allow the Paracord to sit below the surface of each square. You could paint the faces before assembly, or afterwards, painting the Paracord as well. 

He's back. And looking out the window again.

Anyway, I have a tedious amount of sanding to do tomorrow. Plus some nerve wracking drilling of pilot holes. (As any project progresses towards completion, I become more and more worried that I will arrange some sort of last minute cock-up that will destroy all the time and effort already expended.)

He's gone again.

So with a bunch of stuff to do in the morning, I will now read a little, lock up and follow The Sandman.

He's back again.....

Edited October 1, 2022 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Recovery efforts began this morning, first thing. Of obvious priority was...

...which I knew was missing as soon as I went to put them on. 

What I didn't know was missing was...

...which I happened to spot, hiding in the grass. This one is most annoying because he not only borrowed it, but he chewed the end off, making it now unusable. This is the set of Allen keys that came with the table saw and are also used with the bandsaw. Now I have to figure out how to keep this lot together and available. And safe from puppy predations in future.

It's my fault really. They fell off the back of the saw yesterday while I was sanding, and I vowed to pick it up out of the sawdust as soon as I was done. Obviously, I forgot.

Speaking of sanding, I got stuck in with the #150 grit disk this morning and gave the boards a second sanding. When done, I grabbed my #150 grit sanding bar and broke the edges on all the legs, ling edges as well as the 7 small edges on each end of each board. 

I didn't do the four shorter cross-pieces because only two edges of those should be broken, and I have to sit down and make sure I get the right two. 

While doing this, I came to a terrible realization: there is more to a table than the legs and underpinnings! I have the entire top to do! Good thing I didn't dispose of the old #100 grit disk when I was finished yesterday!

So right now, I am sitting at my desk with a cuppa tea drawing at my elbow. I will drink that up, watch a movie and let my hand regain some feeling. At the same time I will figure out which edges on the cross-pieces need to be broken, then I will do them, before switching to the #220 grit disk and doing it. All. Over. Again.....

I'll save the top of the table for last, running through all three grits on that as well. 

There are some who might say I should have run through all the grits, #80, #100, #120, #150, #180, #200, #220... All the way up to #400 or even #600! But this table will be used in such a way that a glassy, mirror-finish will be wasted on it - such a finish will be damaged quickly by normal use. All I am going for is that it is smooth and silky enough that it is not unpleasant to handle, and won't snag or pull at your clothes when you brush against it. 

Now, I have to find the one thing I need  (as far as I know) and don't have, that will be required for final assembly: a cornflakes box.

[Netfoot]

All the legs and cross-braces now sanded to #220 and the edges broken, except for the four edges that should remain sharp.

Of course, there had to be draaama!

I looked at the foam pad this morning, the one that is screwed to the mechanism and has Velcro on the outside to grip the sanding disk. It wasn't new, and I had a spare in the bag, but I said to myself "There's hours of use left in that!" and proceeded with the sanding. Not even halfway through the sanding, the foam pad disintegrated and the Velcro part separated from the screws part.

Ok, well I did have a replacement, so no problem! Except the pad is held on by three screws with some weird head.

Looks like a cross between a Torx and a flat-head. I don't like flat-head screwdrivers and my supply of Torx drivers is limited to the smaller sizes normally used for assembly of pocket knives.

Thank goodness for my Leatherman! It came with a selection of screwdriver bits, along with the usual knives, pliers, saws, scissors, bottle & can openers, plus a tool for removing stones from horses hooves. (I use that last one all the time.) 

I tried a ordinary Torx bit in the Leatherman, and found the right size easily enough. This Surge has pulled my chestnuts out of the fire many times. I never leave home without it. 

Anyway, I was able to swap in a replacement pad and finish sanding the legs and cross-pieces. Now only the table top and bottom leg stretchers to be sanded up from #100 and up.

Lunch!

[Netfoot]

Lunch was rice with tuna and corn, and a carrot sliced thin. Spiced with cilantro and red pepper flakes and served with a knob of red butter. Lemon iced tea on the side. The rice tasted very good, and the aroma must have been enticing, because Mo barked at me crossly while I ate, because he wanted "his share" immediately, not at the end of the meal as usual.

Table top and bottom stretchers now all sanded to #150 and the edges broken with my sanding bar. The ends of these are not done yet. The length of the bottom stretchers will be set by the final position of the legs themselves, and the table top will not have square ends.

Been doing the math.

My table top is 28" long and I want the ends to be curved. I want the curved end to protrude 2½" beyond the straight sides. With the table made of two boards 11⅛" wide. So, what radius do I need to set in my beam compass, to give a curve 2½" deep at the width of the table?

I got into computers because I'm horrible at math. I prefer the machine to work such things out for me, than have to do it myself. I wrote a small program that tried each radius between 10" and 30" in steps of sixteenths. The program looks for the radius that gives the closest width to our actual table top. The number comes out to be 26" dead on. This gives an error of only one thousandth of an inch, far closer than anything I am capable of doing!

The curve is so minimal the radius is nearly longer than the table itself!

I will now have to dig out the beam compass, set it to 26" and see if the curve comes out as expected. Best to double-check, right? If it is correct, I can cut the curve on the ends of the boards and sand them smooth. Then I can do the final sanding of the table top (and the bottom stretchers) with the #220 disk. Tomorrow.

[Browncoat]

7 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Now, I have to find the one thing I need  (as far as I know) and don't have, that will be required for final assembly: a cornflakes box.

Wait, what?

[Netfoot]

Fan on, cool breeze in the window, wet skin, puppy licking water off my legs, Supertramp playing School, tummy comfortably full... The only improvement I can think of is a cuppa char at my elbow, but I am too lazy to go boil a kettle right now.

Dinner was my frequently prepared corned beef gloop with onion, beans, and diced tomatoes. Into this I stirred some diced, boiled potatoes. Spiced with basil, garlic and what turned out to be an over-generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes, it came out just great, and hit the spot dead on! Some of the gloop remains. I will have that with something, probably rice, tomorrow for lunch. Or a loaf of bannock? Or rice for lunch and bannock for dinner with syrup?

Funnily enough, now it's School's Out by Alice Cooper!

There has been an awful lot of rain this last week, but the track at the club is now passable, I'm told. So, I will probably take Mo up to the club tomorrow. 

5 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Wait, what?

Cornflakes, yes. No, the strain isn't getting to me. Well, it doesn't have to be cornflakes and it doesn't have to be a whole box. But I need something like the cardboard from such a box. When the parts of the table go together, I need them to be spaced apart by a small amount. A little clearance is required! The thickness of a piece of cardboard from such a box would work just fine. So if I cut a handful of shims from the cardboard I can use them as spacers during asdembly. Alas, no such boxes in the kitchen!

Normally I keep a pack of playing cards and use them as thin shims, stacking as many cards as needed to get the thickness I desire. I replace the pack when the cards are mostly used up. (They get torn, worn, dirtied or just lost.) But I can't find any playing cards in the house at the moment. 

Wait! I've just had an idea! I have a small stack of old credit cards, membership cards, discount cards, etc that I've collected over the years. I normally use them as glue spreaders, or scrapers or something like that, but a couple of the cards should make excellent shims! And I cut up an old PriceSmart membership card to make narrow shims when I built the cross-cut sled for the table saw! So I should have thought of that sooner. 

Tomorrow I want to trim the ends of the table top and finish sanding all the bits to #220 grit. After that, pre-drilling and assembly.

Well, it's nearly midnight and puppy is using me feet as a pillow. So I'd better begin the game of Open & Close with him and the front door. Then I can read until my eyes start to shut down, before snuffing out the candles.

That's my cover-sheet he's Bogarting! 

[Netfoot]

Puppy cuddles!

I love you too, Mo!

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Cornflakes, yes. No, the strain isn't getting to me. Well, it doesn't have to be cornflakes and it doesn't have to be a whole box. But I need something like the cardboard from such a box. When the parts of the table go together, I need them to be spaced apart by a small amount. A little clearance is required! The thickness of a piece of cardboard from such a box would work just fine. So if I cut a handful of shims from the cardboard I can use them as spacers during asdembly.

Ah, now it makes sense!  🙂

[Netfoot]

This morning, after locating The Monster (under the bed) and giving him a cuddle, I set out to advance the table a bit. 

Attaching the pencil and point of my trammel compass to my meter rule, I set the distance between them to 26". Unfortunately, this trammel is not well designed so you can't use the scale on the meter rule itself, but I have another rule here that I used.

Now, the point of the compass needs to go directly into the crack between the two halves of the table, which would not be stable. So I clamped a wooden scrap onto the top and used that to carry the point.

A strike from each end, and my curves were drawn out!

Next, the cuts were made using Big Bandy. This was not so simple, because I needed 28" of clearance, which means the bandy had to move. All 480 lbs. of it! But once I flexed my biceps, it realized it was outmatched and came quietly.

The cuts were made close to, but not on the line. If I were more accustomed to the saw, I would be able to cut closer to the line and reduce the amount of sanding. But needs must.

Next, the disk sander. If it looks like it was made from a pile of crap old scraps, it's because I made it out of a pile of crap old scraps. It fits on and is powered by the lathe. It works well. Even better if I use a new disk of sandpaper! But anyway...

The rough bandsaw cut was gradually smoothed and brought to the line. Adjusting the speed in the lathe/sander is critical, because too slow and you're there all day, too fast and you burn the wood.

And finally, the edges on the sanded curves were broken with the sanding bar. The top is now finished.

But is it? Looking on this final layout of the top and the proportions worry me. It looks too wide. Before I put this thing together, I will have to decide whether to put it on the table saw and cut an inch off the outer edge of each board. Reducing the overall width by 2" might make it look a little better proportioned. And 20" overall width is still a useful size. 

Anyway, I will have a cuppa now, and watch a movie. Then do the final sanding with the #220 disk. I want to finish the sanding before Mo and I go clubbing this afternoon. 

If there is time, I will mock up the final assembly and see if I like the appearance, or whether I think I need to trim the top down from 22" to 20". 

[Netfoot]

Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!

😡😥

I have screwed uppp! Ok, from the top.

I used the crosscut sled to cut four pieces of 1⅛“ dowel, eachbthecdame each the same length as the thickness of two boards. I used a stop block to endure ensure they all came out exactly the same.

Length turns out to be 2⅛".

Two of these then perfectly fit into the holes in the center of each leg. Just test fitted now, but a screw or pin will hold it into place when finally assembled.

The other two attach two of the four cross-pieces to the top of two legs.

The other two cross-pieces are attached to the top of the other two legs using the remainder of the dowel, which happens to be about 27¼" long.

This is when my cock-up materialized! When the cross-pieces were turned level, it became immediately obvious that those top holes were drilled too far from the end of the boards. 

I will now have to re-cut and re-sand all eight boards on the 22½° chamfer so when rotated horizontal, the upper surfaces of the cross-pieces are congruent with the chamfer on the top end of each leg. If this is not the case, the top can't be attached.

Well, I'm done with this project for today. It's nearly 1:00 PM, and we normally head out to the club around two. In between, I have to have a meal. Besides, I fear that if I go near that table right now, I will try to 'fix' it, using Big Red.

So lunch and a drive.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Netfoot