MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

Here’s the question: can I take the boards from the router to the sander to hand sanding to finish application today? Tomorrow morning would then be the beeswax/mineral oil topcoat, and tomorrow afternoon would be installing the non-skid feet with stainless steel screws, wrapping and labeling. Tomorrow evening … load the cars, and avoid the trick-or-treaters.

And I’m pretty sure the random orbital sander will die today.

Oh, and I have to build the display units in my spare time.

Possible?

Yesterday’s funk has left me, which is good. I’m through the wall. Now, it’s all about taking my productivity up a notch and getting to the finish line. (HA. I kill me.)

8:20a: in the shop. Time to process the final glue-ups from yesterday and get going with sanding.

10:07a: Done with smoothing on the planer now … but that took too long.

Pre-planed … hardened glue and an uneven surface gotta go.

Here’s the smoothed surface. Perfect for sanding for a glass-smooth finish now.

10:20a: Router table now set up for edge rounding.

11:02a: 440 edges now rounded. Time to route the handles … but oh NO, the dust collector is full. Time for my dust mask & the worst job in the shop. The result: a 500 ml bag & a 33 gallon bag of sawdust (and no, I have no idea why I’m mixing my measurement systems).

Here are the old filters from the dust mask … this is the stuff I didn’t breathe.

12:15p: 110 handles routed.

12:33p: lunch and errands. I need to restock the ice cream and diet coke. Man does not live by woodworking alone.

2:34p: back to the shop; time to begin sanding. Corners will be rounded, and I’ll clean up the routed edges as well. That’s 220 corners and 440 edges, by the way.

3:43p: Rounding done and coughing begins. Break needed.

4:10p: Sanding with the random orbital sander begins. I start with 80 grit.

5:17p: I may never finish (HA. I kill me.).

7:28p: done with 80 grit. Break.

7:46p: Begin with 120 grit. All the boards, all over again. And I’ll do this with 5 different grits. Why? Because the # 2 comment made about my boards (after “Oooh, pretty”) is “Oooh, smooth.”

8:56p: Done with 120 grit. I’m giving up … and no, I didn’t break the sander, and I didn’t make the finish line today. That will have to wait for another day.

Good thing I have another day.

Staycation: day 5 results:

• 55 boards now sanded through 120 grit
• 12 boards now on hold “for next time”
• zero boards cut for the new display units

Forecast for day 6: a good chance of rain, so whatever I get done tomorrow gets done in the shop. And, I have NO ROOM.

More

Staycation: Day 1

Staycation: Day 2

Staycation: Day 3

Staycation: Day 4