Well it's been a while since the last post. We've been busy with the house remodel and the holidays. My parents were here for Christmas and New Years. It was wonderful to see them again and they really enjoyed Max. Ed moved back to Puerto Rico because he couldn't find a job! Tough times.
Other than that things are the same and time flies by as always.
So here to the new project: Every year Max's school has an annual auction party where the families donate everything from Opera tickets to iPhones. This year I decided to build something instead of buying another kindel or concert ticket. When the school recently completed a brand new state of the art addition including a full theater and gymnasium they had to cut down a huge 200 year old white oak tree! I was fortunate to stumble across a slice of this tree one day while volunteering at the school. I contacted the office, explained my plans and got the approval to create something for the auction. That was 6 months ago and now it needs to be done by Valentines Day for the catalog! There is no sugar coating it! My dad is right. I am a procrasinator. I think some people just don't get it. I think I'm one of them...
Anyway, I started last night, worked all day today and got a good amount accomplished.
 |
| This is the small part of the slice that broke off and I won't use due to lots of rot. Here you see how thick this thing is... and it's heavy! |
 |
| Here I made a quick flattening jig out of left over plywood. Next time I'll make the sides on the actual jig at least 3" tall for less sag. |
 |
| Set up and ready to go. |
 |
| That's a lot of wood to remove! |
 |
| First pass... |
 |
| ...and second. |
 |
| It took me an hour to clean up the dust and wood chips from flattening this piece! |
 |
| One side done. Still a little high but dry... |
 |
| Ready to cut the rot side. |
 |
| I haven't decided on a base design yet. Still playing around with ideas... |
 |
| Milling part of the base. |
 |
| The other part... |
 |
| Here I'm prepping for the veneering process. The base I'm using is an old 1 inch pine board that Ed brought on board when he stayed with us and a few old 4x4's I have kicking around. The veneer is quarter sawn figured teak. |
 |
| Veneering the base. |
 |
| Now it's time to prep for the epoxy to fill the cracks. |
 |
| I use West System Epoxy from West Marine. This stuff is great and it has the nifty pump dispensers but it's also very pricey. |
 |
| Jesus... this is going to take more Epoxy than anticipated! I might have to make another run to West Marine. But not tomorrow because the Niners are going to win the Superbowl:-P Homebrews, ribs and wings. I can't wait. Now it's off to Sushi and let this stuff kick. | | |
