I finished a tabletop shelf for all of my work electronics, plus an inset pencil cup. Plenty of flaws and a couple of big mistakes, but I learned a bit more about priming and painting and filling gaps in plywood ends.
Now having completed a handful of projects, I have discovered that there is almost always a moment—usually near the end—when I am convinced that this is the crappiest thing ever built by human hands. It’s something I have to push through; the end result is never as bad as those dark predictions.
My Porter Cable drill seems to be failing. I’ve had it for several years and the chuck doesn’t want to hold bits as strongly as it used to. This weekend I was trying to drill a 1.25” hole through a 4x4 in order to make a bird feeder for Rachel and the drill simply wouldn’t hold the bit. It just spun. I dug my even older corded drill out of a drawer and tried it. The motor started smoking!
I spent a considerable chunk of time yesterday afternoon (beautiful day!) sanding some old lumber. It was darkened by what I’m guessing was either an old stain or maybe roofing tar? (It had a couple of nails in it that look like roofing nails.) I was hoping to use it for some window boxes. I was able to sand some of the darkness out but there was still plenty of gunk coming up. Because of that, I don’t think it’s wise to use it in contact with soil and plants—but I’ll find some other use for it. It has a lovely grain.
