Also, I’m putting off reviewing financial reporting this morning. Projects to complete in the next couple of weeks: A 2x10 on one of our raised beds has buckled and needs to be replaced. When we first built these beds, we weren’t considering the chemicals in treated lumber, which is what we used. This will be the first board to replace and we’re going to go untreated from here on out.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that a neighborhood cat has taken up residence in our backyard. Today I built him a house out of (mostly) scrap. We put a brooder heater in there to keep him warmish over winter.
Repaired and refinished a cedar chest I picked up over the summer.
Before:
After:
Rachel has more or less finished the floor refinishing project. I think it looks wonderful! She also made herself a great reading corner.
Rachel continues to do great work on the floors. The living room is now done; we can start moving furniture back in by Monday. The floor is pine, which is notorious for rough grain and not taking stain evenly. Some people say it’s a mistake to stain pine but I think it looks great. Another thing about pine: it turns orange as it ages. In our case that means our stain—Minwax “early American” which is brown—actually ended up looking more red. Two coats of polyurethane as a finish.
I’d like to find out more about this Divine Glory brand sandpaper I pulled off this old belt sander but all the search results are Christian allegories.
As of yesterday, I finished my two big summer projects: refinish my in-laws’ dining set and build a cabinet for a friend. Today I cleaned and organized the garage, which was getting quite out of hand while I was working on those projects.
My remaining to-do list:
Plans for next projects:
A few months ago, a very generous friend decided to give me some of his grandfather’s tools: a bench grinder, a small drill press, and a benchtop disc sander.
All he asked in return was an open-front, mobile cabinet that he could use in his garage and for cookouts. He already had a countertop. So I built it of birch plywood and added four lockable wheels and adjustable shelves.
I also surprised him with a memorial to his grandfather burned inside the cabinet.
I experimented with burning through the paint on some scrap and it looked okay but it also had a decent chance of going wrong. I decided to leave it unpainted and then finished the spot with some spray polyurethane for protection.
Here it is in its new home
Bad news: I got a minor cut from one of my chisels. Good news: I’ve successfully put a sharp edge on a chisel.
Over the weekend, Rachel harvested 3.5 pounds of Concord grapes and made jelly! I’m having some on biscuits now. So cool!