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:

• Repair and refinish a cedar chest
• Repair and refinish two antique chairs
• Refinish one remaining chair for it in-laws
• Get a few tools acquired over the past year into working order

Plans for next projects:

• A six board chest using Rex Krueger’s design
• I’d like to make several dovetail boxes, and maybe give one away as a Christmas present if I get the hang of it in time.
• Experiment with carving designs into whatever I’m building.

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!

Easily my favorite, most used flea market tool is a Klein folding rule. Sturdy, compact, and better than a tape measure in several ways. And the solid feel when each section snaps into place is satisfying. 😄

Two unlikely dreams re: the Bedford pie safe:

1. Acquire one of the 16-20 known to exist and preserve it. Something this unique shouldn’t be allowed to vanish.
2. Build a reproduction. I will never have the skill of an actual 19th century professional cabinetmaker but it would be a heck of a project.

Pickled some banana peppers tonight. Should be about a week until they’re ready to eat.

Work has begun on my next project: building a cabinet for a friend. It’s in trade for some of his grandpa’s tools. He already had the countertop so I’m building the carcass and attaching it.