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Man, I started this project at the end of March!  It's not that it was a hard project, there was some vacation time and then I just couldn't get my mojo working to get out to the shop so it progressed very slowly.  It all started a few months ago when I had lunch with my sister and she liked this caddy they had at a local restaurant.  So I set out to make something like it.

The caddy from a restaurant

The hand planing for this project was done almost entirely using wooden planes.  I'd been wanting to use my woodies more and while that probably slowed me down a bit, it was fun to use them.  I think if I used them more often, I'd be just as quick as if I used my metal planes.

Left to right: homemade extra course scrub, homemade scrub, German smoother,  homemade coffin smoother, shooting board plane (old jack), jack plane, homemade try plane

I started with red oak reclaimed from a neighbor's kitchen remodel.  The sides and ends of the caddy were taken down to 1/2" thick; the dividers to 5/16" thick.

Dovetails marked, ready for cutting

Tails done, pins marked from tails

First corner fettled and fitting OK

After fitting all four corners, I dry-fitted the box and leveled the bottom edges so that I could plow the grooves to house the bottom from a common reference.

Ready to plow using my Ohio Tool screw-arm plow plane and a sticking board

Sides and ends plowed 3/16" wide and 3/16" deep, 3/16" from bottom edge

My plow plane depth adjustment starts at minimum depth of 1/4" - too deep for what I wanted - so I had to check often to ensure that I wasn't going past 3/16".

Having leveled the bottom edges before plowing guarantees a good mating groove

Dadoes cut into ends to house the long divider

Long divider fitted

With long divider in place, marking for the short divider

After chopping and routing the dadoes, here's the first fitting of the short divider

The long and short dividers were then half-lapped

With box dry-clamped, making sure I can slide the dividers in their dadoes

For each of the dividers, I planed the ends slightly out-of-square so that the bottom edge was slightly shorter than the upper edge.  With the box assembled, this helped them slide into their respective dadoes more easily.

Added another, smaller divider

The handle will be housed in these arms and attached with screws

Like this.  There are Nylon washers between the arms and box ends. The handle is held to the arms with wood screws. The arms are held to the box using machine screws - holes in the long divider are tapped.

I pre-finished all interior surfaces before gluing up

After the glue dried, I filled the holes left in the pin boards from the grooving operation. These pieces were glued in, later cut close and flushed with a plane.

And here's the finished product.  It's finished with a couple coats of water-based poly, then paste wax.  I'm happy with how it came out, but it's a bit heavier than I'd hoped.  If my sister thinks it's too heavy to be practical for her, I'll make another from lighter wood or thinner dimensions.

The completed project

And how it will be used

And, just so I'll remember how I made it, here's the parts/cutting list, including some changes I made on the fly.  Now I can finally get to something else.

Parts list

My kind, sweet, gentle papa passed on May 1st. It was both expected and unexpected, the best possible passing and the saddest day of my life. My wife Morgan, my mother, and me were all there, holding his hand.

Driving down to my parent’s house that morning, I decided I wanted to make the coffin.  Then I decided I wanted help.  So I asked some of my closest friends to come build the coffin with me: Peter Ross, Roy Underhill and Bill Anderson.

For the sides of the coffin, Roy gave me two boards that had been part of the set of The Woodwright’s Shop. I probably watched them on TV when I was 7 or 8 years old.  For the top and bottom, I found some pine seat blanks that wouldn’t make good seats, and planed them down thin. 

Then Bill pontificated….

…Peter pointed….

…we sawed kerfs in the sides so they’d bend….

….and drilled nail holes so they wouldn’t split.

We poured boiling water over the sides….

…nailed them on…

… and bent them around the bottom.

We made the lid and handles…

…. and attached the guiding star Bill had made.

Then the coffin was done.

Three days later, Papa’s body was buried at a conservation cemetery near our home. Building that coffin was the most important – and the shortest lived – thing I’ve ever made. Thank you Bill, thank you Roy, and thank you Peter for carrying me through.

And thank you Papa for being you.

I love you.

The post Papa’s Pine Box first appeared on Elia Bizzarri - Hand Tool Woodworking.

Exactly ten years ago I was experiencing the most exhilarating and exhausting week of my life, the culmination of years of research, writing, and travel; it was Studley Exhibit Week.

It started with packing up of the Studley Tool Cabinet and Workbench ensemble at its home, loading it onto a dedicated truck with armed driver and escort, and unloading it at the end of a long day’s driving in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, just a few miles from the Handworks event in Amana.

A dedicated team of volunteers (and vendors; the original lighting contractor bailed on the project three weeks before the opening) made the whole thing possible as the installation came together.

That evening I hosted a special reception for all the Handworks vendors who would be otherwise unable to see the exhibit.

On top of everything else the Lost Art Press crew arrived with cases of the book, almost literally hot off the presses and straight from the bindery.

The event garnered favorable feedback except for those who were miffed that there was a ticket price for the small event.  Apparently, they were unaware of budget items like the cost of dedicated, secured transport ($6k), insurance (a thousand dollars a day), facility rental, exhibit fabrication (almost $2k just for the tool cabinet exhibit case alone), and much, much more, all of which I was paying out of my own pocket.  Thanks to the unbelievable generosity of a friend of the project the books all balanced in the end.

Despite the frenetic pace of those days, robbing me of many of the memorable moments, I still get warm-and-fuzzies reflecting on those moments I can remember.

Ten years!  Goodness, how time flies.

 

 A nurse from the VA called this AM and my wife took the call. She answers all incoming because one, I don't have my cell phone surgical implanted on my hip, and two, I can't hear/understand on cell phones. I can with my hearing aids in but I don't wear them everyday so my wife is constantly in the batters box for this. I'm also glad that she answered it and not me.

Firstly the nurse was calling to cancel the appointment I had with urology today at 1500. She was also calling to tell her that the wednesday appointment for the foley removal was also canceled. The earliest appointment to remove it was now on friday, maybe. My wife told her that I had been told the foley was coming out on wednesday vice monday and she wanted an appointment for that on wednesday (wednesday's appointment was canceled because the clinic isn't there on wednesdays).

I would have been a very unhappy camper if I had to keep the foley for 2 1/2 more days. I have an overflow appointment for 1400 on wednesday. It may take a while before I'm seen but to me the important thing is the foley is coming then or I do it myself.

primer coat done

This was all I got done today. Tomorrow I'll do the first top coat on the bottoms.

I have to sleep on my back which I do not like doing. I also have to sleep close to the outside edge of the mattress because the hose for the big collection bag is on the short side. I went to bed at 2200 and I only woke up once and I didn't have to watch YouTube to get sleepy again.

I did kind of sleep though the night but there were a few tugs during the night that woke me up. I was able to drift off again after repositioning myself. However, the tugging, pinching, grabby feeling didn't go away at during the day. That is why I stayed topside and watched Monday night meatloaf episodes. I tried to start with #1 or #2 but I couldn't find them. I think I started watching them about the #80's. I'm not sure and I'm going by if I liked them or not. At the rate I'm going I'll be caught up by friday.

foam ring inserts

The ring slots are precut 'H' shapes. There are 72 slots on each of the 3 foam holders. These are much nicer than the chinese crap I bought the first time. They came today and I can finally finish the ring box. On the flip side I have a lot of material for which I'm sure there will be at least one oops.

from ABE books

Don Williams posted about this book and I went to the authors site to buy one. First printing was sold out along with the 2nd one. No hint of a 3rd printing. I looked it up on ABE books on a lark. I wasn't expecting the book to be available so soon as used. 

This book was listed as used but it has zero wear and I would have bet a lung that I was the first person to leaf through it. The quality of it is as good as any book done by the Lost Art Press. It has a ton of japanese joints in color. The book isn't a step by step how to but the info presented seems adequate for a woodworker with some hand work experience. I have long been fascinated with this glue/nail less joinery and I'll pick out a easy one to try and see how well I can do on it.

accidental woodworker

I bought a suit recently. No, it’s not denim, although had I had time I might have considered one being made to fit. Finding a tailor to make it might be a different matter, not an easy one. Suits are not generally my world. In fact, where I go, I rarely ever see one. The...

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Sash Saw  Karelian Masur Birch350mm long78mm deep11 TPI croscutPedderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12692353908068506678noreply@blogger.com0

As I continue working on the multitude of details getting the greenhouse ready, Mrs. Barn’s flower garden, carved out of the rocky hillside next to the cabin, has erupted in an explosion of colors as the poppies have burst onto the scene.  In a couple months the daylilies will emerge, and in between will be a host of other rainbows of flowers I know nothing about beyond appreciating their beauty.  To say that she revels in the beauty of nature and especially flowers would be an understatement.  Today is our annual Mrs. Barn’s Birthday Safari to Millmont Gardens to load up with beautiful plants.  She has free reign to get whatever she wants, the space in the back of the CRV being the limiting factor.

As for the greenhouse itself, we have begun to finalize the interior layout and some seedlings are underway.   I have removed much of the construction supplies and tools, bringing a sense of order to the space.  Lately we have been scouring the University of Youtube to garner the best information on building self-watering planters.

We have passed through asparagus season, having freshly-picked shoots with almost every meal for more than a fortnight.  The bed is now proceeding to the “bush” phase and in short order the asparagus bushes will be 8-10 feet high.  She says this is the key to an established perennial asparagus bed, and since it has worked here for two decades I rely on her judgement.

I can just now glimpse returning to the workbench on the horizon.  First project is to make a new, sturdier cover for the hydro capturing trough that a bear (?) tore up last autumn.

Feeling much better today. I wasn't as tired and ragged out as I felt like yesterday. The desire to occupy space and expel carbon dioxide in the shop returned but I took it easy. I did one thing in the shop and another out in the yard. The rest of day was spent binge watching 'Monday night meatloaf' with Tom Lipton. I've been following him for years but now I'm watching his vids from 11-10 years ago.

You'll hear no more whining from me about the foley. I was crying because I had no shoes until I met the man with no feet. I am fortunate in that I won't be wearing a foley for the rest of my life. Thanx to Diego for making me see the light.

I am not driving as long as I have the foley in. Nor will I be walking post lunch. I will also miss going out to breakfast tomorrow along with missing my lunch of fish 'n chips this past friday. I hope to resume the lunch date part this friday.

painting prep done

I was going to poly the kitchen ladder after this but that didn't happen. I'll deal just with the coasters and the holder first. This will be done in a couple of steps. The bottoms first then the tops. The last step (or two) will be applying the top coat(s).

 

taper pins

I have made bookshelves with the same joinery as this holder. A couple of them developed some gaps in the shelf/dado connection. I'm not sure that will happen with this but a couple of tapered pins in each side can't hurt the cause.

after lunch

I was hoping to get the tops done in the PM session but I wasn't happy with how the paint felt. It felt dry but it was also cool to the touch - its an oil based primer. All the coasters and the holder felt the same. I'll give them overnight to cook and set and I'll check them in the AM.

yard work

I didn't experience any hiccups, pain, or weird sensations painting but I was expecting maybe something doing this. I sawed up a bunch of fence pickets that are destined for the land fill. I sawed up about 20 of them without so much as a whimper.

All the movements I made sawing I thought would translate into the foley singing arias to me. That didn't happen boys and girls. I felt more hiccups walking about in the backyard than I did sawing.  

Used it to test myself too on sawing square and plumb. I did reasonably well on the square cuts but most of the plumb cuts were angled. I tried to correct it and I managed to saw a couple plumb but I drifted back to angled ones. I have yet to use anything sawn square/plumb off the saw. As it is now I plane my edges square and plumb after sawing them.

accidental woodworker

My latest eBay listing - a Veritas Inlay String Thicknesser, apparently I purchased it before Veritas renamed the name, it is now called an Inlay String Scraper!

Lightly used, near mint in original box with wrapper and instructions. Aluminum body with brass hardware and hardwood handles. Scraper blade has original factory grind marks on bevels with original blade protectors. A great tool for someone who wants to get into string inlay techniques!

 I had grandiose ideas for working in the shop today or so it seemed. The plan was to go slow but get a few little things done. As the time in the shop progressed I lost all interest in being there. I spent the majority of my day sleeping at my desk instead. Anesthesia has proven to play havoc with my ability to sleep. I didn't get much sleep last night and I watched You Tube twice  during the night. The cat got a little bent out of shape each time I did that but he got over it. Based on what happened to me during the daylight hours today I will probably be watching more You Tube tonight again.

I am not in any pain per se. The foley catheter is only an annoyance and it is a big one. It says hello even if I blink my eyes. Walking isn't painful but it is something that I try to avoid. That had a lot to do with me parking my cheeks on my desk chair all day. One day down and 4 more before it comes out. 

On a positive note my urine is clear. I didn't see any evidence of blood in it at all. However, the doc told me that it will be 4 to 6 before I'm fully healed.

its had plenty of time

I clamped this up the day before the TURP so it should be more than ready to come out of the clamps.

layout

I tried laying out a circular cutout but I didn't like the look of it. Instead I went with an oval-ish one to better match the tilt of the shelf.

coping saw work

This was a bit awkward due to the short stroke I could take with it. It was enough to do the cutout though. My first one was a wee wonky and the second one was a lot better. In hindsight I should have done a warm up cut because I don't use a coping saw often.

rasp and 120 grit

One side is a few frog hairs larger than its sibling. Not a deal killer because there is no way to focus on both at the same time to compare them.

the larger cutout

The height is about the same but it is about an 8th of inch longer. 

This was my output today and I didn't last an hour in the shop. I wasn't having any pain or discomfort doing this but the desire to work just wasn't there. After this I had planned to paint the holder and the bottom of the coasters and then call it a day. Maybe I'll get around to that tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

I have listed one set of Lie-Nielsen bed/tenon floats, one push float, one pull float. Both are mint, unused, never sharpened, in their original wrappers with original instructions. I don’t know when these floats went out of production, these have been sitting in my tool chest for nearly ten years, time for them to go to a new home.

I wasn't expecting to be kept overnight. According to the doc, 90% of the people getting this procedure do go home. Just my luck that I was promoted to the 10% group. The doc said that he had a lot of problems slicing and sealing one side of the prostate. The fact that I take Eliquis didn't help things neither. So about an hour into my stay in PACU (patient after care unit) the output going into the collection was the color of Hawaiian punch. 

I was flushed with saline from after I left the OR until 0735 the following morning. The doc stopped it so he could evaluate what the color my urine was. It turned out to be mostly clear to a pink grapefruit color. Regardless all 5 docs loved that color and signed the order so I could go home.

I was totally unprepared for this unplanned hospital stay. My cell phone and hearing aids both went dead and I couldn't sleep because the anesthesia screws up my sleep cycle. I'm hoping to get 40 winks tonight in my own bed.

Because of the too bloody of a discharge I have a follow up appointment on monday but the foley catheter isn't coming out until wednesday. I wasn't expecting the catheter to be the size of a fire hose and I have two collection bags. One is for walking around during the day and a big one for night time. The doc said it was almost impossible to fill it up overnight. Fingers crossed on that not happening.

Needless to say I won't be going balls to the wall in the shop. It isn't a particularly pleasant sensation walking around with thing. But I only have to put up with it for 5 days. I have some painting and poly work I might be able to do without it being too uncomfortable. Stayed tuned, updates and pics on the 11 o'clock news.

got some new reading

I haven't made a chair yet and I think making a bulls%$t chair is a good starting point. I'll read this and I will probably make more than one to build up some proficiency before I tackle making a real chair.

walking around bag

The tubing on this one is "u" shaped while the foley catheter tubing is round - it has about a 1/4" ID and about a 3/8" OD. The doc told me it will be 4-6 weeks before I fully heal and stop passing blood and possible blood clots. No matter how it shakes out I don't see much happening for the next few days. Even I'll concede on that.

accidental woodworker

The folks at The Babylon Bee did it again.  When you contemplate the difficulty of consistently creating great satire in this clown-show world, you know these guys are the best.

Jesus’s Parents Realize He’s Divine As He Completes Carpentry Project Without Going Back To Home Depot A Single Time

It’s long overdue, but at long last I have some images of the finished modular tansu cabinets to share. I finished this project up back in February, but that was followed by crating and shipping which was a bit of an ordeal, and I was hesitant to share any images until the cabinets were safe… Read More »Modular Tansu – Final Post

The post Modular Tansu – Final Post appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking.

Over the weekend, a friend and I headed to the Allegheny National Forest, less than a two-hour drive from my home in western Pennsylvania. We hiked up along a small stream, fishing a little along the way. A steady light … Continue reading →

This is Mrs. Ralph. Ralph will be back to doing too much in the shop, even though he's supposed to be resting, later today. Wishing you all happy woodworking.

 

It’s just a hammer. Nothing special, just a 20 ounce Stanley claw hammer made in England and bought by me for £1, which was almost two days pay for me back in March 1965 when I bought it new. The hickory shaft is still the original, the hammer face has never chipped, and the claw...

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I completed the little tasks until there was nothing left to do but wrap it up.

I added guides on the sides of the drawers to keep them inline. They are only glued in place. The edges facing the drawers were planed smooth. Later I waxed these surfaces and the mating edges of the drawers.

gluing in guides on the side

The drawer pulls glued in without wedges. My flush cut saw is a cheap one from harbor freight. I rubbed the teeth on a diamond stone to remove the set. It has so many teeth-per-inch that it's slow, but it works.

cutting off drawer pull stub just needs a little scraping

Most of the drawers needed planing on the sides to insert fully. Only one was seriously off on the face. Notice the gap between it and the next drawer up is tight on the left and wide on the right.

uneven gap above drawer

Likely the whole drawer box was twisted but I didn't try to untwist it. I planed the underside on the left to drop it down a little, then I shimmed the underside on the right to raise it a little. It didn't end up perfect but it got better.

glued on shim, before sanding

To finish I sprayed the walnut and butternut with three coats of garnet shellac. After I used that up I switched to blonde shellac and sprayed 2-3 more coats. The blonde shellac also went on the sides and interior of the drawers. After drying half a day I rubbed everything with a brown paper bag, waxed the drawer slides, and screwed on the top and back.

Printer Stand

full view

The stand is 27.5" tall, 27.5" wide, and 20.5" deep. The carved drawer fronts put together make a canvas of 21.5" square.

front view

The carcase and top are walnut, with the side panels being resawn. The drawerfronts are butternut with walnut pulls. Secondary wood is poplar, basswood, and plywood.

side view 1 side view 2 with back

My goals were to have a stand for the printer and for the drawers to be wide enough for stacks of paper. Having a carving continue across multiple drawer fronts was a side goal.

I dusted my printer for this picture wide enough for two stacks of paper carving detail

Other posts in this series:

• Printer Stand 1: Plans & Rough Cuts
• Printer Stand 2: Carcase and Pre-oiling panels
• Printer Stand 3: Drawer Construction & Homemade Pulls
• Printer Stand 4: Carved Fronts & Little Things

 Tomorrow (today as you are reading this) I'm the lead off for getting sliced and diced. I have to be at the hospital at 0630 to check in. I should be home around lunch time - fingers crossed. I go back on monday to get the catheter out. I'll ask again but the I'm sure the doc said I could do my normal routine. For those not in the know a TURP is a transurethral resection of the prostate (resection is a medical term for surgery). It is basically a rake and scrape of an enlarged prostate. Not looking forward to the procedure but I am towards having it over and done with.

glad I'm a pack rat

The tile layouts are set for each of the 7 coasters. I'll put them in these bags until it is time to set them. The coasters don't care which tiles they get, I asked.

the bottom one

That is the one I had to trim to remove an out of square corner. The opposite one was rounded due to me dropping it on the deck. I had to saw an eighth of an inch off.

odd looking but......

There is a pattern to it. I went back and forth on removing the middle one and making another sized like the others. Decided against that and this is what Amanda is getting.

too thick

This was a sliding lid for something that I'm repurposing for the shelf for the coaster holder. I am thinning it down to 7/16" thick.

Lee Valley scrub plane

I don't use this much as I prefer the Stanley #6. This one is a better choice for doing small scale stock like this. It is about 3 1/2" wide and 5 3/4" long.

snug fit

I am finally getting a consistent snug fit with this joinery. It has taken me a lot of years to get here. One down and one more to go.

shelf dry fitted

Got a snug fit with the other stopped dado. The next batter is the back stretcher above the shelf.

blind mortise

After I had seen the dry fit I saw that I should have put the stretcher on the outboard side of the line. No hiccups chopping the two blind mortises. I knifed the perimeter, made a knife wall, and chiseled out the area between the outside walls.

self supporting

It is a wee bit snug but that is what I wanted. I find it easier to under size the mortise and then plane the stretcher to fit the mortise.

first one done

Achieved a snug fit with the first one. It was a bit awkward getting it to depth. The router I used left a hump in the middle but it got both ends of the mortise flat and in the same plane. I chiseled the slight hump off and I will rely on the ends for seating the stretcher on.

starting the 2nd one

First step is to define the perimeter with a knife wall. That virtually eliminates me being ham fisted and accidentally making chisel marks on the perimeter.

first dry fit

Happy with the fit and the overall look. The sides are square to the shelf and the stretcher. Both the stretcher and the shelf are the same length and feel/look like they are fully seated in their respective dadoes and mortises.

too much wiggle room

I didn't think I had left this much wiggle room for the coasters. This is too much and I shortened the stretcher and shelf by 3/8".

better look at the gap

My first thought on seeing this was to make another coaster but nixed it. I want to be over and done with this and move on to something else.

better looking gap

The gap now is 3/16" which I am ok with. None of the tiles extend up past the banding so they won't or shouldn't get banged or hit moving in and out of the holder.

rounded the tops

I free hand drew a gentle curve from the front to the back. I also did a small round over on the front corners of the shelf. I was going to leave this natural but instead I'll be painting it. This way everything will be a match for each other.

oops

I forgot to do the cutout for the bottom edge of the holder. Not a horrendous me-steak but it would have been easier to cut it out before I glued it together. I'll have to do it with a coping saw after this has cooked.

accidental woodworker

 Rain, rain, and more rain. I couldn't stroll yesterday or today because of the rain. And that sucks because the exercise I get from that definitely helps me out on sunday when I weigh my tonnage. After 3 weeks of zero weight loss this past sunday I dropped 3 pounds. I would like to stay on losing side of things with this. I'm hoping to stroll tomorrow because the weather seers are predicting sunny/cloudy conditions.

nope

Shifted and moved too much to correct. This is one of the two coasters I glued up yesterday. Neither one of them are usable and have been tossed in the 40 gallon circular file holder (aka shitcan).

nail pin box dividers

The size of the pin nails go from 1/2" up to 1 3/16" by eights. 

new bandings

I bought three, 4 foot long pieces of 1/4" poplar. From one piece I got 44 bandings. I double, triple checked myself to ensure that these had enough length to allow for shooting the miters on the jig.

I only got grout at Lowes (and I got the last tub). I looked at the sealer and it was too high in price. I'm into these tile tables for a pretty shiny penny. Wood, paint, mastic, grout, and tiles have set me back about $350.

ready for poly

I sanded both parts with 320 and I used up a lot of calories doing it. I found waterfall drips in places I hadn't seen yesterday. Wiped it off with a rag and then used a tack cloth on it.

coaster work

Gluing them with the band clamp wasn't working out. Instead I glued and pin nailed the bandings on.

3 done, 4 to go

This is going quicker than I thought it would. 7 is an odd number for a coaster set but I am not buying anymore tiles to make an even numbered set.

woodworking done

This what the seven will look like. One of these I had to trim a wee bit off  the base because one corner wasn't square. I can only pick it out if I put between two other coasters. I will be adding making a holder for these - can't give them to Amanda loose like this.

Next step with these is to apply a primer coat and then the topcoat. Which will be the same as the tile tables. Setting the tiles on these should be a lot easier along with grouting them. Hopefully Lowes will have another tub of 'warm gray' grout back in stock in case I need it.

used it

Christened this yesterday and it worked. I thought there might have been a hiccup with extending the line from one face to the other - would the break for the hinge leave a gap? Well boys and girls it didn't. Each part of the saddle gizmo allows you to run the line right to the edge. That was pleasant surprise and it may turn the tide for me liking this new toy.

double drats

 The plan was to apply poly to this as the last thing I did today in the shop. That didn't happen boys and girls. All the waterfall drips were smooth and flat to the touch but I could still see them in raking light. Poly doesn't cover up sins like this with subsequent coats. So instead of applying poly I used the card scraper to remove all the waterfall drips on both parts.

pin nailer box

Flushed the bottom and the tops of the dividers with 80 grit and the LN 102.

OCD already kicked in

I started getting the heebie jeebies about filling in the empty slots with pin nails. I've had this pin nailer for over ten years and the nails too. I thought I had at least one more size but as usual I came up empty searching for it. If I remember I'll stop in to Horrible Freight and buy some pin nails when I'm in that neighborhood.

no brush work

I was careful brushing the poly on but I'm getting old and slipping. Instead of brushing the poly on I'm going to use a balled up rag. I used a shop towel to see how well it would work. Way back in the dim mists of time when I used poly exclusively I used a foam pad and T-shirt rags to apply it. The only downside to T-shirt application is you have to apply 4-5 times as much as brushing it on. But it was exactly as I remember it being.

no more haze

Another thing that slipped in the queue to be done today. I should be able to finish grouting both of them tomorrow. Fingers crossed with that happening.

Ending with a rant about belts. I have a 35" waist according to the jeans I wear. However, a size 36 belt, IMO, is too small. I bought one at Wally World and it fits but only on the very last hole in the belt. Bought a 38" belt made by the same mfg that made the 36" one. I thought I would catch a hole at least a couple away from the end one but it too only fit on me in the very last hole.

 I am of the opinion that a belt caught on the last hole in it looks like crap not to mention there isn't a lot of wiggle room if your weights balloons in the wrong direction. I'm in and out of Wally World at least once a week and the next time I'm in there I'll try on a 40 and 42 inch belt and see how they shake out. Rant over.

accidental woodworker