Construction Breaks

It has been five months since the last post: Progress!  As usual, if I'm going to slack on something, it'll be on following up with posting on this blog.  The summer, as all summers do, flew by quicker than should possible and we were able to get out and enjoy a lot of outdoor adventures but that doesn't mean I haven't been productive on the project front.  After the series of attic adventures, I haven't had the gumption to start in on another big project yet.  There was a sink faucet replacement, finishing one of the remaining percents of the 2% left on the deck (yes, it still isn't 100% and may just never be done), and many other random fix-its.  A good chunk of the summer work weekends went into helping a friend put up a new fence.  It shouldn't have been necessary but property lines and ungracious neighbors can make that type of thing a necessity.  There was loads of help from other friends and neighbors and all-in-all, it turned out okay.  I could have done a much better job ensuring it was straight but for a span that went about 200' I think it's probably good enough.  Aside from all that, there have been some other things cooking.

Do these look
bourgeoise to you?

Speaking of cooking, I just have to post a pic of what are now deemed "Bouzhee Buns."  We went to a camp-out where one night was going to be a grill night so I brought my homemade hot dog buns and they earned the nickname because someone thought they were fancy-pants ones, I'll take that as a compliment!  In truth, they looked nice on the outside but were too dense.  I blame it on the old yeast.

Second, as an update to the last post, the lamp turned out great!  As soon as it was done, the mom-in-law said she had a place in mind for it so it's now out enjoying some coastal weather.  Probably a good place for it since it tends to be pretty gray most of the time.

Is it just me or is this lamp
throwing some serious shade?

The rest of the summer was consumed by mostly non-construction projects.  Two of them were started due to some events related to the spouse's job.  There are a couple of activities happening this fall with one specifically related to otters.  The other is animal-related in general.  Spouse asked if I would be willing to make a couple pysanky eggs to donate to the events and so I began brainstorming ideas for designs.  Knowing that at least one had to be otter related, I tested out a native-america inspired design that had been kicking around in my head for awhile.  It looked pretty good on paper so I put it to wax.  The second one I wanted to keep with an otter theme but also blend in a more traditional pysanky look.  The final design really isn't very traditional at all but there are some elements that would tie it back to the original.  Unfortunately, these pictures are of the second-runs since the photos I took of the originals are currently in Canada with the good camera.

Otter egg.  Look out platypus,
you have a rival for weirdness

While making them, Trusty Assistant, wanted to get in on the pysanky-ing as well.  He spent a good amount of time on one that you can see in the background of the white egg.  Unfortunately, the egg had gone rotten and just as he put on his last coat of dye and was showing it around, it broke.  I tried to salvage what I could by putting the rest in varnish and I'll cut off what's usable but, poor kid. 

Hypno-flower-otter

The second challenge project was to make some corn-hole boards for an upcoming conference where spouse is in charge of organizing entertainment.  Well, that does sound up my alley.  Having nearly half of the underside of my deck stuffed with random wood products, I felt I could take this one on and give me a reason to use some of it.  My first goal was to use as much salvage material as possible.  And, after browsing the interwebs for some initial ideas, I just knew that this couldn't be any plain 'ole corn-hole set.  It had to be artistic!  Or at least artsy.  Whatevs.  There was one set that had an octopus theme and they really stuck with me and since this was going to be put in use for another animal-focused group, that sounded right to me.  It's still in the works but I was able to construct the boards using pallet pieces and OSB that I already had on hand along a couple scrap pieces of alder left over from the ladder-shelf.  The only new things purchased to make this were the tubes of acrylic paint (a sweet discount at Craft Warehouse!) and the nuts/bolts/washers hardware to attach the legs to the box.  It's not finished yet but aside from some more detail paint work and a few layers of varnish, they're nearly there.  Spouse found some awesome corn-hole bags online that match the color scheme.  Color coordination for the win!

Maybe we should change the name
to "Cthulu-hole"

Okay two more quick things.  I had the yearning to get to work on another boat painting.  I wish I had a better term for them because "boat painting" sounds pretty boring but apparently I've exhausted by creativity.  Anyway, I started this one up soon after my last post.  Soon after starting Trusty Assistant said, "Is this going to be another one where you paint a lot and then stop for months and months?"  Friggin kids.  I took it as a personal challenge to not stall and actually go that extra mile and finish what I started in the same pace.  It's now October and guess what's been staring back at me since the last time I put some paint to it back in July?  That's why he's called Trusty Assistant, he speaks truth.  I''m going to put some blame on the weather because it's awfully difficult to commit to staying inside and painting when the weather is so nice but now that we've finally entered a true Autumn, I'm hoping to wrap this up...maybe before Christmas?

Boat Painting

Last thing, I found a great deal on a woodcrafter's workbench at a local estate sale!  I know, you're thinking, "But he already has a workbench?"  First, try not to start your sentences with "But" and secondly, this has two very nice wood clamps that my home-built one does not possess.  The clamps alone are worth the price of the bench and this one is much more light-weight as well as having some freakin' awesome castors that let it glide across the floor very easily.  I'm still not sure how I'm to reorganize the basement to make this fit but it will happen!  That's all for now and I hope you all have a lovely autumn.

Estate sale success!

All The Things

Stairway to Storage

 If you're like me, I'm sure your first thought is probably, "What the heck have you been up to?"  And then your second thought would be, "It is improper grammar to end a sentence with a preposition."  That's why we're nerd friends.  However, I do have several answers to the question of what I've been doing since February 2017.  The new job I took in January has kept me busy as has running Trusty Assistant around to weekend events and after-school activities but no big changes on the family front otherwise.  That doesn't mean I've been lazy in my free time.  Well, except for updating this blog.  After finishing the last big project of the expanded garden bed and stone & brick inset patio I took a bit of a break but it didn't last long.  In the late summer and early fall of 2017 I began the fun task of redoing the attic.

Now, I'll admit I've been procrastinating on this one, something at which I'm pretty good.  And for good reason.  The attic had old blown-in insulation (thankfully no asbestos), old wiring, and needed some reworking of the rafters among other things.  The first step was ordering and installing an attic ladder as the previous entryway was just a 2' x 3' hatch which required me to set up the fold-able ladder every time I needed to get into it.  The step ladder install went fairly well and after that began the real fun.  Our 1920's era home still had some knob & tube wiring that was in integral part of supplying power to the main floor lights and walls and other fun wiring surprises hidden under the insulation.  At first I attempted to remove the insulation with my five-gallon shop vac one garbage bag at a time.  After about four trips to the waste transfer station, and only clearing out about an eighth of the attic, I knew it was time to get serious.  I ordered a drop box and rented an industrial insulation vacuum and managed to fill up six and a half 75 cu ft bags.  Those suckers (pun intended) are about 4' x 6' and surprisingly heavy when all that insulation gets compressed in them.  To say the original workmanship in the attic was tidy and clean would be a whopper of a lie and there were often times when large chunks of wood or plaster would block the vacuum line and at one point I even had to remove the impeller cover to clear debris.  It was a mess.  I still managed to get it all done in one day and return the vacuum the next morning for a nice discount.

Look at all that usable space!

Afterwards, the fun of running new wiring began as I had to replace every ceiling light fixture junction box, wall outlet, connected switch, and more.  Thankfully I had already put in a series of new lights and an outlet up there prior but before I began the re-wiring I also installed a window on the west end for some natural lighting.  What a difference!  Once the wiring was complete, I followed with a moisture barrier (there wasn't one before), new denim batt insulation, and then a plywood overlay so that the attic could actually be USED for something.  Unfortunately, prior to installing the ladder and the window I didn't consider how I might get a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood up in that space and I ended up having to cut them all in half to just barely fit them through the ladder access hatch.  After laying down the plywood flooring, I used the scrap plywood to add reinforcements at the rafter joints (which were just butt-joints) and finally remove the three cross braces that hung about four feet up from the attic floor.  I swear I have a permanent scrape and bruise from hitting my head on those things.  With the attic finally done, I had the pleasure of moving a bunch of crap from the basement upstairs.  Yeah, it's as fun as it sounds.  The west exterior got some new siding and trim to go with the new window and now that summer is nearly upon us, I'll get out to paint it soon.  The final pieces of that project are on hold for now as the big lifting has been done and much of the basement has been cleared to begin on the next one...the basement bathroom.

Rasped, chiseled, carved, and
sanded.  I won't lie, this took
way too long.

One other thing came out the attic update that is almost complete as well.  After cutting the extra plywood pieces into rafter braces that fit the shape of the rafter pinnacles, I was left with a large bunch of plywood triangles that were almost all identical.  I just knew that there was something that these could be put to use for besides a burn pile.  Eventually I decided they would make a great lamp stand.  Centered around a spare piece of 3/4" conduit, I stacked the pieces and rotated them slightly to make a helix appearance and glued them all together.  Once the glue was set, I used a rasp, chisels, carving knives, and sandpaper to smooth the overlaps on all three faces.  Being plywood, there were gaps all over, especially at the edges, where chunks had separated or holes existed.  To remedy this, I took inspiration from the recently installed bar at Loowit Brewing which had used reclaimed 2"x 4"s.  They had used a transparent resin to fill all the small holes that existed from the wood's previous life and then coated it with a matte finish to give it a really nice natural look.  I found some self-setting resin at the Craft Warehouse and began trying to apply the same to my lamp base.  This may have been a bad idea.

Watching varnish dry.  Nearly as fun as
watching paint dry.  

Because of the spiral nature of the helix structure, there are no level surfaces except the top and bottom.  To fill the gaps, I had to work on one face at a time while the base was turned sideways in a bar clamp.  Using painter's masking tape along the edges, I would pour about two ounces of resin at a time over an area, let it set, then twist the base slightly so that it was "level" now a few inches down.  This process took way too long and I wouldn't recommend it.  If you're working with something flat that can easily be leveled, resin is great but not for this.  Eventually I got all the holes filled and even the edge gaps covered.  I did discover that because my degree of rotation for the individual pieces wasn't enough to bring it back to a full 360 degrees, the center of gravity was off so I had to add a one piece plywood base to provide the necessary support.  I picked up a lamp kit at Lowes (I know, I would have gone local but I had a gift card to use) and a lampshade from Goodwill.  After lots and lots of sanding with my orbiter sander, I finally evened out the resin so that you just see it where it fills the holes and gaps and the natural wood comes through otherwise.  I had to remove the base piece prior to applying the final layers of matte varnish and once this is dry and sanded, I'll install the kit and base and, voila, a new lamp will be born.  Thanks attic.