New baby is two days late and seems quite happy to continue her stay in Martha's belly. Elise was more than a week late so past history (n=1) indicates that we could be in for the long haul. All this waiting has not been in vain. I have learned two very important new skills related to woodworking.
1. Cutting hardwood end grain, specifically maple, without burning the wood with the saw blade is best accomplished by pushing the wood over the table saw as fast as possible. Of course, the sharpness of the blade is also a major factor but I am very happy to know that I can now cut end grain without having to sand off the burn marks later. This is probably elementary stuff to you more learned woodworkers but I am mostly self taught and learn by trial and error. Every victory is a welcome one that opens up new avenues.
2. The maple I spoke of above was used to make a cutting board (LINK) as a Christmas gift for someone. Since food will be prepared on its surface it is very important that the finish be organic or inert so that it will not taint the food. I took a risk on using extra virgin olive oil as a finish. Best move of my life. The wood looks like solid gold and the finish is very flat/satin so there is no evidence of brush strokes.
It's not (LINK) just spice racks that get knocked up around here.
yer wife does too whe whe whe!
ReplyDeleteanyway, lemme hit ye with something i learned in fas this time... endgrain should never be sanded, should always be wiped with a razor sharp block plane. this may not be relevant to you, but in a piece of joinery, sanding simply just smoothes and scratches the endgrain, and if it's white deal yer talking about, it'll just turn it bright white and snowy. a good sharp plane will highlight the grain structure
Hope the baby turns up soon!
ReplyDeleteWe've got just over 4 months to go for ours! Even after the 20 week scan on Friday its still very unreal :-)