Woodworking ⁽⁹¹⁾

Brian Bilbrey July 29, 2013

Home Office Done!

Here's the picture I envisioned for the office, back in October, when I was in the home-stretch on the degree warpath: I started working on the project in mid-December, apparently moments after I was done with the final paper of the last course I took. In early February, I installed the first shelving unit. Today I installed the final piece - the back counter, which is fabricated from 3/4 cherry ply and banded with hard maple (thus complementing the desk in the center of the room). I've built every piece of furniture in my office, discounting the Aeron chair ...

Brian Bilbrey July 28, 2013

Last days

For the home office refurb project, that is. Today, I fabricated and attached the hard maple edge banding onto the back desktop. I also got two coats of poly applied. Depending on how it feels tomorrow, it'll either get two more coats of poly, or get installed. I'm hoping for the latter. The garden has languished for attention, but I'm probably going to make salsa in the next couple of days for the first time this year. Yay! I spotted some legacy tech today while shopping. I think you pick that thing up, put in some coins, and talk Ernestine…

Brian Bilbrey July 21, 2013

It ain't a Dry Heat.

It's been, finally, much like a DC summer for the last couple of weeks. The rain stopped coming, except for pop-up thunderstorms that miss us, north or south. Heat and humidity are the order of the day, every day. We were supposed to have a front through last night, and cooler temps behind, but there was no rain for us, and it was 90+ by nine in the morning. However, finally, some significant amounts of tomatoes are coming out of the garden (though mostly still cherry, but you won't hear me complain, they're yummy): A couple of other tomatoes, some…

Brian Bilbrey July 14, 2013

Summer Doldrums

The heat and humidity have properly settled in, here in the formerly malarial DC Metro area. I'm trying not to let it slow me down. I took a few hours off work on Friday, and spent most of them working in the wood shop. I final-sanded all of the carcasses, drawer boxes, and fronts. Then I hauled all of those out into the "junk" area just outside my woodshop, so that I could clean the shop up. I always build for a while, then clean massively before starting to apply finishes. It's a bit of a pain, but it keeps…

Brian Bilbrey July 7, 2013

Happy 7th of July!

I celebrated Dependence Day ('All the freedom the NSA will allow') by doing house cleaning, working in the woodshop, and slow-cooking a pork loin roast on low in the grill, with some applewood chips. Overall, we had a good four-day holiday weekend, mostly indoors since the temps and humidity were in the mid to high 90's. Sadly, though, I suffered from a brain cramp when I was setting up the hinges for the cabinet door this morning. The door is nearly square. I laid out the drilling centers, did all the work on the drill press, mounted the hinges, and…