Not All Gifts Are Free

It just seems that the reality of life and aging keeps poking its ugly head up. My uncle Parker has been in a nursing home for about a year now and will not be coming home. He had become a woodworker in his retirement. I mentioned to his son, my cousin, that when the time came to have a garage sale, to be sure to notify me as I would like to have first shot at some of his tools. He told me, that after some thought, that I could come and take as much or as little as I wanted, So, last weekend I hitched up the trailer, which I acquired as a result of my brother's passing, and headed south to San Diego. I picked up a small lathe, a bandsaw, a table saw, a 12 inch disc sander, a router (that makes 6 or 7 of them), a palm sander, some miscellaneous hand tools and supplies and a bunch of nice burl and pieces of various exotic woods. I will try to think of him every time I use one of them. He is a member of the Greatest Generation. He served aboard the USS Intrepid, a carrier, and was involved in a number of battles in the Pacific. They were hit by a kamikaze plane and he still has several pieces of the plane. He married my Aunt, raised two kids, lost his wife and daughter too soon and, from all evidence, lived a typical, hard working life that was the hallmark of his generation. There is so much more that I could write, but I don't want to make this an obituary. He is still with us, though his memory is very foggy. It seems such a shame that a person so often lives, loves, does the best that he can and looses it all in the end. I guess the blessing is, that he doesn't miss what he cannot remember. Still seems like a big gyp.

Havin' A Blast

I sandblasted the glass today. Not without some drama. First, my compressor conked out a few weeks ago. I got real lucky and found a new pump on Craigslist for 55 bucks. Its a 3 cylinder 2 stage unit, brand new Speedair. It probably retailed for 300 dollars. I installed it and it worked great. Then, the other day, the pressure switch went south. So, I treked down to Grainger yesterday and picked up a new one. All went well, so it's finally time to blast. The entire thing took about 15 minutes. After I peeled off the foil tape and wiped it down, I stuck it in the door for a look see. Not too bad.

I just about finished this pantry door today. The upper part will get a frosted glass window. I will try to frost it myself with my sandblaster and some tape to mask off the word, "PANTRY". After some research, it seems HVAC foil tape works well as a sandblast resist. Stay tuned for a follow up tutorial on glass frosting or on how to ruin a 40 dollar pane of glass. You can see the old cabinets to the left and where I have removed some of the tile. They are getting pretty shabby and it will be a relief to finally haul the last of it to the landfill. The next phase will probably be the removal of this cabinet and building the new one up to the stove. Once the old one is out, I can install the drywall on the outside of the pantry and get it all buttoned up. We will then be faced with buying a new range. That will be the most expensive part of the remodel, unless I screw up and burn the house down.

In Memory Of A Bluesman

As I posted last month, I lost my brother, Jeff. His daughter, Jill, had him cremated and is going to keep his ashes at home. In September of 2010, I posted a story of how I had built a cigar box guitar for him. It did not play, but it taught me a few things. Last year, I built another one and it played very nicely. He had it with him, in his truck, the morning that Jill found him. When we cleaned out his house, we found 15 guitars, including several Dobros and some other, rather expensive, instruments. Yet, on the day that he died, he had a simple, homemade, guitar on the seat next to him. Jill decided that his ashes should go inside of the cigar box guitar, I have been given the privilege of designing and building something suitable to display it. After some thinking and some internet browsing, I decided to mount the guitar using a burl as the base. Not wanting to trust someone's idea of what I want, I decided to drive 180 miles to Borrego Springs to choose the right piece for my project. It was, especially bittersweet since we used to camp there, at Thanksgiving, with my cousin, who I also lost last year. After rummaging through a huge pile of manzanita burls, this one almost spoke to me. My initial plan was to face off an area below the guitar to inscribe his name and so forth, but I was afraid that there would be too many fissures and other divots to leave a nice large flat area, so I decided to mount the burl on a walnut base instead and have the base laser engraved. I think it is a nice tribute to a simple bluesman. Rest in peace, my Brother. I will miss you and cherish your memory for the rest of my life

This Is How I Roll

The plan, for the area next to the fridge, is for a small wall desk. We had one, that my Dad built over 50 years ago, but it did not fit into the look that I am after. It was passed down to my brother who will be the new steward of the heirloom. I decided that I wanted a roll top desk. It was a challenging project, but I think it turned out rather well. I found a set of plans online and I modified them to suit the space. It is quite a bit narrower than the one in the plans and has no lower portion, or kneehole. It will get a lower drawer, later on, when I build the cabinets for the rest of the kitchen. I haven't decided on the design for the faces or the style of knobs, so it will have to wait.

Elements Of A Periodic Table

I made the, temporary, counter top today. Just a piece of 3/4" plywood with 2X4 Douglas fir screwed to the perimeter. I didn't glue it, since I will want to take it apart later to reuse the ply. Even though it is temporary, I had to dress it up a little. I rounded the corners with the router. I will, probably, put a coat of paint on it just to dress it up and so it can be wiped off when I slobber spaghetti sauce all over it. It is sitting 1 1/2" lower than the actual one will sit. I need to add another 2X4 down the center, where it rests on the steel beam. Something to do tomorrow. I still need to pull some new wires to move the kitchen light switch from it's current position, above the new counter, to the other side of the room. I can then cover the exposed studs, steel and wiring with new drywall. Some might like the rustic exposed beam look, but it doesn't work well with walls.

Tupperware Party

I finished the shelves and installed them a few days ago. I made them from 3/4 plywood and edged them with some red oak and covered the surfaces with Formica.They turned out pretty nice, I think. Wifey likes them so that's all that matters. The pantry, as it sits now, is in no way organized. I piled a bunch of stuff that was stored under the old breakfast bar because I had no place to put it. We need to sort through it and streamline our operation. We have enough Tupperware and other plastic storage containers to fill 4 or 5 refrigerators. She is also compelled to save all of those disposable containers that people give you when they insist you take leftovers home. There are two drawers full of more of the stuff, still to be dealt with, as well as more overflow in the garage storage closets. I realize now that we are typical and why these rental storage facilities are everywhere. Americans have too much stuff and we are unwilling to part with any of it. We would rather pay a hundred bucks a month to store a few old lamps, a bed frame and a set of worn out tires than to toss the crap out. Every little knick knack has some perceived value and must be saved, even though it's been stashed away and unseen for 40 years. Our house needs a high colonic.