Mean Green

I poured the counter top. Here is a pic of the backside. It came out a, sort of, minty green. Not what I had envisioned, but the more I look at it, the more I think, "Not too bad.". I finally removed it from the form today and it looks OK. There are some air bubbles, but they are easy to fix. There is one, rather large , divot that troubles me. We will have to see if it comes out during the grinding and polishing process. I found that, in spite of information to the contrary, that the correct, variable speed, water fed concrete grinder/polishers are not available at your local rental yard for a nominal fee. I thought everything online was supposed to be the truth. I guess I've been hornswoggled again. Went to Amazon and order up one. It was under 200 bucks and I can sell it when I'm done to recoup some of my money. The truth of the matter is, I'm an incurable tool junkie and will, almost certainly, keep it. There are some more concrete project that I have in mind after the kitchen is done. Maybe a patio table and a bench for the yard.

The Fix Is In

Well, I brazed up the busted mixer and it seems OK. The picture is of the back side of the joint. It is a bit sloppy looking, so I'll add some more brass later. Time to mix up another batch of green mud.

Catastrophic Failure

Today I was going to pour the first of the concrete counter tops, the small one to the right of the pantry. I bought a sheet of Melamine coated particle board and made the form. I bent up and tied the rebar, fileted the corners of the mold with silicone and leveled up the form. Everything is good. I dumped two bags of Quikrete counter top mix in the mixer and carefully measured the pigment to achieve the forest green color that I wanted. I wrapped a trash bag around the opening of the mixer and led the dry ingredients mix. After 3 or 4 minutes I added a few gallons of water and left the mixer running. As I was working in the shop. I noticed that I didn't hear the mixer running. Hmmmm.......sometimes the pulley loosens up and I have to tighten the set screw, so I grabbed an Allen wrench and went outside to fix it. I didn't need the Allen wrench. The yoke casting broke off next to the pivot and dumped the entire load onto the ground. Bummer!!! The mix was a total loss as it was contaminated with dirt, leaves and weeds. Tomorrow I will have to try to repair it. I don't want to buy another mixer. I don't want to rent one, either. I have never welded cast iron, but I have brazed it, so that is going to be the plan of attack. Stay tuned.

Something's Wrong With My Tape Measure

I began to hang the upper cabinet doors yesterday. All was going just fine until this........ I had taken measurements of all the openings. The door or doors, if there were going to be two, needed to be one inch larger, both width and length. Guess what? Oh well, there's no choice but to make them over. I can salvage the vertical stiles, so it's not a total loss. Once they're all up and dialed in, I'll take them down for sanding and finish. Again, these will be getting frosted glass panels to match the pantry door

Pipe Dreams

Last week, I installed the new faucet, garbage disposal and stainless steel sink. This required some, minor, re piping for the waste line and the dishwasher hookup as well as the faucet. This all went without any great fanfare or drama. The counter top will sit on top of the sink. Wifey was very clear about that. Top mount sinks do tend to allow water and "icky" stuff to seep under the rim.

Time To Put A Lid On Things

I finished the last cabinet today. There are still doors and drawer faces to be made. I cut all of the pieces for the upper doors today and will be assembling them tomorrow. Then I'll do the lowers and the drawer faces. The next phase will be the counter tops. These will be made of concrete. There are two reasons why I chose that over all of the other materials in common use. First, of course, is cost. Other than Formica, it is about the least expensive choice, much less than granite or marble. Since I will be pouring and finishing it myself, there is no labor cost. The other reason is appearance. When ground, polished and sealed it is every bit as pretty as stone. Since this is a little out of the ordinary, I will be taking quite a few pictures, as well as a video or two to document the experiment. I started the ball rolling by ordering the concrete pigment today.

Backed Myself Into A Corner

Today I finished the plumbing, for now. There will be some minor work to be done, once I have the new faucet. I decided it was time to drag the last of the cabinets up for a test fit. Voila....they fit. I have to take them back down to the shop to add a few more structural pieces and to apply the finish, but all systems are go. The small opening on the right side, under the sink, is how we used to access the stuff in the corner cabinet. Very poor design, which is why I moved the dishwasher and designed the pull out/sliding shelf cabinet that is shown in the "Black Hole" post. Much better. There is still one, small, cabinet that goes to the left of the dishwasher. I'll knock that out in a few hours. After that, It'll be drywall time, Yaaay, just love all that dust.