Great day today and finally took some time after it warmed up and the snow melted to get out and play a bit. First things first though, a melting morning found me doing my morning dittly do chores and finding the cedar seeds I collected from the trees up front are doing more than sitting around, I’ve about 6 sprouts that I saw fit to move to mason jars of potting soil yesterday and figured I’d snap a pic today of one!
Look at him go! I honestly expected nothing but a bunch of moldy seeds given that I tossed them in an empty chew container with some moist paper and forgot about them for a few weeks. Hah the miracles of nature I suppose! Everything I have read about these guys tells me the chances are incredibly close to nihl to get sprouts let alone grow some baby trees but it gave me something to do and puts a smile on my face today so why not!
Now on to the day with the saws! I got the pleasure of dusting off the miter saw, my table saw, and my bandsaw again. Off hip I did three cutouts on the band saw: another different kind of cat, a dog holding a leash, and an alpaca. None of these have detail cut or burned in yet and are simply rough cuts but I’m not unhappy with how they came along given I used my craptastic art skills to try and trace and play with lines until things were semi agreeable.
I then let my random take over for a bit and did a “no plans” bench out of reclaimed fencing. I opted to use the posts for well, posts! And framed in with 2×4 doing two simple box frames for the bottom half. The rear posts are cut with a 15* angle on the bottoms to lean the back “just so” and I used a third 2×4 along the top of the rear posts to support the pickets making up the back.
My original intention was to use reclaimed fasteners but since I have yet to sort my buckets for straight nails / screws I used my trusty 16 gauge nailer and outdoor construction screws. 2 1/2″ nails were used alongside 2 1/2″ screws for framing (all at angles) and 1 1/2″ nails were used to fasten the pickets.
I’ve still yet to sand and maybe do some smoothing of the corners with my plane not to mention whatever finish I choose but given I jumped in with no plans and just an off hip idea… I’m pretty happy with it.
I’m thinking of doing some sort of cap to the rear posts and maybe adding a few slats on the lower box for a utility “shelf” but for a quick garden bench it’s quite comfortable at the angle I chose and the more I look at it the more I like it as a quick few hour project!
Tomorrow I have two appointments and will also be working on the ignition of my sweethearts van so it’s sure to be a busy and hectic day. I’m glad I had the thought of using today more to play. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of cursing and frustration in the future cutting the detail of the leash in doggo’s mouth as well as finishing out the rest of the pieces but hey, it keeps me busy!
.oO{The Conversational Onion}Oo.
Impromptu Woodworking Great day today and finally took some time after it warmed up and the snow melted to get out and play a bit.