Mesquite footstool: udpdate

Well, I finished the footstool yesterday and put the first coat of finish on it. I'm sitting in the living room right now with my feet propped up on it, with the faint aroma of oil and turp wafting up.

The mortise and tenon joinery was very difficult, and I can't say that my results turned out all that well. In fact, one leg has a big split in it from the wedged tenon. However, I've repaired it and because it is under the top surface, it isn't at all noticeable to the causal observer. You can certainly fix a lot with pva glue and wood dust.

I'm a terrible woodworker--all misses and slips on my hand work. I love it so, though.

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mesquite footstool

Went to Acacia Hardwoods today and picked out a very pretty plank of mesquite to make the footstool. Lost of very pretty figure. Started in on the project this afternoon, thinking I'd just get my jigs made and quit. However, the jigs went quickly, so I went ahead and cut out all the pieces and drilling the holes for the mortises. I've chopped three of 10 mortises, and hope to finish the other in the morning. Then It's just a matter of cutting the tenons.

I've never had much luck at cutting things like dovetails and mortises and tenons--no matter how careful I try to be, they always end up looking like crap. However, you don't get better unless you keep doing it, so I guess that's what I'm doing with this project.
the first two look pretty wretched, but the third looks better. aybe by the time I get to 10, I'll make a decent one.

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I need to make something

I have a free-ish weekend coming up, so I may spend part of it in the shop. Now that the new bent-shaft is finished, I feel like I'm at loose ends--not because I have nothing to do (that certainly isn't the case). I just feel like I need to get out to the shop and clear my head.

I have a straight-shaft WRC paddle that is partly carved, so I should go ahead and finish that this weekend. I'm also thinking about making a simple footrest for the new chair we bought last week. Right now I'm using the volume 2 of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary for a place for my feet, which is ironically appropriate for an academic, but probably not good for the long-term health of the tome.

The footrest I'm thinking about building is one designed by Mario Rodriguez and written up in FW. I might go down to Acacia and pick out some scrap there, or laminate some scraps around the shop to make a board wide enough.

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Letting it cure

After I glassed the blade and put a second coat of epoxy on it, I sanded it down and put three coats of varnish on the blade, lightly sanding between coats. I've also put about six or seven coats (I lost count) of a wipe-on oil finish with a mix of 1:1:1 turpentine, boiled linseed oil, and spar varnish. Now I've brought it into the house to finish curing. The canoe trip is in six weeks, so hopefully it will be ready by then.

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Trimming the paddle

I went out to the shop early this morning and trimmed the excess fiberglass from the blade. I hung it up to finish curing for a few days. On Friday I'll sand everything down and start putting the varnish on the blade. I may go ahead and mix up a batch of the oil finish and start wiping it on the shaft and grip, however.

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News

In paddlemaking news, I wound up with some large bubbles under the glass after the first coat of epoxy. I shaved off the tops of the bubbles and sanded them down with 240 grit sandpaper. After I floated the second coat of epoxy on, they became virtually invisible.

It feels good to be able to fix something, even if it isn't anything all that important.

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Saturday in the Shop

Yesterday was a long, stressful day, and I'm exhausted from too little sleep and worrying about problems I can't fix. So today I'm headed to the shop for a little soul-restoration.

I want to sand down the glassed front face before it cures too much more, after which I'll glass the power face.

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