I'll just have to ignore the gaps in the journal, and put them down to paradox: the weight of missed entries simply suffocates attempts to bring things up-to-date. The more days unrecorded, the more the feeling of pointlessness about this venture.
So a very brief account of larger projects in hand since returning from Scotland:
Outdoor dining table and benches:
After some amiable back-and-forthing with a determined client, her original vision of a large (10' x 5') bleached-wood outdoor table with benches, incorporating panels of exposed aggregate concrete, was agreed upon. The structural wood is to be Teak (quite a lot of it), left unfinished to (hopefully) whiten or silver gracefully with age.
The major design problem was how to attach the legs under the concrete and wood top without using a conventional skirt morticed & tenoned into the legs; the appearance had to be that of a single slab resting on four fairly massive square legs.
This is well underway,and yesterday I glued up the "underframe", which is essentially a frame within a frame. This holds the legs (to be attached today) as well as providing a supporting framework for the six concrete panels which make up the top.
The 2x6 teak boards from the stack (visible at rear) are lined up for leg selection. The straightest boards will be left for the sides of the table. Legs are to be 6x6 before finishing, made of three 2" laminations.
Leg laminations selected & cut
Gluing up with epoxy. The teak (following Ernest Joyce) is freshly jointed and has been washed with acetone just before gluing. The temperature in the shop was a bit borderline, so a heater has been employed under the "tent".
Assembling the underframe, which is screwed and glued.
Rebuilding the Aging Toyota:
The '89 Toyota pickup used to be the nicest and newest vehicle I'd ever owned, even if we did acquire it when it was no longer in its first youth. An unfortunate failure to set the hand-brake caused it to disappear one windy night from its normal parking spot by the woodshed. We found it in the morning at the foot of the hill, buried in an alder thicket, with its back end very much the worse for wear. ICBC (the Provincial Insurance company) was understandably reluctant to provide a new box, but did stump up for a used one, which was artfully resprayed and doctored to look quite respectable for a few years, but for some time has looked.....well.....disgraceful.
There seemed to be a bit of time after coming back from our trip, so Greg and I ripped the rusting box from the frame, thus forcing me to make a new one:
A sad sight.
Definite signs of improvement.