This is the first in a series of four - one for each of the Ocean Starr's prints. Here it's just laying on it's designated print for this photo. It still needs a couple more coats of shellac, and I havent quite figured out how I'm going to mount the art or glass. This frame is designed around this particular print, for it's flowery, country sort of feel.

I'll try to do a frame each week. Each will be unique to one of the four prints. The prints are by Ocean Starr. I just do the wood. 

Well, I haven't heard back from the client about the table. Lesson learned, sometimes my best just ain't good enough. Actually, I did hear back briefly. She called and left a message that she is back and would like to discuss options and pricing. I returned the call three times and left messages acknowleding that I got the message and will be home evenings after seven, but have yet to hear from her again. Oh well. I can't deal with poor communication. I offered to do the project for $3500 - a substantial discound just so I could put the project in my portfolio. But that deal is expired. It's a $6500 table and that's what it will cost if she decides to call agian.

That aside, I got a call from another 'potential' client, who want's a custome book shelf cabinet for a small nook. The nook is only 2 inches deep so, obviously, the case will protrude. They (young couple) want doors in the bottom, a slight counter, and shelves above it. Here's what I came up with...

Click on the image for a larger view. The lower part is only 12 inches deep, and the shelves 8 inches. The nook extends to just below the crown molding, but I extended the cabinet to the ceiling and wrapped the crown, to give it the look of having always been there. The finish will be paint - primed then 3 coats of satin oil enamel, sprayed.

I talked to the client earlier today and showed him the drawing shown above. It's a $3000 cabinet, primed, and another $500 to paint it. From our conversation I feel that this one is really going to happen. The bulk of the construction will take place in my work shop, the installation involving stacking the three prefabbed units (oh, it's in three units) and trimming it out. If they opt to have me do the painting, I will do the first couple of coats in the shop, and the final coat after installation.

On another note, I'm concerned about my bestest friend in Bekasi. Her dad had a stroke and I haven't heard from her in a while. I know internet is difficult to access there, and I'm hoping that's why. So Parrot, if you're reading this, drop me an email and tell me what's going on! =]P

I'm enjoying the holiday weekend and will take a little time to go by the hardwood store tomorrow to grab some zebrawood for a little project of my own. I'll post photos when it's done. I'm sure you'll all enjoy this one.

Oh, and winter is over, at least in my mind. So I chopped off my beard. I like change in small doses.

Peace!

I deleted most of the text from the previous entry as it was so negative, and that's not what I need in my life right now (or ever for that matter). Suffice to say I didn't take turning 49 very well. But enough about that. Please refrain from encouraging comments of wisdom. I don't want to hear it and it's the very reason I didn't allow comments for that entry. That said...

I jumped back on my feet in short time and commited to doing only woodworking. Those of you who follow my blog probably saw this coming for some time now. I moved my website to a new address - www.aworkofwood.com - and added a personal message to all the visitors that I am now a woodworker. I also dumped a couple of thousand into woodworking tools and have yet to dump a few thousand more over the next couple of months. Then I copy/pasted my website directly into an add at chicago.craigslist.org and waited for the phone to ring, as I continued working on the woodworking project I'm currently involved with. Here's a picture of it from a couple of weeks ago.

The project is actually a lot farther along than this. The doors are installed and the upper doors are trimmed for a perfect fit. I'll get a more up to date photo later and post it. I built this unit using solid maple combined with birch faced plywood. It's to get painted and maple will provide a durable yet smooth finish.

It's taking a long time because it's a learning process, but it's allowing me to cover most of the bases I haven't had the opportunity to experience before now, such as mortise and tenon joinery, and perfect fitting flush doors.

I used my website as the add in CraigsList and, until yesterday, I pretty much gave up on expecting a flood of business. But then I got a call from a fellow named Dimitri, who lives in a subdivision in Glenview - one of the North Shore suburbs where I've been wanting to get a foothold since working for the stair company a couple of years ago. He had a guy build some shelving units and a matching desk for his home office, but the guy had a family emergency and couldn't complete the project. Yet to be done are some simple shelves for the cabinets, the drawers for the desk, and a few miscelaneous details. The guy did decent work - not quite up to my high standards, but the customer is happy and that's what's most important. I have to get back to Dimitri with a price to finish the project and I plan on landing this one for sure. What makes this an especailly good thing is that I can tell the customer is the type who will refer me to a lot more business - just something I've learned to tell in my couple of decades dealing with people in a business environment.

Today I recieved another call as a result of my ad at CraigsList - a general contractor who does a lot of North Shore work. I haven't returned his call yet because I like to think these things through before making initial contact. But the project he's inquiring about is to build a custom bathroom vanity cabinet. He will also need other custom projects for other of his clients, but coming from a general contractor, I consider that to be a carrot on a stick. Yes, there may be more work on the horizon, or maybe he just wan't a special price with the possibility of more work in the future. I'm not going to play the carrot on a stick game, but at the same time, I do want to make sure he's happy with my work. Hmmmm... Just thinking aloud.

Here's some of the tools I bought...

Shop Fox 6" Joiner (extended for long lumber)

Bosch 10" Table Saw with Gravity Rise Stand

Fein MultiMaster for detail work

Porter Cable Biscuit Joiner for doing...

this..

and this..

and this..

I made 3 of these big boards for the top of the lower cabinets, the back panel between the upper and lower cabinets, and the bottom of the upper cabinets.

I'm not a painter and I'm not an electrician. I'm not a plumber or a roofer or a mason. I can do all of these things and I can do them well, but every single time I wander from my true calling I end up regretting it. Something always goes wrong. I AM A CARPENTER/WOODWORKER!

Oh sorry, didn't mean to yell in your ear. It was my ear I'm trying to yell into. Yet again I strayed from what I do best and tried something of which I have no experience, and yet again I am regretting it. I won't elaborate, except to say that I'm tired. I wouldn't mind so much if it was my own home. If it was my own home I would just shrug it off an say to myself "Okay, so it's taking a little longer than I expected. No big deal. My home will be all the better for it." However, it's not my home. It's somebody else's home and what was supposed to take 3 days is now 2 weeks and climbing.

I can hardly believe how courteous and supportive they've been. When we saw it was going to take a lot, lot longer than I estimated, we agreed to lock in a price. I'm covered for the first week, but the rest is time out of my pocket. The sanding was finished. Time to apply the first coat of stain. I couldn't find the Minwax Pickled Oak stain that made the wood accept the Minwax Honey Pine tinted varnish just the right way, so I bought a different brand. "It's pickling stain..." I thunk to myself, "how much difference can there be?" The answer is.........

A LOT!

The other brand of pickling stain is a better quality. I don't remember the brand off the top of my fumigated head at this time, but it cost more than the Minwax would have and it covered the wood in a much different way. But the thing is, there is no way I would have known this because the Minwax disappeared into the wood as it dried, which took several hours. So I managed to apply this other brand of stain to a substantial amount of the freshly sanded wood before realizing it wasn't drying quite the same. It wasn't disappearing into the wood the way the Minwax did.

Note: The technique is to apply the stain and wipe it off immediately so it's just enough to seal the wood. The Minwax Pickled Oak stain is the only product I could find that didn't darken the wood. Wood sealer darkened the wood, as did every other type of stain and/or varnish I tried. So, the Minwax Pickled Oak wood stain was not so much to stain the wood as it was being to seal the wood while keeping it light before applying the tinted varnish.

Long story short, I have to re-sand about 20% of the wall. That's not a whole lot, especially considering  that it's not the tough-as-nails finish I originally sanded off. It will take a couple of hours to get it back to raw wood. It's not the extra work that bothers me, nor is it the $45 I paid for the gallon of stain which I have no idea when or if I'll ever have a use for it. What's getting to me is the fact that I have to face the more than reasonable customers yet again and tell them there's yet another slight delay. It's humiliating, and I'm tired.

On a brighter note, I have a best friend who makes it all worth while. Rock on Black Parrot!

I figured I could sand the finish off this paneling in 3 days. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I'm still not done. What the heck was I thinking ?!?!

I don't know what this finish is, but it's hard as granite and it dulls the sanding disks as quick as I keep changing them, and I'm using #50 grit! (that's really course for those who don't know) Apparently the original finish consisted of a white stain to brighten the wood, covered by the stain that gives it the finished color. Well, the white stain leaves residue in the grain of the wood which is almost impossible to get out with sanding alone. However, I tried using denatured alcohol and it doesn't seem to work any better, except that it makes my head spin and I'm concerned about working right next to the utility room, where the furnace is located. Can you say "Boom!"? So, sanding is the least life threatening and the way I'm doing it. Also, while #50 grit sanding disks are okay for ripping the bulk of the finish off, I don't want to tear up the surface of the wood. Thus, I stepped it up to #80 grit disks for removing the white residue from the grain.

Here's a photo of me sanding the wood.

Oh... bullfeathers. They're still doing maintenance. Nothing seems to be going right lately.

If I could upload the photos you would see that the wood under the old finish is mahogony, which is a relatively dark wood. Also, almost any stain or conditioner or anything wet that touches the wood makes it a whole lot darker. The client wants a light colored finish. Oh well... one day I'll call this a learning experience. Right now I just call it a royal pain in the butt! But I'm still happy to be alive and well.

No, it didn't take me this long just to install the fixtures. I've been doing a lot of other stuff too, but anyway... The sink is new and the toilet is the original. I replaced the hardware inside the toilet and the flush handle matches the faucet and handles on the sink.

If you look close, you'll notice the sink doesn't have a drain. I'm still waiting for that part. The owner ordered a heavy duty p-trap so he won't have to replace it in 3 to 5 years, as so often happens with the flimsy stuff you buy at the big-box home centers.

I cleaned up the radiator and spray painted it silver. Now it resides in the comfy little nook I created for it. Another part I'm waiting for is the towel bar, which will be mounted right above the radiator. Take a shower when the heat is on and step out to a nice warm towel!

I'm still waiting for the light fixture for above the medicine cabinet, the thresholds (or door saddles as they're called in some areas), the shower curtain bar and other items. Hopefully I'll get them this weekend.