live edge trestle table part 3

 

with a bit of imagination i can start to see how this table top wil finish out. the cracks will be epoxy filled and the finish will make all of those beautiful grains and colors pop out at you.

  before filling the cracks with epoxy, we had to seal the bottom of the cracks. if we didn't, then the epoxy go in one side and out the other. to seal the cracks we mixed wood shavings from the grinding and planing process with some wood glue.
  we took the wood glue and shavings mix and stuff the bottom cracks
this was just enough to seal the bottom so that when we pour the epoxy further down the line, everything sets perfectly

remember this guy? i posted this pic in part 1. this is a walnut crotch.

 

I took the planar to this just to see what was under that rough brown exterior.

  holy smokes look at how beautiful this walnut is! even without finish i can see an array of beautiful colors and grains in this wood. these legs are going to be amazing.

a close up of the freshly planed walnut crotch.  link to part 4

live edge trestle table part 2

after envisioning how amazing the finished product would be, and going through any other possibilities that i may want to entertain with 4 massive pieces of beautiful wood it was time to get to work. the grinder was my first order of business.

i wanted to grind down all of the very high spots and open cracks that would give the hand planar too much difficulty.

once the high spots were ground down i took a straight piece of wood to assure the planar would be able to do what it does.

i used the electric hand planar, dad used his vintage planar. 

we cut the side that would be joined with a circular saw

 and inspected it intensely, no posing for the camera here... this is all real life!

and then we jointed the side that we cut. this heavy piece was a pain to joint, but having that precision edge is critical. the table top will be glued together at this seam, so the faces that are glued must be perfectly matched or the top will not be strong enough at the seam.

 this is how the table top pieces will come together.

projects like this take lots of planning, thinking, and problem solving. it's not uncommon for us to spend plenty of time just sitting around thinking, which is one of my favorite parts of working with wood.

link to part 3

live edge trestle table part 1

during the 2012 holiday dad and i went wood shopping. here's a picture of our bounty. four of those slabs will become a trestle style table/desk for me.

i've been fascinated with the "natural edge" aka "live edge" solid wood slabs for some time. i always admire when a restaurant has a huge slab for tables or a bar, and have wanted something of my own in that style. there's something amazing about a 2" thick slab of tree that's flat and perfectly smooth at the table top, but rough and still reminiscent of the tree that it came from around the edges.

working with slabs like this is very different than working with squared lumber like my other projects. some of the fundamental tricks and techniques of woodworking are no longer useable. this wood comes with tons of imperfections that would normally be unsightly or discarded, and instead is now coveted and showcased. these slabs are about 5 1/2 feet long and 1 1/2 feet wide each.

initially i'll be using this piece of furniture for my computer desk, which is just slightly smaller than this will finish out at. but the table will be big enough to function as a kitchen table in the future.

these two slabs of black oak will be the table top. they are book matched, meaning the two faces you see is where these two slabs used to be connected, thus the slightly mirrored image look. these weigh over 50 lbs. each

is it time for my closeup?

two of these walnut crotches will make the legs of the table. each one weighs about 45 lbs.

here's dad doing som rough calculations on the walnut crotches. this is the part of the tree that goes from trunk to branches

think think think...

link to part 2

fifty fifty me challenge: 2012 recap

in 2012 my friends started fiftyfifty.me, a collective group of book and movie lovers who set a challenge to read 50 books and watch 50 movies in the year of 2012. for perspective, one is a published author and the other is a literary agent, they live books. but yes, this is a challenge to read 1 book and watch one movie per week on average, with 2 weeks for vacation.

i don't know about you, but i cannot read a book in a week. in fact, a 2010 goal of mine was to read 1 book each month. i ended 2010 with 10 completed books, not bad. 50 movies on the other hand was child's play for me. i could rant for 1,000 words why i don't pay $70+ dollars a month for the ability to sit through cable tv's bullshit commercials, but i'll save my typing fingers. instead i watch things on netflix or via torrent primarily.

so how did i do this year?

first i will have to outline how i modified the 50/50 challenge to suit my handicap.  in order to help me attend more live music shows, and cushion the fact that i will never read a book a week for 50 weeks, i allowed one concert to take the place of one book. i also tracked television series, allowing for a complete season to equal one movie.

there was tons of discussion of what 'counts' and what doesn't, as well as ways to cheat or other loopholes. i guess humans are programmed to find and exploit any and all loopholes. but really, this just a personal challenge that a group of people have decided to do together. it's more like going on a sunday run, it's good for you and if you have friends along it will be more enjoyable.

onto the stats!!

movies:
i watched 77 movies. take these ratings with a grain of salt, on a different day or viewing it's very possible that movies would be graded a letter grade higher or lower.

i watched via:
movie theaters
airplanes
crackle - ipad app
itunes (rented via apple tv)
navi-x (jailbreak apple tv add-on)
netflix
torrent
youtube

the oldest movie i watched was released in 1984.

I rated the movies. here's some interesting figures
A: 20
B: 35
C: 16
D: 6
F: 0

tv series:
i watched 19 seasons of tv series. grades are much higher for these as they are a much larger time commitment and choosing them takes much more caution.


the oldest series i watched was released in 2001

A: 10
B: 4
C: 5
D: 0
F: 0

books:
i read four books. yes, pathetically i read only four books. three of them were the hunger games trilogy. 2012 was a bad year for reading. in april i started a book titled john dies at the end, and i'm still 1/2 way through it. i have now officially put it down to never pick up again. this is a skill i hope i've learned for 2013. when you don't vibe with a book, get rid of it. the other book i read is a top secret book that i am unable to disclose on a public forum like this blog.

concerts:
i went to 15 concerts. that's a bit over one a month, and i hope to exceed that in 2013.
A: 10
B: 3
C: 2

how did i do? i did pretty good, but could have done better. and i'm satisfied with that. i've learned that 21 of my movies were C or D rated, so maybe not so many movies in 2013. i also learned to put down bad books, don't fight it. i wish i had gone to more live music events, in 2012 i bought some -12db rated earplugs that i take everywhere. my friends are used to me wearing earplugs in the club too, it's funny if nothing else.

i'm proud that i was even able to track all of this stuff. i best share thanks to google docs.

-appendix-

movies: (title & year of release)

Life in a Day 2011
Marwencol 2010
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest  2011
Tiny Furniture   2010
No Strings Attached 2011
Year One 2009
The Notebook 2004
Drive 2011
The Warrior's Way 2010
Limitless 2011
In Time 2011
Rum diaries 2011
The Fighter 2010
The Descendants 2011
Hunger Games 2012
How Beer Saved The World 2011
Wrath of the Titans 2012
Jiro Dreams of Sushi 2012
Dream A Little Dream 1989
Blue Planet Ocean World 2001
Ironclad 2011
Tigers of the Snow 1997
Beer Wars 2009
Ghostbusters 1984
Religulous 2008
Empires of Industry: Brewed in America 2006
Everything must go 2010
Marley 2012
I need that record 2008
The avengers 2012
Eden of the east movie 1 2009
Young Adult 2011
Footloose 2011
The historic pubs of dublin 2008
The Golden Child 1986
Promethius 2012
The Good The Bad And The Weird 2008
Moonrise Kingdom 2012
thor 2011
fish tank 2009
Submarine 2010
the girlfriend experience 2009
The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Captain America 2011
Urbanized 2011
Premium Rush 2012
Fat, Sick, and nearly Dead 2010
Chronicle  2011
Tommy Boy 1995
Chronicle 2012
A Separation 2011
Melancholia 2011
Education INC 2010
New York I Love You 2009
Fixation 2012
Boomerang 1992
Senna 2012
Five Year Engagement 2012
Why Thin People Aren't Fat BBC Documentary 2012
Searching for Sugar Man       2012
High school 2010
9 2009
Alpha Dog 2006
Death By Design 1995
Battleship 2012
Freakonomics 2010
Katy Perry Documentary 2012
Liberal Arts 2012
God bless America 2011
Life of pi 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman 2012
Brave 2012
Presspauseplay 2011
Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap 2012
Hugo 2011
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 2011
Django 2012


tv series: (title & year of release)

Chobits 2002
Portlandia 2011
Shuffle! 2006
Burst Angel 2004
Fruits Basket 2001
Rosario + vampire 2008
Game of Thrones Season 1 2011
Game of Thrones Season 2 2012
Let's Big Happy 2012
Angel Beats 2010
Demon King Daimao 2012
Elfen Leid 2004
America: The Story of US 2010
Weeds: Season 7 2011
Breaking Bad: Season 5 2012
Samurai Champloo 2004
How Stuff Works 2008
Chappelle show Season 1 2003
Chappelle show Season 2 2004

live music: (performer & venue)

Euphorchestra Hotel Utah
Asteroid Galaxy Tour Independent
Aeroplane, Poolside, Cassian Mezzanine
Japan Nite Independent
Kings of House - Li'l Louie Vega, David Morales, Tony Humphries Mighty
The Magician Mezzanine
Mayer Hawthorn The Fillmore
Mayer Hawthorn DJ Set Public Works
The Family Crest Hannah's House
The Blank Tapes & Jesus and the Rabbis 50 Mason
Porter Robinson XS
Gui Boratto Mezzanine
Jason Mraz Berkeley Greek
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival SF GG Park
Not So Silent Night Oracle