Stepped out for the rike and smelled rain.  Augtember?  Nahhh.

Those Sactocians get all the enjoyable rainstorms.

Yah – about 100 northeast.  We were cheated again.

As I riked 190 minutes last week, I’m due for 200 this week.  Spread over 5 sessions, that’s 40 minutes each.  Seems impossible, and yet today, put in a solid 50 minutes, so I’m ahead 10 minutes on plan.  Had to cinch in the weight belt an inch.  Good.

Also Good – end game on The Tantalus.  Today’s efforts were to attach the feet, then tung oilorama.  These where the Feet of Uncertainty yesterslack became today the Feet Of Okayness. Sort of.

Tantalus base with feet – elephant feet? – but curve, square, curve from bottom up. Yes?

Was going to screw them to the underside of the Tantalus trim, but Waidaminutt, ya Yutz.  Just nail them on.  In the time it would have taken just to drill the pilot holes in the feet I busted out the nail gun and had them all on.

To Tung.  It’ll take at least three coats and depending upon how much gleam I want, maybe five or six.  Tung oil is the finest finish of which I know.  And easy.  Wipe on, let sit, wipe off excess, let dry, light steel wooling, and then repeat.

Not enough router bits? Here’s, it’s like hats, an acquisition sickness…

Now, since I’ve two more ½” shank router bits headed my way outta MLCS and the current router bit storage bivvie is at capacity, clearly I need another storage container.  And as I need practice in the type of clinch joint I used on the Tantalus, I’ll knock out some redwood and make a box.

Split some scavenged joists, planed down, then cut the clinch joints – should the Colton Hall Donation Pedestal Job come to pass, this will be the technique by which I’ll craft the drawer, so this is a good tune up.  Kerfed for a ply floor insert, then glued, assembled and clamped.  For a roof, cadged some ¼” birch ply, rabbeted the periphery, and then inset

Here’s the new router bit box in glue up; those clinch joints work just as well for drawers as they do for boxes.

the ply with glue and clamp.  A fine morning’s effort which took all afternoon.

TDAY –

After rike, had a busy morning, the contemplation of which ruined what little sleep I didn’t get…

Slipped into Trader Brews for the post-holiday, early week O’boom rations, thence to PC People, heavily populated this 0940 on a Tuesday so much so that I had the Second Team field my DOA.  Lefty promised nothing, save that I was next in the queue for to examine my non-boot box.

Hours before my rendezvous with Char on the Western Red Cedar (WRC), so homeslice for brunch and a thorough examination of my whistling through the dark situation.

Such as it is hasn’t me dropping $100 for cedar.

Yet I did.

And was glad; it’s beautiful plank, so handsome I ought to share it with Wildman.

He’s home and glad for the visit.  Likes the cedar enough to fork me four fins for a piece of it.

Figure if I can offload 24 Bf to Tom Long can make the deal pay me to have fine wood.

Long not at HomeTek, I’ll try again, later.

MIDWEEKDAY –

As it’s Wday, it’s a day off from the riking, and fine that it is.  A day off from training is just as important as the days on.  Now that I actually HAVE days on…

To The Dump – The Toxic table delivers Goo Gone in Navy quantities but more significantly, a tiny tin of shellac.  Long needed and still so.

Grocery Cheaplet serves up civet cat livers, Jane Fonda Pork-out VHS tapes, pizza yogurt, and sorghum jerky.

Kanob Hill delivers on the cheap gracknoids and tasteless grapes – where do we send the good grapes?  Chile?

Spin out Asilomar way, but Tom Long not in Shop and so cannot shop cedar

After the usual grilled muskrat flank steak and swamp cabbage, work some finesse on the Tantalus via lavish smearings of tung oil.

Waste precious emotional and physical capital on new router box, which merits the name ‘box’ in the way that Obama merits the title of POTUS.

Just as I was about to clamp my head in the vise, The Prof shows with Guinness, I mean medication, and all seems better.

Waugh.

FDAY –

Just like it reads.

But not.  Sufficient wherewithal for T Joe’s, thence to PC People.  No, I wasn’t called.  Jackanapes say’s he’s still turning the thing on and off and on an off trying to duplicate my avowed non-boot symptoms.  Say’s the hardware checks out okay.  Maybe I don’t want to wait.  Maybe I don’t.  Expecting a million dollar charge for solving nothing, I’m delivered the bill: $21.25.

Life – it’s uncertain.  No fix for the problem PC People couldn’t find; no less worry.

Once more out to Asilomar to find Mr. Tom Long not there and so not buying my Western Red Cedar.  On the way homeslice slip into The Prof’s where I admire his new gates and other physical plant improvements.  And bonus Gnuuggies dog scratchings.

Back to the Slackule for brunch, then down the grapevine to The Shop for another coat of tung on the Tantalus.

From here, it’s into Creation Mode – meld WRC with aromatic cedar (AC) – we’ll call it the Cedar Squared Project.

Don’t know if I’m going to like it either – let’s take a chance.

Proto-parts of the Cedar Squared Project – captivating smells.

Rip out box forms which are kerfed slats of WRC the kerf of which will assimilate the thin slabs of AC.

UPS arrives – HEY!  The replacement planer knives are in, so too the ½” and ¾” radius roundover bits from MLCS!

And into the mix comes The Prof with redwood to be kerfed for his new gate.  And so it is, and so we stand down and bev up after our (un) considerable effort doing so.

You?

TDAY –

Time out on the rike, even though the final effort of the calendar week was scheduled, knee needs the day off, and so it was.

Tantalus Time In, as in time to finish it.  It’s got four coats of tung oil, which is enough once the lemon oil polish when on.  Now, attach the lid to base with the hinge.

AIIIEEEE!  Not only is the hinge mortise 2mm too deep, but the lid is out of alignment with the base by the same amount.

Wrong holes filled with toothpicks; the new holes will be 2mm this side once the toothpick is cut flush.

Fixes: Remove the hinge from the deeper of the two mortisii, which was the lid and insert a compensatory sliver of wood; and then move the hinge holes by 2 mm in the direction of Aldebaran.  You cram a toothpick into the errant hole, then re-drill the new ones.  And By All The Gods, it worked!

Now, time for the glam shots and done!

Postmortem:

Successes – the feel of the resultant piece is close to my initial vision, that of recreating the vibe of an 18^th Century Apothecary Box.  The end-grain rounding on the corners turned out to look better than I could have hoped.  And the angled meet line between the lid and the base, while suffering from flaws in the cherry, was a positive learning experience.

Tantalus – it gives no hint of the joys within.

Failures – I wouldn’t use redwood for the top trim again, nor would I nail the trim on.  I wouldn’t use a continuous hinge and wouldn’t mortise the entire length of the back of the box.

I’ll give myself a C+ overall.

It being late in the afternoon, had no mojo left for the nascent Cedar Squared Project, but just enough suave to drill out the false floor for the new ½” router bit case so to accommodate – with room to spare – the growing collection of whirling finger manglers.

Tantalus? This recreation of a 18th Century home libation station takes its name from the tragic Greek eternally condemned to suffer want. You need not.