In prior tables I’ve made, the legs simply taper which is perfectly fine. But, I was looking for something with a little more interest and complexity. One of my influences was a display table by David Marks, and so I set out to make a leg along those lines, but appropriate for supporting a very heavy dining table.

Let’s show a picture to get a better idea of what’s going on:

On the far left is a template made from 1/8” hardboard. I drew out the curve using some simple guides and tweaked it as needed. After honing it with sandpaper, I made a master template out of 1/2” MDF (2nd from left). This master is what was used to trace all of the legs. Each template is a projection of the curve in one dimension.

In the middle is a sample leg made out of cheap pine. This makes it easier to visualize what the leg will look like and it’s a very valuable step. In fact, this set of legs is the 2nd set I made. I had an earlier design, but once I got to the sample stage, I decided that it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. So, I started over without wasting any good lumber.

To make the leg, you take a block of wood that the leg can be cut from (2nd from right). Now, finding a block of walnut 3” x 3” would cost a fortune (if it could be found). This blank is actually 3 1” thick pieces of walnut face glued together. Even so, each leg cost about $40 in raw materials (whereas the pine leg in the middle cost about $2).

To curve the leg in two directions, you first trace the template on one face. Then on an adjacent face, you flip the template and trace it again. Then, you cut along both traces and when you’re done, you get a leg that curves in two directions (far right). After some scraping and sanding, the leg is ready for joinery.

The goal is simple: create a table for the dining room that facilitates eating and gathering - not just holding junk. We’ve currently got a card table that is excellent at holding said junk. Not so good at the eating, though. Ideally we’d like to seat 8 comfortably and 10 under duress. It must have a design which sets it apart from the typical items you’d purchase at a furniture store. Oh, and it must be awesome. Here is a drawing of what the table should look like once it is complete:

So how far along are we? We’re doing great for the timeline given (it must be done by Thanksgiving). The table boards are cut, leg templates are cut, aprons are cut, and we’re getting close to putting things together.

The main design points are the ratio of width to length, the under bevel, and the curved legs. The ratio is similar to a foyer table I built that we really like. The under bevel is meant to help keep the table feeling light (too many tables out there feel too “heavy” in my opinion). The curved legs are meant to give the table a feminine quality and aid in the lightness. It also shows a growth in my skills as a woodworker (or that I bought more tools) as compared to earlier pieces.

Here’s where it all started.

Picking out boards at Owl Hardwoods in Lombard.

Old trees become new furniture.

Stay Tuned!

Now, I figured I would crank this project out in no time since the 1/2 bath is the smallest room in the house. I had never painted a bathroom before, so I didn’t know about all of the nooks and crannies involved. I practically had to stand on my head a couple of times to get the job done. And… okay, I probably whined a little throughout the process too. After the base coat dried, I mixed the color caramelized orange (again by Behr) with their glaze base and then applied it by scrunching up a rag and dabbing it on the wall. I’m not sure if my method was considered ragging or colorwashing, but whatever it was, it took awhile:

Things were looking pretty orange in there after I was finished and I almost panicked that I would have an Illini themed bathroom, which is not what I was going for. The next day after everything had dried and I had given my poor claw-like hands a rest, I went back to work and applied the final Behr color, crispy gingersnap, which had also been mixed with the glaze, using the same rag method. I’ll be honest, this color looked a little unappealing on its own, but it really helped tone down the orange I had already used. Here is the final result:

The color ended up being a little more intense than I had originally envisioned, but I really like the end result. Which is a good thing, because I won’t be doing any more painting for a long time.

Challenged me? I’ve never been challenged before. What does this mean? Am I about to get schooled at Guitar Hero in front of a crowd of people, some of whom I know and work with? I hope she doesn’t want to play “Cult of Personality,” because I will lose.

I immediately start my anti-smack talk. Like, “This isn’t fair. I have a job to go to during the day. She’s got all summer vacation to practice.” (true) Or, “I don’t even have this version of the game at home.” (also true) Or, “I’m sight reading here!” (false) Then it was, “Let’s even the playing field and give her 6 beers first.”

Okay, I don’t really advocate giving a 12 year old 6 beers. But, it would’ve been more fair.

So, the game starts. Luckily we’ve picked a song that I can get through.  I’m concentrating as hard as I can. I’ve never been so nervous playing the game. In the background, I hear K shout, “D, if you lose I’m leaving and taking the dog with me.” Or maybe that was just my imagination. Either way, I can’t lose or I’ll never live it down.

Things seem pretty evenly matched. I’m impressed. We’ve all seen the 6 year old on YouTube playing on Expert while not looking. I’m glad it wasn’t that kid. Instead, it was just your average 12 year old girl who is awesome at GH3. Maybe we could’ve given her just 1 beer?

Finally, the song’s over. I look up to see I’ve scored 171,000 and my competition is at 99,000!!!  I WON!! I AM THE CHAMPION!! I AM THE CHAMP-ION!!  Which is, of course, the worst way to win. “Great. You beat a 12 year old girl. Way to go!” I mean, you can’t impress your wife with that.

We also spent a day at the beach which gave me my first sunburn - I mean, tan- of the summer. And don’t even try to lecture me about wearing sunblock. Trust me, I use plenty of sunblock. Some of us (me) will burn no matter how much SPF we are wearing, unless we spend the entire time at the beach camped out in the shade (which I have done before). Others of us (my husband) select their sun “protection” (I’m using quotes because can you really consider SPF 5 to be protection?) based on which one smells like coconut. But, I digress.  

On Thursday, I rented a car and headed to Orlando. D had secured a ticket for me to the big party that is always held on the last night of this convention. Most of Universal Studios was shut down for the party and everything was free. Food, drinks, rides, games. It’s a crazy experience to walk around a theme park and have people standing on every corner handing out chips, M&Ms, cotton candy, and turkey legs for free when normally each of the aforementioned items would run you about $8. D and his friend Tim took full advantage of every beer stand we passed. I think it improved their hand-eye coordination.

The next day, we headed to D’s parents’ house in North Ft. Myers. Highlights of our visit included a round of golf for D and his dad, a shopping trip for me and D’s mom, a fiercely competitive card game with two of D’s neices, an almost dance performance by his other niece (how about now, Kelley? ), a golf cart ride, a trip to the pool (aka sunburn #2), and dinner at D’s sister’s house. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of any of these highlights because for some reason I stopped taking pictures after Thursday. So, instead I will leave you with a picture of us on the golf cart during last year’s trip.

�

A few years ago, I was mowing the lawn and hit the water main in the front yard. The lawn stayed dry, but the mower blade was horribly twisted. After giving Lowe’s some money, I got a new blade, installed it, and finished mowing the lawn. Remember, this was years ago. This past week, I took a close look at my grass and saw that the tips weren’t neatly chopped. These frayed grass tips definitely make the lawn look a little dry. I figured that the blade wasn’t sharp and needed to be tuned up.

I took the blade down to the workshop and ground the cutting edge down until it was sharp. I thought it was weird that there was no paint missing off the cutting edge and it didn’t really look that dull. Whatever. While I was putting it back on, I made sure to put the blade on exactly as it had been before. Then, I dragged K out to take a look at the blade while I pulled the cord to make sure it was going clockwise (the direction of the cutting edge).

“No. It’s going the other direction.”

“Counter-clockwise?”

“Yep.”

-silence-

I had put the blade on upside down years ago. For years I’ve not been cutting the grass, I’ve been blunting it to death. No wonder the grass had frayed ends. After turning the blade right-side up, I gave it a test cut and immediately noticed a difference. And then…..

BANG!!!

Something hit the blade. I turned the mower upside down and found that a piece of metal that connects the blade to the deck had broken off and hit the spinning blade - and nicked it in the process. Now I need to get a new part AND resharpen the blade. Oh, well. At least it’s spinning in the right direction now.