swt61

Well today we drove to Napa and went to a winery that he orders from regularly. Tasted some good wines, ate some good food and had some good conversation. Hard to beat that. He even fell in love with my dog Maki, who traveled in the car with us.

I have a Cousin that I've talked about on here before. He lived in San Antonio, and thought he was an open minded liberal, but was anything but. He voted for Trump in his first term. We had a falling out over gay marriage. He tried to act like he was gay friendly around me, but was very opposed to gay marriage. I had no luck getting him to understand how insulting some of his opinions were to me, so I just checked out of that relationship. This was several years back, while living in Texas. His wife tried to smooth things over a few times, but knew it was a losing battle. Monday, out of the Blue he called me up. He said he was driving to visit his estranged Son ( his Son and I have a great relationship, full of mutual respect ), in Colorado, and was thinking of driving on to California afterwards. He wanted to get together tonight. I really had mixed feelings about seeing him at all. But he told me his wife had passed 3 months back. I attended their wedding in 1979, and really liked her. She sought me out at family gatherings and was somewhat of what we used to call a fag hag. So I felt somewhat sympathetic to his loss. We had dinner at Rancho Nicasio. It's 1/2 a mile from my house, should I need to make a hasty exit. All in all it went well. We didn't touch on politics or social issues, though I must admit to wondering what his political stance is today. My Mom always had a good relationship with him, and for that reason I consented to dinner. He'll be headed back home soon, and that'll be that. We're planning to get together again tomorrow, after I install the doors I'm working on. I think it would have made my Mom happy. Just have to avoid certain conversations one more day. It was fun talking about our grandparents and mutual family members. And I had some great fish and chips.

I didn't really show it, but running the doors through the table saw would have been a PITA. It's too cumbersome and would have left scratches in the already finished flat sections. So instead I opted for the track saw. One thing that I love about the track saw is that you just measure where you want your cuts, set the track right on those lines. No adding inches or subtracting inches. Set your track right to the cut line and that's it. 3 of the tool review shows that I watch have tested all brands of track saws. The Makita topped all except two. Those two are the Festool and the Mafel. Those are about three times the cost of the Makita. On two of those three reviews, the Makita tied with the Festool. The Mafel edged both out just by a hair. But I do love this Makita. So well thought out, and easy to micro adjust. One of my best investments. And if you're working alone it's the only way to go. Add in your wealthier buddies Festool dust extractor and even the cleanup is easy. That doesn't mean that the shop is clean. It's a disaster. That's next weekends project, but it saves you breathing in a ton of sawdust! More pics tomorrow.

Another tidbit... Finish the bottom and top of the doors too. Wether it be paint or stain and sealer. You'll never see them once installed, but it keeps the doors from warping in the future. Whatever you do to one side/edge of any wooden object, you want to do to all sides/edges. We knew that the length of these doors would have to be cut for final install, but didn't know that measurement yet. So now that I'm doing the final cuts, all surfaces will get the hardwax finish. Both doors cut, milled for hinges, sanded and refinished. Tomorrow will be installation. And then I'm done until dresser and door hardware arrive. Hopefully my measurements are correct.

I had to cut all four edges of both doors, because the contractor didn't listen and built out the doors jambs. I got a little nervous when I pulled out the track saw and discovered a thin curf blade on it. I learned that thin curf blades on a track saw cutting hardwood can be a disaster. The thinner blade will actually bend into the track, destroying your project and your track. I've been buying specific Makita track saw blades, but no time to order one now. So instead I just went very slowly, watching the edge of the blade the whole time. Made four beautiful cuts. One door down, one to go. Then it's hinge recessing time.

Does this make Stretch an honorary musician?

Happy Birthday!

I miss watching them.

Oh, and disregard the customized "nose picker" finger tip in pic #1. It's my only imperfection, so I like to show it off so you know that I'm still human.

The interior panels and shelves are of Red Oak, the bastard step child of White Oak. I guess the contractor was trying to save money? I'm assuming they'll want it finished in the same smokey Rubio Oyster wax oil finish? I think it'll be pretty close once it's done. Right now it's a glaring obscenity IMO.

Casing installed. Next weekend will be the doors.

And I like that I could hide my Judy Garland, Babs and Patty LuPone albums in those acoustic ceiling panels!

Good news. The Contractor removed and reinstalled my jambs pretty well. He managed to remove the door stops without marring them. Then again hid the fasteners behind them. The only issues are small ones. The top jamb has a small dip in the center and the right jamb also has a small dip in the center. I can easily pry those jambs out a bit and shim those dips out. The other small mistake is the left jamb. It's attached a bit proud of the sheet rock. Maybe a strong 1/16". Again, I can easily shim the left jamb from the wall, and use caulk to fill the small void. Overall I'm pleased with what could have been a shitty job, out of plumb and full of nail holes. Kudos to the Contractor. He'll live to remodel again. The floor at the opening is 1/4" out of level in that 40". That's kind of a lot, but entirely not their fault, and not that noticeable. I'll cut the doors angled 1/4" to follow the floor, which you'll never really notice and will give me a consistent 1/4" gap at the bottom of the doors.

Well really I'm kind of a failure in my family. My Maternal Grandfather cut off three fingers of his right hand in his twenties. On an industrial saw. Cut 'em off right at the knuckles, never to be sewn back on. My Great Uncle cut off a finger in his forties. And my Uncle blew a finger off with a flair gun in Viet Nam (Son of my Grandfather). So looking at it that way, only slimming down one finger myself, I've kind of failed my heritage. Still, quite happy to have my thumb intact.

Door trim for the bathroom closet doors Al and I built for his Sister in Law's bathroom remodel. I made and installed the jambs last weekend because the ladies were in a hurry. I hid my screws behind the doorstop, then glued the door stops in last thing. Got everything plumb, level ans shimmed perfectly. I like to shim directly behind the hinges as well as wherever needed. Then they told me the contractor removed my jambs to install inner closet White Oak panels and shelves. I had argued that before, but they said to install jambs first. I should have held my ground, knowing the timing of these things. I'm headed that way to inspect. Hoping like he'll that the got everything plumb, level and correct. And seriously hoping they didn't leave nail holes showing in my jambs! I worked hard to avoid that. I'll also need to cut down the doors Al and I worked hard on and measured just right, because the contractor didn't listen to me and built the RO out. So, measure jambs, repair jambs if needed, measure for hinge placement, cut down finished doors, rout hinge recesses in doors, refinish door sides and mount doors. I'm not mounting doors this weekend, and not until every final thing is finished on this remodel. If the doors got nicked by a worker, I'd probably do a stint in prison! I hate redoing things I took time to get exactly right! A week or two without closet doors won't kill anyone. Nobody knows more about closets than I do! 🙂 The newly finished trim will darken to the same smokey Brown overnight.

But in all fairness this could have been much worse. A totally freak accident. I was running stock through the saw when all of a sudden the toe of my shoe got caught up in the expansion joint of the concrete floor and caused me to trip forward, pushing my thumb straight into the blade. I probably couldn't cause that to happen again if I tried. But $100 or whatever a cartridge costs is totally worth it. I've been here before. No Dr. visit today, just a Band-Aid. It's a little deeper than it looks, and it bled a lot before cleaning it up, but I'm very happy to have a thumb.

SawStop safety mechanism not quite as advertised, but still worth it. The tiny little nicks you see in advertisements might not be totally accurate.

He's smart and understands that working hard will payoff. I wish that I could do more for him. I will be there when he needs to vent again. My Dad was rough, but he never once thought about leaving us. That's a tough thing to wrap your mind around.

Today I installed the door jambs that I milled up, for the bathroom the Al and I built the vanity and doors for. Unfortunately the GC didn't listen to me, and built the door opening smaller than requested. It was already the size we wanted, but for some odd reason he filled in the opening a bit. Not the end of the world. I had already discovered this before building the jamb. However the finished doors will now have to be cut down. As I'm picky about symmetry, I'll need to take a little off of each side. It's not a lot. Maybe 3/16" to 1/4" on all sides. The height also needs a bit off, but we anticipated this. I'll only need to remove some at the top, as the bottom rails are taller, which looks better IMO. I don't want to install the casing or doors until the GC builds out the closet system. He's expressed to me that he'll be very careful, but why make it more difficult for him and nerve wracking for me?

One of my young coworkers has had a very hard time of late. His Father just quit as a parent and moved back to Ireland, where he's originally from. His son Arlo just graduated high school. He's a phenomenal worker, especially for one so young. He's just the kind of young man that's always positive and always very well mannered. We bonded over fishing at first. He loves my stories of commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. More recently he was told about my woodworking. He's seen several pictures and is fascinated and is wanting to learn. His former principal is Al and Claire's Sister in law, which Al and I have done many projects for. If you want to befriend me, showing an interest in woodworking is a surefire way to be successful. Almost a year ago, I made my own macaroni recipe and took it in for the Saturday crew. When Arlo took his first bite he had the biggest grin on his face. He has hinted several times that more macaroni would be appreciated. I've made it 5 or 6 times now. I think he may actually like it more than myself even. A few months back his Sister started working for Fairfax Lumber too. She's in the Nursery. She's as well mannered and as pleasant as her Brother, and adorable too. About a week ago Arlo asked if he could sit with me at lunch and get some advice. That's when he told me that his Father abandoned the family. I'm a good talker. I can talk your ear off. But this time I just listened. He just needed to vent, so that's what I let him do. I did give some advice, but mainly I just let him talk and let him express his anger. Something I've never seen out of him. There's not much I can actually do to ease his pain or make the situation better. He's going to go through several stages of grief and anger. ATM he's focusing on helping his Mother. She's shocked and in a financial crisis. He's working full time and taking fire fighter training (His dream for many years). So he's overwhelmed, but still focusing on helping Mom. He said she's been working all of the overtime she can get. So, one small thing that I could do was save her a night of cooking, and make Arlo's favorite meal. I told his Mom that I'd be cooking and delivering Saturday dinner. I made a giant batch of Macaroni, enough salad ingredients to last a week, two loafs of fresh baguette and a giant apple/berry pie from Costco. And topped it off with enough disposable dishes and lids to freeze/refrigerate all of the leftovers. He didn't know anything about it, but was very surprised when I dropped it all off. His ear to ear grin was worth any laborious prepping tasks. I've had several texts from Mom, Arlo and Sister Nina. Very sweet family and I'm feeling like I did a good deed. The pic is not the macaroni I took them, it's the leftover ingredients that I cooked up today. Lunches for the future.

Happy Birthday!

That depends entirely on which wood is being worked.