Just finished up another No. 517 Outdoor Side Table and took a photo. It’s overexposed (strong sunlight in 91° heat on the roof of the Mini), but I like the reflection in the glass. The piece itself is very solid.
Here’s another view from the other side of the car. The top is 5/8” thick, and I like the contrast between the narrow line of the top and the geometry of the rails and battens beneath it:
I’ve also modified the No. 124 split-rail side table and will build it in a second version which is 3” higher (3” longer legs) than the original version.
So it’s been a very busy Memorial Day week. Hope to spend some time this afternoon cleaning shop after getting the most recent order out the door. Need to do a little machinery maintenance and finish a few jigs. Unfortunately, I wasn’t anticipating highs in the 90s the last week in May. Sweltering used to be a summertime thing.
Which reminds me:
Whether you think global warming is a “natural” phenomenon or a man-made disaster, you should be alarmed that we have 390+ ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere when 350 is the upper limit of a range that keeps the planet in equilibrium. (Until the Industrial Revolution, when we began extracting and burning fossil fuel, that number was a steady 275 ppm for the preceding 10,000 years, give-or-take a few centuries.)
As CO2 concentrations continue to rise each year, the science says the earth will continue to warm and create uncontrollable feedback loops (e.g., accelerated arctic melting by loss of the reflective property of ice, replaced by dark blue sea water that absorbs heat and promotes more melting.)
At any rate, these abnormally hot days remind me of the recent flooding in Australia, drought out West, supertornadoes that decimated Tuscaloosa and Joplin, Missouri, and the current brush fires in Texas, etc.–all harbingers of an ominous change in climate.
A powerfully violent climate is a sobering reminder of the new reality we’re living in. So go to 350.org if you’re interested in figuring out how to live more responsibly in a much hotter world.
(I now yield the soapbox.) Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Wow! It’s been a while since the last post but we haven’t been slack. Enjoyed a string of mild days here in the shop and took advantage of the record warmth to finish a recent order for the No. 3 Pagoda Bonsai Plant Stand. The plant stand sits on a table in the shop waiting for sanding.
Here’s the same stand outdoors:
I’m designing a larger version that will incorporate a split lower deck and maybe an extra deck on top. Currently expect it to be about 4′ across the base and a little less than 3′ top to bottom.
I haven’t forgotten about the other designs like the new Adirondack Chair and the multilevel bonsai plant and garden stand I’ve been working on. I hope to have some new stuff built, photographed and posted soon.
Looking forward to a busy spring!
Here’s a view from the shop this afternoon. How delightful!
I’m going to take a break for a while and boil some water and have a nice cup of tea. Maybe read a little. Maybe get some cypress scraps in the house and build a little fire tonight.
Our little snow will be gone tomorrow but what a nice companion to have for today.
(BTW, still working on the new adirondack chair and making steady progress.)
November was a very busy month so work on a new Adirondack chair had to be set aside while orders got built and delivered. That made the few hours in the shop last Saturday to work on the templates for the new chair that much more enjoyable. A change of pace and a chance to relax a little.
So I printed out some patterns, taped them to whatever scraps of plywood or MDF I had laying around, then bandsawed out the rough shapes and finished up the edges on the bench with rasps and sandpaper. The pic above shows the current collection of templates for the new Adirondack chair and legrest. Just a few more templates to make and I’ll be able to get cracking on the prototypes.
It’s always nice to make a little progress. I’m hoping for a patch of calm water the next few days to get these puppies built, up on the website, and (maybe) out the door in the New Year.
You might notice that that there are some curves in the templates. Not a lot and not real pronounced. But they’re there. I’m hoping the new chair blends the straight line with the restrained curve in a pleasing way.
We’ll still be making the more complicated and curvaceous No. 124 Adirondack Chair. The new chair will be simpler to build but equally attractive; at least that’s the plan! We’ll see how it goes.
