Post by kings6 on Aug 7, 2023 22:18:47 GMT -5
You know those situations where you are tempted to pull something off and that little inner voice is saying "You KNOW better!" Like being up on the extension ladder and you are pretty sure you can reach the far side of that window you are washing if you just stretch a little farther and save moving the ladder again! Well I had one of those yesterday and since I didn't listen to that little voice I ended up making a big mess!
Back story is several weeks ago I received a call from the head of a non profit group that works with at risk kids through the help of equine therapy. We have donated to their cause and helped out in a number of ways and Justin knew I had a wood shop and built tables sometimes. He had this 9'6" long by 4' wide by 2 1/2" thick "black walnut" slab he had bought years ago then stuck in the barn that he wanted me to make into a table for their new conference room. We arranged for him to bring the live edge slab out and when he arrived is when the first voice in my ear I should have listened to spoke up. He had stored the slab leaning up in a barn and it was bowed from end to end about 1 inch to 2 inches and cupped from edge to edge about 1 inch as well. Also, upon seeing the slab it was obvious he h ad been sold a bill of goods on the black walnut part. The color and the material and the soft shaggy bark said Redwood or Sequoia, not black walnut.
Ignoring that little voice I told him I would see what I could do with the thing and off he went. At this stage my stubbornness and ego kicked in and I was determined to figure out a way to make this sows ear into a silk purse table, or at least a denim night stand! I ripped the thing into 12" wide pieces, planed them each down to remove the cupping then re-squared the edges up so I could bead lock and glue them back together. That took care of the cupping and even some of the end to end bow. Next was address the shaggy bark which I spent several hours scraping and digging out of crevasses and splits so I would have a good surface work with.
Then came my Waterloo! I decided I would epoxy the knots and the big gap where I had removed the bark on one end. I have never done the epoxy thing but after watching a few You Tubes and ordering mat tape, epoxy and a few other items I decided I'd "seal" edges up and pour away. This is where that little voice hit a new volume aka shrieking, in my ear. I KNEW there was no way I could get that mat tape to seal to the edges of that big gap that ran horizontal through the board but the sounds of my pigheadedness squealing in my head drowned out the shrieking caution voice. I taped, poured and went in for the evening. Next morning I found that the shrieking voice was right and my pigheaded squealing was wrong! I walked in to about a 3' diameter pool of still damp epoxy all over my floor and assembly table and almost none in the void!
Lets just leave it at this. I am two days into a single epoxy pour, I have spent about 2 hours on my knees scraping up epoxy with my oscillating saw and when my NEXT batch of $130 epoxy comes I get to rethink my methods and try again! Actually I have taken a few steps I have learned in this school of stupidity and I think it will finish out okay but luckily I don't charge for my learning experiences or it would be way over budget! Oh, and that does not count the work pants, work boots, gloves and various other sundry items I have embellished with a new shining clear hard as nails coating!
All I can say is I should have listened!
Back story is several weeks ago I received a call from the head of a non profit group that works with at risk kids through the help of equine therapy. We have donated to their cause and helped out in a number of ways and Justin knew I had a wood shop and built tables sometimes. He had this 9'6" long by 4' wide by 2 1/2" thick "black walnut" slab he had bought years ago then stuck in the barn that he wanted me to make into a table for their new conference room. We arranged for him to bring the live edge slab out and when he arrived is when the first voice in my ear I should have listened to spoke up. He had stored the slab leaning up in a barn and it was bowed from end to end about 1 inch to 2 inches and cupped from edge to edge about 1 inch as well. Also, upon seeing the slab it was obvious he h ad been sold a bill of goods on the black walnut part. The color and the material and the soft shaggy bark said Redwood or Sequoia, not black walnut.
Ignoring that little voice I told him I would see what I could do with the thing and off he went. At this stage my stubbornness and ego kicked in and I was determined to figure out a way to make this sows ear into a silk purse table, or at least a denim night stand! I ripped the thing into 12" wide pieces, planed them each down to remove the cupping then re-squared the edges up so I could bead lock and glue them back together. That took care of the cupping and even some of the end to end bow. Next was address the shaggy bark which I spent several hours scraping and digging out of crevasses and splits so I would have a good surface work with.
Then came my Waterloo! I decided I would epoxy the knots and the big gap where I had removed the bark on one end. I have never done the epoxy thing but after watching a few You Tubes and ordering mat tape, epoxy and a few other items I decided I'd "seal" edges up and pour away. This is where that little voice hit a new volume aka shrieking, in my ear. I KNEW there was no way I could get that mat tape to seal to the edges of that big gap that ran horizontal through the board but the sounds of my pigheadedness squealing in my head drowned out the shrieking caution voice. I taped, poured and went in for the evening. Next morning I found that the shrieking voice was right and my pigheaded squealing was wrong! I walked in to about a 3' diameter pool of still damp epoxy all over my floor and assembly table and almost none in the void!
Lets just leave it at this. I am two days into a single epoxy pour, I have spent about 2 hours on my knees scraping up epoxy with my oscillating saw and when my NEXT batch of $130 epoxy comes I get to rethink my methods and try again! Actually I have taken a few steps I have learned in this school of stupidity and I think it will finish out okay but luckily I don't charge for my learning experiences or it would be way over budget! Oh, and that does not count the work pants, work boots, gloves and various other sundry items I have embellished with a new shining clear hard as nails coating!
All I can say is I should have listened!