I’d been meaning to start posting blog entries since I joined LJ last week but since I write around 15,000 words a day to start with, I’ve been content just posting pictures of the crap I’ve cobbled together (notice I didn’t say “built” or any other verb that would suggest craftsmanship).
So, while my originally-intended introduction entry is pretty much on my bio, I’m just going to spew forth here a little bit in the hope of venting some frustration.
Long story short: with baseball on hiatus for a few glorious days and mother nature deciding she’s done messing with the good people of Wisconsin, I set up my “shop” out on the deck (live in a condo with a disgustingly large patio … my only work space). The goal today was to build a box for my father’s belated Father’s Day present. I had ordered him – a real woodworker – a custom branding iron and decided I would put my “skills” and tools to use and craft a simple little box for it.
The idea seemed easy enough. I had a five-foot oak board in my closet and thought it would be perfect. Was going to go with peg dowels to assemble it and add a nice lid with some little hinges.
Easy, right? Wrong. Miters/angles that don’t line up. Cross cuts that seem uneven. Router chunking up, stalling, chipping, blah blah blah.
Twelve hours later, I’ve got a ShopVac full of sawdust, a bucket of chunks and a pile of scrap lumber.
I suppose all this just comes with the territory. Just because you buy a whole bunch of tools doesn’t mean you automatically obtain the knowledge to use them. Trial and error; practice makes perfect; learn from mistakes, etc etc etc.
Dad’s just getting the brand, sans-box. But I plan on spending the rest of my All-Star break turning that pile of scrap into more sawdust: practice makes perfect.
Rant complete.
So yeah, there have been some vulgarities spewing forth today.
