I was busy in the workshop today. As the sun shone brightly through the window I was measuring, measuring again, and cutting. I have a beautiful piece of Beech that I planned on turning into seats for the two chairs. My plan was to just get one done, but, as the day wore on, I was doing well so did both.
I cut to shape, filed the recesses for the legs, planned the rough sawn timber to a smooth finish and finally sanded it – revealing a magnificent grain, that, once waxed, will be quite captivating.
This done I paused to throw another log on the fire, make a cup of tea and contemplate progress. While sipping tea and soaking up some rays I felt the urge to carry on, so set about fitting the arms. Once done I had no choice but to call a halt to proceeding.
The wood is still very wet, the Willow in particular, so it needs time to dry out some more before I can start to attend to the final finish. I have to do a lot of sanding and tidying of details before I can start the waxing and polishing. The Willow may need a few months of very gentle drying before I can do anything else to it – it is literally seeping sap from the cut ends of the wood. To avoid splitting I will let it dry very, very slowly. I think it will be worth the wait.
The last thing to do will be the final cut of the arms – I left these long so, if they split while drying, I can cut the split off. If they don’t split I will still cut them to the required length. I’m thinking of shaping the ends of the arms to a nice rounded, sloping finish – to fit a resting hand.
Well, here they are:
Getting Close
Getting Close
Now, I’m off to make another cuppa’, and watch the sun go down.