The closet doors for R + L are glued up and finished, they can be installed any time. The pine panels with narrow Doug fir frames looks exquisite, I'm very pleased with them. Two coats of shellac applied with a sponge brush gives them a smooth wipeable surface and at the same time look and feel as though they are polished raw wood. I'm curious how the color of the wood will change as it ages.
I am building doors for the yellow house closets with the same material. I can't imagine them as bare wood but wood hate to mask the qualities of the wood. I am considering white washing the doors, maybe apply a stain that would remain in the crevices of the molding and reveals to make them look look old and distinguished. I would like to make some samples once I start milling the molding that I had a cutter shaped for.
I'm back to the house, I now have the window latches upstairs installed. No more windows blowing open and closed on those blustery autumn days and nights. What to do next is always the question it seams, the trick is to plan out a strategy that will be quick and efficient and also in the correct order.
Summer 1999
When ever James Krenov came out of his closet workspace that was on the opposite side of the machine room from the students bench room, I followed, hoping to strike up a conversation or just to eaves drop on some else's conversation with the master woodworker that grew up in Alaska. One time he walked through the student bench room to the break room where the coffee pot was located along with a small fridge, some tables and chairs, a pay phone and an impressive collection of books all relating to woodworking. He began to make a fresh batch of coffee. I was new to coffee at the time, didn't really drink it before my Fort Bragg woodworking experiences through College of the Redwoods. I had just purchased a mug with a lid to have at my bench, I figured I could use it in the car too because it had a wide base and was less likely to fall over. I had that buzzing experience of high energy late in the day and wanted to have a mug in case coffee was available which it always was in Fort Bragg. Anyway I'm standing there by the coffee pot watching the black dripping liquid and thanking Mr. Krenov himself for starting this school and teaching people woodworking tricks. He scoffed, and snorted. "Tricks!" he said. "Do you think this is magic?" he pauses. "What we are teaching isn't magical...it is simply the order in the way that we do things."
When ever James Krenov came out of his closet workspace that was on the opposite side of the machine room from the students bench room, I followed, hoping to strike up a conversation or just to eaves drop on some else's conversation with the master woodworker that grew up in Alaska. One time he walked through the student bench room to the break room where the coffee pot was located along with a small fridge, some tables and chairs, a pay phone and an impressive collection of books all relating to woodworking. He began to make a fresh batch of coffee. I was new to coffee at the time, didn't really drink it before my Fort Bragg woodworking experiences through College of the Redwoods. I had just purchased a mug with a lid to have at my bench, I figured I could use it in the car too because it had a wide base and was less likely to fall over. I had that buzzing experience of high energy late in the day and wanted to have a mug in case coffee was available which it always was in Fort Bragg. Anyway I'm standing there by the coffee pot watching the black dripping liquid and thanking Mr. Krenov himself for starting this school and teaching people woodworking tricks. He scoffed, and snorted. "Tricks!" he said. "Do you think this is magic?" he pauses. "What we are teaching isn't magical...it is simply the order in the way that we do things."
The order in the way that we do things.
That changed my whole outlook on woodworking, from then on it was the order that I payed close attention to. One more thing that also stuck with me was this.
Always leave the back door open.
What does this mean? It means don't permanently glue something together until you have all the pieces made, fit, and finished. Ahhhh! Finish before the piece is glued together, that was a huge realization in my woodworking fourteen years ago. Many thanks to James Krenov, David Welter and Jim Budlong. Summer classes in Fort Bragg are worth the sacrifice.
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