My Journey in Writing, Ranting, and Woodworking

Happy 4th of July everyone.  Today was delightful.  I started off the day by getting a good nights sleep.  When I awoke, the mens finals at the All England Tennis and Croquet club were beginning.  Nadal won in straight sets.  He was a force and amazing to watch.  Adding this years Wimbledon title, brings his major total to 8.

There were a ton of great comments on yesterday’s post and I really appreciate so many people taking the time to offer their insights.  The more I read, study and get feedback, the more confident I am becoming about my decision.

After responding to a few of the comments, I ate some lunch.  It is interesting, how something which is normally quite good, can taste even better on July 4th.  Hooray Hotdogs!!!  They were yummy, but you had probably surmised that from the previous, over exclamation marked statement.

Then it was down to the shop to work on the tiny walnut box.  I used my router and flush trim bit to bring all the corners square.  Next I carefully set up my jig for rip cutting and ripped that board into two pieces.  The piece which is 3 inches wide, is the more important of the two, as I am building a box from Doug Stowe’s book, ‘Basic Box Making’, and that is the height of the first box in the book.  The other piece is only 2 1/2 inches, so I decided that my 3rd attempt should be with that piece, as I haven’t quite mastered getting them all cut correctly.

The last attempt was very close, but I made a blunder and messed up one of my sides.  I learned from the mistake and was excited to give it another go.  I have discovered that my “small piece routing jig”, needed one additional part.  An L shaped piece, which rides between the bit being routed and the top of the clamp down part of the jig.  This addition holds the piece against the edge of the groove in the jig and as such, gives me a more accurate chamfering of my box sides.  This was a huge discovery, as I was having trouble with the pieces not being exactly aligned.  After adding the L hold down bracket, I was able to get all four pieces cut to size.  I did end up shaving about 1/8th of an inch off of each of the 8 edges.  This is good to  know for future measurements.

This triumph meant that I was further along in my box building.  Normally I would stop there and revel in my victory, but I was having too much fun.  It was time to work on the lid.  For the lid, I choose to cut a piece from some practice spalted maple I have laying around.  It seems like it will make a really nice looking lid.

That is where I am at now, working on the lid.  I have cut the square piece and cut off each edge at twelve degrees.  The twelve degree cut is a little bit rough, so I am using my marble slab and sand paper sharpening stuff to sand down the edges.   I was working on that when I realized that it was blogging time!

As you can see, I have had a pretty great day.  This wasn’t the best part of my day though.  I made a new twitter friend.  Her name is Annie and she blogs too!  She like my post about my router table, even though she didn’t know what a router table was, which made her kind words all the more special.  I went over to her blog and read a piece called ‘Catalyst for Augury’ and was amazed.

I left a comment.  It is as follows:

“I write. I said it slowly, feeling the weight of every letter.” (from Catalyst…)

I have not ever uttered that phrase, for I have only recently (Jan 2, 2010) discovered a truth about writing. Perhaps I will someday.

Writing is Fun! Previously I had always assumed there was but a singular reason to write. One had upset their 8th grade English teacher and was being punished!

I have always loved to read. Books are like a haven for me, and if I had thought about it, I am sure I would have reached the conclusion that Nabokov, Kipling, Bradbury, London, Salinger, Heller, Joyce, Harper Lee and my favorite author Vikram Seth, all enjoyed their craft, for how else could they have written as they did (or do, Seth is still alive).

It was a few years ago, last century in fact, when I wondered into a used book store. Who could resist the smell of old tomes? I decided I wanted something new. I didn’t know what. So I told the clerk, “I want to read something by a famous dead author, whom everyone has heard of, but few read.” He smiled and took “Fathers and Children” by Ivan Turgenev, off the shelf. It had a pleasing brown hard cover. It felt good in my hands. It was perfect. I knew the name, but not his words.

It was that day, or more accurately, the next, when I had finished reading, that I decided to include these giants of wordsmithing (not actually a verb) on my reading lists.

Since then I have found delight in finding new writing, whether just written, or long ago.

Today I feel like I have found another such writer. This story moved me. It was a joy to read and I will forever remember, not the words, but the canvas that you painted with them.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

I have added her to my “Greatest Blog EVER” list (Annie Q Syed), if you care to check out her writing too.

Well I have rambled on enough for today.  Thanks for stopping in to see what is going on in my Journey.