What happens when my back gets sore.

  When I have had several busy days in a row, days with extra walking or oddly enough extra sitting the arthritis in my back reacts badly and I am sore until I fully relax for at least two days, sometimes three.  Of late I have not been able to put 2 or 3 days relaxed time together and so each day is crap shoot as to what I can get done before side lined totally.   

  While I am sore life goes on and there still are a ongoing stream of little things that need doing.  For example, yesterday we pulled our dishwasher out and scraped spray foam insulation off the out side, it needed knives, putty knives, plyers, screw drivers and the shop vac to clean up.  A shop tip: a Dollar Store serrated bread knife cuts spray foam really well, costs $1.25 and is easier to hold on to than a loose hacksaw blade.  I also spent time polishing the plastic guard plates for the stained glass studio, drills, buffing wheels, cloths etc. If you are going to get into big jobs polishing things, cars, boats etc get the machine for the job.  What ever little job comes along means tools taken out and probably not put back where they belong, because the task used up all the available back mobility.

  What happens is this:

bench piled high with small tools
used recently.

work table covered with projects
and stuff dropped off on the way by.

  There are plastic containers saved for later use, the sander than prepared the flower box and various clamps, clothes and bits of wood.  This is not how I like my shop but use and drop is the routine I use while saving my back as best as I can.

  Today, I couldn't stand it any longer nor could I do ANYTHING in the shop with the work space in that sort of shape.

what the bench actually looks like, with its own
work light.

 the work table cleaned up with the
new raised bench in place

  Having gotten the space into shape I decided to add to my Mother's flower planter.

  

  The stencil was hanging on the wall. The paint was a $1.00 sample colour and I thought it added a nice touch to an otherwise big brown box.

  While I was at it I  used the same stencil to begin a design on some coasters.

  These will get more detail and contrasting colour once everything is dry.  Probably these coasters will end up as a Christmas hand out.

  Today I sent about two hours in my shop before my back started to complain loudly,  half the time cleaning.  However there is satisfaction in  cleaning a shop too.

  cheers, ianw

In the shop today

  Since everyone knows I do wood work for a hobby they also know that projects progress through my shop in a non-linear fashion.  I have the elm glued for the jewel box but today only touched it to move it out of the way.

  A couple of weeks ago I brought this piece of cherry home from my friend's place. It has been sitting in the garage, in the way since then. Today I got fed up and set to work making it manageable and useful in my shop. This tree trunk is nearly at the limit of what I will lift now days and so I opted to bring the shop to it instead of haul it down to my basement wood shop.

  I brought my saw bench and its helper bench up from the basement and strapped the log down so that I could cut it safely.

  I cut a limb and the big end off of the trunk and was able to carry it down to the workshop with little effort.  I don't have a chain saw, they scare me and I leave that sort of cutting to the folks that are trained for the job. The 'swede saw' (bow saw) did the job just fine.  A hand saw like that is low tech enough that I can get it started every time and not have to worry that it will get away from me and make a big mess.

  Notice that the saw bench 'helper' is in the photo.  Here it is after I remembered that I wanted to paint the legs.  The little bench looks pretty good.  Once the legs dry and I am going to do something (?) interesting and unnecessary to the top, maybe wood burn it or something.

  As I cut up the limb I got the brain wave not to turn all of it on the lathe but to cut 3/8 slices off and make coasters. I soaked the slices heavily with shellac and will come back and sand them smooth.  The shellac raises the grain and seals the wood and that makes sanding end grain/rough lumber quicker and easier. 

  I am working on making some small things for my friends from their tree and all houses need coasters.

cheers, ianw