Practice Piece

 Perfect Practise makes Perfect.

    I used to say practice makes perfect but a student of mine taught me the more correct saying.  In the wood shop there is practice needed to learn and perfect techniques in the same way that it takes practice to learn a new song on the piano or how to control your slap shot.

   To keep woodworking interesting for me I need to learn new things, the areas that appeal to me for development are joinery techniques and finishing.  The products from you shop are generally pretty good also fairly basic, which is fine but occasionally a person should stretch themselves and learn new things too, I think .  I read Lumberjocks.com and just saw a fabulous small wooden boat as a project, clearly that fellow and I are from different galaxies.

   The thing I need to remember is that he was born in the same galaxy and through effort and exploration he has moved far ahead of me. The photo is a joint in a recent project.  Usually I would use pocket holes and make this a simple butt joint, this time I had time to do something more.  There are eight joints like this on the project, seven of them turned out perfect and one was less than perfect.  Next time they will all be perfect.


  This project actually was the platform for both areas of development and it is also a useful. Useful appeals to my practical side, this time, unlike the other week when I was making raised panel doors with no purpose I was learning but not enjoying the experience.  This project uses raised panel/router skills and now that it is finished it has found a useful place in my closet.


  The final finish on this project is a non-toxic and fast combination of water based stain and orange shellac.

 The milk paint stain went on super quick and dried in about 30 minutes.  Initially it was dull and flat but had brought the grain out nicely none the less.  One coat of orange shellac and it was looking real good.  I will use that combination again for a piece in the public eye, the only difference would be rubbing the shellac between coats and putting 3 coats instead of one.