Day 3 - Sutton

Today was the first day of what I like to call “real-deal work.” We finally began to use the machines and transform our simple pieces of wood into sophisticated projects.

We started the morning with a bang: another monologue by Mr. Grisbee. This time, he was explaining the jointer and the planer which are two machines that I already know quite a lot about. In the same complex, lengthy, and meticulous manner, he discussed and demonstrated how each machine is used in the milling process. The jointer smooths/straightens one side of the wood and the planer makes the wood a uniform thickness. When the speech came to a close, I added some more detail to my cut list and was ready to begin using the table saw. 

Since Catherine’s project also required the table saw, we took turns and helped each other complete our cuts. I cut two 20” pieces of cherry and two 20” of maple for the top portion of the dog bowl stand. Each pair will be glued side-by-side to create a flat board. I believe that I will be using the jig saw to cut two circles in the cherry board to insert the dog bowls. I will then layer the two pieces of the wood. Enough of all the dry details. It is time to talk about my experience. I felt very confident and “in-control” while using the table saw. While I am guessing this is because of my experience during J-Term, Mr. Grisbee would probably argue that it is because of yesterday’s enlightening speech. Either way, my pieces turned out well and there was no drama or guts getting karate chopped. To make our cuts, we used the fence, a small sled (not sure of its exact name), as well a scrap piece of wood to prevent the real wood from touching the fence and buckling. After all, everyone knows that if you are cutting against the grain with a fence, you’re asking for trouble.

Next, I took my star-quality slabs of wood and put them through the jointer and the planer. These steps are especially important for my project since I will need to glue the boards together so the edges should be as straight as possible. Mr. Grisbee showed me a cool technique that lets you take into account and align the slight angles caused by using the jointer. After a quick lunch break, I finished using the planer and helped Mr. Grisbee with some huge cuts. We all worked together to slice this humongous piece of wood (you should totally check out our time-lapse!). I then returned to my project to glue my wood together. It was a piece of cake. I used some fancy clamps to make sure everything stays straight and tight as it drys tonight.

Near the end of the day, I felt like I was in a saw dust snow globe. There was more saw dust today than there had been during all the days of my J-term combined. I blame Sayer's huge sword cabinet. We took time to clean up and then headed to the front porch to do something so incredibly special and fun you won't even believe it: wrap cords. I know right. Mr. Grisbee seems to have this strange obsession with wrapping chords but he said many times that he was not ashamed of this. He says he feels this strongly just because he is "particular." Yet again, he launched into a monologue about how wrapping chords has changed his life and how he uses this special technique everyday. I tried it out and let's just say it didn't come naturally. I had just about decided that I was going to quit and stick with "my way" when he said there was going to be a competition. If you know me, you know I like to win. That being said, I have a chord right next to me now so I can practice right after I publish this blog. Mr. Grisbee and the advanced woodworkers better watch out. I'm about to be able to wrap a chord faster than you can say, "Chill out, it's just a chord wrapping competition." Probably faster.