Carving bench done

Second post today. I put this carving bench together in a day, using all treated lumber. It's fortified with several 6" lag screws so it will stand up to my heavier stones. To test it, I got up on it and jumped up and down, using all my weight. No movement in any direction, so I'm confident that it will support whatever I choose to put up there. This week sometime, that will be my piece of white marble, estimated weight 220 lbs. The piece I have planned is an open sort of form, so when it's done I should be able to lift and carry it by myself. We'll see!

Canine inspection crew

Over the weekend, Lori and I were able to finish (finally), the cedar fence. I've hit a snag on building the shed because I have to apply for a variance on the deck because one corner is too close to the lot line. I was so caught up in the technical aspects of how to work around the roots of the maple that getting a building permit never entered my mind till the deck was done. So, sometime in October I expect to continue with the shed plan so the rock saw can have a home. In the meantime, I'm going to turn my attention to building my carving bench, and then I can get to work. In the photo, the canine crew seems to be giving tacit approval to my efforts (as long as treats are dispensed at the end!).

Tangible progress – at last!

Well, progress is a good thing. The deck is now finished and the rock saw and lift have been moved outside and covered with tarps. Additionally, I finally popped for the 60 gallon compressor, and it is shown in a shot above - not wired up yet, but in house! I've decided that it'll be easier to leave the old shed where it is and just build a new one on this deck. I'm hoping that will happen, at least partially, this coming weekend.

Yesterday morning, before the rain started, Lori and I started laying down the decking. Made an interesting discovery: Dimension lumber is no longer any such thing. I wanted to shim these boards pretty tight to prevent things from falling between the cracks. However, this was made nearly impossible because some of the "2 by 4s" are not the expected 3-1/2" wide! Some of them were off a full 1/8"!! This, I have to say, is my first encounter with this deal. The question formed in my mind, "How hard is it for a mill to set their equipment to 3-1/2" and leave it there, & maybe check it every once in a while? Is that asking too much? Anyway, we expect to finish this tomorrow, weather permitting.

One giant leap . . . for me!

This is a really big day – after a seemingly endless stretch of toil, I finally finished the under structure of the Stoneworks deck. After supper, Lori went back out with me and was very helpful on the last joist installation. Lots of digging and cutting roots, but
the thing is ready for the decking now, and after that, I can move the shed onto it and finish the fence. Can carving stone be far behind?!

This was a weekend of toil. Ironically, just when I get a big block of time to spend on refurbishing the Stoneworks, the weather turns on me. We've had a wonderfully cool summer so far, but this weekend featured highs in the nineties and temperature/humidity index of 103˚-104˚. So, it was uncomfortable, but it motivated me to add the Shade Sail I've had sitting around for a few years, making the heat a bit more bearable. The beginnings of the under structure of the deck are shown in the photo and I'm having to chop out some surface roots of the maple tree in order to get everything on the same level. Yeah, it's nasty, hot work, but I'm really motivated now and will probably return to my miniature hell tomorrow.

One more step . . .

Finally got out to make some progress on the Stoneworks today. Took down the bamboo pretty quickly, but then spent about an hour and a half using a big chain and a house jack to yank out the two vertical supports which were 3/4" rebar. Can't remember how I ever got such long pieces pounded into the ground, but at the time (back in '99) that was the only option. Conventional fence posts were out of the question due to the proximity of that big maple. Anyway, they are lying on the ground and I put up some old fence sections to secure the area. Next step is buying some lumber for the deck.