between the rain

[kellan_the_tabby]

Painted the other long edge of the front door. This is the kind of texture I’m talking about — gotta get all those lil holes filled.

The rest of today I worked on the back wall, in between rain showers. The monsoon is finally here — I hope?

Here’s one of the two boards I acquired on the way from the mailbox last night. I’m pulling them from a sort of partial enclosure on an otherwise empty chunk of land. It’s right next to the road, which is nice. & it’s such pretty wood.

This is what it looks like once I’ve sanded it down — there’s still a lot of interesting texture left. I’m leaving some of the tapered edges there, too, as long as the boards still fit together reasonably well.

Here’s a nice little knothole. I’ll have to fill it in with something eventually. I have some ideas.

The one thing I’d do differently, & will, on my next build, is make the framing actually sixteen inches on center, as is standard. Not so much for the extra strength — although that’s rarely a bad idea — but because that way the insulation will fit without me having to squidge in little strips to make it the right width.

I mean it works, but it’s a pain in the butt, & I really should squidge another narrow strip in there to fill the gap properly, which I’m probably not going to because, well. Pain in the butt.

But I got the board below the window cut & put in place — which was annoying, cos the boards below it are different heights — & one board next to the window on each side.

& that’s it for the day, because I’m out of boards, & it’s raining again. Good & hard — here’s hoping it is the monsoon.

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Comments

[jtthomas]

...oh, those little holes? in the grain?

...you're gonna laugh at me for this, but the #1 thing for filling grain in turning is superglue / cyanoacrylate / CA glue. would probably work if you mixed a tiny bit into the paint & used a new sponge each time?

[siliconshaman]

You can do that before painting to.. spread super glue on the end, then sprinkle sodium bicarbonate (regular bicarb), over it. Reacts instantly, turns rock hard, and you can sand or drill it if you need to. Takes paint pretty darn well.

Adam Savage swears by it, half of ILM's models are held together that way.

If you need something that matches the colour of the wood because you're not painting it, then use cinnamon instead of bicarb. No idea why it works, but it does. Gives a sort of brownish hard-as-nails finish.

Word of warning though, the reaction is super-fast rleases toxic fumes and is VERY exothermic. Large quantities risk burning.

[jtthomas]

I'm just wondering if it can be mixed due to the already-painted state.

...don't really want exothermic reaction on wood. Probably better on less flammable things. Especially in the desert.

[siliconshaman]

It's not that exothermic, maxes out at below the self-ignition point. But it can cause scorching, probably wouldn't want to use it on an already painted surface though.

[kellan_the_tabby]

i mean UNLESS i wanted to see HOW exothermic it--

NOPE NOPE bad idea

but i will use it next time!

[siliconshaman]

It gets hot enough you wouldn't want to touch it in small quantities, large quantities can cause burns. The youtube video channel 'The King of Random' did some experiments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XYPnHODt1E

[kellan_the_tabby]

*dude touches it with a finger* "yep, that's burning hot"

nonstandard risk assessment!

cinnamon go BLOOP BLOOP

ooh casting with aluminum dust, NICE

"I think it's glued to the deck"

okay in T-America these two are at LEAST gizmologists

[siliconshaman]

Definitely! Without doubt!

[siliconshaman]

Best thing for getting paint into end grain like that, is a sponge brush. Basically, ordinary pot scrubber, bent double over a stick handle and held in in place with a rubber band or wire twist.

You don't so much brush the paint on, as daub it.

[kellan_the_tabby]

oooooo NICE, thank you!

[corvi]

It's so neat you're just making the thing. It's not the sort of ting it seems like someone should be able to make! Admiration!

I had no idea that area had a monsoon! How long does it last? What is it like?

[kellan_the_tabby]

I am sort of ongoingly shocked that I am managing to make this thing!

& yes, I had NO idea that there were actual monsoons here when I first moved to Albuquerque. Even then I thought my roommate was using 'monsoon' as verbal shorthand for 'big summer downpour' & I didn't find out it was an actual MONSOON monsoon until a year after that!