Oh the head bone's connected to the...

Today it was like I was in one of those songs that keeps going forever. I intended to get the sharpening station set up and get back to the boxes. Before I could get the sharpening station set up I needed to move the shelf where it will sit. Before I could move the shelf down I had to keep trying to flatten the twisted board, so more shavings.

I did come up with a way that helps me to know where I need to take material off. I've always found it difficult to visualize things upside down. Put the board on a flat surface, see where it rocks and then turn it upside down to plane bits off. That is too much for my little pea-sized brain most days. I found that by visualizing an electric planer with a perfectly flat bed and saying to myself, "If I were to run this over a knife on a perfectly flat surface where would the knife take material first?" That may seem convoluted but it makes better sense to me. I actually got the board quite a bit flatter than it was.

The next problem was that when I took it over to the uprights to which it was to be attached, it still wobbled. It took me a while to figure out that I was checking it on my benchtop which is flat and that the uprights probably weren't. My brain just never quits although it often works in slow motion. I decided that I could probably attach the cleat safely enough without making it perfectly flat or, conversely, making it match the curves in the supports. Now there's a nightmare waiting to pounce.

I got both shelf supports put in and then realized that I had to do something different with the task lamp. The float glass is both wider and longer than the tray I was using to hold my water stones so I couldn't just reattach the lamp holder that I had before. I decided to attach another support rail to the wall and attach a block with a hole drilled in it to that. The lamp stem fits in the hole. Much checking of sizes, drawing of lines and drilling of holes later the lamp holder is in place and it works. Small victory.

The next problem was how to prevent the sharpening stones from sliding off the back of the shelf. The shelf doesn't go all the way to the wall at the back. These stones (glass plates actually) are quite expensive and I certainly don't want them sliding off and going tinkle tinkle on the concrete floor. If I put another bench hook beside the one that holds the float glass I can put stones I'm not using on it and they won't get knocked off the back of the shelf. The bench hook I had before was too wide so I decided to cut it in two. I took the cheap and dirty route when I made it and attached the cleats with two screws for each without glue or pegs. That meant I had to put a couple more screws in so that I wouldn't have waggling cleats when I cut it apart. More screwing. I do use a power drill for the drilling and screwing part of the operation but the cutting was done with a hand saw.

In the meantime, the glue on the float glass bench hook had dried so I took the clamps off and tried it out on the shelf. Perfect! Now it's time to put take the sharpening plates out of their boxes and get those plane irons sharpened up. But wait, this, like my last system uses water for a lubricant and to take away the slurry. Water and guck on raw plywood probably isn't the best idea. Painting. I hate painting. Oh well suck it up Princess and paint.

Unearth the cans of paint left over from the last house reno seven years ago. Some rattle and some slosh. I picked the heaviest slosher and shook it up. Then I had to do some more excavating to find the paint brushes and stir sticks. I eventually found them and stirred up the paint. It was a bit thick but definitely usable. I was quite impressed. As I read the label I discovered that it can be used on metal. Bonus. Now I can paint the lovely tangerine and robin's egg blue cabinets that I want to put my tools in. Hmmm it's supposed to be nice out tomorrow so it would be a good day to haul said cabinets into the garage and paint them. Why do I get the feeling that I may not get back to my boxes tomorrow either? Ah well, when you have a shop, even a tiny one, there are always improvements to be made. I think that's half the fun. Anyway I did get two coats of paint on the plywood bench hook so I should be able to sharpen up the plane irons tomorrow. Just like the jumpin' bones song I'm back to where I started.

The adventure continues.