Out of Plumb

The lawnmower racing was a blast. I dramatically underestimated the beast I had built. It was clocked at 28 mph at the end of the drag run. I can get it to go faster I know the motor still had some left in it but I lacked the gearing. We did discover one feature it needs, a wheelie bar. That’s right my lawnmower is capable of picking up the front wheels and riding a wheel stand for 45 feet. No not a typo, we paced out from the start of the drag marks left by the trailer hitch to where they stopped. My father in law Dale was driving it at the time. I forgot to tell him that I start out in 2nd at an idle not 3rd at full bore. Seat was clean when he got back so it was all ok. Just for your edification, a lawnmower clutch has 2 positions, on and off. This does not lead itself readily to easing off the line. The one downer of the day was THAT NO ONE ELSE BUILT A RACING LAWNMOWER! They just showed up with their regular mowers dispite rules that stated modifications were encuraged. One old guy tweaked the governor and thought he was Earnheart. I was the only one to fix one up for speed so I guess I win. In fact I did win, a 1 night stay for 2 at a bed and breakfast. They brought out a dune buggy and I raced that over and over. I could take him off the line, as you can see in the picture, but I ran out of gearing before he did. The only breakage of the day was a blown front tire that can be seen in the other picture. We tried filling it with expanding foam but as you can see from the mess it didn't work. It didn't come off the rim so we kept going. The interest it drew was impressive and next year should be far more competitive.




On the floor front much has progressed. It is all sanded and the bad spot along the wall I showed you before has been patched. The transition between the living room floor and the dining room was tricky. The dining room floor is about a 3/4 of an inch lower. I had been bouncing back and forth between building a bit of a slope and building a transition plate that would step down. We decided the slope. It took some fiddly handwork and some ingenuity but it looks good and works much better than the transition would have. Nothing to step over or trip on. I recommend getting an old box fan to filter the air anytime you are working on the house. Just pick up some furnace filters that cover it and they will stick to the suction side when you turn it on. I sure wish I had done that from the start, the rest of the house would be much cleaner. As we speak we are unable to get to most of the house because the first coat of finish is drying. We can stay on the bedroom side and have access to the beds and bathrooms or on the kitchen side and have access to the food and TV if we want to walk out and around. Waited until bed time and did the floor. In the morning it will be dry enough to sneak across it bare foot to let the dog out. As it is the poor beast is trapped in her kennel. Served her right the little blighter pissed on the kitchen floor.




On the "I'm sure glad I have insurance front" some big things have been happening. I had a chisel slip while working on the wedding gift of a friend. It's that old adage never force a dull tool, well it’s true. 4 stitches. From the picture you would have never thought that’s all it is. The bandage the nurse put on is more of what I would expect for an amputation rather than a knick. I think they thought it would stop me from going back to work. Suckers. I was proud of Danie, she actually watched them sew it up, pulling the needle through the meat with pliers and everything. What a trooper. For those keeping score this would be the 6th time I have needed stitches, wana see?



At least I was able to keep blood off of what I was working on this time. It is a natural edge table built out of slabs of spalted apple from a dieing tree I cut out of my back yard. I have been real pleased with how it is turning out. At the moment the base is ready for finishing. I will spray it will sealer and then several coats of lacquer. The top still needs some work. The underside of the tabletop is not yet ready for sealing. I use the belt sander and an aggressive belt to get it into shape but I need two good hands to maintain the control I need. It will have to wait a week or so. The legs are cut into the top with a rabbet, as is the brace. The goal is to not have any fasteners. Working well, no screws or nails only glue and since I have cut tenons the legs seem to sprout from the table naturally. I plan on covering the top surface with epoxy. The spalted nature of the wood means that there are some soft spots that have to be dug out, the epoxy fills those level with the surface. Looks like pools of water, very cool effect. If I had just used lacquer the tabletop would be soft and show marks from bumps, writing whatever. Epoxy will not do that.






Well hell, I am going to bed.