hard to beleive.

well hello.
it is difficult to understand why i lost interest or enthusiasm in this blog. i am going to try to commit myself to keeping up on it a little better. in the meantime, i am staying intermittently at Pete and Sue's house, assembling tools. This week, Pete and i are going to start a couple of chairs. that is exciting. maybe i will take photos? maybe i will put them on here? maybe its weird to blog about nothing. maybe i will start tomorrow. yea maybe. onelove. andy.

Everyman's Dream

hello faithful reader! i cant beleive its been three weeks (+/-) since i last felt the gusto to blog. working nonstop has been good in a few ways, mostly financially, but also its gotten me into a pattern of getting up on the earlier side of things. reading my last post, i can only imagine that i must have glued up that chair within those next couple of days. i can be sure only of the fact that it is glued up because i am sitting in it now. it functions appropriately as a prototype that took wayyyyy too long. it is sturdy enough to last a long time, but it is bulky where it needn't be, and the angles need some tweaking. also a couple of the joints are less than savory. something about only having a limited amount of time, sporadically occurring, tends to make me feel like i need to rush things that cannot be rushed. which brings me to the topic of the subject of this post. tonight, i came home after work and decided to see what was what in the woodshop, where i hadnt been in weeks. i had the idea in the back of my mind to make a sleeve to protect the chain on my saw. the same saw, by the way, that i have never heard run. not that it wont start, just that i havent tried. it is right up on the top of my daytime priority list when i do have a day off. everyman's dream, returning just briefly to that phrase that came to me a few minutes ago, has to do with the dream of having the time to tinker and play with ones tools. what are tools, if nothing more than toys for grown ups? i cannot possibly imagine. i have an incredible number of projects looming in my head, many of which will help my productivity or comfort for the foreseeable future, such as a couple of drawers for my drawing table and computer desk. easy, right? well, not when you love cutting dovetails by hand, and secretly think the drawer idea is just an excuse to cut some. instantly it becomes more than an evening project. just like a chair, i suppose. i could make a chair out of plywood that collapses for shipping fairly simply, but thats not the way i like my output. i like my output to read as though i spent time thinking things through. my friend Ben says i do things slowly. i dont think i do most things slowly enough. my dream is for a time when i can take mine.

how slamdance got his groove back

Despite the crazy heat today, yours truly was actually able to be productive, which, for a lot of reasons, needed to happen. The day started late after sleeping way in. I proceeded to make great coffee and oatmeal and enjoy it appropriately (at my own speed). i started by hanging some laundry and calling the FV sawmill about logs, where i left a message. Into the bikeshop, i finished my mid-summer tune-up of DeLores. this was good and bad. Being in the shop, i routinely slip into daydreams of my next frame or what type of components will be on my next bike. before i realized what i was doing, i was comparing weights and prices on carbon fiber seatposts, as well as saddles. the seatpost will be a welcome addition to DeLores either way, as its all aluminum right up my spine right now. also, i began naming my next bike, which, while surely premature, was fun. i like Stella and The Mistress. others came and went. we will have to judge the character of that new dream ride in a few years' time. meanwhile, DeLores is running more smoothly than ever, with an overhauled rear hub (got it right this time) and adjusted cones up front. it felt awesome to get in all the nooks and crannies to get out all the greasy roadsand that had accumulated. Into the Woodshop, i got my stoke back! i shaped the replacement crest and fit it to my prototype rod-back. sitting in it again made me super stoked for my next chair, noting things that will change next time for comfort. this chair will be plenty strong, and will function as a good test piece for pulling angles and post locations. i really like the shape/depth of the seat, for instance, but i think the stiles can lean a bit more. i should have it glued up tomorrow (how many times have i said that?) and it will be the first SpiralBound chair, prototype or otherwise, and it certainly wont be the last. my plan to cook some dinner for Dad and i is good in that it keeps me from rushing to finish it tonight (i could), which i have clearly seen backfire plenty of times in the last few months (three legged stool assembly, kitchen stool undercarraige drilling, this rodback's h-stretcher, stiles, and initial crest). im planning an 'early' ride tomorrow to get it out of my system before it gets too too hot, and then hopefully back to the woodshop for a glue-up! very stoked indeed. ta-ta for now!

homework

its all homework. tonight i spent a little while trying to learn some new techniques (those that might be someday useful to windsor chairmaking and design) with Google Sketchup

(http://sketchup.google.com/)

In addition, for my own good, i spent an hour or so reading Peter Galbert's Chair Notes blog http://chairnotes.blogspot.com/ from its origination in february of 2007. pete and his work as an instructor are both huge inspirations to me and my life and where i want to be in 10 years. his blog is such an incredible resource; i have known about it for a while now, but this is the first time i have gone back in time in an effort to read it from the start. i am excited to go visit pete in the fall. i think i have some time off someday? please be sure that i am not complaining about work; i am reassured that it is relatively scarce these days, and im careful not to take income for granted.

we are rolling

we are rolling. a fair title for a MMW tune that starts with those lines, presumably spoken by an informing band member, or maybe board operator with a line-in. we are rolling. the funny thing about starting a blog is that it represents a moment in time when one decides to record information about ones life, car, dog, garden, preschooler, whatever. what amount of "catching up," ought to be done? what about projections for what should be expected of the blog? there are alot of questions that have surfaced since i started thinking about this online diary of sorts, and, i suppose, only time will tell what really needs to be shared and explained. certainly the biggest initial victory besides actually setting up the account (thanks sar) has definitely been deciding what to write about. i think the idea of starting a blog was appealing based on the idea that once i had this outlet for ideas, i would be able to recognize the topics that were important to me (chairmaking!, cycling!, my beautiful surroundings!), and focus my energies accordingly. recent months have found me focusing, to some novice extent, on my cycling. it has been a fantastic outlet for energy, and it is something that i can "complete" within a relatively short amount of time. that has been a good fill-in for my recent lack of long-term chair-making efforts, which generally require a fair bit of time, preferably consisting of many consecutive long hours. i hate hate hate to feel like i am making excuses for not focusing on my own woodworking efforts, but the reality is that i just dont have the necessary time to commit to green woodworking while i am employed 45 minutes away from home. how does one make the leap into self employment that way? that has been a burning question in my day-to-day life. i have been trying to build up a little "financial cushion," but that has proven itself moot, with car repairs and student loans. yes i have expensive tastes, but that maybe affects 1/3 of my income. where does the rest go? sometimes i feel like im banging my head against a wall that happens to be made up of much harder walls. i am excited to get into making a rocker for Chadd and Nora, originally due yesterday in fact. i am toying with the idea of making two of the same rocker. it will definitely not take twice the time, and an extra will easily find a home. the next step is to find an oak log, for spindles, but primarily for a length that will bend to a continuous arm form. i will likely make bamboo legs, although, with two freebie chairs, maybe now is the time to get into classic turnings. lots of questions. as of today, one of them is: how do i get the bulbs in my kiln to stop blowing? i have been fighting the notion that this second bulb-blowing in a month is a sign that i should can the chair-making goal. it is something that i see myself happy doing for the unforeseeable future. i just have to get there. wish me luck? if only i was able to post the million other things i was planning on earlier... i guess the blog has time, there is just a very serious bottleneck of ideas and feelings.

Thought for Today

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." 

-Edward John Phelps-

This quote seems as good an opener for this blog as any. It seemed unusually applicable to my life and current pursuits, and with the idea that I would soon be starting a blog (hello), I circled it, later to have it ripped out of the newspaper and put back in front of my face by Sarah, my trusty sidekick. Opening a blog is just about as painful and mind-erasing as the first page of a new sketchbook. I usually skip that first page, leaving it blank, or maybe make a note or a scribble to the effect of why it's being skipped.