Thanks and No thanks

Still working on the desk, almost to the point where I have something worth taking a picture of. I have the panels for the pedestal sides done up and I made the drawers up today. I will post some pictures when I have the pedestals made up.

I took the desk top in to a wood working shop, Black Forest Woods. They took my rough top and trimmed it to size on their big industrial table saw. What took them 15 minutes would have been an all day chore for me with poorer results. They did a wonderful job. Thanks Black Forest. Check them out. They specialize in custom built doors, exotic hardwoods and wood working tools. http://www.blackforestwood.com

As it turned out the real all day chore was shopping around to find the drawer glides. There are two big name hardware chains in town, Rona and Home Depot. Both big impersonal box stores who amazingly sell exactly the same stuff for... wait for it... the same price, and as it turns out were sold out of the same things. I ended up going to three stores fighting traffic all the way only to come home still short of all the parts I needed. And because of the labor market here only one of the several staff members was knowledgeable. What we heard most was "Sorry I don't know I just started." You would think that they would have experienced staff in on the weekend when they are the busiest. But I guess they figure they have a captive audience. No thanks to Rona and Home depot you dropped the ball yesterday.

I got the rest of the parts cut out of the famous 5X5 sheets of plywood. I owe thanks on that to my friend Glenn who loaned me his out feed stands. I put one beside the table saw and the other on the out feed end. It was like having another pair of hands. Thanks Glenn.

And finally I got my father in law's radial arm saw up and working. There are a few things on this project that are just best done with a radial arm saw. He gave it to me three years ago and I had not got around to setting it up. But as I will be needing it it was time. And conveniently my nephew Robert was in town from Winnipeg visiting his cousin Scott. Since the saw originally belonged to their grandfather I asked them over to help set it up. It didn't hurt that they are both big guys, six foot or better, rugby and soccer players, so a little old saw was no challenge to them. We had it up in about a half an hour and adjusted just in time for some celebratory beers. (They are of legal age .) Well Robert had a couple and I had a couple and Scott had to drive so he lost out but I sent a couple home with him for later. Thanks Scott and Robert I appreciate the help and the visit.

And since I had a couple this afternoon I thought it might be a good idea to stay away from the power tools tonight thank you!

Ready to watch The New Yankee Workshop through the eyelids...
Randy