A better breadboard this time around

April has turned out to be a busy month, but I was still able to squeeze some work on the table in. I'm optimistic that it'll actually be together sometime in May, granted I can get the time off I'm planning on taking...

I'm doing this in part b/c as much as I loved how the first table turned out, it didn't stay that shape for long. Two summers out in the weather have gotten a lot of boards warping until they're practically un-usable. I'm hoping knowing what I'm doing a little more will help with that kind of thing this time around.

Slow going at this point.

But I like where we're at by the end. 

So I'm trying to use breadboard for more than just appearance's sake this time, routing out an actual joint and installing a board across the table planks to help let things breath but also hold them still. Fingers crossed.

A lap joint is probably too simple here but it doesn't look terrible.

Got both on, I think we might have something here. 

Just seeing it up on the sawhorses I see a lot of potential; I'm super excited to see this all together. I was hoping to re-use the legs from the old table but it looks like that's not going to happen, which means I have a little more to build. But again, I know a little more this time and I'm hoping I can build something really great this time.

Looking at it now, I'm shocked at how differently things are going. The first time around I worked practically every day, spending hours after working out at night planning things out and trying to make progress. Part of the thrill was seeing how things slowly came together even though I didn't really know what I was doing. This time I know a little more, and I'm working way more sporadically, but it's coming together much quicker. It's funny how much difference a little knowledge can make.

Look who's itching to hit the road!

I never named this bike, but now I'm thinking that's the least of the abuse I've heaped on it. Man do I feel bad about the kind of shape it's in right now.

Ugh, a steady diet of sawdust and spiderwebs can't be good for a bike. Hopefully it's nothing a good cleaning won't take care of, although that won't really help the tread on the tires or how much wear is on the chain.

Although I'm realizing I have no earthly idea where my u-lock went...

Anyway, it's going to be 80 soon and it's high time I take her back out and ride to work. That's going to be interesting. Biking in the 'burbs is usually an adventure. If I can get her back in working order I think it will be worth it...

We interrupt this build for some unscheduled emergency maintenance

Ah, home ownership. The joys never end.

We were heading out in the car last weekend, all packed up and literally just leaving the garage when I heard a strange friction kind of noise on the roof. Not quite scraping, but definitely not something we typically heard. Took an extra second to pull back in and watch the garage door, and it turns out it wasn't going all the way up. Put it all the way down again, and then it wouldn't come up at all. Oh boy.

Pulled the handle off and the door at least still went all the way up manually, so the door itself and the tracks were fine. We got out of the garage at least and when we got back we parked in the driveway so I could get a closer look at the opener. I suspected a belt problem and yup, there one was.

There should be belt there, not just steel cabling. Ooops. 

So I got to spend a week of April snow and freezing rain parking outside and having an extra few steps getting the kids to school while I decided between just switching out a part and just buying a whole new opener. I was awfully tempted to just buy a whole new system, but ultimately after some sleuthing I just bought a replacement belt. At least I hoped it was a replacement belt.

I spent that week watching and re-watching a video on replacing the belt so when it finally got delivered I was ready to go. Even with more papers to write I was happy to both have a break and hopefully start parking inside again. It's kind of ridiculous how little I appreciated regular covered parking until it was taken away.

Old belt. 

New belt

Old hardware to take off and re-use. 

All I ordered was a belt, so the first step was taking off the old one and re-installing the clips on the new one. Didn't sound too hard, but it turns out the gear on the door side is literally right up against the wall, so it took some additional finessing. Of course something else wasn't installed properly here. Shouldn't have been surprised.

Huh. Yeah, that doesn't seem right. 

Anyway, eventually I got things off and got the new belt on. I probably need to tighten it on more but at this point I just wanted to be sure it worked. This was a joyous sight.

And now things are back to normal, for less than the cost of replacing an entire unit, and I can say it's another thing I've taken care of myself. At least I had time to get it done, even if it did end up taking away from my weekend table building time.

They didn't stay planks for long

Yeah, having those boards lined up together meant they weren't staying un-joined for long. And now I'm happily finding a few spare minutes to see if I can make a better table top for this summer.

I'm doing this in part b/c I feel like I've learned a lot in two years since I put the last one together, but not enough that I wanted to join these together with something other than kreg screws again. I'm just a man after all.

Much cleaner than last time but still not perfect.

But as long as you have the tools you can get to perfect. 

However, I thinking about trying something something different with the breadboard. We'll have to wait and see how things flatten out to see if I'm up for something new. But hey, if you've got the tools you might as well put them to use. You just have to find the time.