Adding some t-tracks

This sore throat just won't got away, but I'll be damned if I let some summer cold I caught from my damn wiener kids' daycare stop me from getting this table done.

Having mentioned we've lost wine glass storage, I want to put some racks at the top of the cabinet space on the table. Thankfully I have enough scrap around to pretty much recreate multiple rows of these in the build.

I used the old storage as a guide for how far apart they should be and think it worked out pretty well. I like having efficient storage built into a project like this, I just hope I do it well enough that it works long term. We don't use a lot of these glasses, but it's not like I want them breaking if they're in here.

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves at this point, there's not a lot of design going into how these come together. I ended up with 5 racks instead of the 6 we had, hopefully it doesn't mean throwing out too many glasses we don't use anyway.

With these in and the door ready, I'm hoping it's time to get sanding and staining. The legs I ordered should be here in the near future, and it's going to be hard to resist just getting them on and bringing this upstairs at that point. Better that it's ready to be finished first.

One door, I guess

So the past few days have been horrible on my schedule. Staying late at the office, then working on stuff when I get home, on top of school, it's been hard to be productive. But these are exactly the kinds of weeks I want to work on something, so I tried to find time to make some progress on the table.

Part of that progress was getting a door for the bar cabinet. I thought I had a good plan to move on but as it turns out, things change. I ended up getting some flush hinges so instead of two doors over the opening, there is one door flush to the opening. Or at least there will be once I formally attach it.

All the door is is split 1x4 board for the frame, routered out to hold a 1/4 inch oak plywood in the middle. And b/c I'm lazy, I kregged the corners instead of getting fancy. It works, and it'll be on the inside.

But putting the hinges on permanently is going to have to wait until I get it stained, and I can't even decided how to do that right now. I actually kind of like the idea of going two-toned, and not staining the panel in the middle. We'll see what the wife thinks of that.

I should probably get staining in general, but I'm saving that until I've had a chance to sand things to my liking. Which will have to wait until I get over the scratchy throat making me want to die right now, thank you very much children.

New behind-the-couch table

As proud as a I initially was of my console table behind the couch, time as not been kind to it. Adding other shelves, trying to cover the open sides, it's harder to look at every time I walk by. So I finally snapped, and put together a plan to build a new one.

Adding a wrinkle, we lost our wine glass storage space this summer when the in-laws moved and gave us their piano. A nice gesture but unfortunately the best place for it was occupied by our wine butler, which is now gone. So not only am I being bombarded by the atonal key bashing the kids apparently really enjoy, I also have to figure out where to put our stemware that's not taking up space somewhere else. Well why not just add a bar cabinet to the table, and maybe put my whiskey in there to free up other cabinet space too. At least that's the plan.

One door? Two doors? Maybe one to make it easier. 

So far this has really impressed upon me how great it was to have summer Fridays off. I didn't really need any help appreciating them but having a project like this really makes it clear. For one, I didn't really like any of the boards at my local places, but being pressed for time I felt like I couldn't wait. I ended up deciding to give the glued boards a chance. They've been fine so far but I'm a little dubious about what the finish is going to look like.

And then there's the time to actually do any of this work. If I ride my bike I don't have to run, but I get home later and then can't do any power tool work with the kids in bed at the end of the day. I'm also fucking exhausted when it's in the 90's and humid. The weekends are pretty much full of sports and kids activities, so I basically have to get up early and squeeze in a few minutes where I can. If I plan right, I can get straight to work and get something done, hopefully doing it right the first time. It's been kind of rough.

And I'm already off plan @ this point, adding a middle support to the open shelf.

But the frame is rounding into shape. You can see in the design, I'm planning on putting this on short hair pin legs to give some room for shoes below it, and I think two open shelves will be more than enough for what's on the current table. Those cabinet doors have me a little worried, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it. In a month or two, at this pace...

How did this happen!

I was doing so well keeping things clean!

Suddenly I'm surrounded by a half-started project, bags of mulch, a bike with a flat, and a mower I can't store anywhere else. Whew. And as soon as I start putting stuff away, I turn around and I'm surrounded again!

At least I could patch the flat and put the saw away, but that still leaves me with a half-finished garbage cabinet that I'm not happy with, and no room for grampa to park his bike if he comes out this weekend. Whoops.

Oh well. Maybe I am missing my Friday's off more than I expected to. Not much gets done with you're working 9-5, bike commuting, taking kids to ice skating, t-ball, and swimming, and trying to keep groceries in the house and laundry done. And did I take any time over the fourth to clean up? I did not. Adulting is difficult.