Photos from this morning

Here are a few shots of the shop I took a couple of hours ago. The grid ceiling crew will be finishing up today. The electricians are running lights to the cafe area, Rob is continuing on the bathroom tile work. Ryan is building more custom cabinets and will be bringing them to the shop around 1:00pm.
I just bought the three 2x4 fixtures for the back room and 10 bags of concrete. I will be pouring the hot water heater stand today.

This is a 10 shot panorama:

Progress Update

Lots of things were happening yesterday.
The grid ceiling installation began and will be completed today. Ryan and I set a number of cabinets, including the merchandise cabinets that are mounted to the south wall. Rob began laying tile in both bathrooms. I built the forms to pour a concrete pad for the hot water heater. It has to be on a 24"x24" by 12" high platform per code. The platform cannot be made of wood, so I am going to pour a big concrete block for it.
I took measurements for the floor grate that will go over the grease trap in the back room. I need to visit Neil Dana today and get it fabricated. I also measured for the window counter height seating and will buy Padauk and Maple to start building those.
Ryan modified our sink and set it into the cabinet base yesterday as well. Allied order the wrong type of glass fill station for us, and I need to take it back today.

We met with John from Spectrum Signs yesterday. I have to take our business card artwork and create a horizontal sign in the same theme. This is a rough draft so far:



We are also going to have a 5'x5' lighted sign on the back of the building, and two 10' long temp banners on some tall sign posts out buy the road.

Gotta run...
JD

Paint, Paint, Paint, and more Paint!

Believe it or not, we painted the entire 2000 sq ft shop in two days. Rob sprayed the primer yesterday, and then I painted all of the bar area, soffet, and south wall last night. I got up at 5:30 this morning and headed over to the shop. I painted the art wall, which wraps around the studio, and I painted the back hallway, and the kid's room.
Rob and Shawn showed up about then, and the three of us painted all day and put two coats of paint on everything. I also painted the half walls, which required four coats. I have never painted so much in my life.

Here are a couple of photos (click on them to view larger:





Here is a shot of Tracy at Home Depot getting paint:




The paint was $1150, but I saved 10% by filling out a credit applicaton for a Home Depot card. Tracy didn't take it easy while I was working hard. We tore down our back fence a couple of weeks ago, and Tracy dug up the remaining fence posts today!

We put an employment ad in the local paper (The Gazette) and it runs Friday through Thursday. We received about 25 calls on Friday, and I don't know how many Saturday and Sunday (I was at the shop and Tracy is taking the calls on her cell phone).

Upcoming activities:
Monday (tomorrow):
-Start setting cabinets in the bar area
-Qwest to install phones and activate them
-Ceiling Grid subcontractor to start, finish on Tuesday
-Spectrum Signs is coming to the shop tomorrow at 10:00am. We have five exterior lighted signs to get custom inserts made for, and they are going to put up some temporary banners for us.
-I will be measuring for baseboard trim. I want to use 6" pine, solid wood trim, but I need to see what the cost will be.
-I will be measuring for three window front bar seating counters. I am going to make them out of 8/4 Padauk.
-I will be contacting my friend Neil to get a steel floor grate made for our back room. It will go over the grease trap and floor cleanout. We need the grate fabricated before we can pour concrete.
-I still need to apply finish to the Padauk table, finish the apron/legs for the Canarywood table, and build the Narra table.

Plenty to do...
Later,
JD

Business Cards

I just finished working on Tracy's business cards and ordered them from wwwgotprint.com. I liked the concept for the labels, and did a new business card based on that design.
Here it is (click to see it larger):

Retail Coffee Bag Label

We have been working on our labels for retail coffee sales (beans by the pound).
Tracy came up with the concept, and I've been working on it in Photoshop.
Here is our rough draft so far:

First Table is Assembled

OK, I got the first table completely done. I still need to sand with 220 grit after applying clear sanding sealer (to fill the open pores in the Padauk), and then apply the finish. But... it is done with regard to fabrication and assembly! I'm very happy to say it is rock solid, with no wobbles!

Here is a photo:


The drywallers finished applying the spray on texture today, so we will be painting tomorrow! The plumbers are at the shop now installing the grease trap. The electricians got the new disconnect and meter box mounted on the back of the building today for the new 200 amp service. Things are coming together...
JD

Tables coming together...

I went to bed at 3:00am last night, then got up at 6:00am this morning. I headed over to the shop to check on the drywallers. They are final sanding the tape and will be spraying on the texture today. They have done a great job. I can't believe how much work they have accomplished in just a few days!

I went to my wood shop next and sanded the Canarywood/Purpleheart panel. Here are a couple of photos:

1. Table math - this is highly complex, ultra top-secret mathematics used to figure out how to make a table out of several boards. This plan is for my third table, which will be Narra and Bubinga.


2. Apron and legs - this is a shot of the Alder table apron and legs that will go with the Padauk/Maple table top. I have to go to the lumber store and pick up some table leg brackets so I can finish. I think it is going to look great!



3. Here is the panel made with Canarywood and Purpleheart. Referring to the highly complex table math above, I plan my tops so that the glued boards are symmetrical in width. There are pros and cons...

CONS - I have to figure out the best usage of a given board, as the trees do not grow and get cut in sizes that are convenient for me. As a result, I end of with excess wood strips that are 1 to 2.5 inches wide. I collect these strips, as they are valuable (at least I had to pay for this wood), and I may make something really skinny someday. Actually, the contrasting strips I am putting in my tabletops are saved strips of wood from other projects.
PROS - Well, I actually can't think of any, except that it is just how I do things.
This table top has widths of 6" x 2" x 4" x 6" x 4" x 2" x 6"



I have been wearing a respirator the last couple days. It cuts down on the red, yellow, and purple boogers, and I have fewer headaches. Some of these exotic woods are toxic and will give you a heck of a headache. Some people have actually gone into respiratory distress from breathing the sawdust.

Oh, by the way, I have never made a table before. This is kind of new to me and I am just winging it. I was really hoping I wouldn't ruin $500 worth of wood. So far, I am very pleased with how things are going. I just bought clear sanding sealer and boiled linseed oil to finish the first table. I'm excited to see how it comes out!

Well, I can't sit at the computer anymore. After three hours of sleep, this is making me drowsy. I'm fine as long as I am moving and thinking and doing something. Sitting here is not good for staying awake.

JD