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Huge tool day!

Trying to keep on track to make tomorrow nights deadline I made a late start in the shed and soon realised that the best tool to use to trim the sides to size wood be the router table which had sat in the corner since I bought it back in November and had not even been turned on let alone used in anger. It meant I spent the first couple of hours sorting out the accessories oiled on it and then setting it up accurately before I even tried to switch it on, I also chose to connect the dust extractor, I bought, to it to see what that bad boy could do too.

Using a flush trim bit first I cleaned up all the edges of the sides and it was amazing firstly how effective it was at removing stock but I was also very impressed with the extraction because there was virtually no residue escaping from its pull. The router in the table made flush trimming and rounding over so much easier, I am sure I would have spent the two hour set up doing all those tasks with my cordless trim router, and now it is setup for all future projects so it is a win win

There was a lot of sanding to do also so I connected the extraction up to my new sander and again it was very impressive not only sanding but also how little dust escaped

On a roll, I got out the Kreg K5 pocket hole jig and connected that to the extraction as well, drilling my first 32 pocket holes and using them to fix the four legs to two of the sides which is where I had to call it a day because I had achieved enough to know that barring catastrophe I will complete it tomorrow but if I carried on I was likely to rush and make a mistake.

I thoroughly enjoyed being able to use some of the tools I had not used and it felt good to actually make something using them and learn a bit about doing the type of woodwork I have been watching others do on YouTube for months. I did spend quite a bit of time today tiding sorting and setting up my workspace which will stand me in good stead going forward so tomorrow I will need to just get this project finished.

I may never sell this planter as it is my ‘first’ and my ‘prototype’ but it already looks like I know what I doing and would not be scared of more projects and actually can’t wait once I finish this one.

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On track

With all the wood bought and available I worked from the cutting list I had generated using https://www.opticutter.com/ and set about chopping it up soon realising just how good it was creating very minimal wastage meaning highly cost effective going forwards too

Once I had gotten the wood for the sides and legs cut to size it was time to start assembling them and as I did the first one I could see there was going to be opportunity to improve and refine the design but I intend to just build this ‘prototype’ without implementing them for fear of not meeting my Sunday night deadline!

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Brilliant

If I could make up a the perfect parent evening I would probably want all the teachers to light up when they saw Reagan walk towards them and sit down then I would want them to gush over her academic abilities and proceed to tell us that she is a joy to teach very conscientious self motivated and always does her best. They would say that she just needs to carry on doing what she is doing keep focused and work hard and she will do extremely well.

But, we know that doesn’t happen even though we know Reagan is self motivated when it comes to homework and she says shes doing well at school but until we are able to speak to the people teaching her to know how they think she is actually doing and if she needs help in any areas. Although we have had Parent teacher meetings since Reagan started at High School this was the first that was face to face so we walked to the school for our first appointment at 16:20 with her Maths teacher.

For the next 45 minutes all the teachers to lit up when they saw Reagan walk towards them and sit down they all gushed over her academic abilities and told us that she is a joy to teach, very conscientious, self motivated and always does her best. They said that she just needs to carry on doing what she is doing keep focused and work hard and she will do extremely well.

It was just brilliant…

She said on the way home that her ambition is to go to Sir John Deans when she leaves school and from what we had just heard she will have no problem achieving that if she carries on working hard.

The only thing that was just tarnishing the whole thing was that as parents hearing such glowing academic reports that we just thought that Home Economics would be a wasted choice in her options when her science teacher advised “triple” science would be achievable for Reagan (Although he didn’t say ‘easily’ we all knew she could do it) and her Geography teacher reassured her that all the things about Geography she liked they would be doing and very little of the thing she didn’t like which was maps and GCSE Geography was achievable for Reagan (Although she didn’t say ‘easily’ we all knew she could do it)

We will speak to SJD college and hopefully they will convince Reagan not to waste an option on a non academic subject because even on the way home she was realising science or Geography would be a better option so we will see?

Could not be more proud of her, tonight!

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Stay Focused

I did it, I bought the wood, I know what you’re thinking “So what, you’re always buying wood!” but this is a start to finish project no messing about get this thing built ‘It’s a planter for gods sake’ and I have set a dead line of Sunday night so it’s about staying focused and actually producing something!

The guys at Howarths Timber tried to put me off buying what I’d set out to buy because pre-treated timber is better for what I am using it for, far more dureable and cheaper which I agreed with but it comes in 4800m lengths (which you have to buy complete full lengths of) its green in appearance and I would have to paint it (I don’t have paint so it would be extra cost) and its rough sawn so I would have to sand it down a lot to make it look great (Yes I have a sander but I need to build not spend the next 2 or 3 days prepping)

I am going to call this my prototype, something I can learn from making and show to people (possibly…maybe?). It will be made of pine and treated with the same substance as our sheds, so it will look golden brown. From this, I can alter sizes and improve the design if required.

Pictured is the goal, that is what I am making whether it be good, bad, saleable or unsaleable I will make it exactly how Liz Fourez designed at https://lovegrowswild.com/2019/07/tall-outdoor-cedar-planter/ and if pine does not have the longevity I have to say I built 2 chairs in August 2006 and they are only just rotting beyond recovery so they lasted 15+ years with one coat of wood preservative I never retreated since 2006? I think my ‘prototype’ will be OK

The wood cost £45.62 and I intend to try and get an exact material budget for the whole project, down to cost of screws, glue wood stain etc and then get some data and opinion on how much it would sell for and then calculate how much my time is worth by comparing the two totals?

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Excuses

Todays excuses,

The wrong car, I went to Howarth Timber to look at stock and what sizes matched the plans I am going to work from. The cutting list says 2.4 metre lengths will be the optimum to produce the minimum of waste which is exactly what I need to achieve but that length will not fit in my Corsa but will just fit in Jamie’s car

The wood doesn’t look nice, I looked at treated wood and it didn’t look great in the pile outside in the yard….

Note: Just buy the wood, make it out of pine, treat it with wood preserve, and have something to show people, jeez!

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Why America, just why….?

Spent last night on me own downstairs watching TV, drinking water which at the time felt OK, and crying!

Although I blogged that it was tough, it was breaking the habit of grabbing that early evening alcoholic beverage which was the tough bit, sitting on the couch watching TV was pretty easy! I had done the usual stuff dog walk washed up etc I then spent an hour in me shed playing darts not my intention I wanted to do some more on my bench but after making a mistake on it at the weekend I had yet to get my mojo back for rectification which always takes a while.

Planning to make something is not making something, thinking about making something is not making something, preparing to make something is not making something. I do all of these really well but none of these gets the result I want and are forms of procrastination disguising themselves as doing something important.

I want to build and create stuff, but I am scared of failure, and I know failure is part of the process but it’s stopping me doing anything at all, what if what I make is rubbish? I need to find that first step that one thing that will get me going, my goal is to build a planter and sell it so whats stopping me?

So: the goal – Build a planter

Timescale – By Sunday Night

Materials required –

8 foot of 4 x 4 treated x 1

8 foot of 4 x 1 treated x 5

Cutting List –

Plan – https://lovegrowswild.com/2019/07/tall-outdoor-cedar-planter/

All this can be achieved if I just stay focussed

I sat thinking about all this whilst watching a documentary on a mass shooting at Parkland high school in Florida on Amazon Prime by a film maker called Charlie Minn who interviews those involved in the shootings but never mentions the name of the shooter, focusing solely on the victims, accounts of what happened and law enforcement. As I sat watching it I realised I had tears streaming down my face listening to these children and the parents of the murdered, one father Andrew Pollock whos daughter Meadow was killed saying to Government 911 happened once and we fixed everything, these shootings keep happening why are we not fixing it? I just kept thinking why America can you keep letting your children die you are not sending them to war you are sending them to school for Gods sake!

It was a very powerful show and I went to bed with my thoughts all over the place but I was sure of one thing I need to do something about my life which may pale into insignifcance in comparison to what I watched but action will always speak louder than words!

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Day 1

Day 1 of what I don’t know, I made a conscious decision not to drink today and I didn’t although it was harder than it should be but I have done it!

Every journey begins with a first step…

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I might be ready

I have such a great family they make me thankful every day…

Reagan will always be my first born and the best daughter I have ever known she has turned into a teenager which is understandable every kid goes through that but maan we got an “Ugh” tonight and spent the morning asking her to clean and tidy her room and getting attitude back no matter what we asked?

Lincoln is on the cusp of leaving us and becoming a dick I mean teenager but for now he is just happy to toe the line. He seems like he’s waltzing through life bt I worry that we may miss an issue because of his easy going nature?

I can sum up the difference between my two children academically with their response to “Do you have any homework?”

Reagan: “I’ve already done it!”

Lincoln “Ugh, yeh. I’ll go and do it now…”

Jamie just keeps working hard and is reeping the rewards both monetary and career progression and excels in everything she does.

Me, I just keep doing what I do work wise resigned to the ultimate fate that is I am digging me own grave, implementing hardware and software that will result in my redundancy but hey ho.

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How Saturdays have changed

After taking Billy for a walk and cleaning the kitchen, I went to pick Reagan up from horse riding Desperate to go play in my shed I did two loads of washing and made us some food before taking Lincoln to Cricket practice, while he was there I went see me dad for an hour. Finally after calling at the supermarket and then preparing marinaded chicken for tea later I managed to make it to my shed to do a bit of woodworking and throw a few darts before taking Billy again cooking tea and finally sit in front of the TV with a glass of wine before bed!

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Ice skating

We went to watch Reagan and Lincoln at Altrincham Ice Rink, where they had a half-hour lesson It’s great to watch them do stuff like that and see them learn new things. The problem with the 30 minute lesson is they do not get cjan e to practice which they are both desperate to do, but I think one of Reagan’s friends is going tomorrow and they are both invited so hopefully that will give them chance…?

We also saw that an hour after the lesson next week there is a “SUB Zero” disco which we are hoping to stick around for too which might mean hanging around in Altrincham for a couple hours on a Friday night?

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