EOJ Syndrome

Yes, I'm suffering from EOJ Syndrome. Ever heard of it?

It occurs when you're close to finishing a project, and you just can't seem to complete the last part of it.... hence the "End of Job" moniker. 

My dining chairs are nearly complete - in fact, I spent yesterday sanding and assembling one in the shop. It was harder than I thought it would be! It's funny how a chair with nine small wooden parts can be so tricky to assemble and clamp, when a bookcase that has ten times more material can be assembled in minutes. 

Anyway, I needed a break from all the difficult joinery and fitting, and decided to play with something fun. I looked at the stack of logs sitting in the corner of the shop, 

and decided to pull one out and see if I could come up with something made out of one log. 

Eric made a resawing jig for the Laguna bandsaw last week, 

so it was easy to split this log right down the middle.

I have no idea what kind of wood this is – but it's really heavy. CRAZY HEAVY.  It's heavier than anything I've ever worked with – and I think it could be Hickory.

Once it was cut into two pieces, I sliced a one inch thick slab from one of the halves.

 Slicing open a log is like Christmas – you never know what you're going to get; it's usually a nice surprise. 

I sliced off a chunk from the left over log 

and squared it up, so that I could mounted into the lathe.

It's sort of cool to see how the parts of this fit back together. 

Before mounting this on the lathe,

I tilted the blade to 45°

and sliced off the corners.

Let's get this thing mounted!

It was easy to rough-turn this into a cylinder but I needed some direction about the knobs I wanted to make.

 So I sketched out a few shapes.

 It's so much easier to work with a design that you can visualize, instead of just going with the flow. I came up with three small knobs that I liked - all different. Of course. 

 Here is a very old lathe tool that I bought years ago, when I used to make rolling pins on the lathe. The end of that allows you to cut a perfectly sized half-inch tenons. 

(The rolling pins I used to make  hung on the little wall holder. I use this tool to make the two pegs that held the rolling pin.  And over the years, I made a butt load of pegs. We're talking hundreds!)

 Once the wood slips into that part of the tool, you know you have a half-inch tenon. For reproduction work, this tool is perfect!

And just like that – I have some nice knobs!

 When I parted the three knobs off of this blank, the tops needed some sanding. And - they were difficult to hold. So I made a jig to hold the knobs while I sanded them.

 This little coat rack is shaping up. I drilled some holes, and installed the knobs.

Finally - the coat rack is finished - three coats of oil, and it is gorgeous. Just in time for cooler weather, with everyone wearing jackets to the shop. The biggest question will be - where will we hang it? It's way too pretty to hide away in some corner of the shop!

Once it's in place, hopefully my bout of EOJ will dissipate and I'll be able to finish that last dining chair. A distraction like this coat rack is a necessary part of life!

One last thing - Happy Birthday, Mom! Thanks for all you do!