What I learned today

What I learned today (or more accurately, what I observed today – only time will tell if I’ve actually learned anything)

1. As they say in financial circles – “past performance is no guarantee of future performance”. In my case this translates into “where the garage roof leaked yesterday is no indication of where it will leak today”. Some of my wood got wet – not serious, but annoying – I was looking forward to a happy day of sanding (yeah, right), but the rain put paid to that – with no dust extraction except the wind blowing, I at least need to have the garage doors open which wasn’t possible – gone are the days of sheltering in the garage because it was too hot to be outside, sigh.

2. Stain is a product of the devil. The tin sits in the corner, whispering constantly – “I can enhance your finish. I can make the ordinary, extraordinary. I’m easy to apply.” True, perhaps, in skilled hands on a perfect piece. I tried a bit today on something I worked on a few months ago and could finish in a shut garage with little lighting. In my mind the result was spectacular. In reality the stain sought out every tiny imperfection and highlighted it as if with a stabilo boss red marker – my beautiful finish (or so I’d thought) turned into a dog’s dinner – more sanding to try and get back to something half-decent.

3. Sanding after a round-over router bits burns your beech is easy. Sanding after a round-under bit burns your beech is a labour of love, a creator of RSI in your fingers, and a sure way to insanity.

4. No matter how much you love your dogs, you shouldn’t let them in from the pouring rain into the room where you just finished varnishing something.