Surfing Ruined My Life

The Coffee Table Saga: Day 4

Table Date: 7/7/10….……..

Hours worked: 2 hours….……..

I finally decided to get back in the saddle and work on the table, not to mention I had some ding repair to do as well having my sanding tools out already.  I tackled one of the long side deck molding to near completion stripping all the paint and then clean up sanding out all the scratches down to 120 grit making a nice looking piece and giving me the first hope that in the end this project my come through alright, although that is in my opinion at this point quite the pipe dream.

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I also gave a beginning paint strip sand to the same long side base which is very slow going as a result of all the fine molding and corner work in the wood.  Getting the paint out of the tight corners and molding has become rather trying work and doing it with out causing damage to the actual wood is nearly impossible with out wood working files.  I don’t possess these items as of yet.  I may invest in a small file to get into all the cracks, tight spots and groves.  If anyone out there knows a better way to accomplish this I would be more then grateful for some advice being I have no idea what Im doing and am for the most part winging it.

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Working on the table I have found a new sense of calm about me. It’s a bit Zen like, similar to that of a Banzai tree or Japanese rock garden, “Wax on Wax off” so to speak.  After day one I was angry and ready to scrap the thing, now looking at it with more apathy I consider the project as class A lesson in patience and control.  Two aspects of my life I feel I could use a bit of work on.

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So Im going to keep on trucking little by little till the job is done.  Its become more of a journey then a job and I feel it very important to see it through to the end whatever fate has in store.  I don’t know how long it will take or how much the end result will cost or if it will even have been worth it.   In the end I will most likely have a greater respect for the true skilled craftsman who is ever increasingly being forced out of our modern day mass produced generic society.