With some nice red cedar left over from the Muskoka Chairs, it seemed inevitable that I would build a footstool or two… or four… it’s *possible* I may even get a fifth, or else I’ll make a couple of small planters or something….

Cedar Footstools, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

Any decent project is only as good as its plan… or hopefully better… taking my dimensions from an existing crappy old footstool (which will soon be kindling, if I have my way) I taped this detailed architectural drawing to the shop wall, so I could refer to, and deviate from, its intricacies as I went along…

The Best Laid Plans…, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I thought at first that my design reminded me of the Android logo …but now I realize it looks more like the blockers from the original Space Invaders

Cedar Footstools, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

Screenshot from the original Space Invaders

Two More Muskoka Chairs, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

These are for my mother-in-law, delivered today. Just a quick record shot before I loaded them up to take over to her. They look pretty much exactly like the two I built for us, with one exception: I put a small curve in the arm rest support. Next time, if I build any more, I’ll probably put a curve in the front stretcher.

Muskoka Chairs, with varnish, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I finally decided to add just a single coat of marine spar varnish, thinned 50-50 with turpentine so it would soak in more, and better to protect the wood. I elected to stop there, rather than build up a “film” finish, because such a finish WOULD eventually break down in a way that would require scraping or sanding to remove, whereas the more deeply penetrated finish of the single thinned coat would be less likely to break down in an unsightly way… That’s the theory anyway… we’ll see how it goes in a year or two…

Muskoka Chairs, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

I managed to finish these two Muskoka chairs (also called Adirondack chairs) in pretty good time. We haven’t deployed them yet, though… it’s hard to let go. I MAY still want to consider applying some kind of finish. The two chairs I built last year have weathered to a nice grey, so maybe we’ll just go with that again. Nothing lasts forever, and once you add a finish of some kind, you begin the process of DEGRADING that finish, and in two years, tops, you’ll be sanding and RE-finishing… So I’ll probably just let them be….

When I get some more of this lovely Western Red Cedar, I can start in on the next two — for an actual paying customer!

Cedar Chair

Originally uploaded by rgdaniel

Finished the first of two cedar chairs for the garden, though I’m reluctant to put it outside now… I will be reconsidering the options for finishing before I commit…maybe I should just keep it in the living room…

Photo taken on Lynda’s iPhone.

I love it when a plan comes together. Unfortunately, this one… not so much. This was intended as the second in a matched pair of planters. But somehow, don’t ask how, this one ended up about 6 inches wider by the time it was assembled. “Measure twice, cut once” only works if you actually cut to the same size that you measured. Oh well, now I’ll have to make another one.

Grape Arbour

Originally uploaded by rgdaniel

Fun with Google Sketchup (www.sketchup.com) – something I’m hoping to build in the next few days before the grapevine realizes it’s spring and starts trying to take over the world again…