Teaser Peek and Old School Woodworking

Spoiler Alert

Just had to post this one picture of the Star Jasmine table that is now safely placed in the house.  Wanted to share how the beaded accent on the apron and then again on the drawer pull looks.  To my eye, this just adds a quiet style element.  The plan was to photograph it today.  The backdrop would be the foam piece draped with burlap.  Guess what though? very overcast and we just had a good rain shower so I'll wait until tomorrow when lighting conditions should be better.

     There was one little detail that needed my attention before the photo shoot.  The caned shelf is held in place by two wooden clips at each end that secure it to the stretcher.  Once I put the table in the house I noticed that you could see those ends when you're sitting down -- that's not acceptable!  I labeled them so they'd go back in the same location and could have simply used the tablesaw or chop saw to cut off the 1/2" or so but thought better of it.  Such a quiet, peaceful rainy day as today shouldn't be disrupted by the whine of power machinery so decided to go old school instead.

Shooting Board & Bench Hook

     The first step was to cut them shorter with on the bench hook with a crosscut saw:

                        Followed by cleaning it up with the shooting board and block plane:

       These are little steps that make woodwork so enjoyable.  Even with a sled on the tablesaw this wouldn't have been a very safe task.  I tried to take a photo of the difference in the end grain after planing but it didn't come out very clear.  If you've ever planed the end grain of a piece of wood with a good, sharp blade you know how nice it looks.  Applied a bit of oil to that cut end, re-attached the clips, and it's just a waiting game for the sun to come out again.
      Hmmm, wonder what my next project will be?  I'm currently taking a carving class on Monday nights so I'll bet it's safe to assume it will have something to do with carving.