Saturday I went hiking with Brian and Greg up Mondadnock. I was slow and let them go ahead. The trail didn't start off too bad. I didn't feel that way for long though. This was a rougher hike than any of the hikes I did in the Adirondacks.
It was muddy, but I guess that isn't unexpected with the continuous battles with rain we have had.
Because I was slow, I didn't reach the summit before Brian and Greg were on their way down, but I still got some views.
When I got home I sat on my couch unmoving for a couple of hours, but eventually got around to finishing up the power center (or so I thought). I got the plastic housing cut away; the Dremel went through it like butter. Disappointingly though I found that the spare bolts I had were 1/4" not 3/8", and those are 3/8" lugs. Ugh. I will pick up some on my next trip to Home Depot or Tractor Supply. Just adding a bolt is easy though.
I also went and finished pressure testing the rims and tires I picked up. They all held air far better than anything on the truck. I set them all to 40 on a hot day and they all read exactly 39.
I also went and put a final topcoat on the table top. I was very careful with the urethane. The coat came out looking ok, but it wasn't the best finish I had ever done. I probably could have done a wet sanding and another thin coat to make the sheen perfect and smooth, but I didn't bother.
The baby birds are getting big.
Sunday morning we went and hiked Horatio. It is a lot smaller and shorter than Mondadnock. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after not hiking for a couple of years, perhaps two hikes in two days wasn't. Oh well, my legs will get over it.
Fortunately the rain held off for a while afterwards, so I decided to work on the table. I started by attaching the back part. I was originally planning on putting additional finish nails in the top, but I may not bother. This seems to be plenty strong enough. I really need one of those drill bits that puts the indent in for you, the drilling of the aluminum so that the screws would be flush was kind of a pain.
I got the support installed before I moved the construction inside. This is what the underside looks like.
When I moved it I noticed a rather unfortunate mistake. The screws that came with the hinges were about 1/16th too long, and started to poke through. Grrrrrr.
I finished getting it installed anyways. I will have to deal with those screws eventually, but not right away. I will probably just put in shorter ones and then fill the holes with urethane. The table is complete though.
A couple of things that I hadn't considered that I discovered while testing it: the table itself is structurally very sound. It is made of 5/8" cabinet grade plywood. It is attached to my pantry. The pantry however does not appear to take the torque of leaning on the table all that well, it started to tip. I will need to do something about that, but haven't figured out yet. I was debating putting sides and a back on it, which if I use the pressboard I have in the shed will make it quite a bit heavier. That is an option, but I am not sure if that will be sufficient. I didn't want to attached the pantry to the wall, but that is an option as well. I could also build a little foot for it. For now I just won't lean on it too much.
One other thing I noticed: I took a shortcut and didn't stain the back of the mounting plate. That is now visible. Sigh.
The power center is really close, I really thought I had the bolts. I have bags of spare bolts, but none the right size. The table is now complete. I think I might get some stuff ready and host a work day soon to get the dumpster loaded and finish up the siding, which is halted because I can't put it up myself. This is the shorter list I proposed last time, which doesn't look too scary
2021 Projects:
- Shed supports
Table- South wall siding
- Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)
- Level back yard
- Level front yard
- Remove dead/dying beech trees
- Eliminate pile of crap in back
- Camper Power Center (portable AC power source and generator)
- Baffle box
- Driveway round three
- Fix shed floor.
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