Sunday I was going to go out to the barn and finish the three strings of lights that have wire ran to them. I still need to wait for the fourth roll of wire I had to order to arrive. I am not sure why I thought three rolls would be sufficient. I used the pending arrival of said wire roll as the reason to not go to the barn and instead decided to work on the new shelves in the laundry room. Our counters are getting crowded with all of the containers of dried herbs, vegetables and plums so I figured it was time to get on the shelves. The supports had come in a couple of weeks ago and The Apprentice and I had brought down the wood so it was just a matter of sanding it down and cutting it to shape.
Yeah, all I had to do was sand down a black walnut slab that was only one inch thick and had been drying for four years. Needless to say it was not flat. Even with 40 grit sandpaper and an 18” belt sander it still took me almost four hours to sand down those two shelves! I really needed a hand planer. I have never really used one before but this is the perfect use for one. I may have to learn how to use it as there are a whole bunch of black walnut boards out in the old chicken coop.
I sanded both sides with belt sander and after I got to 80 grit with the belt sander I switched to an orbital sander and started with 50 grit again. Of course about three hours into the sanding it started to rain and I had to move everything into the old house and wear an N95 for the After four hours I figured it was just time to cut the board and go with what I had. I cut the shelves, added the supports and then mounted them on the walls. I, of course, had to make two trips out to the old house to get screws that did not come with the supports.
All in all it turned out pretty good and the wife was happy. We now have a space to store the bounty of our garden harvest. I still have to wire the barn but I can do that in the rain.
Stewart Creek Somethings 