I really want to thank you all for the kind responses I have been receiving on this blog (seriously). Wilson was out of town today at a “Balls aren’t for kicking” convention so I called him on my cell phone to read him your comments. I could hear him sobbing to the point that his seams were splitting. Oh that Wilson, he may have a leathery exterior but he’s all warm and fuzzy inside.
Have you seen this missing ball? His name is Wilson.
Anyway, We (Wilson and I) were scratching our collective ball to figure out a way to give back to y’all. I wanted to write each and every one of you a thank you letter, but my Butternut Pearl will only let me in the house twice a day for 45 minutes, and I use that time to write and post this blog. I almost gave up and Wilson had a great idea; What better way to show our appreciation than sharing a video taken of myself on an Alaska fishing adventure and a little altercation with a bear I had! We’ve attached it to the end of this blog post .Note: It was eventually used in a commercial.
Now don’t skip ahead, there’s a lot of good stuff here including a bench to finish.
We left off here yesterday;
and we need to finish the armrests and put in some eye bolts to hang your l’art——(that one’s for you William).
Now the arm rests can be as long/short, wide/skinny as you want. I wanted arm rests big enough to hold a morning cup-o-joe (but to small to balance e a frying pan) and long enough that the rope you hang it from runs through it. My arms tapered a bit and I notched out the part where the eye bolt runs through it and the frame, as I only had 6” eye bolts available to me. My arm rests were 25” long and tapered from 5” to 3”. The arm supports were 13” long and 3” wide with a slight taper and rounded ends.
Note – I did drill a hole in the front of the armrest for the rope to run through after it was assembled.
Once put together your bench will look like this;
I told you it was easy!
Now you can finish it as you please, but me, I really like the look of natural wood, especially when it has defects or knots. I’ve been known to stand for hours and stare at the grain in a piece of lumber for no other reason, than it was pretty. However, I hate stains and paint. I once got into an argument with a can of stain in a big box store. A few minutes later a can of paint jumps in and before you know it, brushes are a-flyin and it’s an all out brawl. Store security shows up and drags us all into the back room for questioning. You should of heard the story those cans painted! Stained my reputation, I say! Sorry, heard that one from Palin herself. That girl knows her humor and history!
I hope you enjoyed the bench build as much as Wilson and I did and if you want to see it hanging off our little bedroom deck, just pop over to my projects page. Below is our pic-o-the-day for wood-meets-nature and below that is the special treat I mentioned at the beginning.
This handsome little fellow is a muskrat even though it is not related to a rat at all. They burrow in lake/river banks and build homes out of sticks just like a beaver, only smaller. In fact, they live harmoniously with the beaver, even eating side by side. Wilson is particularly fond of this one.
ALASKA FISHING TRIP VIDEO