It’s done

It’s the moment you step back with hands on hips and a smile on your face as you take in your latest creation. It’s done! But, wait a second ……

It’s the moment you step back with hands on hips and a smile on your face as you take in your latest creation. It’s done! But, wait a second …

What’s that on the corner? Is that a run in the finish? You look and, yeah, there is a place where the finish ran that you didn’t notice till now. You can see it, and feel it. It’s not small. So you fix it, touch up that spot, and it’s perfect. It’s done. But, wait a second…

That shelf dividing the two sections on the right. The proportion of the shelf trim doesn’t quite go with the rest of the piece. Looked fine on paper, but now it looks too narrow. So you cut a new, wider piece of trim for the front of the shelf and fix it. And when you look at it again, yeah, it’s much better. OK, now it’s done. But, wait a second …

Why is it wobbling? OK, yeah, sometimes it happens that after a project is all done the wood stresses change just enough to give something a tiny tilt or wobble or whatever. Easy fix, though. Just hit one of the offending feet with some 60-grit. There, fixed, wobble gone, and it took less than a minute. It’s done. But, wait a second …

To be continued.

Forever.

A.J.

 A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.