1890's Victorian porch rebuilding . Reusing as much of the old world lumber as possible

This is a beautiful old home the hearty old species pine they used to build the porch is heavy in natural turpentine which keeps the ants and other bugs out. but years of water damage and neglect rotted out all the railings. 

I built 2x4 frames and worked some pine with the router to get similar embellishments and holders to tie everything together. 

I have scavenged materials from all over the house re-purposing similar material to maximize sustainability.  

Cleaning up the period fascia catching all the material in tarps or rolls of plastic then vacuuming thoroughly. I scraped these by hand then went over everything with a sanding block knocking everything as smooth as possible and cleaning up loose bits wherever possible. 

The effect in primer alone is amazing hours of effort begin to take shape. 

Wrapped in a waffle of peace lost to poetic dissonance

Its lonely here tonight while I would like nothing less than to wander into a place of commodore and personal discourse. I have been eluding the drama for comfortable silence. Music of a thoughtful contemplation plays simply but resonates much deeper.

Loneliness can be like a warm blanket if you let it becoming completely transcendent of the lower feelings it brings. Anything accepted can be moved on from its denial often only makes a thing bigger.

Trees rustled in the strong wind today the sun showing through the trees bursting with new spring leaves offering up and curling to the rain they rustle in the strong wind dancing against the surreal blue background offering up the world as if on a platter of light and dark like the clouds dancing across the dimming of sunlight

today the world was poetry in motion

the arms of those we love can break down all the anger and hurt even buried soul deep all the anger passes when you let love in.

Today i felt total discomfort and pain deep seated loss and ultimately forgiveness in a kaleidoscope of color and emotion.

the color of beauty 11/27/15

Installing a new top on a formerly marble top eastlake dresser

I bought this eastlake dresser for 10.00 at a yard sale 3 years ago or so and have been using it for storage.

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My entire Victorian home has been going through renovation restoration and a combination of both. As I work through an area I try to use the same materials in as many places as possible. It takes time for plaster to dry and harden so working on several sections of several rooms at the same time seem to get the biggest overall results.

While I am working in a room unless I have nothing to replace a piece of furniture I am eliminating problems I have with existing furniture and restoring pieces in need of immediate attention.

This dresser is a prime example made around 1890 it is well built and solid walnut several different species it is a really nice piece of furniture. but a new piece of 3/4 inch thick marble is expensive instead I will do a simple fix that will make it more efficient complete and look better.

The first step is to measure the top make sure you leave a 1/2-3/4 inch or so overhang so the piece looks correct. After taking my measurements I go to the table saw and rip the end of one or two pieces of pine to get a good clean joint line that covers the table correctly, then I turn the boards tape them together raise the blade and again cut twice to make sure I will have a clean line on the edge of the top where they are even.

After routing the whole top I use sandpaper to clean up the edges hit the top with 220 grit paper to clean up the rough spots and then go over it again with 400 grit to take finish better. I decided on red mahogany finish to give the top a redder color. I apply several coats of finish with a old sock discarding it after each use. Depending on the finish you want the finish to be darker than the piece you are matching for best results as some of the finish will likely wipe off if you are using a rub on finish like the mcluskies I am using.

I check the top against the dresser to make sure everything looks like its going to line up well I remove the tape line the top up square with the back and even on both sides with a tape measure tacking all the corners of the boards with small finish nails paying close attention to the gap between the two boards.

I set up my router with a Gard flush with the center of the bit and the bit flush with the bottom of the router this is a simple og style bit it makes a quick clean corner for the top of any piece of furniture. The router has a ball bearing piston on the tip which is designed to prevent the router from cutting too deep into the board but I find the guard helps guide the router more evenly when used together.


I use a number of different finishes for a number of different results. I usually strip the entire piece before to make sure everything else matches but do not have an enormous piece of walnut or black walnut lumber so this is piece work and I actually like the look of the old finish so I will end up washing the rest of the case with murphies oil soap and warm water. I use a tooth brush to clean detailed areas and tight corners. I also hit several of the scratches with the same red mahogany finish which showed an instant improvement.

Tools and Materials needed
Two wide pine boards long enough and wide enough to do the job.
Pencil
Tape measure
Table saw
router
OG 1/2-3/4 bit
400 grit sheet sand paper folded into quarters
orbital sander prefered for cleaning up top fast with 220 grit sand paper
Chosen color stain
Shelac or poly for 3 coat finish sanding with 400 grit between coats lightly

So the world was fairly quiet this morning when I woke up at 4:23 in the morning for no apparent reason other than that I was just plain not tired (odd) this is eactly the time I would normally be winding down to go to bed this may not be good for the upcoming work week hmmm, anyway I went out into the world only to find it fairly quiet still around eight thirty when i began running errands at a much less than diligent pace with a wishywashy demeanor and basically a great attitude and very little direction at wall mart I found the sock rack where there were more socks on the floor than there were on the shelf, however it was much more important to continually move around the clearence items than to put the stuff you are gonna sell for full price back on the shelf the gloves and hats were also literaly covering about forty feet of floor it was fairly quiet for the day after Christmas, i found good deals on perfume and managed to actually find only two of the things on the shelf that was on the list out of 9 not very good odds. I was greeted by a pleasant but miserable cashier with the looks to go along with the demeanor. I tried unsuccessfully to make her laugh although

hazey days before long weekends

Another fabulous shift with an extended lunch and an hour of training with a sweet beatiful girl. I preped a double batch of cookies to mix up after the butter softens killed the trash in the kitchen put away all the stray dishes and clean ones scrubbed down the counters and cleaned up the table i rescued from certain doom in the dank basement. I cleaned up some trash put away the tools in the laundry room now painted on three walls with some of the art and a mirror rehung. The celing and the floor are in need of desperate attention in this 1890s victorian and the trim will be needing a fresh coat of high hiding white.

I listed a trunk I restored on Craigslist today

http://nh.craigslist.org/atq/2767026211.html

Then I preped some gift baskets for christmas filled with all kinds of terrific teas coffee and sauces a blooming indoor bulb and some cocanut to use as filler.

Then I cleaned the vacume and vacumed three rooms. I sanded some of the wall in the laundry room and tried to find the last picture to hang on the wall.