Build Day 5

I learned a few things today. First, sometime its best to spend the money to buy the right tools. Second, if you are going to do something, do it right the first time. I'll explain.

Now that the planks were glued up, I was going to cut a rough outline. So I quickly sketched an outline around the frame and then, trying not to buy any more tools, I used a coping saw to cut the first outline. Now this worked, but it was a tremendous amount of work and it was slow. So after a few hours and a crick in my neck, I took a break to get some lunch. I really wasn't happy with he results. I kept having to cut in from the side to clear a path for the top of the coping saw so everything proceeded in little chunks.

On the top plank, I actually measured 2in from each frame and then traced the outline. I figured that would be plenty of margin for error. Next, I went down to Lowe's and picked up the jigsaw attachment for my Dremel ($25 dollard vs. much more for a real jigsaw). End result: bottom plank cut time - 1.5 hours top plank cut time: 10 mins). Buy the right tool, it makes all the difference.

Next, If you are going to build something , build it right. I built up the rocker table using pieces of scrap from all over the garage. When I was done, it looked like some kind of Frankenstein. Long and short, the next morning it drove me nuts so I ended up cutting pieces to fit the rocker exactly. Below you will find both the before and after.





Lastly, I improvised on one of the last frames. I couldn't find good scrap to build up the right height. So I just cut a bunch of chunks off of some strapping and glued them to the strapping below.