Back in the shop

Buenas dias from Costa Rica

Of course by now you know it is another sunny 75 degree day here in C.R with the possibility of a sunny 75 degree day tomorrow.

Well I went back into to the shop today and did the big clean up. After an evening of hulling my coffee beans, I recently learned the yellow covering of the bean after it has been removed from the red cherry is called the parchment, and removing is is called hulling the bean. I did it by hand, rubbing the beans vigorously between my hands, which was pretty rough on them. I found a video on youtube using a cheap blender and filing down the blades to where they don't damage the bean. I think I will try that when the beans I picked yesterday are ready for hulling. Soon I will  be roasting them on my gas grill, I rigged up a cage that is attached to the rotisserie motor , can't wait to put that to use. Also a new espresso maker will be arriving mid January. Costa Rica has a wonderful custom called 3:00 o'clock cafecito that I look forward to as much as Merry and Pipin look forward to second breakfast.. Everything stops at 3:00 p.m. for cafecito and you always have it with sweet and salty bread. Life is good here in C.R. my friends.    

Back to the shop, as I reluctantly entered my shop to start cleaning it I surprisingly encounter a friend setting up his home over my bench. You never know what you will find in a shop in the tropics. As you can see in the pictures it was pretty bad in there and after about half a day of cleaning the shop was looking pretty respectable and inspiring. There is nothing like a clean well organized shop to help your work. On the back wall the before picture I had a peg board next to my plane cabinet. It seemed to be good for collecting dust and nothing more so I took it down. To my surprise the back was half eaten and filled with termites. It also smelled really moldy. On the other side of that back wall is my neighbor's back yard. They are always watering the plants that must be on the other side of that wall. That in turn keeps that wall damp which wasn't good for a wood product to be screwed to it. I really want to build a tool chest like the anarchist's tool chest just because of the humidity here in C.R. my tools all develop a surface rust to them no matter how often I clean them. So I hope to eventually remove the wall cabinet.

To give you an update on the Chinese checker board. If you can see in one of the before pictures I placed the board on two pipe clamps and places some loose weights on it over night. That seemed to do the trick of straightening it out. I hope to get some finish on it soon. I am still pretty exhausted from the building marathon and the clean up to where I might wait until Monday to get back at it. One thing I have noticed is the wood pieces cut for the other projects are down to about 11-13% which is pretty good.

So the moral of this story is always give plenty of time for your projects. Never try to rush it, you will only end up rushing yourself to destruction. Give the wood plenty of time to settle in your shop to a workable moister level. And always keep a clean shop to inspire you through the journey. So take care my friends, keep up the good work, don't grow weary in well doing, and God bless

Mark Hynek