August 10, 2005

Oops. I messed up again. Did you see in the last post (Aug. 9) how I had that ruler out there while I had Frame #5 set up for gluing. Well, I guess I should have used it a little more often. Or perhaps I should have looked at the plans again, one more time, before I actually set the thing down with glue. The "antlers" or laminations are in the entirely wrong position. I had a mark on the bracing they were glued to but unfortunately, I put them on the wrong side of the mark. In addition, I didn't make sure to check the angle at which they were attached to the brace, so they were out of position at the horizontal centerline and not symmetric about the vertical centerline. Here's a shot of the final glued product with the antlers in the absolutely wrong position.

This is the first time I've actually glued something in the wrong position, and also my first chance to experience one of the great things about working with wood. It's easy to fix.

So my plan is to saw off the antlers and accompanying gussets a little bit above the brace they are attached to, and then sand the remaining material on the brace back down to get the brace in the original dimensions. The portion underneath that brace glued fine and in the right position so I'll leave that alone. I'll remake the little gussets, but the tricky part will be the missing material from the antlers. I'll have to make a little spacer to fit in there that will not only put it at the right height but also at the right angle to make the antlers be in the right position.

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