Improvising

What a wet day! I forced myself to head into the shed today and do a bit more on the bench . They want their names and the date on the bench, I carved these in but I thought it would hard to see the words in the light coloured timber.
 So I thought of pyrography! after a comment on one of my posts. I don't  have any of this kit so I had to improvise and a soldering iron fitted the bill.
 This worked out fine and gave a good rustic look. I also bored and countersunk all the holes for the fixing's .I screwed it all together for a look at thing's and I was pretty pleased with it, and then stripped it back down again for a final sanding, before the glue and screw no going back bit :)

Oiled Up

I finished the two house signs and dropped them off . But not before they were stained and oiled up , what do you think ? :)

Shaping Up

I spent a few hours in the shed today working on the bench . The back legs needed to be a bit more elegant , so I cut a shallow curve out of them both and blended this in with the spokeshave . This gives a better look I think . More housings were cut for the backrest so that the back legs fit nicely and it gives me a chance to use one of my favourites.  My record (No 71) router plane this gives me a nice clean flat joint and ensures that both housings are the same depth . I put it all together with a couple of clamps and wedged up the back to see how it was shaping up :)