Panel Games

And off we go again. What? You didn't think I'd suddenly get a job done in a couple of weeks that's taken over three and a half years to get this far, did ya? We like to really savour a project here at Alf Towers...

For the panel gauge enthusiasts (and it seems to be something of a niche interest) I can report I instinctively ending up pulling it, and that fluid design of stock seems to lend itself to all sorts of grips. I like it, but as I thought, the beam is too heavy. But it worked, and that's the main thing.

As hoped, a combination of cutting to width and length eliminated most of the worst areas of screw and dowel holes. Still a few left, but we'll call that "character". If I was loaded and stupid I daresay I'd be paying someone extra to add them to something in MDF.

Talking of three and a half years - it's not quite that from thought to action, but the panel raiser finally had its change to shine. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't brilliant. The fence still needs tweaking; a more comfortable rear grip is rather an urgent necessity; and the reversing grain I encountered suggests that a pair of panel raisers isn't necessarily a luxury.

I also need to work on the nicker it seems, but nothing that can't be cleaned up. And it was something of a buzz to see the profile appearing so uniformly. An element of smug "I done dat" might have crept in...

A bevel on the reverse side (done by eye, and leaving me wondering how a non-plane-user would have done it) and - blessed relief - the panels fit in their designated homes.

A certain amount of scraping and sanding required before I can finish them (Did I mention the grain reversal?) but it's all starting to come together. In fact I'm going to have to stop putting off thinking about how I'm going to hang them. Bugger. I hate hinges...

In other news, a few updates to the website, and rather overdue at that. Please check the homepage for details.