Sunday, December 4, 2016

Post 21: Getting ready for "Bigger" things

    I wanted to start working on larger pieces, which meant I needed a large work table. So after I cleared my desk entirely and moved all the computer equipment back where it used to be in the large African Cabinet, I retrieved two old sheets of plywood from storage, and screwed them down on top of the desk/library table, and bought two sheets of masonite to cover the surface.  I suppose I could have started working right there and then, but the edges looked really rough, and I thought I would make it a finished permanent huge Desk/Worktable and try to make the whole studio look better, and more organized. 
    So I got some very smooth poplar 1x2 strips, and fitted them around the edges with mitered corners, flush with the top of the masonite. I sanded them smooth and stained them Dark Walnut. I chose to finish both the wood and the masonite with Teak Oil, which is supposed to soak in, impregnate the wood and harden, leaving a tough surface. The problem is that so far, the masonite has soaked up 2 quarts of oil, and still seems to want more... I am letting it dry a few days before attempting a second coat.
    In the meantime, when the weather went from sunny bright to gray and rainy, I realized I would need some lighting above the table on dark days. It just happened that I noticed at Lowes some  Utilitek Pro 4 ft LED flush mount Ceiling Fixtures :


   They burn little power(37w), are quite bright at 3200 lumens, and are supposed to last a very long time. They are also much better looking than fluorescent fixtures and well finished, made of smooth wrap around Anodized Aluminum. The light quality is also much better, pretty close to daylight.
    I bought three, and mounted them to a pair of aluminum 1" square tubes, so I could hang them down from my 20 ft ceiling as a single neat strip. 

No comments:

Post a Comment