Spring

This April has felt more like winter then this past Christmas. It snowed and rained ice yesterday and when you finally arrive at spring after having the wood stove on for almost 6 months, you start to ache for some warm sunshine. 

Things are looking up today. Warm breeze and sunshine. I'm sure we appreciate spring so much more  after a sheet of ice covered the van the day before. 

There is something great about seeing things change...

The step between rough cut/router board (thank you strong husband) to smooth as silk finished board is where the hours get put in. In order to get away form the 'machined' look, I use a hand rasp to smooth out all the edges and add curves to the handle. The hole in the handle gets dressed up with the carving knife and then five sanding follow. After a rough 80 grit paper the board is wet to raise the grain and then is left to dry. Next comes 150 and so on until a wet/dry 2000 grit finishes the board off.  At this point it is incredibly smooth and ready for the beeswax/mineral oil finish. It's a process that takes time but by using the hand tools, each board turns out a bit different and unique. 

An enjoyable process!

Almost as enjoyable as spring!