A Gentle Rain

In all honesty, I try to be witty about the title of these posts. However, there's a nice gentle and somewhat relaxing rain outside my place right now. So...I guess it's somewhat appropriate. Now...for the update.

Before I get into the main project, the side project of the two mangers are now complete. The only thing they need now is hay. However, the Christ child is not yet here...we still have a few more days of Advent left before Christmas.

My Manger

My Friends Manger

The Reason for the Season

Now...as far as the main project, some progress has been made. I bought material for the cabinet itself. However, I soon realized I didn't buy enough. So, the rest of the cutting will have to be left for another day. If it has not been said, pine has been chosen for the case.

As for the pipes, I drilled holes in the top for the positioning dowel. Silly me, I figured propping up the pipe to the drill press would be the solution...badda bing badda boom! Goes to show I've got much to learn. With my dad's wisdom and guidance, a quick fixture was made to keep the pipe secure while I hand drill the hole at the top.

Let's be honest, I'm still quite an armature. After drilling the holes, I realize they are not all at a depth of one inch as I designed in the computer model. Most importantly, the are not 100% straight into the wood. However, there is always a solution to these matters. When it comes time to secure the pipes in place, and the dowel is jutting out way under 90º from the base of the pipe, I can always decrease the dowel diameter and add a shim. This will most likely be the case. However, as of now, I'm happy the holes have been drilled.

Throughout the week, I prepped a test piece for how I am to paint and finish the pipes. I was very please with the results and learned a few things in the process. Most importantly, I know the steps I will take once I start painting the pipes. This includes the step with the gold leaf, or gilding the mouth of the pipe. I outlined a diamond on the test piece. In reality, the gilding will cover the egg shape around the pipe mouth

Yes, the picture is rotated the wrong way....but you get the idea, right?!

This now leads up to what I have been doing for the past few hours in the dark clouds and gentle rain...sanding and cleaning the pipes! (I know...so exciting!) After I sanded the first one, I looked at the metal ears of the pipe mouth, which were quite dirty as well. I used a brillo-type attachment for my Dremel sander. The results were very pleasing! However, after two pipes, there was no more brillo on the attachment. Still, since I'm so pleased with cleaning up the metal, I plan to find a few more attachments I can do that with and NOT paint those ears. Remember - and this sort of blows my mind - these pipes were made wither IN THE 1920's OR 1930's!!! Yes, I have the honor (one might say) to bring these very old wooden pipes back to life!

Compare and Contrast the Ears of the Center Pipe with the other Ears. Nice, huh?

All Sanded

After sanding all the pipes, I went ahead and placed some wood filler in some of the nicks and gashes of these pipes. This was followed by some more sanding and will be followed by a little more sanding next week before I start the painting process.

Well, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of the evening, listening to the gentle rain. Oh, I have to give a shout out to the Ibis (or what I think is an Ibis) who stopped by to say HI when I was working.

Until next time...