Run-on blog entry

When I was in grade school, I was often reprimanded for my amazing run-on sentences. In that spirit - here is a blog entry to clean up some loose ends before the holidays. These photos were taken over the last few weeks.

We are in the middle of a rather humongous snow storm right now. Riley has been tobogganing off the back deck most of the day - he is the snow lover in this house! The photo above is taken from our kitchen window looking at the studio.




Speaking of kitchen windows... we finally have some trim. If you begin to sense a theme that starts with "the shoemakers kids..." you are right - it runs pretty rampant over here. This was a great weekend distraction to finally get this (mostly) done. Mostly because I still need to make the 2" thick eyebrow that goes on the top - but at least we aren't looking at yellow foam anymore!

And yes I know - where are the doors and drawers? Keep reading...



The walnut floor is now installed in our sunroom - we are thrilled with the results. A local sawmill made the flooring for us and my friend Steve helped me install it - thanks again Steve. Once the finish is cured (about a week), we will cover it up with a layer of brown paper and 1/2" thick foam mats so I can start working on the trim and built-in cabinets.



And speaking of the sunroom cabinets... I just picked up the 100 Bd/ft for all the window trim and face frames for the built-ins. This is local cherry I picked up from an Old Order Mennonite saw mill. I have been working with Leonard for several years now and his service and disposition are amazing. The MC is down to 9% and in a few weeks I should be able to start dressing it.



We have a new addition to the Sauer family - Smokey. Riley has been asking for a cat (or dog) for several years now and we finally caved. When we went to pick out a kitten, this little one marched over to Riley and crawled into his lap. It was a pretty easy decision. The second positive sign was he used his litter box within the first 20 minutes.



And finally... 2 years later than expected... I have just finished the first prototype kitchen drawer. We wanted traditional looking drawers but with the modern convenience of drawer glides. Welcome to tandum Plus drawer slides from Blum! As soon as we saw these - we were sold. They are some of the finest drawer glides available and were very easy and straightforward to install (once the drawer was built). The only concession was the 3/8" step in the sides - but other than that - they look like traditional drawers... well... until you open one! They are silky smooth, full extension and have a self closing mechanism for the last 1-1/2".


It has been a while since I have hand cut dovetails. I was reminded of 2 things. How much I love my Imai chisels - and how much I love woodworking. I should also mention that the drawer is just dry fit (not glued) and there is no finish on it. The front is walnut and the sides and back are hard maple. The bottom is 1/4" baltic birch plywood. The pull is a spare from the shaker style bench (the one with the Emmert). I will be making Ebony or African Blackwood pulls for the doors and drawers.



Here is an under the hood shot. The orange bits are actually quick release levers - when you squeeze them, the drawer lifts off the hardware.

That about wraps it up. Thanks to everyone who has stopped in or added a few comments. I may live to regret this - but if there are any subjects you would like to hear about just let me know.

Merry Christmas everyone - and a Happy New Year.

Konrad, Jill, Riley + Lucas