Working in a vacuum
Posted: Sun May 15, 2005 8:00 pm
Aside from the recent hunt for a new shopvac, my boatwork has been happening in a vacuum for the most part. It's just me, myself, and I, pushing sandpaper and mixing goop. The occasional visitor drops in, but it's rare that one has the curiosity to take more than the first step into the shed. This weekend Julia decided to lend a hand, and I had a few eye-opening moments.
I've laid some dynel on the companionway hatch and painted it as a practice/test piece. When I showed it to her for color approval (interlux Bristol Beige, flattened to semi-gloss), her first word was "Owie!".
I hadn't done anything to knock-down or smooth the texture of the dynel, and the result was something like 40 grit. She has a point. Nonskid is good, but that's a little TOO aggressive. I'm glad she came along before I'd done the whole deck.
I usually have NPR on the radio while working, but she had her/our/her iPod (with the iTrip thingy) in the car, and managed to tune the shed's radio to it. Man it's a whole new world. Hours and hours of random commercial-free music. The REALLY cool part is that I can now have the radio at a fun volume. Usually I can't have it that loud, because I need to be able to answer the phone with a minimum of background noise. With the iPod in the pocket of my overalls, I can adjust volume, skip songs, or even cut it off entirely when the phone rings. It's the next-best thing to Tim's remote power switch thingy.
The extra set of eyes also spotted a handful of spots that need re-fairing. Again, I'm glad she came along before I'd dyneled the whole deck!
Lesson learned: every so often, it's important to have someone ELSE look things over.
I've laid some dynel on the companionway hatch and painted it as a practice/test piece. When I showed it to her for color approval (interlux Bristol Beige, flattened to semi-gloss), her first word was "Owie!".
I hadn't done anything to knock-down or smooth the texture of the dynel, and the result was something like 40 grit. She has a point. Nonskid is good, but that's a little TOO aggressive. I'm glad she came along before I'd done the whole deck.
I usually have NPR on the radio while working, but she had her/our/her iPod (with the iTrip thingy) in the car, and managed to tune the shed's radio to it. Man it's a whole new world. Hours and hours of random commercial-free music. The REALLY cool part is that I can now have the radio at a fun volume. Usually I can't have it that loud, because I need to be able to answer the phone with a minimum of background noise. With the iPod in the pocket of my overalls, I can adjust volume, skip songs, or even cut it off entirely when the phone rings. It's the next-best thing to Tim's remote power switch thingy.
The extra set of eyes also spotted a handful of spots that need re-fairing. Again, I'm glad she came along before I'd dyneled the whole deck!
Lesson learned: every so often, it's important to have someone ELSE look things over.