Shannon got out of the Marines a few years ago to become a full-time mom. She has three small children and wanted them to have a special place to put their books and little treasures.
She came to me with a sketch of what she wanted, a three section bookcase with shelves at different intervals. We tweaked the design a bit to give it an early American look and I made the shelves adjustable, but what you see here is faithful to the design she sketched out. I took these pictures in my kitchen just before delivering the bookcase.
I used edge-glued lodgepole pine throughout with a maple stain and I
was pleased at the way it came out. The warm, rich color matches the
picture frames she will be placing on top of the bookcase. The back is
quarter inch birch plywood which stains up to match the pine.
I would kill for a larger workshop, because I need more space for
finishing larger pieces like this. I make do by erecting a tent with
sidewalls and fire up the kerosine heater to get the place warm enough
to apply finish properly.
Stain varnish gets troublesome (like sludge) when the ambient
temperature gets below 40 degrees. We’ve been at 20-30 degrees for
weeks on end. When the weather broke for a few days and the temperature
shot up to a glorious 50 degrees, I was out there spraying up a storm.
Finally, I had a product that we both are happy with. It was worth all of the effort.
When you finally break away from life in the cubicles, there are a
lot of ways to stay busy and generate income. Make sure you pick one
you enjoy, because none of them are easy. The pride of accomplishment
when you create a living for yourself goes a long way toward making up
for those six-figure incomes and all-expense trips to exotic locales
doing a job that makes you unhappy.
If you have a job that challenges you and keeps you happy, hang on
to it and do everything you can to make your manager happy and
successful. If your job is grinding you down, read my book again and
make plans for your post-corporate career.
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