Check List:

Reserve:

4 – Work Space – Woodshop – 4 hours
2 – Wood Planer – 2hrs
1 – Sandblaster – 1hr
1 – Project Storage Space – Medium – 2 weeks

Supplies:

Clamps, wood – Large
Dowels, various sizes
Glue, wood
Machine oil, lightweight
Pocket Hole Jig
Screws, wood, various sizes
Wood Moisture Meter

Purchase List:

Hardware Store:

2 – 80 grit rotary sander pads (10 pk)
1 – Acetone – quart
1 – Cotton shop rags – bulk pack
1 – Steel wool, bulk pack
1 – Super Blue cold bluing agent, 3oz bottle.
3 – Tack Cloth, 4pk
1 – Tung oil, 16oz
1 – Wood cleaner and wax remover – quart
1 – Wood prep – mineral spirits or similar – quart
1 – Paint Stripper, varies (optional, based on Porch Column needs)

Salvage Yard

1 – 2×6, approx match to door. 8ft minimum. No knots at centerline.
2 – Porch Columns, 8ft, no signs of rot or deterioration, symmetrical design from center if possible.

Work Log

Disassemble Door

• On plank ends, mark all plank positions and orientations with permanent marker for later steps. Iron banding drill pattern very unlikely to be uniform.
• Remove hinges, door handles, and other attached items from door surface. Retain hardware
• Remove iron bands currently holding door planks together. Retain bands and hardware

Prepare Wood Surface

• Using a wooden mallet, drive dowels to fill any holes previously used to connect hinges, door handles, and other attached items.
  • Do not fill holes used by iron banding.
• Cut and sand dowels to approximate plank surface, slightly raised.
  • Z-Saw is preferred tool for flush cuts. Do not sand into surface.
• Ignore oxide staining at this stage.
• Use shop rags to thoroughly coat planks with cleaner and wax remover.
• After 15 minutes as elapsed, use steel wool to remove all surface contaminants. This should also remove oxide staining.
• Wipe surfaces clean using clean shop rags.
• Wipe entire surface with wood prep using clean shop rags.
• Cut porch columns into 4 30-inch legs. If necessary, remove paint at this stage and prep wood as above.
• Move wood to project storage space until moisture meter reads wood has returned to a preferred level.

Prepare Hardware

• Move all iron hardware to sandblasting station
• Pour bluing agent into small disposable plastic container. Discarded food containers are ideal.
• Pour machine oil into a small sprayer (ideal) or another container with rag (functional)
• Prepare cloth-lined container large enough to hold all hardware
• Using low setting, remove paint, rust, and other surface contaminants until bare iron is present on all hardware.
• Immediately on removal from sandblaster, clean hardware with acetone
• Acetone will evaporate quickly. Once gone, use a small brush to coat all surfaces with bluing agent. Parts will instantly darken.
• Spray (or very lightly rub) parts with machine oil and place in prepared container
• Once all hardware is blued, move to project storage space. Oil should remain for minimum of 12 hours, 24 hours preferred.
  • Parts can be left in this state until reassembly.

Woodwork and Assembly – Day 1

• Retrieve door planks from project storage area.
• Run planks through planer until all at matching thickness.
  • Planing the wood arguably removes the need to prep the wood surface, but not prepping the wood will leave buildup on wood planer surfaces. Not best practice.
• Using template from design, legs will mount via screws hidden by iron banding and dowels. Drill and countersink screw holes and dowel slots.
• Pre-drill dowel slots between table plank edges.
• Prepare assembly space for table – retrieve dowels, wood glue, iron banding hardware, and wood clamps
  • Wipe oil from iron banding if still remains.
• Using wooden mallet, drive dowels into 1 set of matching dowel holes. Apply bead of wood glue and then use wood mallet to tap matching plank into snug fit. Attach iron banding in place to ensure holes still align.
• Repeat process until entire table assembled.
• Apply wood clamps.
• Check for any glue ejected from the seams and clean while still tacky.
• Return tabletop to project storage area for glue to set.

Woodwork and Assembly – Day 2

• Measure and cut 2×6 to appropriate lengths for apron. Reserve scrap wood
• Rip 2×6 plank into approx 2×3. Creates 4 sections to be used as apron between legs.
• Retrieve table surface and again remove iron banding.
• Attach legs using dowels and hidden screw holes
• Invert table so legs now extend upward from work surface.
• Attach apron boards between legs using pocket hole jig.
• Use remaining 2×6 scrap to fashion corner braces
  • Be sure to place screws into each apron piece and the leg itself.
• While inverted, sand any necessary surfaces, wipe with tack cloth, and apply tung oil with clean rag.
• Stand table on flat level surface and check for level. If not level, adjust.
• Sand table with 80-grit sandpaper to open wood grain for application of tung oil.
• Wipe with tack cloth and apply tung oil as directed.
• Tung oil will need approx 7 days to cure to the touch. Carefully transfer table back to project storage area and cover with dropcloth.
  • Use brace structure to keep drop cloth from directly contacting table surface.

Final Assembly

• Retrieve table from project storage area
• Reinstall the iron banding using original hardware.
• Mount retained loop-style door handles to underside of table. This will make a inconspicuous place to store weapons in case of emergency.

Cleanup

• All rags must be disposed of properly. Rags with dried tung oil are extremely flammable and are know to spontaneously combust under certain circumstances.

---

James thanked his fellow maker-friends for helping him lug the far-too-heavy table up the stairs and into his loft above the shop floor. He invited them back to his place later in the weekend for a gathering of friends to properly break in the new table as a thank you. He was relieved when two of them agreed, especially Scott. Now, he just needed to make sure his sandwich order with Amigo’s would get here without a hitch.

Standing back in satisfaction at the newly crafted table, a horrible realization sank into his stomach.

“Damnit! I forgot seats!”

(Author by Jonn P)

There was a chill in the apartment Tarriq shared with Ciena and Nicholas. Nicholas was out, Tarriq was searching through the fridge for something to eat, and Ciena poured the last of the cereal into a bowl. She gave him a judgemental eye as he remembered it was his turn to shop for groceries.

Tarriq was distracted by something other than groceries though. He’d put off the conversation he intended to have with his sister last night. Even after Riotous Fink’s advice despite the fact he had to record himself running from the cops to get it. He figured he needed to wait until the right time to talk to Ciena. He had no idea as to WHEN the right time was for going up to someone and asking Hey, your shadow is all jacked up, what’s the deal?

Ciena asked him to grab the milk while he was Up. He set the milk down on the table in front of Ciena, and mostly by accident Tarriq blurted out. “You know I love you, Fam.”

Ciena took the milk, giving him a quizzical look. “T-thank you for the milk?”

“No… I mean, you’re welcome. But, no… not about the milk.” Tarriq floundered for words he wasn’t prepared to say. “I’ve been worried about you Ce. A few things happened. At work, recently. That’s made me think about something that I’ve been worried about for a while now. ”

Ciena looked more perplexed. “You’ve got me in suspense here, are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“I mean like it’s… Fuckit, did you do something to your shadow?”

Ciena only showed a moment of surprise that Tarriq would have missed if it were anyone else but his sister, however, she recovered smoothly. “Yeah, I changed my shadow’s hair, thanks for noticing. Do you like it?”

Tarriq started to lose his temper. “Ciena, I know somethings up! I ain’t acting like nothing’s wrong anymore.”

Ciena replied with a calm flat tone. “Tarriq, nothing is WRONG with my shadow. You need to chill with the extracurriculars at your little drum circles cause they’re making you paranoid.”

Tarriq sat down in the chair across from his sister. "Yo! I’m being serious right now! Are you in danger?”

“There is nothing you need to worry about.”

“Did I do something, is that why you won’t talk about what’s wrong. Shit. Is it my fault?"

Ciena’s calm demeanor broke. “I told you nothing is fucking wrong with it, you don’t know how hard I worked to come ba-”

The heat in Tarriq’s voice faded when she didn’t finish. “Come back?”

“It’s…it’s not your fault. You didn’t do this. I did. I did what I had to do.”

Her tears were far too beautiful, but there was genuine pain. “I don’t want to remember. Please, I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’ll leave, if it’s too unnerving to be around me. I’ll move out. I just…I missed you, Tarriq. I did what I had to do”.

Tarriq was stunned. "I get that. Sorry, I pressed you about it. I just… I felt like you were here but I am still losing you. You know? And, I had to say something. Sounds childish, right?”

Ciena smiled for the first time. “Maybe a little childish.” With a more serious expression, she went on. “We’ll talk about it,” she added. When I’m ready.”

Tarriq nodded. “I don’t want you to go. I just want you to know I got you. For whatever."

Tarriq stood back up. "You look like you need a hug?”

Ciena feigned weariness. “Awe! This was a setup the whole time?”

“You want this hug before it goes back on the shelf or what fam!”

Ciena smiled as she stood up from the table, and they hugged each other.

As the bomb dissolved into a flutter of falling autumn leaves, James instinctively reached out to grab one. It burned so familiar and so foreign. Half-placed memories flooded through his mind.

The cramped space filled with the acrid smell of burning leaves, heady incense, and hydraulic fluid. The rest of the group felt a drop and fluttering in their stomach akin to stage fright. Before them, James had been … replaced.

The Ash Monarch stood tall and impossibly still, his back to the others. The broken and exposed porcelain automaton revealed a confusing maze of whirling ropes, spinning pulleys and sandbags moving up and down inside. Their movement seemed to defy space and logic and it felt like you’d fall in if you looked too hard. Another wave of fear washed over them.

On his head sat a crown, a thing of dull metal gears, woven with dead vines and leaves and bits of sharp and broken metal. Moths made their perch at the highest points. Slowly, and with great precision, the Ash Monarch reached up to place the smoldering leaf into the crown.

Turning his head to face the others, the broken edge of the creature reformed from new fragments grinding into place, keeping in line with the figure’s face. The sounds of cracking and shattering ceramics behind the figure answered the origin of these new pieces. He seemed to build and break as he moved. He looked almost like James, but bland and terrifying.

The moment seems to stretch into eternity before the shards of porcelain fell to the floor, shattering. Underneath stood James, looking confused and unwell. The smells and fear fades, but he still held the slightly singed leaf in his hand.