Hello and Happy Saturday to Everyone. I received this in an email earlier this week and I really couldn’t have said it any better than this so I attached it here. This week’s tragedy has touched us all but it really hit home hard for me. I was lucky enough to have been able to run the Boston Marathon back in 2001. This is the ultimate event for anyone who runs….it is the Superbowl of running and the most storied marathon of all time. This years event was the 117th running of the marathon. I can’t even imagine what it felt like for those who participated and had these bastards take away from them one of the most special accomplishments of their lives. I know what kind of hard work and effort it takes to be able to just make the starting line let alone make it the 26.2 miles to the finish line. This marathon is the only one you have to qualify for by running a set time for your age at another marathon. My day at Boston was so full of so many wonderful memories and to have these tarnished for those this year breaks my heart. But this is nothing compared to those who lost their lives, Loved ones or legs and arms. The picture I have of my buddy and I finishing is the view showed all week of the finish line and it gave me goosebumps every time I saw it. And our wives sat in the stands at the finish line waiting for us…..right where the bombs went off! My heart goes out deeply to everyone affected and they will remain in my prayers…….

Also…..the tragic explosion in Texas this week affected me as well. The company I work for…Fike, builds the things that keep this from happening or at least helping it not be this bad. I just can’t understand why a company like that would gamble with the lives of their employees! There were NO Fike products in this plant. I encourage you to check out their website….and see what I do from 8:00 – 4:30 everyday www.fike.com . The people affected here will also remain in our thoughts and prayers.

OK…..now on to sawdust! Thanks for enduring me up on my soapbox. Today was really nice and in the mid to upper 50’s with a nice breeze. We had alot of rain this last week….so it was nice to see the sun. I started out by repairing the repair job I did last week on a mini clock. I bumped it this week and shattered the replaced piece from last week. I also finished up a gift…pictures in a week or so. I then assembled the Koi quilt rack that I’m building. To finish it I will apply the finish and build the pole. Can’t wait to get this finished and installed. These assemblies are screwed together.

Then I went on to the Anniversary Clock. I glued the top and bottom overlays on the mid box and the overlays onto the bottom of the top floor. For the mid box I cut out a little jig where each leg was the dimension I wanted from the edge. Note I relieved the corner of the jig. I clamped this on each corner flush with the edge and glued the overlays into place. Then for under the top floor I cut spacer boards and put a clamp block on the overlay to clamp it into place. THis was all I did for this clock today. (Sorry for the blurry picture)

Today I made great progress on the Memorial Box for Kishna’s Aunt. I cut, sanded and assembled the lower and upper boxes and did the final sanding on the assemblies. I also did glue-ups on the floors/lids for these, planed them to thickness and cut them to size. These are all just sitting together in the pictures. Next week I will glue the boxes to the floors and glue the line-up piece to the bottom of the lids. Doesn’t look like alot yet but this was a really big part of my day. The boxes are Shedua and the lids/floors are really figured Poplar.

I finished out my day by cutting out the head section brackets for the web clock and getting them glued on. Didn’t get to sand them flush with the roof pitch yet. As homework this last week I cut the roof panels out but needed to get the brackets on and sanded before I could put these on…..just ran out of time today. I have a slick way of clamping the roof panels in place that I will share next week.

Also as home work this last week, I cut out 2 horse options….the fancy one will go on the box. I also cut out the overlays I glued on the Anniversary clock. This week I have the roses for the box to cut out and the rest of the pieces (base brackets, pediment & crown) for the web clock.

Yesterday we picked up the proof copy of the Big Book of Small Clocks. Wow…..that is alot of mini clocks in one book! This book won’t be like the others out there that are bound together with a bunch of colorful pictures….this one is all patterns and it will be wire bound together like a notebook so you can fully open it up to copy the pattern. I promise this book to be spectacular! Looking through it I found myself wanting to get started cutting. This is one of the best collection of mini clocks in one book. One negative to this is it is going to cost a bit to mail out because it is so heavy. Kyle and I plan on getting the pictures for the cover and the intro page tomorrow and I still need to get the page numbers on the pages and table of contents. What you see in the picture is nothing but patterns. Keep in mind it has taken me 20 years to cut all these out.

Well this about wraps it up for another Saturday. Don’t forget to check us out on facebook. Also don’t forget to check out our approved vendors. Hope everyone has a great Sunday and a wonderful start to your week. So, having said that and as always…Until next time, keep the sawdust flyin’…..