2/17/19:
Building Summary: Today I assembled the frame extension for the entry to Jacobhouse. This included utilizing the boards I cut yesterday, measuring and cutting more boards, and then fastening them all together with deck screws.
Commentary: I have a couple* mentionable highlights for today, both of which occurred as I worked upon the frame extension for the front of Jacobhouse. The first was utilization of a new method. I already knew that pre-drilling a hole makes it so a screw is much less liable to crack the wood that it’s digging into. What I did not realize is how much pre-drilling helps guide the screw. For example, earlier when I was fastening 2×6 to 2×6, I wanted to make sure that that the second board would not move when the screw breached through the first board’s hind side. With pre-drilling, the screw does not do this, and even though I had to switch the tips out quite a lot, the time I saved not having to clamp and re-screw botched attempts more than made up for it. It also made the whole job much neater (no unsightly cracks, and the board ends were all flush with one another).
The second highlight occurred at the end of the morning when Padre and I moved the finished frame inside. There, we lifted it up into the nook where it is to be fastened and found that it matched everything perfectly. This went for the square around the window, the horizontal door-to-Charlie-frame measurement, and the vertical top-to-bottom rim measurement. Padre was impressed by this, as was I.
I think it’s good to be impressed with one’s self every once in a while.
*I lied. There are actually three highlights; when I went out to the hurdle today, I found that the ‘naturally-finished lumber’ project is already showing results. Almost all splinters have been removed, and the 2x4s will need to be flipped within the next couple of days to ensure equal ‘wear’ on both ends.