Cedar Boards

Remember the cedar boards I ripped off a downed log about a month ago? Well, I finally got them finished!! The more clear board is sanded on both sides and all things told, probably took about four hours of work to get it looking like it does. My new orbital sander is a dream and did it's job. I began with 60 grit to get the bigger saw marks out, then progressed with the sandpaper until I hit 320...the finest grit I could get for it. Following that, I threw a couple coats of clear lacquer on it then hit it with a 2000 grit sandpaper. A couple more coats of lacquer and it's so smooth it feels wet!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with myself. The final product is fun to look at and it was a neat way to occupy my time.


The two finished boards.


The board on the left is basically how these started. That's a LOT of sanding! (Mind you, the other faces weren't that badly divoted.)



My pride and joy. This thing has been done for a couple weeks...doesn't it still even LOOK wet?


The backside of the good board. You can kinda see the shadows where the bigger saw divots were....especially on the top right.



Interesting photo of a knot and the grain



Bad lighting made this photo glow!



Contrast

Meanwhile, the wedding planning is going smoothly. We have a full afternoon planned this Wednesday with a visit to the courthouse, a fitting for the tuxes, and we'll likely be picking up liability insurance that evening. (I was clued in to a website that'll give you $500,000 of coverage for $175. I'm all about peace of mind.) We're getting close to having most of the big stuff over and done with...which is a nice place to be a month out.

It's coming quick everyone! Can you believe it's already almost the end of July!!?