All I lack is finishing!

It's an old joke but in this case it's true. All I lack is staining and finish. I spent Friday fitting all the slats to the holes and Saturday doing all the sanding on the slats. 

Here's the bench dry fit

And 10 of the sanded slats.

Saturday evening I got the the first section glued together. I decided it would be easier to do one section at a time.

We had guests at the B&B this weekend so after breakfast Sunday I glued the second section together. After cleaning the shop (it was a mess) I glued the third section. I guess I didn't take a picture of that.

Since I've been talking about bluebonnets I thought I would show you how big the plants are getting. Very unusual for January.

No blooms yet but it won't be long.

And in other news, we had our first baseball practice yesterday! I am so ready for baseball! We practice at Schreiner  University in Kerrville. They are a Division 3 program with a new coaching staff and they have been very gracious in allowing a bunch of old guys a place to train.

This is Sammy. He pitches and plays second base.

Johnny getting some BP.

And here it is! First thing this morning I started shaping the head crests in the back.

Try to make it all flow together in away that makes sense.

Another view of the back.

Rear center leg joint.

I wondered for awhile the best way to blend the front. I kinda like this.

Center legs protrude just a little and then rounded.

Good view of that detail.

Nice lines.

Front leg joint.

Rear leg joint.

All of this shaping is done in the same manner as we have already talked about. Grinder, die grinder, rasps, and sanding. If you enjoy standing in one spot sanding for hours and hours, you will absolutely love doing this kind of chair.

Front center leg through tenon. This would have looked great with wedged tenon but I didn't think of that until just now! Next time. Tomorrow I'll go to Kerrville and get some stain and hopefully get it stained in the afternoon. I'll keep posting pictures of this till it's done.