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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   2557 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 7, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Work was kicking my ass the last month. But that finally ended, so I got out to my workshop to finally frame a fun map I got.

The Algorithm thought I would be interest in Lord of the Maps, and I was. Purchased a nice map of my state around Father's Day. But I skimped on the frame. $70 for a frame? Fuck that, I can probably build one at least as good, right?

Took me a month to get around to it, but I eventually did. I didn't do anything too fancy. Milled down the red oak cause I had plenty on hand, I let it get out it's movement in my shop for about two weeks, but it actually didn't move any more. So I cut it to final dimensions. Put a slight 15 degree chamfer on the inside edge because I saw someone else do it and I liked it. Then I worked it with some aged barrel stain. I did also do some splines on the corners to reinforce the relatively weak glued miter joints.

A few things happened. My miter gauge must have been a fraction of a degree off, because the miter joints in aggregate opened ever so slightly towards the outside after I glued the whole thing up. So I guess I'll be recalibrating that. I calibrated it when I got it, but I suppose I didn't do a good enough job. The second thing that happened was the stain was slightly blotchy in a few places where I may have left it on too long. A lot of cleaned up well when I hit it with some mineral spirits, but some of it didn't. Oh well. Next time. In retrospect, I'm not sure I'm pleased with how the splines turned out either, and I might use small dowels next time.

The cost breakdown is insane compared to a store bought frame. I used probably $8 worth of red oak, the 16x20 glass pane was also $8. I used about $2 worth of hardboard for the backing, and then it used pennies worth of stain, glue and brad nails. So about $18 all told, versus $70 ish.

It seems to be that recreational indulgence in handicrafts, like wood working for one, is far more common in the US than the West, let alone outside the Anglosphere.

I don't know whether it's because of cultural factors that value self-reliance, more free time, large houses with more room to dedicate to things like this, or a combination of the above.

I don't know a single person in India who has a similar hobby, only those who do it for a living. Of course, we lack hobby culture to an extent, but still..

Is it just seen as low status in India? I know my wife laughed at me a bit when I said I was interested in taking a pottery class, because that's something only people making poverty level wages do in her home country.

I had a bizarrely strong urge about ten years ago to build a cinderblock shed in the backyard. It passed, but the strength of the urge startled me; it was something I fantasized about for about a year.

If I were to take pottery classes, it would start with digging up my own clay in my backyard, to prep for a post-apocalyptic/post-collapse future.

I love watching the Primitive Technology videos on youtube, where half the videos are about bootstrapping your own pottery kiln.

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