Sawdust and Noise

The Thirty Quid Beech Thing

 

 

Having decided finally where the sink bowl is going to be located on the kitchen worktop, I routed out the rectangular hole for it and in doing so created enormous quantities of dust, as you do. Judicious use of the old vacuum cleaner mitigates the carnage somewhat, as does the wearing of appropriate PPE; respirator-type mask, ear defenders, etc. The latter item most definitely required: my tinnitus doesn't need encouragement. [Says he that played his guitar far too loudly last evening - if you can get a Les Paul to feed back, you're loud...] The supporting carcass and under-top shelves/cupboards, etc. are still moot: in my head but not yet (if ever) on paper. Like everything else I do, the execution and ensuing results of all of this will depend largely on whim.

The main problem I have at the moment with my increasing use of scary power tools such as the router - an inheritance from my Dad, who admitted that it was the only tool that actually did scare him: and believe me that's saying a lot - and the recently-acquired table saw; is precisely this: dust management. I really need to invest in a system to deal with it, as a lot of wood dust is just plain evil health-wise, and the stuff that isn't actually toxic doesn't do your lungs much good either.

We managed to get hold of a nice little pseudo-butchers' block standalone thing from the Air Ambulance charity shop in Bangor for thirty quid this morning. On the surface a little grubby, but otherwise fine. I took it down to the studio and gave the top a good sanding to see what the timber was like and it came up really well - and being beech, it will match the main worktop nicely.  Everything will get a good couple of coats of top oil before final deployment to resist moisture, etc. Also, as a bonus, the offcut from the sink aperture will rip down to a nice beech chopping-board, which will be a welcome replacement for our current sorry affairs.

I'll post more on this later, but I suspect something regarding the wider world will be the subject of the next post or two, given the unfolding events of the current week or so.