Hextacular

Well….. we had 2 days of both kids in school last week! A new record! I realized that our kids have both been in school at the same time for only 2 days in the last 4 weeks.  That is rather disheartening.  This time Patricia was sick, and Julius had another snow day!  The snow does look very pretty AND it was great snowman snow!  So we built a snowman that Julius named “Violet”.  (Not sure if the snow person was named after his friend from school or not…)

I had an existential crisis this week.  I hope it doesn’t sound too entitled, but it probably will.  You see, 14 years ago I had a dream/career goal to be a post-si debug engineer.  For the last 3 years I’ve been working in that job and I love it (most of the time).  While there is always so much to learn in this role and I could see myself enjoying this job for a long time, I came to the realization that I might need some new goals.  When you’re young and just out of school though the world feels like your oyster!  Now I feel like I have to make my goals WAY BIGGER because I’ve got less time to lose!  Or maybe it’s just that I’ve been reading a series where the main characters level up to more and more ridiculous levels every novel. It’s a problem.

Maybe my goal should just be to have a better work life balance!  That seems like a noble goal.  In 10 years I want my kids to like me and still have a career.  (She types, as she writes this blog after working til 10pm after missing most of dinner with the kiddos.)  I might have to reprioritize my life choices.

Speaking of reprioritizing!  I finally got around to an item I’ve had on the list for 2 years now!  A couple years ago we got a Berkey water filter.  We love it, but I needed something to stand it up off the counter and in lieu of a stand I grabbed a wooden box (previously used to house olive oil) and a tortilla warmer (which may I add fit the bottom of the Berkey PERFECTLY?!)  It didn’t look great but it was functional.  I meant to swap it out when I bought or made one.  I decided the ones available for purchase were ugly, and I couldn’t decide what I wanted it to look like.

It’s hard to go down from here.

After 2 years though nothing could be uglier than my box/taco holder combo.  At some point I almost caved and bought a fancy beverage stand from Crate and Barrel that I LOVE!  But luckily I measured and it’s too low and the diameter is too small for my Berkey.  It was also $50.  I decided I could make one myself, but realistically I have no tools to carve or bend wood in a circular shape.  So I decided to compromise and make something hexagonal.  I am SO HAPPY with what I came up with and how it came out.  It didn’t cost me $50 either! (It cost me like $30, including the glue and tung oil)  Also I have to give full credit for the taping idea to Amy.  I sent her pictures of the complex jig I was working up to glue and clamp all these pieces and I realized it was going to take me a year, or 40 clamps to get thru the project in any reasonable amount of time.  The taping worked great, especially because the joints aren’t load bearing!

Big Berkey Drink Stand

What you’ll need:

• 2″x2″x13′ piece of wood
• Wood Glue
• chop saw or miter box
• clamps
• sander (I use an orbital sander) and fine and medium grade paper
• painter’s tape
• 12 cabinet bumpers (like these)
• Tung oil and polyester rags

1. Set your chop saw at a 60 degree angle.  Cut 30 trapezoids that are 5″ on the long edge.
2. Tape 6 trapezoids, end to end using the painters’ tape.
3. Put wood glue at end of each piece then roll it up into a tight hexagon, making sure the faces align and everything is tight and secure.
4. Repeat step 2&3 for 4 more sets.
5. Let wood glue set overnight.
6. Remove tape from all hexagons and sand the tops and bottoms until flush and smooth, dust surface.
7. Stack hexagons together.  Apply glue sandwiched between each set of hexagons, and clamp together.  Let dry overnight.
8. Remove clamps and sand down each face of the hexagonal tube until all pieces of wood are flush.
9. Sand the top and bottom of the hexagon stack until pieces are flush and smooth.
10. Dust surface with a tack cloth and then apply one very thick coat of tung oil with a polyester rag following the instructions on the container* to apply.
11. Apply cabinet bumpers to the bottom face of the stand, on either side of each joint.

*Tung oil can spontaneously combust so make sure to follow instructions for how to handle rags while drying.

Wanted to show putting a water bottle underneath! The perfect height!