Shelving the shelves...or, Library Part 6

New oak panels to replace the old Birch ones

Wayyyy back in early March of this year, I got bogged down choosing stain colors for the trim in the library I'm building. While I had originally thought I'd have it all finished by sometime in April, here it is going on September, and I've not worked on this much at all in the 5 months or so since.
In the interim, I had decided to solve the staining issues I had been having with the pine and birch I had originally spec'd - splotching, unevenness, and mis-matched coloring - by ditching the birch and pine trim altogether and starting over with oak instead.

Stain tests on the old problematic birch plywood. Even tho' careful sanding and chemical pre-treatment
cut down on the blotchiness, once I switched the edge-face trim to oak, I'd never get this to match...

Of course, I had all the larger trim surrounds for the window, door and window seat already cut and ready to stain in Birch, so switching to oak meant additional purchases, and trimming/fitting all the pieces anew, not to mention now I have all this Birch trim I can't use.
But...
in a fit of motivation, I was able to purchase, remeasure, cut, trim, sand and stain all of the trim surrounds in oak in a single day:

After sanding, the oak faced plywood took the final stain very well with good grain detail

The oak performed as I had hoped - it sanded easily in one step, took the stain well, and in a matter of a few hours I had all the pieces I needed to face the window and door surrounds in the Library. And since the shelf edge-facing will be of the same red oak, they should end up matching exactly.
The remaining steps on these surrounds will be to apply several coats of semi-gloss varnish, lightly sanding with 300 grit between each coat, then glueing/nailing them into place.
I'm still on the fence on whether to rebuild the window seat from scratch in oak, rather than the birch its currently in, but as that's a big expense to rebuild, I'll have to think hard and long on that one. If I leave it in birch, perhaps I'll think about staining or painting it a contrasting color to the oak, rather than trying to match it.
In the meantime, I also have a front tire for the FJR to save up for, as well as a battery for the GB500, and a trip to Italy in the fall...
Seems completing the library may have to wait on the backburner for a little while longer.

Commuting as best I can...

This RR bridge lies at the bottom of a left downhill turn, with a tight right-hander just beyond...
and adds just a bit to the commuting goodness...

Today's Photo

Chapel
August 7th
(20D, 24mm f/2.8)

Every day brings a gift. Yesterday, this was part of a gift to me...

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 R

The small lens with the big name...

I recently ordered a new lens for my Olympus Pen rig - the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 R. While its name is big, this small lens is also proving to be a big bang for the buck. Here are my first impressions of this small and cheap ($150) lens for Micro four thirds...

Beach Trip: no bike, all burn...

Daytrip to Kure Beach, NC
June 22nd, 2013

Pillion and I managed to get away for the day out to Kure Beach, NC. Its a flat slab of a drive to the beach, so absolutely no reason to take the bike. And it rained just about the whole drive there. But when we arrived, the clearing storm made for a very nice and visually interesting time on the beach.

Kure Beach Pier and sky
June 22nd, 2013

I'm not at all a beach person, much preferring the mountains. The beach feels to me like its all about the power of creation and rebirth. The mountains feel like the power of the ages, the timelessness of eons, of the power of rain, rock, reformations and metamorphosis rending their effects on the very core of the earth. Perhaps its this sense of the ages I appreciate more than the newer sense of rebirth I feel at the beach. To each his/her own, but it explains why its been ages since we've been to the beach, so it was high tide, time.
Even though I hid out under the umbrella you see in the first shot for most of the day, I got pretty lobster'd by the sun anyways in places where I missed the sunscreen. Lesson learned...again.
Sky was nice tho'...

Connie's new adventures...

Greg at the helm of Connie

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you'll remember that I broke down and sold my beloved Kawasaki Concours late last year (link). Recently, I received an update from her new owner, Greg, about his and Connie's new adventures. Above is a photo Greg sent of them both setting out on an Iron Butt attempt, 1000 miles in 24 hrs. They look heroic, don't you think? Especially because they're setting out in the rain.
I think its awesome Greg attempted this, its an inspiration to me to get out and ride more often than the mere commuting I find myself relegated too so often. And its nice to know Connie is still out there, and is still creating memories and smiles with someone who deserves her.

Today's Photo

Magnolia bloom
Duke gardens, June 12th, 2013