Denise and Garret, those porches look great. Nice! My shelf project is poking along. We are still deep in the house organization project so I spent most of the day going through the pantry. But I did get a bit of time in the workshop. Cleared enough space to start working and picked through the 4x4s to find the straightest ones to use for the posts. Next step is to cut the posts down to 60". My best option for that is a circular saw but it won't cut all the way through so I'm thinking of cutting most of the way with the circular saw and finishing off with a hand saw, unless anyone has a better suggestion:
(I could make two cuts with the circular saw of course, one from each side, but I think the hand saw will give me a better chance of a clean cut). I'm also planning to cut it just a bit long and clean up the ends with a block plane although again any advice here would be welcome. I'm not going to start sawing until tomorrow in any case as it's been a long day and I don't plan on working with power tools when I'm tired.
I did spend some time trying to set up this table saw so I could rip the wood for the sides though.
It was free. Left behind when a friend moved to Australia a few weeks ago. And I think it was worth every penny. I fiddled with the cheap, stamped steel fence for a while but I was unable to get it to stay in place. Any sideways pressure would put it out of alignment. So that's worthless then. Looks like I'm on the hunt for a table saw. I'd love an old Unisaw or similar, with a cast iron base and a big table. But I've pretty much blown my tool buying budget for a while so more likely I'll end up with a used Craftsman.
And finally, a minor, random event: I don't drink iced tea at all but my wife does. And a bottle of Honest Tea was the only cold beverage in the house when I went hunting in the refrigerator for something to drink this afternoon. They print quotes on the inside of the tops, and this is what I got.
I'll take it.