Underway!

 Finally, I am able to get going on my project of the year, and that is the double bunkbeds, which should end up looking something like this:

The only difference being in is my intention to design and build a staircase, that sits alongside, and incorporates storage, also the storage shown under these beds, will be a platform with a single mattress, so at a push, we would be able to accommodate five.

The first job was to buy the timber

 This is just for the bed, the staircase will be another load.

I bought rough sawn timber, that is timber to size but not planed, it still has all the rough spots and saw blade marks. The idea behind this is that I am trying out something new, to me,  a Japanese process called Shou Sugi Ban, the art of wood burning. I have briefly touched on this before, when I experimented with the posts for my garden shed.

I started on the 6\” x 6\” corner posts

The raw post.

The same post burnt

The same post burnished and ready for assembly.

It would have helped, if I could have had a second pair of hands to keep the process going, but I have the time, and to be honest, I am enjoying it.

Here is a short video showing the four stages for each piece of wood, of which there are six sides, albeit they will change.
1. Burning
2. Burnishing
3. Air cleaning
4. Hand cleaning

It is a dirty job, but very satisfying, and after the burnishing process, the wood is smooth and shiny, so there is no sanding required, and the colour is as dark as you want it, altered by the amount of burn, so the only finishing process, for me, will be waxing it, with home made bees wax polish, once assembled.

I will still have to burn each piece again, after they are cut to size, and holes drilled for carriage bolts, just to keep the wood colour, but it will just be spot burning.

Because we are in  winter, and the storms come anytime after midday, I am working mornings only, as of today, I have completed about half the wood pile, the next photo shows after I finished yesterday.

I am keeping it all in a covered area outside the workshop, but even so we have tropical storms, so the rain is pounding from every direction, to help, I have the wood raised off the floor. I now just have the  2 x 10s and the 1 x 3s left to do.

Covid is effecting us again, numbers have been rising, albeit in our municipality they are like a yoyo, at the moment going down again, but the Department / County as a whole is rising sharply, so they have brought restrictions in again, from yesterday until April 5th, yes, as usual over the Bank Holiday period, just to spoil everyone\’s fun, albeit, we don\’t see it effecting up much, it just means we can only enter shops every other day, Restaurants are not effected.

I am due to have my vaccination during the next month, I am just waiting for the details, but that may be delayed, as all news of vaccination numbers has ground to a halt, so maybe there is a problem getting the vaccines, probably thanks to the EU.

Today, we had our address changed again, we live in a Vereda, which is a designated rural area within the Municipality, we were pretty much abandoned, because we lived in Vereda Alto del Mercado, which is a mouthful in itself, but the Vereda, had it\’s corner cut off years ago by a main road, and we were adopted by the adjoining area. Today we are now in an area known only as \’Brisas\’ which translates as Breezes,  with a new house number, all our adjoining areas have amalgamated  as well.  Now we are totally Brisas, because our address is:
Brisas (Vereda)
Las Brisas + number (House name)
Brisas del Rio (the sector)
As a result I have been busy notifying all those who need to know officially, that our address has changed.