made by america

somehow, alex and i have been designated 'construction team USA', here at appelfabriken. it's quite funny, seeing as how i've never been a master of measurements (sure, i love building things, but anyone who's ever seen anything i've made knows it's lacking real craftsmanship) and alex hadn't really ever done much of anything in terms of 'construction' (not to say he doesn't have a natural talent for it, or maybe it is to say that). regardless of the skills we came here with, we've built two plant boxes and are now on a new project - putting up some kind of molding on the walls inside the kafe. sounds easy. well it ain't.

big wooden planks are never easy, i've learned. and because team USA lacks any real skills, we are unable to foresee potential hurdles - and only realise them as such when they have become quite obvious.

pictured: alex 'masters' the saw / i pretend i'm the wood's chiropractor / what not to do

example - the attempt to carve out a notch in the planks for some cables to hide under.
as we begun this seemingly simple task, we unfortunately didn't see the plank we chose had a huge knot in the wood. oh no big deal you say. well, we also didn't see that right where we were planning on chiseling out the notch is where this sturdy knot lay. yep. awesome. so, after many minutes of chiseling and sawing, we eventually made our way through this knot from hell - but not without some close calls. note picture #3 - this is alex's attempt at chiseling out a notch. that's right, the chisel went straight through the wood to the other - visible - side. i'm no expert, but i'm pretty sure that's the worst kind of craftsmanship. ah well. no one will notice - right? i patched that puppy up with a little sandpaper and some sawdust. sure, that knot we were hacking at was now about to fall out of its nice little home like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. but with a little hammering here and there - perfecto! go team USA!

so, tomorrow we will continue on. hopefully we've learned something from today...such as taking notice to the wood you are about to use? being careful where your chisel is aimed? that grass isn't the best work surface?...or maybe we haven't. stay tuned to find out!