Heavy Things

One of the classes I have been looking forward to taking has been last weekend's Concrete Countertops. Ever since I have seen Cemment Design's concrete candle holders, I have wanted to make something similar. A couple years ago I played around with making silicone molds and pouring quick cement in, however I wanted to learn the proper way of mixing and pouring of concrete.

The project for this class was to make a computer desk, shelf, and two coffee table tops for Hostel Tevere in Warren. Luckily for me, there was extra mold materials and concrete so I jumped on the chance to make my candle holder and a benchtop.
Here is Mike, one of our instructors from Stone Soup mixing the concrete. Only in Vermont would you add maple syrup to the cement mixture instead of water.





Here is the final computer table. The top surface is super smooth because of the PETG that we poured onto.
Here is my final benchtop. I am not sure what the actual bench will look like; I haven't gotten that far in my thinking.
Here is the heaviest concrete tealight holder ever.

Another Shed, Another Style

Last week was spent outdoors with a toolbelt on in a women-only carpentry class. We rocked through building a shed in a week and still had time for mojitos and to talk about Liz's job waxing male parts. The week, was fantastic. I now know that floor joints are spaced 16 on center, know that the jack stud is next to the king stud, and why nails are labeled in pennies. By the end I was also pretty confident with my chop saw and circular saw skills especially after my super straight plunge cut.
Here we visited the non-OSHA certified mill in downtown Waitsfield. Certainly could be a setting for a horror movie...we're still not sure how the place is still standing.





The women in the class were awesome! Sam, Jen, Emily and Emily, Kate, Liz and Liz, and Lisa. Thanks Lizabeth Moniz and Patti Garbeck, sassy instructors!