I was encouraged that there might actually be a boating season this year when I looked at the web cam overlooking the Mackinac Island marina and saw there was a noticeable absence of ice.

Then the view refreshed and I wasn't quite so encouraged.

Well, at least it's broken ice now.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my new mower was delivered.

And there's progress on the dresser project.  That lake ice will thaw eventually so I need to get this thing finished.

It was time to make the top, so I picked out some stock to match up the grain.

After truing the edges and turning 4 planks into 2 planed pieces (because my planer will only handle a 12" width), I made the final glue joint.

Final cutting, trimming and sanding, results in the 63" x 21" solid oak top.

Just need to put the caps on the through mortise slots and add a couple decorative treatments and this build is complete and ready for stain and urethane.

Like I said, launch day 2014 is getting close.  Mother Nature needs to turn up the thermostat just a bit and we'll go boating.  The ice is gone in Manistee so as soon as it gets just a touch warmer, I'll have the boat put in there and then cruise north to Mackinaw City as the water (ice), waves and weather allow.

Well, last weekend was a disaster.  A storm blew (that's an understatement) through and wiped out the DTE electric grid.  We ran on generator power for a day...and we were one of the fortunate ones.

The wind blew so hard, the needles were stripped from the pine trees here.  Of course, it also stripped power lines from poles.  Here's a shot of the top of the neighbors spruce tree.  Most of the needles are gone on the new growth.

But after a record breaking 3" snowfall (made the season total over 94" breaking an 1881 record), spring appears to have arrived at the ranch.

There's actually signs life beginning to appear!

The melting snow left a lawn covered with sticks and debris from numerous winter storms.  So a day in the yard raking and burning got me a pile of ashes...

16 bags of debris to be hauled off...

a blistered hand, sore back, and achy legs.  Winter was not kind to me.  But the hard part is done and I can look forward to all the summer fun.

I visited the boat Friday and completed all the mandatory pre-launch chores.  There is still one more coat of paint that will be applied to the bottom this week.  Still no rush as the northern Michigan climate is still on the cool side.

And that's a good thing because progress on the dresser is slow and that's a generous evaluation of the progress.  But I'm back at it getting all the drawer guides made and glued into the case.  It's a lot of time consuming detail work that has to be done bit by bit.

It's looking like a possible boat launch in about two weeks.  Certainly nothing definite, but about the 2nd weekend of May is looking good at the moment.  Just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in mind.

I bet you think I've been sitting around cooling my hoofies...WRONG-O! (remember the 7up undeer?)

I've been plugging away and progressing on the dresser bit by bit.  I've got a pile of drawers all assembled.

 
It took a few days to get through that process but they all turned out well and most important...square.

I did a little trial and error and figured out how to build the drawer slides.  I have a rail mounted on the cabinet frame and a track that mounts to the drawer.  I stuck trial parts on a drawer with hot melt to see if the system worked as I expected.  It's perfect.

But there's a bigger problem...

The snow is melting and the outdoors is calling.  Not sure if I'm going to get this project finished in time for the soft water season.  The race is on!

Well, maybe not.  Today's view of the Mackinac Island marina is a bit less than encouraging.  Looks like I have a week or two before the boating season commences on that part of the planet.

and life goes on.

I talked with my boat service guy this week and the hull painting is supposed to begin this week.  The treatment is to include a barrier coating and VC17 paint.  It should be sweet when it's finished.  Launch is still something like 7 weeks away.  Unless we get some kind of warm up, launch may not occur until 2015.  The transition to spring has been s l o w.  Northern Lake Michigan/Huron is still solid ice from Beaver Island to Cheboygan.

So, I was a dovetailing master this weekend.  Here's a look at the process.  This happened 28 times over the last few days.

Which leaves a bit of a mess on the shop floor.

But the result is a chest full of awesome dovetail joints.

And drawers ready for the final construction and glue up.

I'm making progress.  That's the important note.

To be continued...

After a couple weeks of nursing a chest cold, I got out of the house and drove over near Grand Rapids to a salmon fishing seminar.  It should help me catch a few more fish because a hundred or more just doesn't seem like enough.

It was an informative event and I came away with a goodie bag full of "stuff" given away at the seminar.

So today, the challenge was to set up the dovetail jig and get some drawers built.  I don't use the jig very often so every time is an all new learning experience.

Step 1 is to set up the side to machine the tails.

Cut the tails.

Then, set up to cut the pins on the facing board.

Cut the pins.

Put it together and...

ALMOST!  Just a little bit of an offset.

So, 13 tries.

And on the 14th, I think we're there.

Whew!

Only 27 more corners to cut.  It really isn't that difficult, but it took a while for me to figure out just what the key datum was to line up on the pieces.  Once I had that down, it only to a couple tries to zero in on a good joint.

Daylight Savings Time...and what's this?

Yup, that's an icicle and that means it's been thawing for the first time in three months.  Must be all that extra daylight we have today.  There is still a couple feet of snow on the ground so boating remains a day or two away.

So, on the the project report.

I decided I want to use half blind dovetails for the drawer construction which is a style I haven't done on the Leigh Jig before, so I took a couple scrap pieces and did a quick set-up to see if I have the technique straight.

That'll work. So on to planing down the drawer stock to finished thickness.

And rough cutting to length.

Which results in a pile of lumber.

Some assembly required.

Next step is to finish stock to width and length prior to dovetailing.

That's what I'm talking about!

Assembled the dresser frame this morning.  Kathy ventured into the shop to assist with the gluing and clamping.  Amazingly enough, we're still on good terms.  Anyway, we got it all put together.

This is as large a cabinet as I've made.  I had to make some extensions for the pipe clamps to add a couple feet of length.

I was "tapping" the panels into position and forgot to move my finger once.

Believe me, it didn't happen twice.  The knuckle is a bit swollen, but I'll live.

After drying a couple hours the clamps came off and wonder of wonders, this thing is dead nuts square.

Added a few pieces for drawer dividers, and the exterior part of the case is complete.  Ready for finish sanding.

So, after a slow start, like 3 months, this project is taking shape.  Next up, drawer guides.

Launch day...10 weeks and counting.