Half way through finishing the Student's Desk I ran out of Osmo. After getting some more on order, and an estimated delivery date, I was able to do a little finishing math. Based on the number of coats needed, and taking into account the fact that I couldn't start the top until the bottom was nearly complete, I should be able finish up just before Christmas.
Unfortunately, I would have several days of waiting that I would need to fill with something productive. I already had materials on order for the next round of shave horses but that lumber wouldn't arrive until the finish did. As I was cleaning up the shop I was about to dump out the unused paint from the desk and realized I had a project that was already built and waiting to be painted with just these colors.
Three years ago I built a Continuous Arm Rocker at Greg Pennington's Shop, just outside of Nashville. It was a challenge to carve out a week during the busiest part of my year, but taking the time to learn something new, and build a piece purely for fun amongst friends is always worth the time. When I returned home I was energized and ready to get back to paying work, so the rocker got set aside for when things "got slow."
I suppose it's a good thing that I never really had time to get back to it, but I felt a tinge of guilt every time I looked at that chair. And it's been worse ever since my son laid claim to the rocker some time in February of 2018. We even sat down and laid out the paint scheme he wanted.
I'm not sure why I agreed to such a crazy plan, but I guess that's how chair makers indulge their children. I should have just enough time to get all the paint on before the Osmo arrives.