day off.....

 It was a partial day off from the shop. I took today off from work and I didn't get to the shop until just before lunch. I had made an appointment to get the PCR covid virus test but that was a bust. The address on the website turned out to be a closed tire store. I didn't see any signage saying it was a test site so I went back home. Which was a waste of gas.

The majority of the testing sites are in Providence and north of Providence. There is one site in South Kingstown and another on Block Island. You could last year get tested at CCRI but I haven't seen that offered for months now. 

The other headache is the test appointment website is very poor in my opinion. There are two tests for the virus. One gives a maybe yes/no result in 15 minutes and the other is a PCR test which is done by a lab and takes 2-4 days. I need the PCR test but the website doesn't state for each site if the PCR test is done there. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

 flushing the long bandings

The only thing I really wanted to get done in the shop today was getting the bandings on the 5 cubes epoxied in place. I had 3 cubes to flush first.

 labeled the short ones

I had to remove the short ones to plane the long ones flush.  I realized after I did the first two that I didn't have to. I just had to leave them attached to the tape when I pulled them out of the rabbets.

 trimming the patch

I stuck a offcut under the patch so I could chisel it flush with the edge.

 epoxy prep work done

All five will soon be cooking away. I was able to get all of them glued before the epoxy set up. 

 Wally World brushes

I searched all the aisles and I couldn't find any acid brushes. I thought I had bought them before here but I couldn't find them. I had no desire to fight traffic and go to Harbor Freight to get some. They have the most reasonable price I have ever found for them. I got two pkgs just to make sure I would have enough.

 just starting to set up

I don't mind wasting a bit due to the convenience of getting the right ratio mixed. I am thinking of getting a slow set hardener now that I know the epoxy doesn't have a shelf life. So far the pumps appear to be dispensing the same amount of product even after several days of not using it. I thought that the pumps might drain and I would have to prime them but that hasn't happened yet.

 one hiccup

The 1/2" cube I'm keeping for the shop is the only cube that has a hiccup. One veneered face is proud of the banding by a strong 32nd. It isn't the face that I glued on a piece of 1/8" plywood. It looks like crap but I think I can salvage it. I'll try out my idea when I start rounding the bandings.

 not my squadron

One the constructive things I did out of the shop today was to check on the sub squadrons I was attached to. Of the 3, only one still exists and the other two were changed/merged in the late 1990's. I was attached to Submarine Development Squadron 12 which was changed to this. SubRonTwo was absorbed and became SubRonFour. SubRonTen I think is still that and it was the first all nuclear submarine squadron.

I was looking up which sub squadron  the boats I was on were attached to. After 35+ years I was a bit fuzzy on that. I also came with a maybe idea for one shadow box for my patches that will incorporate my retirement ensign. I'm thinking of making it out of cherry because that is my favorite wood. 

accidental woodworker

PS Sorry about the late posting. It was something beyond me and I'll explain it all in tomorrow's blog.