Thursday, November 20, 2008

Concrete Tables and Other Turkeys


Here's the latest version of my concrete table. As I said in one of my previous posts, I'm not totally pleased with the results, but I think I have a plan to salvage it. The good news is that my structural plan has worked out pretty well. The table feels solid and stable. The bad news is that in order for the pieces to fit together, the horizontal rods have to have a lot of tension on them. While tensioning the rods, it's easy to knock off chips of concrete where the pieces are misaligned before the tension pulls them into place. What I think I'll do is disassemble the table and reassemble it in my little backyard. I'll fill the seams and chipped-out areas with an epoxy/grout mix, and then grind and polish the table top as one piece. The seams will show, but I think the hex pattern and inner donut will have an interesting look, and the top will be smooth and seamless. The biggest trick will be to get the table into my condo after I'm done. I'll only have to move it a few feet, but the table weighs close to 400 pounds and will have to be tipped on its side to clear the doorway. The adventure continues...

Speaking of adventures, here's our early Thanksgiving turkey smoking on my Big Green Egg. Why an early Thanksgiving? Well, my Mom and sisters, Marian and Martha, are flying to Seattle tomorrow and are staying overnight before we all fly to Hawaii on Saturday. Once there, we'll get on a cruise ship and tour the islands for the next week, all courtesy of my Mom! So I figured that since they'll be here for one night, we should get the Seattle clan together with the Canadian clan and have a Thanksgiving dinner. And rather than just having the conventional boring roast turkey, I figured I may as well smoke one. I haven't done this since I smoked one a few years ago for Christmas, but as I recall it turned out really well and deserves an encore. If it doesn't turn out, we can always order in pizza.

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