Enter the pain of starting over...

There is a fine line between pain and pleasure. The agony of making a mistake can be so large that it's better to go through the pain of making a new one.

Now that it's over, I am glad I did! However, I have now entered the phase of, "there's no turning back" and I can't remake it again. I have come to far to rework any more.

I chose option 3 of my last post to start over. I purchased another flag; but this time instead of using a 3'X5', I used a 5'X8' flag and used the black rectangle portion to make my octagon outer shell.

I re-fused the flag to baltic birch plywood under vacuum where it sat for 36 hours curing. This picture shows only one of the two sections. The fabric on top is a "breether cloth" that helps distribute the vacuum pressure to the inner sections.

Then I re-sprayed, re-cut, re-glued and re-sprayed the final 10 coats of finishing to the new octagon outer shell

Here is a picture of the first shell and second shell side by side.

What did I get for my extra work?

• There will be a natural transition on the lid from an 8 sided octagon liner to an 8 sided octagon outer shell.

My first outer shell had to be a decagon transitioning to the inner octagon liner.

I could make this work but it's not ideal.

As you can see, going from octagon to octagon will be a much cleaner transition.

• The stars and stripes were not aligning correctly.

  
  

In my mind, this is just unacceptable. I could not get past this!

This second one is much cleaner. I also raised the outer shell by 40% to maintain the integrity of the stars. I thought it was necessary because of my use of the 5"X8" flag.

• The decagon outer shell may not fit through a standard door.

My intention all along was to make something nice enough to be used in a bar setting in Melissa and Ben's house; as well as, being able to roll outside for patio/pool enjoyment. Early on I measured my exterior doors and realized I need to be under the 31" threshold. Man! --- Upon seeing this pic of my garage entry door to my house, I should pause woodworking for others and do some things around the house here!

Here is the width of the first Decagon outer shell! This one would be difficult to roll in and out!

But this second Octagon outer shell with a 26.5" width will be very easy to roll in and out!

What did this cost?

One month of extra work! But I learned a lot. The school of hard knocks is a painful road.

I had to purchase two flags because the first one had "stitched stars and stripes". I must have a printed flag. Each flag cost me $70 ($140 total). These flag companies are not easy to work with. It's impossible to talk to them over the phone and crazy hard to return anything.

I paid $62 for another 5'X5' sheet of 1/2 inch baltic birch plywood.

I would estimate that I paid $120 for the 12 spray coats and epoxy to remake the octagon outer shell.

Totaling - $322

What is the next stage?

I will work on the top and bottom which is where my CNC comes into play. The idea is to cut an octagon top that the metal liner attaches to (underneath) using solid mahogany. Once that is complete, I will cut the bottom and prepare for closed cell filling and drain attachment.

I also have to think carefully through the hinge and lid component before I attach the top and bottom sections. I will likely have to reinforce the hinge areas and that must happen first.

Have any questions? Ask away!

Mark Petrilla, Gorilla Bark Studio's

Paying tribute to those who keep us safe.