I made a thing on the thing I made

DIY stuff continues on my time off.

     So, with my rolling assembly table now finished, I wanted to actually make something on it, see how it felt and what needed to be changed.

 I haven't attacked the side of my garage with the widows and orphans boxes left over from moving into my new place, and that side of my garage also holds my larger tools and saws and such, so until I work up the energy to organize and set up that half of the garage, I will still be lugging things like my drill press and chop saw around when I need them. Tough on the back, but I don't feel like making a chop saw station since it's still in the mid-90's here, and humid.

 But, with the wood scraps that a cheap prick like me accumulates, I could still make something even with the extra steps of lugging stuff around.

 So I grabbed my chop saw, screwed it to the table, screwed some 2x4's together to make temporary guides, and cut down a couple of scrap 1x2's that I used to keep my nicer wood off the floor.

 I then planed the 1x2's lightly to give them one semi-finished surface. 

I lined them up and ran a torch over them to toast the wood a bit. 

 I then stained the wood with a blue water-based stain and cut some bright red paint 50/50 with water to make a wash, which comes out brighter than a red color stain would. 

 I then started freehand carving. This was a ballbuster for many reasons:

1) I have minimal talent.
2) I have limited dexterity for fine work after too many accidents, infections and injuries involving my hands.
3) Low quality cheap pine strapping is fibrous and doesn't cut nicely.
4) I had never done that before. 

  In the end, after just 2 hours from start to finish it came out pretty well. The street number of my house is 1776, so this sign is headed out front I think. It took longer for the coat of polyurethane to harden up than it did to make the whole thing.