sealing the spinning wheel

This is the wheel that those of you who made purchases from my shop in October and November funded entirely! (I still really can't believe it. Thank you again!) When I drove to the fiber mill in our little red pickup with the jammed drivers' side door, I didn't really know how I'd go about fitting the wheel... and all of our processed wool in one little seat beside me and manage to close the door behind me, let alone get out when I got home.  So it was pure fate that there was a brand new wheel sitting unopened at the mill, which meant it was not yet assembled, and much more compact.  With the amount of wool I ended up bringing home, there was NO way the used, already-built wheel would have fit too. The new one only ended up costing about $30 more since it was unbuilt and unfinished too.

Through December, it sat in its box because I knew I'd find no time to put the necessary sealant on it, and then all winter break I made excuses because the thought of painting several coats of stinky finish on tiny wooden parts was more than daunting... Until yesterday, when for some reason I said to hell with it! and set up shop on the porch. It might have helped that it was an unseasonably warm and sunny afternoon... 

For those of you who are interested you can see in the fifth and sixth photos down, the way that the Satin Polycrilic brings out the wood grain and adds a nice honey color, all while still keeping that simple Scandinavian birch-wood look. I was initially interested in doing something totally non-toxic, but I changed my mind in the end because our house can get pretty humid and a beeswax and olive oil rub would just not cut it. (I'd hate to throw over $400 down the drain if it warped with our oddly fluctuating Maryland weather.) I applied two coats, waiting two hours in between. What I found was that by the time I was done with the first coat, the first parts that I'd painted had already been done for two hours. So it was a good cycle and the second coat took much less time too. 

Now I just need to figure out how to build this damn thing. The instructions are very thorough, but not for visually minded people. The photographs are small and fuzzy and far and few between. I'm hung up on the legs because the holes are slanted, but I'm so afraid I'll glue them in and they'll be slightly off on an odd angle. Jamie's been building workshop tables for the past few nights, but he's promised that once he's done we can put our minds together and make it work. 

Wish us luck!

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