Stoney Decisions

We now have met three times with the granite people who mis-cut our desk piece.  They took a substitute piece of stone into their shop and were going to cut it to replace the desk.  We told them that we wanted to see it, and upon arriving in their shop, we promptly rejected it.  It was way too grey  in the background.

The desk piece is too large for it not to match the rest of the granite in the room.

We went back to the original granite yard and found a piece that we thought would work.  The cutters agreed to pick it up today.  We met them at the granite company and discovered that the piece we thought would work also was not the right background color.  However, it was close, so Rick took a couple of pictures of it, and we agreed to a certain cut -- with lots of browns in it -- for the desk.

When we arrived home, we held the pictures up to the desk area and once again rejected what we saw.  The browns still did not match what we thought we had, and the new piece would have been terrible.  So for the third time, we contacted the cutters and told them that the slab would not work.

Our final choice: keep what we have and do what we vowed not to do.  We will install a thin piece of molding behind the granite on one side and keep the beautiful piece of granite that they originally cut for the desk.  In the end, this is the least of all evils.

Rick spent the afternoon searching for different types of molding, trying different designs and cuts, and rejecting everything he tried.  We eventually ended back at Home Depot to get a simple, smooth piece of molding that we can slip in behind the granite to fill the gap. It looks the best and will suit our needs.  Is this what we wanted to do? No, but it will be the best choice in the end.  I guess a little touch of molding on the side is better than a four-foot piece of granite that does not match the rest of the room.

A blurry but accurate depiction of the workbench we bought from Home Depot.

While we were at Home Depot, we also bought a small workbench that we can use downstairs.  The workbench is movable and will take the burden of projects off other pieces of expensive woodworking equipment.  Rick is using his Festool table and router table as workbenches, and that has to stop.  A new workbench will serve us all well, and since it is adjustable, Rick and Owen will be able to use it to build interesting things together.

This may not mean much to people who do not weave,
but weavers know how valuable this station can be.

Storage at the side for lease sticks and reeds is invaluable.

While we were waiting for the granite fiasco to work out, Rick was busy downstairs saving us lots of money by building us a bobbin-winding station for the loom.  He added a rack on the side to hold lease sticks and reeds for the loom, so now everything is together and accessible.  He did a great job and saved us at least $400 over buying a station and stand commercially.

This has been a trying week, but we are happy with the stand and content will our decision to keep the granite that the cutters originally brought to the house.  We just want this room to be complete, and hopefully by the end of next week, everything will be done.