Lumber Rack

the scary tool - it looks so innocent

This past Saturday, I told me it was high time I got the lumber rack in the garage built. Unfortunately for me, this involved using the angle grinder, with its shower of sparks, to cut the steel pipe I needed to build the rack. I've watched Joe use it any number of times, and while I was familiar with the technique needed (in theory), I was intimidated by the noise and the fire flying everywhere each time I watched him use it.

I got up in at a decent hour. I hemmed some, hawed some more. I took a nap, I piddled around the house, then, finally, after lunch, I spoke firmly to myself and got me out to the garage. (I am an excellent procrastinator when I'm afraid to do something.)

I decided to start with the hard part of the project. I managed to delay for another thirty minutes, making sure I had on hearing and eye protection, gloves to protect my hands, that my jeans were thick enough to shield my legs from the sparks, that I'd properly protected the wall behind my cutting area, that there was a fire extinguisher close by. I clamped the pipe into place, then, there was nothing left to do but actually turn on the cutter.

I braced my elbows to steady my nerves and the cutter, and tentatively touched touched the wheel to the metal. Sparks began to fly, and I jumped back about a foot. Feeling a bit foolish, I got hold of myself, counted fingers, and checked for burning objects. All was well, so I re-braced my elbows and started again. This time, I held the disk firmly to the pipe and watched in amazement as it made short work of cutting through the thick steel. Sparks flew, and I could feel their heat as they landed on my clothes, and the skin of my forearms, but nothing caught fire. My hair wasn't singed, nor was I actually hurt, despite the evidence of my eyes.

Since I'd survived the first cut, I reclamped the pipe and tried again, managing to complete a relatively straight cut. So far, so good, I made the remaining fifteen cuts in relatively quick time. (Quick being only three times slower than Joe would have been at the same task.)

Nothing bad happened. I even managed to change the cutting blade when it wore down without too much difficulty.

the finished product

Buoyed by my successful experience, I made pretty short work of cutting the lumber braces to size and drilling the holes for the pipe. I ended the day feeling pretty darn proud of myself. I feel powerful when I convince myself to face down my fears and do the hard things anyways.

Cutting with the grinder will never be my favorite task, but I have to admit - there was some primal joy behind being in control of the spark shower; behind being the master of the tool. Not to mention the positive feeling behind crossing the dreaded task off my to-do list.  **whew** That's done, and it feels GOOD!