Acclimatization Can be Cruel

The August issue starts mailing next week – and in Cincinnati, it certainly feels as if it’s August. The high today here was in the 90s; as I write this, the sun has long been set and it’s still 80° with 75 percent humidity. My people are from peat bogs; I am not bred for the heat.

But I’m also cheap, and don’t like to turn on the air conditioning until I just can’t stand it. Today, I couldn’t stand it; I broke down and fired it up, with the thermostat set at a balmy 79° (there was much rejoicing amongst the cats) and the dehumidifier set to suck out as much water from the air as possible.

What does this have to do with woodworking? Well, our shop at work is always well-cooled (I’m fairly certain you could hang meat in there). And our shop is, of course, where I built the coffee table that’s in the August issue. So when I carefully fit the through-drawers before bringing my table home, I was well-pleased with the way they smoothly slid in and out, and through.

A few weeks later, after I’d brought the table home and the temperature and humidity started to rise, I brought home a plane (I simply must invest in a second set of tools), pulled both drawers and took a few thousandths off each runner to keep things moving nicely. And I ran some wax along ’em for good measure.

I usually sit on the left end of my couch to read and watch TV – and the drawer on that end of the table still moves just fine. I forgot to check the other one as the heat index rose. Confession: It hasn’t opened in almost a month. But today, I was able to wrest it loose. Tomorrow, I’m leaving on the a/c, and bringing home my No. 4.

— Megan Fitzpatrick