Nostalgic for teamwork

Mason announced this week that he's leaving the Morgan, so suddenly everyone whipped into action to get stuff done in his last two weeks. Julie had started the team last weekend and after I did a little more sanding and scraping away of silicone caulk, Tom trimmed the replacement oak for the seam to fit the front and corner. 

Julie and I had done a run to the hardware store when she was in town and found some heavy duty marine sealant so Mason got it ready to go after Tom brought over his compressor and two nail guns.

We first put the sealant into the cracks, and then put the wood over that, and then more sealant over the wood. What we had hoped would be a nice clean job ended up being more Pollock-like, but Tom says it gives the vat character. Battle scars, right?

Then we clamped the entire front edge while the white goo sets up.

I'm paranoid about adding more weight to the unsupported front edge of the vat, so I always stay back a couple feet. I was especially grateful that someone recently dropped off a donation of cotton clothing, which have become my smock and work clothes.

We nailed the new trim, Mason followed with a round punch, and Tom with a pointy punch, to make sure that the heads sunk before covering it all with sealant. Only one nail went all the way to the outside (past the trim, the plywood, and the extra caps on the outside of one-inch wood).

Then we squirted a little more white to the outside seam of the vat. Not the most beautiful sight, but far better safe than sorry. Once this all sets up, we'll re-seal the parts that we exposed. I was so happy while we were working together on this, especially after reading about how so much "teamwork" these days in the workplace involves people meeting as a "team" but then actually doing most of the work alone in front of a computer, so they don't feel that connected. This was the opposite, and reminded me of the heady early days when we first built this vat. Mason wasn't with us then, and he won't be around to see the liner for this thing later, but he has been great to have around for the last few years!

Also, as I muck about in endless edits for my report about apprentices, I was fascinated by what Joanne Kaar has been unearthing: documents of apprentices, indentured for years. And this, ceramics master/apprentice models! Funny how once you focus on one tiny thing, it's all you can see.