A swing and a miss

I alluded to an update on the porch swing project, and here it is. It was time to add the back seat slats. There are 14 slats cut from 1x2s. The plans call for a 1 1/2" gap on each end of the cleat (the horizontal 2x4 that the slats are attached perpendicular to) and 1 3/8" spacing between each slat. The cleat is 42" long, so that should work:

14 (slats) x 1.5" = 21"
13 (gaps between slats) x 1 3/8 = 17.875"
2 (end space) x 1.5" = 3"

Total width: 41.875"

To get the spacing right, I cut 1 3/8" spacers from left over 1 x 2. I cut enough for the first seven slats:



Once the first seven were securely screwed in place, I used the spacers to position the second seven. That's when the problem showed up. There's not a 1.5" gap on the end of the cleat:



I checked the math a few times to be sure, but the fact is that I have spaced them incorrectly. The only way for that to have happened would be if the spacers I cut from 1 x 2 weren't the right size:



Uh, yeah, you think that might be the problem? Some of those were cut on the bandsaw, others on the table saw. I'm not sure which is worse, but I'm guessing the table saw. The width of the blade is such that there's a bit of a difference in each cut. I guess it all adds up. Easy fix, though: I didn't glue the slats, so I just need to unscrew them and try again with more consistently cut spacers.

Unrelated, Co-pilot Egg returned from three days at band camp this evening, and on my way over to the high school to pick her up, I made my normal reconnaissance of Bolton Field. It was the strangest thing. Out of the corner of my eye, and at a distance of over a mile, I could have sworn that I saw one of the vertical stabs of a B-24. That's impossible, of course, but the more I looked the more it seemed like it just had to be a B-24.

Insatiably curious about exactly this kind of thing, I dropped Egg off asap after picking her up at the school and headed to the airport. Lo and behold, my airplane spotting was, well, spot on:









Based on the sign they had hung on the fence, it seems that they are in town to sell 30 minute rides for a "tax deductible donation of $425." While I think it would be very cool to experience a ride in one of those venerable WWII work horses, that's a bit too rich for my blood. Now, if I were to get to fly from the right or left seat, well that would be different. I doubt if that option is available, though.