BRAZIL JULY 2007 - Phase One/Materials/Set Up

We left behind one trunk full of tools in Indiana, and still paid an extra $250 to take these four. You should have seen us with all our baggage and trunks wheeling our way through each airport. Included are one short level, one hammer, one bar clamp, one palm sander, one belt sander, one cordless drill, 2 nail guns, Kenny's ancient (he calls it "vintage") spray gun (he said it never worked better..."must be a God thing"), and 40 lbs. of full extension drawer guides (10 pair). We also bought a small compressor which never shut off while we sprayed the entire job. People are a little shocked and surprised when they see so much granite, especially in a mission house! Granite in Brazil is as common as laminate in the US. Even the dividers and countertops in the men's bathroom of McDonalds were granite...no kidding!

Shopping for plywood (in meters), and hardwood (wet and rough cut). Both types of wood were new to Kenny and me.

The table saw would not even cut through our hardwoods, so we bought another skillsaw, mounted it on an old piece of plywood, made our own fence (had to be set square on every cut with clamps), and used it as our only stationary saw.

It's hard to describe our electrical set-up. A lamp size cord brought the 220 into the house from a pole, and was taped to a super-long cord not much bigger in gauge. It was then run through a transformer to give us some 110 current (make sure you watch what you're plugging into!!), and taped together time and again with other various cords and a whole variety of plug-ins. We were just glad Ricardo had done this many times before and knew exactly what he was doing. We never lost our electricity or had any fires!

Various products we used. The can and bottle are "ingredients" for clear coat, massa para madeira is filler, plastic bottle is glue, and "theener" can with fire design is Kenny's favorite...