Done!

     Today I am happy to announce the completion of my longest project to date: a project that took seventeen months to complete. To wit, we took an old 1942 Philco radio, the kind with radio tubes that had lived in someone's dusty barn for a while, and turned it into this beautiful piece of furniture.

 And it does something even better than play music now - it holds liquor!

I didn't work on this continuously for a year and a half, but there were a lot of steps. Step 1: My father gives me the radio. He helps me rip out the inside and then I haul it from Ohio to Maryland. Step 2: Nick and I make shelves for it. Step 3: Nick and I determine that we cannot make or buy the complicated hinges we'll need. Step 4: I haul it back to Ohio. Step 5: My father spends a huge amount of time making the lovely black hinges you see above. The door alone weighs 10 pounds, and has to mounted on a veneer (i.e. very thin) curved wood surface, requiring some sophisticated engineering. My father tells me this is my Christmas gift. Step 6: He brings the radio to Maryland. Step 7: Nick and I adjust the shelves to account for the hinges, I paint the inside and attach a back to keep my glasses and bottles dust free. Step 8: I spend almost the entire weekend refinishing the faceplate, which is hinged and can be lifted to store shot glasses. Step 9: I drink.