A Woodshop Buzzing with Activity

With the Ganapti Kulam's recent finalization of the next issue of Hinduism Today, they are now free to devote a great deal of their energy to their work on the Media Studio renovation project. Today several projects are actively progressing simultaneously. The new tent cover for the saw mill is being put together, the cove molding is being installed, the team's new desks are being created, the ceiling vents are being painted, the 1008 lingam cabinet has been assembled and the front entryway door installation is moving forward. Not to mention all of the unseen background task which must be accomplished. Here is a slideshow of some of the recent progress, with an in depth look at how the mango desktops are being created.

This wonderful machine sharpens the sawmills blades. In order to trim the raw slabs of dry mango wood, the blades had to be switched out and resharpened constantly.

This is the new tent which will cover the sawmill, keeping it dry and rust free.

Sivanadiyar Girish is helping the GK today. He is finalizing the assembly of the tent

After the soon-to-be desktops are milled, they are stacked and ready for the next step.

They are cut to relative length and width

These boards are too wide for the power planer, so a jig was created which allows us to run a router evenly over each face, creating perfectly flat surfaces.

The router does a good job, but a plane must still be used to perfect the surface of this beautiful wood.

Acharya Kumarnathaswami hand-planes the face of this desktop

This mango tree was quite unique, with streaks of black and pink throughout

This is the first desk to be glued and widened. It sits to dry.

it sure has a lot a character

Last month the cove molding was created. Again this started as raw wood. Here Jnanideva does the finishing touches on a few pieces

It beautifully connects the walls and ceiling

Jeff, an expert craftsman who has been helping with other difficult jobs, is installing the cove molding. It is something that takes a lot of skill and expertise

Each joint requires someone that really knows what they\

re doing. We\'re very thankful for Jeff\'s consistently professional work. '

The rosewood lingam cabinet, which was made in Pakistan, has been assembled and waits to be mounted on the Cedar room\

s north wall.'

In each square will sit a Siva Lingam, 1008 in all.

It will be mounted on this wall

These are the ceiling vents. Laser etched with designs, they will be placed in the two ceiling coffers which don\

t house kolum designs, but rather act as the buildings main ventilation'

Redwood is also being readied for window trim and for the front doorway

Here are the door jams, a sure sign that the entry doors are moving ahead quickly

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