Over the past six months, Acharya Kumarnathaswami and Sadhaka Shankaranatha have been crafting wooden cladding to go around the existing fish tank frame in the Hale Hana office space. They used ear pod wood grown on the island, which had been chainsaw-milled many years ago and left to dry in our sawmill. This was the monks’ first time working with this lumber.
After milling it in the sawmill, the wood went through jointing, planing, shaping, sanding, and finally oiling. The project was then installed by the monks. The assembly went very smoothly thanks to Acharya’s extensive planning. It was quite a challenge, as the existing frame was not near the shop, so all measurements had to be exact.
In recent weeks, as many of you have seen, we wrapped up the project. We used tung oil sealer followed by a tung oil hard oil for the topcoat. It was an amazing experience for Sadhaka Shankaranatha, who is just beginning to learn finish carpentry. The cladding blends beautifully with the koa vinyl flooring in our new office space.