New Station Table
Station 19 will soon have a new dining table. Members of the B shift gathered at Chief Hudgens house to begin construction of the new 14' table which replace the smaller table currently in use. According to Chief Hudgens, the wood used for the top of the table was found in his mother's attic, placed there some 30 years ago by his father. The wood slats are old oak hardwood flooring. Since the boards were pulled up from an old house, many were in rough condition. The process started with nail removal and rough cutting of damaged pieces, followed by tar removal. Haygood brought his dad's Christmas present, a brand new DeWalt planer which was used to shave off the top of the boards to even them out and remove the layers of varnish from the top. Meanwhile, Capt. Martin, Chief Hudgens and Gable were busy constructing the frame out of 2x4's and oak plywood, a builders square and a little math. The top was constructed, the rail was installed and the top sanded.
The following week Chief and Capt Martin met Sillman at his side job with the recently retired 35' extension ladder from L19. Sections of the ladder were cut and brackets were welded to the table and will serve as the legs of the table. The pulley and halyard will be reinstalled on the center section of the ladder to complete the look. Diamond plate will be installed on the bottom rail.
Soon the emblems will be placed on the tabletop and the entire top will be coated with clear epoxy. Hopefully we can acquire some new chairs to go with the new table.
There is just enough left over wood to possibly construct another small table, possibly a coffee table or another smaller table we can use somewhere in the station. Check out the pictures below. More will be added soon.
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