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Staying Busy and out of trouble, 2020-21?.

Started by Old Greenhorn, May 17, 2020, 09:40:32 AM

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doc henderson

now that is a table.  your wife will prob. want to keep it!
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Old Greenhorn

Nah, she doesn't want to replace the trunk we have as a coffee table. I will add it to the stock to see if someone wants it.
 I did go back out last night and add another coat of oil to the leg set.


 

Then I flipped the top and did some small pours on the other side. Maybe today I can finish sand it and get a coat of oil on that. Then begin the final finish either tonight or tomorrow.

 In other news I checked into my work email and find that my department has been transferred to a new boss. Had they done this years ago, I might still be working there. On the other hand, they have appointed a new production manager, who knows nothing about making parts, so that isn't going to go very well. I wish them well, but I am not too hopeful. Still glad I am making the move.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Well another busy and unprofitable day here at Woodsman Forest Products. ;D But it did mark 3 days in a row I stayed out of trouble and kept busy. (This might be do-able!)
I wasted some time doing 'market research' this morning (perusing FB marketplace, and CL), then I checked my sketch book for new projects to start. The project in my head after that disappeared after I stepped in the shop. :D I went to work on that table top, sanded off the epoxy on both sides and started working down to a nice smooth 'baby bottom' finish, then I oiled it with Tung oil and the RO popped up beautifully. The live edges soaked that stuff right up like it wasn't even there, so I will be going out in a little while to do it again. I also found which side I will be using for the top. The best meduallry rays will sadly wind up on the bottom, but there is some fair stuff on the top and a tiny bit of spalting in the live edge to be seen. This is the top side.


 

I am fairly happy with it. SO far it has gone fairly quickly, but the final finish is yet to come which is where I get picky and waste a lot of time.
After lunch I headed back out to the swamp and mill area. It is still too messy for my liking and I had a pile of slabs that were now in the way since I expanded my area. So I cleared some stuff up then cut all the pine slabs and stacked them so they can dry off the ground. There are a few hardwoods in there, but not much. I have another pile of those on the other side I will attack soon. What wasn't good for slabs fed the various firewood piles. The pine slab will get turned into fire pit benches, and the hardwood will be for better stuff. WV knows what I mean.


 

The pile will get bigger in a few days when I do the hardwood. But I am making working room. I cleaned up that pile and everything around it, including an HF antenna that had been half buried there for 25 years. I had to get the mule to yank the coax out from under the dirt. The important thing is I am clearing working space and now trying to parse out how to best use it. I see a bit more backbreaking hand work to make things better. Wish I had a dozer for a day and some big loads of fill.  ;D Still I like it, it is coming along. This was a mess of clutter last week.


 

I knew when I was throwing that stuff in piles I was making a mess I would have to deal with and now I am.  Lots of time and effort spent trying to reclaim a few hundred square feet,but it's what I've got to work with. This was the mess I started with today and it is gone now.



 

But, there is always more to do. I am hoping this leads to something that allows me to bring in some money at some point. I know one thing, if you have orders and paying work, you need an efficient work space. So that is what I am focusing on now.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

samandothers

The table top you showed was really nice.  Like the rays in the red oak.   

It is hard not to toss things aside sometime even when you know you will need to pick it up later.  Then later comes around and it is like 'why did I do this... I'll do better next time!'  but it never seems to happen.  At least it has not happened yet for me.

Old Greenhorn

Yeah, I wasn't avoiding work when I threw that stuff in a pile, I was trying to make time. It was cold and snowing and I had to get a loft built. I knew it would wait for a sunny day and be a lot easier to handle.

 Yesterday I did nothing. Felt poorly all around, thought I might be getting a cold or something and that bruise on my tailbone was really hurting a lot. It made me miserable as I could not find any position that was comfortable, even fell asleep on the couch for an hour in the afternoon, which is not normal for me at all. All I did was some sanding and put a first cost on the new table project. I was in bed by 9.
 Today, was better. Up and out on time, but I never made it to the shop. When I stepped outside it was SO nice that I decided it was time to see if the yard tractor would fire up, and it did, so I mowed the lawn. It looks good, then I attacked the last slab pile I have here (I still have a big one down at the old mill site to clean up). But before I could do that I had to put the new tire on the trailer, I was tired of blowing that tire up every time I needed to use it.


 
I got the tire changed and then had to make a quick run out. Our neighbors just down the road have a new album releasing today. This was supposed to come at the end of their Australian tour and just before their US tour and in the midst of all this they are doing it from home and through social media. I felt badly for them with the investment they have in this project and they are dear friends making some very special music. So I had sent them an email and asked if I could drop by and pick up a copy of the CD today, so I did that around mid-day then ripped it onto my phone and played it on a loop all day. An amazing body of work that has me enthralled. But I digress. 
 I pulled that slabs out and looked them over and trimmed the junk, some I just completely cut up. I made a mess.


 

But I wound up with a few on the trailer that went on the pile.


 

And I cleaned up my mess (I had to so I could get the tractor through there to put it away).


 

That little pile will get moved when I make a place to stack the shop firewood but that is another project, cleaning up the side of the shop, that mess had a 20 year birthday a few years ago.(Actually if you look past the trailer in the 3rd photo above, you will see the mess to which I refer, along the whole length of the building.) But things are looking better and I had zero time in the shop today. Tomorrow it should rain, so I will get back to it then. It will give me more time to study this new CD. The creation of good music always puts me in awe, such a gift that is.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Kind of an off day yesterday. I did a bunch of chores and some cleanup but nothing worth talking about. In the morning I sanded and redid my first coat on the table and legs. I am beginning to have a lot of trouble getting a decent finish without blotches, lump, or dips and I can't figure out why. Last night I looked it over and tried to touch up just smaller sections and I think I made it even worse. The stuff looks pretty good in photos, but no so great in real life. I am beginning to think my urethane is getting too old. It is nearly a year ago I bought it and those cans have been opened and closed a lot of times. It seems a little thicker than it used to be even after stirring.


 
I guess I will sand it all again today and take another shot.


 
Perhaps it's the humidity? But under varying conditions I still get poor results. I gotta figure this out. Finishing takes time but doing it 4 or 5 times before it gets fairly 'OK" is a bit much.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

doc henderson

humidity can be an issue. also if you start with oil it is usually recommended to wait 72 hours before adding a top coat.  another option is to just go with an oil finish with a paste wax for protection, but it will not last without some maintenance.  the table looks good.  the wood clear so not a knot.  I sometimes will wipe down with mineral spirits after a light sanding.  just throwing out some ideas.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Old Greenhorn

All good points Doc, I will try the mineral spirits, that just sounds like a good idea. This was bothering me so much that I made the run into town right after my morning post (bad idea, even early on a Sunday of a holiday weekend, there were lines of contractors trying to beat the weekend warriors and a few weekenders in there also) and I just got one quart of urethane.
 Turned out, that was it, my stuff was old. The new stuff went on PERFECT! 


 

So after that I needed a new project for the day. I decided to attack a set of benches and do a bunch of them to really find out what kind of time I put into these things. I had 6 slabs waiting and dry, so I took them out to work in the sun. I stripped the bark by hand or with a draw knife as required. Did a rough sand on the tops with 36 grit, the new belt sander worked well for that, then another pass on all with 120 grit. Then I flipped them and did them all on the round side with 80 grit in a palm sander to remove  loose fibers, dirt, and irregular spots. Somewhere in between I did the ends and rounded the corners. Worked up a pretty good sweat. I also trimmed a couple with the chainsaw.



 

Then I got that old can of urethane and used it up on the round sides of these to get a first soaking coat on. Man they got really dark, not sure I like them that way.



 

See that first one in the foreground? It looks like ash, right? And it has all those bugs tracks in it like EAB, but it's maple. I am wondering what makes those tracks? Holy cow, this thing is riddled with them. It looks really nice with the urethane.

 It's Sunday, so I had to play a little. I took one of the cut-offs and made a slot in the pig bench with a chainsaw to shove the slab into for a seat back. Mixed results, but my free-handing skills are getting better. Well, maybe just a little.


 

 All in all, not a bad day. I cut it short because my daughter came over for 'a talk', that required my full attention so the rest of the afternoon was taken up in that. But I did get something done. Tomorrow I have to make legs for all this stuff. ;D I don't enjoy making legs. I need 24 for the 6 slabs. Maybe I will try so new options, as soon as I think of them. :D
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Weird day. A holiday for sure, but none of the remembrance and recognition that usually accompanies it. Just stayed home and worked and thought about those who had given us so much. Seemed like a lot of folks traveling here and there and I didn't want to add to any of that.
 First thign this morning I did something dumb. Was making my eggs and sausage and sloshed the fat and butter from the frying onto the forefinger in my left hand. I knew that would hurt a lot more later and sure enough, once again I was right.
 Today was 'leg day'. I had to make at least 25 legs for all those bench slabs. I was not looking forward to it. I planed the 2" stock I had down to 1-3/4 (roughly) square. I sanded a point on the ends and then stuck 'em in a vise and ran the tenon cutter on. To clean them up I sanded everything sort of smooth after. Tough work on the wrists and forearms for me. I alternated the tasks doing about 4 at a time. By about 2 pm blisters has raised up on that burn. SO I followed the protocol and covered it up. 


 
Hey, I found this bug hanging out, does anybody know what it is? Seems to like my wood.


 
Not much exciting about making a pile of legs, so not putting up any photos of the same old legs. My son was over working on his truck today and he brought this fir pit a client had thrown out because the bottom rotted thru. Nice sized and he wanted to help me burn up my bark piles while he worked on the truck. I laughed and said 'go for it, knock yourself out'. We ran about 8 wheel barrow loads through it today and didn't make a dent in the pile. Using a little forced air sure did help move things along more quickly. If I could find a way to hook up a blower and just leave it going all day, I could really feed all this junk in faster. I have a huge bark pile and about 1/2 cord of old rotten firewood driving me crazy. 



 
  That blower makes it like a blast furnace. Sound like a hot air balloon taking off.
 Tomorrow I will gt back to normal a bit without the distractions. Put legs on all the tables and work on finishing up that coffee table.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Old Greenhorn

What do they eat? Should I be concerned with the hardwoods?
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

thecfarm

I have only seen them at my softwood pile. They can find fresh cut eastern white pine. My Father and me cut some pine back in '93. No pine had been cut on our land for probably 100 years, Them critters found the pine. We could hear them making holes and see the sawdust come out.
Get a OWB.  :D  That's where all my dead wood goes. Seems to be a never ending supply of dead wood.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

WDH

They infest conifers.  There are other different beetles that infest hardwood.  There is a beetle for most every kind of wood. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

WV Sawmiller

OGH,

   What size tenons are you making for your bench legs? Planing down to 1-3/4" seems a bit small for me but my tenon cutter leaves a 1-1/2" tenon/peg that is 3" long. I cut my leg stock 3" and lately 2-1/2". I think I may have used as small as 2" stock. If you are using the same kind of tenon cutter I am, yes, it is hard on the wrist. I usually use a draw knife to remove the corners before using the tenon cutter. Which reminds me my cutter blades need sharpening. Keep us posted.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

btulloh

@Brad_bb uses a burn barrel design that's real good at getting rid of everything including sawdust. I couldn't find the thread just now, but it's here somewhere. Not fussy to use and is real good at sucking O2. 
HM126

Old Greenhorn

I use 1-1/2 also. I found that the 2" stock seems like overkill, but I could be wrong. The tenon cutter runs onto the smaller stock easier. These legs are red oak, so pretty sturdy.
 As far as that bug goes, I do have some EWP laying about. I guess that is what they are after. I will keep and eye out.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Brad_bb

@btulloh       Here is the video I used to make my first one.  What I do that he doesn't is that I stack a second vortex barrel on the first for a hotter cleaner burn due to the chimney effect.
 https://youtu.be/-0J0zRiDAmE

Here is my video showing double versus single.  Almost no smoke with the double and burns hotter and faster.
Double Vortex Burn barrels - YouTube
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

WV Sawmiller

OGH,

  Yeah the heavier legs are likely overkill for the strength and weight requirements but I kind of like the bulkier look of them for rustic benches. I can see where 1-3/4" stock would sure be a lot easier to turn down with a tenon cutter. TEHO.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Nebraska

You retired fellas are making me feel bad with all you are accomplishing..my progress comes in fits and starts...I tried 3 inches but 2 3/4" fit into the throat of my tenon cutter better,  I got 16 legs squared up yesterday on the jointer and cut 8 tennons, between other projects and rainfall. I'm going to try 2 1/2" it should work fine, after all an inch and a half diameter of wood is doing the work.

WV Sawmiller

   My favorite legs are actually probably the quarter round ones I get when I quarter a straight 5-6 inch diameter log. I like to turn that rounded side out. 

    BTW, since my tenons often are a little off center I also keep a good size pipe wrench handy to turn the legs once driven into the mortise. Often just turning them a small amount will help line up the leg where I want it to go and sometimes even adjust the angle of the leg in or out a noticeable amount.

    I really like the 1-1/2" auger bit instead of using the spade bit or Forstner bit. I hope one day to find a boring machine to use instead of the half inch wrist breaking drill. I wonder if anyone has ever tried using an old ShopSmith and attaching the tenon cutter head instead of  drill bit on the boring option? I would need about 2' of length as that is about standard for my starting leg length. I may start with a leg as short as 20" but nothing less. I don't know if a SS has the power or how hard it would be to clamp them in the lathe since one end has to be free to cut the tenon on it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Nebraska

If I had more than a "mister" drill press sitting on my work bench top. It's better than nothing but no way to do that. Kinda like the "Mr Microscope" I had in Jr high... that is for sure a better setup than mine.

Old Greenhorn

Nebraska I was right there with just a very few days ago. I was so sick of hearing my retired friends say "When you are retired, every day is Saturday!" I wanted that too, and now I have that. It just dawned me yesterday that in my world, I would spend all my available time during the week setting up for my weekend so I could work like mad to get everything done. Now that every day is 'Saturday' I am working my butt off nearly every day. This is gonna kill me at some point. I work each day until I am too pooped to do more. I have to re-think this. Yesterday i made up 24 legs and cut and tenoned them and did a few other things I have forgotten about. This morning I light sanded the coffee table, put another coat of urethane on the top and legs, made the locating blocks for the underside, drilled and screwed them in place.
 Then I went out and did another coat on the bottoms of those 6 benches and did a first coat on the 24 legs. Pooped by 11:30.
 I just like the appearance of the thinner legs. On the other hand I am coming around to making some benches flat on both sides. I came across some slabs in the pile that just might work well for a test.
 Now I have to fill up the afternoon. :D But the wife wants a live edge planter.
 On that burn barrel, that was more of a short term thing for me. Just cleaning up old rotten stuff that has no heat value. Its been laying around over 5 years. I was thinking about Brad's setup and I could find the thread either. Unless I really have time to kill it's too much for me. The spark plume coming out of that thing makes it tough for me to find a safe place to run it. Too much overhead around here except the middle of the back lawn.Once I am done with the cleanup I can keep up with all the routine burning. Brad, where is that thread?
 OK, break is over, back to work.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Ljohnsaw

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on May 26, 2020, 10:53:22 AMI don't know if a SS has the power or how hard it would be to clamp them in the lathe since one end has to be free to cut the tenon on it.
I have the original Shopsmith 10er (actually 3 but 1 is assembled).  The beauty of these machines is the versatility.  In the lathe configuration, it is also a horizontal boring machine.  You keep the table on it and clamp your stock to it.  You can raise and lower the table to get the stock lined up.  You can slide the table and your stock so it hits the tail stock for extra support to keep it from wanting to push away as you drill.  Most have the original 1/2 hp motor but you would have it belted down to half-speed so you should have plenty of power.  I have a 3/4hp on mine.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

doc henderson

I made one (fire barrel) like Brads, and it works well.  he posted his video on reply earlier in this thread.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

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