In keeping with my habits of recent years I have started a new thread as of 17 May (Norwegian Constitution Day) to cut down on the size of each years thread. I just forgot during the last post on the other thread. I was preoccupied with other thoughts on this busy weekend.
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So I was up and out earlier than normal for the hour drive up to the Grey Fox site, still not sure why I was invited and not knowing what to expect. I arrived and apparently our Office momager was cooking breakfast for anyone who was hungry over at here B&B for the weekend. As I had already had mine I opted to visit with some other folks that had opted out to get some things done. It was good to see all the faces again. I was asked a few times why I was there (in a very friendly and humorous way) and had to admit I had no idea why, they just asked me. Nobody cared, they were just happy to see me and we all caught up news on family things and life events.
I drove the farm and looked things over. The big news is that the festival is making another major investment in the farm and wiring to whole 80 acres with fiber optics to provide cellular service and Wifi for the management, vendors, public safety etc.. Over the term of the initial contract it should pay for itself and the annual service charges will be less than we were paying for the ineffective (useless) wifi contractor we have used in recent years. This could be a game changer for us, making a lot of people happy.
SO I stood there on the main road looking at a 700' trench from the main gate, through the site and up the hill, crossing over to the main stage. It's a pricey undertaking. When completed, it will have no effect on the farming operation and they will still get 4-5 cuttings a year, as normal. I spent some time helping find old buried markers for various setups. We have the whole site surveyed and buried markers for just about everything we set up, the stages, various tents, roads, buried cable boxes, etc. Sometimes it's tricky finding the markers.
Most of the day was spent networking about jobs, changes, needs, improvements to solve previous year's issues, streamlining. It doesn't sound like much, but we all had a lot of details to talk about, there were many small groups handle their areas and switching from group to group to catch some time with another person and cover some points and have a plan. Everything was both extremely informal and extremely effective. I got a lot of questions answered and will go into the festival with a lot more confidence about what is going on and what the changes are as well as the managements intent.
The only question I could not get and answer to was why I was invited to this meeting. ffcheesy The best they could tell me was that they wanted me there and wanted me in the loop, and I was part of what they considered the core team. But I still have no idea why. ffcheesy OK, I'll take that as an answer and stop asking.
So I stayed for dinner, which was the right thing to do and after dinner, they had a short formal session explaining the changes in ownership of the festival and the 'new teams plan'. We all knew about the change in ownership, it was announced in January. The 'new owners' tare 3 of the folks that have been on the senior management team for several decades, so really they are picking up the torch and carrying it forward with the same goals, it's a good team.
I left there around 8pm, got home by 9 and hooked up the trailer. I had a pop or two and went to bed in a hour or so. Back up at 6, out the door by 7:15 and at the show site before 8. Getting there a bit early put me in good shape, I had a great spot, they gave me a 20 x 20 and I could put my trailer behind the booth, but I did have to unhook and park the truck in the lot. No big deal. Setup took time, but went smooth and I was ready well before 10am. I was very pleased with the setup and had good neighbors. I knew a couple of the vendors. Traffic was pretty good, mostly a steady stream of folks stopping in but never even close to crowded. Weather was great, sales were not. A few good conversations. Most vendors reported the same, nobody was really buying except the flea market stuff, that was selling well. I never covered my costs (but close), so yeah, it was a loser on paper. But I saw enough potential, that I will give it another shot. It[s not even labor day, a lot of the city folks have not settled into their summer places yet, there were a lot of college graduations this weekend too. So as I told the organizer that I thought this was just not a good show because of the folks who wandered through, but in other aspects it was a good show and those better folks would show up. So I will do it again next month. They run it the third Sunday of the month from May to September. I can't make the July and August dates, but I wanted to try it one more time before I give up on it, so I'll do June. I would rather do July, but that's Gray Fox weekend. So one more time, just on a gut feel.
Packing out this time was much different and better., but not a lot faster. This time I took my time, just handling things in order and it was a heck of a lot easier with the changes I had made, I realized at this show I bring a heck of a lot of stuff and it just takes time. I have no mess in the trailer, it is ready for the next show now. Lat show the weather was cool and very windy and when I was done packing I was soaking wet with sweat and worn out. This time it was fairly hot, more so in the trailer, and when I was done I was not sweaty, just tired. Everything fit on the first try, nothing was moved or redone, there was no improvising and I even had a tiny bit more room.
So it was a 'loser' but I thought it a good show and setup and I will stick with it for another try. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.
But it's been a long weekend and I am tired, so I'm heading to bed early, I heard a rumor about someone telling stories on me, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to look into this, I'm too toasted tonight.
Tomorrow is another day.
Well you are taking care of the stuff you can do, and there will always be the unknown and things you have no control over.
I'm amazed at how much stuff vendors take to shows. I missed our big bi-yearly flea market this year but I see the amount of stuff people have to pull out of their trailers, vans etc., and I can't imagine the work. I'm glad it went smoother for your this time!
Yeah Doc, we can only do the best we can do. Sometimes you have to go with a gut feel. so I will try this one again, at least one more time.
Austin, you are right, especially now with the trailer, I have a lot of stuff and it finally dawned on me that there is no way I can expect myself to pack it all up in 20 minutes. It took about an hour and a half, and a lot of that was climbing in and out and walking back and forth to get the next pieces to pack. But I have very little 'dressing up' to do now at home, just one shelf where I got a little out of order, but everything fit properly and secure. If I had a helper that was just fetching and handing stuff into me in order, it might have taken half the time. But I had a very large booth, in fact the center area of it was pretty much empty.
IMG_20240519_094826607_HDR.jpg
If you look in that photo, you can see that I was trying for a U shaped traffic flow through it. On hindsight, I should have sprinkled some benches in the center area under the canopies. A lot of wandering folks never entered the booth, just looked from the aisle and kept moving, so they missed everything on the tables. You can also see that the trailer is more than a dozen feet away from the back edge of the booth and with the 20' depth on the booth, that meant a lot of walking during load up. That was a result of confusion when the first few of us puled in before the layout was clear. I'll move that up the next time.
I continue to think constantly about the mix I bring and the wisdom of trying to sell $400.+ benches at a craft fair, but I keep coming back to that issue of crowds being fickle and you can never tell who might wander in. I think this one was a poor crowd, but a good show I thought. Being right on the main state road means that all the city people headed home on Sunday HAD to drive past if they were west of us. Watching the traffic during the day proved this. I talked to other vendors, and we are going to suggest they run it up to 4pm, instead of 3pm. We still had people coming in during pack out, so there is your sign. As long as the weather is good (yesterday was perfect) extending it an hour would be a good idea.
I am starting to think that 'craft show' and 'crap shoot' should rhyme because they pretty much mean the same thing. ffcheesy
A tip from a friend who made his living doing antique shows...
A little eye candy out front to get them to stop. Then some big eye candy in the back of the booth to get them to come in and engage.
I helped him set up his booth a time or two because his usual help, his wife, couldn't help. I asked him why he was so particular about what went where. That was what he said along with a bunch of other stuff, he talked a lot.
In retail sales there's a whole system they've developed after studying buying habits of people as to how they lay out the floor plan of a store. For example the milk coolers will always be at the back of the grocery store, because you'll have to walk through the entire store to just to get a jug of milk, and are likely to grab other products on the way through.
Yeah Res, this is on my mind all the time, but it's tricky because every show gives you a somewhat different foot print. To use your example, for me it's as if some folks walk by, see the big benches and tables out front and assume I don't have any 'milk'. They never go to the far end of the 'store'. But people who are really looking will come in and find stuff no matter what.
Ted's idea is interesting and I may very well try some of that if I can figure out how. I have been putting the eye candy out front, hopefully getting them to stop and they do BUT not always do they walk in to look at everything. You can just see the corner shelf in the left corner of that photo. This grabs a lot of eyes and I had several people this show trying to figure out where it would fit in their homes. Happens every single show. But I still have it. It's one piece when I see folks looking it all over that I mention I would consider an offer on it. It's a pain to pack, takes up a lot of room and frankly is not my best work. I've been moving it for about 4 years now. But with al the attention it has gotten, it is still here.
For this show I felt I may not have been a good match for the people who walked in, they were looking for flea market stuff, not crafted pieces. I believe that will change as the season goes on.
I will also keep messing with how the booth is laid out. Most times I am too crowded, this time I had more room that I have ever had, so a new 'problem'.
maybe free stuff like tea/lemonade or business cards at the back. sounds like the corner shelf attracts people in, so if it sells you have to make another. all the little stuff that the craft folks want at the back, with one example at the front, and when they look, you can say there are a bunch back on the table so you can pick the one you like.
Good looking set-up. Yes, every show is different and each crowd is different. Around here some are more rural with big farmers looking at some shows and urban housewives in the next. The wives are the one you need to attract and when one comes with her husband by the arm and points and says "That is the one I want " you know you've nailed it.
There is no standard layout as you mention. Even the big department and grocery stores keep moving some goods around to see where they do the best and I am sure some are seasonal and sell better at the earlier shows than later ones and vice versa.
Mine are more advertising than for profit although it is nice to at least cover expenses.
More good points, and again, those vary every show by crowd type, weather, luck of the draw, and other intangibles. I don't know about give-aways, and any food stuff is probably not a great idea. But yeah, trying different things and reading the crowd are key. Business cards I try to have in at least 2 and sometimes 4 places. From my time doing trade shows I learned to watch their eyes, where they look, how long they look, and how close they look. If anybody spends more than 3-5 seconds looking at a particular thing I will offer up a off hand comment such as "those are made of Red Cedar, I cut that tree over in Woodstock 3 year ago." or some other non-pushy friendly remark. It's then up to them to start the conversation or not. Some folks don't like to talk, I don't push. One thing you cannot do is bury your face in your phone, that is a turn off and missed opportunity every time.
Yes, some shows are good for making contact with your new client pool, this one was surely not that at all, But I did have a guy offer me a butternut log for free, so I may follow up on that. Other shows I get a handful of good potential contacts or references.
I also consider the questions I get most often and try to find ways to make the answers to the big questions more easily available for the folks who would ask, but don't. I make posters, flyers, brochures (these help lot for future work) for those repeat questions. I keep a notebook at the show and write that stuff down when I see or hear it. One question I get a lot is "Did you make ALL this stuff yourself?"
For instance I just came in from spending some time in the trailer checking the load, figuring out what was next and cleaning out the few things that needed putting away. I sat down and finished off my notes from this show and see in my notebook that I need better price/description tags for a few more pieces yet and I need a mushroom log information poster made up. So I will get those done today and they are ready for the next show. Keep doing little things and it all adds up at some point. I also identified some more room in the trailer and for this show in June, given the space I have, I will be able to bring one or two more large pieces I have never shown before. At least one needs to be refinished because with what I have/know now I can make it look SO much better than I did 4 years ago when I started. I haven't looked at the other, it's been wrapped and stored for 3 years.
Just keep plugging at it and keep a stiff upper lip is my motto with shows.
When I go and get set up I sit on a bench and as people walk by I'll tell them "Come sit down and rest a while." Some just wave me off, others say "No thanks we are just getting started". others will say something like "If I sit down I may not want to get up" and sometimes someone will sit and talk a while. Yes - not pushy but friendly.
Do you have room to take a Loginator and a log and show folks how it works and discuss the mushroom raising process? That may be a good way to generate interest and discussion. I get lots of people who see the fractal burning design on my benches and stop to talk about that.
I like to bring the mill which generates a lot of discussion and even do some sample sawing when I can but that is a lot more logistics involved and I can't bring much of my other stuff to sell.
QuoteI need a mushroom log information poster made up.
I can just picture it...
A dramatic action shot photo of the trusty side by side buggy loaded heavy with logs, roaring over hills through the rugged forest terrain with Tom at the wheel, a look of determination in his eyes...
Big, glossy, suitable for framing, and captioned at the bottom: Tom..."
THE O.G. Mushroom Logger!" ffcool
Well Res, as colorful as that sounds, your concept is a bit of an oxymoron. Any photo that includes my face cannot be suitable for framing. It's either one or the other. :wink_2:
No this poster would have to be a simple explanation of what a mushroom log is and does and include that 3-d barcode that links to a full explanation on my website. I like your style though. ffcheesy
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Speaking of the shows though, I forgot to mention that there was another fella doing that show Sunday whom I knew through my FD teaching days in another department. (Howards latest post on 'still making benches' jogged my memory.) He is also one of the key guys at a local major auto parts store where Bill has an account and I buy also, so I see him off and on a lot. He is making some signs, tables, and whatever else he can make with what he can get. He is just starting out and trying to learn to use epoxy, has gotten a laser and is working on that, and also doing fractal burning. So to that end, he is the first and only guy around here I know that does it. He also offered me a 'some sort of deal' on laser engraving as he learns. So I may get him to do some of my cremation urn tops as a test. I was thinking since he appears to be 'wood poor' that I might offer a slab swap for fractal burning.
So although I hardly sold anything at the show, making that contact is potentially worth more than one decent sale. As I recall, Howard met his fractal contact at a show the same way a year or two ago, isn't that right?
I know that this is going to sound very similar to the tale some guy named Howard is spinning on another thread, however I can assure you that this is entirely and exactly as it happened and as proof I offer the fact that no other FF members are being abused, harmed, or even included in this story. It's all on me.
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Have you ever tried to give a house cat a bath? The last time I did (well, tried to do) that was over 50 years ago. I thought that was enough, but....apparently not. To say I was 'out of practice' would be accurate and fair.
So, this morning I get out of bed, groggy as usual and go to pee first, noticing my cat (the female of our two) is not sleeping in her spot on my bed, she is on the open windowsill. I giver her a little stoke on the head as I pass and notice she lots 'wet' in her hind quarters, but I am not at all awake yet. I go pee, comeback, dress, and grab coffee and head to my desk downstairs. I check the forum and start reading the overnight posts. Eventually my cat, we will call her 'Josie' or 'Jo-Jo' because that's her name, comes down. after a while she circles my chair and makes some bird noises like she always does and I drop a hand and give her a little stroke along her back and under her belly. At that point I realized my hand was 'wet'. Instinctively I looked at my hand and then smelled it. FUEL OIL! This can't be good. I jumped up and ran to the boiler room, the only place in the house she could contact it. Sure enough, there is a 3 pound coffee can that I use when I have to bleed the burner when the fuel get gelled in the winter. That can has sat there 10 years with no issues. The cats want (or wanted) nothing to do with it because of the smell. Somehow her butt wound up in that can and it was spilled all around it. She has oil all over her belly and rear legs and back. Maybe she and the boy were roughing it up and she got shoved or jumped near the can and missed. It's in a corner (or was).
Whatever caused this, I have to deal with it. I had my second cup of coffee to get may brain working better while I mentioned the issue to my wife. I could tell she wanted nothing to do with 'fixing this' I should have never left the can there, yadda yadda yadda......
So, the brain is beginning to function better and I realize this cat needs a bath for her own health and safety. She has only gotten out of the house once but there is no way I am doing this in the house. SO I go get the old porcelain baby bathtub, wash it out and out in some water. I set a piece of plywood across two sawhorses in the shop. The I get some dawn dish detergent and load it up. I come in the house and shuttle two pitchers of hot tap water out the the tub to make it tepid while stirring up the suds.
Now comes the part I was fearing. I go up to my room take off my nice t-shirt and grab a grungy one out of the laundry as well as a long sleeve work shirt. I didn't want fuel oil on my nicer t-shirt. It was at this time that I noticed the stain on my bedspread where she had laid during the night. It stunk of fuel oil also. That went off to the laundry today and is now put away for the summer. I grabbed two dog towels (we call them that because we always saved the old bath towels to clean our dog of rain, snow, mud and they had their own basket). We don't have dogs now, but we still use the towels now and then (Grandkids with muddy feet is one such use ). I also call my kitty and scoop her up and give her a cuddle. Like an idiot, I try to explain to her what's about to happen and why it has to happen. It's raining lightly outside as I carry her to the shop and as she has never been across the yard with me, let alone in the shop, she is on alert, FULLY. As I approach the tub, I am ready for what is likely to occur, but surprisingly she is mostly compliant. She is not happy about it (if I can gage by her vocalizations, which are loud and frequent), but she only caught me with a claw once near my jugular and I think that was an accident. So I washed her belly and hind quarters best I could, flipped her around and did it from the other side. I could not get her back very well, but I did the best I could trying to keep her calm and moving as quickly as I could. We were doing pretty well I thought.
Here is where I realized I had not fully thought this out. Now that she is all sudded up, I had to rinse her. Well, that requires clean water and I didn't think of that. SO I had to take her out and put her down. The I took the tub outside, dumped it, rinsed it, filled it again, then got more hot water from the house again. Now I had to find the cat.
She couldn't get far in the shop, she had never been there, so didn't have a plan. I searched and searched, calling like an idiot, as if she would come out. Got a bag of treats and rattled that around, no soap. Now I should note that I had a narrow search area because she was dripping off water and soap suds when I put her down, so she left a pretty clear trailer of wet spots. A blind drunk probably could have followed it, but somehow she backtracked and found a little spot in the corner behind my milling machine camouflaged by some ski poles, bar stock, and other stuff. I could not grab her. I had to start pulling stuff out to get to her and finally could get a hand on her. Again I was surprised that she didn't really fight me, she seemed to trust me, but was just scared. So I eventually picked her up and got her back to the tub, now she was also cover in all the dust that stuck to her wet fur. Back in the tub and did a bunch of rinsing. Finally taking her out and wrapping her in a big bath towel and giving her a good rub down. Then back to the house and let her loose. She immediately sought safe refuge and pretty much slept the rest of the day.
She took it pretty well and doesn't seem to be holding it against me. Tonight she is back to her normal habits mostly, but she still stinks and her coat is still not right. I am going to have to do it again tomorrow. I don't have the heart to do it tonight. She was pretty good, but I know it was pretty traumatic for her.
The last time I gave a cat a bath, I thought I did very well also, It only took me about 2 weeks to heal up, but I had very young skin in those days. ffcheesy
Anything for a laugh and tomorrow is another day.
OH, and I also started work on a new chair design, this one will either be sort of neat, or a total bust because I am reaching a bit. I got the major cuts and joint work started, now I gotta figure my next steps carefully. I also put some finishes on some other stuff in process.
Th attic kiln hot 120° today in spite of the morning rain. High for this season has been 140°.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_4026.JPG)
Laughing out loud tears in my eyes. That was funny.
We haven't had a cat in years and don't intend to get one but if I needed to wash a cat in a tub I'd first get my welding gloves.
Yeah, I guess it was funny. But I can do better.
I have to do it again this morning. :veryangry:
I didn't do a good enough job for her and her fur is still matted in places and she stinks. It also seems she is a little more lethargic than normal and I detect a weakness in her hind quarters. I hope that oil isn't doing her much harm, but she can't seem to jump on to places she normally does. I have no choice.
Yes, I did have the welding gloves handy yesterday, but here is the interesting thing: I think she somehow understood that she was in trouble and that even though what I was doing was not pleasant, it was necessary. There were very few claws involved even though the guttural moaning was pronounced to a spooky level, she took it fairly well. Again, this makes me think she is feeling very poorly and I am still concerned for her health.
So I am gearing up to take another shot at this, but this time I will have two tubs for wash AND rinse. It tears me up to see an animal in distress, any animal.
Thanks Howard for adding the original artwork. I am certain that gives everyone a clear 'picture' of how it went down.
Tom,
Sorry to hear your kitty is feeling porely. I wonder if she would she tolerate a sponge bath better?
My wife is potentially a crazy cat lady. We currently have just 3 cats, a 4th has taken residence at my daughter's house.
Tom, Emily has given cats baths with varying degrees of success. Based on my observations (because I only pet them when they jump in my lap), your JoJo is pretty tolerant.
One of our long gone cats put Emily in the hospital with a pretty bad infection after she was bitten while brushing the cat. Another time the health department wanted Emily to get rabies shots from a bite.
So, I'd say if you have anything short of blood poisoning or a hospital stay, you're doing quite well.
Thanks Ted, In my experience, she has been very good. I know she is uncomfortable and off her game. I believe she knows I am trying to help. This is a first for me. The cats I have had since childhood (some were feral cats I rehabbed) were never this understanding and I surely got off easy. Today's session was interesting because now that she knew the routine, I was more than curious how she would react as I carried her out to the shop, SHUT the door and approached the tubs. She was a bit more clingy and at one point managed a little ninja move that got het front paws up over my left shoulder allowing a decent grip on my back (with the full claw, traction assist). This put us in a stalemate. I had given up long ago trying to make believe I could stay dry, but short of pouring the water over my head, there was no way to continue. So I decided to gently let her go on the floor, but as soon as she let go of my back skin to get down, I could re-grab her and continue. I had to do that a few times. Yeah, she was a tad more resistant today, but we did a better job and a better rinse. She didn't mind being bundled in the towel and rubbed down. Since it was a nice sunny day, we finished that up in the backyard and I let her sit in the sunshine and grass for a bit by herself. Probably not the best idea, because she then wandered under the porch, out of reach. But she was patient with me, so I returned the favor and let her explore for a while. Eventually I went in for her and she didn't fight when I picked her up and brought her in.
I find it remarkable that she don't run from me now. She is not exactly cuddling up to me, but she isn't running away either and allows me to give her a pet. I would love to know what is going on in her little brain. I know in my brain all I can think about is the oil and soap odor. I think I got a load of soap in my mouth during the struggle.
She is back sitting by the screen door watching the chipmunks and birds. She didn't go find a hidey hole this time. Hopefully she has no ill effects from this whole thing, and hopefully it's over. Now I gotta go cleanup the shop and look for a dry shirt. I got as wet as her.
Well Josie is looking better today. Her coat is getting back to normal and she only has a slight fuel oil odor about her. My concern remains about her health and I am beginning to wonder if the weakness I am seeing in her back legs was as a result of the oil run-in, or if the weakness was there and caused, somehow, her involvement with the oil. I am beginning to suspect to latter. All I can do is keep an eye on it and make her comfortable for now, which she seems to be.
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So after getting every thing cleaned up yesterday I got back to work on the new chair design (see the 'watcha makin' thread for details). It's always a challenge to work around live edges and get things to appear square and true. It's not all perfect, but it's the first time I've done this particular iteration, so I can fudge a little. I had done the seat back and seat miter cuts the day before as well as the blind spline mortise cut and made the spline from RO. Now I needed some legs. I had already used up most of the ones I made a couple of weeks ago and only had 2 pine, and 3 maple legs, not enough for a full set. So I grabbed some stock I had cut and dried 3 years ago for wheel barrow handles I never finished and made another dozen blanks. Oak and Maple again.
Having now made at least a hundred of these legs I seem to be getting better. I have refined a process that works for me and although it isn't fast, it works pretty good. I managed to get the tenon cutter set so that it doesn't cut (hack) as poorly as it used to and the odd bumps and humps are minimal. I cut my leg blanks into just under 1.5" octagonal x 24". I have the 1.5" tenon cutter and I can run that on the leg and get a fairly round stub because it doesn't remove too much. Not great but pretty good. Then I sand the tenons round on the belt sander and test fit them in a 3.5" deep 1.25" bored hole in a block. It takes me about a minute and a half for each leg to make them fit clean. Lastly I touch up the tenon shoulder to make a smooth, clean, uniform transition between the tenon and octagon shapes.
The whole process isn't as fast as I would like, but frankly just cutting and making the octagon blanks takes most of the time, not the tenon. If lumberjack made a pro-model tool in 1-1/4" I would buy one to try, but they don't. I may however try switching to 1-3/8 for a tenon diameter as this would save some sanding time. I might try that out when time allows. I usually don't sand the legs until I am ready to use them, just in case I decide to make a change or need to adjust something.
Anyhow, I made the legs and drilled the holes and dry fitted it all to see what I had. It's not bad for what it is, but I ran out of time for the day. So today I will do a little more sanding on one leg to make the tenon longer (the seat is thick in that corner and not enough sticks through to cut off), then glue the legs. I have another routine bench I am working on, so I may fit those legs, drill and glue them also and have to units to trim at the mill. I can probably do some work on that cocktail table also today. I hope to get more done today, since I can skip the cat bath. ffcheesy
with children we worry most if they consume or aspirate a petrol product. coating the inside of a water-based lung system is not good. If she had tried to clean herself as cats do, she could have been poisoned. maybe
@Nebraska can comment.
I had a post with a cat cleanup suggestion that went wherever posts go when you are in a hurry replying and your technician wants you to go see the next patient she is bringing into the exam room. It was pointless to recreate when I realized it didn't go later on. I would expect that the effects from the ingesting fuel oil from grooming would be over pretty well by now. If it's injury from whatever athletic stunt she pulled to land in the container it could still be affecting her. Just my guess.
Well catching up a little bit here: Frist Josie is coming along nicely and barely has a hint of ode de fuel oil No.2. She is back to behaving 'normally' (well, she is a cat so...) She seems fully back from her 'adventure'.
Not mush else is interesting, just doing routine stuff during the day and never as mush as I'd like. The weather has been really nice, so I am content to enjoy it a little bit and no kill myself. Doing a little bit on a table and a rustic stool idea and also refinishing a table I made years ago and never showed anyone. I put that in the trailer finished yesterday. Saturday we had a fire in the yard and invited a bunch of neighbors and friends over and sat around talking until midnight. That was pretty nice and very relaxing. Went to my son's for his barbeque on Sunday and threw some horseshoes.
Monday I didn't do too much that I can recall just piddled in the shop mostly.
Today however was 'back to work day'. We were talking in one of the other threads about how 'some days it just goes that way' meaning, not like you planned or wanted. Yeah my plan was to go to the mill and trim some legs, then get back in the shop working on those. I got an early morning text from Bill asking if I could make him some 1x8's from the two hemlock logs he left on the mill. I could tell he needed them, so sure. I headed down around 9am and zipped off the first log...mostly. But when I got down to the dog board I was 6" in when the head stopped. I saw the blade guard was hitting the bunk. That ain't right. I checked and the head was at 1 inch. I looked closer at the blade guard, it's bent down on the leading edge. That ain't right, so I gave it a little push to see if it would bend up and it fell down into my hand, broke clean off.
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The other end bracket was fine. Now I know Bill mentioned he 'bumped' something with it during the winter but he checked it all and the mill was cutting fine so he thought it was good. Seems like every spring I have to spend a few hours doing repairs from his 'hot running' to get lumber cut. Last spring it was the debarker crash.
Anyway, pulling that rail out to take it up to the shop for welding in no small task with all the rollers and such. I started on it, but didn't have the large wrenches I needed to get it off. SO I left my tools there, fixed the blown fuse on the lubemizer that Bill blew a month ago. I had to get tools and I had a short list of errands I had to do today in town, so on my way to town I called Bill and left a message about the issue and threatening to not allow him to run the mill when I'm not there. ffcheesy He called me back and said he knew it was gonna break and had the welder skidded up to move down, so don't take it off. AT first we were gonna meet there and do it together around 2pm, then rescheduled to 4pm, then put off until 5:30. We got it welded and back together pretty quick and I finished off the dog board as a test. It cleared fine. He really needed that other log done so we zipped that one off also, he's happy, he can keep his carpenter working tomorrow.
I'll go back in the morning and finally trim my legs. When I get back to milling I will put up a pine log and check to see how the mill is really cutting. I can't do that with hemlock, too much stress movement especially in small logs.. EWP generally lays dead flat, if it is cut flat. I may need to do the full blown alignment again. OH goody! I need the practice I guess.
It's always something with a mill and I guess if you're not ready and willing to fix things, you should be doing something else. I suppose I could complain to WM that these things only take 2 or 3 heavy crashes before something breaks like others do, but I really don't see the point in that. I am just glad that so far, everything has been fixable and I learn something new every time. :wink_2:
Tomorrow is another day and hopefully I can stick to my plan for a change, even if it's only for a few hours, I'll take it.
Well, between yesterday and today I got a good days work in. :wink_2: Yesterday I went back to the mill and trimmed the legs off a bench and a chair. I'm still not real happy with how that leg trimming works on the mill, but it does work, but I caught another leg stub in the chute. Might be a mill issue, I dunno. But I got it done. Brought that stuff home and did some sanding on the bench legs and top and laid a coat of poly on it. Then I set up to do the blind spline waterfall joint on the chair. I am coming around to the
@tule peak timber philosophy on this oddball stuff, which I characterize as "figure out how things work, then break the rules to make it work for you". SO I mixed my epoxy, did the joint and clamped it, then waited only about 5 hours before I did another pour on top of the first for a fill pour on the inside corner, creating a fillet. Normally I would let the first pour cure fully before I did the fill pour for appearance. But I want to get this thing done in another week or so and 12 hours for each pour kills a lot of days and at that point (last night) I didn't know how many additional pours I would need to fill that joint all the way around. I masked everything up to hold epoxy where I needed it. I also did some small fills on other pieces coming up the get them ready. I went back out at 11pm and removed all the masking before hard cure (makes for easier sanding and cleanup, doing it while it's still a bit soft).
This morning I went out and did the shape sanding on the chair joint and low and behold, I had no crack holes to fill in the joint! Best blind spline joint glue up I have ever puled off. (accidents happen.) All sealed all around with zero voids. But I did have other holes to fill in this wood not related to the joint. Originally, this was going to quick/cheap bench. Now it is a much nicer chair, so more work is needed. Actually it is a really cute chair and I am getting attached to it. :wink_2: So I did have some bug holes to fill in and some knot holes. I may even re-sand it all down again to make it a bit smoother but keep the rustic effect. So I have this highly sophisticated setup which I have carefully designed and constructed to hold these odd shaped projects in the proper attitude for these little pours.
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Please note the carefully milled cutoff board prop on the right. That ain't easy to do. ffcheesy (No, I did NOT mill that board.)
So tomorrow I will do some final sanding and then I think I am ready to apply poly.
On the becnh job. I am pretty pleased how this is appearing. It's an Ash seat with Maple legs and has 'curb appeal'.
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The bottom, all live edge, is heavily engrossed with deep EAB galleries. It looks pretty neat. I got two coats on the top today, but things aren't drying as I would like. I believe the humidity is just too high in the shop, so at noon today I made a smudge fire in the stove to dry things out a bit. We'll see if it helps.
Tomorrow I have to bring my wife in for her ortho appointment. She has been miserable for well over a month with her knees and I am hopeful that tomorrow's appointment will finally get us to the next step. I hate seeing her in pain all the time. She had an appointment last month and they blew her off for another month on short notice. Sometimes I wonder what these people are thinking.
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On another front, I have not mentioned in a while, but my attic kiln temps have been on my mind these last 6 weeks and I have kept a daily eye on it. Last week, it hit 130° up there. Today was cool and mostly overcast and it hit 103°. This tells me I need to follow up on this and make it work for me. I put a 2" RO slab up there last fall that had air dried for two years. The bark was still tight. Last time I checked it, the bark was ready to fall off. I'm convinced this thing is working and I need to get lumber up there for next winters builds, like now.
So much to do and so little time.
Tomorrow is another day, but I will only get in a few hours after the doc visit, then I have to get ready for a wedding on Saturday down on Long Island (oh joy).
Neat info about the early epoxy pouring Tom. Thanks for sharing.
The bench looks great and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that uses jenky, crazy ways to hold things in place.
Austin, Not sure what you mean by "early epoxy pouring". If you will expatiate on that I can elucidate you in so far as I can later today. :wink_2:
Haha! Not waiting the requisite 12 hours to repour and adding a layer at 5 hours.
Well Austin, it's pretty simple and there's no magic there. I have never had any issues with epoxy overheating or cracking as it cures, some folks have and I guess they either need to pick another brand/formula, or adjust their techniques. But I have always understood that the first pour should cure up, get a little sanding, then other pours added as needed. This chews up a lot of time. Also, you can pour a crack fill and watch it for half an hour and sometimes add more if it goes down further in the crack, but when you finally think it's stabile and filled, then walk away, come back the next morning, you see that it ran down and filled in below and you have to do it again. I hate that, it adds another cycle of several (12?) hours.
With joint gluing using epoxy (about the same strength rating as TB II) the same thing can happen, especially if your have a hard time masking the underside of the joint. So what I do now is I pour the best I can, follow up with touch ups for the first hour or so, then wait and come back a few hours later. What's in the joint at this point is not fully cured at all, but it is not longer flowing or moving so this seals the areas it is in and now doing another pour, it will hold much better. On the joint in question, I was able to complete the full joint and add that amount of epoxy that would create to smooth radiused flow on the inside corner of the joint. My goal is to have things appear smooth and also remove any areas where water or moisture could sit and work it's way in.
In the past I would have done the joint pour, wait for a cure up, then do the fill pour, and wait again, then pull all the masking and look at the far side of the joint and do more small pours of any gaps I found, sometime that means holding it at a different angle for each little fill, so 12 hours for each angle. You can easily see how this could take several days to do the joint.
Also I have discovered that when I do a hole fill on a vertical surface and I form up a little cup with masking take to hold the epoxy in the hole, it still won't fill the entire hole, So at around 4-5 hours I pull the tape and can mush the semi-hard epoxy into the hole and it fills it and stays there until cured. That saves me yet another pour angle. Everything gets sanded anyway, so my finger prints or mush marks in the epoxy don't matter at all.
I'm not getting better, just getting a little faster.
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SO at the end of last week it was just routine work, nothing to write about. The wife's doc visit for her knees which are getting worse was of limited value. All that time for 90 seconds with a Doc that just said she needs PT. She should have been in a month ago and they blew her off for a month 'because they got busy' so she spent another month in pain for a 90 second visit. At this rate it is going to take forever to get her some real help. It's frustrating and tough for me to sit by and watch.
Also at the end of last week, my Neighbor (affectionately know around the neighborhood as 'The Idiot') had a small excavator dropped off and began cutting some trees on the far side of his property along the line. This is always stressful to watch and even more stressful to listen to. Imagine 30 minutes of nonstop WOT noise just to cut a face notch, then a similar amount of time for the back cut (at a 45° angle). To my knowledge he has never sharpened his chain and doe not know how. You can't see him cut, as he stands in a cloud of white smoke. His tow trees were followed by many many hours of excavator works. Sine he could not really buck the logs in a reasonable timeframe, he took to lifting them as high as he could and dropping them so they would break, or putting them between supports and trying to whack them into pieces. The he digs a hole and buries them. It has never, in more than 5 years, occurred to him to just offer the logs to a neighbor for firewood to get rid of them. Instead he buries them and we all know how his yard will look in a few years when they rot out. Whatever.
Then he started making mounds for his 'motocross track'. That took all day Friday, hours and hours listening to the pins on that machine get slammed in every direction, it grates on my nerves. In addition, this machine needs grease on the track rollers, so it squeals every time he moves it. Add all that up, throw in the backup beeper running constantly, and you can guess why my nerves get frayed. Being away on Saturday until Sunday noon was helpful, but he started up again Sunday afternoon and had that machine slamming, beeping, and squealing until around 9:30 PM last night. At some point, doesn't it become legal to shoot him? Just askin'. ffcheesy
Lest you think that I am complaining about the noise, it's not that. I actually find the sounds of a good operator running a well maintained machine relaxing to hear the (normal) clack clack clack of the tracks moving around and rarely hearing the pins knocking at all. But this is not that, by a long shot. I spent a lifetime listening to all kinds of equipment run, and whether it's a high end CNC milling machine, a dozer, a loader, a grinder, or an excavator, you can hear the sounds of a poor operator abusing a machine a long way off and i just grates on me. It's after 9pm on Monday night and he is still at it, whacking on something now. Yeah, I am sure there has to be a caveat in the law that allows recourse in these situations.
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We had a wedding to attend on Saturday that had been stressing me out because it meant driving to Long Island and spending the night. It's our Nephew, so really we wanted to share their day. However, the folks on Long Island are a different breed, with nice clothes and mostly office type jobs. We are, um, not like that. SO Pat has been watching her diet very carefully for 4 months so that should could fit into the pants suit she wanted to wear. (She looked great IMHO, BTW.) I was pretty self conscious about my hands. These last few weeks, for reasons I don't understand, they seem to be shedding skin like mad. Maybe I just never cared or noticed before, but now it mattered to me. I didn't want to look like some bum, or scratch anyone when I shook their hand. Exhibit A:
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I hope that shows up in the photo. Usually this only happens when I do concrete work. No idea why it's happening now. Thursday night I was desperate and started putting "Gardener's Hand repair' cream on it and it got a lot better. By Friday night it was almost invisible. I got through the wedding with no embarrassment. The Bride was/is Cambodian and her and her family all came down from Toronto. All well educated, successful, and business owner type hard working folks. A very fine group, I made a few new friends.
The wedding was over by 5 and we headed to our hotel. If I had my thinking cap on, we would have just drove the 3 hours+ and been home at a decent hour, but it had been a long day and we were tired. So we spent the night in a motel listening to a loud and non-stop party in the parking lot until 2 am complete with loud cackling women and a booming car stereo with very functional woofer speakers. Not a great night.
We headed out at 8am Sunday morning and were home by noon. I headed out to catch the 'touch a truck' event over at the fire department ( I had a booth there last year and wanted to see ow it was going this year.) They sure didn't have any trouble filling a 4 acre field with all kinds of big equipment, great for the kids, not so great for any vendors. Advertising was weak. On Friday, I provided an escort to Bill and his Skidder/Bucket truck, kind of funny going down the (55mph) state road with folks trying to pass him on both sides. I got to play a game of blocker which I haven't done since my FD days. Some folks don't know what to do around a big machine doing 15mph. Somewhere in New Jersey is a guy who owns a black Escalade that is still mad at me because I cut him off from getting around on the right side (shoulder) as Bill swung to the left to make a wide right turn into the small side street without taking out some bushes. If that guy got around me, he would have wound up jammed between a rear tire and an outrigger. There was no way Bill could have even seen him. BOY That guy was pretty mad, at least judging by his horn, waving arms, hand (well, finger) signals, and swinging wide into the oncoming lanes to get around us. I just smiled broadly at him as he flew by. I always smile at morons. I found the whole journey not only amusing, but extremely entertaining. Bill had no idea the fun I was having behind him, he couldn't see any of it. ffcheesy
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ANNNNYWay. Today was back to work. More routine coats of poly on the bench and chair. The bench may be finished in the morning but the chair probably needs a little more work, because I am really liking this cute little thing and want it to look nice. I think it's cute, and it's comfortable too.
Then I decided to start something new, or rather re-start on something old and make it new. A few of you may recall this piece, it made it's debut here 4 years and a couple of months ago.
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It looked pretty good when I made it 4 years ago. It was my first major piece that required some kind of skill, thought, and planning. As I said it looked pretty good when I made it and I showed it to a few folks who visited the shop, but that was it. I had little thought of doing shows then (mid-covid), so after 6 or ten months of stepping around it, I took it apart, wrapped it in moving blankets, and tucked it in a corner and it's been there ever since. Now as I built it I began to realize all the mistakes I made as I went along and fought with them and I made just about every mistake I could possibly make. First, the top slab is a split pith cut off the log, so it cupped pretty good. I was so anxious to 'make something big' that I didn't let the wood dry nearly enough and the top cupped. There was also a lot of knot drying shrinkage here and there, plus a twist/ The side plate were (are) also heavily cupped BIGTIME.
Now after 3 years, there has been settling in and shrinkage and all kinds of joyful movement. I was shocked to see it still went together. The pages no longer will hold the side tightly because the sides are a lot thinner now, there are bumps and rolls where none were before, epoxy crack fills have squeezed up above the surfaces, or sucked in, and there are a few new drying cracks down the centerline of the top.
We all say 'if you want to learn how to make lumber, build something with the lumber you milled and see how it goes'. Well, Here's your sign.
There is a limit to what I can do to 'save' this piece, but I figured "it's stable now, let's just make it workable". SO I ran the top and sides through the drum sander. I would have to sand 3/8" of of EACH face to begin to make it all flat (3/4" total) but that would mess up the through tenon joints. SO I am settling for solid and reliable. Something that might make a good solid table in a kid's game room or a family room, or out on a covered porch. Something folks could sit on, use as a table, dance on if they liked, and would take any abuse offered. It will never be a pretty or elegant piece, but can be rock solid.
Now that I sanded to high spots off I went and did some epoxy cracks fills and I'll sand those tomorrow. The main thing I have to do is adjust the peg holes to be shaped to hold the sides on properly and also make new pegs. I did a lousy job on that 4 years ago and they barely worked then, they do not work at all now. But I now know how to fix them, tedious though it may be. So this will give me something to do in the coming weeks. I don't know if I can fit this in the trailer or if I even want to bring it to shows and set it up each time, but at least it will be ready if I sell some other of work I have in to it stuff. Also, I can put a very low price on it considering the appearance and known flaws. I'll chalk up all those MANY hours to 'Educational expenses'. :wink_2:
Here's how it sits now, before I laid on some epoxy in small cracks.
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So this turned out to be a bigger dump than I thought it would be. Sorry. That excavator has been grating on me for 12 hours or so for each day for several days now and I am a bit testy. What he 'accomplished' would have been about 3 hours work for a competent operator. 9:30pm and I just heard it shut off.
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Tomorrow is another day and I am going to have to find a way to escape the nonsense somehow. Maybe it's time I fired up the saws and splitter to drown out his distraction. Let's see what the day brings and go from there.
Sorry your neighbor is a moron. I am thankful it's 3/4 of a mile to my nearest. ffsmiley
We've all got one.My closest neighbor hasn't cut his grass this year and the roof on his porch is falling in.He's several years younger than me and him and his wife both have good jobs.Can't see him from my house but I can hear his dogs bark.
It could be worse.
My wife's brother is that neighbor.
Yeah sorry, I just realized that last post had a lot of whining and I really despise whining, especially when it comes from me. I am really not that guy and get along with every other neighbor pretty well. For some reason, many of them give us gift cards and such for favors they perceive we have done for them. :wink_2: It's just this one guy that makes me crazy. (along with everyone else.)
I guess many of us here have one of them and there is little that can be done. You can't fix stupid and I long since gave up trying.
Could be worse. Friend of a friend bought a house and moved to town after living in the country, and in the first 3 months the city police have been at his neighbors place 6 times. :uhoh:
It can always be worse, but I am not hoping to see what form that might take. :wink_2:
The good news is they came and took the min-ex away today. ffcool
Now we just have to wait and see what he dreams up next.
Tom, after my visit I could see how that neighbor would grate on my nerves quite a bit...
I have a neighbor that just moved into the house next door, a couple hundred feet through some woods, so I can't see them, but the house was empty for several months and prior to that an older lady lived there, and we didn't hear much from her.
Well, we started seeing some action over there, though no For Sale signs or anything like that, and finally determined that a family had moved in. It seems that there have been several families that own several of the houses in the "neighborhood," I live in one where the previous owner (now deceased) has family in 2 other houses down the way, so I think that's what happened next door as well. The older lady was the daughter of a family around the corner from me.
Regardless of any of that... My street is barely a lane and a half wide and in there front yard is a concrete wall, kind of a bridge, I guess, and at first the neighbor would store 3 of their big garbage totes on the street along that wall, forcing you to almost go offroad to get past. The first and/or second trash days they'd had piles of trash in the ditch and I was dreading what was bound to happen in the future, and if I'd need to go talk to them. They moved the trash cans after it looked like someone came by and hit them with a truck, they now live in the front yard. Luckily, I haven't seen more than normal amounts of trash in the ditch anymore...
We have however, seemingly, traded that for at least 3 dogs that bark almost constantly. I'll go sit on the back deck and they are just close enough that if we talk or I cough or something the dogs get all worked up and start barking their fool heads off. My dog hasn't quite learned to do this yet, but I'm expecting it.
...neighbors...
Well as Res said, it could be worse. A couple of decades ago we had some neighbors about 4 places down who both worked night shifts and would leave the dogs out in a kennel in the yard all the time. Those dogs would bark almost continuously, taking turns, it seemed, at every little noise or even wind. If I coughed in the yard after dark they would go off for 5 minutes easy. Since we had enough distance, we never called anyone or complained, but their immediate neighbors called all the time because it was constant, 7 days a week, year round.
What bothers me about barking dogs are not the dogs, it's the owners who never spend time with their dogs training them, setting rules, or building some confidence in those animals. It is almost always a human problem, not an animal problem. Take the guy next door, they got a beagle for the kids, but no training, except teaching him to poop in other folks yards and not their. They put the dog on a run leash in the yard and it barks at everything. I can't move in my yard without it going off. Zero training, and even worse, zero training for the kids on how to raise and treat a dog, which means they will make he same mistakes when they grow up. Stuff like that burns my bottom when I hear a dog left alone to just bark away. Stupid humans.
Well I am in piddling mode this last week or two. I should be blowing and going with the better weather, but frankly the mornings are so clear and sweet smelling that I can't resist enjoying them by being lazy. These are rare days and we only get a few of them. I thought I might start some firewood today, but it got hot and quick. That makes me smile because my attic kiln hit 130°+ today, but also makes me remember I need to mill wood and get it up there to dry.
I sanded up some new pegs for the tenon table I am refinishing. The old pins don't work since it all dried, twisted, and settled in. Tedious work shaping each peg to fit each hole, they are all different. I had recut the pegs holes yesterday and made them longer (they are 'D' holes).
Then I switched over to moving some new stuff into the trailer for the next show. I had to move a little bit of stuff over to open up some more room in the rack for another bench/stool pairing. As I get into this I am more and more appreciating that rack design. I can get a LOT of stuff on that rack and seem to keep adding.
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I am up to 9 benches and 8 stools at this point and could fit a few more stools yet. I also had not trouble fitting the new chair in by the back door after just shifting some things around a little. I could probably fit just a little more of the smaller stuff or more than a little, but frankly I am beginning to wonder if I have too much since it takes so long to set it all out and pack it all back up. For a 4 or 5 hour showing, it seems like a lot of stuff, but then, every piece is unique so I'm not sure what is right. I'm still trying to work this out in my head, but mostly I am hoping these shows start selling something to help pay off the investment I've made in this trailer and inventory.
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Quote from: Old Greenhorn on June 04, 2024, 06:31:18 PMNow we just have to wait and see what he dreams up next.
Yeah well, that barely took 24 hours. Now he just started out there with a plate compactor and he seems focused. :uhoh: :veryangry: Maybe I should wait until he's done, then start cutting some firewood? ffcheesy
My neighbors, relatives included, have complained when I cook a pig or shoulders..."the smell makes us hungry". I don't know maybe they are looking for invites for the next one.
So maybe a couple of pork shoulders on the smoker when the wind is blowing his way will help you feel better knowing he's over there salivating for hours (and not invited) ffcheesy
Tom,
You may have mentioned in previous threads but what do you do about ventilation in your "attic kiln" if you have pretty green lumber up there shedding lots of water?
Well, I don't throw green wood up there except some cookies and they will do whatever they want, mostly crack. ffcheesy The other stuff I put up is air dried at least a year and right now I have nearly nothing in there (I have to get to milling my own stuff again). Also, it's not like a regular schedule, because every night it cools off pretty well. I have standard gable vents and that allows for airflow around the clock. The wood kind of normalizes everyday because of this heat/cool cycle.
Seems to be working. Today was partly cloudy and it still hit over 120°. Since I put mostly hardwood up there I don't have many bugs in it, but I am still waiting to find some on the floor one of these days. Once I get back to the mill, I will try throwing some green stuff up there, just for laughs, and see what happens. It's a good question.
It seems the grandsons should be approaching an age where they might enjoy helping grandpa out. It is a lot of work to move many boards by hand. Teach the to sticker. do you have fans up there for things like maple, or does the air dry get it dry enough, fans are not needed.
Well Doc, it's complicated with the boys, given all the devices these days. The oldest has some minor emotional issues and is very sensitive to loud or sharp noises, He is not an 'outdoor guy' yet, but we are working on it. He does like fishing, but only for short periods. The middle one is kind of whiny and needs to mature a bit more. The youngest is the one is who is pretty much game for anything that is hands on. He spent a half a day with me yesterday and asked if we could start working on a simple bookshelf for his room, so we picked out a piece of 1x6 pine, but it had bug holes, so we mixed up some epoxy, masked it, and filled the galleries. This, of course included a lot of explanations. :wink_2:
Then we went down to Bill's and wandered in the woods looking for white birch trees for a special order. No joy there, but we walked a mile or two and he never stopped talking the whole time. :wink_2: He found a garter snake, some bear scat, and a box turtle that let us study him for a while. (He calls them 'boxing turtles' and wonders where the name came from because they don't look like they can box very well.) On the way in we also saw a doe with a brand new wobbly fawn in the road by Bill's house and watched them for a bit until the fawn could get safely away and momma calmed down. She actually approached the truck to warn us off. It was a nice adventure for him and he had lots of new stories to tell his folks and brothers.
So yeah, when he gets a little bigger we will see. The problem is splitting them up and just taking one makes the others whine and complain that they want to go too, until they get 'there' and then get bored. One on one, they are mostly fine, but in pack they are a handful and the job at hand takes twice as long. I can't do that at a show.
In the attic, I have no fans, it's all passive. Since all the wood I have put up there is at 16% or lower, mold doesn't seem to be an issue at all and I think with the stickering, the temps are consistent all around. I could make a project out of it, but I need some lumber to work with first. It's pretty amazing how fast pine will come down to where I can't get a reading on my pin meter.
I would enjoy walking in the woods with you too.
You find more stuff then I do. :wacky:
I have a friend with grandkids. They are all grown now but one. He would come over with a couple and they would walk way up in the woods to find me.
Must be a half mile.
I could hardly get my grandson to walk down to the mailbox, a 500 foot walk.
Sometimes his grandkids would bring friends over and they would walk up in the woods too.
Do what you can with them, you will appreciate it now and later and they will appreciate it later if not now :thumbsup:
thecfarm I bet those boys still remember walking "all day" back in the woods to find "the old wood cutter grandpa knows" :wink_2:
Weird day, bare with me and eventually I will get to something stupid. :wink_2:
SO I had a mushroom client needed a pickup load of hardwood chips for a mushroom bed. As it turned out, Bill is doing a land clearing job for an institution less than 5 miles away and he was still dropping trees today. SO I went over and arrived just as they had the chip truck about filled up, so they pulled that away from the chipper and I backed up and we dropped a handful of maple and RO. We filled my bed in about 10 minutes. I pulled my truck away and covered it, sort of, then spent another hour or so helping them clear and feed the chipper until they broke for lunch. While they were deciding where to get lunch Bill asked me if I felt like fixing a 372 for them. His guy Mike was without a saw because of a broken spring. They were unclear as to what was wrong, but I got 'throttle spring' out of it anyway. Sure, why not? Where's the saw? In the shop by the bench. OK.
So they had lunch and I delivered my load and came home and looked up this spring, they told needed ordering. It's about 5 bucks and called a presence sensing and throttle trigger spring. But I was working off their verbal description (rarely a good idea). Since I am ordering parts, I wonder if there are any other incidentals the saw might need. So I run down to Bill's and search for the saw. Sure enough, it's not where they told me. I look around. I find it, the label is rubbed off, but it's a high top saw and I see that the spring is hanging on one of the air cover clips, must be the right saw, presence sensing bar is not working, throttle trigger locked up, must be it.
I bring it home and have dinner, then got out and start messing with it. They told me I had to order the part, but there is a (used) correct replacement spring hanging on the cover clip. I have to tell you getting that presence lever out of the pocket, removing the broken spring and getting to new one in is not picnic. It requires a lot of cuss words and mumbling, after 3 re-grouping and calming down sessions, I finally got it back together. But the pivot pin had been removed before I got the saw and I needed that to complete the job.
So I called Mike, told him I had the saw and found the replacement spring hanging on it and got it in, but where is the pin? He is very perplexed about the replacement spring, he didn't have one and can't guess where that came from.
Well at this point in the conversation, Bill shows up at my door for no particular reason, I hand him a beer as I am talking to Mike and we are trying to figure out where this spring came from and what pin I am talking about. Bill finally chimes in, smiling. He says " you took the wrong saw". What?!
So as we continue to talk on the phone we go out to the shop and Bill explains I grabbed his 394 instead of the 372. The 394 was broke too, but Bill gave up trying to fix that dang presence lever, and gave up for a better day. Well, I fixed it and it just needs the pin put back, he has the pin, so I'll do that tomorrow. I guess I will also go find the right saw to work on this time. ffcheesy
Very weird, kind of dumb that I fixed the wrong saw and I did offer to unfix it, but Bill declined. ffcheesy I had a lot of trouble getting that thing fixed. I know a guy like Spike would take that apart and have the new spring in while he drank coffee and talked to you and in 3 minutes he would be done. But I am not Spike and I never had that section apart before, so I am just glad I got it done and didn't break anything. What a pain in the butt. I can see why Bill gave up on it, I did...3 times, until I finally got it done.
I think it's the first time I ever fixed anything by accident though.
A happy accident. ffsmiley
Yeah, I guess. Bill will get his saw back today, not that he is missing it. This is his spare 394 with a 36" bar, a gutted muffler, a cracked air cover, and half the pull handle broken off. It doesn't need a cleaning, it needs an exorcism. ffcheesy But poor Mike has been suffering along with some little toy saw (he says, probably a 562, maybe a 550) and missing his beloved 372, apparently for a while now. Bill has saws everywhere around his place, and all his trucks have at least one saw on each. The bucket truck has 3 or more, there is usually one laying in the yard in front of the shop, 2 or 3 over by the OWB, and 2 down at the mill right now. At any given time maybe 5% are having some kind of issue. He is building a saw shop upstairs in the new shop addition which will be dedicated just to saw work and parts. There are already a couple of saws sitting up there waiting for attention when the shop opens. These boys are tough on their saws, ask Spike. (Yeah
@Spike60 , this is the straight gassed 372 you fixed last year.)
So it's kind of a small miracle that I found one of the saws that needed fixing and got that done. Now I have to find the other one. I did some research last night after getting a better picture of what's broke on the 372 and either I will need to order a whole new carb, or do a farm mechanic fix because it sounds like it's the throttle plate return coil spring that is busted. That one, I think is on a shaft that is peened over at assembly? At any rate, the part itself does not seem available, so I may have to either make a new one or alter the broken one. It's not going to be a 'one evening with a beer' fix, I suspect.
Well, don't those last few posts set the table. ffsmiley
Talked to Billy yesterday and I'm planning to stop over his place tomorrow evening to pick up a few saws that need attention. Not sure what to expect, but don't ruin the surprises that are apparently in store for me. He did mention a 572 that may need a screen clean and the magnetic filter. (the blue one). Binging a tweeked 394 that he may want to buy. As you know, the 94/95 chassis is his favorite. 372's are small saws for those guys.
But I know how this will go. "Oh yeah, there's another saw over here......" So I figure I should bring the truck and not the Jeep. :wink_2:
Well you're a better man than me Bob! I an glad he go you to look at some of them, carcasses' everywhere. ffcheesy I can get him going wioth the simple mechanical stuff that he doesn't have the patients for, but you know all the correct specs, can tune, and will put things back the right way. I just get him going. I'll see if I can stop by when you are there, since you have to drive past my place anyway. ffcheesy Yes, bring the truck, and some cardboard. :wink_2:
Yesterday morning I went down and found that 372 and even all the parts for it, still couldn't find the pin from the 394 and didn't have a 3mm pin in my shop. SO I brought that home and found that the OEM throttle plate return spring on the Walbro carb had the end snapped off so it was free spinning. SO I had to remove the carb, take it all apart to get the spring off, reshape the spring to make a new stop tang and after a few fit tests, got it right. I cleaned everything I could get at as long as it was opened up, but there is a limit. Put it all back together, tested it and all was good. I don't think you can buy just that spring. If it breaks again, gonna need a donor carb I guess.
Since I had to go to town for errands, I thought I would be a nice guy and drop it off at their job site which was 'sorta' on my way. I mentioned a few other issues I saw, such as the chain tensioner not working (turned out they had grabbed a wrong chain that was too long and the tensioner was at end of stroke). But it's running well for now. Mike was happy to get his baby back and Bill wished I had dropped it off an hour earlier when he blew out the tip on his working saw. But, as I explained, an hour earlier the saw was in pieces on my bench. I can't win sometimes.
So yeah, I am sure he will have 'a few' saws for you to look at. ffcheesy He always does.
I was just thinking about this some more and it occurred to me that when he finally gets stairs up to the second floor where the saw shop is and collects all the saw carcasses on a set of shelves up there it will be quite a collection of spares, donor saws, and such like. I was up there last month and it's still all cleaned and just built. There was only one lonely saw sitting on a lonely bench.
That will change.
Sounds like a saw museum to me...
No, not really, That would have to be Bob's shed/cave by far. BTW Bob, can you look around and see if you have one of those pins for the pivot point on the presence sensing lever on the 394? I believe Bill has mis-placed it. I think it's just a 3mm (.118") diameter pin by about 3/4" long.
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Austin, You asked a question about green wood in my attic kiln a few weeks back. Got me to thinking. I don't have anything truly green, but I brought home a slab from the mill today and thought I would try an experiment, crude though it might be. It's a chunk of hemlock 1st cut slab about 40" long and roughly 2-3" thick. It has bark on, still pretty tight. The MC measures 21.7% in eh end grain and about 17-20% in the face grain (cut a week or so ago). It weighed 43.7 pounds. I wrote it all down and stuck the slab up there. It's been solid overcast and cool for the past 24 hours. It never broke 65 yesterday and barely hot 70 today, but it's 95° in the attic right now.
So we'll give this a few weeks and see what happens.
I'm interested in your results, Tom, but I think it may have been someone else asking about green wood, I don't remember mentioning it, though I forget many things a day, so maybe I did!
Did you weigh it just standing it up on a scale? I'm interested in the weight of the shed doors I built for the neighbor but we only have one of those glass people scales, that I don't really want to drop a door on.
You're right Austin, my bad, it was Howard who asked and Doc too. No matter, we will all see how this progresses, headed into some serious drying days in the next week as the temps rise.
I have an old Deli/butchers/hardware scale that I use with a big dial on the face. Very handy when I need it, but only goes to about 60 pounds. I just laid the slab across the top. For your door, you could stand on the scale, record your weight, then pick up the door and do the math. It should get you close.
Tom, I'll be at Bill's between 6 and 630. Have the pin you need. 394/395 uses the same trigger, spring, latch, and pins as a 372 BTW.
Looking forward to stopping down there this evening. I'll be pretty out of it due to ZERO sleep from yesterday's heavy drugs. Couple beers and ill be even more entertaining. ffcheesy
I'm all caught up on saw work, so Billy can give me several saws before I start rolling my eyes. :uhoh: I do keep a tight lid on this. Just take care of friends and neighbors. Not like im looking for work. Don't want to deal with folks I don't know. Did that for 30 years. Anybody on the list gives my number out to someone else, gets crossed off the list. ffwave
Good 'business' plan. ffcheesy
Yeah, I'll try to come down around that time, usually when we have dinner about then. I'll bring that 394 and be done with it. I think I will be milling a bit for him this morning. He has needs. :wink_2:
Wait a second. Your gonna do a hand off on the 394? What's the deal with that? ffcheesy
Nope, I'll bring it down and stick the pin in it and it's done.
Now that 372 that I fixed, Bill has it sitting there for you because he perceives some other issues with it I guess and I am not worthy. ffcheesy It was running fine when I handed it over, but had a loose chain I could not tighten because of a bar/chain mismatch. I don't do 'operator error issues'. :wink_2:
Well just to keep the record straight, I did not 'hand off' that 394 to Bob. He produced the pin in question when I walked in with it and I stuck it in and the job was done. So I'm clean. Now that 372 I fixed, did get turned over to him for other reasons. I fixed the carb spring and got it back in running shape, but that chain tightening issue turned into something else. He pulled the clutch cover and noticed that there was a huge amount of play in the drum on the shaft, it was beyond shot. The chain was the right size, drive link wise, but it has a lot of stretch in it. We didn't have a new one handy to compare it to, but it was the right size chain. With the slop in the drum of at least 1/8" and some chain stretch it was 'messed up'. Bob took that one home to put a new drum on it.
So we had a nice visit, Bob left some saws behind and brought a couple out to repair and my take away was, I'm in the wrong business. ffcheesy I haven't seen Bob in several months so it was nice to hang out and BS a bit. As we were leaving Bob posed a question to Bill wondering if he knew how many vehicles he has laying around on the property. That had never occurred to me before and I am sure I don't know, pretty sure Bill doesn't know either. ffcheesy It might be a fun project to bring a grandson or two down and try to count them all. Surely we would have conflicting numbers, but we could get pretty close, I think. But you would miss all the stock that is out on jobs here and there, which will really confuse things.
Anyway, we had a few beers and had a nice visit, a very nice evening all around.
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The last couple of days I have been having motivational issues. I just feel tired and the weather has been very cool and damp and overcast. I did not make it to the mill again today, I don't know why, probably tomorrow, I hope. I have a show on Sunday, so I pulled the trailer around and washed it to get the tree junk and pine needles off of it. An hour later, we got a downpour, but it still looks pretty clean. I did some other chores to get ready for Sunday and get my head in the game. We will se how it goes...roll the dice again. I sure would like to see some return on this trailer.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
I understand the motivation thing..... Worked too long yesterday and drove too late last night, today it's pretty slow moving. ffsmiley
Well yeah, after working like that it makes a lot of sense. That would whip anyone down. For me it just seems I get a lot of days like that for little reason. Maybe it's long covid, maybe its the beginning of CHF I am bound to get, I dunno, maybe it's mild depression. The latter being the best candidate, I think.
Sometimes I just need to sit down, have a talk with myself, and kick my butt in gear. Such was today. I have a small order of 2x12x12 hemlock to get finished. Those suckers are heavy! But before I could do that I still had a bunch of slabs to cut up and clear away onto the OWB feeder rack. Knowing it was going to be warm today I got myself down there and got that all done, but my back is still hurting from that last session wrestling those beams. At least I got it done before noon. Came home and got ready for tomorrow.
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Interesting thing: On a lark I decided to check on the progress of that green hemlock slab I stuck up in the attic a few days ago. It was 123° up there today. When I put that slab in, I got something like 21.7% MC in the end grain and 17-20 in the face grain. Now today, I shoved my meter pins in their and it read 45%! I got about 38% in the face grain. This tells me we have a lot of moisture movement from the inside to the outside. It's only been about 3 days and I find this really interesting as well as promising. I think it indicates I have some true drying going on, not just surface attrition. A bright spot in my day for sure. Can't wait to see what happens next week when the ambient temps hit the mid 90's. I am going to have to watch this closer and see how long it takes. Fascinating stuff this. :wink_2:
Tom- Is that saying moisture is moving from the inside to the outside? I didn't realize it worked like that, if so...
Well yeah, I am thinking that's how it works. ffsmiley Hemlock surface dries pretty quick which causes face cracks and this slab has a bunch of little ones. It also explains why I had pretty low numbers when I first put it up. My probes only go 1/2" deep. When I checked it the other day, it was late in the day at full heat. I checked again this morning when it was only 90 up there and the numbers were again lower. I believe it gets warm up, the water expands and moves to the drier wood, and then cooks out of it. At least I hope that is what is happening, that's why I weighed it, that will tell me how much water weight it lost when I think it's done. This is my simple way of understanding the process and learning my way through. Many of the drying threads I read here are above my head and I am still too ignorant to ask good questions. I continue to learn as I go, slowly. I pulled down a 2" RO slab from there this morning, I can't get any MC on it anywhere with my meter. It's been up there since the fall after 3 years of air drying.
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I had another show yesterday, same place as last month. The crowd was more engaged, I picked up some possible future call backs for special orders and talked with a lot more folks than last month. But the location continues to perplex me. It is a super location, right on the state road and all the weekend renters, second home owners and B&B tourists have to drive past there to get to the interstate and home. More stopped this month than last and I certainly had a lot more 'near sales'.
I sold 2 device stands and one rustic bench just 6 minutes before closing. Management allowed any vendors that wanted, to stay open an extra hour (until 4pm) and I ran until; about 3:30 when the small amount of traffic finally thinned out to almost nothing. Then I slowly started packing in a more specific pattern. I've finally realized there is no reason for me to try and rush to get out. It was hot (mid 80's) and full sun. Turns out, taking my time and packing in a logical order is just as fast, maybe faster than rushing and having to re-do parts of it.
I was still pretty wet when I was done, but not as out of breath as before. I even got things packed tighter with a little more room to spare. I am beginning to get a handle on this thing. :wink_2: OTOH, I sat there during the day assessing what I have on the booth and have come to the conclusion that I have too much stuff for a 10x20 booth. The conundrum is what to leave out (or in the trailer)? I can't predict who will be walking through on a given day. I'll keep thinking on that part for a while.
The next issue is which shows and do I continue with this one. I can't do July, not available. Everyone is telling me that July and August are the best months for this one. I could do August IF I blow off going to Boonville and I am thinking about it. I believe I will wait until the July show and call the folks that have a spot next to me and see how that one went, if traffic and sales are up, I may doe August. Otherwise I will have no shows for all of July and August. In September I have two of my better shows and this monthly one lands in the middle of those two, so I could do 3 shows, 3 weeks in a row. The only thing I know is that I don't have to make anything for a while. I might make another low end rustic bench to replace the one I sold, but I already have a twin to it in the trailer.
But I have a bunch of thinking to do on these upcoming shows.
I got home around 5:30 last night and was pretty tired, but I don't know why, today I finished off my notes from the show and am just piddling along. Gonna be a hot one this week and I have orders at the mill, I did finish one off on Saturday, then a new one came is for a boat load of long 1x10 pine, up to 20'+.
Tomorrow is another day.
Maybe as simple as a book with pictures "These are in stock, if you'd like to see them?"
My wife used to do a lot of shows selling her bags and her analytical mind was quite good at seeing and understanding trends. She's got some formula (not really, but kind of) that taught her how much stuff should be sitting out and it wasn't always best to have it all out. I don't remember exactly how it worked but basically too little product on display people walk right past, too much on display and people get overwhelmed. I think she had a similar formula for pricing or average pricing too.
Austin, I have considered this a few times (the book), but it's hard enough to get folks to look at stuff right in front of them on the table, getting them to thumb through a book is a very long shot. Also, photos don't give a good idea of the shape, feel, and details. I notice more than a few folks that came through my booth and HAD to run their hands over the wood and feel it. One lady walked around and felt almost everything in the booth. It was a little weird, but also very interesting. Obviously, she was thinking, but apparently not hard enough. ffcheesy Still, this isn't settled in my head and I continue to ponder it.
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Speaking of pondering, I have said this many times. I get comments and suggestions here on the forum that, at the moment, don't seem to be a good fit and I file them away for later, or more thought.
A few days ago I mentioned the heat issues in my show trailer over on the weather thread and
@Ljohnsaw suggested putting up a shade cloth over it. I didn't blow him off, but I did explain that the trailer is not in a real good location for that and it's problematic. But, his suggestion stuck in my head and I added a remote temp probe in the trailer so I can monitor it. It hit 99° today and yesterday. I also noted it is pretty good up until about 2pm, then it jumps up. Obviously this is because of the sun position at that time. Next I started looking at what it would take to shade the sun around that period of the day until it drops below the tree line. I can manage something here.
John is right, and I should do this. It's been hotter than a well used pistol and I am not hardly doing anything right now, but I figured a way to string a ridge rope from a tree over to my shed and when it cooled a bit this afternoon I got the rope up on the tree, tomorrow, before the sun gets in the wrong lpace, I will sink a lag hook into the peak of my shed roof and get the rope hung then start messing with some geotec road cloth I am going to use for shade cloth (the rain will run through that). Hopefully this will cut the temps, but if nothing else I will learn something. It won't be pretty, but it will be a good test. Hopefully I can get it done before the heat of the day sets in. It's supposed to be in the mid 90's tomorrow, so if I get this put up, we should know prety quickly if it worked.
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Speaking of solar heating, I am having a lot of fun watching the attic kiln work. The way I am understanding this, the heat kicks in (peaks) around 2pm in earnest after building for a few hours and it holds until after the sun is down. At 9pm last night, it was still over 90° up there. When the wood gets to it's hottest point in the day, it sweats out moisture, pushing it out the end grain and faces. when it cools overnight and early morning, it relaxes and 'normalizes' allowing the MMC to settle out a bit, then it repeats the cycle. So as I have been checking the test piece every couple of days I notice that the MC is lower in the morning and higher at the peak of the heat cycle as the moisture is pushing out of the surfaces. Each time I check the MC at the peak of the heat day, it is a little bit lower. Started out at 48%, then 35%, now down to 31%. I find this fascinating to watch and am wondering when it will be 'done'. This is about a 2" slab with bark on. I fully expect that bark to fall off when I remove it from the process.
I think this is similar to a solar kiln process. I will never be able to sterilize any wood, but with these 130° temps rolling up every day and the 30% humidity up there I would say I am discouraging any bugs as well as I can.
At any rate, I believe this is a very viable process and I need to put more effort into opening up another entry point at the far end of my attic and getting more wood up there on a regular basis and rotation. I don't understand all the details that are discussed on the drying board with regard to schedules, etc, It's still over my head, but this is neat, simple, and appears to work. So I continue to have some fun with it. I put two 5' pieces of 3/8x12x5' EWP up there today and they measured 18% (cold) but they are wet. Lets see how they go. My prediction is a month of less until I can't get a moisture reading.
Fun stuff.
Speaking of drying...
A couple years ago I cut some 1x cedar for my brother's sauna build up in Ashland, Oregon. IIRC, I stickered it at home for a day or two then planned it down to about 3/4". Stickered it and he came down to my place. We headed up the hill to work on my cabin for several days. When we came back down, the wood was dry and we T&Gd it. Sacramento is dry!
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on June 19, 2024, 09:57:57 PMOne lady walked around and felt almost everything in the booth. It was a little weird, but also very interesting. Obviously, she was thinking, but apparently not hard enough. ffcheesy Still, this isn't settled in my head and I continue to ponder it.
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Fun stuff.
Tom,
Does your wife know these kind of kinky things are going on at these distant shows? ffcheesy ffcheesy
Tom, Do you frequent CL? I've picked up a few and passed on more free "garage in a box" carports. Usually just the pipes for free as the covers are wasted.
Well, today was interesting for sure. ffcheesy
First, following up on John's directive I got up a sheet of Geotech fabric over the trailer as a sun shield. I finished it just as the sun was beginning to come around the back of the shop and beat me to death.
IMG_20240620_114611028_HDR.jpg
I know it looks like I missed the mark, but it's a shade, not a rain fly. The sun is coming in from the left (south) in the photo. I got it as best I could and late in the afternoon, I don't see a way to shift it to improve it any. Making it bigger might have worked, but it's what I got. I thought it was working because 20 minutes after I finished, the temp had dropped 2°. I went out for a few hours and when I came back, the temp was 99° in there, not good. But then I realized the ambient temp was 94, so 6 degrees above ambient is not all that bad. By comparison, the temp in my attic kiln at the same point was 138°. I'll call that an improvement. Thanks John! I will be looking into the CL and marketplace sales for a shelter, but my requirements are tight. First, it needs to have a tall opening and second, it needs to be cheap, but not trashed. I don't have a lot of room to pitch a shelter and would have to rethink the location a bit. If I could salvage my swamp ground, I'd have lots of room which would change the whole game here for a lot of things, but that's a big deal, full season project with some investment and lots of hours. Anyway, for now, things seem better than they would have been without it. almost 6pm here now and the shop is at 86° which is the highest I can recall in a couple of years with the doors closed up.
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So with this horrible heat, this old man ain't doing much, but I still want to make use of my time in a productive way. During my show on Sunday, one person came in and saw my beer carriers and suggested I should stop at a local shop on the state road, they would probably love to have them in their store, all local goods they sell. Mostly craft beer and food products like cheese. So today I made the 25 minute drive out there and walked in with one of my 6 pack carriers in my hand. The woman (owner) in the store looked at it, smiled and asked me if my name was 'Ralph", nope, I'm Tom. Well apparently Ralph is the guy that had seen those carriers in my booth, took a photo and had just texted it to her an hour before I walked in. She was 'sold' before I walked through the door. We never talked about price or anything like that, it was all about what they needed and how they would sell it. This looks to be a regular production item(s) once we figure it out and do the test sales. They also want some custom crates made for their "weekender' specialty boxes rather than cardboard and they will have to figure out their business plan on those to get them back, or sell them.
For today, I left with an order for 12 units consisting of 4) 4-pack narrow can carriers, 4) 8 pack narrow can carriers, and 4) special crates for their weekend baskets. This will give them enough to mess around with and see what the response is. Likely, I will make a lot more parts to keep here and build as they re-order. I expect the first ones to go faster than they do. All of these things will be direct sales to them, not consignment. :wink_2:
In addition to that, they would like to see some of my benches and put them in their store on consignment. They have space to fill, and I would like to fill it, especially between October and May. ffcheesy They do 70/30 on their consignments and I can live with that. Most around here take 40% or more.
They also have an interest in my(our) firewood carriers slings, since they sell designer firewood. Guess we have to make some more of those too and figure out a display system.
So this looks like a great opportunity for a new little venture and it all stemmed from an off-hand comment from a browser at a show that I barely made any money on. Let that be a lesson to me! ffcheesy
Of course, I have no wood on hand to make this stuff yet, so it will take a while to get their samples done, but I don't want to delay too long. It all appears like prefect timing.
Tomorrow I have my monthly chiro tuneup, then I will have to figure out what to do next. I really don't want to get soaking wet with sweat again.
In
It's working! Sounds like great potential Tom!
70/30 and a shop open to the public sounds like a good deal to me. Hope you guys cool off soon.
Yeah, we will see how this goes and work into it over time. They mentioned that they would like to bring in a bunch of handmade local stuff before the holiday season in the fall and since I don't have winter shows, it would be a good place to 'store' some items that might sell.
I am also thinking on asking to do a 'pop up shop' out in front of their store on a weekend. It would be a draw to get folks to check out their store and I might make something. Win-win.
Baby steps, first I gotta get them their stuff to get that rolling.
Gonna be one more hot one here today, maybe rain this afternoon.
We had 3/4" of rain Friday afternoon, and the same overnight last night which made sleeping a tad easier. I didn't think there was a heat advisory today and it was overcast, I headed to the mill to get started on some really long 1x10's, up to 20'9". Not my favorite kind of work, but I gotta start if I wan to finish. Just a couple of hours fighting with it and the heavy long slabs. It was long enough for me to be out of breath and soaked through with sweat, through and through. Most of the effort was wasted on a poor log with a rot pocket ruining a good part of the boards, but it's a start. I got the 20'+ log up and ready, then quit. I was out of sweat and water. The truck thermometer said 94° and when I got home I saw the heat advisory.
Yesterday I found enough wood to make up some samples for this new client, so I ran them out there so they would have them for their meeting on Tuesday. Just a 4 pack carrier and a crate. I wanted to see if I had the height of the carrier figure out right, seems I did, they like 'em. Let's see what they order.
I'm taking the rest of the day off...after I run errands, and put some crate wood up in the kiln. ffcheesy
So yesterday I ran off the 20'9" log which was a real PITA. 1 inch of clearance on each end of the log to the blade and I could not use the drag back for slabs or lumber. It took a lot longer than I wanted, but I knew it would so I just bit the bullet and enjoyed the ride as best I could. It was a perfect workday after all, temps in the high 70's and a breeze, but near the end, the wind changed to a strong breeze and came out of the north, putting me in the dust cloud plume. My glasses worked fine, but breathing was 'compromised' a bit. I put 13 boards on the rack, good enough to make the 8 piece order. I topped off the slab rack with 3' cutoffs. Need more logs on the deck for the rest of the order. Need a fresh slab rack too. Maybe now we can get back to the 19, 18, and 17 footers. ffcheesy Running the head from stop to stop just kind of pushed it all to the limit and I had some trouble with the dust hose catching obstructions at the very end of the run as I got close to the deck, so lost time fixing that, lost time hand dragging 20' boards, and dealing with the long (heavy) slabwood. Fairly clean boards though, I hope they work. At least I could wear pants and keep the chips out of my boots.
I came home and checked my crate wood in the attic kiln. 14%MC and I thought that would be OK to plane out, but I could feel moisture when I pulled it down. It was about 120° up there and the wood was sweating. I planed it out to 1/4" anyway, thinking a smooth and thinner surface might dry faster, then I stuck it back up in the kiln space. I could feel the sap stickiness on my hands. That's not good, I am going to have to wait this out for a few more weeks I think. I've only had the thin stuff up there for a week. Hopefully being thinner, it will dry faster now.
Today I was a bit too slow to pull the trigger and get to the mill and by the time I was ready it was already too hot. Yesterday's weather spoiled me. I was waiting for a package in the mail, but that's a different story (it did not arrive). I did get an email with the artwork for the beer client so I forwarded those files over to my (new) laser guy and gal so they can work up some samples and get an idea of how long it takes them. They just got their machine recently, are local folks I know through my teaching in the Fire service and are trying to get going. So I thought this would be a good way to build a local relationship. Hopefully I can get good pricing from them that doesn't run my costs up too much. I figure if I prep the wood well, just give the flat stock in some decent quantities they should be able to do OK. If not, I might have to step over the edge and get a small cheap laser. Frankly, I had hoped I left that stuff in my wake, I did it for too long. Anyway, we'll see how this goes, and either way, I will learn something, I always do. :wink_2: I'll get some wood samples for them to play with tomorrow.
I have a lot of stuff I should be dong, but for some reason I took a 'retired day' today. Tomorrow is another day.
Tom,
You know if you need to you can remove the rubber bumpers at each end of the mill and buy yourself 4 more inches of working room. May not help with the drag back and such. I sawed about 80 20'10" cabin logs for a customer 2 years ago and it is a royal pain. Every log has to be cut perfectly square and when you flip them they want to slide forward or back past the mark so you constantly have to raise the rollers and roll them froward or back an inch or so.
Good luck on the laser work and new alliances and new customers.
Well I don't know how I am going to gain about 4" of room by removing 2 stops that are about 1" thick, but maybe the math is different down there? Either way, I manually pulled the head against the back stop each time I dropped the blade, just to be sure.
Yes, I did have trouble when rolling the log. There was a mis-cut in the butt end and there was an extra inch of wood on one half of the log. So I moved the hear forward and trimmed that inch off. I did have to make adjustments on every flip.
But it still beats being a greeter at Walmart! ffcheesy
Well another one of those days when I thought I had a plan, but no. ffcheesy
I dawdled too long then the mail arrived and my 3 probe remote thermometer finally got here. Traveled a whole 118 miles in just 9 days, amazing! SO I messed with it and got it set up, 1 Probe in the attic kiln, 1 probe in the shop, and 1 probe in the trailer. My hope was to see these temps from my desk in the house, but I knew it was a stretch. The trailer is on the other side of the shop and has aluminum panels, the house has aluminum siding. But it appeared to work as hoped, so I left it one the desk and went to the mill around 11am. Ran into Bill in the yard and helped him off load the dozer by the shop. he was out grading stone on a new road cut and blew the water pump, so he trucked it home to do the work. I think the job is about a mile from his yard.
I went down to the mill and got started opening up a 16' log, he showed up in a bit and helped with the slabs on the first 3 sides, then he needed some help to run off a load of small split firewood. So I shut the mill down and helped him sort and re-split on the proceddor. It took about 40 minutes to fill the dump truck. On his way out, he asked if I wanted to go on a log run with him in the next town over for 'Earl' around 2:30 or so. "Sure, why not?"
I didn't finish the log off, working the processor out in the sun filled my shirt with sweat top to bottom. I finished off the last slab, edged about 5 boards while I brought the cant down and just have a 10x10 cant to zip off when I go back. I was oput of sweat and had other stuff to do. So I came home, piddled a bot, then ran errands in town and dropped off wood samples for the laser guy I'm trying out. On the way back home I touched base with Bill to see if we were still on and we were, we put a finer point on it.
Now when he said 'a load for Earl' I thought he meant a different Earl down the road from us. He actually meant another Earl that has property he is building on, on our road, but between Bill and I. That Earl is actually one of the finest Catskill Mountain Fiddlers we have in these mountains. He is a wealth of knowledge about the traditional music of the Catskills like no other. My SIL has played with him for decades off an on. Earl is a local treasure, but you would never know it, unless you just know that. Earl is also the Chief Engineer on the Catskill Mountain Railroad. Anyway, they drove by in Bill's log truck and I followed them to the pickup point about a dozen miles away. SO Bill loaded logs and Earl and I watched and talked logs and milling (Earl has one of the largest Hud-son hydraulic mills). He got this load of logs free and paid Bill to haul them back to his place. Pretty much all pine, we picked and chose from the miles looking for millable stuff. All the logs were kind of short, very few 12's, mostly 8's and some 6's, but wood is wood I guess.
I was, of course, quite useless in this whole process, just along for the run and some conversation with Earl. I did meet the property owner and gave him my card. He seems to think guys like Bill, Earl, and I are 'pretty cool people'. I don't know what that means, but since the landowner on this way back off the road (about a mile off) property was sitting around his in ground pool with a bunch of kids and women enjoying cocktails when we pulled in, I am just guessing he doesn't do much of the work we do. ffcheesy He wants Bill to come back and drop some trees. lots of dead standing pine.
Anyway, I got home and see that my remote thermometer is losing the signals from the probes. Looks like it won't reach my desk reliably. SO I am trying it out in my bedroom which is the closest point in the house to the shop. But that's not really feasible, I don't spend much time there. Maybe I will just put it in the shop by the entry door. I'll figure something out. At least it saves me from running up and down stairs and all over just to figure out where things are at. It did get over 130° in the kiln today. I have more stuff to shove up there in the morning. I am not loading in the heat of the day anymore. :wink_2:
So yeah, not the day I planned, but a day, none the less, things got done.
Tomorrow is another one I guess.
Well today was a bit like yesterday, I thought I had a plan.
My plan was to go finish the cant I left on the mill yesterday, re-saw one bad board, and change some 2x12 into 2x4's then clean up the slabs and junk.
But first, I had left myself a mental note to put a new blade on and not will anything until I get the lubeMizer lubing again. So i cleaned the orifice and prefilters and got everything flowing fine, too fine in fact. I had water running down from the pump area. SO I pulled all the screws and got the danged cover off and saw that one of the check valves had split at the joint again. I had a spare from the last parts order, but it meant taking the whole pump unit down and half the hoses off/ It's a LOT of work for a basic repair. But wait, it gets better....
I also 'noticed' the brake on the up/down motor was just hanging by it's wires out in free space as it were. The nuts on the adjusting/positioning shaft were just gone and the thing fell off. 350 hours in and still finding 'new mill issues'. ffcheesy
It took me an hour to get the pump out, the valve changes, then back in. My hands are just not small enough. Next time I have to do that, I think I will replumb it a little so that the pump assembly does not have to be removed. That should be a 5 minute job. Next I took care of re-mounting the brake. I didn't want to run all the way up to the shop for a 3/8 nut and found one in the junk in the bottom of my tool box. :wink_2: All fixed up, covers back on and I finally got to milling out that cant. Got everything cleaned up and home by 3. need some longer logs for the next part, 17-19 feet plus.
I still managed to make my shirt pretty wet today even if I was goofing off.
Routine few lazy days, rain in the afternoons most days keeping things moist, but pretty nice days in general. I checked out a market in front of a brick and mortar shop in Woodstock, the location is pretty good. Made arrangements to do that this Saturday, the only one I have open for several weeks. The shop does consignments but take 40% so I will think on that some more. I'm having a hard time selling a $450. bench for $270.. But we'll see how that whole thing goes on Saturday.
The front that came through and dumped a lot of rain in a short time yesterday blipped out our electric, but also took out the internet. Making the story shorter I spent 4 hours swapping cables, checking devices, changing parameters and one particularly long 40 minutes on the phone with a smart-ashed know it all techno kid at my ISP trying to get him to reset my connection from the server end which he repeatedly told me would not help, but magically fixed half my problem when I finally convinced him, in my best PO'd grumpy old man voice, to do. Jackass kid kept telling me what he thought : "I don't think that will change anything" and "I think it's probably your equipment, not ours". I told him I didn't care what he 'thought' I cared what he did to help me get this fixed, so do something from your end, not writing a service ticket is not doing something, do YOUR job. The other half of the issue is I think my router got fubared by the power blip. So I ordered a replacement WIFI router (2 actually) and have things working as is for now with some temp hookups. I HATE when those things happen, they kill so many hours.
This weather has been SO nice, that I kind of goofed off again today, worked on a little free project in the shop, did some chores to get the trailer ready for Saturday, then mowed the lawn, which took 'a while'.
Whether I like it or not, things will get real busy for the next 8 weeks or so: Family reunion, grey fox, pig roast, Boonville, Bill's annual party, and The hoot all coming in rapid order and most requiring travel, packing, and prep work. So I have to get my butt in gear and get rolling on all this prep work. I think I also have a show stuck in there someplace. Then 2 more major (for me) shows planned in the first half of September.
And, of course, my son just called minutes ago asking for help, assistance, and advice on a 'simple' hazard tree removal job at one of his clients. :wink_2:
I still have milling work to catch up on too.
No rest for the weary who are also lazy.
I seem to be building up a string of those "I thought I knew what I was gonna do today" days lately. My plan today was to get to the the mil, cut some 1x10x20' until I ran out of sweat, then go look at a hazard tree job for my son, then get some shop work done. The weather has been holding well and only hit a high of 85 today. I got the first log done, but could not get the mill chain saw started for love or money. It's a 550 and been acting quirky lately (Paging Dr.
@Spike60 , heads up), I tried the old husky 110v electric stowed there and that couldn't cut through a toilet paper roll and I was not gonna try to fix that either. So I decided to leave the slabs for tomorrow when I bring my own 350 down and zip them up. I took the dust collector hose off the chute on the head and started cleaning up the mill and around the blower and stuff and apparently sucked up a rock, which impacted the impeller and all heck broke loose, the thing was making all kinds of noise and dancing all around. So I shut it down, pulled off the inlet and could see the impeller was messed up. Disconnected the output side and threw the whole blower in the truck. Closed up the mill and left the whole mess, which I hate to do.
I headed out, ran into Bill and told about all the joys of my day, so far. :wink_2: Then I went and looked at the tree job. It was a clear and definite 'walk away' job. They 'just' wanted the broken branch cut from the tree and leave the main stem as is, but the broken branch, actually a split fork leader is half the tree and being hickory is split all to heck. Taking that off will open a wound that goes halfway through the trunk for about 5-6' of height. The tree is a goner. It's about 20"DBH and 75' tall with power drops to houses passing within 12' of the trunk. No way I am touching it. The whole tree needs to come down and it's a bucket truck job for a 75' truck or a crane job. I called my son and explained my judgement and reasoning and what I thought was the best course for the property owner. He has a bonded tree guy he will call for a quote to do it right.
So back to the shop and disassemble the entire blower to get the impeller out, always fun. Fortunately I lucked out and the blades are formed Sheetmetal, not cast, and I could straighten them. I did it all by eye and feel and did not get out the indicators and balance ways. It's just a blower, direct drive. I stuck the impeller back in after chinking out all the caked up sawdust and junk that had built up. I tested it without the cover on and it vibrated a bit but nothing like before, just a little. It's very workable, so I put all the parts back on, threw it in the truck along with one of my saws and some large wrenches and headed back to the mill. I ran into Bill again and gave him an update. He said "well I'm glad you broke it and not me". I said "I didn't break it, it broke while I was using it, but at least when I have something break, I fix it." ffcheesy ( I know this is Bill's sore spot, his guys will break something and not be able or interested in fixing it. Sometimes they don't even tell him it's broke and he spends his Sunday's trying to fix stuff for the following week.) So I don't do that. I fix it, if I need parts, I tell him and order them or give him the part numbers. He asked why I came back late today and I just said "I don't like it when stuff is broke, I don't sleep as well as I do when it's all ready to go the next day, so I wanted it finished off today.' He just smiled and said he would be down later to give me a hand.
I put the blower back inline, tested it and sucked all the dust off the mill and cleaned it. I gave it a blow job with the electric hand blower too, I haven't done that in a while to clean out the corners and blow out the radiator fins. I cleaned out the screen on the lube jug and re-filled that. I'm using 3 glugs of pine-sol in the jug this year and it seems to be helping. Then I cut up slabs and Bill showed up and stacked slabs in the rack as I cut. He also worked a bit on the 550 and got that running, but he had to work at it with young man's shoulders. We'll see if it starts for an old man tomorrow. :wink_2: (But I will have my 350.) I won't work with a saw that won't start until my shoulder is aching. I adjusted the moveable blade guide roller system which was a little loose and the blade guide has been creeping in as I cut down the log, very annoying, actually REALLY annoying, so I had the wrenches this time and think I have that fixed. I might have to take a day soon and do a full blade alignment again. Pull all the covers, get out the BGAT and work through all the step form the beginning. But I have one more log to get through first and not much time in the next several weeks.
Anyway, it's all good to go for tomorrow, so no worries. I was tired tonight and fell asleep in my chair before dinner..... hard. That's unusual, a catnap yeah, but a hard sleep for 45 minutes is not normal. Maybe because I was wide awake at 5am and at my desk which is a bit earlier than normal added to it, who knows? Who cares? ffcheesy One more long log tomorrow should finish off the current order, I think.
But tomorrow is another day, I'll worry about it then.
I need to look at a different small saw how do you like that 350?
Oh Geez Pat, I love that thing. I had one I snatched from a dumpster and did almost no work on it to get it running and it was great. Somehow my son 'borrowed it' and I only now see it in the back of this truck. I am waiting to get that one back when it dies on him again. In the meantime an old scouting friend had another 'dead one' he sold me for 20 bucks. I put a P&C on it and it runs like a top. It's light, handy, and starts easy every time. I feel like its a free saw and for cutting slabs, smaller firewood and stuff like that, its the saw I grab first. It's my second saw when I am dropping mushroom log trees because I never o out with just one saw. Sometimes it's the main saw all day. Yes, I love that saw and would get another if I come across it. It is a 'borderline' pro saw, has an adjustable oiler and other features vary by some of the model changes like the decomp valve and primer button. But yeah, available as used and if you search enough or get lucky, they are cheap because they are not new and usually need just a little simple work. Parts are really easy to find. Just a nice small 50cc saw. For reference I also run a 450 and a 562, and rarely pull out the 372.
Just a nice small 50cc saw. For reference I also run a 450 and a 562, and rarely pull out the 372
I think I have the same small saw, as I call it. I have a 450 and a 372. Use the 372 very little now. In fact, the big saw is going to the saw Doc. I just used it to cut a 30 inch EWP. Did not run good at all. The small saw could of done it quicker.
That small saw is so much easier on shoulder.
Kinda like the big weed wacker I had years ago.
Yes, it could do the job faster, but it would wear me out. And I was in my 20's then. I could use a small weed wacker for hours and have no problems.
Pardon the ignorance... The 372 is a beefy saw right? I need to eventually look at something bigger than my husq 455 for alaskan milling. The 16" or so clearance on the 455 is not nearly enough for most of the stuff I have laying about.
@aigheadish ....::The 372 is the the best saw ever!!! Ok not to start a saw war and totally hijack Tom's thread I would say it's a 72 cc saw that is at the bottom of what I would consider using to csm. (It's what I tried)
I need a Swiss Army knife chainsaw... I want a smaller lighter general purpose saw that too is easier on the arms and shoulders. It will live down with the sawmill.. I wondered about a 345xp, I had a stihl 211 c for a while. It didn't hold up super well.
a 261 is my mill saw, and back it up with a 046 mag. Stihl. I have to think about it if I need the 880.
You can't hijack a thread that has no point. :wink_2:
What Nebraska said Austin. For CSM I would look for a 90cc.
My 450 is a nice saw and I used to do everything with it, but that 350 is a bit lighter and I hung an 18" bar on it. The 450 has a 20, and the 562 has a (light) 24. Variety is the spice of life. That 372 gets heavier every year and the 562 has stepped up well into the bigger cutting jobs to a point that I have not felt the need to start the 372 in a long while.
As for mill saws, those are only used for hacking up slabs and doing a little trim bucking and bibbying work, trimming flares around the mill, not for CSM'ing.
Most important to me is that whatever I use, it starts easy. If I have to fight to start it, it's done. Ain't got no time for that. 50cc saws are scarce around Bill's place. He really only goes down to the 562, then jumps to battery saws, but this 550 has been hanging around the mill and he has been letting it live there so I used it to save bringing another thing down all the time. The last few sessions it has been getting increasingly finicky to start, so I quit on it and went back to my old second hand 350 which is as dependable as a good old farm dog. I wouldn't mind stumbling into another one. It was a bit of a unique saw in the Husky line back in it's day.
I bought the 350 25 years ago for a backup or limbing saw. Plus I had a half off coupon. It came with a 18" bar from the dealer but I didn't think it would pull it effectively so traded for a 16". Still feel that way.
It doesn't bring a smile to my face when using like the Pro XP's do. On the bright side it is the most reliable saw I've ever had. The first and only breakdown was last year when the muffler bolts vibrated out. Fixed with loctite and lock washers. I do not regret my purchase one bit.
I grab the 350 a lot more often than than my new 572XP. I think my age effects that decision a lot......
I've heard elsewhere that the 372 was a good saw. Thanks guys! I don't know if my wallet is thick enough for a 72cc or a 90cc as Tom mentions (edit- I barfed in my mouth a bit at the price of a 372xp! My hobbies are rarely that expensive that quickly). D'oh, I thought the 372 was a Stihl saw, but research shows it is not!
Starting is what caused me to get the 455. I used my FIL's small Stihl to do some felling learning on and I'd get very frustrated trying to start it. After reading on here that there is somewhat of a code to starting them I may be inclined to try again, but I don't have it in me to wrestle too much with pull cord stuff that doesn't like to start. I haven't had any issue with my Stihl weedeater though so...
That 372 is a man's saw and likely the best saw that husky ever produced. I heard Husky was discontinuing it now that they have the 572 out there, but even if they are not in production, they will remain popular for a very long time. But it does get heavy carrying it around all day. Fun to run and feel it grunt in, but I prefer a saw that's a bit lighter if it will do the job at hand. The 372's remain very much in demand as a used saw too. I just saw one change hands a few weeks ago. :wink_2:
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on July 03, 2024, 02:09:25 PMThat 372 is a man's saw
What are you saying, Tom?
I'm kidding. If I'da known what I was doing a couple years ago I probably would have defaulted to that one, especially after forgetting to add oil to the gas on the first 455 I bought...
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on July 03, 2024, 02:09:25 PMThat 372 is a man's saw
I bought a 272XP about 30 years ago. When buying logs off a landing, I usually carried the saw with me in case I wanted to buck, trim, or shorten a log. The real loggers would look over at my new saw and comment "Nice
little saw ya got their
boy". At that time, at least in my neck of the woods, the Stihl 066 was king of the hill and that's what real men carried! ffcheesy I also had one of those monsters, but it became a closet queen as soon as the 272 arrived.
Yeah, I knew when I typed it that comment would bring some 'thoughts out'. ffcheesy There have been comments about posting being a bit down lately, so I thought I would do my part to create interest. :wink_2:
Actually, the 394 is a bigger saw and better for CSM work, very similar to the 372 but with more grunt. The 3120 is also a great epic class saw, but pricey and hard to find.
The whole discussion had me on the used sale sites for a while this afternoon and the sellers around here are very proud of the heavily used saws. Even non-running saws they are asking well over 100 bucks for. No deals that I saw except a 394 that had been run over but was still operable for $400. Needed at least a pull start cover assembly. The average 350 was demanding $2-300. which I think is a little nuts. It's a good saw, but not that good for a 20 year old saw. OI even saw my 450 listed for more than I bought mine for new.
At my age I am not a big saw guy anymore unless that is the only way to go.
--------------------
Anyway, I got the one log left at the mill done and all worked good, so it went fairly fast and I got the slabs cut and racked and all cleaned up in just over an hour and was on my way out with a soaking wet shirt. :wink_2: I got home and did lunch and goofed off for a little bit then decided it was about time I got ready to do firewood, so I went out and reviewed the logistics when I heard a chipper running down the road. Knowing it had to be Bill and his guys on a job I hopped in the mule and drove over. I found Andy cleaning up all the branches for the winter tree work when he ran a trench to bury her power line. So I lent him a hand until that was done, and we spread some gravel. They finished up and Bill looped into my driveway to spread some 2" stone I got week ago. Doing it by hand is a bear, it took 2 minutes with the bucket, and since that was where he often parks his bucket/skidder, he didn't mind. The stone was to fill in the ruts from his bucket/skidder anyway. Looks good now. He left and I re-arranged my trailer and splitter by the wood/log pile. All ready for me to start working but it was hot in the sun and that was enough.
SO a slow/lazy day all around, pretty soon I have to get in gear and start prepping for all this stuff coming up.
Tomorrow is another day.
I love my H 372s. One in each hand and go. ffcheesy
Nebraska I just picked up a Husky 550xp as a replacement for a 346xp that blew up. Worth looking into if that size saw is what you're after. It cuts impressively fast,light and easy to handle.
Personally I'm a 372 guy as well. Bought that 550 to have a smaller saw my son could run ,He does very well but didn't feel at all comfortable handing him a 372.
I like the 555 XP for firewood, not enough for milling boards. I only use a 16" bar, most of my wood is that and smaller, so no issues.
Tom, I can take a look at that 550 if need be. Bill is coming up to grab his other 2 at some point, so send it up with him.
Probably as good a place as any to pass this along. I've noticed that saws with purge primers, which is just about all of them now, are way more likely to have fine particles make their way to the carb screen and cause running issues. It has NOTHING to do with auto-tune, which gets blamed for everything under the sun. What's happening is that the primer draws fuel with much more force than the carb does while running, so the fines get drawn in with the fuel. Problem is compounded with owners who never rinse out their tanks now and then. Husky did come out with a finer fuel filter to address this, (the blue one). But the proactive approach is really to clean your tank occasionally. Makes fuel filters last longer as well.
That in fact was exactly the problem with Bill's 572. ffsmiley
Well I don't know what it was with the 550 and Bill really hank to wangled with it quite a bit but finally got it started and it ran a little wonky, but then he got it up to WOT and ran it through 3 cookies cuts on an 18" log and it smoothed right out. The next day (yesterday) I had zero issues starting it, in fact it was pretty easy. I have noticed on that particular saw, when it's cold you have to let it idle and warm up for a bit otherwise it dogs and stalls when you goose it. If it warms up, then there is no issue. What ever it was, it seems to have cleared....... for now. :wink_2:
Funny you mention those particles working through. Ever since I started using power equipment as a kid my Dad taught me to ALWAYS wipe and clean around fuel and oil caps before you remove them. If you don't, junk can fall in the tank doing bad stuff. So it always been a strong habit, but I notice that a lot of folks don't do that. I don't know why, it just makes good sense. I know you can't keep it all out, but I always try and have been either successful or lucky up until now.
I keep a little notebook out in the garage and write down any information I think is important such as oil changes,part replacements on vehicles ,when house repairs were made ect. Sometimes I get it out and look through it mostly out of curiosity. Found that I bought my 372 in 1999,25 years ago and in that period all I have done to it is rebuilt the carburetor once and I also replaced all my fuel lines as a precaution.It's had a few spark plugs but not because they were bad but because I figured it was time. I gave $600 for it new and couldn't complain if it blew up tomorrow. It's getting a little to heavy for me and I probably should get a lighter saw but the thing just keeps running and I'm not one to replace something until it's worn out. I'm afraid I'm going to wear out before it does ffcheesy
I fuel and swap chains in the shop as I am usually at home. I use compressed air, but then you have to be sure to not get oil on surfaces you may machine wood on or try to finish in the future. I have a dirty area for welding and mechanical stuff. but I keep the saws in the wood shop. need to organize and put them in the garage area.
My chain grinder is in the wood shop, and so that is where it happens. I found and old discarded aquarium stand up in Ballston spa NY. It has two quarter inch. thick plywood inserts. one with a hole for working on vertical engines and a solid one for my saws. had it over 30 years and moved is half across the country.
I have a main bench down on the shop floor covered in chain filing dust, motor grime and other junk. That is the repair and fix-it bench for mechanical work. I never bring doo there except to use that vide for running the tenon cutter on my legs. Even then, I pad the vise jaws with a clean rag to keep pile off. Mainly, it's my sharpening bench.
But my caps I always celar with an ungloved finger to get all the junk off before opening, no matter where I am. Never thought of compressed air, it blows stuff all over and is rarely handy in the woods. ffcheesy
I use a 1" paint brush to clean around the caps and yes it gets oily. I have one of those canvas tool bags with chainsaw tools and keep the brush and rags in there with my files, spare chains, wedges, etc.
A lot of people will say that they are too busy to clean around the caps, clean the air filter, tighten hardware, tighten the chain, clean the fuel tank, clean the bar rails and oil holes, take it out of the truck when it's going to pour all night, etc. But they are quick to whine and cus out the saw when it let's them down.
Are you saying all that stuff is important? ffcheesy Hmm, maybe that's why I rarely have issues. I do all that stuff without thinking about it, it's just a habit. Kind of like unzipping before I take a leak, but sometimes zipping up is overlooked. :wink_2:
Come to think of it thought, I am due to check all the air filters on my saws, that is not so automatic. :sunny:
I tend to keep a close eye on a saw that makes me money, clearing saws. I don't so much on hobby saws for firewood or trimming yard trees. Other than filter and chains. Just buy a reliable saw. ffcheesy ffcheesy
No matter what you get, you need to take care of it, or it won't take care of you.
I always loosen the caps just enough that the crud around them is raised up and loose then I either wipe it with my finger or blow it off. Spent a lot of time cutting wood while growing up with my father and a close family friend.
That's the way they did it and expected it done. When I was old enough (probably 5 or 6) to fill their saws they made certain it was done that way. Somehow even if on the other side of a brush pile they knew if it was done properly ffcheesy
I like taking the time to clean and look over the things spike mentioned. Gives me confidence everything is as it should be.
Partly because of SD's word selection in his last post and partly because
@Resonator started a non-stop Johnny Cash track running in my head from another thread, and partly because this gawd awful humidity has me a bit batty, the following little ditty popped into my head. You guys figure out which tune attaches to it, it's not hard. (Nothing I do is hard. :wink_2: )
"
I keep a close eye on this saw of mineI keep my eyes wide open all the timeI watch issues before it becomes 'their time'Because it's mine, that bottom lineI find it very very easy to be trueI check my saw when each day is throughI will admit, I really do need youBecause it's mine, that bottom line "
I could go on, but you get the (dull) point. Maybe
@Spike60 will start a chainsaw podcast and get
@Percy to record this as his theme song?
I tell you, it's amazing what overpowering humidity and some heat can do to your brain sometimes.
Hmmm seems to me you are kinda just over the hill a little from Woodstock. Are you down wind enough you got some creative or other vapors coming in. :wink_2:
OH No, I am not over the hill, I am right next door. Less than 10 minutes from my driveway to the center of town. In fact, my show tomorrow is in Woodstock near the heart of town. I don't talk about the details much but yeah, I have been pulled into a recording session here and there to lay some backup work down, we have studios all over here, probably 10 within a 15 minute drive of where I sit right now, most are unknown because they want it that way, but the recordings are the bigtime stuff. Levon Helm Studios is about a mile and a half away from where I will be tomorrow. In fact, it dawned on me this afternoon to tag a bunch of my musician friends in a FB post about tomorrow's show. It looked like a long line of name dropping until I took off the last names and they still tagged OK. I figure that I had been to dozens of all their shows, maybe this time they could make one of mine, right here in town, just one would be great.
As far as writing goes, no, not me. I have been tempted, I have had some ideas, but I can't melt it all down. and I have sat in and acted as the muse for some pretty good songwriters when they hit a hard spot or I happen to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes that backfires and that's how I wound up singing backup in a recording session, then got sucked into a stage performance in NYC. I used to get lots of 'rough cuts' and 'first passes' to listen to and comment on. I have more than a few cell phone recordings on my rotation that made it to publication and release on a CD. I get a kick out of listening to both versions and discussing the changes with the writer. The 'mechanics' of songwriting can be fairly interesting and somewhat intense. I have been in on several workshops, but I don't think much of it took hold in my brain. ffcheesy I do better as a highly educated fan of the folks I know.
Edit: I just went back to the FB post to edit it and add a good friend I had somehow overlooked and I saw that a Gal I know, who is a renowned Rock & Roll photographer of our recent past sis like the post. Her Hubby is someone I have come into contact with regularly, shy's away from the spotlight these days, but was the founder of The Even Dozen Jug Band and a band called The Lovin' Spoonful. He was also involved in that big concert in '69. He did well and is a great guy and very generous with his time and devoted to his friends. We have a running joke, because every time I run into him I say something along the lines of 'Hey John, Great to see you here, you are looking Super! Is your wife here by any chance?" ffcheesy I have never met her face to face ( but I think I saw her getting gas at the local store once or twice) and several times we have been at the same gig, but never connected. She and I swap comments on FB about house pets (cats mostly), grandchildren, and things found in the woods. She is a terrific artist with an amazing sense of colors besides her photos. Maybe tomorrow I will finally get to shake her hand.
Since we are talking saws, what about parts? ffcheesy
I just went for a parts run, ordered weeks ago. One part had a mislabelled bag, wrong angle gear. Looks like a much smaller saw, not even close to the design of the one that the part number is meant for. ffcheesy Shop says it's nothing new, been stuff coming mislabelled too often. They showed me one tractor part, suppose to have been a switch, but they sent a LED light gadget in the bag. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy Gotta laugh, what else can you do? Too many goofs bagging parts. smiley_thumbsdown
Yeah, that's why I like to order routine wear parts well before I need them and throw them in the bag. Then when I use them, I just re-order. Also, depending on where you order parts, sometimes you get the 'right' part, but it's junk. I have ordered some air filters that were just screens with no filter. Right into the barrel and re-order from elsewhere.
Oh these are ordered well in advance [you missed the weeks ago part], and from the local shop, It's not the shop screwing up, it's on Stihl's end. ffcheesy ffcheesy You may not even know if or when you'll see them because not even the usual stock houses in Canada will have them since COVID. Used to get a part in 3 days. :D Forget it now. And these are not old models.
I didn't miss the 'weeks ago' part, just thought it was stuff you needed now. Either way yeah, sloppy work in the warehouse makes working folks crazy. I haven't (yet) had issues with wrongly marked parts but have had issues with crap quality and usability of ordered parts if it's not OEM. BUT some OEM stuff make me shake my head too sometimes.
This whole train of thought makes me think I should go through my spares, do inventory, and get an order in. But I was kind of waiting for a fat cat from the city to buy something at a show first. :wink_2: Funds are slowly dwindling and I have this trip to MI coming up that is primary on my mind these days.
Had a show today, man it was HOT. 92° was the high, but also 75% humidity on average (95% at the high end). I sold pretty good but boy howdy I was wiped and soaked when I got home. Had the AC in the truck blasting on the short trip back and was tempted to sit in it for 1/2 hour, but I had to unhook and take out some of the junk and whatnot. Took me a full 2 hours to cool down. Still 82° here at this hour.
Shows are tough in this heat, but I can get through it if there are some sales like this one. Might do it again at the end of the month. I'll have to bring extra bandanas and t-shits and hats, I soaked them all through. I should sleep pretty good tonight if it cools down in the bedroom.
Tomorrow is another day and I'll straighten the trailer a bit. Then I have to start getting ready for the VT trip on Thursday and pack for GF which I leave for the morning after we get back from VT next Sunday. That is a lot of gear and stuff to pack, so it will take a few days with all the prep and cleaning of gear and food shopping, etc. I also have to prep the Mule, check oil and greases, etc. Pick up a weeks worth of fuel.. yadda yadda.
Life's an adventure, tomorrow is another day.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240706_133847235_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=354565)
Looks like some posters on the inside of the door. great idea and ready for the next show.
Yeah Doc, that saves me some time on setup. In the center of the door is a big QR code thing so folks can go right to my Venmo account to pay. Very handy, gets used a lot. (when things actually sell) Thanks for the reminder, I went to add some more on that door yesterday and my cheap stapler failed. I need to replace that. I used to staple those posters around the inside of the canopy sides, but nobody looks up. Eventually that door will be covered with details and information pages that make it easier for me to explain about 'stuff' I find myself repeating or explaining, like blind spline joints. I had another woman yesterday tell me my stuff was too cheap, but she didn't buy anything either. :wacky:
I continue to be baffled by these shoppers and rarely I can use some salesmanship skills. I don't like to push anyone, but I do try to make sure they understand what they are looking at if they want to know, most don't. There was a couple looking at my stools yesterday, but the husband could not pick which one he wanted and asked a lot of questions about the different woods and kept coming back to the spalted maple one. He liked the black lines. I had that one cheap because it had turned hard maple legs for a factory in Maine. I was just messing around with them and that stool has been at every show I've done so far. I asked if he understood what caused that spalting and he did not, so I explained the decay cycle of the tree and how the mushrooms take over and set up their territory, etc. When I was done, I think that guy would have paid twice as much for that little stool. He walked away with his wife and was saying "that is just AMAZING, what goes on inside these trees is amazing. Can you imagine?! This stool is SO cool!"
Yup, I continue to be baffled.
Tom, I bought an inexpensive rechargeable fan, that is incredible. It's worth it's light weight in coolness, you may want to check one out. I think all the battery operated tool makers make one now so you can use battery packs you already have, but I got one that just charges via USB and lasts hours. It has a hook on one side and it rotates all around to point it at you. I'll take it in the backhoe, I hung it up on my outdoor swing bed/couch thing for naps, I'll bring it to the pig Roast. It's incredible and does really well to keep you cool.
Also, sweet that you made some sales! The booth looks great!
Quote"that is just AMAZING, what goes on inside these trees is amazing. Can you imagine?! This stool is SO cool!"
Yup, sell the "story" of the item. Then it's a conversation piece in their home, not just an ordinary piece of furniture. Also that it is hand crafted and unique, not something mass produced from a big-box store. :thumbsup:
sounds like his boss said no. no_no :tickedoff2: think_not :stupid: :stunned:
You lost me on that one Doc, sorry, not following. :wink_2:
Yeah, the story usually helps, but it is tricky to get the story in there without it seeming like a hard sell. I do recognize that for a 'civilian' not educated in wood it is a lot to take it just to understand that my pieces aren't made from 'wood'. They are made from Cherry, Maple, Red Oak, ERC, etc. These are all different and have different qualities and appearances. When they start asking each speci3s of wood to compare, then they are surprised to learn that I can tell them when and where a particular piece of wood was cut or found, usually why it was removed, and show other pieces from the same tree or log. Some get it, some don't, but either way they realize I am more connected to that wood than they thought. It still boggles my mind that folks, after looking around a bit, will ask "do you make any of these yourself?" I tell them 'I cut milled processed and made every piece of wood you see, except one piece', and I point that one out explaining it was cut in Rochester and milled in Margaretville, NY (Sycamore). All of these things add to the interest if I can sneak it in.
Austin, I am not a big fan guy, but I'm coming around given the current conditions. I have an oscillating one blowing in the shop right now just to keep the air stirred besides the ceiling fan, one in the trailer for venting, and one in the kiln for movement (poorly placed, but it a fan). Last night I turned on one of the woodstove fans by my desk, just an 8" fan, but enough air movement to help. I should put one in the bedroom I guess. Using one outside (at a show) seems like a stretch, but when there is no air movement, I suppose it helps. I have a USB powered fan in the trailer, but it just failed on me past night. :uhoh:
Just as a continuing example of how fickle folks are. Remember this piece:
IMG_20240229_171551726.jpg
I was cutting firewood testing a saw and made this off of a short ash log in about 5 minutes. It absolutely was firewood, but I thought as a joke, for those folks that say my stuff is too expensive, I would offer this as an alternative. I intentionally did no sanding or cleaning up, the cuts overlapped, but it did stand flat with no rock. So it went in the booth with a $25.00 price on it. I just considered it a decoration that would never sell, a conversation piece. Yesterday I sold it to someone who 'fell in love with it'. ffcheesy Now I gotta make more. :wink_2: It just dawned on me that this item probably has the highest profit margin of anything I make and the raw material was free too. ffcheesy
Now make some little kids sized ones for a backyard fire pit. Mom/Dad etc. good s'more making chairs.
Sorry Tom. The man loved it, but the wife said no. Does that help? ffcheesy ffcheesy
OH, got it, I missed that. The wife didn't really have an opinion and the guy bought it of course. But I do get a big kick and a smile of of teaching somebody something about the stuff they buy and as Resonator said, that 'story' can make it more valuable to them.
Pat, I guess I can make them if folks buy them, but they don't nest or fit in the trailer very well and for an adult size I would need some big rounds to fit those big bottoms. :wink_2: I just find it funny, because I do ZERO cleanup work and they are as rough as can be with mismatched cuts, etc. I work with the firewood I have. I always cut those from short logs I stand on end. It would be tricky to do it on a horizontal log, but I could try to cut one or two off a 24' sawlog and see what happens. What could go wrong? ffcheesy
He walked away with his wife and was saying "that is just AMAZING, what goes on inside these trees is amazing. Can you imagine?! This stool is SO cool!"
I thought you meant you spent the time and he just walked away without buying it. at the end you say "this stool" so I see he must have it with him. It was in the paragraph that started "I continue to be baffled by these shoppers" so I thought you meant he was so interested but did not buy it.
yeah, I guess that could be read either way, sorry. All vendors have heard hundreds of comments from buyer's that don't buy anything. When I did tool shows some folks would keep you tied up with dozens of detailed and demanding questions while out of the corner of your eye you could see a lot of potential buyers come and go through your booth while you were tied up and then the guy with all the hard questions would walk on out anyway. Tire kickers, we called them.
No this fella we are talking about knew he was buying a stool, but didn't know which one, he just wanted one, and probably the funniest thing to me was he had no idea what he would do with it or put it. ffcheesy So I gave him a long list of what previous happy buyers used theirs for. I have no idea what he will do with it. ffcheesy But yeah, he left with it, cradled under his arm like a new baby. :wink_2:
I shop at the flea market that way a lot. I go and see something I really like and get it, the seller often says "What are you going to do with that?" My response is often "oh shucks, I don't know, but I'll find something" much to my non-hoarder wife's chagrin... Luckily, I don't spend more than 20 bucks on such things.
Funny thing was, he didn't seem to care at all about the cost. My flat stools with commercial HM turned legs I price at $30 and the rustic ones with my octagonal legs I price at $45. He kept going from one to the other. It was all about appearance, grain, and figure.
Changing gears today. I have to pretty much drop the business stuff for a bit and focus on the family reunion in VT, followed by GF up in Greene County immediately after. Normally I start collecting my stuff for these events slowly about 2 weeks before, just a few minutes every day or two as I think of something. Eventually it all comes together in time and frankly I am looking very much forward to these things and get at it early and with enthusiasm. This year, it feels like more chores to do.
But this morning, it was the order of the day and knowing it would get HOT, I headed out around 9am and hit the bank to make deposits and then head to town for beer, cigs, water, snacks, etc on the first shopping run. That's when I noticed it: We are officially in Tourist Season. [GROAN]
Now when it's Deer season, we can shoot deer, and when it's turkey season we can shoot Turkey's, but for some reason, that logic does NOT carry over to Tourist Season and I really don't understand that at all. We obviously have too many of them, some (many?) are nuisances to the general population, and the herd seems to be way too big. Selective culling would seem to be a good management technique to keep things manageable, but NO. Shooting them is really frowned upon by the authorities in spite of the fact that some of theses Tourists really need to be 'removed' just based on the exhibited behavior, they might even be rabid, who can tell? :wink_2:
So I had to go to the bank and pulled through the parking lot of this small strip type shopping center and past the food store. There was a van (NY plates) pulled over in the fire lane and as I came up the line this other van (NJ plates popped out right in front of me, the NY van flagged the NJ van and he pulled up to the side and they started chatting, oblivious to the guy he had cut off (me) waiting behind him, after a minute of this I pulled around him and went to the drive up tellers window. I sent my paperwork in, waited, it came back and as I pulled out about 5 minutes later, these vans then came around and blocked my exit. So I had to wait until they could exit the lot first. That's when I noticed it, they were all late model Chrysler Pacifica Vans, same year, and every one of them (8) had a different state's plate on it. NJ, NY, NM, NH, PA, MI and the rest I missed. All driving in a tight caravan style and would have nobody getting in between them. I followed them out, watched them cut off oncoming traffic on the road, and to the next intersection, they went west, I went east and just thought "Well that was weird". As I drove to town I noticed more out of state plates on the road than in state. This is Monday, so it means the tourists are here until labor day now. I had numerous near misses in town with folks not knowing where they were going and making last second changes with no warning (or signals).
On the way home, cruising in the left lane they compact car in front of me jams on his brakes for no reason and no signals, apparently he waited to make a left into a parking lot. 55mph to 30mph in 100' and I barely got around him without clipping him. I'll have to adjust my driving habits for the next few months and add in the Bozo factor. I'm used to it, but this year it came on all of a sudden. I think all these years with no harvest quota is beginning to add up and we really need to do some studies and maybe allow a selective hunt to see what the effects are. Lets get the biologists involved and be scientific. That seems reasonable, doesn't it?
==================
Anyway, I made it safely home and started my "Grey Fox pile" and my "reunion pile" in the shop. Some stuff will go from the reunion right to up GF, but GF needs a LOT more stuff like stoves, coolers, water, lanterns, and Tipi and tarps and just a truck and trailer load of 'stuff' for the long/hot week. The reunion is easier. I have to pack a trunk of clothes for GF and just a suitcase for the reunion. Some work clothes, barbeque clothes, a chainsaw (you never know) and a few tools. We go early to do a lot of prep work, like mowing and weed whacking and fetching tables, chairs, food, ice, whatever. It's gonna be a busy couple of weeks for me. I just hope this humidity subsides a little bit, although it's always better up on the Hill in VT.
Tomoorw is another day and more packing will continue.
QuoteIt absolutely was firewood, but I thought as a joke, for those folks that say my stuff is too expensive, I would offer this as an alternative.
Some of my best successes have been things done as a "joke". :thumbsup:
I've tried to teach my just starting to drive kids that if you don't know where you are going and you are about to miss a turn, rather than mess up traffic behind you (and potentially cause an accident), just go on by and turn around when it's safe and easy (and predictable) to do so. I understand that that gets tricky sometimes in unfamiliar places but eek.
Well yesterday and today I am finally getting into the mindset of getting things ready, but the heat, as mentioned has really put a damper on it. Fortunately I am a 'man of lists' and have been developing my GF list for over a decade, so I print that spreadsheet out and work from that, it gets my head in the game quickly and I don't miss stuff. I only have to worry about stuff that 'is different' for this year. Since my new job this year is a one time deal (I think) I don't worry about it too much. Last year I was responsible for a 30 person crew doing a very difficult job. This year, I am pretty much a one man show just managing the VIP/Sponsor/Artist camping section. My job is to keep the general public from camping in the area, protect the privacy of the artists, and keep track of the artists campsites so they can be found when needed and make arrangements for their transportation to the 6 assorted stages for their scheduled performances. Easy peasey, but their are a few challenges of course. I am pretty much on my own and all alone 'out there', but I know that job because I have been helping the regular guy for 6 years now when he gets busy, so I know the job...mostly.
Last night after sundown, I loaded the Mule onto the trailer, gassed it up and tied it down. I worked on 'the packing piles' off and on yesterday as the heat allowed. This morning I started earlier and filled in a bunch of missing little details added to the pile. I did my final shopping loop this morning picking up stuff I found on my list I was short of, batteries, certain food items, haircut, etc. I also gassed up the truck. Driving around I had a conference call with my 2 tent mates just to close out and confirm some details. We have done this many times and don't really need to discuss it much. I think this is 9 years for them, 12 for me. They drive up from KY on Tuesday. So I am doing pretty good on GF.
The reunion is much easier and at least I have some help from the wife on that (as well as instructions). I have to finish off my suitcase for that this evening and after dinner I will begin loading the truck over by the shop, then move it by the house for luggage and stuff. Hopefully out the door by 8:30am tomorrow, which will have us driving around Albany later in the rush hour and destinated in VT by 11am or so. The we get to join in the work. ffcool Kind of sad that the TX contingent won't make it. They are taking care of their homes and businesses in the wake of the hurricane. No power is expected for them for a while and they want to be there when the grid comes back. We all get that. It is what it is.
Anyway, it's going to be a long, hectic, busy 12 days ahead. I guess I'll see y'all on the other side. :wink_2:
I assume GF is Grey Fox list and not Girl Friend list. I had to study a while to figure what it was. (I hope I got it right. ffcheesy)
Yes, you got that right. ain't got time for no girl friends and the wife would not approve anyway.
Good luck.
Safe travels Tom!
Well, this may be a long one, even by my standards as I try to catch things up here. Fair warning. ffcheesy
Back on the 11th (which feels like a month ago now) we headed to VT with the usual truck load of stuff like canopies and tables, some food, etc. to use at the reunion. Spent that day and part of the next running around town picking up more tables, chairs, and canopies we borrowed from the Church, Masonic Hall, and neighbors. We got all that setup, did a bunch of other stuff and Saturday had a great reunion. Very relaxing and good to catch up with all. A nice surprise was a visit from a cousin who is now retired and living in Glasgow, Scotland.
Sunday morning I was feeling the urge to move on to getting ready for GF, so I was up at 5:30 and we took down the remaining stuff slowly as folks showed up, had breakfast, and began their trips homeward. We did 3 separate runs returning stuff, but this time we grabbed a young buck or two to help and it went a lot easier and faster. Then I just had to clean the place we stayed in across the road and pack our stuff. We were on the road before noon and home by 3PM.
SO, onto GF. I unloaded the reunion stuff and began loading the GF stuff from the house (clothes, bedding, etc.) then moved the truck over to the shop and loaded all the camping gear and heavy stuff. The tables and canopies from the reunion just stayed in the truck. Then I hitched up the trailer with the Mule and partially loaded the Mule bed. I went down my long spread sheet checklist and all seemed good. We had dinner, I got a shower, and went to bed.
After loading the perishables and final items in the morning I was on the road by 8 Monday morning and only stopped for Ice, an egg sammich, and more coffee on the way up, arriving around 9am. The rest is all routine. Work and get as much done as you can until the heat takes you down, then rest for a bit, look for shade, and work some more.
The forecast for the week was thunderstorms with heavy potential every afternoon, Mon.-Wed. Then cooler, partly cloudy (perfect weather for the rest of the weekend). Well we got some good wind Monday night and just a little rain. My plan was to only setup the Tipi and one table and canopy while I was alone, then when my 2 campmates arrived (Tuesday night) we would set the other canopy and table up. The weather should be better after they arrived anyway.
Tuesday was the heaviest workday for me and I got just about all the of the Med Tent roughed out and loaded with the gear and pitched in on some other jobs. I took care of some administrative stuff for the med tent and my own area. But I watched that radar all day and there was some nasty stuff coming. I lowered my canopy down to its lowest setting, about 4' tall. (Hindsight is clear, I should have taken it down. I am an idiot.) I had a crew meeting to attend at 5:30 on the far end of the hayfield, and since I was with a new crew, I really had to be there. The storm was going to hit right about that time. I was chatting with a sponsor camped near me (James) and he volunteered to babysit my canopy through the event, which was huge and he did a heroic job. Just as I walked in the trailer where the meeting was going on, all heck broke loose. Heavy horizontal rain, winds around 30-40mph and a lot of climatological violence going on. I got sick to my stomach. That trailer was actually rocking like a boat at sea. Chairs and such flew past the windows (if I'm lying, I'm dyin').
I rushed back to my camp when it abated and the wind died down to 20mph. Along the drive I saw that many of the canopies along vendor row were trashed, as were their booths. James was standing there in the midst of my totally destroyed EZ-Up with a very upset look on his face. He was really upset that he couldn't save it.
Now I have seen a lot of trashed canopies in my time and I have NEVER seen one like this. Except for the legs, every single member in that unit was snapped in half. Every one. The cover was just fine, but there wasn't much left to fix. I nearly cried and knew my wife was gonna kill me (And yeah, she was pretty mad at first). To my shame, I was so shocked at just how destroyed it was that it took me a second to think about James and make sure he was OK, which he was, but he looked like a drowned rat. It was kind of amazing that he didn't get seriously hurt being out in that violence.
Then I looked up at the Tipi. The wind had grabbed one of the smoke vent flaps, filled it like a sail, and tore a rip about a foot ling across the vent area. Now I was truly sick, given that I was responsible for that Tipi and carrying on it's legacy. Still quite usable for the weekend, but not fully functional. James and I managed to 'sort of, kind of' remove the cover from the canopy and fold it back up into sort of the normal shape and cinch it with a ratchet strap to keep it from spring open, what was left of it anyway. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but at the least, I was going to strip it don for all those oddball screws and plastic parts before I scrapped all the busted parts (which turns out to be every part except the 4 legs). Those little parts are expensive and they all looked good, I think, so far.
James went back to check his site (all fine, he had a tree buffer) and I tried to figure out what happened. Often during storms like this I will have several stakes pulled out around the bottom of the tipi, this time was different. They didn't pull out, they snapped, right at the half way point below ground. 4 of them, in a row, on one side. Between that info, James's description of how the canopy failed, where the rip was in the tipi, and eyewitness reports on scene (they saw a funnel cloud forming about 2 miles SW before the sky filled with water and wind. I figure either we got some twister winds or a microburst, either way, it was a dangerous storm and I am really glad James didn't get hurt because it could have been quite serious.
I am standing there alone, feeling sorry for myself when I lifted my eyes and began to take in the other effects. We had about 20 porta potties across the field blown right over, including one 20' from my camp. Out of the 10 canopies they had just set up for the Bluegrass Academy 2 hours prior, 8 of those were destroyed. Across the road from me is a rental camp section and I have known both owners of that company for decades. They had about 45 tents set up, and every one of them had ripped rain flies, they lost the kids academy canopies and another 5 or 6 more in their rental sites. They took a huge financial hit in destroyed gear, but more important, they had to find a way to reset al those campsites for their renters coming in at 7am the next morning. They got to work right away, worked half the night and were back at it before the sun cleared the trees. By gate opening time they had repaired every fly and scabbed enough parts off broken canopies to fix 3/4 of the damaged ones and also replace some stuff with spare stock. The bigger issue for them is that when GF was done, they had to have all that gear down and packed by Sunday evening so they could get on the road to FloydFest in Virginia which will be the biggest job they have ever taken on. That show has to be fully setup by 7am Wednesday morning. When I checked in with them Monday morning they had fully packed on Sunday and were on the road by 4:30pm. By 9 am on Monday they were just pulling into Floyd fest. I don't know how they did it, but I do know their crew works harder than I can.
We got some drizzles through Tuesday night, which leaked through the tear in the tipi, but no big deal. A little more rain on Wednesday evening, but not much, and after that we had the most perfect weather I think we have ever had during my 13 years at GF.
Being stuck at Artist/Sponsor/VIP camping for the weekend (that was my 'job') meant I didn't catch a lot of shows, but I did catch all three sets my neighbors, Mike & Ruthy played so that was good. In many ways my job was much easier than in the past, but it did have it's moments here and there. I really do enjoy the 'first timers' that come and I can get them oriented and comfortable to find their way around and I answer a lot of questions and keep myself available when new questions come up. It's a lot like herding cats, truly.
My campmates leave early (6am) on Sunday to make their 14 hour drive back to KY and I get to break it all down and pack up alone, but I was pretty much loaded by 10am, then I pitched in with other stuff, checked on the medical stuff but they had it all covered.
For pre-fest I also served as the onsite EMT and usually only get work related boo-boo's, bumps and bruises and sometimes heat stuff. This year I only had two. One was a minor FDGB (Fall Down, Go Boom) that happened in front of me and the other appeared to be heat related. But I thought there might be something else going on so I checked on that guy regularly to make sure he was compliant with my guidance. He was doing what I suggested, but he wasn't passing my look test each time I saw him. He wasn't really improving the way I had hoped or expected and I felt there was something else going on so I kept checking even after I changed from EMS to VIP camping and I passed his history onto the regular EMS staff. Sure enough, I got a text Friday night that they had sent him off in an ambulance. The next afternoon I found out he was diagnosed with Kidney failure and would 'be there for a WHILE'. Then Sunday morning I learned that he had 'been using again' and betrayed his boss about it. This allowed all the pieces to fall into place for me and make better sense. I had felt like I missed something, and I did, because he lied to me. The good news is that he is responding well to treatment and I sure hope he can get himself clean again, for good. Nice fella otherwise and i hate to see what heavy drugs, especially meth can do to a human.
So I left the site at just after 4pm Sunday, which is the earliest I ever remember. Usually it is around 8:30pm before I am done. I was home around 5 and pooped as usual, didn't even unhook the trailer. Dinner, a shower, and early to bed for me. :wink_2:
Usually I take all of Monday and part of Tuesday to unload, clean up, and pack stuff away for next year. This time I really had to move it along because I have other stuff that is behind. First order was to order a new canopy (I need those for shows and losing one puts me in a bind. I had picked the brain of the rental camping owner, she knows ALL the players and I took their advice on the best maker with good spare parts, service, weight, and design, and looked at their models and got one on order in the morning. I tried to catch up on forum reading, but could only go back 10 pages in 'recent posts' and that took over an hour. I missed a lot. I had the unpacking half done by noon, but Bill called from a tree job he was on and had a little mushroom log wood. I have an order due this week, so I changed back to work clothes, quickly emptied the rest of the truck, threw some of my work gear in, and headed out and collected those logs (just 10) and stacked them at home. I need 10 more logs yet. I worked on the trashed easy up for a while and got it half done. I was still a bit tired. I did some business correspondence in the evening, have more to do today.
So I need to finish cutting that order, clean up the shop from the GF gear, continue to think about how I am going to repair the tipi, send off some checks for shows and 'other things', decide if I am doing a show on Saturday or not (and how to do it with one canopy), get work started on my 2 custom orders, find and cut another tree or two to finish that order. Hopefully those logs get picked up by Monday, then there is the prep for the drive out to the Pig Roast next week. Gotta make the final selection on what we are bringing for door prizes too. :wink_2:
I have almost 10 days at home to get this all done so that should work out.
Today is another day and I need to get at it.
Great catch-up Tom. I did have to stop for a meal and use the restroom a few times, but now I am caught up. It is good to be busy doing a combo of stuff you love, with stuff that you like that pays the bills.
Good to hear you survived Grey Fox. Sounds like the storms we've had throughout the midwest this summer, high wind and inches of rain per hour, causing damage and flooding.
I have to save this read for the morning with my coffee in hand. Yup, I'm gonna read it. My eyes are too heavy right now and it's time for some nourishment as it's almost 5 pm up here and I've been on my feet since 4:30 am, just do'n stuff. ffwave
You gotta stop getting up at 3am. ffcheesy
Don't get your hopes up on that read, it ain't Hemingway. :wink_2: Just an old man documenting his declining years. :wink_2: But it does have it's boring aspects, so there is that. ffsmiley
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Not a bad day today. My log client and my laser vendor are non-responsive, but I did get a good amount of work done after that long and time consuming post (what, you think it's easy creating that drivel?)
I moved around the remnants of my GF pile in the shop and set up my drum sander in the garage door and opened it. I had 4 pieces to run through. I had a rough cut curved RO bench slab (future build), a 3.5" pine slab for a custom order, a 1x12x 3' red pine piece for my GS's book shelf he wants to build, and the RO/Maple glued up top I wanted to re-flatten for the custom modification before cutting and re-finishing.
I got all that done and was covered in sweat which held the sawdust against my body really well. Ears, eyes, hair, you name it. I gotta make a hood for that thing, works good, but holy cow, what dust!
I got the top trimmed and also trimmed the skirt parts, got the new holes in it and the top and test fitted, then it was dinner time so I had to quit. I still need to cut the legs a bit shorter, then I can start re-finishing. I'll probably do the heavy shape sanding on the pine bench and do finishing all at once if I can, but maybe not. :wink_2: I rarely know what I am going to do before I do it.
At least I am making progress.
Well, that was quite a weather-wise ordeal to go through including the extra work. You're a tough old goat. :thumbsup:
Welcome home Tom, sounds like quite the storm, glad you and your helper are ok, even with some destruction of property... If it's any consolation my son destroyed a canopy without any inclement weather, just putting the thing up, they can certainly be a bit fragile.
I hope the tipi mends well!
Well yesterday I finished taking the frame apart. Of the 16 X-Brace parts only 2 were re-usable as spares with slight bends. I saved the 4 legs, the center post, and those two X-brace pieces for spares on the other one or some other use down the road. The rest, a big bundle, goes to scrap. All the rest were permanently and heavily kinked or broken in half. This was a commercial grade unit we have used more than most would for 25 years. We took good care of it. I have seen many of the lighter weight ones (hundreds?) over the years get easily trashed at various events. I have a cheapy for utility stuff too. This was very unusual. The guy holding it down said it was fine and he had it, but when that big gust came from the south it just folded in the one side like it was hit by a car.
All good, the new one SHOULD arrive by Friday if I can trust Fedex, and I think I have a show Saturday (application pending).
The tipi will not mend itself, I have to figure that out myself and make it happen. Probably a few hours of hand stitching but I have to find some material that sort of matches for welting/gussets.
We always get weather at GF and it's usually some rain. Some years it is extreme. One year we had about 4" of rain in 14 hours, just before the gates opened. We rented every high wheel 4WD tractor in a 5 town area with their operators and chained up every large RV right at the gate and assisted/dragged/towed them into their campsites. That prevented big mud wallows. When it began to dry we ran a box plow over all the camp 'roads' and smoothed them out very nicely, by Sunday everyone could drive out like nothing ever happened on nicely graded smooth roads. Last year on Sunday we had to drag a few out who could not follow instructions to drive with mud. One guy I pulled out no less than 4 times with my Mule and finally got behind his wheel and just drove him out. It ain't rocket surgery. They don't get much mud down in the city, I guess. :wink_2: This festival is going on 40 years old and we have a 'plan B' for almost anything by now. When folks moan about the weather there I always point out that at least it isn't snowing and that usually ends the whining. ffsmiley
Time to get back at it in the shop.
I have a local tent and awning business that sews tarps and covers etc, not far from here, but that doesn't do any good for you. Just wondering if there is such a place fairly close to you, a commercial sewing machine would be worth the trouble on a big tipi project. Sorry for the storm trouble but it sounds like both of your trips were good.
They make, sew/repair and rent tents about 30 miles from here. Again, no good to you down there. None near you?
Yes, we have a boat canvass company locally. I will check them out. I had thought to do it myself, but having a pro with the right skills and equipment might be the better way to go. Just have to look into cost. There are a couple of other little things I could have done at the same time, like new door ties, etc.
Yesterday was a busy day and I am fully back at it. My laser vendor was still unresponsive as of yesterday morning and after a month of excuses I had to do something so I found another, quite local, home shop/business and contacted them. By 2 in the afternoon I had the files and sample wood in their hands, they said they might have working samples for me today. When I got home I got a note from the first vendor saying they were 'just finishing up' and would have samples today. :wink_2: Well late last night they wrote again and told me they cannot get their PC to talk to the laser and are dead in the water. This was not a surprise to me based on history. I just 'just finishing up' is a metaphor for 'we haven't started yet'. :veryangry:
I also heard back from the log client and have my clear marching orders, so I looked at a prospective tree and will return to harvest what I can today or tomorrow.
I finished the cutting mods on that table job, dry fit it all, sanded both custom projects, fitted, drilled and glued the legs on the bench and started the finishing on the lamp table.
I also heard back and I am doing the show Saturday, so I sure hope that canopy arrives Friday like they said. It was in NM when I checked yesterday and now in MO. :uhoh: Fingers crossed.
Today is monthly food shopping after I take a neighbor to the bus station for a trip to the city. Then back at it, probably swapping between mushroom logs, picking up samples and meeting with the end client, sawing bench legs on the mill, and applying finishes. I also have to prep the trailer for Saturday and check my stuff.
Time to get at it.
Yesterday worked out pretty much as planned (go figger) and although my first laser person bailed on me, my second came through. I started by putting finishes on the two custom jobs I am working and then taking my neighbor to her bus in town. She is headed to a tournament in Birmingham, AL, then came home and took the wife on the monthly food buying trip. While we were doing the food shopping, which means my wife is shopping and I am following along doing what I am told, I answered a handful of emails and got the rest of my day planned out. After unloading at home I skipped lunch and picked up the laser samples and ran them out to the client. Had a short meeting with her, then back home. More finish work and other odd stuff finished off the day. I wrote checks and addressed envelopes for show fees and other stuff that is overdue last night after dinner.
Got a solid night's sleep and woke up early with the first thing on my mind being to make a punch list for today, lots to get done. That was interrupted by falling into a you tube rabbit hole courtesy of
@Bradm on another thread. ffcheesy After that I made my list and got at it. More finishes applied to start out, then I took a bench to the sawmill and trimmed the legs (nobody died). I headed to town to do errands and picked up snacks for tomorrow's show on the way home, I rarely have lunch at shows, just a snack or two.
My new canopy arrived when I got home, so I had lunch and gave it a test run, looks good! After the test, I stuck it in the trailer. I did some sanding on the legs on the bench and applied some finishes.
The lawn needed mowing last week, now it's a jungle, but I had to fight to get that lawn tractor started, again. Gets worse every time, soon I will have to take some time to work on it. Once started it's fine, but I had to mow twice, at two different heights and it took a lot longer to get it done.
I hitched up the trailer, pulled it around and got it rinsed off and went down my 'pre-show checklist' in my head. I think I am good, it's getting to be a routine now..
I got 9 out of 10 items on my list finished, the last was a stretch anyway and can wait until Sunday or Monday. No nap for me today and I didn't miss it. I am pretty happy with that new canopy, it's aluminum and a fair amount lighter than the EZ-Up, which is steel. Looks like some of the parts are directly interchangeable also and I am pretty certain the top from the new one will fit on the EZ-up, so I am going to order a replacement top and stick that on our older easy up so they match and the rain will not come through unimpeded. (The old ones is white and the new ones are a snazzy blue.)
Sometimes a plan comes together. I can't figure it, but nothing broke and nothing went wrong today. Weird, but I'll take it. ffcheesy
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Tom,
For some reason your comment about shopping with your wife caused a flashback to the early 80's when I was stationed at the USMC Logistics base in Albany Ga when the commanding general would go grocery shopping with Devra, his wife. He was a Major General (2 Star) with over 40 years service. They would be in the commissary and he'd be pushing the shopping cart and would periodically pull something off the shelf and put it in the buggy. Then his wife would say "Ray, you know that is not on your diet plan" as she put it back. There was not another person on the base who could do that but she treated him like a small child pulling candy off the shelf at the checkout counter.
Is that the way shopping with your wife works out? ffcheesy ffcheesy
No, it can be just the opposite sometimes. The main reason I am there is to lift things up and put things down. :wink_2: Her knees and back are not getting better and the shopping being done only monthly means there is a lot of stuff. Mostly she pushes the cart to take some stress off her legs. She also asks me what we can/should buy for meals for the month (so she has someone to blame when we come up short or something is missing for a meal). Once in a while she will ask if I want to get this or that again, because I do have some foods I like on occasion (rarely junk food), but not every month, like cottage cheese or cheez-its.
Mostly I am there to pack the bags and load the car, then unload at home and carry it all upstairs to the kitchen or out to the freezer. I guess you could say I am her tailgunner and am supposed to know what she wants before she asks for it.
Mostly I follow along, grab stuff I know we will get, like bread, cold cuts, sausage patties and routine stuff. I also spend time doing emails, texts, and searching craigslist or marketplace for things I might need if I find a deal. Sometimes I am the one who says "we don't need that" because I am cheap fiscally responsible. ffcheesy
I have been working up the courage to try to talk her into one trip to get the major staple foods, then another 2 weeks later for fill ins. Doing it in one shot burns up more than half a day and many times I have a bunch of other stuff I have to get done. But she's the boss so...
Can't figure out why I am so tired tonight but I am. Got to the show site earlier since I knew where my spot was and I figured taking my time was easier. I set up straight through and was ready in an hour and a half, which is normal, but this time my short was only a little damp, rather than soaked through. That lower humidity helped a lot. Didn't have to change shirts. Then I sat from 10am until 3:30 reading a new book I bought at GF last week about the founding and history of Rounder Records. I was uninterrupted by any sales all day. Not a single time did I have to get up and handle money in any form. I did hand out a few cards and have some conversations, but nothing else.
That's OK, last time at this location I had almost 2 SGU's in sales and another SGU in custom orders. It all averages out and sometimes it goes that way. But I did spend a beautiful day just sitting and reading when I could have been getting some work done.
Close up time I again decided to take my time but it was hotter and I did soak my shirt through, but I got it done in just over an hour. I think that's a new record. I believe my routine is getting better and more consistent.
Still I returned home dog tired. Most likely it's because I didn't sleep well last night.
I'll tidy the trailer tomorrow, do some finishing work, and start getting ready for the trip to MI on Wednesday.
Well yesterday I took a mulligan. :wink_2:
I have been running from one event or 'thing' to another non-stop since around the first of July. Project work, trips, packing, unpacking, prepping for the next one, mushroom logs, juggling clients, on and on. Prepping for MI will be easy and quick, so no stress there. But all the other stuff added up because I had stuff I HAD to get done everyday. I was tired, in general, and most of the time.
So yesterday I laid finish coats on the two custom builds out in the shop, did a little dressing up in the trailer, then settled in with that book I started on Saturday. It's a good story of more than passing interest for me.
Have you ever read a book or an article about something you had even a little bit of personal involvement or participation with and found the writing to be misleading or inaccurate? For me this makes the credibility of the writer come into question if it happens once. If it happens twice, I become dubious, and 3 times makes the writer of little value to me. So yeah, that was in this book. Making matters worse, the writer does not follow a linear pattern in his story telling, jumping back and forth a few years constantly but not really explaining where we are or why we 'jumped'. Lastly, he focused on some bigger (more well known) names that he was more familiar with while at the same time skipping over significant figures who he had little personal knowledge of, thereby missing a large and important piece of the story. All of this leaves the uneducated reader coming away with a very slanted view of how things went down and this aggravates me a great deal (can you tell?).
Let me back up. At GF, my friend Steve (with a syndicated Radio show) had been lined up to do an onstage interview with Ken Irwin, one of the 3 founders of Rounder Records. Ken was promoting a book about the story of how the company was formed, survived, and eventually was sold after 50 very successful years. Rounder specialized in the lesser known music and occasionally had a major hit. But they really wanted to preserve the quickly disappearing roots music. Black music from the deep south, bluegrass, traditional music, homegrown. It was an amazing company doing amazing things on less than a shoestring. I was anxious to read the book, especially after Steve was singing it's praises. I did not get to see the interview, but it will be online as soon as the editing gets done and the resulting show airs, if it hasn't already.
The story was great, as expected, but the writing was less than mediocre and distracted one from the story. When I had just 20 pages to go, I even considered just closing the book and not finishing it. But finish I did, and the last 20 pages got better. I was glad to have it finished so I can move on today.
I contacted Steve and just told him I thought it was a great story wasted on a poor writer with limited subject knowledge. Steve thought it was a good book and a fun read. To each his own.
Why am I writing this? Because I have precious time to read at all and when I do I like non-fiction historical type stuff so I can learn something. This is a significant story in the music industry and the timing on the book is just right, but the writer messed up IMHO.
If you have an interest, the Title of the book is "Oh, Didn't they Ramble" by David Menconi. I still think it's a great story and worth reading, just don't take all the details and generalizations to the bank unless they are direct quotes from the involved subjects.
Today is another day and more sanding and finishes to lay down.
Well, not much to catch up here that I didn't cover in Watcha' Makin' or the pig roast thread. It has been good to get back in the work groove pretty quickly (I had no choice ffcheesy ) and get some stuff knocked out. At least we are "home" now and have no travel plans for a while. I may be spending some overnight's at The Hoot at the end of the month, but that's no big deal, it's local and I might sleep there to save the 20 minute trip home at 3am.
Interesting follow-up on my previous post regarding that book and Steve's interview. While we were driving out to the pig roast, actually about 40 minutes from Harrison, Steve called me to let me know he had gotten a clean copy of the interview from the sound guy at the stage, which he didn't know was happening. We talked more about the book, and Steve's off stage conversations with Ken Irwin (the subject). Turns out neither of those guys thought the writer was very good either and had reservations about how the book was written and how it presented itself. The general consensus is that he (the writer) was more familiar with pop and rock music and not at all familiar with the people involved with Rounder records.
It was a little gratifying to learn that my evaluation was accurate in the eyes of other reviewers who know more than I. Steve had called to tell me he was sending me an advance copy of the interview and I had time to download it and listen to it twice, once in camp after everyone was in bed, and once on the way home so my wife could hear it too.
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Finished off two custom jobs today, and got a bunch of crates and such pre-built yesterday, waiting for the laser work to finish them off. I have to figure out what is next. I know I need to make some replacement stock for shows, I have two good ones coming up in September that should be a good boost for the end of the season...if the weather is good. I don't know if I have time to make what's on my list, heck I don't even recall what's on that list right now. I have to get my notebook out of the trailer and come up with a plan. I have limited time and limited wood, but I will see what I can do. I need more bench and stool legs, never seem to have enough. They are getting tedious to make even though they get faster and easier every time. I just get tired of doing them over and over. It's grunt work now. I should make a half dozen of those foot stools, they move pretty regularly. Not big money, but they add up. 2 stools usually cover my show costs.
I am still trying to find that 'thing' that sells at every show. No joy yet. I keep looking.
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Bill's annual party is this Saturday and I usually help prep in the days before, but he is overloaded with work (I saw him going OUT with the log truck around 6pm this evening) and we have a full rainout day tomorrow. Looking like we may just get a bunch of guys to make it happen Saturday morning. The party starts around 2pm, so we should be good.
Tomorrow is another day, let's see what it brings us.
Time flies when you are busy. Last Friday I did wind up at Bill's helping with party prep for several hours. It drizzled on and off all day with a couple of gulley washer periods thrown in that shut us down. drizzle is easy to work through when you are soaked with sweat. :wink_2: I got to play with the new mini-track (MT100) spreading some gravel on pot holes and other stuff. We called it quits around 4:30 when the sky opened up again as we were grading off the horseshoe pits with the excavator.
Saturday morning we got the bulk of the stuff finished, I came home, got a shower and the wife and we were back there around 3:30. I was a good boy (this time) and we were home around midnight. Sunday I pretty much bummed around, too lazy to do much. I went back to Bill's around 11am and helped cleanup and put stuff away, plus bring home the stuff I had brought, like a canopy and some tables and chairs.
Monday I had the young fella I milled up a maple log for come with his buddy and we drove down into the woods where it's been air drying (covered) for about 10 months. We loaded that all into his truck and they were off by 11. In the afternoon, I had the client come to pick up her two custom tables that she ordered at a show back in July. Another happy client contributing to my bottom line. :wink_2:
Yesterday I picked up my finished laser work and dropped more off, then came home and finished off the custom crates and some 4 pack carriers. Let the client know that was done and she came to pick them up last evening. leaving another check. :wink_2:
I have a show this Sunday, my last time trying this one out unless it improves. Forecast looks rainy, but you can't tell until you get there, things change. One last shot at this one, maybe 3rd time's the charm? Then I have two bigger shows in September that I have good hopes for. I may be doing a labor day weekend pop-up event at that crate clients store, they are working on details. So far I think I have done fairly well with my goal of trying a wide variety of show types to understand what fits for me. I'm also narrowing down what sells to some extent, which will dictate the winter work.
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The Monday before the pig roast I filled an oddball small mushroom log order for a first time buyer. Sunday I got an inquiry from another first time buyer wanting logs in October. I am hoping we get a winter this year and the ground freezes early enough to be of use. I plan f starting my cutting as soon as we get some cold weather to run the sap down, shut down bug activity and natural mycelium movement. That will allow me to spread out the cutting work, provided I get the orders in early enough.
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I keep saying it, but maybe today is the day I get started on firewood. I have to whack out a couple of chainsaw chairs for the show trailer (who'd have thought those would sell?) and then buck up a decent pile of logs and arborists cut lengths. This weekend is Boonville an I will be taking a pass on it this year because I have that show on Sunday and I need to stop spending money. :wink_2:
It's another day.
Wow! 10 months between sawing and pick up? I hope he paid for the sawing up front.
I shouldn't laugh. I have a stack of walnut a guy left me about 15 -16 months ago. They are mostly limbs and about 5-6 inches in diameter and crooked as all get out. He wants some 6X6 cut out of them. My crystal ball shows them stacked on my firewood pile in the near future. ffcheesy
Actually, this was the plan all along and he picked them up earlier than I expected. We milled them together and found a nice spot in the woods for a slow air drying. The plan was he would be bringing them to a kiln around this fall for final drying, but being young and anxious, his plan changed I guess. He doesn't owe me anything but about 4 hours work for the time I spent on them and I am waiting for mushroom season to collect that. No cash on that job and I made out pretty well. :wink_2:
Weather looks like crap for Booneville anyway! I will be down that way Friday for unrelated reasons but not going to sleep in the bed of the truck and then get rained on all day and spend all my money. A lot better to sleep in a nice bed at home with my wife and then get rained on all day and spend all my money ffcheesy
OOOOOOOh, I hadn't looked at the forecast, you are right. I should give Bill a heads up. He may be doing the sleep in the truck thing Saturday night. He has no choice but to go because he has to pick up his new Eastonmade splitter at the end of the weekend and trailer it home.
Yeah stay home and spend your money, there is always (hopefully) next year.
Well apparently as it turns out, they had little or no rain at Boonville until around Sunday noon or so from what I hear. Bill headed up on Saturday morning and gave me a call inviting me along saying they were just going for the day (He and Inga) and did I want to ride-a-long. But I had accepted a much repeated invite from my son to go out with him and the boys on the river and give his boat a test run so I was already on my way to the river when he called. I suspected once he got there, he would be spending the night anyway and I had that show on Sunday so had to be home.
We had a nice time on the boat, still working out some overheat issues, I think it's a bum thermostat. Runs fine while underway but overheats when idling and holding position. There was apparently a small Bassmasters event going on and when we pulled up tot he ramp to haul out, we were behind 5 very fancy bass boats. Great, I love an audience when I am trying to coach somebody new to this stuff. :wink_2: Fortunately they were distracted by their weigh-in and the resulting awards. I had 'thoughts' on how we might best handle getting the boat out, but it's my son's boat and he had his own ideas, so we did it his way, which also worked. The boys caught a few fish and I caught a brick with the anchor. I will have to do some forensic on the brick to get it cleaned up and see who made it. I caught that brick about 300' off the bank and along an area that was filled with brickyards back in the day. I figure it fell off a barge, but it is not one of the common brickmakers logos. I need to do some homework. Brickyard were a major industry here for a long time but not since the 1920's. Anyway, it started to rain during the drive home, so good timing on that.
Later that evening I got a text photo from Bill of his new Eastonmade splitter. Sure enough, he and Inga decided to stay the night in the truck. I sent him back a text and told him I have a spot next to my log pile he can park it for a good test run... and maybe storage while he makes room for it. ffcheesy
My show on Sunday was rained out, bummer, but no sense going to set up in the rain, then get everything wet, and come home with no sales. They gave me a rain check for September. I worked in the shop and did chores all day and got something done. Around 5:30 Bill is driving by with the splitter in tow, he sees my shop lights on, stops, backs up and pulls the splitter up by my log pile and starts teaching me how to set it up and run it. Yeah, he left it her. It it a nice diesel machine with a box wedge and drag back. This thing is the cats meow! Holy cow! not more grabbing the big splits for resplitting, it splits off the bottom, then drags back and drops the remaining chunk back in for resplitting, you just work the handles, no extra lifting. Can't wait to get the thing running a few rounds through.
Today, the weather was iffy and I got a call that my laser work was done so I picked that up and finished off those 8 pack carriers. I also got an invite to do a 'pop up' sale at that store on Labor day weekend, sounds like it might be a winner. I got a new cover for the old ez-up that matches my new canopy, Not exactly a precise fit, so I had to do some wangling but got it to fit fairly well. It will do. I also wasted a bunch of time trying to figure out how to use the trashed ez-up legs to get my signs further up in the air for that popup show. Then it all got rained on. :wink_2: So I left it all out to dry and did shop work. Later I packed it all away, ready for the next event.
So tomorrow is another day and hopefully it will be cooler and drier and I will get some firewood done.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on August 19, 2024, 07:57:28 PMWe had a nice time on the boat, still working out some overheat issues, I think it's a bum thermostat. Runs fine while underway but overheats when idling and holding position.
Checked the water pump impeller? If it is worn I wonder if it would not pump well at lower engine speed, I have seen out board impellers just fall apart and over heat an engine, usually a low hour engine that is older so people think that the impeller is fine but it aged out instead of worn out.
Good point. We talked about that. It's his boat and he is going to have to figure it out, but I will pass that thought along because I think it's a good one. It makes sense. Thanks
Today was a pretty dang good day. I started early finishing the repair work on my sign and putting a fila coat of poly on the roof, good to go back out the road when I need it now. The boys were coming over for the day (our turn) so I figured I should line up some entertainment for them. I backed a fully loaded trailer of firewood near the house pile for them to stack. ffcheesy What can I say, I'm a thoughtful Grandpa. :wink_2:
My son returned the other trailer and we took the tailgate off of it and I backed it right under the outfeed tray on the splitter, game changer. I had a bunch of logs to buck first so I got to work on those. The 'crew finally showed up and I gave them a pepe talk, instructions, and a quick stacking demo and left them to it with Grandma as the overseer. I went back to bucking and got most all of it cut up. Then I started the splitter up just as my youngest GS came over because he had tired of the anarchy prevailing over at the wood stacking department. I ignored that issue and set him up in the trailer with clear rules and a safety talk. His job was to take splits that had cleared the end of the outfeed table and flip them up to the front of the trailer. He is 8. Worked like a charm. I could run a log loader arm full non-stop.
The splitter, trailer, and Mule all lined up:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240821_140946668_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355251)
Once in a while he would 'show me the hand' so he could catch up, and once in a while between filling the log lifter I would lend him a hand getting the stuff he couldn't reach safely. He's quite the worker. We had that trailer filled in no time while the other 3 were still 'working things out'. :wink_2: It was lunchtime anyway, which means I lost my crew. So they went in while Grandma cooked lunch and I did some more work on their stacking. The I joined them, ate, and came back out and finished off the trailer. I swapped trailers and emptied the second one mostly by myself and Pat helped for a little bit feeding me wood.
I brought that one back up to the splitter and filled it again. I still had a bunch of diddly stuff to buck up to get rid of it but we got some rain coming in, so I covered the splitter and finished bucking the little stuff. It's all cut, but I figured I'll finish the splitting tomorrow after I empty the trailer, it's too fully loaded now, can't fit no more.
I had held off on bucking one decent log (or so I thought...decent). I stand that one up thinking it would make and adult sized chainsaw chair. It's about 20" round, hard maple. The chair came out OK, but the wood ain't great. I figure I'll put a $40-50 price tag on it. ffwave
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240821_162615623_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355252)
(My 562 for scale)
All in all a great day. I did 3 trailer loads (new record for me, I think), plus made a chair and got some shop work done. That 37D is one heck of a splitter. The interesting thing for me is that normally putting out that much wood in a day would have me walking like a hunchback and pretty grumpy. But I feel pretty fine. Yes, pretty tired and a tiny bit sore, but on the whole I seem to be in good shape.
Tomorrow I unload that trailer, run out to a client delivery, then rig the splitter up for moving and get it out of the way. Splitting those loads with a lot of brittle and partly rotten ash made for a huge pile of junk underneath the machine. I think I am going to pick through it quick and then burn the pile where it sits. ffcheesy Then I gotta wash the splitter and return it to Bill, I got no more logs and he brought it here brand new and I want to return it looking the same. Sweet machine. With a better handling system, I could probably split my 8-10 cord in about a week or two.
Yeah it was a pretty good day for getting work done. Only 1 t-shirt, but I went through 2 hats. We had a nice breeze most of the day. Hopefully, tomorrow is another one.
It's always amazing how much better tools help. That thing looks nice!
Bill must be a good friend or a great businessman. I would have wanted to be the guy to wear the new off that great machine.
Nice splitter!
At a timber sport competition 30ish years ago I seen a guy make two kid sized chairs and a table out of one stump, unfortunately I can't recall the order or orientation of the pieces as they were cut out of the log but I think that the chairs were cut so that the seats were facing each other and one set of legs up and one down and the backs opposite to each other then the table cut upside down from the bottom of the log. I do remember that it didn't take a very long log to get all three pieces.
Another useful thing is a plywood table for camping, one sheet of 4 x 8 x 9/16". The cutting pattern makes use of the whole sheet, no waste. I made one years ago with my grandfather, still have it and use it camping. Nicest thing is it comes apart easy and lays flat on the bed of the truck. No fasteners used, just jointery.
Yeah Austin, that machine did a quick job of my log pile in record time too.
Yes Doc, Bill is a great friend and a pretty savvy business guy too. He trusts me with his stuff because he knows I am gentle and I fix what ever I break. He left it with me to get some hands on time and look for improvements and safety issues. I found a few, he did too. There is no replacement for getting in some run time to figure it out.
Hilltop, what did that table look like? If you ever find a video of how he laid it out, I'd be interested. There's lots of ways to make these things, it's just paly time for me. I don't know if this one will make it to a show this year, but it's a cheap alternative to my more pricey stuff, so it makes for a balance. Too bad this last one had a big vein crack in the seat. I'll set it in the shop to dry over the winter.
SD, I have seen those tables, they were popular with Scout troops in the 70's. I cannot remember how they were laid out though.
--------------------
Today I did my run out the my client and dropped off some consignment pieces and talked through the pop-up sale on labor day weekend. This one will be different and we'll see how it goes.
I also stopped by The Hoot to see how setup was going and if I need to bring anything special tomorrow. It's looking good.
Got home and played musical trailers and emptied the last one I filled yesterday that backed it up to the splitter, split the remaining wood which filled the trailer again and I moved that over to be unloaded. Then I rigged the splitter for moving, there is a lot more to it than others I have used. This one you have to put a swing jack on and lift the front to take the load off the foot bar, pull the foot bar up and lock, dropping the wedge at the same time. then put the tongue in the front receiver, then hook up to the tow and drop it on the ball and swing the jack up, you also need to get the log lift up and tied in. I backed it off the big pile of junk droppings and washed the whole thing down so it looks like new again, even wiped off the water spots. :wink_2:
After an hour I went out to cover it up and as I was doing that Bill called and asked how I was making out. I told him I was done with my logs, had washed it, and it was ready for towing. He said he got a call from one of his commercial clients called (a restaurant) and said they were flat out of wood. They require all small splits and short wood. He had bought this splitter with them in mind, making small splits does not go well on his timberwolf at all. So he hadn't planned on this need, he was going to leave it her for a week or two, but down the road I towed it and we pulled out the timberwolf and put this one in. His main guy was there so we ran through a big 28" maple round in short order. He already loves it.
Easy come, easy go, but it was fun to play with a $30k machine for a few days and knock out all the wood I had. I'm glad I didn't waster anytime getting it done.
Tomorrow I back up and head over to the Hoot. Nice to have someone else taking over for me and now I can just be a volunteer grunt which means I can come and work my shift, then go again. A nice change, I'll see how it goes.
Tomorrow is another day.
This is it here, but I wouldn't cut those ovals in the side pieces or top. Never did on mine. I think the holes are handles. Those pieces aren't that heavy to handle.
https://www.instructables.com/Flat-Pack-Picnic-Table-From-1-Sheet-of-Plywood
Well this post is likely to be more driveller than normal, so maybe it's best if you skip it until you have trouble sleeping. You have been warned.
I just kind of need to write this out to remind myself of the blessings I sometimes overlook. So this past weekend was The Hoot, a smaller local festival drawing in around 600 folks or so, not counting our staff. After about 12 years of running the EMS crew I took a step back and turned that job over to the Ashokan Staff member that is now full time and can do that, there is also a full time nurse. They just need to understand how I managed the crew and handled the event which is pretty easy. I reduced myself to 'volunteer rank' and signed up for a few work shifts, plus I told them I would fill in any gaps that popped up and be 'around' most all of the weekend to help out.
It was a little weird because everybody knows I am 'that guy' and would come to me for stuff and I would have to explain things and that I was just a grunt now. There were some expected growing pains for the new folks to work through as they had underestimated how much was involved in a simple crew. I filled in the gaps after the lessons landed home. I came back early on Sunday because I knew the new crew chief would not get their early enough and I distributed radios to key folks, did some paperwork and had things on an even keel when he got there. I also did the close out Saturday night collecting radios and getting them charged and taking care of close up stuff.
Sunday afternoon the crew chief asked me what time my shift ended. I had to tell him I had no shifts that day, I was done Saturday at 9pm and didn't need to come Sunday and at that point he realized I had been covering for him all day and I saw the light bulb go on. ffcheesy Next year I am sure will be a bit smoother.
I expected all that and planned for it. But the more relaxed atmosphere (for me) meant I could get around a bit more and enjoy some of the music and actually pay attention.
Over the last 9 years, since my friend Bill passed, the magic that music held for me has faded a bit. I have not picked up an instrument in a very long time. Last Monday I finally grabbed my shop mando and tried to work through a couple of tunes, remembering the notes, it came back slow and incomplete, but more came back than I expected. I began to consider giving it another 'go'. What is holding me back is my better mandolin is in need of a neck reset and that's probably my fault for leaving it tuned through the winter by my desk and it dried out and popped the neck. It's a cheap mando but I had the neck reset by a very high end luthier friend several years back making it a much better playing instrument with a proper action. Well since I let the instrument get ruined by poor care, I could not ask my friend to do it again, or even bring myself to tell him what I had done. It was an embarrassment and I had considered trying to do the neck reset myself, or going to another luthier friend and trying to keep it quiet.
Saturday night at the Hoot we had Steve Poltz go on just before the main headliner closing act (The Mammals) and I have now seen Steve 3 times at the Hoot but never had time to really listen, this time I did. Wow. I just had a blast listening to him and decided I needed to learn more. I had thought he was a unique, off the wall, talented singer/songwriter who works off the cuff. He seldom has any idea what he is going to do when he steps up on that stage. His set was 'off the hook good' and I resolved to learn more about 'this guy'. On Sunday I ran into him as he was putting the last of his gear in his car to leave and I thanked him and told him how much I enjoyed his set. We chatted a bit, he gave me a hug and told me he would be playing a local club here in December. I told him I'd be there and I will. What a wonderful person. (You can google him and go down a you tube rabbit hole, but more on that in a bit.)
Later on Sunday my Luthier Friend, Martin surprised me by showing up with his family. We haven't seen each other in a year or so, but we call and text. It was great catching up with him, his lovely wife, and his little girl, or now I should say lovely young lady. She was about 5 when I first met her and treated a boo-boo at a much earlier Hoot, now she is blossoming out. It's amazing. After a while he set up with his family on the field to listen to music with his daughter while his wife went swimming in the creek. I was sitting in the First Aid tent and saw then sitting in the up on the hill and started thinking about my Mando issue. I finally decided that I needed to come clean, so I walked over and sat with Martin and confessed with a great deal of apology. He laughed and said "yeah, well I have been waiting a few years for you to tell me and bring it over so I can do it right this time". I told him it was my fault and he maintained he did not do a proper job the first time and wanted to set it right. I was hoping he would coach me through doing it myself, but he insisted I bring it by so he could do it. I asked him how he knew it had failed and he reminded me I had a house concert here several years ago and when he came in to use the bathroom, he saw it hanging by my desk and knew it was blown out. Sneaky guy. I'll bring it over to him in a couple of weeks. So a happy moment none the less.
It was nice for me to know that after 12 years this festival is growing into it's own and I was able to turn over my work for someone else to continue. I caught some good music, helped some folks stop bleeding here and there, and got to hand over the helm as well as all the gear I have been carrying back and forth for more than 10 years. :wink_2:
Today I was a little slow starting and could not get that guy Steve Poltz out of my head and I wanted to know more so I fell down the youtube rabbit hole...all day long. Holy Cow, this guy has co-written songs with a lot of people! He plays to 15,000 seat venues, and travels the globe. He's a big deal and we are lucky to get him at our little festival at a below scale rate. Mike, who does the festival booking is good friends with Steve and I guess that seals the deal. I am already looking forward to the December gig. Mike, his son Will who has been a huge fan for Steve's for years, and I are going together. We just have to figure out how to get tickets. Maybe from Steve or another resource. :wink_2: Mike has a lot of resources. ffcheesy
So for me, this was a good weekend. I felt a little bit of some old juices coming back that might get me back on the wagon, play a little music, and relax a little more. Now that I can't work as many hours as I used to, I need something to keep my hands and mind busy. I might as well give music another shot. Maybe I can get it right this time. Who knows? It could happen. I've been able to learn and get pretty good at a lot of other stuff, making music has confounded me every time, regardless of the hours I put in. Maybe my head will figure it out this time around. Maybe.
Tomorrow is another day and I gotta get back to work. I still have a trailer load to stack, the lawn to mow and some shop work is always in progress. Show on Saturday too.
Play Tom if you enjoy it. ffsmiley I think I would enjoy the music at your "hoot" sounds like you had a great time. Remember all work and no play makes.......
Something I have to remember as well. :wink_2:
Think of it this way, music isn't so much a destination, as it is a journey... don't stop believing. ffcheesy
But seriously Tom, playing music is something you start at one point, but never really finish. You pursue a path of improving and getting better. Every kind of instrument and chords, tab, notes, etc. is on Youtube, good place to look to get inspired to practice. :thumbsup:
Playing music should be fun, find the joy in it. It's the joy that feeds the soul. We think it's the music but the music is the vehicle, the joy for you and others is what does it.
Your luthier friend seems to know that. Go with your gut, find the joy.
Thanks for all the encouragement. All those things you have said are things I have been told over and over by others and also told myself, and yet I still need to be reminded of it from time to time.
I am more than blessed with support around here given all the pro musicians, instructors, luthiers, venues, studios, music camps, and events. I don't think I have paid for a 'lesson' in close to 45 years, since my first failed and very poor teacher. But I have enjoyed many many hours or lessons given by friends either formally or otherwise. As an example, the gal that runs The Hoot with her husband called me one day about 8 years ago. They also run many music camps at the same facility year round, each with a weekly theme (Cajon/Creole, guitar, banjo, northern music, Bluegrass, western swing music, etc.). They 've been running these camps for over 40 years. Jay Unger and Molly Mason started them and still oversees them all, Ruth is Jay's daughter and now here and her husband Mike help out with a lot of them when they are not touring.
Anyway, Ruth calls me up and says "What are you doing the week of August3rd?". Well I was just going to be working. She said "go into work Monday and tell them you will be on vacation that week, you are coming to Southern Week this year, I want you there." Well, that was very nice and I would like to go, but I told her I couldn't afford the $1,200.00 or so and I was not a 'player' that belonged in that company. She said "who said anything about money? We don't want your money, we want to see you learn enough to get comfortable, you have the ear and the desire, you just gotta 'do it', so you just come and take classes and let me worry about the rest of it. You will have a blast and enjoy these people, just show up." SO I did and she was right and I tried some new stuff (claw hammer banjo) and by the end of the week I was feeling a little less intimidated. I still sucked, but I learned I could make progress if I put in the work.
Very few people are blessed as I have have been in this way and I often think I am a fool for not taking advantage of it to the fullest. Since I have 'dropped out' I have forgotten everything I knew (which wasn't much) about chords, progressions, the circle of fifth's, and all that stuff. But every journey begins with one step, right?
My problem is I just can't seem to parse it all out in my head and have it make sense, so I really think I just suck at it and that will never change. I'm OK with that. I like to play for myself, never play with others so I don't mess them up.
I just have to make time to work on it and keep at it every day. That was hard to do when I retired and started the business. Now that I need more frequent breaks in the day, it might fit in better.
I'm going to give it a shot, but first I have to build up those callouses, the mandolin is a real meat grinder on the left hand. ffcheesy
It's funny how different people can do different things easier than others, I have a sister that is a very good piano player but needs sheet music or at least chord names written out to play then there is my oldest brother that can play guitar, bass and piano very well but can not read a bit of music but can improvise, learn a song by ear and seems to remember it easily, another sister that plays the saxophone and harmonica and can read music well and can also play by ear and improvise, another sister that plays piano and violin and sings that reads music and can improvise on the violin and a brother that is a drummer that does not read music but picked up some piano chords and can play blues and boggie woggie better than any of them, I started off on drums/percussion and started playing guitar over 30 years ago but seem to be mostly a rhythm player as well as some bass, I know some music theory and what most things mean on the page but can't seem to pick up note recognition, then I have a sister that does not play at all but enjoys music and can sing well but seldom does.
Similar to my family. My brother can play any guitar, mandolin, banjo or steel guitar. He reads music and is very talented but I hate to hear him sing. ffcheesy
My sister has a BFA in music and plays woodwinds in the symphony and local big bands. She plays piano and several other instruments.
Me on the other hand? I can play the radio...years ago I played fiddle and guitar. Where my siblings love playing and performing, I never found a passion for playing music. I'm a good listener though. ffcheesy
You reminded me of a funny (& true) little anecdote. Several years ago my friends were the opening act for Bela Fleck and his wife Abbie. They invited me to the gig knowing I could say hi to Bela again. For simplicity's sake Ruth just put me on the list as a band member but I didn't know that. So I roll up to the gate and gave the young lady my name and said I should be on 'the list'. She looked it up and got a little excited "OH!" she says "you are playing with The Mammals! What do you play?" She caught off guard and not expecting to be listed with the band, I stumbled and just said 'The Juke Box". The gal maybe was too young to know the term and she said "Wow that's cool, I've never heard one of those, I'll have to get over to catch that!" I smiled and drove on in. ffcheesy
It kills me to be at a festival and watch some 8 year old kid tearing it up on banjo, guitar, or whatever and hanging right in with the pro players. It's almost unnatural and seems quite unfair to me. ffcheesy
Since my instruments had laid unplayed for years, they weren't much good to anybody in the corner of the bedroom.
I donated 2 guitars, a mandolin, a fiddle, a dulcimer and a ukulele to our arts council. The arts council sponsors a Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) program as an after school activity. They desperately need "starter" instruments.
It's been a minor mission of mine to facilitate others donations.
When we went to the year end performance, the joy in those children's faces was wonderful to see. I was very impressed with the ability of those 8-12 year olds as they played many of the old favorite Appalachian traditional songs. It was beautiful!
I don't know, I played in elementary and high school. Was fair on a piano. I think peoples brains process sound in different ways. Some folks need music and to visually see the notes and play the exact right note to get the song out. I could memorize songs but it was much repetition and practice, what I couldn't do was improvise from the keyboard to a tune in my head. I had to see the music. My younger siblings are vocally talented my brother sang in a traveling show choir in college, my sister could sing very well too. I on the other hand am much made fun of by my kids for my singing voice, nope can't carry a tune. There is something to natural ear hand coordination. ffsmiley
I have played drums and dobro, as I mostly like to improvise. I played guitar, and could figure songs out with a chord progression, but not much for solos and riffs. Buddy Glenn in high school could do it all and we teamed up with a guy named Dan in college. Dan used cords and could play by ear and improvise on keyboard. We had a band with two names one for rock and one for country. We could take a request and play a song for the first time at a dance. Glen even knew all the words to most of the songs. he was introverted and stayed home playing much of his growing up years. smiley_trap_drummer :singer:
Well Pat, that's a good point. Early on I was associated with a group that has grown way beyond my ability to help. They now travel the whole country collecting instruments, refurbishing them and distributing them to where they are needed most. It's a great group, all non-profit. It's called "Hungry For Music (https://hungryformusic.org/)" and they do good work. So if anybody has instruments, these are great folks to contact. They are a shoe-string outfit and even there trucks and vans are donated and rebuilt. I have given them a few things and collected some for them. It gives one a good feeling.
Doc, you are one of those guys who gets it, I am (apparently) not. I just keep plugging. I played enough today to get my fingers pretty sore, so that is a start. I had to go to town and get batteries for my tuners, I can't work without a tuner. Even the brand new ones I had in my gig bag were dead. ffcheesy My old cheap mando does not have a very playable action so it's good to beat up the fingers a bit. An hour or so was enough to get me to the point I couldn't do it anymore. I'd like to play some more tonight, but just can't. This is going to take a while. But the tune I was working on is coming back and I am just working on the flow and getting the notes cleaner. It will take a while, probably a couple of months to get my better cheap mando back so by then my fingers will be toughened up a bit, but I know ti will take about a year to get them back to what I used to have which were tiny little clubs on each finger. Holy cow that hurt for a long time before it got better, but here I go again, once more into the abyss, maybe I can do it right this time.
At some point maybe I will build the confidence to take that really nice banjo I invested in and set it up and try that again. It won't be the same without Bill, but I could give it a shot.
Thanks again for the encouragement.
By the way, do y'all know how to get the banjo player to stop playing?
Put sheet music in front of him.
ffcheesy ffcheesy
well, I had a group in med school call the 'scrubs". yes, a pun on Earl Scruggs. we did folk, country and bluegrass. had mandolin player now a rheumatologist. Banjo player now a Dermatologist after the Airforce. His wife was my dissection partner and now and internist who does mostly diabetes. A short blonde singer who is now a psychiatrist. her sister and Dad are as well. Her dad worked at Meningers in Topeka. another classmate had that last name and yes was related to the founder. I played guitar and sang. the calluses on my fingertips did eventually interfere with accurate drawing of blood gases and starting arterial lines. sacrifice!
Well you had a band with a lot of smarts and credentials. I hope everybody is still. playing. I will however respectfully say that I think the only folks with bigger callouses than mando players are 12 string players, bass players and cellists. Those double strings do a number. I have a guitar that I plunk from time to time when I am inspired by a good riff (I learn the riff and nothing else) and that never has challenged my fingers at all. Never tried a 12 string, but I assume it's the same as a mando with those double strings. Tiny frets on the mando too, so it will be nice to get my better cheap mando back with a professional setup on the neck action. Last time it was a dream to play after the reset. Right now I am suffering, but I know it will pass. Trying to do a session every 4 hours to speed things up. Of course, that might backfire on me. ffcheesy
Doc,
Did you all wear a standard uniform - one rubber glove? ffcheesy :uhoh:
I owned a 12 string guitar for a while years ago, wasn't too different feeling on the fingers than regular guitar. Thing I didn't like about it was it took twice as long to re-string and tune, (and keep in tune), as a 6 string. Did have a really nice jangley sound, fit well playing John Denver songs or old folk music.
Side note on callouses, I worked with a friend of a customer putting up a steel panel building, he wore no gloves. He said working in a machine shop all his life his hands were so toughened up he seldom ever got cut.
his hands were leather gloves.
Tom we would make a good pair. I will play rhythm and chords, and you can do the riffs. I got a little guitar and took lessons at age four. My grandfather on my dad's side had polio and it was something he could do. Not many farm jobs for a guy in the 30s that needed to be driven across the field and helped up on the tractor. He had a good understanding of music and could play anything with strings. He played a song on the harp the first time he saw one. So, I got the guitar. played that till 5th grace and took up the drums. too hard to move a trap set in college and in apartments in med school. Had an ovation and the dobro. got a 12 string in residency. It gives a nice full sound if you are playing solo. Now the dobro at 1 am after a few beers. It really helps me play better... or maybe I am just less critical. :thumbsup: ffcool ffwave ffcheesy smiley_trap_drummer smiley_beertoast
Well I am sure the neck length has a lot to do with it. Short necks make for tight strings that are harder to deflect. I have cheap instruments and this one I am playing now is not so easy. I know the last time I got my other mando back with the neck reset it was a huge difference in playability. Things got a lot easier.
When I started on the mando the first time I was in great pain for several months when I tried to play. Finally a friend gave me a set of flat wound string$ and that was a huge improvement until my fingers finally shed the first callouses and grew the next (permanent) ones. It's that shedding period I found most tough.
When I was a full time shop rat I had really tough hands, you can't wear gloves in a machine shop, it's a no-no except for handling raw stock only. BUT, that would not have made my hands any better for playing if I tried at that time. Finger tips are something a machinist learns instinctively to keep out of the way. In fact it took me a long time to learn to put my finger tips on the strings, it was really hard for my brain to accept.
Quote from: Resonator on August 27, 2024, 08:59:10 PMHe said working in a machine shop all his life his hands were so toughened up he seldom ever got cut.
I worked in machine shops all my working days and my hands bled a couple times every week. Now that I'm retired my hands bleed a couple times every week. Maybe I'm a slow learner.
My father had tough hands and a grip like a vice. Famous for saying, 'you can't do anything with mittens on'. ffcheesy
Me, I don't. And I can't walk bare footed out doors either.
Well as I said I spent Monday on Steve Poltz, it has cleared somewhat, but I still find new videos once in a while as I have time. :wink_2: I did some epoxy fill work on Tuesday and tried to mow the lawn but could not keep the mower running. It's finally time to put some work into it, but not that day, I need to think on it. I spent more time on the Mando. Now my fingers are chop meat. ffcheesy
Yesterday I had that big pile of junk that fell off the splitter from doing the firewood and had picked out most of the chunks and threw them in the box which is nearly full up already. Bill saw the pile and told me to wait for a machine to be handy that could pick and dump it in the swamp. I didn't want to wait that long so I just set the pile on fire and tended and raked it all afternoon to get it burned down. It took all afternoon and part of the evening to get it down to a small pile. This morning I raked it over a few times and now it is just dust. I took the day off from the mando yesterday, my fingers hurt pretty good.
This morning I pushed the lawn tractor from the shed/hut up to the shop brought it in and took the carb off and apart. I couldn't find anything 'wrong'. I cleaned what I could and had thought I had a hole in the diaphragm but I just could not find one. The issue is it's not drawing gas into the carb. If I dribble in gas with a syringe I can keep it running until I run out, but the carb will not pull the gas up. I was looking for a leak or a plug. No joy. Tried to find a rebuild kit, also no joy. I can but a cheap card for 50 bucks, but that's not my preference. SO I put it back together and changed out the filter. Got it started with a little help and it ran fine, it still hunts on low idle, but it cut the lawn for a couple hours without a burp. It's just a mower, I just want it to mow and it does that. I pulled down the mando today and holy cow, my fingers were still pretty touchy, but I stuck it out for a half hour or so. It will come in time.
I have a show on Saturday if the rain holds off, so tomorrow is prep day, pull the trailer and clean it and get the odds and ends ready. This one, as with many, will be a little different. I have a show every weekend for the next 4 weeks and that should finish off the season. I just hope I get some decent sales in there somewhere, it's going to be a long winter or so I'm told. :wink_2:
Geez Louise! I am going to have to do a lot of thinking on this craft show stuff over the winter. I wanted it to generate about a third of my meager income over the year and this year was a 'test year' to try a bunch of stuff and see if I could figure out what works. But I tell ya, it's frustrating. These organizers are more of a source of frustration than I expected.
Tomorrow's show is a 'pop-up sale' at at locally made goods store. They plan on 4 or 5 vendors. I drove out there last week and had a meeting with the organizer about where I would be, it's not a lot of space to work with and they work under the general assumption that each vendor has a 10x10 tent and a few tote bins of merch to set out, which all fits in their car. I don't fit that 'profile'. ffcheesy I explained this to them and we talked it through and they proposed I consider using their covered porch, so I looked it over and although not ideal, it was workable, I would just have to figure out another arrangement for my stuff. The last show they did, they had a DJ on the porch, but they assured me, that was not the case this time and I could have it. We discussed this on 2 occasions. For over a week I have been laying out a plan in my head, at least I wouldn't need the canopies, saving me some time and work.
I've been watching the weather too, it looks 'iffy' for tomorrow but should hold off raining for most of the day, it will be cooler and overcast, not ideal.
So tonight I am sitting down to dinner at 6:45 and I get a text "weather looks like it will hold for tomorrow and we should be good. By the way, I forgot I have a DJ for this event so he will need the porch, we'll have to find you another spot. I won't tell you the words that came out of my mouth but I have to question how somebody "forgets' who they have scheduled for an event how how they think telling me around sundown on the night before the event can be a good thing. I am not happy because any of the other ground is not flat and I have no idea how we are going to fit this trailer in and make it work comfortably. Suffice to say I am not a happy camper and likely will not sleep tonight worried about how this will work out tomorrow. I might be wasting another day.
One of the biggest shows I do is next weekend and I had been offered a spot by an old friend who told me last year he would not be there this year, so I should ask for his spot, which I did. Well, turns out he will be there this year and gets his old spot and there are new organizers (who apparently can't read and understand the letter I attached explaining my booth requirements, which I paid double for). They called me again this week to talk about where to put me after I had the same conversation with a different gal 3 weeks ago. At least for that show I can pull my trailer in the day before the show and get stuff roughly setup, so we will have time to mess around if we need to. But it still adds to the stress of dealing with these groups. Every group presents a challenge. I have 4 shows in the next 4 weeks, then I think I am done for the season and will park the trailer for the winter and start building inventory, but for what, I don't really know yet.
I'd like to figure out a way to sell my stuff and cut out these show people, except for a few select shows. I have no firm ideas yet, just spitballing at this point.
It is SO dang frustrating some days. People suck.
Stick with it Tom! I feel like the pop-up show will be good for you (hopefully it already is!). Keep in mind that this is your "job" now and is likely a lot less stressful or whatever than a real job.
Tom, you are prob at the event. Can you find other ways to promote your custom wood service. I know you do some online stuff. maybe make a push on craigslist and or other low-cost options. that would get work with a sale already and can be done all winter.
Yes Tom, we have done shows before.
Got the cover up up and started to put items out and had to move 30 feet. We were not the only ones that had to move.
Seem like the ones that are running the show, don't talk to each other.
I think next show you should leave a place to sit on one of your chairs under your tent and play music with a hat on the ground for tips. See which makes more your music or your woodworking and go from there. It's retirement and should be fun.
You might consider more select showings. Up the ante.
Create an "exclusivity" - for example: only on the second Saturday of the month at (you pick the location).
Quit competing in the trivet, pot holder and candle crowd!
Do your own shows. Once you get a routine and people know how to find you, you'll be able to quit dealing with the flea market mentality.
fiddle-smiley smiley_trap_drummer smiley_singsongnote01 smiley_guitarist Violin_smiley
Well I appreciate the suggestions. I am not giving up, just trying to refine/improve the process. I have thought of setting up 'my own show' and just inviting one or two other vendors to join me, but still looking for a place that is 'right'. My place is too far out of the way for most folks to bother.
I am staying away from 'select shows'. That just means the promoters are charging $200 - $500 for a 10x10 booth with no guarantee of sales. WAY too much of a gamble for me. Yes, I will surely be working on self promotion outside of shows in the cold months. Also, making myself less available just translates into even less sales. Nobody pursues me, at least not yet and the shows do serve well to meet new potential clients.
21 if I had any skill, I would certainly do that. Yesterday when it got slow I pulled out my mando and moved to the far end of my booth and worked on my daily practice hoping nobody would hear me over the general and road noise. When I customer walked up, I put it away and he was disappointed. I explained I was just re-learning and really couldn't play. But if I could play, it might not hurt. Last year at the show I am doing next weekend (hopefully) I had a friend stop by my booth and he had brought his long neck banjo. He did sit on one of my benches and play for a while and we (the two or 3 of us) had a nice time as the crowd shuffled by. He is a touring pro who was leaving the next day for a long tour through the west coast and SW US. Only one or two folks knew who he was and said hi, the rest just thought we were goofing around, which we were. It wasn't a 'draw' however. Now if we had 2 pieces, it might be different. :wink_2:
Ray if somebody did that to me, I might just fold up my tent and move.... on out of there. Organizers need to do their job, and that's not done when or after vendors are moving in.
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So yesterday's show was open from 11 to 5. I got there at 8:45 so I could figure out where I would fit best. The organizer showed up at 9 and we talked it through. I had already picked my spot, I helped her measure and mark the others and I started setting up. I actually had a better spot than I expected and the end of the aisle and could work out of my trailer for the day, which is important to me.
Pleasant day, decent and fairly steady crowd, not many buyers though. I only sold one (my last) rustic stool. But the show cost me nothing but my time. I should have made a largish sign to list my next 3 shows, but I did tell a lot of folks I talked to about those shows. It gives them some time to think over items they were thinking about and go home and measure things up, then come back to another show and finish off a purchase, at least I hope.
Show closed at 5 under sprinkling very light rain/mist, I was packed by 6:15 and home by 6:45 pretty tired.
Next show (Saturday) I guess is my biggest one of the season, last year I did fairly well, but they raised prices this year and my booth cost about 80 bucks this time. I bring the trailer over on Friday to get my spot and do a rough setup, finishing Saturday morning. Forecast right now says a solid rain out for the day, so I am hoping for better than that, but the weather is not looking good at all. Then I do a repeat show the week after that at the fish and game club for my last try at making some sales there, then finish up with largest show I do (by attendance, but cheaper by cost) on the 21st. I am hoping one of these shows brings my average up. I am not quitting, but trying harder.
I have no time to make replacement stock, really wish I did. What I need most is rustic stools, they move well, but I have to make a mess of legs and I only have enough slab wood the make about 4 more. Legs take me a while, with all the steps and I don't want to try to do a rush job. It will be winter work, but at least I know I can sell them. I will get started and see if I can have them for that last show at least.
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I have to fill out my show notebook this morning, then plan my week and get to work. I have a shed order I have to get milling on.
Surprisingly I got a lot more done than I had expected. My plan was to go pull logs with Bill today for milling up a woodshed build order.
Late in the afternoon yesterday Bill texted me inviting me down for a beer when I got home. I explained it would be late and I would be tired., but he texted back and said "c'mon down anyway, I'll be here." Something in the back of my head said this was about more than a beer, Bill isn't a wordy guy like me and I know he is going through some heavy personal issues right now that flare up at odd times. I just had a feeling something else may have prompted the invitation. Maybe he just needed somebody to talk to. We've all been there. So I headed down after a quick dinner and chores. The house was dark, nobody around, as I was leaving I heard voices from a 1/2 mile away, loud laughter etc, and I figured he wasn't alone, so I drove back through the skid roads and found them. They had 2 campers, a fire, were barbequing and the kids were roasting marshmallows. They were camping with the little kids for a night 'away'. I was so tired I barely got through one beer (yeah, me) hung out for 30 minutes or so and headed home. I had another beer at home and went to bed.
Knowing they were camping and inventing fun stuff for the kids o do, I didn't go down today, although he invited me for breakfast, I had mine about 45 minutes before his text. I was up early and ready to go. They were still doing 'fun stuff' when I went down at 6pm to get some beer out of the (3) kegs he needs to empty (what are friends for?). Been thinking about how I need to really get some stools made and I knew I had better get off my butt to have at least some for this season. But I am getting weary of what has become production work now.
I found some material I could make legs out of and cut up 24, ripped them down square then put the chamfers on them to make them into octagons. I ran the tenons on all 24. Now that I have a variable speed 1/2" HF drill they go on a bit smoother, but not great. I still sand them from 1-1/2 to 1-1/4 diameter by hand for a good fit.. I am getting fast at it, but it still takes time to do that, then blend in the shoulder smooth. I sanded 16 legs. Then I cut a long slab into 1" sections for the 'seats' and drilled a few. I already had one stool in work and I drilled that too.
All this is much faster than the last run I did, so I am pushing a bit. Tomorrow I will finish the drilling and glue all the legs. While they dry I will start on some cost racks. I am going to try out the style of those ones Danny made that went in the PR auction. I like those, makes me think of Danny while I am working on them. I am still stealing his ideas, I hope he knows that. :wink_2:
So a pretty good day. Let's see if I can hold this pace. I won't have anything new for this weekend, no time for making and finishing by Saturday, but perhaps for the last 2 shows anyway. The earliest I could be cutting the legs on these Stools in Wednesday, then start final sanding and finishing. Not likely to get enough coats cured by Saturday, unless I set an alarm for 2am to sand and do another coat. ffcheesy I also have a couple of those cookie mirrors in work, but I still have one on the trailer.
I gotta keep pushing. Tomorrow is another day.
Yesterday being 'Labor Day' that's what I did. Never left the place all day, just worked. I really would like to have some stools done for the show Saturday and it appears that so far, I am maintaining a 'best case' pace. Yesterday I got them all drilled for legs, did the shape sanding on all the seats, and got them all glued up. The one stool I had in work already has through tenons because it is thinner and I cut off the tops of those legs at the end of the day and sanded flush. The 4 new ones have blind tenons, so they go faster and glue easier. I'll check again this morning, but I don't think I need to do any touch ups. They are ready to get the legs trimmed today.
While the glue was drying on those I took the cherry material for the coat racks and cut it to rough length, ripped it to uniform widths, then cut finished square ends. I have to figure out how to jig up the hole drilling for the joints today, but the stools take priority. I am trying to get at least some of them 'sale ready' which means the push is on. I'll work on the coat racks as a fill in because they are unlikely to make this show, too much finishing required and this is a new design for me, so I need to work it through.
SO for today, the plan is to go to the mill, trim all legs, hopefully don't blow up a blade or have one tear out, then back in the shop and do a lot of finish sanding and get the first coat on everything before dinner. I may have to run to town for another can of poly, I lost track of what I have. If there is time left, I will plug along on the coat racks.
It's just another day.
Another good day today, in fact nearly a perfect day. Weather is great, low humidity, lows 70's for a high, perfect. I got my stools down to the mill around 9am and was headed back at just about 10am. Bill texted me with a part he needed ordered so I did that to get it on the way, then started doing final sanding on the stools which is tedious doing 5 stools at a shot. Found one leg had a growth crack that I missed, so I filled that with glue and figured it will need more work and won't make the trailer this week.
I got everything sanded and found I still had one new can of exterior poly, so no trip to town. SO I opened that and mixed and poured off a bit into a working cup and thinned with mineral spirits as I always do now. I got a goo coast on all the stools and set them off on a drying bench right at high noon. Way ahead of when I thought I would.
I had lunch and feeling ahead of schedule I took a little mando break and began work on a second tune, this one will be slow coming I think, more complex. But I would like to kind of get back to where I left off with a half dozen tunes under my belt. I am also planning on hitting up a pro player friend for some coaching when he comes back from his west coast tour in a couple of weeks. My approach before was not great. There are some very fundamental things I cannot do and need to understand or work on...hard, before I can really play this dang thing in any useful way.
Then I took the shortest coat rack pieces, which are more of a test run set only a foot long and started figuring that out. I wanted to make one test unit to see how it appeared and figure out my tooling and setups before I committed to the longer stock. My cherry is precious to me, I'm not wasting it on ugly stuff if I can help it.
Got through all the steps on that and got it glued together, then sanded. Eventually the glue on the screw hole plugs dried and I did a final sanding done on that and am now looking at it and deciding how to proceed from here. Mostly I am trying to decide if I like it. Probably finish it tomorrow and think on it some more. This one I just made will probably not sell and I will use it in the shop of the house. Only 3 pegs on it. I'll see what the wife thinks, then maybe show it to youse guyz for a second, third, and fourth opinion. :wink_2:
my coat racks are usually spaced 6 to 8 inches apart, with a brass plated double hook like we all had back in grade school. If I know they are going into a modern house with 16-inch on center studs, I space them 8 inches, so a hook lands on a stud. I counter sink under the appropriate ones so a screw can hit a stud and get a hook over it. some folks cannot figure out how to take them down. slick! ffwave
Forgot to mention a little tid-bit from yesterday, one of those 'smiles' that pops into my day from time to time. When I went down to the mill to trim legs, I swung up by the shop to see if anyone was around. They weren't, all out on jobs. They are blowing and going on overload to get things done with a couple of big long running projects. So as I did my 3 point turn up at the shop to head to the mill, this little guy caught my eye. "Hello, what's this here?"
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240903_091828466_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355464)
SO that's a new addition to the fleet, cute as a button and perfect for Bill's road He might even do some woods roads with it for all I can guess.
I just couldn't figure out how he got it home without me seeing it drive by because I know he would either stop, or at least give a blast on the horn. I thought maybe it's a loaner.
Well turns out they are so busy he went about 3 hours north picked it up late one night after work. He didn't wanna 'stop in' at 1am and I appreciate that. He says it is a blast to drive. :wink_2: I might give it a try, but blade management on a grader has always been a bit intimidating to me. Angle, tilt, and crown are a lot of things to manage. Bill has over a mile of road to maintain to his place and had done it with the toolcat, mini-ex, and skidsteers all along. It's a nice road, but a lot of work. This will make it go plenty fasteer. I can't wait to see Inga driving it. ffcheesy
Fun!
Looks like a nice clean machine!!!
Nice machine! :thumbsup:
If you get to run it, start out just practicing slow. Work on basic lowering and raising the blade while moving, add more adjustments as you get comfortable. Just about any grader can be improved by adding a slope meter (bubble level type gauge) in the cab above the dash, so you know how the machine is crowning. Another help is to weld a rectangle of steel plate to a length of angle iron, and bolt it to the end of the blade (also known as a moldboard end gate). This will help catch material from trailing off the blade, and keep an even grade with each pass.
I don't plan on using it, but I may take it for a test ride sometime, providing it has a cup holder. ffcheesy
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Well, I just returned home from to pre setup for tomorrow's show. This is a fairly big one which is also a town wide party with all the community groups involved, a car show, frog jumping contests, demonstrations by the State Police, Fire Dept. Encon, Forest association, gun clubs, 2 bands, and a ton of other family stuff plus all the vendors. I did well there last year with just a 12x12 booth as my first large show ever. This year I popped for the 12x24 booth at $70.00. Last year I worked out of the truck and that was a bear of a job. This year I have the trailer. thought it would be a piece of cake.
BUT, I made a mistake in my thought process. All the other shows I have done, I am on the fringe, meaning my trailer got snuggled in behind my booth and it works great. This show is in a park and they use every inch. a 12x24 booth is EXACTLY that and not an inch more. This means my trailer has to be inside those marks and cuts my display space considerably down to about 40%. I am kind of screwed and there is nothing I can do about it except make the best of it.
Yes, I could unload the trailer and park it in the lot, but I cannot bring the trailer in and out once others set up. I can't unload today, weather is coming in overnight and I don't want to risk it, plus it's not secured.
So I looked it over and decided all I can fit is one canopy directly behind the trailer, butted right up against it. That means when I fold down the back ramp, it fills most of the space under the canopy so I can't set up with the door open. Along the side of the trailer facing the aisle I only have 1.5' where I could maybe put some benches, but it's not covered.
This is not going to be easy. The weather has been forecast rain rain all day for a week now with a high of about 68°. But I have money invested and this should bring in some decent sales, given a decent crowd.
My plan is to get there very early so that if I have to arrange the setup twice, I have the time. A 7am start would be nice. I'll get all the big stuff out of the trailer, close the back and set that stuff up, then see what smalls I can fit on a single table and also on my other tables that are for sale. I'll probably leave some stuff in the trailer as stock, keep an open mind, and deal with it the best I can. I am not seeing big activity on the weather radar, looks like an all day drizzle at this point with some heavier rain in the later afternoon. This show is 9am to 6pm, so a long day considering load in and load out. If I drive off the field by 9pm, I'll be surprised. The event runs well past 5pm including the fireworks at around 8pm. I am patient and just wait for other vendors to clear out so I can get in easy.
Obviously, for next year I need a different plan for this show. I'll think about that as I sit in the rain watching my stuff get wet. :uhoh: For this year, I'll be happy if I can cover my costs. This is a 'rain or shine' event. If they would have made Sunday the rain date, we would be a lot better off. But I gotta take it as it comes, right? I just hope it's not a bust.
OY VEY. ffcheesy
A pretty long day yesterday and it started with a very poor night's sleep. Up at 5am, out the door by 6:15, on site before 7. Solid overcast and some very fine sprinkles in the air off and on.
I figured out a setup that 'sort of' worked for the day, although not great.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240907_132012334_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355501)
I was on the end of the aisle and could stretch out a tad, but not a lot. There was no room to sit in the booth, so I kind of hung out on the left side leaning on the fence. Although the weather kept the crowds down, there was still a steady flow of traffic, mostly local folks smart enough to come in the morning. This is the one show I do where I see lots of familiar faces, friends, old and new, so I get to do a lot of visiting time through the day. One former co-worker buddy hung out for an hour while his wife shopped.
The next two booths down the line were also wood products guys. One made fancy mailboxes and lawn art cutouts. No competition there, different stuff. But the other had some fairly nice slab end tables made from Red Elm, plus he had burl bowls. His prices were low with respect to his quality, and he sold a bunch of stuff and I am sure he did fine. The mailbox guy, did not do well. I was kind of in the middle, sales wise. Nothing until after noon. Around 1:30 I sold the park bench, which was a huge relief. I found the perfect buyer with a perfect spot on their covered front porch. For them it was a 'no brainer' buy. We loaded them and off it went. I sold one of my lesser stools I've been carrying all along for $25. and the lady tried to offer me $20. but I declined and she paid full price. It was already a 'knock down' to move it out and I wasn't giving it away for cost or below. I sold a little business card holder to a young lady and at the end of the day I sold one of the new design 8 pack carriers. The bench sale made the day 'OK' but nothing like last year. I had a woman (who smoked a pipe) thinking hard on the corner shelf that I would also like to move out. I knocked $25. off the price and she even had her check book out, but then decided to think some more and I didn't see her again.
Around 3pm the skies finally opened up and it rained hard enough and long enough to clear out the majority of the crowd. The it sort of cleared up, but most folk were gone by 4pm. I wasn't in a hurry to close up because I had to wait until most of the others around me were gone before there was room to bring my truck in to get the trailer and get out. My daughter and SIL were there planning to help me pack, but much of my stuff was wet, really wet from the blowing rain. I figures I could pack in a normal hurry with everything wet, then take it all out to day to dry it, but I would still have to sit and wait to get out. Or I could take my time, wipe, dry, and pack stuff at a slower pace and have less to do today. I chose the latter and sent the kids home. Then I just poked along a bit at a time and it still went fairly quick and easy. I was still waiting for others folks to pack out so I had room to get it, and make the turns to get out. The timing worked out pretty perfect. I will still have to empty a bunch out today to get it really dry and clean.
My chainsaw carving friend Hoppy, was back in his usual spot again. Most of his stuff is sold long before the show and folks come to pick it up and pay. He only had two pumpkins left at the end of the day. He brought a new piece that he just finished last week and my Daughter wanted a photo as they were leaving.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240907_151547572_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355502)
It was a very popular item all day long and Hoppy had a crowd of folks constantly at his booth. Everybody knows him, or wants to. :wink_2:
Here is a poor detail photo of the top section.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240907_151557263_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355500)
It's all one piece and stands at about 9' tall.
Anyway, I got out and was leaving the site at 5:30 in a steady rain. When I got home I only took a few soaked moving blankets and some small pieces into the shop to dry that didn't have a hard finish on them. Left the trailer hooked up and came in for dinner. The show was supposed to be from 9am-6pm so I got home almost 3 hours earlier than expected. Still I would have preferred to stay and be selling for those 3 hours. It is my most expensive show and should have had the best results, but at least it wasn't a bust. I am very glad to have sold that park bench. Moving it in and out is/was a bear and I got my asking price.
2 more to go and one is a bigger one IF weather weather is decent. Last year it was not. I have to print all new brochures this week, everything I had out got wet and destroyed.
Time to get to work.
Looks like you did good with what you had to work with... adapt, overcome, improvise! :thumbsup:
Maybe Hoppy can give you a "good friend" price on the giant carving? :huh?
It would be perfect advertising for: "Tom THE O.G. Mushroom Logger!" ffcool
I'd be intrigued if I saw your booth, wondering what was in the trailer. Looks like you had a very nice set up.
That Alice mushroom chair is incredible.
Well I like the sculpture, but would not know what to do with it. I watched them load that thing for the trip home and it took two men and a boy to get it on the trailer. Besides, I think the 'buddy price' would still have 3 of 4 zeros left of the decimal point.
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Funny story from yesterday I had nearly forgot about. So this guy comes by and is admiring my stuff and asks me where I get my wood. This is question number 16 of the hundred questions I answer several dozen times at most shows. So the conversation goes like this:
ME: I cut all al my trees, mill them, dry them,, decide what to make, design it, and build it myself.
Him: Really?! You have a sawmill? I just got one and we are hoping to mill our first log tomorrow. What kind of mill do you have?
ME: Well congratulations, I have a Hudson, but mostly I run a woodmizer LT50 for a friend of mine.
HIM: Yeah, that's what I got too, an LT50, it takes a huge log!
ME: Yeah but the hydraulics make it pretty easy.
HIM: Oh, I don't have hydraulics, I have to push it by hand.
ME: (Very perplexed) Really, are you sure? And it's an LT50? Never heard of such a thing. How long did you have to wait for it?
HIM: Yeah, it's definitely and LT50, it came pretty quick, just about two weeks.
ME: (totally confused and getting more so) 2 WEEKS?! I thought they were still out many months on orders. What size engine is on it?
HIM: I forget if it's a 14 or a 19 HP. Here, I got a picture on my phone (begins searching for photo).
ME: well I would be really curious to se this mill. I can't imagine pushing and LT50 head down the track.
HIM: Here, I found it, oh wait, mine is an LX50 but that's probably about the same thing, right?
Me:(Trying not to spit coffee through my nose and suppressing the urge to laugh out loud). Um Well, no not really but hey! Best of luck with your new Mill it's an adventure I am sure you will enjoy.
Then I asked what he had for drying sheds, skids, and handling equipment, waste management and he assured me he didn't have much but should be able to get by as he figures things out. I don't think the poor guy has any idea what he is in for, but I am sure he will have fun. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Yep, lots of new guys out there without a clue...
Nothing wrong at all with a modest manual sawmill. Being in the game is part of it!
But the difference from LX to LT is larger than the average person might figure. By the time an LX 50cuts a log, the LT 50 might have done 4 with lumber stacked and stickered.
I ran across a fellow made the same error. When I suggested an LT50 with 14 hp was a unicorn, I got a real funny look. When I asked how the hydraulics performed, he said, "I didn't know it had hydraulics."
I had to ask how many logs he's cut, turns out the mill is not put together yet.
Coffee through the nose moment of my own.
Nothing wrong with it at all Ted, most of us started with the manual mills and I am still partly there. But maybe because I was distracted by the other folks in booth he really had me going trying to figure out how any man would be pushing the head on an LT50. I have had to manually move ours a few times and I needed more Advil. When I finally realized my folly I tried not to downplay his machine. I mentioned that we have an LX35 sitting new in the box for 3 years now that we haven't had time to assemble yet. He said "yeah, that's a hobby machine, too small for me, I got the BIG one, I got big logs". OK I thought, and changed to trying to give him some useful tips on getting started, but he cut me off and told me he already had it pretty much figured out. Then his wife called him and he walked off.
As he walked away I felt like a was looking at a lamb headed into the tall grass where the lions lay in wait. ffcheesy ffcheesy
On reflection, he struck me as a 'new local' meaning he has recently bought property here and moved here either part of full time after a metropolitan career, basically "moving to the country". I wish him all the best, he should find lots of advice on facebook when he gets wavy cuts. ffwave
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on September 08, 2024, 08:44:50 PMy in wait. ffcheesy ffcheesy
I wish him all the best, he should find lots of advice on facebook when he gets wavy cuts. ffwave
ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
FB and advice?!?
I've read that stuff! ffcheesy
The Usual Suspects here are about the only ones on FB that seem to give any reasonable advice. All others are a crap shoot!
ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Yeah, I know and agree, but my 'read' was where this guy will go to get some help. He just seemed to fit the profile and I have no personal prohibitions against profiling folks. ffcheesy
So Sunday was 'back to work' day. I took a table out of the trailer and set it up in the sun to dry some of the unfinished wood stuff that got either wet or damp. Also any flyers and paper stuff. I hung the wet towels and moving blankets on the line and pulled out 3 tables to check for water spots and make sure they were in good shape. Then I cleaned the floor really well to get any sand and grit out of there. It's needed that for a while. I am going to have to print up some new brochures, the remaining ones got pretty soggy.
I fussed around with other details and reorganized a bit based on what sold and what's left and wound up making a little more room. I will do a full re-org at the end of the season and deep clean before winter sets in, mark the shelves better as to what is on it, and have room for more stuff I make through the winter. For now, everything is clean and dry and secure for the next show (Sunday), looks like better weather for that one.
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Sunday night I re-read the 'What up Benches?" thread looking for things I missed before or reminders of things I wanted to try. I am out of stool material for now. In re-reading I noticed Doc makes a lot out of WRC, and I have a 2'x3' box full of ERC 1st cut slabs that I had thought to bag up for kindling or use myself. Well they have been sitting covered outside for 2 years now and I wondered if I might find some suitable pieces for stools. So first thing Monday morning I went and looked. They are in great shape and show 8-11% on the moisture meter. I pulled 4 decent ones into the shop and began working on debarking. Comes off fairly easy and I went far enough to see that they will look pretty good when done. They are only a foot long which will be fine for footstools. Now I am wondering if I can find a 'donor tree' that I can prune some 2" branches off of to make legs. That would be easier and faster, as well as look better, than the octagonal legs. I'll keep working on that idea between other stuff. Make one and test it, then do more if all is good. I think those would move fast.
Enough done on that to know it was a workable idea, I ran to town and did some needed errands and picked up some fittings so I could tie-in a new (used) 30 gallon compressor into my (very) old compressor (which only makes about 95 psi). This brings my storage up to near 100 gallons and the pressure up to 110psi. So I got that done tested and working and all the noise is out back in the shed. :wink_2: I have them set so that the new one will handle 95% of the work, the old one will only come on if the pressure drops to 60psi. I used the same method in a couple of industrial shops I set up but with a pair of 20hp compressors with 100 gallon tanks on each and a 10psi differential. Worked great for years before we bought a screw compressor that was much better, cheaper to run, and drier air.
Then I switched over to working on the coat racks I would like to have done for my final show if I can. I did all the drilling for assembly screws and plugs, as well as the hanging pegs. I set up the router and did the fancy edging but on one piece the router bit pulled up out of the collet and ruined it. Then I did the final sanding on all before I do some pre-finishing before assembly. Last night I figured out how to salvage that bad piece so I will do that today and bring it up to the level of the others. Then hopefully get a first coat on one side of everything.
I need to get going at the mill on a large woodshed order, but first stop at the clients place to see how big of a shed we can fit in that spot. I have some logs to mill just to get them off the deck and make working room. Today will be start up day, then after that the work will be routine.
Time to get at it.
I do ERC also and it is soft, so I keep the tenons at least 1.5 inches. diam. I could let you take a semi load of leg stock. every pasture here is cursed with many ERC trees per acre.
Yeah, I know you got it coming out of the ground like grass. Me, not so much. UI went through the whole bin this afternoon and pulled out what might be useable and I sat in a chair and peeled the bark. This will be an experiment in how cheap I can make them and what is secure and safe. It's a 'messing around project. If nothing else, I'll learn something. I might need some epoxy here and there. I know that barks makes great fire starter. :wink_2:
Well yesterday I wound up working in the shop in the morning and got down to the mill around noon-thirty. That was a mistake because I forgot about the sun position. The screen on the mill was getting clobbered by sunlight. I got the first log done ok. These are not so great logs we needed to clear out before we really get into the order. These were all 2x4's just to get them off and we need a lot of studs for this one anyway. By the time I did the second log I could barely make anything out on the screen, so I just made the cant to size and left it for today. I came home and worked in the shop some more.
Today I got to the mill at 9:30 after picking up my daughter and dropping her at work, she is waiting for her new (to her) car to be prepped. Easy knocking out the 2x4's from a sized cant, then I put up the last log, a real junker with a big sweep at the end. It was kind of a 'use it up to get rid of it deal' and I really didn't care what we got out of it, I just wanted in gone. I stuck the horn straight up and whacked that off to start then sized up the cant. It surprised me, but I got 18 2x4's out of the cant with only 2 or 3 having some wane that shortened them by a foot or so.
I had the deck cleared in 2 hours and I did some tidying up, vacuumed off the mill and put things in order, but my slab rack is full and we have nothing running with forks right now to swap it out. I came back and worked in the shop on coat racks until dinner. I confess I was kind of tired.
Bill saw the clear deck when he got home and called and invited me down after dinner, so I went down and we plucked hemlock logs from the stack for the sleepers (6x6x14') and I bucked while he plucked. We loaded up the deck and that will give me a couple of days sawing. We also found some new cracks on the forwarder blade that made that horrible cracking noise when the slew went from port to starboard. More plating and welding work coming up soon. :veryangry: Anyway, we finished up in the dark, filled the OWB, and headed to the house for a beer and some commiserating before I headed home around 8:30 or so. I am pretty pooped out. This new shed is going to be 10x14' and the biggest we have made, but this one is built on site, rather than pre-fab, too big to move down the road. Anyway, it's a lot of wood to mill and some long ones. These guys want everything full length, but I don't plan on milling 14' 2x4's to build the back knee wall.. ffcheesy Besides, I have to give them something to complain about. :wink_2:
Yeah I'm tired and heading to bed. Tomorrow is another day.
It kind of feels good to get back the mill this week and break up the day, in spite of the heat. I guess last night I was thinking out loud and mentioned to Bill that I wasn't sure I could handle those long hemlock 6x6'x by hand by myself. After I left last night he apparently went up to the shop and did the welding and cylinder seal work on the Toolcat and sent me a text at 1am that it was good to go. A nice, and unexpected surprise. ffcool
This morning I did some quick shop work and laid on some finishes and got to the mill at 10am. The Toolcat was still in the shop, so I opened the big door and drove it out then went looking for forks. Bill has 2 or 3 sets, plus the set for the MT which is narrower. I drove all around for 20 minutes until I found one fork set behind 3 other machines, no way to get them out. I don't know those machines or if they are currently operational. So I parked the TC and jumped in the SxS and loaded my gear in the back and headed to the mill. As mentioned yesterday, I am out of room for slabs (need the forks to swap out for an empty rack), also need to move the log trailer to get at the empties.
So I managed to mill up 2 6x6x15' beams and I was right...I can't lift them. So I dragged the first one off the far end of the mill so I can pick it when I have some forks. I bucked all the slabs into 30" pieces and filled the back of the SxS so that I didn't have more clutter to trip over. Makes it easy on Bill too, I backed it right up to the boiler door and parked it. Anyway, the sun came around just like it did yesterday (coincidence? I think not) and it got pretty hot and hard to read the screen. I was soaked anyway.
So I packed up and headed out to run errands, came home and met a client for an 'over the winter' park bench restoration job. I also got a re-order for cremation urns this morning, that one I will try to push through soon as they need them. Maybe I can clear the deck and start on them next week when I get these coat racks finished (which seem to be taking forever).
Tomorrow I'll be back at the mill in the morning and maybe Bill can clear out access to the fork set and I can get him to move the log trailer so I can swap out slab racks. At any rate I will knock out some more lumber, but by golly, that hemlock is frickin' heavy! Pretty wood though. Those 6x6's I cut today came out dead straight and flat and were clear wood all through. It would make beautiful beams anywhere. But we will use it for sleepers under the shed. I bucked off some 'shorts' last night, I may go back and mill those when this order is done, just for me, otherwise, they are OWB fodder.
Tomorrow is another day, and Sunday I have another show, hope it's a good one.
Tom,
You mention it being hard to read the screen. I had that same problem several times last week when I could not read the screen in the bright sunlight.
Yeah, it can be a pain sometimes. On the Accuset II you can adjust the contrast during the as soon as you power it up with the up/down buttons. But that first day, it so so bright out I couldn't even see where it was on max contrast. Yesterday it was a little better and I could just barely make things out.
We have often talked about extending the roof overhang in the mill head area, but it's on the list with a LOT of other things.
This time of the year , fall and into winter, it gets bad for sun in your eyes all day. Even cutting brush, that glare on the wood chip screen. Got to tilt the hard hat foreword to see anything. Thankfully hornets aren't bad up here this year.
I'm pretty much self sufficient for this year with the jams, pasta/pizza sauce, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. There's still enough tomatoes for another run next weekend, but there's a point where it becomes too much. Right now it is just enough and maybe a small bit more, so most practical. :sunny: :thumbsup: And all that stuff is nearly $10 a jar in the store for the good stuff. I only make the good stuff. :D
I think you are going to need a bigger hat!
Do you have room to put up a pop up canopy or temporary umbrella?
Well, I only do a few hours each day and try to work around the sun, but it is dropping in the sky these days. It's too cluttered around the mill head area for a canopy and would impede my moving around with canopy legs in the way. Someday we will get enough logs out of the way to re-grade and set it up proper, but as I said, there is a long list. First we have to drop ibn a trench and lay a drainage pipe to allow the ground seepage a run off point, then we will regrade with all gravel. This should eliminate the ice in the winter and water in the spring.
Gotta pick your battles and work on them one at a time.
Just 2.5 hours at the mill yesterday (and very little wood to show for it, but other stuff got done) and with that heat, I couldn't wait to get home, have lunch and get a shower. I don't know why the heat is sapping me so much, it was worse in June and I got more done then, but I was pooped. I worked in the shop doing some more finishes, ran errands, and quit for the day by 4pm.
So tired last night, I went to bed by 9pm. Then I couldn't sleep past 5am, so I am off to today's show in less than an hour. We'll see how I hold up today. The Humidity will peak around 3pm today when we are closing up. :veryangry: Hopefully I find that special City Sucker Slicker that likes one of my higher end benches today. :wink_2:
It's another day.
Well we had perfect weather for the show today and a good bunch of vendors, but it was a total bust for me except some 'possible' future custom orders. One seemed probable, just a simple rustic bench, but a long one, around 8 or 9 feet. Let's just see if they follow up. Someone else wanted me to make a larger version of the board game 'Battle Ship' for her son who is in the Navy.
A nice day anyway and I clearly set a new record for packing up, 1 hour and 15 minutes, things are coming together on that score, but I forgot to cinch one strap and had a little bit of a mess when the high shelf spilled on a turn. No damage though.
All I know is, I ain't paying my taxes with show money from this one. :wacky:
Hopefully the big show next Saturday is a good one. I'll give it my best shot.
One more (scheduled) show to go on Saturday to close out the season. This one is my most expensive ($100)and also the largest show. Since the prior show was a bust and I have not done all that great through the whole season I am beginning to get concerned about this one and trying to maximize the return in anyway I can. I keep checking the weather. Last year we had rain and drizzle most of the day through this show and it kept the crowds way down. This year, so far, the weather looks to be a perfect September day with clear skies and temps in the mid 70's.
About a week or so ago, I got an idea for a shelf I can build and attach to the side of the trailer on the security bars that keep the doors closed for travel. It's a bit of work and I don't have any dry wood ready to build it, so I thunk on it for a week. But after moving money around in the bank to pay the $3500 tax bill and looking at what was left, my stress went up a bunch.
So last night after dinner I went back out in the shop for a couple of hours and started on that shelf (actually making two). I got most of the grunt work done and most of the wood is fresh milled so I can't plane it for a while, but it's just for this one show, so I'll just sand it and put no finish on it until later. I can disassemble and finish it over the winter and probably refine it. I am designing it as I go I I have the basics all figured out, but some of the details, like how it is clamped on, I am still figuring out. I also have to dig up some material for the shelves themselves. It's the mechanism (support and attachment) that is the tricky part for now. (Photos when it's done.) I have to do a hardware run this morning after I do a test fit of last night's work.
Hopefully I can get the trailer positioned at this show so that I can use them, or else the work and materials are all for nothing.
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Yesterday I did some finishes in the shop in the morning and more epoxy work, then headed to the mill until my shirt was well soaked through. I brought home a small stack of odd-sized hemlock side boards and stacked and stickered them in the shed with a small fan for air movement.
I gotta get at it and make the most of the day, hopefully I'll have something to show by this evening.
Hurry up and get those pictures and drawings out there. You know the design committee has been idle for a while and are just aching for a big project to work on.
(I know - you did not think of this as a big project but you will see more clearly when we are done. :uhoh: ffcheesy )
Is it going to be brown????
This is in every sense a 'quick and dirty' project just to make it functional and get more products at a better viewing height. I was going to leave it 'as sawn' wood, but as I was coming in for lunch I noticed how very bright it is in the sun. So I am going to throw on a quick coat of black paint if I can find enough around.
Howard, on this one, given my time constraints, I am going to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. ffcheesy I fully intend to re-work and refine it after the wood dries a bit and I have thought it through, so feel free to make lots of suggestions for me to ignore, or not. ffcheesy
Photos tonight. Back to work.
OK, per request, here we go. Again, this is quick and dirty. 2 separate shelves, the first (top) one lays flat, and the lower is sloped. It's adjustable with a piece of rope and a taught line hitch hung from the top shelf. All photos are in the white. I took it down, trimmed off the long screws and hit it with black spray paint anywhere that is visible when I have the blankets on it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240917_142818187_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355636)
I have yet to figure out or have time to make, some kind of clamping system, so I just used 6" beam clamps for now. Here is the attachment and alignment method to the torsion bars.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240917_142734791_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355634)
After those photos, I added a firring strip to the front edge of the lower shelf to hold stuff on and I threw on some moving blankets and put up a few things just to see about how they could look and adjusted the angle on the lower shelf a bit higher.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240917_150047549_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355635)
So I took it down, painted and trimmed screws. It's not as easy as I would like to put up alone, but it adds a lot of space in and otherwise wasted area. I might eliminate a table. We'll see.
OK, let the corrections begin. ffsmiley
Nice concept. As a permanent coating could you use something like spray on bed liner material that would cover/protect the wood and also provide some cushioning and traction especially on that lower, sloped shelf to help reduce the risk of something sliding off? That way you would not have to use the moving blanket.
You do know Tom, if you cut a little take out window over that counter, you could sell cold drinks to the thirsty crowds... pepsi_smiley ffcheesy
As a junior member of the design committee, I move that this project has come far enough along that it will now need a proprietary name. Tom, feel free to throw out a name suggestion that the design committee would take into consideration. ffcheesy
I have no idea, I didn't think was much of anything, I just wanted to get some stuff up a little bit higher into peoples sight plane, save some booth space by using air space that was previously empty and possibly eliminating a table. This could still be a really dumb idea in that it does not help, but if I think of something that may help, I have to give it a try. I did a poor job, it's not fancy. I am concerned about doing well at this show, my 10th of the season and so far the numbers are not what I had hoped for. This show could make the difference.
You could call this "Project In Your Face.". ffcheesy
I'll be doing a lot of thinking on this show thing over the winter months, looking at the data I collected and trying to come up with a new plan that is more effective.
Howard, I like moving blankets, if they get dirty or damaged it's easy to grab a clean one. Easy on the wood too. I use them on my plain flat tables too, so it all matches.
To get away from the clamps, how about a piece of steel bar. Drilled with one screw on one end and a slot on the other that gets clamped with a wing nut?
You would need either a piece of rope to support the bottom shelf at the back or another piece of steel?
Alternatively, you could remove the cleats and use one or two hole conduit straps with wing nuts.
As another junior member of the design committee I have a somewhat irrelevant safety suggestion. Can you turn those clamps around so the eye-pokey bits are on the back side? I realize the shelves themselves are a bit eye-pokey, but the shelves are a bit easier to see that the clamp bars and handles.
I think the shelves look great and should be a great way to save some floor space. It would've taken me a hundred hours to figure out a way to hang them.
for contrast, I will claim to be a senior design committee member. ffwave I think the shelf idea in general adds interest to your booth. It makes you look like a pro and seems more like shopping in a store. folks from the city will like this. :thumbsup: If everything is spread low to the ground, it looks more like a garage sale. I assume you plan to paint the whole thing, your favorite color, and not show any more pics. thanks for sharing. ffcheesy
Looks pretty good to me..
Well, I can't flip those clamps around because there is less than 3" between the torsion bars and the body of the trailer. If put on the outside facing back, thy will prevent the door from opening. It's only for one show, then I will assess how it works and either re-design, make clamps pretty much like John is suggesting (my first plan, but no steel on hand and no time to fab it up), or re-do it another way.
Since the shelves are not for sale, I wanted them to 'disappear'. I painted all exposed areas black to match the trailer and moving blankets. I have no thoughts of changing the colors.
Hopefully when I get home from the monthly food shopping trip today they will be dry and I will work on an easier way to get them hung working alone, then pack them away and move on. I don't have a lot of time and still have product to finish.
If it was made with 2 full length uprights with built in shelf brackets (brackets made from wood) and then you could hook the end pieces from the top of the pipes assuming they are hollow if not hollow then hook around hinge plate at top and drop in place
The shelves would sit on the brackets but would need some cleats on both sides of the bracket on the under side of shelf to prevent racking and the bracket would need a hook shape on the front to prevent them from sliding forward.
Set up and tear down with no tools required would only take seconds and it would be fully locked together by gravity.
Hilltop, I think you have a great idea there. I didn't understand your bracket hanging description completely, but I got the general idea. I can't put a full length vertical on those bars because of the sing handle in the middle, (see photo in prior post) or maybe I mis understood that part. But attaching the brackets and laying captive shelf boards on would be a lot easier and would likely store flatter.
I would need a pair brackets for each shelf, but that's fine, I can adjust the heights separately. I would also have to settle in on a fixed angle for the lower one.
When I read your idea this morning while grocery shopping I almost wanted to change it today, but then I realized I need longer shelf boards. I believe I will start over during the winter and make it new after I mill up some more lumber for it.
I rehung it today after the paint dried and it went on a little faster, but it made me realize how much better your idea is. But first, I also want to see how this works at a show as far as appeal and sales go. That's the bottom line.
Oh and for the color cops:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240918_131658217_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355683)
i like the blankets, but maybe a bit of low pile indoor outdoor carpet to match the brown shelves... ffsmiley
Using what you've already done, a couple of shaft collars or saddle clamps to set your height on the vertical bars and bear weight would allow the shelves to rest while they are clamped. The shaft collars would remain in place.
Then a plywood "plate" on the back of the shelf mounts secured with carriage bolts and wing nuts would make for a low cost, quick and effective solution.
Maybe you could cut a slot in the upright to put the handle through. hard to tell how much it moves in the pictures.
For the top I was thinking a pin that would drop in the pipe (if hollow) when you lower the upright on it but a bracket or loop of rope/chain/cable that goes over the pipe and rest on the part the pipe is fastened to.
Now for next year we will get you to build some flip down shelves that come right out the side of the trailer with all the merchandise already on it and a crank out awning so you will be able to pull up and get setup in 15 -20 min. ffsmiley
Ted, the collars are a good idea, but I can't use them because they will damage the door when I use the bars for lockdown. But I did put marks with a sharpie and when I 'finalize' it, I will likely just put a wrap of electrical tape. A stop would be best, but a mark just helps a lot.
I would have made the plate you suggested right off, but I would need 4" long carriage bolts inserted from the back and I don't have even half that clearance. I am still thinking on that little detail and think I need a swing lock as was earlier suggested. Since I'll be doing it over the winter I can take my time and do a decent job on the details.
Only 2 more days to the show and I have to try and finish some of these pieces I have in work and nearly done. Fighting finishes right now.
Doc, very funny, but if I can find some dark outdoor carpet that won't hold dirt and is easy to clean, I may do that. I can cut it to fit and staple it on. I like the carpet idea, it just needs to be thin and cleanable.
Hilltop, I get it now. It's a different attachment approach that I hadn't considered or thought of. I have to think on that point because it would be hugely faster but would not be as rigid through the usage day. However you bring up design ideas that could be a combination of both and have the rigidity and ease of setup. I am going to think on this a bunch more. Again, I have all winter. to get it right.
Actually I will be rethinking this whole show thing and how it contributes to the bottom line in my little business. I've spent this season trying to figure it out, taking notes, and keeping track. I am trying to narrow down the target. I have talked to a lot of other vendors that do a lot of shows and learning from them what I can. Spending a long day to make 50 bucks won't cut it, unless it's just a fluke. I need more of those 'good days' than I have found this year. So I will be doing a lot of thinking on this. Maybe come up with something 'out of the box' to try.
OTOH, I also know from my years doing big trade shows that the booth design matters a lot and little things count. So I keep working on that and watching peoples eyes when they come by and learning from their reactions. I have gotten some nice comments about the booth from other vendors and organizers. The show I am doing Saturday is the one I was at last year when the chairperson of the show came around reviewing all the booths and told me I had one of the nicest displays at the show and she very much hoped I would come back this year because she thought I would do very well with a normal crowd (it drizzled all day last year). That made me feel OK about how I was doing and it was only the second show I had done. SO that is encouraging, but it's not cash in the bank. I have to figure that part out this winter. All the support here is a big help in the right direction.
Tomorrow is another day, I have to hit it hard.
I'll be with you in show spirit, Tom. The wife and I are going to the Springfield (yes, that Springfield) Extravaganza tomorrow. It's a rather huge flea market and we'll get there pretty early. I usually take about 400 bucks and spend maybe a hundred. The weather is looking pretty ideal, low humidity, but sunny and hot by mid-day. I hope yours is the same Saturday.
I think economic pressures may be playing into your success at these shows this year, yellow hammer mentioned it in his business, definitely seeing it in mine. Things will turn.
Pat, I suspect you are right. I did a show next to a couple several weeks back who have been doing shows and keeping detailed records for 20 years now. They told me they have proven to themselves without a doubt that all years in which there is a Presidential election show a 30% drop in sales. They never have a good year when there is a major election. I believe there is something to that.
BUT I must muddle on, like it or not. The weather for this one looks perfect which is exactly what I need to bring out those crowds of tourists and weekenders/second home owners. The location is 3 mountains west and a bit north of me with generally 10° cooler temps. The colors may begin to show soon up there. It's a bit south and a little west of where Barge is. That should put a little 'snap' in the air that triggers buying, at least I hope so. Maybe this will be the fluke show where it all comes together and I nail it. Now would be the perfect time to sell out the inventory in the trailer.
Hey, it could happen, right? ffcheesy
Hope so!
Hopefully sales go good Tom. :thumbsup:
It definitely has been a slow year for business here too. It's interesting back in the 90's when I was in home construction, I was told election years would be good. New home construction would drive many other businesses (lumber, windows/doors, trucking, etc). See what tomorrow brings, and hope for the best.
Growing up in the tourism business we would always see a drop in business from the US during election years and during the first year of a war/conflict.
We would also see some that would come over to get out of the US for a while during an election year but not enough to make up the difference.
What weird coincidences I'da never thought of.
I know the past few years of the flea market I'm going to prices have been higher than I'm willing to pay on the things i'm interested in. Hopefully a slowdown encourages lower prices on stuff, for me. Tom, I hope for your sake you get people willing to part with some cash money!
well, every company I am affiliated with has lost big money in the past year and a half. They reduced our staff and created uncertainty. Makes folks more cautious will all aspects of life.
I hope you sell the whole trailer load and more! The weather is supposed to be perfect up here for the weekend. Everything drops off here after labor day, that is normal- campgrounds shut down etc.
At work it has been a dropoff for 1.5years. The money men are still optimistic and I hope they are right :thumbsup:
I sure would love to sell 20% of what I have on the trailer, I haven't checked lately but I think I have about $6k of inventory on board. It will be what it will be, poor economy and all, but I admit, try as I might, I really have high hopes for this show. Wx on location should be overcast all day with temps in the low to mid 70's so it should be a pretty nice day and the sun may break out, but it will be better than the all day drizzle followed by a downpour at closing time that we had last year.
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Well Thursday was just filled with nothing but frustration. I have about 5 coat racks I am trying to apply final coats of finish on and a few cookie mirrors that I wanted to sand and polish the epoxy on for this final show. First thing I noticed early yesterday morning was that my entire polishing kit was not here. So I called my son and arranged to have the wife pick it up while I worked on the coat racks. When the kit arrived more of my compounds were missing and some empty bottles so I had the run to HD and fill in some blanks. No matter how hard I tried I just could not get the high finish I wanted. I started from scratch and sanded down to 600 grit then did the whole cycle again, getting a little better but still not good enough. Out of three units, I got one fairly good but not great. I'll use it for a backup in case I sell the one one the trailer now. The final coats on my coat racks all looked like crap, but I had to let them dry over night before I could fix them today. I lowered my hopes to having one or two on the trailer by show time.
Today was a little better, I worked even harder on the polishing but was not happy with the result. I decided my polishing skills were not ready for prime time, so I took one and did a re-pour over the front, but was in such a hurry, I forgot the clean the polish off of it and the epoxy didn't take right and I had to spend over an hour trying to get it to take evenly as it began to cure. I'll check it later tonight and either I will get lucky or just leave it at home and re-do it one more time after a re-sanding. I also managed to get 4 of the coat racks good enough to sell, but again, not super.
It seems like every time I rush to get something finished for a show it isn't worth it and it doesn't sell. But it will fill out the booth a little better. I just get stressed trying to make the most I can out of every show, which is why I jumped into making those shelves as soon as it occurred to me.
If that epoxy lays out OK tonight I will have to get up around 4:30 tomorrow to glue the mirror in and get it in the trailer, pack my cooler and get on the road by 6:45. Gonna be a long day for sure, show runs until 5pm, so I should get home around 7pm. If I drive home with the tunes cranking out in the truck, then it will be worth it. If not, well then I'll have to deal with that. :wink_2:
I have spent all spring and summer talking to lots of vendors and small shop owners about the buying habits of 'our clientele' (meaning tourists, weekenders, and city folks as well as some locals) and trying to look for signs and trends. I am surely not alone in trying to find a pattern, everyone is. If in fact, things will improve after we finish off the longest presidential campaign I can remember, then maybe life will get easier. But if it doesn't improve, I am going to have to re-think things quite a bit. It's a fickle business for sure.
OGH
Is there a name for the style of furniture that you build and offer for sale at these shows?
Am wondering if others also have this style for sale, and how they are doing at the sales.
Maybe too hard to tell. ??
I call it rustic and modern rustic, but that's just what I call it. I do talk to other vendors with similar items to mine at shows and they are having the same issues I am. There was one fella who made really nice burl bowls about 2 shows back and some rustic stuff and it was selling well. His prices were pretty low, and I talked to him some more when I saw him at my show a week later. He says he prices things pretty low because he likes making it and wants to make more. I can't compete with that kind of pricing. I was tempted to buy one of his bowls for $90 and mark it up for my booth. The should have been a $200.+ piece. He told me he figured he had about 40 hours in it. But I don't resell stuff... yet.
I have yet to find a similar vendor that is killing it when I am sitting on my hands. We all seem to be n the same boat as far as I can tell.
Well the suspense is over anyway, the show wasn't that great, but it wasn't a bust either. They ignored my request for a booth location and put me on the far side of the field from where I requested, said it would be a 'better spot for me', It was not, but it wasn't bad either. I got there early and it was good I did because it took me several tries to wedge my trailer in with the present commercial tent they had set next to me. I'm still surprised I got it in as well as I did, and it was a bear to re-hitch and get it out.
But the booth setup was perhaps my best layout do far.
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Still I had the feeling I was away from all the action. I still had pretty good traffic all day. Those new shelves worked great so I am glad I could get the trailer in where I could use them. But this is the last time I will use them. I will redesign using much of Hilltop's suggestions with some of my own ideas and have something much easier to put up myself, as well as pack and store. I needed some help getting these down.
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The shelves allowed me to break up the clutter I usually have on the tables and spread things out so they could be seen. But sales wise, it was a weird day. For instance, I have those cookie mirrors and I sell one about every 4 shows or so. Today I sold two. I have some 'keepsake boxes' I made on a whim. They have gotten little interest in all my other shows, today I sold both of the large ones I had, none left. I had some folks looking really hard at one of my most expensive cherry benches, they said they would be back, but you know how that goes. But it's the first time I had an hard lookers on those after seeing the price. I also picked up what I think will be a commission job. we made a sketch so I can come up with an estimate, and I have the contact information. So pending a quote I have an early winter build maybe an SGU.
The weather was so perfect that I took my time packing up and some folks kept coming by and engaging in conversation and I enjoyed that more than packing, so loading out took me 2 hours, which was fine. I was in no hurry and I knew I would have to deal with the tourists driving home, so I took my time. The show closed at 4 and I was home by about 7.
The net was higher than my running average, but nowhere near what I had hoped for this show, but by noon I had at least covered my costs. I haven't sat down and done the math yet, too pooped out. I got up at 5, left at 6:45, and was home by 7. A long day, but the season has ended until something new comes up. I had a lot of folks complimenting my stuff and inviting me to their shows, but the devil is in the details and the details kill almost all of them. I did get one who is doing a small invitational show with just a few vendors they have selected and they invite me to come, it's indoors and I would have to reduce what I show, but it's at a distillery on Thanksgiving weekend and this gal thought I would be a good fit for their crowd. I'll look into and check it out. It's 2 days, mostly evenings. It might work
Anyway, tomorrow is another day and I'll figure it all out then.
Quotethey said they would be back, but you know how that goes.
In the car business they call them "Be-Backs", right up there with "Gotta-Checkwiths". ffcheesy
Like the little chainsaw chair and table by the trailer wheel. Could make another one then you'd have a set. :thumbsup:
Yeah, I get my share of both at shows. That corner shelf thing I made draws the most of both and at 3 different shows I had folks that were sure they were going to 'buy it on their way out' but I never saw them again. I'd really like to find a home for it because it is a pain to pack and I could fit 2 benches in the same space. Every time somebody looks hard at it, I tell them I can maybe cut a little off the price and they get more interested, but still don't bite.
I am seriously considering lowering some of the prices on some of my pieces, but wonder if I should just mark them down or make new price tags at the lower price. That corner shelf I will mark as a 'sale item' and knock about 20 bucks off it, then see what happens.
Heh, yesterday I had a lady buy one of my keepsake boxes (which I have underpriced) and as she paid me and told me how 'beautiful it is' she said "and I'm not even going to dicker with you on the price". I just said "That's a good choice". Geez, for a $20. ERC box that takes 2 hours to make? To myself I thought, 'this isn't a flea market lady'. Next season I may up the price on those by 75% or so. I blew it when I priced them in the first place.
You'll figure it out Tom
Which shows are the ones to go to, which to avoid.
Where to be located inside the show.
How to make the 'best sellers' in the least amount of time and least cost.
How to deal with the public.
How to price the product.
.
That last detail - how to set your price is one that I'll bet that everyone works on, constantly.
"Geez, for a $20. ERC box that takes 2 hours to make? To myself I thought, 'this isn't a flea market lady'. Next season I may up the price on those by 75% or so. I blew it when I priced them in the first place.".
That was just a learning moment buddy.
Well, I guess I must be a be-back. I went to a small flea market I visit 1-2 times a year. There were not a half dozen there but one had a bunch of tree trimming stuff he was selling and had a gallon of Husquvarna bar oil on his trailer. I asked how much and he said $6 and I said I'd take it for that and did not dicker. I asked if he had any more and he had 3 more of a CAM2 brand Id never heard of but bout all of them too. Heck - its bar oil not jet engine fuel. I'm set for a while now. I normally have to pay $16-$17 per gallon for it.
At my regular flea market half an hour and 20 miles later a lady had a heavy welded bench or table frame. It was a little lower than I make mine at about 12-13 inches high. She started at $15 then said $10 and I told her I'd think about it and stop on the way out. It was wide but I could have mounted a live edge piece to make a table. When I came by a couple hours later it had sold so somebody got a good deal and I won't lose any sleep over it.
Sounds like you got into some good deals Howard. Good on ya.
Andries, of course you are correct on all points and I work on all of those that I can have an influence but I am coming to realize that they mostly apply during normal times and business climates. That's not what we have now between the election cycle being so long this time and the post COVID inflation out of control, things are just whacked.
As for that pricing, yeah, I did blow it on that on those trinket boxes. They came about as an accident. I had oddball leftover parts from cremation box parts and I decided to cut them down and make a little trinket box as a birthday present for a 6 year old young lady's birthday. She loves it and I thought I would make some more to use up all those short pieces. Because I was making them form leftover stock I priced them way too low and never really thought about my actual time and materials. I haven't sold one all season and yesterday I sold two. Time to re-think. Also time to make some more. ffcheesy I found I have one more large one that was at the bottom of thee box in the trailer.
So today after doing my notes up from the show and licking my wounds I cleaned up the trailer and started working on a cremation urn order I have on hand. I also pulled a couple of those coat racks back in the shop to do a little more improvement work on the finishes. I also sanded down the two cookie mirrors I screwed up on Friday and re-poured float coats on them. One is looking good, the other is still a mess, so I will have to do it again, but a lot better this time. No rush now, no shows pending. I glued up about 5 urn boxes with is tedious and started looking at what parts I have for large trinket boxes. I'll have to cut a few more end pieces and I think I have enough shorts and scraps from the urns I can use. These boxes have a lot of steps, I'll just keep plugging along.
I also did some thinking on one show I was invited to at a distillery Thanksgiving weekend. It's a Friday an Saturday evening. I may drive out and talk to them and see the setup. It's indoors and I would not have a full booth, would have to focus on the small stuff and not sure that would make it worth my while. On the other hand, there is a chance it could work out well with a happy lubricated crowd. So I'm thinking on it.
The distillery show sounds like a good place to sell some of those high end benches to me if you can get a good place to display them. Just what popped into my head when I read it. Your booth setup looked really go to me.
The shelves looked to have worked great!
My flea market experience was ok. It was hot pretty quickly, in the 90's, but a very pretty day with big crowds. Prices were hit or miss, some much too high and some low. I picked up a few things to mess around with. My wife has been on a birdhouse kick, and I bought my requisite old fan (of which I have like 20 or something).
I'm finding that I'm getting older and should have stretched before heading out. My body was forsaking me on the way back to the car, and I was very sore on Saturday. This is a big show with lots of ground to cover, but my hips and feet aren't what they used to be.
Yes, those shelves did work great and I have a feeling they are why I sold those two mirrors because they were closer to eye level rather than table height as before.
Well Austin, you may be getting 'older' but you have a long ways before you get 'old' yet. But I get it. Before I retired I imagine my conditioning was similar to yours, working in a big plant I did a lot of walking , a lot of sitting, and not a lot of lifting or climbing until the evenings or weekends. Nowadays I do a lot more physical work and feel better in general, but still it goes by the muscles that get regular use, and the ones that don't will show it when they get used a lot and all of a sudden. For instance Saturday night when I got home my lower legs ached a little from the hundreds of up and down steps into the trailer carrying some weight, and I had foot cramps during the night which are both unusual. I also do not sit much at shows, just for breaks when it's slow, so there is a lot of idle standing which can be tough on the back.
Unrelated, yesterday when I was sorting the trailer I took the one bench I could not fit, and threw in the truck and stored that away, . As I was getting up into the trailer with the weight in my arms I gave a little extra thrust to make the high step and I thrusted the top of my head right into the top of the door frame at speed. Man did that hurt and I saw stars and heard the ocean in my ears for a few seconds. After the initial effects died down, I went back to what I was doing and forgot about it, but the top of my head had a dull ache al day that I barely noticed. Last night, sitting at my desk I did notice it again and felt around for a scab or something. No scab, but I had a good sized knot on my dome that hurt when I touched it. I have whacked my head on that frame dozens of times now and I have to figure something out.
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Pat, on the face of it that Distillery event does seem good, but the devil is in the details and I have to check those out. It is indoors, my booth will be small, maybe 10x10 at best, I will have to pick and choose my stock and leave all the big stuff home. I might get in a couple of benches. I am thinking about it. Also, it is in the evenings running from around 3-8pm on two successive nights. That means an hour drive each way with half the driving in the dark on a holiday weekend. I am considering bringing my trailer out and locking it up in their parking lot for the duration so I have all my stock available to use as replacements. It's a lot to think about and it's on my mind. Selling one cherry bench would make it worthwhile though.
It's time to et back at it and keep plugging along.
One sales idea would be to make a few of your wooden bottle and can cozies, and put some bottles of the distillery "house brand" in them. :thumbsup:
a bunch of cute smalls would be easy to sell and store and display. got to find that 5 or 10 dollar cute as heck (maybe your wife can help) item that take 10 minutes to make. Then there is something for the ones that just want to buy something. like at an auction or pawn shop. the card and device holders come to mind.
Someone who is inspired by a bench you have there but specifies size and wood type, that is custom. It should not necessarily be the same price as the bench they saw made from what wood and size was available.
Sure wish you would hit the jackpot at one of these shows.
Doc,
"Hitting the jackpot at one of these shows" could be the worst possible scenario! :uhoh:
It would be like hitting a jackpot the first time you played the slots or winning a big pot at poker. Then you get to expecting it and keep on trying till you lose it all and more. ffcheesy (But we all keep trying anyway.)
Res, that's a good idea that already crossed my mind, but this is a distillery, not a bre2wery, so the bottles are likely larger and not sold in '6 packs'. ffcheesy In any event I would need a couple of their bottles to figure something out. I haven't given up on that idea, but I have to see what they have first.
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Doc, I have all the 'cut smalls' that I have thought of to make so far, looking for ideas as always. Nothing takes 10 minutes. Even those device stands take longer than that, especially the finishing, which is what sells them, but the last batch I did was about 60 of them at a clip, so the overall time was reduced over the group. I usually only sell 1-3 per show.
The issue with smalls is that they don't sell for much, so I could move a bunch and still not do well at all at a show. I need smalls, sometimes they make the difference in a total loss and covering at least my costs, but they aren't going to pay my taxes or beer bill.
Hitting the lottery may be a safer gamble than this show stuff.
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I did just make a follow-up call on that show and got some details. Although not ideal conditions and layout and my display are might be quite small there are 'options' for non-traditional displays. It comes down to what will work within the building and ongoing bar business during the show hours. They are open minded and possibly a split display or something. I may take a drive out on Saturday to see the layout and talk to the owner about options. The owner is not organizing the show, he will be off selling hi own merch at a wine show that weekend. This is being organized by some local crafters. They have curated this show and only invited higher end artists because they only have room for 10 or so vendors. This gal saw my stuff and thought I was a good fit and would do well, plus compliment the other vendors. So I will think hard on it. The price is right (fair but not free by any means). Pending further research, I am thinking about doing it more than not.
Gotta get back to work in the shop.
How about making some of those one wine bottle holders? The kind where you drill a hole at one end, at an angle, and cut the other end at 45°> the bottle magically balances horizontally. Should be quick, easy and cheap but sell for $5-10?
I am not familiar John, got a link?
Google "balancing wine bottle holder" and it pops up a bunch of pictures. There was a couple made from what looks like branches. Right up your alley!
Oh OK, I got ya Tom. Booze not beer. Still could make a wooden caddy to carry a bottle and glasses, like of a wooden shot glass chachki. (Not to be confused with a wooden shot glass shot-ski). ffcheesy
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Haven't made any for about 3 years now. Edit....this is one made by my friend Jake at Ol loggin sawmill.
The hot item is cheese boards. Even better are soap stands and bath boards. The bath boards span the tub and the lady can put her phone, book, snacks and whatever on it while soaking.
I only make this stuff when requested, usually by a reseller as I don't do much live selling.
If there are any home distillers going to the show and you have white oak you can look up info about quick-aging bourbon. Basically, as I understand it, you distill your spirits, and add a charred chunk (spirals seem popular but I've seen just a chunk is more preferable) of white oak to the bottle and leave it sit for a bit, but not nearly as long (or expensive) as putting in in a barrel for several years.
There may be some appeal for your local oak (not sure if you have any there, but I think so!) charred up in a cheap mason jar with a neat label on it "Local White Oak, for aging your Whiskey!". It doesn't get a whole lot cheaper or non-time consuming than that. Sold for 10 bucks for five 1x1x3s with some flame on them. I see them on Amazon for more than that.
To that point, as well in Distillery mode, I had a smoked Old Fashion in a restaurant a few months back. I liked it a lot and found you can buy smoking kits. Basically, a 4x4x2 chunk of wood with a inch and half hole in the middle with a screen in it, dump a variety of wood chips in it and torch it. I have hickory, oak, cherry, pecan, I think? I've gotten some in bags, bulk style (like a pound each) or something and small ones in little aluminum tins (about the size of a tobacco dip can). It's just wood chips. I'd think you could get the tins for like a buck a piece and again sell a couple of them for 10 bucks. Check out Whiskey Smoker Kits to see what I'm going for. Granted, that could include finding torches for them too, but that could take it to 30+ bucks real quick. Some folks may be repeat customers for your chips.
Well, thanks very much for all the input fellas. I do not expect anyone at this show to be the sort who actually makes anything themselves. The demographic I am told is that they are all weekenders and city folk. Woodchips and other distilling supplies are something I could make to order, but I am not going to spend time developing and packaging stuff that I know will wind up in my woodstove. We have a distilling supply store locally already that has all the stuff and more, no point in trying to compete with a long established and well known business. We also have a barrel maker in this state that makes and sells barrels from 1 gallon up to 50 gallons, so those are available also locally.
There will be a guy there selling the cheese boards and such and even if I wanted to make those, I would have to develop my process and there is little time for that. The market is already flooded with them around here even more so than birdhouses.
That bottle holder is interesting and I don't want to insult anyone who would make or buy one, but it strikes me as the stupidest thing I have ever seen. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy Takes a lot of space for one bottle and has to be on a flat surface that won't get bumped. Still, I may just make one just to see if anyone bites. But space is SO tight at this show, I may not have room to display it. Maybe I will play with some variations or something. I try to makes things, or versions of them, that nobody else makes. Maybe that's not the right way to think, I dunno, but I sure don't want to be at a show where there is another booth with the same basic stuff as me, but that guy prices it to get rid of it without regard to his/her time invested. It came close to that 3 shows back and folks compared his stuff to mine but his prices were literally give away at cost without time, so he moved a lot of stuff. I talked to him and he said he likes to make stuff and prices it so that it sells and he can have fun making more. His stuff required a lot of handwork time, but not the technical joining and finishing time mine does. His stuff will likely never survive as long as mine will. He told me he priced things to cover his costs and materials and did not include time. I cannot and will not try to compete with that and it's why I shy away from certain types of products and focus on more unique stuff. Now if it turns out I learn of a need from this show and we do it again, I can easily see me coming up with something to serve that need. I don't want to do any blind speculation is all. I need research and feedback to drill into what is truly desirable.
All ideas are good, they just may not be the ideas for me, at this time and place.
Tom,
Stop beating around the bush! Tell us how you really feel about the bottle holder. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
As I said Howard, I meant absolutely no offence to anyone. Perhaps some context is needed here. Just because I thought it was stupid, doesn't mean I wouldn't make one (or even more than one), I just meant it usefulness to society was pretty frivolous. Having said that, I just made one between waiting for glue to dry this morning. Now I am working on a way to do something more unique that others probably wouldn't make. In the process I will wind up with some firewood, I'm sure. ffcheesy
Photos tonight when i have something worth uploading. I am bouncing between 4 or 5 projects today.
Tom,
If it pans out maybe you can move on to your next project of making firewood logs out of small strips of of scrap wood. You can run them through a planer and table saw and cut them to precise angles, check the moisture content then glue them together in special clamps to precise tensions using eco friendly organic glues and sell them for about 1 percent of the cost to make them.
If you write up the process in sufficient detail and run them through a couple of high priced legal firms and hire a lobbyist or two you can probably get government funding for the project. You will have to hire a few crippled, blind, minority, ex-con/recovering drug addict workers and pay them exorbitant wages with liberal breaks and vacation and medical time off.
You are confused. being useful and adding to society is not what these folks are looking for. you need the easy to make chunk of wood with a hole drill in it and a miter cut on each that makes the woman go "oh, we need to get one of those for so and so', or "one of those for all my sister in-laws" ect. It may be junk, but there is a profit margin in scrap wood with no special construction. and maybe a wipe on wipe off poly. one coat. ffsmiley
Well said Doc.
Well I meant to say in my previous post that just because I think something is stupid, doesn't mean I won't make it. I have made things of my own design the whole while saying to myself 'this is really stupid', but I made it anyway, just for fun. When it comes to 'stupid' sometimes I'm your huckleberry. ffcheesy
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So I actually made about 6 of these stupid things today playing around. All the wood I used either came from the firewood pile or the scrap box.
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I didn't have a full wine bottle, and these bottles have been sitting around waiting for re-cycle for a long time so I filled them with water for ballast.
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I even tried to make one out of a very small piece and managed to balance either a beer bottle or full one, but it's a very tricky balance.
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So after that and the other work I did today, I brought them in the house and asked the wife if she wanted to see the new product I made today. She said "OK, what did you make now?" I proudly announced " It's a piece of firewood with a hole in it!" I was so proud. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy But yeah, you guys are right, if people buy it, who am I to judge?
I guess these will sell like my device stands, about $12bucks a pop. I have to make some that will hold longer wine bottles and figure out the sixes for the different bottles, there will be several sizes and that makes it a bit of a pain unless I make them out of pine lumber.
I am running out of ERC firewood slabs though.
Wow those just stand on edge and aren't mounted to a base? Crazy. :wacky:
It's just some black magic I had left over from a deal I made with the devil a few years back. ffcheesy ffcheesy
that is why people like them. looks great Tom. You did say all that before. ffsmiley
People will spend money on all kinds of trinkets, Tom. So why not a balance board? ffcheesy ffcheesy
Tom,
If this becomes a hit and you start hiring help, I would like to be in charge of emptying the display bottles. smiley_beertoast
Whoa Tom! I literally said "Oh sh--!" out loud. Stupid they may be but you did a great job on them! The live edge is a look I haven't seen with these and it looks cool.
twar- let me know if the job becomes too much for you!
I would gear them toward wine bottles. the idea is they need to be stored lying flat to keep the cork wet. many have screw on lids now anyway. But look at the fuss you generated here with a bunch of crusty old men, just think what the women (no offense intended) will do. ffcool
I kept forgetting in the last few posts to say Thank You to John for the suggestion in the first place. I know I said they are stupid, and frankly, they are. But as others have pointed out, it only matters what the buyer thinks, not me. If nothing else, it may serve as a gimmick to draw folks into the booth.
I'll go back through the kindling box again today and see if I have any long enough for a standard wine bottle. BTW Doc, they don't use natural corks anymore, they use plastic because of concerns with bacteria, so no longer a need to keep it wet.
P.S. to Twar: These things won't work if the bottle is empty, so I am afraid your position will be 'surplused' before you even start. Sorry man. :wink_2:
there are some that do, but that was the original "rational" but now they just look cool. all the wine refrigerators, still have them lying down. Nostalgia.
It'll be funny when you have a set of them on display and they all domino over.
Well, it'd be funny to me.
Well it wouldn't be funny to me. But if I do this next show, I don't know that I would even have room for more than one or two. I'll keep the rest in a box under the table. I peeled some more ERC slabs today and figured out where to put the hole for standard wine bottles. I'll work on those later. I have too much stuff on the benches now.
For whatever it's worth, there were over 15 million Chia Pets sold last year.
I know you do not have an engraver, but you can make these from a scrap 3.5 x 12 inches by drilling three holes in a board, and then opening the outside 2 holes with a funnel oening with a jig saw. 1/8th inch round over, finish and donw. I keep the blanks around and then make them as wedding gifts. I engrave the glasses as a keepsake also.
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The wine is from the local winery owned and operated by retired ortho doc Jim Lairmore. He was also in my woodworking buddies' thread. i think it is an inch and an eighth hole.
Nice idea. Looks expandable for additional glasses also.
I have made them to hold 4 glasses like for 2 couples. these are typical wedding gifts. If made un engraved, the end used can get that done, or you can collaborate with a local person if they exist. seems you may have found someone there. Cheers Rob! Godspeed Tom!
You could also make some "Hooey sticks". That is what we always called them. A notched stick with a propeller. Vibrate another stick on the notches and the propeller spins. Say the magic word (Hooey or Hoodoo) and the propeller reverses directions.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+a+hooey+stick&rlz=1C1JJTC_enUS1025US1025&oq=how+to+make+a+hooey+stick&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDINCAEQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAIQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBDIKCAcQABiABBiiBDIKCAgQABiABBiiBNIBCDg5NDhqMGo0qAIAsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5d871597,vid:NYmSP_gOPTc,st:167
Tom if the typical big spender is around 50 then they have grand kids. for higher money, consider things like children's benches or even rustic rocking chairs. you can make the joints with your tenon cutter and Forstner bit. Grandmas cannot resist stuff for the little ones.
(https://i.etsystatic.com/7913334/r/il/245d4b/906895988/il_794xN.906895988_7ysr.jpg)
I did not make this, and it is an adult chair. a child one could be simpler, (fewer stringers ect.) and I would use half logs for the arms back and seat. or even a solid seat.
We had a rocking chair like that one :thumbsup: but with bark on the seat and back. I think my great grandfather made that and that was a mighty long time ago. It was originally up at the fish camps, he and grandfather were guides and ran those camps. That was before hydro dams up here on the Tobique. The dam went in in ~'53.
You guys are sure creating a lot of work for me. ffcheesy I suppose I will try those bottle/glass holders at some point. But the chair would carry a pretty hefty price for the work and I think I would have a hard time aligning all those mortise holes. I can make some of these little thingies and see what sells, but I am running out of room on my tables pretty soon, for sure. But I need to find what sells reliably and I don't know if that is possible, every show is different.
But I do firmly believe that P.T. Barnum was correct in his assessment of the buying public.
make one this winter and next year take it and put "not for sale" and see what a grandma tries to offer to buy it. take orders. Grandmas be crazy!!! ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Not a bad idea/tactic Doc, but I am going to pass on it for a while. Until I have a working bandsaw that I can cut the runners with, it's a not starter. Also, I would need branch stock that is dried and I don't have any of that either.
Back around show number 3 or 4 I had a Grandma that asked for child sized rockers and I told her I lacked the proper equipment and materials, but as we talked I got the idea that she thought she could buy a pair of rockers for a little over $100 bucks since my stools were only $45 (at the time). I am sure if she saw $250 on a small rocker she would not even slow down as she passed by.
I am getting the strong feeling that larger items which I carry to show after show are not worth it. The exception being the lower end finished rustic benches in the $150 range. I am going to try to knock out a pile of stools this winter from ERC slabs as soon as I can locate a supply of branch stock for legs. I have sold about 10 stools so far this summer I think.
I think I will play with that stick thing that Howard suggested. I often get smaller kids looking to buy 'something' with the saved up money and that would be a good one for them. I have a 'Child's first toolbox' in my booth and a little boy saw it and got all excited and asked me if it "was only 25 cents?!" I burst his bubble when I told him it was $25. I would have loved to compromise, but that was a little far to go.
And at 250$ for a chair you are loosing money, it will take you at least 1.5 days to make one, if you're a quick worker, then oil or paint it. make that 2 days. with the material costs, drying of the lumber forget that
Agreed Ramon. My gut feeling for a chair like that is around $450. There is little chance I could make one in 2 days unless I had a bunch of jigs and tooling made up in advance to get the holes square and true so it assembles properly. I see it as nightmare for a guy at my skill level, which means I may try it at some point, just because. ffcheesy But I need my band saw operational and I sure would like a better way to make perfect tenons, like a lathe. I'd also likely have to buy a 1" tenon cutter. I have a lot of other stuff on the list ahead of it.
In school it was known that if you have a couch to get rid of and put a free sign on it, no one wants it. put a 25-dollar sign, and someone will steal it. people be crazy.
Well unfortunately Doc that logic is not applying here. smiley_smug01 In fact, polite and personable as I am, I am getting really tired of all the folks that tell me my stuff is 'beautiful' and that it is priced too low, but the very same folks almost never buy anything. The reasoning is stuff like 'We are downsizing', 'I have no place it would fit in my home', 'I live in an apartment that has no more room', etc. etc.
Sticking with the 'get something done every day' ethic I went out and flocked up 5 more keepsake boxes. After no sales all season, I sold two at the last show. I had all the parts precut, so it was just glue, sand, and finish. It might be a 2-3 year supply. In any event the price is going up on these.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240928_105212223.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=355863)
I am a little sore after setting up all the hardware for my wife's booth at her biggest and (hopefully) final show of the year. It took two hours just to set the canopies, shelves, racks, and tables up yesterday. She gets there at first light and begins the layout and merch setup today. My daughter helps with that. She does not prep her shows like I do mine and it drives me crazy which makes for a tough couple of hours dealing with it. I will do the reverse on Sunday to break it down and it will be dark when we get home. She's been doing this one for 20 years and paid nearly $300 for her booth space this year. There is usually a waiting list for new vendors at this one.
So I may take the hour drive out to that distillery today and check it out. My ack feels slightly better than it has the last 3 days.
"I went out and flocked up 5 more keepsake boxes."
Keeping it light Tom. you know we all are rooting for you. The boxes look great, I would not say you flocked them up at all. :wink_2: ffsmiley also I like that green stuff you put on them! :wink_2: :thumbsup: :uhoh: :usa: ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffwave ffcool rayrock ffsmiley
Well those are definitely flocked up no matter how they look. ffcheesy (Hence the green stuff :wink_2: ). When they dry I gently brush all the flocked surfaces with a clean dry 1" paint brush to loosen and remove any loose flocking. They come out looking pretty nice if I do say so myself and I am surprised at how far these flocking materials go. I have done 10-12 boxes with this kit and not even close to needing more materials yet.
After that last post I went and searched online for 'Cedar Keepsake Box" and found that most are between $100 and $300 for a slightly larger box. I was charging $20 for these, but I was going to adjust them to $30 now I am wondering if $30 is enough?
I also noted a lot of these are sold with no finish on the inside, probably for the scent effect and wondering if I should try that, particularly on my urns. Finishing the inside, especially on a small box is a real pain and consumes a bunch of time. Now I am wondering if they are more appealing unfinished (inside)?
easy to check by leaving some unfinished. and if you sell all the finished ones, you then finish the leftovers. can you do a thread with more info on the flocking. I may have done it as a kid with reference to material source etc.? a step by step. if and when you have time. I have 6 jewelry boxes to finish for my buddy Frank, who passed away.
or a video if you still do those.
Yeah, If I had known a few hours ago, I may have only flocked up two of them.
Just as, if I had known you wanted details a few hours ago it would have been easy to do. It's pretty simple, I got the kit from Klingspor's which is just the flocking, the flocking adhesive/paint, and the flocking dispenser.
You paint the surfaces with the adhesive, place the thing in a plastic tub (to catch to overblow) and blow the flock onto the surfaces with the dispenser. No worry about using too much, just get good coverage all around. Then take a dry brush and wipe off the loose stuff from non flocked areas and allow to dry. The collect all the overblown stuff in the tub and save it back in the storage for the next time so there is no waste. When the paint is cured up, lightly brush the flocked surfaces to remove the loose stuff and it's done. Collect any loosened material for re-use if there is enough, usually not.
OGH
Is your wife's booth profitable for her invested time/$$ spent supplying and working it? Or pretty much a pit like yours has been?
can you throw some smalls out at your wife's venues with some cards in the future?
Doc, there might be. I will see what she has left after this final show and see if anything fits. Some shows limit vendors to one 'type' of product, so I have to use caution. It's a thought though. Some stuff will look good and maybe sell, if I have room.
Beenthere: A pit? Really?! That's pretty strong and frankly a bit nasty if I do say so. I have worked my Ash off trying to figure this thing out and I am a year and a half into it making adjustments and learning with every show. My wife has been at it for well over 2 decades and she also worked dang hard at it. She had a LOT of bad shows as she figured it out and found what worked. Still in all that time I don't think it is profitable for all the time and work she puts in, but it has brought in a decent amount of cash over those many years none the less. We are both just hard working slobs trying to pay our bills and get through life. A pit? So what are you suggesting? I should just give up and try to sell my wife's leftovers? Or maybe just give up and quit trying to get it right? Anybody who has ever started a new venture should know you have to figure it out, make adjustments and create a success for themselves. That takes a bit of time and a lot of sweat. OK, you are the expert, tell me what I should do. Geez man.
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So today I took the afternoon and drove out to this distillery and checked it out, met the owner and the gal who is co-organizer. Both very nice folks. Looks like they can carve me out a spot where I can fit in. We will work it out as we go and we will have a fair amount of time to set up and work it out. So I will do this one and see how it goes. Nothing ventured... Also, I learned today it is a brewsitllery, meaning they have a brewer and a distillery in that same building, so maybe I can have a beer while 'my pit' is not selling anything. ffcheesy
Maybe back to taking some 6 pack carriers?
https://jayscustomcreations.com/2013/05/mini-picnic-table-condiment-holders/
A couple of the vendors at our local flea market have started making and marketing these mini-picnic table condiment holders. I don't think they sell a lot at a time but sometimes a person comes by and buys all they have. I suspect the real market for these might be restaurant supply places to sell to new food places opening up where they would need 40-50 at a time. I don't know how long it would take to set up to make them in mass production or if there would be enough mark-up to make them worth the effort.
Good luck and keep your chin up (It makes it easier to hit ffcheesy).
I've carried them all along and will have some there no doubt. they move depending on the crowd.
Didn't mean to be nasty Tom. Just going by what you have been describing regards the past several events. Sorry, didn't mean any offense.
Moving along... To be more clear (I had missed Howard's post somehow) I bring an 8 pack, 4 pack, and 6 pack carrier to each show plus a 6 pack bottle along with any spares I might have. Every once in a while one moves but not fast enough for me to keep making more just yet.
As for those picnic table things, I had never seen that before. It might sell well in the spring/early summer or for a restaurant I guess. I'll think on it but not sure what I could charge for something like that. Howard, what have you seen for pricing?
I'm headed back out to the shop, then around 5 I will go help the wife close up her last show...ever.
Tom,
I asked my friend today and he says he sells his for $25 each. The ones he had today were made of red cedar and I asked him where he got the cedar and he said it was from an old picket fence he had taken down then planed it thin.
They are eye catchers and a family could typically use 1-2 but I'd bet the money would be in setting up a restaurant or such.
Price seems reasonable. I looked at the link and it appears the item is just glued together. I think I would like to place some staples in there. I'll have to look around and see if I can come up with some stock to try a couple out. As you say they catch the eye and I have yet to see any around here. Having stuff that nobody else has is important.
I'll let you know if anything transpires but right now I am pretty much out of thin stock or I might have made one by now. :wink_2: I also have to look for some of those condiment bottles for sizing.
Tom,
I just grabbed the link as a sample. The guy today did have his pieces stapled. I could see brads used also but I agree and would use more than just the glue but that is just me.
I just show the item as an idea. You may figure out another design using scrap wood or make a condiment tree with a rough log on a lazy Susan base with holes bored in at an angle with different size holes for different bottle/shaker sizes. (Hey, maybe I just hit on a new product. Try some and if it makes any money feel free to send me some of it. ffcheesy)
This may be a use for mushroom logs that don't pan out.
Maybe a utensil tree with spatulas, large spoons, ladles, forks, etc.
The last couple of days have not been very productive. Thursday I had to sit and wait for the burner service guy to come and do the annual cleanup and tune-up 'between 10am and 2pm' Of course, he showed up at 1:30, so I wasted a lot of time just piddling in the house.
In the meantime, one of our cats was not looking so good with weakness in her hind end and very sensitive in that region. She was not getting around well at all and I was concerned. She walk 3 steps and lay down. So we called and got an appointment for 10:30 yesterday. She is 10 years old and I was fearing the worst based on past history with all the cats I've had.
But as it turned out she is in good shape except for low body weight and muscle mass, which she has always had even though she eats regularly. Turns out she has hyperthyroidism. Her 'number' is at 16 and it should be around 1 or 2. Treatable with meds and she seems to already be responding and doing better. She found a hiding spot when we got home and slept all day, only coming out around 8pm. Quite the bill for a short visit, but we got a family discount which saved a lot. Now we will have meds to buy for her duration and those pill pockets to make her eat them. I am searching around for the least cost source of Felimazole 2.5 mg tablets and feline chicken pill pockets if anyone knows a low cost seller. This is all assuming she passes her blood tests when we take her back in two weeks.
I have gotten a little work done. I finished off two more mirrors on Wednesday and got a shipment out. I put out word on my FB page that was looking for 2" diameter ERC branches to try making legs out of. A friend has several trees and offered me whatever I wanted. SO yesterday I went over in the afternoon and trimmed off several from an 18" tree. Turns out he will want that one down when he finishes he second floor addition and deck to improve his lovely mountain sunset view. An easy drop right on the front lawn, but a ton of cleanup with all those branches. I would get a nice load of lumber out of the logs, even with the rot loss. No rush to take it down, but if I need it, I can come get it.
Today and maybe tomorrow I have to make up for lost time at the mill. Still have to finish the shed order and now I have another order for something called a 'Hawk House'. About 1,600BF or so.
It's another day and the sun is shining.
Good luck with the cat.
I think the last cat we had was about 18 years old. She had lost some of her teeth. Ate mostly cat food from can or sachet, which were soft morsels. We had her put down in the end, needle injection. She was a friendly cat. She's in a pet cemetery. Never really gave her a name, just cat.
Well my little kitty is doing much better since recovering from the trauma of yesterday and all those strangers hands on her. She slept all day in a hidey hole I cannot find. She seems back to herself today. Hopefully with the meds she will improve in the coming weeks and put a little weight on, she needs it.
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So today I got to the mill before 10 with the intent of blowing through all the logs on the deck. I almost did that, but had my share of little issues. First, the motor pinion on the moveable blade guide was slipping. those two little tiny set screws loosened up. I got them snugged up best I could without removing the motor and it worked mostly. The hemlock logs I had were poor and smallish. But I got a few 6x6's out then realized I did not turn on the blower again. When I went to do that, it wouldn't start, nor would it even hum. SO I hiked up the hill and found the wire had gotten pushed around and the plug had pulled out of the socket, just holding by the ground pin. I stuck is back in, clamored back down the cliff and it fired right up. Of course my thighs were shot. Got it all running and got one 6x6 out of that 3rd log only to find it riddled with shake, so that became a 4x6 to make stacking horses (Bill's new idea). AT the end of that log, the pinion came loose again, but with Bill there we could jog it back and forth while one of us watched it and felt for the flat on the shaft. Maybe it's tight now, if not, the next time it slips I will pull the whole motor off and fix it right. Since Bill was in and out as I worked we got involved in other stuff here and there. 4.5 hours at the mill and I got very little lumber made. There is one 22" but really pithy EWP on the deck left and we took a cookie off the end to check the condition and found a dark stain. Inga had fun working the metal detector and she actually found 2 16 penny nails we dug out, head and all. We took 2 feet off one end and a foot off the other and Inga pronounced the log 'clean'.
Tomorrow I'll go down and finish that big one off, probably all 2x4's anyway, rake some of the junk out from under the mill (it's building up again) and find some logs for the upcoming week.
I got home around 3, had a sammich and went out in the shop and peeled the rest of those ERC branch legs with a draw knife. I find draw knife work weirdly satisfying, especially on green wood, the shavings just peel off so nice and clean with a sharp knife.
I am pooped out tonight, probably hit the rack early.
Tomorrow is another day.
Tom,
What is a "hawk house" inquiring minds...
I am not precisely clear on it either, but the end client intends to keep his birds of prey in there. Yeah, I'm curious too.
Well yesterday I put more board footage on the bunks in one hour than I did on Saturday in 4.5 hours. All I did was mill up the one remaining log, about 22" EWP, but pretty straight and only 9' long. Nothing went wrong. I was home by noon, texted the boss with a log list for what is upcoming (about a dozen logs) and he texted me back in the evening with info on the logs he did put on the deck. I have several days work now. I guess this bird house has taken priority over the woodshed because I have the lumber made for the deck and there is a bunch of prep work to do before they can build that deck on site.
I am not looking forward to milling this 6x8x14' header and getting it off the mill. I'll have to go find a machine, find forks for it, bring it down, get the thing off and find a place for it.
The last 3 afternoons I have been messing in the shop peeling branches with a draw knife to try and make some legs directly from branches this fall/winter. At first I thought it might be quicker than all the steps required to make the octagonal legs. Now I can see that peeling probably takes a lot longer. I find the work relaxing and satisfying on green wood and sweat generating on partially dried wood. So I have a bunch peeled and they are up in the attic drying now.
While peeling, I had another idea for leg construction that will add one more step to the octagonal process but would make and interesting leg and maybe remove to other steps. I am going to look around this afternoon after the mill work and see if I have some stock to test out. This would be something I haven't seen anyone else do, so maybe there is a reason? Of course it's also the kind of thing where folks could easily say "But why would you want to do that?" and I can only answer the question by saying 'I thought it would look cool'. Only one way to find out. Have I made you curious? Stay tuned as I think this through.
Oh well, it's another day.
Shipment arrived Tom gals were excited. They looked good. ffsmiley
Glad it arrived ok Pat.
Well I am in a groove I guess, or maybe it's a rut. Been to the mill every day for at least a couple hours of work, then either run errands or back to the shop. Today was just 'back to the shop, Still doing 6x6's and side lumber for this hawk house build. I got another chunk done today but ran out of steam after a few hours. First time this season I wore a light jacket to the mill and kept it on....for the first 20 minutes of work, then down to a shirt for an hour, then down to a t-shirt. I left with a soaking t-shirt.
I might finish up the logs on the deck tomorrow if all goes well. Then I came back to the shop and after lunch I went back to working on those new legs. These are glue-ups, using 1-1/2 x 3/4 ERC cutoffs from other jobs. 2 pieces face glued make a 1-1/2 square (all oversized a little). So I ripped the glue-ups to final size, then I out the chamfers on them, they look pretty good. I ran the tenon tool over the ends then sanded them to fit and blended then blended the shoulders in. They still look good. :wink_2: What I really want to try is a 4 piece glue-up with contrasting woods, but that's coming. I was getting ready to square up a stool bottom (top?) when Bill pulled in. I have a stack of his Ash cookies here and one still needed to be run through the drum sander, but it was too big for me to handle alone, so I had the machine setup and he did the heavy lifting. The cookie was about 30 x 45" and took a little while and a lot of dust but we got it done. He left I cleaned up the mess and rolled the machine back off to the side and went back to the stool, but no sooner did I start thinking the Bill's carpenter showed up to find out what I had milled up for the hawk house specifically. He is going to start building tomorrow. SO we compared his cut list and my mill list. I need to get him one more 6x6, but that was the next on my list for the first log up tomorrow. So we are in pretty good shape, but I guess I have to plug on a little harder.
Granite, I did learn a little more about this build. Apparently it is for keeping birds of prey and the client needs to have it inspected by 'someone' to get his permit/license to house any birds in it. He's got some very particular requirements, such as no inside exposed joint or protrusions where the bird(s) might catch a wing, no concrete or wood floor, only round gravel or stones and some other things like that. So the framing is going on the outside and the wall boards will be on the inside presenting a smooth finish. The ceiling will be 1x10's covering the underside of the roof and purlins. The sills (all PT) will be set about 6 inches below grade to prevent escape. Anyway, this s
should be interesting.
So Billy (the carpenter) left around 6 and that was the end of today for me. I am pretty tired but have to get back at the mill in the morning and keep him going, at least with his input I know what he needs next and this build is an 'on site' job that is between my place and the mill, so we are keeping it local for sure. ffcheesy I am pretty much done with all the tougher wood, the 6x8x14's and 6x6' etc. Now it should go faster with a lot of 1x and 2x material. Hoping to finish him off before we leave for VT on Saturday morning for our annual trip. I am surely working full days now with little slack time.
And tomorrow I can do it again.
If it's possible to get a picture of the constructed bird house, when it's done, I'd love to see it!
Well I will surely try because I am just as curious about it, as well as the circumstances. As far as I know, these are city folk. Since I have to pass the house going to and from the mill, it should be easier than most. In fact, you have been past that house and I am sure you recall it, it had a waterfall and is a stone house above the road.
I may stop in there today as it is my understanding that the 'footings' are already dug in, so I may throw that last 6x6 right in the truck and drop it off on my way out. He has a long material list for this one including wire fencing for the porch area, PT wood, hinges, and hardware. This won't be built in a week as he also has feeder ports and such to build into it, roosts, and such like that.
Something different for sure.
Another day in the books. Got to the mill and finished up the timbers for the bird house and tried to make the 2x8 rafters but only had one 10 foot log so I just managed to squeeze 3 out of that skinny thing. Only have 8 foot logs left on the deck. I made the side lumber into 1x4 purlins. I loaded up all the big stuff and delivered it to the site. Ran into Bill and asked him to fetch me down some 10 foot logs so I could finish up the rafters, also need a 14' log for some parts.
It ain't much to look at yet, but you asked for a photo, so here is what's up so far.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241009_120131880_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356004)
Came home and worked on a stool.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241009_160919385.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356003)
Bill showed up around 3:30 and he and another buddy picked up all those huge cookies that I have been storing all summer since we sanded them. They left and a half hour later Billy (the carpenter) showed up to tell me that the 10' rafters have been changed to 12' meaning the ones I cut today just became dunnage. smiley_smug01 Also, the 10' logs that Bill put up this afternoon have to be changed to 12'. They were ahead of me and it's already done. Billy will meet me at the mill in the morning and tail for me so I can get all his rafters done, I need to get well ahead of him so I can go to VT this weekend and he can keep working. I also lose a day or more to mushroom logs next week, so there is that. I have an order to deliver by next Friday.
I think I'll be in bed early again tonight.
I do recall that house. That birdhouse is huge! Neat project!
This is really an aviary and will be broken into sections with a screened in porch. It will make more sense as it progresses. Billy will be helping me tail at the mill this morning so I can get more of his wood cut up before the weekend. At some point I think his rapid progress will slow a bit as he works through some of the unusual requirements on this thing. For instance, all framing in on the outside and the inside walls need to be clean and smooth with not structural parts showing. Getting the 14' headers up and rafters on will also be a challenge for a one man job. 2 men have a tricky time carrying a 6x8x14 let alone setting it up at 10'.
Probably gonna be a longer session today, I have to get rolling.
I'd imagine Bill may have some equipment you could borrow to help set the header, rather than you guys throwing it up by hand! (I guess I shouldn't loan out other guys' tools!)
If we can indiscriminately spend other people's money, can't we loan the tools of someone we are just acquainted with?
Well guys, I know this might be confusing, but this is actually Bill's job and client. His carpenter, Billy, is doing the work as he works for Bill, so there is no borrowing needed. Also this location is precisely one mile of private road from Bill's yard. So they can, and do, drive any dang piece of gear down there they might need. There is a teeny mini-ex on site but it doesn't have a lot of reach. At any rate, they got the headers up yesterday afternoon. Austin, you might get a kick out of this. It's been 30 years since I was up on this property and I had forgotten about the pool that feeds that waterfall you saw. This pool is what is called 'dry laid stone' meaning there is no mortar used in it's construction. It's an old and dying art, but when done correctly will last many hundreds of years. Done wrong it will collapse in a couple of decades. I had forgotten how elaborate this pool is, or maybe I never saw it dry, we haven't had any real rain in a while now.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241010_131007142_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356016)
The pool is fed from runoff coming under the driveway I took the photo from. It enters into a deeper pool and when that fills it over spills into a wider rectangular pool, the when it all fills, it spills over the rectangular cut you can see at the far end, which is the waterfall seen from the road. If the inflow is really high and fast, it spills off the side into another stone trench on the left (barely visible in this photo) to handle more runoff. Further, there is a 1-1/2" drain pipe in that main pool so that if there is no inflow to that pool, it will drain out over a couple of days. It's an amazing little piece of engineering.
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Well today was a much longer day than I planned on working for sure. As I said, Billy was tailing for me so I knew I had to get him back to his actual work rather than help me. I kept things moving and we had some bad logs to get out of the way but we filled his truck with the stuff he really needed and he left at noon with a smile and enough lumber to get him into next week. I continued his order with one more log after he left, did a better cleaning than usual, swapped out a full slab rack for an empty (my last) and checked in with Billy on my way home. I told him I expect to finish all his lumber tomorrow. I texted Bill I need one more 14' log. Had lunch and was back in my shop by 2:30 and started working on a epoxy pour when Bill texted and asked if I could come down to the mill and run the transit while he dug 'the' trench. Now this trench is the one we have been talking about for 3 years to drain the water from around the mill deck and allow us to finally grade the area for more efficient working with no ice ponds in the winter and no frog breeding pond in the summer. I finished my pour and got there in 20 minutes. :wink_2: He was just doing a quick run through with the transit to see where and how much he had to cut. So he dug and I followed checking his work and keeping the pitch on track. Then we ran up the hill and grabbed 60' of 6" pipe from his stock and set that, then Bill started bring in some shale and finally starting just peeling the bedrock shale from the high side and grading down to the pipe. He had an appointment at 5:30 and I thought I would only be there half an hour, but in just two hours we had the pipe in and 2/3's of it back filled. There is a bunch of grading to do and for now I can't drive my truck through there, but the mill operation is unimpeded and in fact greatly improved. So much easier to drive and drop a log on the deck now even before the grading is done. We finished off by loading that last 14' log on the deck and then beat it out of there. Less than 2 hours work and likely he will finish the grading with Inga over the weekend because that is fun Daddy/Daughter work for them. Maybe Inga will get some loader time. :wink_2: That area where the skid steer sits is all going to be filled up the level of where Bill is standing.
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Yeah, a longer day than I thought and I am too tired to eat. It never broke 62° today, I started with a jacket for a while, then a shirt for most of the day until we started on the trench and I put on a hooded sweatshirt. My fingers were getting cold with the breeze.
One more day of pushing hard tomorrow and hopefully I can get out the lumber Billy needs so I can get that off my mind and enjoy the weekend. Next week I need to get back on the woodshed order I put on the side to do the bird house. I also need to get those mushroom logs done and delivered by the end of the week.
One day at a time. I need a beer or three.
You know that house has been on my mind. I think the wife and I looked at it when is was for sale back in the 90's and my parents were in the market. I had no idea when it was built, so tonight I did a little research and found the house was built in the 30's explaining the fine stone work because you can't find good dry masons anymore. We had 2 in our county a while back, but now I don't know.
Zillo estimates the value of this place at 1.1 million bucks. When we looked at that house in the 90's it was ten years after we bought our cookie cutter raised ranch for $170k. This place sold in 1994 for $121k. Holy cow, I missed that one. You can see it HERE (https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/346-Stone-Rd-West-Hurley-NY-12491/32844461_zpid/?) if you are curious like me.
There's a lot of fly by the seat of the pants types in real estate. The guy that bought dad's place was an engineer for NASA (supposedly) and was retiring here in NB (again supposedly). Well he did some work to the house and finished the basement, probably spent $50 grand. At the same time, up the hill he was building a new home. Over the course of a couple years he and his wife were back in the US as he was called upon by NASA to come work again (supposedly). The guy didn't lack money, but his idea to come here was to be near the border, which is 15 minutes away through the Woodstock/Houlton crossing. I think the guy was like so many southerners, some money to spend, not used to the climate up here and don't stick around long. ffcheesy Funny for me, I've always felt October to April was the best time of the year up here. Shovel a little snow now and again and keep warm by the fire. ffcheesy
My memory about those things is pretty foggy. We were busy trying to get by, raise the kids, pay for food, working 60 hours a week and trying to find a place for my folks to buy around us. I think, anyway. The folks that bought that house then cleared some out back and erected long green houses and high tunnels and raised flowers for the commercial (wholesale) market. The place has 15 acres most of which appears useable but largely untouched. It's a very nice setup and the current owners I think have been there 5 years or so. He works in the city in some finance job or other. Anyway, it's a lovely well kept place. They just put on an addition last year that Bill did all the dirt work for and it fits with the house perfect.
I can't believe that house sold for $120k is all, but if I recall that was back in a time when no houses were moving and many were on the market for 2 or 3 years. That was a steal. It didn't get a second look for my folks because all the bedrooms were on the second floor and they needed a single floor house with minimal stairs. But I do recall that house was really nice inside with a lot of raised panel work. If you look at the photos you can see some of it.
It's just funny how things work out over time.
Whoa Tom! I don't know if I saw the house from the road but I certainly did not expect that pool at the top of the waterfall. That's really cool! That house and stone work is neat!
Wait 120k for that joint and 15 acres? Jimoney!
Tonight I am bone tired and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I got to the mill before 9 because I had to finish that order today. The first two logs went fairly easy and made good wood, even the 14 footers. The third log was junk and I barely got a minimal amount of wood out of it, but JUST enough to finished the order, or so I thought. I checked everything on my cut list twice. So I cleaned up and left by 1pm and headed to town to run a half dozen errands before we leave, food store, drug store, beer store, gas, etc.
Got he, had a quick lunch, unloaded the truck of tools and oddball wood, etc., then gave it a quick wash. Between the mud and the sawdust it was kind of messy. I went in the shop and was really dragging but I did some sanding on the next ERC stool I am working on and put a coat of poly on the one I did the other day. I was loosing steam fast. So I came in around 4:30 and took a shower, then threw some stuff in a bag selected my wardrobe for the weekend.
We had dinner then I came down to update my milling log. That's when I realized the printed copy I was working from had more material on the second page, which I had not printed, so I missed a mess of 1x4 purlins that I still owe on the order. So I let Bill know I was short and will finish those off Tuesday morning and deliver them if everything else is already moved to the site. My bad, stuff happens.
Anyway, I will be in bed early tonight again. We'll hit the road in the morning for some R&R with the cousins. Looks like the high for the weekend will be about 55° up there with rain on Sunday. We hit the flea market on Saturday morning and maybe again on Monday on the way out of town. We have no other plans, but they have some nice rockers on their front porch I like to test out. :wink_2:
Remember in the early 90's the real estate market was severely depressed due to a certain computer company cutting over 10000 jobs in the hudson valley.
The house I had in Wappingers falls had lost about 1/2 its market value and I was lucky to sell it after over a year on the market.
I had bought it in 1983? for $49500 sold it in 1994? for $60000. 2 years earlier a similar house sold for $100000
I just looked on Zillow, it last sold 9/2022 for $270000 with today's value $326000.
Yeah, I was recalling that whole period too. Run of the mill homes were a tough sell. 2 houses down was on the market for 3 years, it had a flat roof which is weird for around here and nobody would buy it. The owners finally put a 'normal' roof on it and it sold about 8 months later, for a song. But stone houses with beautiful woodwork inside in good shape should always catch the eye, I would think. It a unique house with nice property. Those folks that bought it for 120k started their nursery there but I think only lasted about 5 years before moving on. As you say, the market was flat dead back then and yeah, the IBM exodus hit everyone. I know my employer took it on the chin as we did 80% of our work for them in Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Fishkill, and Hopewell Junction. Glad I never took the job offer I got from them back in the 70's ffcheesy
I saw these at a flea market today. Think I'm gonna make one .
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Been a while since I updated here. We had a nice time in VT, Saturday was fine fall weather and we enjoyed the flea market. I had seriously (yet briefly) considered getting a booth at this one for this weekend, but it's a 2.5 hour haul with the trailer and I am not quite ready for that. Turned out to be a good choice. I would have only gotten one good selling day out of the 3. It rained Sunday and Monday and when we drove by Monday, there were only 3 vendors open, out of maybe 60 that were there Saturday. I only bought a draw knife, which was in good shape and will take little effort to bring back to life. The one I got last year from the same guy had 'issues' and will need a ton more filing before it is 'right' but I have it working ok for now.
So the rest of the weekend we just relaxed with family. My cousin Bob's dementia is getting progressively worse but still it was nice to spend time with him. I don't know how many more 'times' we will have, so I make the best of what I get. He is the oldest of the first cousins in my generation and I am the youngest. He is 94.
It's the first time in a long time I have gone for the weekend and not had a saw or two in the truck, didn't think I needed them. Turns out they had a large Maple on their field edge that got broke in a windstorm 3 days after or July visit (the same storm that destroyed my canopy at Grey Fox 150 miles west). The tree is broke off halfway up, but really not a bad fall although it is about 40" on the stump. It's making a mess out of the field edge. Last year on this weekend I cut up one of the leaders off that tree that just broke off and I took about 20 mushroom logs out of it. I could have gotten at least that out of this one, perhaps enough for the order I cut on Tuesday. Oh well. Next time back I will take it down for them. Probably bring the 372 if I get it running again.
Tuesday Bill had a tree job he was holding for me and the wind finally died down, so I got a full order of logs out of it and he got a bunch of trees done. He still has some more, but I don't need logs until after leaf out. He has to get these done to finish off his scope of work on a large project he started in May. Anyway, I delivered those logs on Thursday.
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I also have been working on finishing that first ERC stool and making another, but I am on a mission to find a better, more clear finish. There is another thread on that, so I won't repeat. Today we had to bring a cat in for more blood tests to see how the meds are working. She is doing well, but they want us to increase the dose for a month the get her 'number down'. She tolerated this trip much better than the last one for sure, which is also a good sign.
Anyway, we got her home and I headed up o an old supply store up in Woodstock that carries higher end stuff than the box stores, they at least carry the brand of finish I was looking for, but not the specific mix. Now I hate going to Woodstock on the weekends, the tourist traffic is beyond stupid and there is no place to park, but it was noon on Friday and I though I might miss that traffic. As I got into town I realized traffic flow was a bit heavy and then I remembered it is the 'film festival' weekend. Town was filled with BMW's, Mercedes, fancy sports cars, and such from people all over. There was zero parking to be found. I circled the hardware store block 3 times and finally found a spot. I went in and the hardware store was pretty much empty. I mumbled to the clerk about the difficulty getting into the place and he muttered back to complain about having no business on these weekends because none of the locals can get in and give up trying.
Anyway, I got home and gave the new stuff a try and now have two coats on. One more hand sanding and another coat to go tomorrow. I had to do a nearly full fire in the shop today to get it up to temp. The days are cooling, sunshine or not.
I came in around 5 and Bill called to find out how I did getting the rest of the lumber need for the bird house done (overrun order). I told him I can't mill it if I don't have a list and I never got it. So he is going to dig into that and get me a list and I'll try to get that done over the weekend. I still have yet to do the log invoice I was going to do yesterday.
Last night we had one of those 'household disasters' that really throws me off. After dinner, one of my jobs is to clean the coffee pot and reset it for the next morning (we have it on a timer for 4:45am). So I did that and when I plugged the cord in, it felt 'wrong'. I looked and one of the pins in the pot had gotten pushed inside. No good, dead coffee pot. OK, for me, this is a total show stopper. We use farberware pots and have a few, but only one working 12 cup pot, now dead. So I grabbed an 8 cup and set that up figuring we'd have to make a second pot this morning. But it ruined my evening and this is a problem I HAD to fix for life to return to normal. Now we have another 12 cup pot that does not work, so I opened it up and figured out that the safety fuseable link had blown. I opened up our newly dead pot and took the link out of that one and put it in the other pot, then reassembled it and brought it upstairs to test. It ran fine but did not shut off. Turns out the thermistor is shot and would not shut the pot off when the coffee was done, it would just keep boiling and this is what blew the link out. So back downstairs and I took the link out of the pot with the bad switch along with the fried terminal and pins and transferred them to the pot that just blew. Tested it again and all worked fine. So I left the 8 cup in place, and when we emptied that this morning I just ran the 12 cup to finish out the morning. Life is back to normal, but it consumed my whole evening and put me in a foul mood. Mess with my coffee and you are messing with my life and that just trickles out into bad stuff and me in an ugly mood.
I don't know how much I will get done tomorrow. My SIL is finally play8ng a gig with his new band, in fact he has 2 gigs tomorrow with 2 different bands, one at a farm and one at a club. Not sure if we will make the farm gig or not, but I would like to make the evening gig at a club I know and we can be comfortable at as well as stand a good chance of running into folks we know, although that dang festival is in town and might bollox things up a bit with tourists. Next weekend was always the Invitational Luthiers Showcase, but that ended last year and I will miss a major opportunity to reconnect with a lot of the touring pros I know who are always traveling, but make the show when they can and I get catch up time. Thinking about it, since COVID shut everything down and I retired I have never gotten back in the groove. I used to catch gigs between 1 and 5 times a week to see local pros and friends play. I really miss that. Nothing special, I wasn't out partying all night. I'd hit a gig for an hour or two, have 2 beers and be at work on time the next morning with a full night's sleep. OK, once in a while something special would happen or somebody special would show up, and I'd get home at 1am and be in rough shape the next day, but it was always something epic I couldn't walk away from and those memories are still with me. But I have to say, I really miss that and it will never happen again, which is very sad for me as well as my friends. Some clubs have closed, others have changed hands, management, and business plans which go with pop music, younger folks, fancy decor, and pricier food & drink ($8.00 beers?!). Ah well, time to face the fact that I am an old fart.
Tomorrow is another day.
(Howard, were the paragraphs easy enough to figure out? Did I type slow enough?)
As it turned out I didn't make any of those gigs yesterday and I wasn't happy about it. But I was really tired after yesterday's mill session and even after an involuntary 2 hour nap in the afternoon I was pretty tired and groggy. I could not see myself driving up to the night gig in the dark and getting home late. I hated to miss it, but I made my apologies and stayed in. I did, however, get all the extra lumber needed for the bird house build.
Funny thing, as I was pulling into the mill yard Bill was there shaking his fist at me. I asked 'what is up with that?" and he said "I heard you drive through that puddle below the house, so I bounced down the hill to cut off a trespasser." I told him I was sorry I disappointed him.
The weather this weekend is so nice and today I decided to resort to my "Sunday is Funday" plan that has kind of evaporated in the last couple of years. Believe it or not I headed back to the mill, but this time I sent Bill a text first "I'm headed to the mill, please don't shoot me." So I got there,
unscathed, and spent a couple of hours raking out under the mill and clearing the mill deck of all the rotten tailings, bark, sawdust, and chainsaw chips. I clean the deck once in a while, but the stuff under the mill was beginning to build up and get on my nerves. I hate a messy workspace, and this one I needed to fix and is mine, so it was time to fix it. The roof rake made it pretty easy to pull out the junk from under the mill. I know these aren't common in the grits belt, but up here we have lots of them ( I think I have 5 I have found at garage sales form new city folks who don't know what they are) and I keep one down at the mill for sawdust management. Very handy. If I had brought a leaf blower, the place would be downright sterile.
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While I was working on that, a short parade of a truck and a toolcat came by, but nobody stopped, they just waved. (No I didn't shoot them, they waved.) I heard all kinds of work noises across the road, plumes of diesel smoke, tractors starting up and things going on but I could see anything over the log piles. I thought 'maybe he's finally cleaning out the steel shed and getting ready to frame up the slab pour?!' The mill deck has not looked this good since before I started running the mill. I am pleased, time well spent.
When I ran out of sweat and finished up my work, I walked across the road. I should have known, Bill made another addition to his rolling stock and he was storing it in the steel building. I was not happy.
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Yeah, he got about 5 of those go-karts from a track for a song. They all have Honda engines and are in fair shape. But it ticks me off a bit he won't let me cut slabs and dry the in the building but he buys a bunch of this junk and puts it in there. He assures me they will only sit there until they have a 'Friday night builders party' and move them up to the shop and get them all running. He wants to make a track to run them on. I just see it as delaying getting a slab in that building with insulation and wiring. He is making me crazy, but he is good at it. If you look to the left in the above photo, you will see a slabmizer peeking out of that trailer door. He wants me to run that in the trailer. Ain't happening. I want to see that sitting on the concrete pad inside that building, ready to go. I also have several other machines to set in there.
So that was the morning. After that I headed out to visit the vendors market I have done 3 times this summer. I thought I missed the boat with the perfect fall weather and opting to not do it this month. So I drove out to see how it was actually going. Same story, great day, traffic not bad, but nobody really buying anything. I also noted there were much less vendors, some of the regulars had the same thought I did. I made more at the sawmill today doing cleanup than I would have at the show, and it was a lot less work. :wink_2:
In the late afternoon I messed in the shop a little on some leg glue-ups, figuring it out. I found one wrong way to go. ffcheesy At the end of the day I realized I don't have enough beer for a normal evening, so I texted Bill "coming down to steal some beer, please don't shoot me". He still has a keg is wants to empty form his August party and shut the cooler down. I kicked the Stella keg last month and am now down to Yueng Ling and I filled a couple of growlers. While I was there he needed help unloading his truck from another 'find'. Lots of nails and screws in cases, some finishes, a house jack, a 572 carcass that seems fixable, and many other odds and ends. I came home with a like new Dremel multi-tool and a fresh gallon of wood preservative/deck seal.
Tomorrow is another day.
Well I haven't left the road for 2 days now. Didn't even leave the house until this afternoon. 2 full shop days. Yesterday I fiddle-farted around trying to figure out how to use the shelves I got from my wife's show stuff at this upcoming indoor show. I would up making a top piece I could hang my cookie mirrors on and some coat racks. Spent a good part of the day on that stupid little thing, but it will look good. I also worked off and on doing some leg glue-ups for another stool. A full shop day, none the less.
Last night I got contacted through my FB page by a repeat client who wanted info, cost, and some photos on those cookie mirrors. So this morning we hooked up again and she picked one out to buy. I had just made these two mirrors since my last show when I sold the two I had left. I've been carrying those a while. I sold one back in July then no bite all summer on the others until my last show. I thought two more would last me through next year, but I already sold one today, so I started in making two more this morning. I flattened them on the drum sander, routed out the mirror pockets in the back and did the fine sanding as well as the hanging holes. Then I got the first rough coat of epoxy on the back sides and edges. It took until about 3:30 for that much. I did get a nice pic of the end grain in those cookies showing the pores and the medullary rays.
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I was (again) out of beer and rather than to the 40 minute loop to town, I just rinsed out my growlers and headed to Bill's. Probably a mistake in hindsight. :wink_2: I met him on the way in and he said Billy needs more lumber because the client finally decided that the outside should be sheathed as we all were saying from the beginning. 'Only 30 more 1x10x9's'. Shoot. This bird house is getting on my nerves, this is the third 'extra lumber order'.
For those who want to see how it's coming along:
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SO before I stole my beer I went down to the mill hunted up 4 logs that should do the job and marked them with orange paint. I got my beer, played with the pup, and met him on the way out. He will pull and set the logs on the deck tonight. I guess I will be down there tomorrow.
Anyway, I got back to the shop and worked some more on those glued up legs and did all the rough sanding on the seat slab.
A full day and my legs are tired, as well as the rest of me.
Tomorrow is....
Tom,
I am glad to see the repeat customer comment. I like working with people again as they understand better and are already happy with your workmanship.
I trust and hope you start getting calls and orders from your shows. I consider mine advertising as I get more work after the fact that at the show so don't think the time spent talking to people was a waste of you time. It may just pay delayed dividend.
Of course I agree and concur with everything you say Howard. I spend a lot of time chatting with folks, it's part of what I paid for to do a show. But this client was one of my first custom clients and her husband (a former co-worker) was my fist milling client. I have seen him at one of my shows last year, but I have never seen her at a show. She has, however, followed me on FB and sends me links for shows she thinks I might fit into. They live about 30 miles west of me and I passed by their house to make that log delivery last week. I suspect she is buying this for a gift.
It's a lot like jug fishing, you put out a lot of lines, put the best bait on them you know, and then wait and see.
I got lots to do to reconfigure for this indoor and downsized show, plus I gotta make more mirrors. :wink_2: My winter goal is to make enough stock of stuff that does sell so that I don't HAVE to make more during the summer season next year. So more stools, rustic benches, mirrors, bottle balancers, and other stuff I have yet to think of, small and relatively cheaper things.
Nice pictures above Tom, thanks for the birdhouse update.
Do the cookies go nicely through the drum sander? I would've thought the difference in grain direction would throw everything off.
These cookies are dried nearly 5 years now and they go through fine, but they are pretty hard (RO) and I had originally cut them with a chainsaw, so they are not as parallel as I would like. The drum sander is not intended, nor does it work well for material removal. But these two that I ran through yesterday I had already done a lot of rough sanding and flattening work on as well as some crack fills. The drum sander does leave very fine lines and for these I really have to work with the ROS to get those out, lest they show, or ruin the effect you see in that grain photo. I probably have 6 or more of these left, but at this point I need to make a jig and take them to the mill for splitting in half. The thin ones (1 to 1-1/2) sell easier than the thick (2-3") ones, plus I get more pieces out, when these are all gone, I got nothing left.
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That dang bird house is getting annoying as this is the 3rd 're-order' for more material. First they asked for rafters that were too short, so I re-made those (2x6x12'), then they were short on 1x10's in 8 and 10 feet, so I rushed to cut them 28 more Saturday, now they want siding for the outside, so 30 more 1x10's at 9'. That's an awful lot of lumber to have not made the BOM on the first run. So I am up early today to try and get some stuff going in the shop, then head to the mill where 4 logs sit waiting for me. I sure hope they aren't punky inside. I feel another long day coming on.
cookies cut on a mill will be more uniform unless they split as the split often results in a bit of corkscrew. Right Howard? :thumbsup: A planer will pull chips out of the backside. a drum sander is better and also how I do it.
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Quote from: Old Greenhorn on October 23, 2024, 07:32:35 AM......................
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That dang bird house is getting annoying as this is the 3rd 're-order' for more material. First they asked for rafters that were too short, so I re-made those (2x6x12'), then they were short on 1x10's in 8 and 10 feet, so I rushed to cut them 28 more Saturday, now they want siding for the outside, so 30 more 1x10's at 9'. That's an awful lot of lumber to have not made the BOM on the first run. So I am up early today to try and get some stuff going in the shop, then head to the mill where 4 logs sit waiting for me. I sure hope they aren't punky inside. I feel another long day coming on.
Tom
You are the boss of your time. ffcool ffcheesy ffcheesy
Well I am mostly the boss of my time but there are two things I hate more than anything else and will do what I have to in order for them to go away. One is being in debt to someone personally, and the other is having people wait on me so they can do their work. Today was one of those days I should have either stayed in bed or put some focused effort into my day drinking skills.
Not 2 minutes after I made that last post, I got a text from Billy the carpenter, now he wants 50 1x10x9's and 6 more 2x4x9's. He's padding the BOM and I got annoyed because he told me 30 yesterday and I ran to the mill and marked logs to do what he needed plus some and we had them queued up to mill this morning. I had planned an hour in the shop before milling so I could get some epoxy poured. Since I was annoyed, I gave up on the epoxy and just headed to the mill around 8 to see if I could pull this off today and have that out of my hair. But the day wasn't starting out very well and the trend continued to worsen.
So I am a half mile into Bill's private road and there is a full sized tractor/trailer stopped in the middle of the road. I'm ticked, I have work to do. The driver doesn't know why he is here, he isn't clear on the address he was looking for and says it is either SR 28 or SR 28A. Two different roads. When I finally get him to look at his manifest, it turns out he drove right past the place before he even got on our road. I explain he can't get through, best pull up into this driveway right here and back your trailer around and drive out. You passed the place 3 miles back. He wants to drive up that driveway hoping there is a big swing around for him. I told him I don't know what's up there, never been there but it's a private home and I am certain he is not welcome. Just pull up and back around, been done here a thousand times. So he pulls in and I drive on by, I got work to do.
I get to the mill, get a quick start but I am out of room for slabs. Bill suggested I just haul them off to the side and he will grapple them later. Fine, but I am doing 30"+ logs and the slabs ain't light. I popped my back out on the second one. Great, now I am a cripple. SO getting madder as the trend continues, I hacked the slabs up so I could lift them and flung them in a pile. I get through the first log and get a nice whack of 1x10's and 3 of the 2x4's. I shut the mill off but left the blower running to load another log, have some water and take a wind break. The trend continues as out of nowhere the blower winds down and stops. Great, must have popped a breaker or something. So I humped up the cliff and check the sub-panel, all good, then trace the line back to the main panel in the original shop and that's all good. Then I go check the meter and it is dead. So it's a power outage. Just then one of Bill's guys shows up to help me tail and stack. Well I could run the mill with dust collection and just let it dump, but that makes a lot more work for me to clean up later. Bill shows up doing a load of rock to the screener. It's 10am and he calls the power company. They don't know what's up but say we should get power back by 1pm. Great. So Bill 'offers' to have us do a load of firewood, just a couple of cords for a restaurant. So now I am swinging a saw bucking 20" logs and humping them onto the splitter with my (wanna be) tailgunner. We filled the one ton dump in about 40 minutes. Now Bill's 2 other guys show up. They start running the processor across the road doing a 2 cord load.
I go over to the mill to see if the power came on, it didn't, but one of the guys dripped off a generator to run the blower, so we hooked that up. Battery was dead and the pull starter nearly finished off my back. We got it going and resumed milling. Blew through the next log and lost about 5 boards to rot and poor quality, right into the boiler wood pile. But since I had help and it went a lot faster with a helper who knows the drill, I rarely touched a board and rarely stopped milling. But my back was screaming. When I finally had to quit, we had 47 1x10's and just the 3 2x4's. All that remains id a few more 2x4's to finish this current request. It's the only job order I have now finished 4 different times. Oh and the power came on when we were done. only 400BF or so, but geez.
When I climbed in the truck, my console said I had about 27 miles of range left in my gas tank. it's 12 miles to town. Did I feel lucky? So I went to town and gassed up, then got some store bought beer, came home, took 4 advil and I am not sure, but I think I am done for the day although I really want to get that epoxy poured.
Yep, I shoulda stayed in bed.
Oh, and that tractor trailer driver? Bill said he saw a TT being escorted out of our road by a sheriff's deputy about an hour after my encounter. Guess he must have gone up that driveway and found out what I warned him about. :wink_2:
Oh there's all kinds of drivers out there... :uhoh:
A truck being escorted by the Sherriff isn't necessarily a bad thing. When I drove I found law enforcement was usually helpful getting a truck turned around and back on it's way. They'd much rather do that than have a tow truck situation, or deal with an accident.
Of course that's true and I've seen it more than a few times here also. However, I know a lot of LEOs around here and they don't make a habit of cruising private roads without an assignment or call. I suspect this fella may have driven up Bill's neighbor's driveway anyway and met the wife. She was probably a lot less tolerant than me and made a phone call. We are all weary of these drivers who follow their GPS without any common sense added. AND if this guy was following his GPS, how did he miss turning into the big commercial driveway with the Business's sign on it when he drove past it? Then his GPS tried to take him 'around the block' which is a 10 mile loop including private roads.
For me (and more so for the landowners) I never mind helping the rare errant driver, but this happens way too often and it consumes a lot of time, not to mention all these guys are not as pleasant as they could be and many don't know how to handle their rigs or back the trailers into a 90° dock. It's amazing.
I thought you were gonna say the truck knocked over a power pole when he was trying to back out.
On the topic of truckers, I was cruising down I-75, in downtown Dayton, Sunday, after a run to Harbor Freight, and one thing that is a pet peeve of mine is if you are in an exit lane that you aren't supposed to be in and there is traffic that you should just take the exit rather than try to merge back into the highway traffic, barely missing the wall, and slowing down to about 35 mph to do it. This truck, somehow didn't hit the water barrels but he certainly slowed me and the few cars in front of me down considerably. Granted, downtown Dayton sucks with it's very compressed many exits in about a mile, but he could've caused a huge wreck behind him.
Take care of your back Tom! After it's hurting is no time to pull-start an engine!
That sounds like a terrible day. Hope this one is much better.
Well it wasn't a great day, but it was still a LOT better than sitting in a conference room arguing about which colors to use on a spreadsheet. ffcheesy Also, the weather was perfect, even hot.
Austin, what you say could be possible. The 3 hour outage at the mill was only abut 10 seconds at my house, just 2 miles upstream. So it looks likely.
Pretty sore still this morning, I may coast through today doing shop work, but I have to keep moving.
Tom,
Throwing a random idea out to you for winter work. We have a rough cut pine picture frame that houses an aerial photo of the farm and fields. The frame has a lot of character, and I've never found another like it. Maybe a few frames might be worth adding? Maybe some "rustic" and then some higher end???
Matt
To Piggyback on Granites suggestion, you might consider wood shutters as well? I live in a log house and made a basic set in less than an hour and have had several people ask me to make them some. Just decorative and screwed to the outside of the front windows. These arent mine but similar. Mine have stars instead of hearts.
(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSw8Oc9v9rfLYyL33_z6OthRo13SoSCc3xHd0fR7YxDAo6B_u9G12Ew08ong_tXlXTwDvV0K4Udxzhq98MYqrgUHaL0E1mQKJS8SvoCQJl0dOdaviXqW4hF)
Bert,
Them shutters is supposed to have a big cross in the middle so you can shoot in both directions out of them. At least that's how we build them in WV. ffcheesy ffcheesy
(We do still have old homes in the area with shooting ports in the windows the original owners used to shoot at the Indians and Yankees Union troops.)
Well thanks to both of you for those suggestions, as well as Howard for his 'style tips'. :wink_2: These jobs are all 'client specific' and I certainly look for these as commissioned jobs. But I can't make those on speculation or I would have a ton of stuff sitting around that is 'not quite the right size' for any given client. However I am happy to make them for anybody that has specific sizes.
So yes, good ideas, but I need specific clients to make them for. In fact I have a fine photo portrait of my dear friend Bill that has been sitting in a cheap frame since after he passed in 2016. It was taken at the last public performance he had and the photographer, who came out from CA for the event gifted me with three copies in 16x20 for his wife, son, and myself. I framed mine but never hung it up because, well, it brought back my sadness. Maybe it's about time I made a proper frame and got it on the wall where it belongs. It's a great photo. I have made picture frames before, but never a really nice one. This is a good excuse.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 25, 2024, 03:54:33 PMThem shutters is supposed to have a big cross in the middle so you can shoot in both directions out of them.
I use the back windows for that ffcheesy
I was just thinking a speculative set to display and take orders at your shows. Just a thought of a low input, moderate output revenue generator.
Maybe a notebook of sample ideas?
Just a few photos or plans of things you might make? I'm thinking 8 or ten items selected with some discernment. Then add to it along the way. Things you might want to build or repeat build.
Think annotated portfolio not catalog.
That way you don't have to lug samples of everything.
Well, you're right of course, but I have an interesting problem which I have been pondering lately and that is how to make more 'space' in my booth setups. In fact, my last few shows I have been leaving stuff in the trailer because the booth is too overcrowded and has a cluttered look. I learned at the last show that getting things up at eye level helps, so I am thinking on how to improve that.
But booth space costs and I have to work hard to maximize that. I have some nice signs up listing the other things I make and services I can provide. I may expand on that idea for next year. But building shelf units is problematic for 2 reasons, one is setup time and the other is stability on soft ground and in windy conditions.
As an example, I have been carrying a finished bench slab around to shows for 2 years now, billed as a 'do it yourself bench, just add legs, or make a table, or can modify as a mantel'. I have not had a single toss on it. It seems nobody makes anything for themselves anymore or does any work at home. Years ago, before I was doing doing anything like this at all, I could easily see myself jumping on something like that. People are fickle.
Tom,
Would an electronic picture frame work well to show some of the items you offer but don't have room to bring with you to shows?
We have one our daughter gave us for Christmas and we love it. I got Mom one last year and sent to her. It shows hundreds of pictures and you can add to them basically like an e-mail. (I know that feature probably would not matter to you.)
The frame sits there and scrolls through each picture for a few seconds then moves to the next one and we can reverse or speed ahead with a finger swipe any time we need more time to look at something or speed ahead for some reason.
They are not very expensive to purchase.
Actually a battery powered tv screen with a rolling slideshow with pictures of your projects and potential things that could be might hold folks to your booth longer. You could mix in some music since you are well connected there.
Well guys I have actually had a tablet at all of my shows this year running a non-stop set of photos. It isn't too big and only gets passing glances most of the time. I do have a small (17") TV, but it really doesn't do a good job of displaying photos and many come out sideways or worse. I would need an inverter and I have to do the math (after I look it up) to see how long my deep cycle battery would run a 0.8 amp device through an inverter. But as I said it doesn't work real well anyway.
Yeah I had one of those photo frames but it's not working anymore for some reason. All of these things are very hard to see in full sunshine, even under a canopy. If I find a sweet spot for it, the dang sun keeps moving and eventually you can't see the screen again.
I could invest in a lot of things, but I find the 16x30" sign I have listing my services works pretty well to drive questions. I may go for a 10" tablet and see how that works. I power those right from a USB jack inside the trailer door.
Ted, when somebody asks about a custom job or 'can you make...?" I grab a notebook and make them a sketch to see if I understand what they want. It's surprising how many people cannot understand drawings hardly at all. but sketches in front of them can seem to work most times. Also, having that tablet with photos I can pull up to show examples works pretty well.
Tom,
Have you considered putting up a sign saying "If you don't see what you want here, ask me about it."
I have a sign up when I go to the flea market that says "All prices are negotiable. If you feel my prices are too low feel free to offer more."
I have another that says "Make an offer. I am pretty hard to offend - But it can be done!"
I have one that says "Blue Lives Matter! Buy a birdhouse for your local bluebirds" I post it with pictures of my bluebirds at home using my style birdhouses. Entry shot with adult at the entrance hole. Top off and nest with eggs. Top off and a shot of the chicks.
Mine are just printed on my home printer on regular typing paper and not multi-use professional signs.
Two solid days of shop work keeping regular hours. Been starting morning fires and keeping them goin g longer each day to keep the temp up and the air dry in the shop. Today I fed the stove not as a regular day, but more than I have yet this fall. Getting cool at night, but they say a warm up is coming yet again.
I have 5 projects in work at the same time, so I guess I am back in the swing. I have been making 2 more cookie mirrors, another cedar stool, two red oak bench/stools (could go either way), and am working on drawknifing and peeling branches for legs as a new thing to try. I am trying to become one with the draw knife. :wink_2:
The cookie mirrors are making me nuts because these look like some of the best I have made so far and I'd like to get that float coat of epoxy on the front flawless if I can. Because they are RO and therefore ring porous, they let out tiny little bubbles from the grain. I babysit them for HOURS and think they look great, then the next morning I have between 3 and 50 little frozen bubbles in the surface. See the photo in reply 363 for an example. It's maddening. I had a series of PM's with the WOC a few days ago and he listed all the stuff I had tried, plus a long list of things I hadn't yet, as well as what he knows from his experience. Mostly he helped me realize this just is not simple, no matter how skilled you are. Hang in there and don't give up is the lesson of the day. So I have 4 'finish' top coats on both of the cookies along with a few repair pours. One is close, in fact, this mornings pour laid out perfectly and for 6 hours it remained perfect. I thought I had it nailed, but no. I saw one flow/dot/crater show up at around the 6 hour mark. I tried a little heat and MAY have sealed it. The problem adding heat is that it also warms the wood and can force out new bubbles. It was holding ok last time I checked it. The other one had several persistent spots that would just not seal. SO after commiserating with Rob I thought I would try something out of the box and a little weird. I won't know if that worked until late tonight or tomorrow. If it works, I'll let you know. It's based in physics, so maybe I have that going for me. These things can make you nuts.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241026_112313778.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356404)
Photo above is my current problem child. This one below is the one I think will be good to go in the morning. I just have some work to do on the backside and fit the mirror. If It's just one pit, I will still let it go, because every one I have made so far has one pit in it. I am looing for a real clear and clean face because the grain details in these is just so super.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241028_151720335.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356406)
After I did my pours I cut the legs and did some sanding on the ERC stool and put a coat of finish on it. Then I tried running tenons on the branch legs and the first one I had up I didn't realize had a rotted out center so I had to draw knife another one and had the best success with the tenon tool I have ever had. I got some (not a lot, but SOME) chips like Doc gets.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241028_131254608.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356405)
This was a 'zippidy do dah, do a little jig' moment for me. I have been trying to get this for 5 years now. Clearly, partially green wood is the key to this, but the results were much better.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241028_131309638.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356403)
A nice straight tenon of consistent size and a nice clean shoulder. I bought a 1/2" HF (Bauer) variable speed drill a coupe of months back and although it has not speed limiter and you have to use trigger pull to hold speed which is tough, it works a LOT better. I don't know how long that drill will last because I could smell it working and it nearly threw me against the wall a time or two. But I learned a lot today. Going forward I will try to get leg blanks cut and tenoned while they are green, then let the dry and finish them up later. Now that 'I get it' I have to change the process entirely.
So I have been busy and staying honest. (Well, reasonably so.)
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Howard, I have lots of signs in my booth, but most are specific and with a single point. I do have one sign that is about 17x24 that lists all my services and that does help. I do not offer to 'negotiate' Prices. I have a couple of items I would take a cut on, but I only offer that after I see someone looking it over. When someone comes in my booth and starts to put on their flea market negotiator act I have no patience for that and shut it off. I price almost all of my stuff as low as I can to get it to sell. Take those cookies mirrors above. I charge $45.00 for those after about 1.5 hors of sanding and prep work, epoxy pours, more sanding, more epoxy, more epoxy, more epoxy, then finally fitting the mirror. I probably have at least 5 hours work in each one. Nope, I am not negotiating that, sorry. I don't even want to hint at opening that door.
But yeah, signs are good and your hints at humor are something I should consider including. I just don't want to clutter things up too much and confuse folks.
Tomorrow is yet another day.
IMG_6723.jpeg
Tom, here's another item for you to consider. A stool to stand on to reach upper kitchen cabinets with a handle or for grandkids to reach the sink or whatever. It wouldn't need the fancy painting on it.
Lots of finishing time involved that most people don't realize. If I was in the same business I would try products sanded to "almost ready to finish" and see if they sell. If I had to finish them the price would be way higher but it would require me to cast my net a lot further (thinking online shopping) to find enough people willing to pay the premium. Could still be one offs and short product runs. Then you get into the packaging for shipping and shipping damage and...... another whole set of challenges.
Arnold, you know back in the early spring I did a show and there was a gal selling some old antique keyhole chairs. I could not figure ut what they were for, pretty small and looked quite similar to your photo, but were low chairs. I wonder if that was their purpose? At any rate, seeing those inspired me to make this idea I had:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20240605_092226175.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356409)
Well, sort of similar anyway. I like your idea. I would have to figure out a few things about making that and they would take a bit more room in the trailer, but it is a neat idea and I could make them out of pine and paint them, reducing finishing work quite a bit. Let me take that under serious consideration.
____________________________________________________
Yea Hilltop I get it. I think I mentioned a couple of posts back that the folks I see at shows don't want to do more than pay for it. Finishing is not in the cards for these folks. When I tale custom orders on stuff I offer to do the 'work' and they can finish if they like and it would save them a bunch. NOBODY has taken me up on it yet. ffcheesy
Shipping is it's own problem. I have one regular out of state client I make a product for and it kills me what I have to add on his invoice every time I ship. HOLY COW! 60 bucks for a box that weights about 12 pounds FULL. Every time I ship at UPS I tell the clerk "It would be a lot easier to pay this if you pointed a gun at my head when you gave me the price". (Most don't get the joke, or even know it's a joke, mores the pity.) And Yeah, I have had items damaged in shipment, so now I have to buy rigid foam insulation line the box sides, top and bottom with it and put partitions between each item. Packing takes about an hour per box and no, I don't fold that cost in. I just want the client to get what was paid for in good shape.
I can't imagine shipping a bench or a stool and what it would cost. That's why when I buy more than a single item from Riteleg and Logrite I try to arrange a reason to drive to their plant and pick it up. Shipping one pair of table legs has to be over 80 bucks now and UPS beats the crap out of them, given the weight. If I buy more than one pair of big legs, the shipping cost more than covers my 2 hour drive each way to pick them up, in perfect shape, and also have a meet and greet with some friends. I avoid shipping if I can.
Tom,
Nice pics and good ideas discussed.
Did you know that when typing, if you hit the Enter key 2 times at the end of each paragraph, the result is a nice clean empty line/spacer that makes it easier to read long epistles?
Feel free to try it some time. ffcheesy ffcheesy
So you are saying the indent doesn't do it for you? You also need a blank line? Ok Howard just for you, I'll try it sometime. But if you noticed I have worked really hard on typing slower for like 2 weeks now. I hope that would be just as helpful. :wink_2:
I don't want to hurt your feelings but those indents don't always come through in your posts.
Thanks for typing slower. Us poor readers appreciate the extra time when we read your posts. ffcheesy
Yeah, hang your coat on that high piece and put your shoes on, and tie them, on that low bench. That's my kind of utilitarianism. ffcool
Arnold, is that your stool? IF so, could you show a photo of the bottom?
EDIT: and maybe the back too?
It's not mine , but I'll try to get you pictures tomorrow.
I'm still contending that you are at "look what I threw together" prices, Tom, and your work is much better than that, but your customers don't understand, especially according to the price.
Up the price, substantially, to dicker down a bit. You may hate it but I think it's what most people going to shows like your want to do.
Instead, you should be at "look at my piece of art" prices (and making some money off things, if they sell). "Making" 45 bucks on something you spent 5 hours on is BS, and I'm convinced that the market will agree, even though it sounds counter-intuitive.
My wife does the same stuff with her bags. You guys both do great work but aren't charging enough for people to think it's worth something to you.
I don't know if that makes sense but reading through the stories of your shows this summer it may be worth a try, especially if you get another Woodstock show. I said it above somewhere but the city folk want to be able to brag about the "deal" they got spending 100 bucks (or more) on this beautiful table/stool/bench/cookie mirror etc.
"Oh, that? That's a beautiful Walnut stool that I got straight from the guy that made it, he was the real deal, gruff, New Yorker accent, kind of a harda$$, but also charming... He told me where in the woods he cut the tree and made it into this! Oh, he also was telling me he knows such and such musician, you know him! He had it listed for $250 but I got it for 195! Isn't it beautiful?! "
It may be worth a try. Call me crazy. You are a good talker and the experience you have making an item makes for a story that sells your art at a premium, so the buyer can have that for a story too.
You're Crazy Austin (well you did say...) ffcheesy But seriously Austin. I have thought on this a lot. I don't have a choice, there are several folks who keep saying this, but the fact is that we don't get those deep pocket buyers at the shows around here. I am really no comfortable playing those games and risking not selling anything. If anything I am trying to put some cheap stuff out on the tables to at least cover my costs. Where I can make some of that up is when I do get a discriminating buyer who orders custom and pays appropriate prices for that.
I have had a few people at shows who lean in and tell me my stuff is priced too low. When I ask why they say that, I usually get a response along the lines of "Well, I know what I am looking at and how much it took to make that", but here's the rub, they never buy anything.
Now OTOH I have been 'adjusting prices' on items that do sell regularly which are 'instant buys' meaning the customer never looks twice at the price, just pays what's marked. This tells me there is more room to get closer to what I have into it. All my stools will go up next year, so will the mirrors and trinket boxes.
Also note that I have those cherry benches which are priced quite high (ballpark $450) to satisfy the higher end buyer. All season long they have gotten many admirers but only 1 serious tire kicker that fussed over them a bit and said they would be back, but didn't return.
People are fickle, markets are fickle, that's all I know.
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Arnold, thanks. If you can that would be great, but if you can't, I think I can figure it out. I'm just wondering how the top is attached to the front leg and the stretcher. Do they have a name for that thing?
I went looking for that stool/chair thingy and seem to think it is a shaker design. I found this link quite interesting and noted the price would make it 'worth my while" to make. But, I don't sell out of a nyc studio.
https://www.portmanteaunewyork.com/furniture/vintage-shaker-style-high-back-pine-step-stool-circa-1981 (https://www.portmanteaunewyork.com/furniture/vintage-shaker-style-high-back-pine-step-stool-circa-1981)
Precisely what I'm talking about... I hope you understand I say these things with love. You deserve more for your work and higher prices (more value) may do something. The stories are where it's at with today's buyers.
I found plans and started to make one of the shaker steps. it got put aside when I misscut the back piece.
I think the plans I found were from one at Hancock Shaker Village, in Western Ma.
OGH that link refers to 1981 as vintage, I hate to think what an original shaker one would be called.
Tom
Please take this the way it is intended. You are doing top shelf work, and then selling for basement prices.
If your market won't support top shelf prices, then the other option is to lower your standards. For instance, instead of striving for a flawless 4 coat epoxy finish on your frames, spray them once with Poly and hang them in your booth. Unlikely that a customer that thinks $45 is steep would be able to tell the difference.
In terms of booth ideas, my son reclaimed a bunch of barnboard and has been making picture frames from it. He puts a couple of boards side by side, cuts a barn roof profile on the top and then tacks on some 1x1 pine for a roof. Cut out a few picture sized openings with a jig saw, rout a 1/4" flat around the backside of each opening for a picture to rest on, and some stiff boxboard with a few fasteners to hold it in and a picture hanger. They are quick and easy, look great, and no finish needed. People love them. He's done everything from 12"w x16" tall barns with 4-5 openings, to 6x8 "sheds" with a single opening. You could include glass, but they sell just as well without.
Eddy I take just about all comments in a positive way unless they are on the nasty side, which is more than rare here. Even if they don't really apply or it they are things I just don't want to do, I still learn something by listening and they help set me straight when I am drifting.
I don't have any barn wood but I did have to do a project about a year ago and create aged wood with a grey water wash. It looked 'ok' to me, the client was and remains very pleased with it, but as I said, I had to fake it. Many of my projects are subject to the materials that come my way, such as these cookies with the center eaten out by ants. The picture frames you propose, being cut in a single board are simple, would pack flat, and probably be lower cost sellers. I would however have to make quite a variety of sizes. If you don't mind my asking: 1) how does he treat the finished cut edges? B) around what price range does he sell these in?, and 3) Can you explain what you mean by sheds? A photo would really help.
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I really don't think I charge basement prices for top shelf work. I see a lot of work out there that is much cleaner than mine. I mean look at the stuff Rob makes which he gets big bucks for. I can't hold a candle to the man, or Larry's stuff which is ions above my skill level. I'm just trying to pay my taxes. :uhoh:
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MB I don't usually work from others plans except to get ideas and general sizes. I have a book with a lot of colonial furniture designs from the various colonies and sects. That stool isn't in there but I can gather the fundamental joining styles and shapes which help. I have been to the Hancock village a long time ago (40 years?) and it's just a tad over an hour from me if I recall. Maybe someday I should make a visit again and see if they have any books or ideas.
The reason I like that stool is I could make some from Pine and test out that tiered pricing idea we have discussed here several times. That is, charging so much for a fully finished item, a bunch less for a built item that is ready to finish, and perhaps even less for a kit with all the parts cut and edged, screws, plugs and other stuff included. All you need to buy is glue. It would an interesting exercise in market research if nothing else. I could also make a couple in hardwood, finished and charge accordingly.
Speaking of which, is is past time to get to work for the day, much warmer today. :wink_2:
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on October 30, 2024, 10:28:40 AM. If you don't mind my asking: 1) how does he treat the finished cut edges? B) around what price range does he sell these in?, and 3) Can you explain what you mean by sheds? A photo would really help
By either only using one board vertically, or using two with the cut edges butting together in the middle, there are no cut edges on the outside.
No idea pricing.
Example picture attached
Quote from: Big_eddy on October 30, 2024, 09:00:31 AM. You are doing top shelf work, and then selling for basement prices.
Tom, I suggested the same several months ago when I said your shows aren't exclusive enough. You are in the trivet, wind chime and macrame crowd with work that's much above that.
Marketing is creating an image as much as anything. Creating an image of excellence and exclusivity will command higher prices. Being at the shows where "everybody" goes may not be reaching the crowd that the "exclusivity" appeals to.
You've got the skills, work ethic and product level to up the game.
Eddy, thanks for the photo and clarification. They look nice and I could see these selling pretty well. I'll have to look around for a source of aged wood. Perhaps some of those oddball boards that have been standing by the mill for 5 years getting bleached out by the sun. Every piece of wood has a use, you just need to recognize it and do something. :wink_2:
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Ted, Truly I am humbled by your opinion of my work, really I mean that. I just don't see myself at that level. I am a poser that just gets lucky once in a while. OTOH I do think my work is certainly 'good enough' to make it at a higher end show but I am very hesitant to make the leap. First off, those are juried shows, meaning your work is reviewed and you are selected to exhibit. I don't think I would have any problem with that part, but the next part, entry fees, I would. These shows charge big bucks for a small 10x10 booth. Around here I have seen prices ranging from $500-$3,000.00 for a booth, plus they add on other costs like a trash fee, Wifi use, ticket costs for you and any staff, etc. These shows are big money makers for the sponsors and no, all those costs don't guarantee a buying public. I have a friend I have not seen in a while, but I have followed her progress for 10 years as she grew her craft and is now doing very select shows up and down the east coast, including an art show sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute. She has transportation, lodging, entry, and staff costs for all her shows. I should check in with her and buy her a cup of coffee sometime.
Big shows scare me, it's quite the commitment.
Upping the game just might take a few steps to get there. There's got to be other avenues besides the shows.
You have to change hats from "woodworker (I know you say you aren't) trying to sell stuff" to "artisan-entrepreneur." Picking your friend's brain over coffee is a good idea.
I have 3 creative kids. One is a potter one is an apparel designer and the third is a wood artisan. The first two haven't figured out how to market the stuff they create.
My son enjoys turning bowls and other items. Bowls are his specialty. He can't make enough to satisfy the demand. He sells through the Arts Council Store. Yes they take a commission but his prices account for at least a portion of the commission. People have started asking for his bowls.
The Arts Council only sells juried items. The store handles sales and tax. The clientele has disposable income. The other events, concerts, plays and art shows draw constant flow through the store.
He takes several pieces and gets notified when they sell. When they need restocking he carries a few more pieces and might pick up some that have been there a while.
Surely there's somewhere similar in your area. Consignment sales aren't a bad way to go. What you pay in consignment fees, you save in show fees, gas, labor and time going to shows.
That's just one example.
I agree on the consignment stores. And I am constantly amazed at the prices they ask and receive for some of the items. I recently saw a table that was simply a 16" diameter block of hollow maple with a 20" diameter piece of glass for a top. It was priced at $2400!! Yes the glass was tempered, and they had sprayed the entire block with poly, but really - $2400 for a chunk of log? I talked with the store owner. He'd sold 4 in the last couple of months and had two more in the back room. His store does take a substantial commission, but at those prices, I'd be fine with it. The store was in an affluent tourist area and had lots of traffic. The owner basically told me he'd take just about anything on consignment as long as it would sell. He wasn't overly particular that way, although he prefers higher priced items. Was an eye opening conversation for me.
Well fellas, no doubt you are right. In fact, for a couple of years now I have spent lots of hours looking for the right consignment place, or studio, or gallery for my better pieces. LOTS of hours. This is not a new idea to me.
But here's the truth, I don't really know how to 'make it happen' I don't know how to find the 'right place' and I don't know how to present my work to them. I also don't know how to price it for them. I have looked at a ton of 'wanna be' high end stores. Doing a deeper dive it's apparent they put the burden on the builders with terrible terms and pricing. One charges rent for the month of display then you have 24 hours to pick your stuff up or they will donate it or dump it. Another wants monthly fees, plus 40% of the sale price, another reserves the right to set the selling prices for any item. What I want is a gallery that will either buy outright, or help me price things so we both win. Last winter I literally spent weeks looking into this. I even made some calls with little success. I know that anything we have semi-locally is mostly wannabe's, not contenders.
I know this sounds easy but it's not that simple by any stretch. Another thing I have been thinking and working on a little is a 'solo show' location. That is to find a place with the right traffic where I could set up for the day and do my own thing, maybe invite one other select vendor along. I am still and constantly, looking for that location, which is the key to the whole thing.
No, I don't think these shows I do, except maybe two so far, are the way to go. But they get me going and make me think about the marketing as well as get me closer to the buyers so I can figure out what sells and what people want.
I have flirted with the idea of throwing a few pieces in the truck and driving to NYC with a list of galleries, but that just sounds stupid. I used to navigate Manhattan in a former life and you need a very specific plan with appointments and parking figure out. I get what you guys are suggesting, but it is a lot easier said than done. Trust me, I'm trying. Now if anyone has any of these actual contacts or leads, I sure would love to hear them.
Oh, and in case it isn't apparent, I really do appreciate the support and encouragement from the folks here, it's a great bunch of people.
Pick a shop you like the looks of and just ask "how does an individual consign items here?"
Only consign 1 or 2 items to start. Take 5 or 6 to let them see what you have to offer. Let them pick.
To get an idea of prices, visit some shops, check prices and ask how they price items. Look at items similar to yours in size, hours to produce and quality.
It takes some leg work.
Sometimes acting like a "greenhorn" can be an advantage.
Tom,
Hang in there. I know it is frustrating.
I can see value to the solo shows especially if you can add value to an existing vendor I would expect they may let you set up free on their lot. I'd look for other businesses where you compliment what they sell.
My wife used to do holiday and family pictures in a local department store. She did not pay any fee or commission. The store would let her set up around holidays like Easter or Christmas and we could use anything in the store to set up or as a prop for the pictures. Examples were Christmas trees and gifts and a big easy chair for Santa to sit in. Toys and wagons for the kids to sit in for pictures.
While waiting to get their pictures taken or after the photo shoot they would shop in the store so it was beneficial to all. Finally corporate HQ stepped in and decided they needed a cut and we stopped and the store managers complained about the drop in their local sales as a result.
Where could you set up that the normal customers would be attracted to your "show" and you could help draw business to the owner of the facility? Building supply places? Department stores? Farm and garden shops? Sporting goods places? Produce stands?
And while the solo show may work would you attract more customers if you joined forces with other vendors you have met and respect? Think Flea market vs yard sale. Maybe a food supplier selling baked goods or hot dogs or gyros or such. Maybe it is a chainsaw carver? Maybe it is the lady selling high quality canned foods or homemade crafts?
Again you need to be offering something that complements but does not compete with the business owner.
Quote from: Big_eddy on October 31, 2024, 05:36:50 PMI agree on the consignment stores........simply a 16" diameter block of hollow maple with a 20" diameter piece of glass for a top. It was priced at $2400!! Yes the glass was tempered, and they had sprayed the entire block with poly, but really - $2400 for a chunk of log?
Well, stove door glass is $700 to replace from the glass shop. :uhoh: I've never broke one, but my brother has a stove with a busted or cracked glass door and priced it. Talk about pricey. ffcheesy ffcheesy
I'm not very good at following plans to build stuff.......or recipes when I cook.
But that's why I do have a high failure rate
I suggested the plans as a place to start.
I think if you're trying to sell higher end you want each piece to have its own character.
this might be a good place to start
Fine woodworking Shaker Step (https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/chairs-benches-and-stools/shaker-single-step-stool?srsltid=AfmBOoofCY4-PBlQtQ_bD--7OFmZpESWfac503kVrDKYpsduIc-wxyqC)
there is a paywall to get to the complete plans but there is an exploded drawing for the assembly
I may have gotten hung up on the mortice, I have learned I am very bad at fitting them.
Quote from: SawyerTed on October 31, 2024, 07:50:13 PMPick a shop you like the looks of and just ask .......
And there's the rub Ted. I just can't find one of these places that I am comfortable with... yet. But I continue to look and ask around a lot. Someday I will find one.
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As for that glass table, I don't think tempered glass is the same as is used in a stove. Tempered glass is like a 'safety glass' in that when it is broken it falls into millions of tiny pieces and not long shards. Stove glass I believe is a quartz glass and is a lot more expensive to make. Of course tempered glass isn't cheap either.
Yes, I have seen some crazy prices on things too, like $300. for a vase with 5 white birch twigs in it. What I don't see is folks buying that stuff.
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MB, regarding that stool, this is why I don't use other designs, just the basic ideas. Looking at the one you noted it has that mortise cut in the seat, which is more of a clearance cut than a mortise. This may look nice, but (as you learned) a PITA to make and really adds nothing but visual appeal. In addition, you now have a seat protrusion past the back. I call that a negative feature because now you can't park the chair flush up against a wall or hang it neatly by the hand hole. Having a flat back would allow someone to hang it high on a wall and use the seat as a shelf, say for a plant or some such.
Also the finger joints on the front are very nice, but beyond my current skills, so I would opt for an overlap top with screws and plugs. Yes, I could setup to make that joint and teach myself how, but I just don't see the extra work showing up in the sale value. I do plan to make one or two of these just for giggles and if you want me to sketch it up for you, you are welcome to it.
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Changing gears back to actual work, I have been pouring and re-pouring a pair of those mirrors and finally gave up on perfection and called them finished yesterday and mounted the glass.
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The one on the right is a bit closer to perfect then the left one. Pretty consistent on the finish.
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We'll see how long these hang around.
While the epoxy cures each day I have been working on other stuff. I finished another cedar stool with the finish nobody but me likes. ffcheesy
While that was drying I was working on a couple (3 or 4) of benches or stools. One pair will have the standard octagonal Maple legs and blind tenons with an 8/4 RO top. No news there. The other ones are totally different. I decided to take a nice Hemlock slab from the logs I milled back in June and dried it in the attic (It dropped 10 pounds of weight and MC came down from 28% to 13%). But the bark on this thing is not letting go. I don't get it. Tighter than a knat's butthole. So I have the draw knife all of it off a layer at a time and that bark is nearly an inch thick. I got a new/old draw knife last month in VT and after working on the edge a bit I gave it and my other good one a real workout to get the feel. Working the knife is a practiced skill and I am getting better, but boy it sure does provide a good workout on the shoulders and a bit a cardio as well. After nearly an hour I got it down to this level working next to the woodstove on a cool day.
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Note that I am not yet down to the cambium layer yet, The reds are still in the outer bark level and man I made a lot of chips for the stove. I had to give that rest for a while and worked on the legs, also draw knifed and then tenoned at 1-3/8. Yesterday was beautiful (78°) so I get up a horse outside and went at it again. Just 1.5 hours to get this down to the white and I ran the ROS with 60 grit over it.
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Boy howdy, that was a lot of work that will never show up in the price. ffcheesy This slab is about 40+" long, so I may cut it and make one bench and one stool out of it. It's an experiment to see how the branch legs look and how the Hemlock finishes up. I have not used branches in almost 5 years now and when I did, I was just trying to learn the tools. I still have the first one I made and it's strong (after 2nd pass repairs) but not real pretty though I am actually using it in the house by my desk.
So work continues. Today I gotta fix the mowing tractor among other things then start on sanding the top of this bench and working on the legs for the RO benches. It's always something.
Does that picture frame come with the picture of Tom THE mushroom logger? ffcheesy
One suggestion for bark removal, when I was scraping the bark off my spruce boards I'd use a hammer and chisel to get the outer bark roughed off. Then go to a coarse flap disk on the angle grinder to get down to bear wood, ate it up fast.
I try most methods when I get a tough one and a chisel and mallet works well, sometimes. But for this slab, the draw knife worked the best. I did use a chisel when I got down to the pockets and it worked quite well there. They way I look at it, the bigger the chips, the more efficient the material removal is with sawdust being at the low end and big chunks at the top. Even the cambium layer on this was on there like paint and peeled off in long curls with the draw knife.
Often on cookies and such, a chisel makes very quick work of it.
Funny thing. The draw knife I had just gotten a few weeks ago did not appeal to me at all working on the rough bark. I used my old one which is longer and has almost no drop on the handles for all the heavy bark. But when I got it smoothed out, I tried the 'new' knife again and it peeled like a dream. Two knives that both shear well, but each works better than the other in certain situations. Later I looked up the history on my 'new knife'. Turns out based on the stamp, it was made in Austria sometime between 1821 and 1825. When I got it, it wasn't sharp, but it had no nicks or flat spots and although I don't have it razor sharp yet I did get it pretty sharp and I just have some pits to work through with further sharpening. I think I got quite a steal for my 20 bucks. I found a few of these in similar shape selling for over 100 bucks. I love the old tools that work like new.
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Edit to add, if I sold those cookies with a photo of me, I would have to drop the price and it's already too low.
Tom,
Its too late now but maybe you could have sold the frames with your picture for Halloween decorations an raised the prices. ffcheesy
Those pieces look great Tom!
I wonder about one of those very aggressive discs you can put on an angle grinder, for your bark... I was surprised with how little material you can take off. I don't remember what they are called but they are metal and have some mean looking teeth on them. I was terrified to try one until I did. I can appreciate the draw knife approach though.
They make a 4" angle grinder disc with chainsaw teeth that is really aggressive, designed to sculpt wood. In the future I plan to get one and try it.
Ideally with bark on the logs I would peel them fresh cut in spring, but that wasn't the case this time.
The one I'm talking about isn't chainsaw teeth but a similar idea. It can remove a lot of wood or you can take it easy.
One of these days when the bank is more fuller I will get one of those carving discs to try it out, looks interesting. I think even HF sells the now.
I could have put a 36 grit disc on an angle grinder and perhaps made good time on this one. However, there is something very zen like in using a sharp clean cutting draw3 knife. It's a good workout, but work is good for you. Something about improving one's ability to shear off long even curls is very satisfying to me. Kind of like calming therapy. In fact I have thought about building a shave horse and sitting on it at shows just peeling log legs, but it makes quite a mess to clean up. The more you work with it, the better you get and the more you can do accurately. Maybe I am just a weirdo in this respect. I know I am a weirdo in many other respects.
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Howard, good suggestion, but you really have to work on your timing. Besides, I had no pre-Halloween shows. smiley_smug01
Not a weirdo Tom, I'm just impatient in a respect like that. I do understand the feeling when I whittle though...
Yeah well you guys put the idea in my head and after lunch I went out and dropped that sassafras tree that got top damaged and bent in the ice storm 2 years ago. The wife has been on my case to take it down since then but it wasn't dead and I love the few of these we have left. But I also wanted to get some more branch legs started drying now. The tree was 4" on the stump and 27' high. Cut to 2 foot lengths for legs I got 10 and a 7' too 'stick' for a walking stick or something later.
I stripped 5 legs and the stick so far. Much easier in the fresh green state. I am adding to my already large pile of shavings to throw in the stove.
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But no fire for two days with this heat wave. The shop sure smells good! I love sassafras.
Sawdust been adding up here to, but from cutting firewood in two for the shop stove. It's 20-22" for the furnace, but I had extra for the shop. I been building an early fire in the shop to keep dampness away. Warm days, but damp air with it. One of these mornings sawdust will build up a fire in the stove. I liked the old stove, the whole top slid to one side on a hinge and I would shovel in the sawdust, drop a piece of newsprint in and strike a match and watch the inferno. Had a damper on the pipe and a damper plate by the stove door you nudged in and out to feed more air. Very basic stove, but worked great. That stove is old. I see knockoffs, but not as heavy metal as that is. It was abused a lot to. Not by me, I might add. ffsmiley
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Here's the pictures Tom , sorry , I didn't realize that they were not very good until I went to load them. The step / seat is 11" off the floor and the back is about 36" tall.
No worries Arnold, these are very helpful. This is what some antique folks would call 'primitive' meaning it was homespun and not made in a factory but made for use in one's home. I like it even more. In your second photo of the bottom, I cannot tell if there are some sort of straps that the seat sits on or what that is. Do you recall? I think I see straps, but no matter I was most curious if the stretcher was straight or formed to also support the top, I can see clearly it's a straight piece now.
I think this is a cool piece and I am just trying to figure out how to do the cutouts and have them come out looking good. I'm excited to make a pair, but no way I can have them figured out and built for my next show in 4 weeks. Unless I dropped everything else and didn't go to the mill for a while, and I have to get back to the mill and finish another order. I have 4 projects in work now. I want to jig this one up right because I have a feeling I may be making a bunch of them over time. The paint and coloring on this sample are also very appealing. I hope I can do that justice.
Thanks an awful lot for taking those photos.
I believe it had the straps that you asked about. Screwed to the front and back and the
seat / step screwed from underneath.
Yeah, after my post I managed to get it up on a better monitor and see it better. Certainly I will 'take some liberties' when I get to it, but I like the design a lot and just have to make some patterns to make it easier to repeat. Most time I make a new item I just 'wing it' and only make patterns later if it sells. But I like this, so doing the patterns up front will take a bit longer but make it easier to repeat. I think I will change the heart shaped hole in the top to a round one but I like the heart tops on the legs.
I have to find a source locally for 1/4" Masonite.
I also use Masonite for patterns and it is now often metric and closer to 1/8th inch. hard to carry a 4 x 8 sheet. My son uses it for bases to his gaming pieces, and I cut out down to 1 x 1-inch squares for him on the laser engraver. Tom, let me know when you are ready for more of your brand coins. :thumbsup:
Yeah Doc, I have some of that thin stuff but the bearings on my router bits often slip under or over them, so I need to get 1/4" to hit it right. HD sells small panels (2x4' or something like that) which will do fine.
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Well the last couple of days have been steady but slow progress. We are back in another cool down, 27° this morning, so I have been heating again and needing a bit more than a smudge fire. I throw a log in the stove every couple of hours but never fill it and moderate it. I think I have to do some repair work on the thermostatic damper, seems like the bi-metal spring is slipping on it's shaft. Not a big deal, I just need to watch it closer and fix it on the next warm day. I still haven't pulled my water pump, but I did drain what I could and disconnect the hoses and open the lines I could. I'll get to it this week.
Yesterday I finished up leg prep on two different benches, one is a nice flat RO 8/4 slab about 24" long (I am making a pair of them) and the other is that rounded Hemlock that I draw knifed last week. That one has branch legs, pretty hefty maple, maybe 2-2-1/2" diameter, the RO gets my standard Octagonal legs. I drilled the pockets on the Hemlock and fitted those legs, then I managed to drill one of the RO slabs but my forstener bit is getting pretty dull, that RO is really hard and I just can't seem to get that bit sharp anymore. I ran out of shoulder muscles. So I quit on that third bench and ordered another new bit. It can wait a few days. In the meantime I glued the legs on the RO bench and epoxied the legs into the Hemlock bench because they didn't fit as well and the tenons were not straight, the epoxy makes a much better fill than glue does IMO.
As a side note, I will say that I have altered my tenoning method (again) since I have been getting better results with the tenon cutter. I now only sand the tenons down to 1-3/8" and it goes MUCH faster, about a minute a tenon, but I need a better bit. I like the bigger diameter. I used to sand to 1-1/4" which took more work and time and drill to that size. Bigger tenon means stronger to me, especially if they are short and blind.
Today I had a short day. so I checked my joints and needed to do some epoxy fills on the Hemlock bench legs, they are not great tenons and they are deep (over 2") so I did that plus some sanding on both benches and some other touch up fills here and there. I also have a hemlock stool seat ready with no legs yet which I did some crack fills on. Had to get the stove going at almost normal winter mode the keep the shop warm all day for the epoxy. The high today was only 52. then I cleaned up and we headed to my daughter's for Sunday dinner as my sister in law is visiting with us from Oregon. So that killed half the day and when we got home tonight I threw a couple of small logs in the stove just to keep the heat up for 'most' of the night. The shop is holding at 63° right now.
I suspect I'll spend tomorrow full time in the shop and maybe finally pull that pump. Then Tuesday or so will begin transitioning back to mill work while I do the finishing on those benches. Sand a little and lay down a coat in the morning, then head to the mill for a few hours, then come back and check the finishes and do more on something else.
Tomorrow is another day, just like today but different.
Tom,I'm in the process of making my grandson a step stool based on the link you provided a few posts back. I have all the pieces cut out but now waiting on a router I have ordered so I can fit it together.I've never owned or used a router so I may or may not be able to post a picture of a finished product.
Well that will be really cool Bill! Could you post progress photos as you go? Not sure what you need the router for, are you planning on dado joints? You could make those on the table saw too. That link I posted was a result of Arnold's (Trimguy) excellent suggestion. I haven't really gotten into it yet, but I think I am going to us elements from that one as well as the first one Arnold posted.. I think I'd like a large hole in the top of the back for a handle or hanging point and I could just do that with a hole saw then a corner rounding bit on the router. Probably cleats under the seat for simplicity and maybe a little more detail on the leg bottoms such as in Bill's sample, but I have yet to put up a pencil for this one. I don't even have material to work with in the shop yet. I also have 4 other projects I am working on that I'd like to get done first.
I'd be interested to follow along with you on this one for sure.
Tom,I took a picture of the parts I cut out for my step stool. Being I've now had my sawmill 4 years I've got quite a bit of fairly dry lumber even though it is only air dried. I went through it last year and probably 1/2 went into the wood stove or on a brush pile. Anyway I have some nice red oak and that's what I am using for the back piece.The rest will be walnut. I don't have a table saw but I have a big worm drive circular saw that I can get a pretty straight cut with on long pieces. Was planning to make slot in back piece to accept seat and slot in bottom of seat to accept front piece.All wood is 3/4" thick. I'm planning to use router to cut slots when I get it after I practice on some scrap wood. Hope doctor says I can stand and do a little bit or I'll go nuts.Also thanks to Trimguy and MachineBuilder for info they provided on this topic.
ffcheesy ffcheesy Well that was pretty dang fast! :wink_2: Especially for a one legged wood cutter! ffcheesy
That looks great! You don't mention, but are you putting a stretcher under the seat? I had not considered a a dado for under the front edge of the seat. I'll have to think on that. I plan to make mine out of pine, at least to start. I wanted to keep it lightweight. How tall is your back (I mean the back on the seat).
Heal up man, then get back to work.
Tom,I cut the pieces before I had my accident. I have a piece of wood for a stretcher underneath seat but haven't decided how to fasten it yet and don't have it cut to size.I have a Kreg pocket screw rig I have used a little bit with pretty good results along with glue so I might use it. I used the measurements from the link you posted which I think was 44" tall.Mine might be a little heavy being I used oak for the back but for some reason I like to use different kinds of wood plus I have a limited supply of walnut and I am kind of stingy with it.I have several pretty good cherry boards that I might use on the next one if this one works out okay.I plan to make two.One for my grandson and one for my great niece. My little grandson is pretty stout so he might get the heavier one ffcheesy
Bill,
The stool looks great, but you make sure and get yourself healed up, quick! It might mean taking it easy for a bit. Have no fear, you can then make a never ending list of the things you want/need to get done. Once your feeling better you can start on that list, or promptly toss it into the woodstove!
Be safe out there guys
Matt
Bill,
The stool looks good but are you sure Grandma ain't looking for her missing ironing board? ffcheesy
He only took half of it Howard. She is still good to go.
ARRRGGHHH!!!! I just lost a post it took me an hour to compose and add in all the reading aids for Howard. Not the forum, or even the internet, just my home router/wifi system puked on me. I will NOT re-create that post (you're welcome) again, but I did have photos in it and the rules say you have to use all the photos in your gallery in a post somewhere, so here is the abridged version.
I finished one of the two stool/benches.
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Not great but I did get some fleck in this one.
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It measures 24 long by 12 high and 12 wide. I figure it's a nice mid sized bench, might appeal to some folks.
I also tried to catch up to Bill.
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I figure since he is laid up I might catch him and this might even give me a leg up on him, given his 'condition'. ffcheesy (Sorry Bill, the devil made me say that.) But what I have is just rough, very rough and it's Yellow Poplar, that's what I had.
I did some work in the trailer packing the new shelves and special packing the stuff I have figured out for my shelf units, which is all new for this show coming up. Also been filling in with fall chores, draining hoses and putting away outdoor stuff. I have two other benches and a stool in work. One is the twin of the RO bench above and the other bench and stool are hemlock and I back up to re-do the finish on the ends which looked terrible.
Anyway, tomorrow is another day.
QuoteI figure it's a nice mid sized bench, might appeal to some folks.
I haven't done too many benches, but I have sold my slabs and lumber to customers to make them a few times. Often they just wants a "boot bench", literally just a simple bench to sit and get their boots on (either for in snow or mud) in the front entryway, mudroom, garage or wherever. :thumbsup:
Well, that's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. I had a 4' slab that was gonna be a bench but then I thought 'Hey, if I cut it in half, I could sell two short benches for $120. each instead of one long bench for $175.". ffcheesy Plus I like having a variety of sizes and heights. Benches move slow, but they do move. I don't have a collection as big as Howards but I am working in that direction. Stools move slow, but they move a lot faster than benches and I had to make more twice during the selling season this year. So I will try to add a bunch more over the winter if I can. Leg material is a problem for me right now. I am just really short on (dry) wood.
Tom, I think poplar is a good choice for the stool especially if you paint some or all of it. I've always preferred poplar over pine on anything I was painting. When I built my house all the trim was poplar and seemed a lot smoother than pine. My problem is poplar is the wood I seem to sale the most of and I don't have very many dry boards. I like the looks of that bench too. Is it red oak?
Well, it's not great poplar I have, but this is more of a prototype and I used what I got to catch up to you. :wink_2: I do plan on painting it in colors similar to those on the original photo that Arnold posted. I do like those colors even though I hate painting anything, even walls in the house. Finding paint will be a whole 'nother adventure and likely hold me up a week while you catch up and pass me. ffcheesy
Truthfully I am liking the lines on yours better than mine.
Nice looking bench Tom!
I like the bench.
On the shaker step I would move the front leg out at least close to the edge.
With it set back I can see it tipping towards me and hitting a sensitive spot when I use it.
I didn't see that Bill had set his back before.
MB, these are just the blank pieces mocked up. Nothing is fastened, just balanced.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on November 07, 2024, 07:51:12 PMARRRGGHHH!!!! I just lost a post it took me an hour to compose and add in all the reading aids for Howard.
Okay - so here I get blamed again. What is new about that?
That's okay. I know you were upset. Us 2 fingered typists take a while and it takes time to reconstruct what we wrote then lost.
I know you did not
really mean to hurt my feelings (
again) and please know I forgive you (
again) and we all (even Doc) still love you. Take a chill pill and have a nice day.
Yeah see I typed that too fast and you misunderstood. I never blamed you (well not this time anyway). Just some glitch is the household network.
That bench came out really nice!
For the step stool you might consider a milk paint that will fit with that style. General Finishes, while not a real milk paint, makes a variety of colors that may fit. I had done a "kitchen helper" type stool for the kids which I first painted with black milk paint, then top coated with a darker red. As it was used, banged up, worn through on the edges, etc. the black showed through in areas which I though looked pretty cool. Gave it kind of an antique feel.
MB,mine is just mocked up also.I plan to leave no more than a 1" overhang and maybe less. Still waiting on the router I ordered to arrive. Should be here today. I'm also finding out router bits are expensive. Anyone know of a good source of bits that work pretty good that are affordable.
A woodworker will always need more tools. ffcheesy
I keep an eye on the listings on place of market and list of Craig for good used tools, as well as check rummage sales and auctions for deals.
Bill, I get mine off Ebay for around 15 bucks average for carbide. Been having pretty good success with them and really I don't use but one or two profiles a lot so it's cheap enough to replace them when they burn up.
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Well, today I hit it hard, maybe too hard. I started back in on the stool/chair at around 9am and when I looked at the clock next it was 3pm. Got all the parts cut, edges routed, drilled and counterbored and did a dry fit up.
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I should have put more taper on the sides and made the top hole smaller.
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I do kind of like how the leg bottoms came out.
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SO I took it all apart, did a sanding, then applied sanding sealer and when that dried I did a hand sanding. The I went too far and started to put it back together, but in a different order than the first time. I was trying to get it all glued up before dinner. Yeah, you guessed it, in my haste I screwed it up and things weren't as nice as before. By then, I had overrun my time and had to come it. I am going to leave it for tonight and try to regroup in the morning. If I come up with a plan, I will go shopping for paint tomorrow.
First time in 4 years I tried to rush something and I thought I knew better by now. Lesson learned. Oh well, prototypes are supposed to be a learning tool and this one is certainly that. So let that be a lesson to youse other guyz. Don't be like me. ffcheesy
Looks good to me Tom, I'm way behind even though my router arrived today I don't have any bits for it plus I'm going to have to figure out how to use the thing. I should have probably just used cleats like on yours which look fine. The people that end up with my stuff wouldn't know the difference either way which is probably the same with your buyers. The main reason I bought the router is that I've been wanting one anyway and I had just sold enough lumber to buy one as I kind of like my hobby to pay for itself although I don't think it will pay for ER visits. ffcheesy
Bill,
When you get it figured out let me know when you want to offer router classes and I will come up or if yo9u come down here I'll feed you catfish or all the deer meat you can hold.
I bought a whole router set up at a flea market a couple years back with the router table, books, bits, and never took the time to figure it all out.
Howard ,I may take you up on that offer but it might be awhile. I am a slow learner. Especially on this woodworking adventure. If my wife was in a little better shape I would have already came down and visited being your not that far away but I can't leave her alone and she doesn't have much interest in going anywhere. You're welcome up here anytime.
The taper will add some visual interest and move away from what looks like using a full board. However, in this case the grayed sapwood really also looks good as natural character. I think a heart at the top would be charming, as it will be the grandmas who buy this, but then you would need a hole to hang it by. Not sure anyone really has a place to hang chairs and stuff anymore anyway. It looks great!
I do have tapered sides but they are slight and barely show in the photo, a straight on shot would make it more clear, but there is not enough to get the appeal I wanted. I used a hole saw for the whole, it was quick, but I think the hole is a bit large. I wanted it to work like a handle or a hanging point, but mostly a handle. It is nice to have something for older folks to grab and assist their balance when climbing up on it or standing there. But I put the hole in and then figured the taper I could use to keep a good sized and even border around the hole. As a learning experience it went well. I didn't want to try the heart shaped hole in the top because I was afraid I would screw it up. Besides, it may have come out even wider than the hole I did use. It's very easy to see a flaw in a symmetrical feature and I am not Larry. :wink_2: As Resonator observed previously, I used a LOT of different tools on this one and I may have to buy another hole saw. I even used my plug cutters for this one.
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Howard the router is a very simple tool to use and learn. Try using yours for something simple. When you make your benches and want to round off the end cuts to blend them around to the live edge, the router can do in one pass what a sander or file will take many minutes and muscles. It doesn't get any easier than that and it looks a lot more consistent. 4 cut edges, times 15 seconds per edge and you are done, move on.
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Bill, it's not a race and you have other priorities that come well ahead of a silly stool. Yours, I am sure, will come out much nicer than mine. I should have quit and hour earlier yesterday and finished it off today instead of pushing through so the glue would be dry and I could paint today. Now I have a fully glued piece with poor fitting joints. I don't have any wood in stock to make another one and I will have months to think about this one and how I screwed it up.
It's time to get the fire going in the shop and see if I can fix this thing.
That looks good Tom, I agree with your assessment too.
Bill, IMHO the first thing to learn about routers is they are not a free hand tool. they work better with fixtures to guide them.
I also find they are better for a light finish cut rather than removing large amounts of material. I have burned up dadoing bits fast.
I have an assortment of bits, bought from many places. Grizzly tools has a good selection for reasonable prices.
I have bought several off Amazon.
Yall are making me want to find my parts and work on mine.
Dave, you are right. Taking heavy cuts is not always a good way to go, especially on hardwoods, but I find with the corner rounding you can take several quick passes along an edge going deeper each time without much fuss. I buy carbide bits from Ebay vendors and once in a while I get a dud. Certain shapes like the big 45° chamfer, I do wear out in time, and I just get another. I use those for chamfering my legs on the table router and it goes quick in one pass but will eventually dull the edge after a few hundred cuts.
Likewise, learning to take your cuts in the right direction so as not to break out the grain on the corners or using a backer strip to hold it together can take some practice. But this is more brain training than anything.
By all means, get going on your design. I will be most interested to have 3 different designs to compare. It might give me more ideas to 'assimilate'. ffcheesy
This is all (TrimGuy) Arnold's fault. ffcheesy ffcheesy
I have seen a couple of framers use routers to cut out window and door holes from sheathed walls. Them made it look easy and the opening was precise
I went to the Sherwin williams paint store this morning in hopes of getting somebody who really knew paint, which I do not. My xes results. Got a nice young man that knew what the catalog says really well but never heard of sanding sealer or water white top coats. At first he sold me the top of the line high dollar stuff until he found they were out of the high gloss (at 30+ bucks a quart). Settled in on the next one down and with the pro discount it was only $23./qt. Not totally happy with my choice for the blue, but the brown matches up pretty well.
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The photo looks very blue but it has green in it that the photo doesn't carry through. It's also very streaky for a first coat, which is actually kind of appealing for a primitive piece. I'll see what the second coat looks like because I didn't do any masking between colors and have a few small misses. I will sell this one as a shop second because of my poor assembly work.
For a primitive piece, you could always rub sand though the paint in a few spots, and give it that antiquey patina look. :thumbsup:
IMG_6775.jpeg
I guess it doesn't show in the pictures, but the heart wasn't a symmetrical. Part of the look.
"Cant blame it on me, I don't do nothing around here."
Yeah Arnie I did see that, I just thought I'd try the hole first, it was quick. Of course I picked the wrong size. I did try half a heart on the legs. Call it a half hearted effort. :wink_2: I thought those came out ok.
After a second coat it's still streaky but that holds to the primitive plan. If I were trying to get a fine smooth coat with this paint I have no idea how I would do that and I'd be tearing my hair out right now. But I am happy with the 'look'. It's a shop second anyway at this point.
Putting aside the usual color jokes about purple and Yankee brown, I am wondering what other folks think about the colors and the combination of colors?
Tom, that stool would go over big here in WV as those are the colors of the WVU Mountaineers football team. Looks good 👍
Well Bill, tell them they can find it on my WFP Facebook page for $95 bucks plus shipping which will not be cheap. ffcheesy I'm selling it as a shop second.
I like the little short bench with the fleck in it. If i wasn't too deep in things to do I might have to do one for a shoe removal bench.
I did a little searching thru my unfinished project pile.
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I remember I am not happy with my hole for the back piece. I think I can do some modifiying and make the pieces work together.
I did find the plans I was working off of too. Maybe you could use the dimensions as a suggestion.
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Well Pat, I suppose that bench is shippable, but no idea what it would cost. I am getting pretty good at packing I am told. ffcheesy
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Dave, I kind of like the design I am working with (after some improvements). The dimensions are helpful for scale and such, but I just don't see the point in that mortise in the seat. It really adds little to the strength as far as I can see and that piece sticking out the back keeps you from putting the stool flush against the wall. It just doesn't hit me is all. Bu the hole size in the top and the width at the top is more what I will lean toward on my design.
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This shoulder season weather is wreaking havoc with trying to get my finishes the cure up. Sometime it takes 2 days to get it hard enough to light sand and re-coat. I am keeping the shop warm enough, but that doesn't do it for some reason, I kept it around 70 for most of last night and it was 65 this morning. Humidity has been 50% or below which is dry for here. I don't get it.
Anyway, I did sand and add a coat on 3 pieces this morning after re-starting the fire. Held it over 70 all day and for the first time I will go fill the stove tonight for the overnight, going into the 20's tonight. If I didn't have stuff curing, I would let it go. I may have done the final coat on 2 pieces today. The other piece I need to drill and install legs.
I headed to the mill and milled up two logs. I don't like humping 3x8x15' headers by myself, so I ran out of giddy-up fairly quick. But I did bring my leaf blower and gave the mill deck and mill a good blowing off.. For the first time, I can see all the outrigger feet! I can even tell that the concrete was painted at some point, I suspected, but never knew. :wink_2: Each time I clean up I get a little deeper. I still have a few spots where I haven't hit bottom, but not many left.
No idea where I ma starting or what I will do yet tomorrow, but I have a list and something will get done.
can you run a dehumidifier in the shop. It may cost as much as an AC unit, but the overnight humidity may be on the surface of your project even for a while after heating up. 50% at 70 degrees has to 100% at 20. would not have to run it all the time. it will speed cure time and lower the overall range of RH in the shop.
It would have to be a pretty dang big unit Doc for my 15' ceilings and that will of course suck the life out of our power budget.
Ironically when we bought this place the previous owner had built a 'lacquering room' with a huge cast blade 220v exhaust fan through the wall, filtered air intake, and a door into the room. It was 12x12 and became a huge junk closet for me. When I decided to add a bigger loft, I removed the front wall and door on that room and moved my big south bend lathe in there as well as the Bridgeport. No regrets.
But here I am today trying to figure out where I can make room for a small finishing and drying booth. It's really not that bad in the shop, right now it's 62° and 39% humidity, which is low for around here. Normal would be 55-75% or higher.
That is a great idea to climate control a small area. it would also keep dust down in that area and you can work on projects and finish at the same time. I find in my container, I can run the dehumidifier for a day each month and it stays down overall.
in fact, if the temp drops at night, the RH goes up, so I would only run it overnight and keep the humidity down. this winter, the water will be less in the air overall and RH less when the air is heated. If the temps at night go lower, then it is back up. It is all relative! ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
The issue is, of course, space (the final frontier). We all have this problem and I have a dozen different major ideas floating around in my head at any given time about improving this, from pouring a slab and adding a shed roof/rom on the backyard side of the shop to adding another small loft area over the woodstove. I alter these ideas based on my aging considerations and available funds (none right now) and time plus materials.
The extra loft space seems least expensive and would add about 100sq/ft. While I am building I could include walls and a door and even insulate it. I just have to figure out how I will do the floor frame/joists and attach them to the existing work without adding a new support column in a place where I really don't want one. SO I keep thinking on it. One day it may hit me.
Well dadgumet all, after Doc got me thinking on 'the space issue' I spent yesterday afternoon sitting next to the stove in the shop, having a beer, and looking up at my lofts to figure out ho I could expand. Adding another loft is the no-brainer part, but how to attach the one end of the header for the new section is the dilemma. I think I may have that figured out, and sort of went through the BOM in my head, a couple of 2x12x12's and a handful of 2x10x10's for the joists, plus one 6x8x7' post. The bigger issue is shutting the shop down for the work and pulling down a tool board, then bolting that post to the wall as I did with the others. I'll also have to pull out my dust collector and remove that section of flooring and framing to replace with the new section. Trying to decide about the floor. The best way for me is two layers of 1/2 plywood, but that is pricey stuff. If I go with 1" boards x 2 layers I know I will have shrinkage and dust will filter through the floor to the floor below. I don't have time to dry wood right now although if I cut it soon and get it in my garage on stickers with a fan, it might dry considerably by the time I lay it down. When I do 2 layers, I do one layer on a bias of 45° and the second layer perpendicular to the joists. I just can't be too long with the shop in pieces so planning is critical. With a plan and the materials all cut, I could probably wrap it up in a week. (Don't quote me on that.) If I don't buy plywood, my only costs will be some nails and timberlocks. Now if I did wall in a finishing booth that would take longer. ffcheesy
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Today I returned to reality and had a mixed day. In the morning I heated up the shop and sanded the legs on the stool I epoxied the legs into yesterday after I cut the legs off evenly. I did a first coat of poly on the legs, a third coat on the seat bottom, and a second coat on the top. Still drying pretty slow, but drying. It's going to be a funky looking stool.
Then I headed to the mill and milled the logs I had on the deck to fill more of the shed order but a 4x6x15' is pretty heavy, I wore out quick. Need to get a machine in to move more logs up. I think I just need some 2x6's for rafters and a bunch of 1x6's for the wall battens.
I have this (questionable) habit of taking the oddball cuts off the mill that don't fit any dimensions and bring those home. The skim cut you take off the top of a cant to hit your size, or the miscalculated dimensional piece that happens from time to time. I bring those back to my shop and air dry them and use them for 'junk jobs' like shelves, crates for my stuff, jigs and such, or whatever. So today I had a bunch of that stuff accumulating and I ran it all through the planer just to skip plane it and got it in the rack. Some of it got cut up for stove fodder. That killed out the rest of my day, plus i had to re-stack the rack to make room.
Other than the joy of packing up the cat and taking her back to the vet for another blood test tomorrow, I have no idea what I will be doing besides more coats on that stool. Anyway, it's just another day.
Good luck on the cat I hope her levels are back down to where they need to be.
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Bug wishes her well too.
We will see how it goes, it is what it is. The big trick is to get her in the carrier, always a concern. running-doggy :juggle2: :jigga: boxingsmiley :tickedoff:
Last cat we had, which was 25 years ago, hated being in a vehicle in motion. She'd climb the walls and all over trying to escape. ffcheesy ffcheesy
She did just fine. She whined a little about being in the box on the way down, and a lot less on the way back. She was very good with the tech's and Doc except for a poofed up tail at one point. When we got home she didn't hold it against me and was behaving normally in just a minute or two. Her 'number' was down to 1.6 which is much better than the 16 she had when we first brought her in, plus she gained a half pound on her skinny boney frame. We don't have to go back for 6 months. Now I just have to find a source for a good price on her meds, she's taking 3 pills a day and it looks like it will stay this way.
Excellent!
Routine few days here. Worked in the shop all day Saturday and did a few chores. I got more finishing work laid down trying to finish up the projects on hand before I start more. I think I made more stuff than I can fit in the trailer at this point. I will work on that near the end of the week and figure out what I am taking to the show and what I will leave. I am down to finishing up about a dozen of these silly floating bottle holders because I am curious to see if anyone buys them. I tried the wipe on poly and didn't like the way it looked so I am doing regular poly with a brush. Folks seem to like shiny stuff. :wink_2: Also finished off a Hemlock stool with ERC branch legs which is kind of funky looking, so I want that in the show.
Went to the mill on Sunday and loaded up some logs on the deck to finish off the shed order I am working on. Sunday night late, Bill texted and told me he forgot to tell me about a 6x8 column for a client he has known of for a while. So he had dropped a log in the middle of my queue for that post and could I cut it today.. Yeah, sure. So today I went down and milled up the log I already had on the bed into 1x6's and 2x6's and then dealt with this big knarly log he stuck up. I had to trim some horns off before I could even get it to roll up on the arms. I got some 1x10's off of it and a few 1x6's, and eventually his 6x8. Bill was doing a run up to drop off rubble/stone/dirt at the trommel and he stopped to help me get the post off the mill bed. I had worked up a pretty good sweat just handling the slabs and 60° felt kind of warm today. My shirts were pretty wet.
I ran an errand and got back to the shop around 2. Finishes were still drying and I have been thinking about this 'open house/shop/studio' thing and realized I needed to be cleaning the shop regardless of whether I go forward with an event. Yesterday I did a much needed cleaning of the floors upstairs. The chips and dust were building and that took a couple of hours. Today I tackled the workbench downstairs, which I have been avoiding for more than 6-8 months. That took over an hour. I'll keep pecking away at the housekeeping to maybe make this open house possible. Assuming I have it, after it's done and I take another week to clean it up and reload the trailer I think I may begin work tearing the shop apart to add one more loft area to increase floor space. OY. That's a project and will shut down the shop for a few weeks. I have the prep work, tear out, wiring changes, equipment moves, mill the dimensional lumber and the flooring, process the flooring, then start building. The build is actually the easiest part. All the work before and after the build is the hard work. I am still thinking on the design and if I will wall in a finishing room in this new space so I can keep the air clean and maybe run a higher temp in there without having to heat the entire building. I am noticing if I keep the shop at 65-68 my finishes take a long time to dry. If I hold it at 74° things go a whole lot quicker. So a small insulated room may be the answer. Whatever I do, I want to have it done before mushroom log orders begin coming in. I may do another radio show in the next 6 weeks and that always brings a flurry of inquiries.
So lots going on, but it's all part of the normal routine. Tomorrow is another day.
One of the benefits of my small shop is that it just about demands that I clean up between every project... I don't like it but it stays generally manageable. I griped to the wife about the shop being too small and she told me to expand it but there's a lot of concrete and wood costs involved, so that'd be a while and for the short term I've decided to remove a bench I have in there. Then at least I can park my drill press, folded table saw and jointer in that space. When I was messing with my lathe dust remover I had to move things to move things to use things, then undo it. It's maddening.
I like the idea of a finishing room for you Tom, for what it's worth, the little ceramic space heaters they make now are cheap, like 15 bucks, and will put out real nice heat on a thermostat, keeping a small room above 75 should be no problem. Also, happy to hear your cat is ok.
Well, when I say cleaning, I do put away tools and supplies after each job by habit or I can't find anything later. But after a few weeks or months the chips and dust build up on the floor, walls, shelves, and everything else, like the stairs and such. I can never get rid of that fine dust, but I can handle the bigger stuff. But having tools and materials organized with a 'home' for each 'thing' makes it easy to put them away and find them again. It's a never ending process to make that happen and I try to add at least one improvement a month for storage. Making choices in a small shop is always tough. When I started my machine shop business it was in my parents basement because I lived in an apartment across town. I had and area that was about 18'x 25' and my machines were so close I could switch from running one to the other by only moving one of my feet and just pivot. It was 3 steps to my furthest machine. SO I have that mindset of fitting a lot in a small space and organization is key.
With regard to the room, Yeah that would be nice, but I am still thinking on it. This new floor will be directly over the woodstove, so I'd rather work that into the plan. Those heaters (I have a couple) work well but burn a lot of electric. But you make me think I need to run another circuit up to that section, which is more work. OY.
Anyway, I'll worry about all that after the open shop weekend. In the meantime, in my 'spare time' I will find some logs and make the lumber I need. It's more milling to make the flooring than the framing, I think, then processing the flooring. I want good and really clear lumber for this one, not the stuff I have used in the past. But it's all down the road a bit for now.
Tom,
I think, maybe you've mentioned a lean-to off your shop in the past as a possible additional covered area to keep things protected. I know it doesn't help with the inside situation, but they are helpful, cheap-ish to create, and benefit you buy having more important stuff under cover. I have most of the materials to put up 9'x12' between 2 of my firewood sheds. I think I'll have enough room to keep the wood splitter and the dag-gum lawn mower at least under cover. I also plan to hang up a few items on the available wall space.
Matt
For me, a lean to would be pretty expensive because I would want a full slab under it so that 'eventually' I could wall it in as an extension of the shop and wire it. So the cost for the concrete becomes a consideration. I don't really need covered parking for equipment, I need space for machines and benches. Given my age, I don't know how much longer I have to do this stuff and I don't want to get back in the rat race of trying to make as much money as I can, I just want to be able to live.
Tom,
I can convene an emergency meeting of the design committee if you'd like.
I still remember when I went to add an additional bay and some vertical storage in my pole barn I use for slab and craft/bench storage and before I was done I had added the bay, vertical storage in 3 bays and installed wooden/puncheon type floors in 4 bays.
I understand and can agree about making a proper addition. I don't know id there is any temporary measures you can take that will help. Is there room for a shipping container and would that work? They are not that expensive and you could use or sell it later if you decide to do something more permanent. Just a thought and $$$$.
Thanks Howard, I can always count on you, but I don't think that will be necessary. Given the poor sales year I am just going to do stuff that doesn't cost much more than time and simple hardware. When I do the loft I'd rather use plywood, but that's pricey, so I will take the extra hours and mill up 1x6's with a half lap joint and planed for sIZE. But again this is down the road after two 2 day shows.
We will revisit this around Christmas.
In my last post here I forgot to address your suggestion of a conex box, which is a good idea, but as I said it's not storage I need. At any rate, it's a big no on that and not because of me because I think it would be great for wood storage and I would start filling it as soon as I got it. But it's because my neighbor ( generally referred to as "The idiot" around here) is running his own dump with a tractor trailer box and a construction trailer office for storage and his entire yard is filled with crap he will never use and several unregistered vehicles and trailers in various stages of repair. I can't add to that mess. I have alternatives I haven't even developed yet and will go another way. Sometimes you don't have to raise the bridge, if you can lower the river. I am going to maintain the higher road on that score.
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Well today, being the third Wednesday of the month, we did our food shopping and other errands in town, got home after noon. After unloading, I skipped lunch and went out to the shop. My finishes on current work were dried if not cured, so I brought them down and packed them loosely in the crate I whipped out yesterday for them. Then I started cleaning, I hate this part, but it has to be done and I am a little anal about it once I start. I began in one corner and worked my way around the 'baseboards' pulling everything out away from the wall and sweeping with a hand broom and then restacking (neater) behind me as I made progress. Lots of stuff for the trash found along the way, as well as cardboard used for padding and painting back boards that will go in the stove at some point (never waste a BTU). and things to move elsewhere. I covered about 30' of wall edges and moved a lot of stuff. I took the planer, small dust blower, second planer, a table saw I don't use and wanted to make into a dado saw, and drum sander and moved them into the Mule bay which I had cleaned and cleared. Then I worked on the wall where most of that equipment was. Apparently I haven't cleaned in this area for at least 4 years. There is a lot to deal with. I spent 6 hours cleaning and am not done. I knew this would take a lot of hours and that's why I wanted to get started. The plane is to clean up what I can the string some cable or something and hand moving blankets to cover all the tools and such on the walls and basically 'screen in' a display area. So the cleaning and clearing comes first before I can start figuring out how to hang these blankets, how they will look, how to adjust them, and how much room I can get. Tomorrow I have a wall and a half to go, plus the front 'walls' where the bay doors are and more stuff to find a new home for. Gonna rain all day (if you can believe the forecast), so it's a good day for it.
Monday after milling I spent the whole afternoon just cleaning off my work bench, which felt great, but now I have a saw on it and just fixed my leaf blower this morning that was also on it. I'll just keep plugging at this and try to make something presentable. Hopefully it will, in some way, pay off eventually.
Tomorrow is another day.
Tom, you're doing better than me. I decided it was time to clean my garage and as far as I got was taking a broom and knocking down all the cobwebs. I've got a lot of mechanics tools I need to get rid of especially all of my big stuff. I don't plan to work on anything any bigger than a pickup or small tractor. I've thought about putting a bunch of stuff on marketplace but dealing with people I don't know isn't one of my strong points although you sometimes meet some really nice people. Maybe I'll get bored this winter and give it a try.
Working in a clean shop is always nice :thumbsup:
x2 :thumbsup: I always clean up.
Re: Tom's neighbor- Confirmed... Dude has a lot of junk sitting around.
We've got some places like that around here, most people grow shrubs or whatever on their property line to avoid seeing the stuff but I always feel bad for the folks that take care of theirs while their neighbors looks like a dump. There's a house that is really nice with property meticulously kept around the corner from us but right next door is a house that sits back on the property and their front yard is all kinds of nonsense, it looks terrible. I have a spot that is kind of junky but it's behind the barn and now quite overgrown so you can't see most of it, even when walking right by, and neighbors can't see it at all. I'll have to get out there and clean it up to access a few things I want to get to.
Well if you want to get technical, I figure there are 3 levels or grades of "clean". The first is getting tools put away, benches cleared except for the current work, and the big piles of chips removed.
The second level is sweeping everything up right to the perimeter, then vacuuming everything, benches, machines, floor, and empty any dust collectors and waste bins.
The third level is what I am doing now and I only do this for a good reason. I pull everything away from the walls, clean it off, then with a hand broom I sweep all around the walls pulling dust, chipped paint, sand, and what ever to the center of the room. The I re-stack and rearrange all the stuff along the wall and move stuff out that is no longer pertinent to the mission. After that I do a really good cleaning on the exposed floor area. This means a lot of time on hands and knees and getting pretty filthy in general.
So level 1 I do weekly and sometimes daily. Level 2 gets done about 2-3 times a year. Level 3 gets done maybe once every 2 years unless I am into a project like adding lofts or painting the floor.
Everything is relative and 'clean' is one of those things.
My big bench is on wheels and it's the only thing that doesn't get pretty regularly moved to clean underneath. I blow everything else out as well as my laziness will allow every few days, if I'm actually doing stuff in there.
I hadn't messed around in my lathe corner for quite a while and all the other mobile tools get parked basically in that corner and when I finally dug my way back there I found a quite impressive, maybe 4-5 foot long, snake skin! I haven't seen any mice in a while... Maybe that's why!
Now there are effing birds living in the ceiling insulation directly over my chair...
Day 2.5 of cleaning and I am about wore out, more hands and knees work cleaning out another 30 linear feet of walls and re-arranging stuff. I still have one section by the small garage door (easy) and the section around the work bench and back door.
I hung some cable down each side of the main bay and from that I hung moving blankets to cover all the tools, materials and junk I have along those walls. I just didn't want the clutter distracting from what I want folks to looks at.
North Wall:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241121_171727550.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356873)
And the south edge of that bay:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241121_171744827.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356874)
The things I have there are just waiting to get loaded in the trailer (tomorrow?). I will try to line this with tables so I don't have stuff on the floor, but lets see what works as I set it up. I have a long way to go after the cleaning is completed, hopefully tomorrow. I still have the show in a week that I have to focus on, so prepping for two very different shows at once is problematic for a guy with a small brain. :wink_2:
I really need to paint that floor, but there is no time to do that now or it would be a schlock job for sure, besides, that is a summer job with the doors open.
It's coming along slowly and will take me over a week to really set it up fully once I have the shop cleared, cleaned, and ready. I hardly did any additional cleaning up stairs since I don't really plan on bringing anyone up there. But I do plan to at least get all tools put away and the workbench cleaned up.
It wil be what it will be and I should stop stressing over it and take one step at a time.
Wow Tom, that looks great! I wouldn't have guessed you could make that much room in there!
Well I hope it's enough to put everything out without having it too cluttered and still have room for a snack table someplace. I could make an alcove in the first bay if needed but it will be small and the lighting is not great there.
I will have to wait almost 2 weeks before I start seeing how it all fits. I still have some cleaning and putting away to do today, but I am nearly ready to bring things in, I just have to wait until around 12/1. In the meantime I can think on it some more. I'll have to hang signs before I start putting up the goods.
It's an experiment. Let's see what I learn. If it's a success I may hold it over for the following weekend.
OG
Your tidy shop gave me a thought. Around these parts in the fall when the leaves are all purdy, A local merchants group sponsors an artists/craftspeople tour. They publish a map, people toodle the roads and visit these people in their shops/farms etc. Looking and buying.
Open for business, I personally know a couple craftspeople that do good business that weekend. Is there anything like that in your area?
put together a nice display of your stuff, you can work in the shop and the $$ should roll in.
:sunny: ffcool
Tom,
That's looking good. I assume on the snack table you will have a crockpot full of grits in case you have an influx of highly discerning and cultured customers pass through. Be sure to have plenty of small and large bowls and don't forget the salt, pepper and butter. ffsmiley ffsmiley
Good luck. I'm looking to see how this turns out.
Chep, that is a great idea and I wish I could take advantage of it. However the closest one that I have seen it about 15 miles away and I would be way off their path. Not even sure if they would have me because I am not a fabric, paint, watercolor, sculptor, or traditional 'artist'. None the less, I will look into this further, thank you. These show are usually spring summer around here.
Howard, grits are not a good idea. ffcheesy I'm not serving breakfast. :wink_2: I will have some individual snacks for folks and maybe some donuts, coffee, and hot cider. We can leave it at that. I also don't want food smeared on my stuff. But thanks for the idea.
Man, it is always something. I have been just trying to get things squared away for this weekend's show and then the open house with all the associated cleaning up in and outside the shop.
I set up my booth yesterday for this weekends show and pulled back in my driveway after dark. My neighbor (who is fondly known hereabouts as "the idiot") immediately comes over and asks if I have a minute. (Shoot!) He hasn't said 'hello', 'Good Morning', or anything to me for 3 months, he ignores me, which is fine. But he never really engages me in conversation unless he wants something or needs help.
He begins (politely) complaining about the smoke from my shop chimney. Says his kids can't play in the yard, his wife is now, again pregnant, and they are 'captives' in their home. Part of me wants to throw up on his holey sneakers, but I restrain myself and sound sympathetic but explain that this is my only heat source for the shop and this is what I need to do to make a living and pay my taxes. Does he want me to shut my shop down in the heating months? No, he realizes I kind of need it but wonders if there is something I can do to reduce the amount of smoke? Well, I can't control the wind direction, but I tell him I will look into it and do what I can and leave it at that.
Now there are a dozen reason's I (and others) think this guy is a waste of good air. He doesn't give two thoughts to any of his neighbors with his habits, the junk yard he has and is building up each week, his running dirt bikes with no mufflers (on 1 acre), off road vehicles up and down the road screaming away, all the unregistered vehicles in his FRONT yard, the storage trailers, letting his kids (and himself) take their ATV's onto others private property without even trying to get permission, and the list goes on a long long way. BUT when one of his neighbors causes him a little grief he usually just files a complaint with law enforcement (calls the cops), or in my case he complains to me. For instance if a neighbor's dog wanders onto his little plot, he calls 911 (twice).
We parted amicably, but it really bothered me. The guy has balls. Saying his family is held 'hostage' in the house was a bit over the top. That's just BS. So (fool that I am) today I kept an eye on my chimney and yeah, I can get a cleaner burn if I am careful, watch the pipe and stay on it all the time, but there is a limit to what I can do and how much time I am going to put into making him happy. I know his little girls were out playing in the driveway until after dark tonight so I guess the are not hostages today. But it was a cool day with light wind, mostly of of the ENE so it wasn't blowing in their direction anyway. As time goes by though, this guy gets on my nerves more and more and one day.....
It dawned on me in the middle of the night, we have lived here about 38 years now and for roughly 25 of those years I could do nothing with my shop because I had to work constantly to provide for the kids and do their stuff and pay the bills, then take care of our parents. So it wasn't until recent years that I could clean it up inside and make use of it, now this guy wants to piddle on my life and mess with the last years I have left? That right there has got me torqued. Legally I don't really need to worry about this, he can go pound sand, BUT he could make noise and then the town comes in and wants to inspect things to find some technicality to hang me on and shut him up. Fine, we can play that game because he has a MUCH longer list of things to deal with that are clearly town violations, but the building inspector doesn't come around unless there is a compliant, also I think the building inspector is a whimp these days, he didn't follow up on his last visit to that house. I just don't want the drama all this nonsense brings. I don't need it because it sucks the life out of my days. But if he wants it, I will bring it and I won't go half way.
Sorry, I just needed to vent and the wife doesn't understand my I am so tweaked over this.
Rant over (for now).
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How old is your stove? I've enjoyed high efficiency models, they don't smoke too much.
If you're vengeful and have a dog, save up his "leavings" and burn those on a Saturday morning . You're neighbor will wish you had pigs....
My stove is 2 years old and works like a top.
I am not vengeful at all. But we've scraped through our lifetimes to get what little we have and now my wife and I just want to live out our lives with what we have and be left alone. This guy moves in a few years ago and nothing but a mess and drama. Nothing but grief and we don't need that crap.
Yeah, bad neighbors add stress to our lives.
If your stove is a high efficiency model, he's complaining to complain. He probably gets his jollies out of inconveniencing others.
I would find all the laws he has broking in his yard and make a list. Now when he comes over agane to complane.
I would tell I'm to stay on his side of the fence.
Now he's pistoff. Tell him don't come back with out the law. When he comes back with the law, give the law your list and ask what are you going to about this.
Now the law is looking at him. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Uhg. It seems like you are both captives in your own homes, him with "smoke" and you with all his junk. This is a bummer and pretty ballsy as he had to step over piles of garbage to get to you. I'd do like Peter says, make a list, then trade him your smoke issues for his junkyard issues. I understand that isn't likely to happen. Does he realize that people have been burning wood and dealing with smoke for eons and they've still been able to have babies and run around in the yard?
I need to ship you some of my bamboo... One small patch will grow into a forest you can't see through and other than the noise he's no longer a problem, especially when the bamboo grows through all the nonsense he has laying around.
I think the bamboo idea is pretty good.
Stories like this make me glad my closest neighbors are half a mile away.
Quote from: Nebraska on November 26, 2024, 07:59:29 AMI think the bamboo idea is pretty good.
Not sure about Ohio, but in New England when someone says bamboo I'd be willing to bet the "bamboo" is Japanese Knotweed which is a horrible invasive plant that is hard to get rid of.
I don't know if mine is Knotweed or bamboo but it certainly can be very invasive if you let it go. I was thinking, for Tom, that may be a feature, not a bug. Mine is a patch about 20'x 10' and you can't see through it for more than about 3 feet and it will absolutely take over if allowed to do so. It stays greenish to goldish and keeps it's leaves more or less. About 15-20 feet tall and the biggest stalks are an inch across maybe?
We use it for plant stakes a lot, it makes neat noise in a bon fire, and I've given it to Jehovah's Witnesses for fishing poles.
Yours may be bamboo. I did a quick google search:
[color=var(--m3c11)]The only native bamboo in North America is rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea), which is also native to Ohio:[/font][/size][/color]
- [color=var(--m3c11)]Rivercane
[color=var(--m3c10)]Also known as giant cane or giant river cane, this bamboo is a woody grass that was once abundant in the floodplains of the southeastern United States, including Ohio. It can grow to over 30 feet tall, but is now rarely seen much taller than 20 feet. Rivercane is important for wildlife habitat and has cultural significance for many Indigenous peoples.[/size][/color][/font][/size][/color]
Never heard tell of rivercane bamboo, learned something new. It must be a rare sight. ffsmiley
I'll have to look around for this river cane and see what soil it prefe5rs, that might be a passive/aggressive solution that I can enjoy, plus it sounds like it grows fast and will provide usable material for other stuff. I have seriously considered building a fence, but first I'd have to shoot the line and find, then make sure I follow the zoning code for set back from the line and the road. I suspect I may lose a few inches here and there, and he will also loose some inches here and there. There was a partial fence there when we moved in, but the neighbor at the time thought it was mine, and I thought it was his. Neither of us really knew where the actual line is. With that neighbor, it didn't matter, we got along more than fine and are still friends
This guy is another story. He is not complaining to complain or break my chops, he is complaining because his wife told him to. He is not much of a man and his wife kicked him out a time or two, only to return after a time. Most days he doesn't go out to work 'somewhere' until well after 10am and often returns by 3pm. I have no idea what he is doing, if anything, but his wife seems to carry the load. His in-laws had to buy the house for them, then transfer it over. He really does nothing to improve his family's life and does everything the hard way. I don't mean this as a dig, but really, he is not very bright and not at all aware of things around him.
Anyway, I have been more careful with the stove and getting it burning hot before I close the bypass, and the weather has been better for burning. I am not going to stress on it, but I may very well make that list Peter suggested and have it in the shop if that day ever comes.
But yeah, I like that bamboo anyway because from my side I am staring at the junkpile he hides from his house view on my side of his construction trailer. I was thinking maybe EWP which grows great and fast here and can be pruned thick like a hedge especially when you clip the main leader. But again, I have to find that line first.
Austin, anyway you can confirm that what you have is rivercane?
Tom,
I wrote out a long winded reply this am, guess I forgot to hit post, oops!
The jist of my am, "clear thinking" post: Your neighbor is why I tend to not like many people.
Is there any chance the Bill has a piece of equipment with a 2 stroke detroit in it? I so, maybe pull that up next to the shop, and unbolt the muffler, or heck leave it on they don't work good anyways. Run a couple fake hoses from the machine into and out of the shop. Call your neighbor and let him know you found an "alternative heat source" for your shop. Then install your earplugs and earmuffs, and maybe give some to the neighbors you like too. Then fire that thing up and let that screamin' jimmy breath!
I know that probably won't fix the problem, but it'd make me feel better, and I am a bit vengeful smiley_smug01
If you take a picture of the leaves, you could do an image search online.
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Good fences make good neighbors. (Old saying). :thumbsup:
ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
I like that idea, in fact for about 6 months we had Bill's big Timberjack skidder/bucket truck parked at the end of the shop driveway. I think it may have annoyed the guy a bit. We told him I won it in a raffle, because he came over right away to find out what was going on. ffcheesy We just let it set there. I should have played in the yard with it a bit. :wink_2:
But in all honesty, I really wouldn't feel good about that kind of stuff. As I said, he's not that bright and there is no satisfaction in doing mental battle with unarmed people.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on November 26, 2024, 06:56:11 PMffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
As I said, he's not that bright and there is no satisfaction in doing mental battle with unarmed people.
You could punch him in the head and tell him to stay on his side of the fence. He should understand that. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
I can't confirm it's Rivercane but it does look like it. I'll try to remember to get a better picture of it, close up, than the below.
I control mine, just with the lowest setting I can on the lawnmower, if I don't cut it back it will grow pretty quickly and I've seen it take over a yard in the town I work in.
When we first moved into the house in 2016 it was a much smaller patch, maybe 8' high but has grown pretty well since. I was mostly joking when I suggested the bamboo because it will take over... If you really want some I could probably dig up a tuber, or whatever weird stuff they grow from and send it to you. I'm not sure how quickly it would turn into a hedgerow for you.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63516/20220724_144512.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=343854)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63516/20241127_065020.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356909)
Well Peter, that is definitely not my style and that guy would call the cops for sure. He calls the cops even when he is not himself in the clear. Like I said, he can't think things through very well. Now if he goes on and makes trouble for me that cost me money or I have to alter my life for, those rules change of course. :wink_2:
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Austin, I did some searching for local nurseries that might supply it but found none. I did find some on the internet but they want like $70 for a 6" clump. That will get pricey quick trying to plant a 60 foot long row. But I will keep this in mind and keep looing into it. In the spring I may make some phone calls. Nurseries have suppliers and maybe it can be ordered in some bulk.
OGH - arborvitae in offset staggered rows makes a pretty dense barrier fairly quickly. Small ones may be affordable. Just a thought...
White cedar makes a good thick hedge. My cousin planted some along the edge of one of his Christmas tree fields, probably 400 yards long. Grew pretty quick and you would have to work a little to even walk through it to the other side. Completely obscures an 80 acre field. Probably 20 feet tall now. Planted 14 years ago probably. Nursery stock is pricey for cedar. But it just grows wild around here and not hard to dig because the roots are shallow and kinda like grass roots when small. One of my favorite forest trees that I go out of my way to leave alone. Along my main trail, the fricken bull moose will break them off.
Tom, check with some of your contacts. maybe even some mushroom enthusiasts might know of well establish groves where transplant stock can be had.
Tom,
I bet if you find anyone with bamboo/river cane growing in your area they will be glad to supply you with starter stock. It is very useful stuff but it does require regular cutting to keep it under control It is kind of like kudzu only more useful.
If you get a line of it started I'd bet in 10-15 years you will have a nice straight line of it and your neighbor, since he will likely not cut his side, and his whole house will have disappeared in a grove of it.
We bought the adjoining land and moved into the bigger house there in N. Fla when I was in college and we have been fighting it for 50+ years at my mom/brother's place ever since. I remember hearing the old man who previously owned the place talking about when he planted it. He said "I went down to Les and Clydes place and dug up a root one morning and came back and planted it. That afternoon I changed my mind and went out to dig it back up but it was too late. I had done taken over."
I remember mowing the place where he got his starter stock as they were old neighbors on the other side of us. I'd come back two weeks after mowing and find 10' shoots of it growing in a wet area that I'd have mowed 2 weeks before.
That would be my fear as well Howard. Once it goes it goes. I've seen it shoot 20 feet out from the main patch before. I'm not kidding when I say it can take over. Kudzu is a decent comparison.
The Aborvitae is a good option also. We've got some of that on the same side of the house that we planted along the driveway when my wife got tired of seeing the neighbors dogs tied up outside all the time. It grows a bit more slowly but after 5 or 6 years it's now starting to produce decent cover. Unfortunately, we weren't as specific about the types we bought so there are at least 2 different varieties, the "other" type grows real slow and is tiny comparatively.
I would never ever encourage anyone to set out cane shoots for any reason. :veryangry: smiley_thumbsdown
@Magicman Do you recall me strapping one of your canes to the outside of my truck?
Well now that you mention it, I do remember. No way could I let you leave here not looking like a Redneck!! ffcheesy
Arborvitae
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63516/20241128_161847.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356931)
Bamboo patch, where it is it is staying pretty well regulated and seems to not expand too much so long as it's mowed occasionally. I have a spot right outside my shop that is like a gravelly area that isn't easy to mow and while there's a little patch there it doesn't grow anything like elsewhere where it's given free reign. The rocks path keep it basically at bay as well. I've thought about using bamboo rather than the arborvitae in between my neighbors house and mine, but with the caveat of burying 2-3 feet of rubber mat surrounding all the bamboo. It'd look pretty cool, but it'd also cost 500-1000 bucks and that's where all the power and internet cables are.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63516/20241128_161856.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356933)
Bamboo closeup
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/63516/20241128_161918.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356932)
Well I am going to leave that 'screening' issue on the side for a while and just keep my eyes open for a source of Canebrake. If I find one, it is likely the owner will be inclined to share some if I ask nice. :wink_2:
But barring that, I can go with EWP and all I have to do is go to my OTHER driveway and dig up some and transplant them. They grow pretty quick and clipping the main leader when they hit about 8' makes them poof out. They can be trimmed like a hedge and shaped any way you want. My Dad had one he played with in our side yard for 40 years. He trimmed it into a cube at one point, then a few years pater re-shaped it into a ball, still later a rectangle. The neighbor's got a kick out of it (well, some of them). Left uncared for after they sold the house it rapidly shot up into a 40' multi-leader 'tree' which they eventually had to have removed. Actually it's a shame to look at that house now (I just checked google street view) and they have removed all the trees my Pop planted and most of the shrubs. He spent his life making our place 'different' and succeeding owners have made it look just like every other house within 5 miles. Bland and plain with little signs of life. Pity.
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But I digress. We had a very nice day at my Daughter's yesterday, they actually had less snow than we did. It was very terrain specific. I ate too much, to the point I was in great discomfort and fell asleep on the couch for 40 minutes. (I claimed 'old man's privilege' on that one.) We were home early-ish and I went to bed earlier than normal still feeling uncomfortable, but today is a new day and I feel fine. Leaving for the show around noon and very anxious to see how this goes. An hour commute each way, so I will do a bunch of driving between today and Sunday when we will break down, load out and clean the place up. My first 2 day show, I hope it pays off. I have taxes and insurance bills coming up. It's a bright blue sky day (here, and so far) but the show is on the other side of the Catskills and a different weather system, up at around 1,800'. So they will have overcast, high in the mid 30's and have about 8" of snow on the ground from yesterday. All I can do is hope for the best and do my thing.
Today is another day.
Good luck at the show. I am packed up with a load of benches, crates, birdhouses, a walnut LE shelf/hat rack and some short walnut pieces for craft workers. It is small business Saturday nationwide I understand and our town is putting this one on then a Christmas event the next Saturday where they shut down main street and set up a street festival. Tomorrow is inside but I'll be outside the next week if weather permits. Long range weather predicts clear and mid to high 20's. :uhoh: We will see how this turns out.
Well I hope you do at least 10 times better tomorrow than I did today Howard. Total sales: 20 bucks. I spent more than that on food and drink. We had lake effect snows for a good part of the day and for several periods it was near whiteout conditions. The place we were at had to shovel the walks several times. Some locals came, they are used to it, but the tourists stayed holed up for the most part. I had one fella interested in a commission job, but need to decide what he really wanted besides 'something to hold his bourbon bottles". The other vendors sold a little too, but there stuff is priced much lower than mine. The buyers, what we had, were gone by 7pm. We closed at 8 and I was on the road by 8:08 after breaking the ice off the truck. The road was bad enough that 40-45 felt like my limit for the first 25% of the trip home. the lines were snow covered and the rest was slush. When I finally got over High Point (temp 25°) and got to the bottom of that hill the road was just wet, no slush and I made pretty good time in spite of the lousy unsure drivers in front of me. But I am tired, long day.
Tomorrow we open at noon and should have better weather (it will be in the teens tonight, but might hit 32 tomorrow). We were supposed t run until 6pm tomorrow, but there is a town wide parade that lets out around 5pm and they expect a big influx of people. We all agreed to stay until the buyers thin out. We'll return again on Sunday to load out and clean the place up. Nobody wants to load out in the dark with a frozen parking lot.
We'll see how tomorrow goes. Good luck Howard!
Yeah, one good thing for me is I am only traveling 5 miles to the site. I have a $50 booth fee but none next week when I set up on the street.
I just massaged/updated and printed my price sheets. I just print them on my home printer each trip and staple or pin them to the item.
Yeah, usually I don't consider fuel and drive time in my costs for these shows, but this one is 40 miles away and I will have made 4 full round trips before it is in the books which works out to around 160 miles, about 7 hours of driving, and nearly a tank of gas with the hills and trailer towing thrown in. This just puts me further in the hole. ffcheesy Thanks for the reminder.
I just got off work, so at least you are not quite in the rat race. I hope it goes well Tom!
Well, you can't win it if you are not in it. I just keep on pluggin'. fishin-smiley We are hoping for a different demographic today.
Bamboo!!!
Yikes!!!
What grows around here only get about 6 feet high.
Nothing that could be used for a cane or support a plant. It does not get woody.
But it will spread.
It grows all over the state of Maine along sides of the road.
None on my land.
I got to the show just as the opened, had the first spot by the door because I had told the lady I had heavy materials to move plus the site beside me was vacant so I was able spread out into half of it. ffcool
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_4224.JPG)
One angle after pretty much set up.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_4225.JPG)
Other direction.
The place got busy for an hour or so around lunch but pretty slow the rest of the time but I sold several crates, several birdhouses and one bench so it was not a bust.
One funny note was the first guy bought 2 of my 12-quart size crates because he needed them for mason jars of moonshine. He took my card so maybe he will be buying more in the future. ffcheesy
The show closed about 4 pm so I moved my stuff to the sidewalk, pilled up and parked on the street with my flashers on and started loading. One lady pulled in behind me and to speed me out of the spot so she could get there she loaded all the small crates and birdhouses in my truck while I loaded benches in the trailer. I welcome and accept help from all corners.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_4226.JPG)
Here is my trailer at home with my benches still loaded. I moved the small items on top and covered with a tarp and bungieed it down for my next show a week from today. I'm hoping the weather permits as it will be outside - a street festival/Hometown Christmas. We will see it it does as well or better.
Should make a sign: "I just make the crates for the fruit jars, what kind of fruit you put in them jars ain't none of my business." ffcheesy
First, I like Resonator's idea, you should get right on that Howard. :wink_2:
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Howard that is a LOT of stuff to carry in and out for a few hour show, holy cow! I don't think I would ever do that, but you were very fortunate to get all that space, I would never get that either. I really had to par down my stuff for this weekends show and it was a lot of trips in and out. We didn't even load out tonight, I'll go back tomorrow and do it. The parking lot there is a sheet of ice and the stairs I need to navigate aren't much better. No way was I doing that in the dark. It was 22° and had a 10 MPH wind when I left at 7:30 tonight. Sounds like the show was 'OK' for you and if so that's good. Hopefully next weekend will be as good or better.
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As for my show, I had 20 bucks in sales yesterday but today was a lot better because the weather was at least clear and just cold. We had 'decorative flurries' most of the day, very dry stuff. Folks came out and as the organizers predicted, they came again in the evening after the local parade let out (15 minutes and 11 vehicles) before the town Christmas tree lighting. I had 8 sales both days and pulled in over an SGU for the two days. So we had a conference and we will do this again next year if they will have us. Not much we would change except get the word out further and earlier. Many of the folks that 'found us' there, kind of stumbled on it so we have to work on that. I know we brought in business for the distillery and I know they brought business in for us. For me it was more expensive because of the fuel driving back and forth. My earlier post said 160 miles of driving, but it is actually 320 miles of commuting for the show which adds to the cost. Still it was a pleasurable event to do, low stress, and worked out better in the end than all my shows but one this year. Anyway, not done yet, still gotta pack it all out and get it home.
Then I start setting up for the open house/shop/studio sale in 2 weeks, let's see how that goes, because it's all on me to get the word out.
Tomorrow is another day.
Quote from: Resonator on November 30, 2024, 09:01:04 PMShould make a sign: "I just make the crates for the fruit jars, what kind of fruit you put in them jars ain't none of my business." ffcheesy
"I just make the crates for the fruit and vege jars, what kind of product you put in them jars ain't none of my business. Processed grapes, corn or barley is fine." ffcheesy
You fellas sure have perseverance. ffsmiley
Quote from: SwampDonkey on December 01, 2024, 05:34:13 AMYou fellas sure have perseverance. ffsmiley
That's for sure. ffsmiley Best of luck you guys. ffsmiley
Tom,
I concur! I think I took about 20 benches including several that were 5-6 feet long. When loading I saw I have 5 bench "kits" out in the shed I can assemble in a few minutes when I need them. Actually that is a pretty good way to make and store them. It is something I came up with after our discussions about the Paul Bunyan show so thanks for that even though you didn't know you were helping.
ADD-ON: One good thing about this next Saturday show is it is on the street and I can just unload and put in place directly off the trailer/truck and not have to carry them. That will be a lot faster and easier.
Res/Ian,
I like that idea and will make a sign like that to put on the crates this Saturday. I need to make few more of them to replace the ones that sold yesterday.
I did tell the moonshiner I could make customized crates if he needed a different size. We even discussed a branding iron. I don't have one but could get one made if I had enough of a market for it. Then again, maybe it is better not to have my business name on the crates if the Feds ever start tracking for the source.
I did see we have a bill proposed and it may have passed into law to allow WV residents to make something like 4-5 gallons of distilled spirits per adult family member. I don't remember how many you could make for each child. ffcheesy
MORE ADD ON:
I see it is legal starting June 7.
https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/brews-news/governor-justice-signs-bill-allowing-limited-at-home-distilling/
As for perseverance, and I can't speak for my color challenged friend from the south, but I did say before 'if you ain't in it, you can't win it." So I just keep plugging and trying different things, watching and learning as I go. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Sometimes you have to make your own 'luck'.
Howard, maybe try what I did this weekend, bring in 'stuff' that clearly represents what you have, then as it sells, walk out and bring in another one to replace it. Worked for me this weekend. An overloaded booth is often overwhelming to many folks and they get glassy eyed. Placement matters too. Funny thing, I expected to sell a few of those device stands, they make good stocking stuffers, but none moved. I had them on a shelf that was eye level for me, but not most other folks. So around 4pm yesterday I rearranged a little and got them down at table level. Less than 5 minutes later I sold one, then another an hour later. My stuff all sells as finished goods, so kits won't work for me or my clients. Nobody 'has time' to do any work anymore (too busy playing video games). I will of course, happily make them on request.
As for your branding iron, tell him to get one with HIS name on it and see how that goes. ffcheesy
I head out in a little bit to go get my stuff and help clean up the hall. I am armed with a snow shovel, rock salt, and an ice chopper. The parking lot is a sheet of ice, I needed 4WD just to get out last night. Temp dropped to 15° overnight out there and about 20 here.
QuoteProcessed grapes, corn or barley is fine." (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/alienine/cheesy.gif)
During prohibition they sold dry concentrated grape juice with a warning label: "Do not dissolve in water and leave in a cool dark place for 20 days..." ffcheesy
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I heard in an interview with a musician once that achieving success was like a wheelbarrow. Meaning be prepared to lift and push, if you want it to go somewhere.
Having one big ticket fancy item as a draw does work, I just finished a project for a customer that was curious about a more expensive item. I've also gotten interest from other perspective future buyers, who have good feedback and suggestions for what features they want and price range. I also plan to print a portfolio of pictures of all the projects I've built, to show customers what I can do. Then if they want me to make one or something similar, they can put down a deposit and have it built to order.
Good luck with the shows guys! :thumbsup:
Res/Peter.
I remember the old saying "The harder I work the luckier I get."
Res/Ian,
I will see how this ad works this week. ffcheesy
Large Crates are sized to fit 12 quart Mason jars
Small Crates are sized to fit 12 pint Mason jars
Note: What you put in your Mason jars is totally your business
Custom sized crates available on demand
(I suffer from selective memory loss and if you buy dozens of crates I will not be able to remember who bought them 😊)
running-doggy running-doggy running-doggy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqdJ_Owx7Q
ffsmiley Glad you had a good show be careful loading out.
Yes, load out went fine but took a little while because of the carrying distance and the ice. I had some difficulty getting my trailer out because there were folks parked on either side and just forward of the trailer. I had 3 inches on each side of the truck to back in and catch the hitch. Got that on the first attempt, but when I took the weight off the trailer jack the truck and trailer kept settling down and I no longer had any travel to get the jack to swing up. I was perplexed. So I grabbed a 3# persuader out of the trailer and gave the jack a whack at the wheels, hoping to force it to swing up. That's when I realized that it wasn't the weight of the trailer or the way the truck sat, the jack was frozen into the ground. One tap and the truck, trailer, jack, and all popped up about 4". ffcheesy
I had brought some rock salt, so I did the stairs again, and used my chopper to break it up, did the little landing outside the door to make things as safe as possible for everyone, also a little salt around the slick spots where the gals would back in to load out. It all worked out pretty good. My trailer is a mess inside and now needs cleaning.
Once I was loaded up and closed the trailer we went to work on the hall and vacuumed the carpet where mine and another booth were located, swept the entire hall, put back all the furniture just the way it was a week ago, and they were ready for the next event. The gal working the business very very pleased and said it was cleaner and neater than it has been for quite a while.
After that, the three of us that were left (the two gals that organized it and me) had a celebratory beer together, reviewed the show and jotted down some notes for next year. This all assumes the owner will have us back, but there is little doubt about that, we really did add to his business this weekend, according to his staff. As far as I know, he did not charge us for the hall usage. The 50 bucks everyone paid all went into signage and print (local paper) ads.
I did my final accounting last night and found that this was the second best show of the year, so there is that. So yeah, I will do this one again. I would try to get a bunch more small stuff that sells cheaper, but frankly I didn't move a lot of that either. I will have to work on the displays a bit and maybe add some spot lighting.
Today is another day. We have snow forecast for Thursday, so I want to have the trailer unloaded and parked by then, just in case it turns out to be snow that is still around in months.
Tom,
Sounds like you had a harder time loading and unloading than I did. I am glad I did not have to contend with ice and I just had to take my stuff to/from the sidewalk just outside the building by the front door (And I had the first spot by the door per my request). I just parked illegally with my flashers on while I loaded and unloaded. Its a small town and nobody cares. In fact the mayor came by to talk and I told him what a good job the young lady in charge had done in organizing the show. He liked to hear that and she deserved the recognition.
Most of the time I set up at outdoor venues such as flea markets and I can park my truck/trailer right where I set up. In those cases I do not have to unload everything. As you mentioned instead of confusing the customers with too many crates or benches I can display a few and leave the rest on the trailer and replenish as needed.
At shows like the one Saturday my truck was too far away to do that plus I'd have had to leave my other stock, cashbox and computer I took with me along unguarded. I am sure I could ask the other nearby vendors to watch them for me and they would do so. That is what I do if I need to go to the bathroom at a show. I do the same for them if they need to leave for a quick break.
I see vendors who do these shows all the time are organized with big plastic totes, often wheeled, or have dollies to move their stuff. It is amazing how quick these guys can set up and break down,
Good to hear the show was successful! :thumbsup:
Maybe next year Tom could you do a collaboration promotion with the distillery. smiley_idea
Make some wooden can caddies, and then stock them with limited addition signature cans of: "Tom's Bold and Cold Mushroom Logger Lager". smiley_beertoast
Res, the distillery/brewery does not do cans. I might work on something for the distillery's bottles if I get my band saw going again. I did have one fella at the show who wanted to me to something to display or carry his bourbon bottles, but he wasn't sure quite what he wanted. He was sure he would contact me when he figured it out. :wink_2:
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Howard, it was really that bad, just had to be careful on the ice. There was a side door with a 5'x8' deck on it about 6' above grade. SO I would bring out about 3 hand loads and lay them on the deck, then get something I could securely carry with one arm so I could hold onto the rail going down the steps carefully. I would then grab the stuff up on the deck from grade level and load it. So it wasn't too bad at all, just a lot of trips and I learned that my back rubber coated ramp on the trailer gets slippery when the bottoms of your boots are wet with ice. That was tricky and not something I had considered. Also the floor in the trailer will need mopping now, it's a mess with muddy footprints, another reason for taking it all in the shop for the open house, then clean the trailer before final re-packing for the winter storage period.
You gotta do what you gotta do. If the show turns a profit, it's worth whatever effort it takes, but if it's a wash, then you really feel like it's all wasted time. This show had what I would call 'extra hassles' but making some money made it worth it and there were plusses on thsi one others don't have, so that factors in.
QuoteI did have one fella at the show who wanted to me to something to display or carry his bourbon bottles, but he wasn't sure quite what he wanted.
One of my best customers that I saw and sell lumber to, builds what he refers to as "whiskey cabinets". From what I gather they are relatively small cabinets, made as presentation pieces. He uses walnut with and other hardwoods, and chooses boards with different colors and figured grain. (If he sends some pics I'll pass them along).
Well, I am screwed. Sunday morning I ordered a new laptop, the current one in on its last legs. It was promised for delivery Sunday by 10pm. I didn't ask for that, they offered. Fine. Well late Sunday I get an email that it is delayed and they will try to get it to me within 2 days.
Well Monday evening my cat knocks a little nose dropper bottle off a shelf that falls 12" and lands on the laptop around where the HD is. Machine goes dead. Try rebooting, goes to the bios screen. This is not good and eventually it won't even bring up the bios screen.
Now had the new one arrived as promised, I would have spent Monday transferring data and would be fine. So this thought has me more than a little pitched off.
The unit does not come monday. So today I called and found out that the delivery guy had said he picked it up to deliver it but I fact never picked it up. The guys says " the system got so messed up that it would be best to cancel the order and reorder it. He cancels it and tells me when I get the confirmation that it is canceled, to reorder it. I should have that email in 15 minutes. 3 hours later, no email. So I call again. This gal looks into the whole thing and gets her boss involved. They will reinstate the original order and I will get it between 3 -3:30pm.
5pm I call again and beg them to tell me what is going on, what the order status is, and when I can get this thing. She tries to give me a refund but I don't want a refund, I want the dang computer so I can get on with trying to put my life back together. I am now angry. She asks me to give it a couple more hours to show up and if it doesn't, to let them know. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!
Now because the other one is dead I am likely looking at month or more of reinstalling software resetting passwords and accounts and dealing with the loss of all my business bookkeeping. It's not going to be a fun time. I hate computers.
So you won't see much porting from me until I did some part of my digital life squared away. Working from a phone is ridiculous for me.
I got my Dynabook through Staples, I had it in 2 days. It's all solid state drives. I also ordered a BlueRay CD ROM USB connect drive, it arrived the next day. And when I was at the store I got an extra 1 TB solid state drive. I'm kinda apprehensive about solid state since I have had USB thumb drives fail. I have had hard drives for 30 years, absolutely none have failed, and that was on 4 computers over the years. So I have never understood some people running down hard drives, they must be awfully unlucky people. I've even got 40 year old floppy disk drives that still run like a top. Never had them fail neither.
I'm not smart on a PC. Ann had all our LLC stuff on it. After she went to see GOD, I tried to do it. I messed it all up.
Now all my LLC stuff is on a spreadsheet in a draw.
Nothing showed up last night, surprise!
I called again at 7am and got more assurances that this was unacceptable and the guy would do everything in his power to make it right and is sending me another 15$ coupon. I told him to keep it and just get me what I ordered. Now he wants me to wait 24-48 hours to get this thing. I am really getting ready to shoot somebody. I am am in day 4 of a 'same day delivery '.
It is beyond infuriating.
I know you are very against it but some times Amazon works wonders... Sorry this isn't working out the way it should for you!
Happens to me through Amazon when Amazon supplier is from overseas and they drop the shipment off at the USPS to deliver.
Either it doesn't get to USPS on the date promised or USPS delays the shipping.
But not often and is very frustrating when the shipping date promised is not met.
Hope this gets ironed out.
Another reason I never buy from Amazon
Well end of day 4 and still no PC..they cancelled my order this afternoon saying they have no delivery people.
My anger has reached new highs and I shared that with them on clear terms.
I had to reorder it, but this time I set it up for a store pickup so I can go there and spread my version of joy to them.
Right now I am disgusted with the world.
We still love you, Tom! We have overall had good luck with amazon. No questioned asked on returns. take it to Kohls. May check to see if it was a 3rd party or amazon fulfillment. we get on time 99% of the time. We like to buy local. we also order from Sams club and buy many things from Walmart. We love our local Dillons stores as the family and original company started and lives in our town. now part of Kroger.
I don't order big items off Amazon here. Most stuff comes by small start-up delivery services now, names I never heard tell off until this year. I suspect the big guys are losing money on small deliveries. Canada Post is $6 Billion in the hole and now on strike since mid November. I suspect postage will be through the roof in the new year while they continue to push their loosing green energy delivery scheme. I've talked to some other delivery drivers from established services like 'Same Day' that tried hybrid vehicles, they had to scrap it, it was costly and not reliable. Nothing is moving through Canada Post now, except pension cheques. Most pensioners are on direct deposit by now, a few hold outs like like a cheque in hand and like to wait in long bank line ups with one teller.
I order 95% from Canadian businesses which sell Canadian, US or European made items. Everything for clothing, except underwear and T-shirts, are made in this country. All my shoes are Canadian made and one pair made in Maine (Bean boots). I said no the $50 Chinese footwear that local shops charge $300 for. All sneakers I see locally now are Asian garbage by big brands. A bunch of foam and vinyl or synthetic cloth, pure junk. smiley_thumbsdown
It's not usually Amazon we have issues with, more often than not it's FedEx. I've had rounds with FedEx on halfazzed deliveries, refusals to pickup or ship items. UPS usually is great.
I was standing at the door watching the FedEx driver with a delivery. I stepped on the porch just as he threw the package. You should have seen his face when I started after him. He RAN back to his truck and slammed the door! ffcheesy Haven't seen him since. ffcheesy
Well I won't get into all the gory details because it just wore me out and I don't want to relive it, but it was Walmart and they promised 'local delivery from the store, same day' WH I made my calls, they either went to India or the Caribbean or somewhere else. Those folks were very nice and all assured me they would 'fix it right' but nothing came of my 4 hours on the phone. The issue, as I see it, was that Walmart has this delivery scheme that may work pretty good in cities and big areas, but we are rural and it just doesn't make sense here. If the local store can't find somebody to deliver, they just cancel the order. That's NOT a plan.
Even the store pickup was not without 'issues' because they want you to install an app in your phone to let them know you are there and waiting. I ain't doing that neither. But I finally got it this morning before the roads really got cleared up and not many folks were out.
Now the long process of making it work. Took me half an hour to get my printer to work. I got my email accounts and client working again and thankfully most of that seems intact. But all my photos and business books are likely lost forever, plus all my business files and the master files of the commercial artwork I had, my videos, and the list goes on and on. I am working on a box adaptor for the HDD from the old machine to see if I can maybe grab something off of it.
Right now I don't want to talk about it really or think about it at all. It's a mess and I know who to blame. Let's put this to bed for now.
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I have no clue what filled my day today. I plowed, then drove to town for that pickup and got some gas. Grabbed a breakfast sandwich on the way home and never did have time for lunch. I plowed some more, did a little bit of setup on the new computer, messed around in the shop with this and that and the day was shot. Then I wound up clearing a tree off a driveway after dark, that was fun. I'm not Ray and don't like working in the dark, especially in 20 mph winds. I don't know where the day went, but I am tired tonight.
Tomorrow is another day.
Hope tomorrow is better. ffcool
Since I use laptops, I started using a WIFI keyboard and mouse, I even have a more distant keyboard and mouse I can run from my rocking chair for TV, have them set on a small serving table (Walmart). I watch very little TV, but it's all streamed what I do see. Often it is on when I'm doing some mundane task at a seat, like tying string heddles. And usually old original 'Star Trek' reruns. But I have access to any show or movie out there. I still watch old stuff. ffcheesy I like desktop keyboards better than tiny chiclet keys on a laptop, something with more substance. ffcheesy The 2 keyboards I got at Walmart store and the mice off Amazon. The keyboards run off some kind of USB dongle, but they are different from one another, same company. Go figure. Maybe they have more range than Bluetooth, I know some USB Bluetooth I've had are no good past 10 feet (IO gear). Others, like on controllers, I can be several feet away and around the corner of another room. I like Staples for laptops, you can get a multitude of configurations and from what I have seen the manufacturer ships them. Staples stores have a few computers, but not the ones I want sitting there. And I don't buy top end models because often your not gaining a lot of performance. I like this Dynabook because it comes up quick, and uses smart charging to save battery life.
I see Jeff added some code to see the 'Draft last saved' time stamp under the post window. Maybe I never saw it there before, pretty sure it's new.
I get a lot of work done after supper in the dark. ffsmiley
But the places I work I am use too.
The only time I ever got concerned was when I got caught in a snow shower at night. I headed for the house, but at times I had no idea where I was and this is on a woods road that I have been on 1000's of times. :scared3:
I get it Ray. I did that for years myself. Since retirement though, night work is a distant option. This particular task last night was just not a good environment with the whipping wind and icy driveway, so I chained it up and got it over with. Sure was fun to swing a splitting axe today and whack that ash up in quick order. I haven't split much by hand in the last 5 years and this stuff is very nice and was a pleasure. I didn't get the other log today, no rush. I'll get it when I am 'in the mood'. :wink_2:
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SD I am also a full sized keyboard guy, had a wireless, but didn't like the keys. I have no idea where it even is right now, probably gave it away. On the one that just dies I have been using a lenovo IBM clone keyboard which is pretty good. It was a castaway at the old job. They had a skid box full of monitors and keyboards. I would go through and test them and find stuff that still had some life, bring it home and clean it up. I am down to one keybard and one monitor still working. I tried the keyboard on the new laptop but just like you, I am not a fan. So I took the old keyboard out to the shop today and gave it a MUCH NEEDED cleaning. Lots of dirt, grime, cat hair, and you name it. Works pretty good now and looks better. My all time favorite were the keyboards on the original IBM AT (286) machines. They just seemed to work very well for me. Too bad that's not an option these days. Also, they were kind of big, which I did not like, but the keys were great. Click clack, click clack. :wink_2:
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Today was another day where I don't feel like I did much, but worked all day. Ah well, tomorrow is another one and they say we have snow coming in after dark Saturday night. Been staying cold here, high today was 31 or so.
Mine's a Logitek at the laptop, it's about the same as one you'd get with a desktop computer, except no cords. The remote one is a Logitek [multi-device], but a generic one and more like chicklets, but I don't type more than a URL on there anyway. I think it can be used with phones and tablets to. Battery life seems good on all these gadgets, never replaced a battery since over a year. Not so with an Xbox controller, they take a lot of juice, I have 6 battery packs for it. The stronger ones last 4 days, the other 2 last 2 days. The stronger ones take 6 hrs to charge to, compared to 2 hrs. It's all relative, no free lunches, as the saying goes. ffcheesy I used full sized keyboard with the old laptop to, the WIFI went in the laptop. It was 10 years old. Kinda glad it went as I got a faster working machine, I don't know that the CPU is much different, but no waiting on startups or loading programs. Photoshop loads in about 3 seconds now. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Swamp what are you doing with an Xbox controller? Picking stuff to watch? Do you play games?
Quote from: aigheadish on December 07, 2024, 06:32:30 PMSwamp what are you doing with an Xbox controller? Picking stuff to watch? Do you play games?
Watch videos mostly and has a decent browser to web surf if I need to look up stuff. I've only got one game, which is 12 years old, which they keep making content for and keep porting to newer machines. ffcheesy
Been a while since I updated here. Between scrounging data off the old hard drive and getting ready (as well as stressing out) for the open shop this weekend, I have been kind of busy and tired at night. Everything is spread out as far as possible, I did some FB pbulicity, had cards printed and handed those out as well as poked a few in some select mailboxes, did a FB Live preview video, and had some yard signs printed and put those out on Wednesday. Also dropped off a few posters at my old workplace, some of the guys in the shop might like to come by...maybe. Now I just have to see if anybody shows up. Tomorrow morning I'll get the building warmup early and set out the snacks, cider donuts, cheese and croakers, coffee, hot apple cider, brownies, and some other stuff. A few discrete adult beverages for friends that just come by to visit are available also. This is probably either boom or bust. A true crapshoot.
We had warmth and rain early in the week and Wednesday night we had a cold front come through, hasn't really got over freezing since then. Won't get much higher until Tuesday or so, but rain starting on Monday for a few days, maybe a little snow too.
I got my first mushroom log order for the winter cutting yesterday, 250 logs is a nice start. This is from a regular client that contacts ever December for the last 3 years and begins setting up his order. I think he is worried that one year I will have to give it up, and he wants notice so he can locate another source. ffcheesy I don't blame him. Someday that has to happen.
Today I got another lumber order, hoping it warms a bit but I will get it done in a week or two after I clean up the open house.
So all mundane routine stuff. I had just got my last wood stacked by the shop on Tuesday and my son dropped off a load of stuff that came form a new client that wanted it out of his garage because 'it might have bugs'. Whatever, I took it, but now have to stack it, maybe 1/2-3/4 cord, plus a few short logs. The price was right anyway.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Either I never do it again, or I might do it again in the spring.
tom, sorry for you troubles, i hope you get thru it.
I know lots of you guys have your ways and won't have it different, i'm no modern tech guy neither, but since i pay Microsoft 60$ a year and have office 365 i haven't have another problem with storage. always the newest version of Excel, Word, Outlook (emails), lots of other stuff i don't use and 1TB of cloud storage (onedrive), i have two computers a tablet and my phone, all used for work. smash my phone, just by a new one log into microsoft account, download office 365 and bam, all my emails, spreadsheets, fotos, data are accessible thru the cloud again. They won't loose your data because the spend a mountain load of money on server sites and internet security. they have access to your data, well yes but either way if you have a internet connection you are not isolated , so what the heck.
When I got my new computer they wanted me to get the Office 360 on a subscription fee. I found a way to pull up my old purchase of Office 2013 and could download it off Microsoft's site. My stuff gets backed up on portable drives here. I seamlessly moved programs off my old Windows 8 machine to the new Win 11 machine. I have all my old license and reg codes in backed up emails. I don't want anything to do with any cloud. ffsmiley
Raymond, I am more in the camp with SD. I knew and used all the microsoft products since they were first brought to market and am quite used to them. But that was when you could buy a license and be done with it, you owned it. Now they want you to pay forever. I wouldn't mind that if I had a business case for it, but I just don't do anywhere near the stuff I used to do on a computer. Mostly I miss having Outlook which was, when last used a pretty nice email client and I also miss Access, which I was, at one time a real whizz with. I wrote some pretty complex databases over a period of 3 decades, including an entire Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that a company ran on for over 10 years, they were still using it 5 years more after I left. Took me 3 years to develop that one. But I just can't afford to pay that going forward for the little bit I would use it. Yes, I would make a custom database to run my business on, but I don't even think they give you Access with the 360 package, that's yet another fee last time I checked. SO I find other stuff and try to keep hold of my own data. I just have to up my game on backups is all. I got sloppy. Of all people, I should know better.
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Well today was day 1 of the open shop. Not much traffic, but those who came... bought stuff, except one guy who is bringing his wife back tomorrow. So not a lot of money, but I covered my expenses for putting this on. Much of what I laid out was the one time costs for the road signs I put out and the post cards I had printed, plus the stuff for the snack table, which we will mostly wind up consuming ourselves. (Note to self, next time get stuff WE like. ffcheesy )
So I am in the black but not by a whole lot. It was pretty cold today, only hit 31 for a high. I had to put a lot of wood through the stove to keep the shop over 70, but it was around 65 up front. There were a lot of other holiday events going on today. Maybe tomorrow I will see more new folks and that might get us in the 'warm fuzzy' feeling about the weekend. Having one on a warm spring day might be better because I can open the doors, put stuff out front, attract more attention and have some garden stuff and large but low priced items like garden boxes and saw horses. One of the side goals was to get some of the locals to know that I am here and there is a resource they can use. On some small level, that may be happening. Some just have no interest.
I am surprised at how tired I am tonight. Up at 5:30, in the shop before 7 setting up the snack table, dusting stuff off, making coffee and hot cider, etc.. Didn't come back in the house until 5:30. Now I gotta do the house firewood and set that stove for the night, do the shop stove too and I think I will be in bed earlier than normal tonight. Tomorrow I have to find something to keep me busy between customers, I stood around way too much today.
Tomorrow is another day.
Sounds good for a first time out. Hope tomorrow is good.
Good luck with the open house and selling!!!!!
A better day is coming, good luck. :sunny: :thumbsup:
Well it's a crapshoot anytime you do something like this. I am not exactly 'on the beaten path', so getting folks here can be a bit of a hump, especially when it pretty dang cold out. The end goal I kind of had (AKA "Pipe Dream") is that the few times a year I might put those signs out for an open shop folks will think "Oh Look, he's doing it again, I should stop in and see what new things he has this time, maybe ai can get a ...."
So the first one is like an 'ice breaker' or maybe the first couple until folks get to know me a bit. It was a big investment in time, about 10 days of cleaning and setting things up, and some money, those signs cost about $120 for just 5 of them, the printed postcards, and food. But As I said, I am past the break even point. Now I am making notes for how to improve it. Those signs need work, printing is too small and I don't want to re-do them completely, so I will work on enhancements. I have plenty of time to think on it whilst I am sitting around waiting today.
Today will be mostly overcast and remain cold (17 now), but dry until well after dark tonight. Let's see what happens. I have to get out there and get the stove cranked up and make coffee.
Thanks for the encouragement. :wink_2:
Some may not stop, this year, because they have things going on.
But they might stop next year. :wacky:
Maybe next year, have it earlier. Some might want to buy something for someone, but they have all ready bought for them.
Maybe for the next time, a sign in your shop
Open by appointment call xxx-xxx-xxxx and open 2nd Saturday afternoon each month May-October
Or something similar to suit your schedule.
A listing of shows you might attend could be posted
"Look for me at ABC Show on xyz date
Look for me at 123 Show on QRS date "
A little self promotion won't hurt.
Good luck on the open house! :thumbsup:
smiley_wavy
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on December 15, 2024, 08:01:07 AMWell it's a crapshoot anytime you do something like this. I am not exactly 'on the beaten path', so getting folks here can be a bit of a hump, especially when it pretty dang cold out. The end goal I kind of had (AKA "Pipe Dream") is that the few times a year I might put those signs out for an open shop folks will think "Oh Look, he's doing it again, I should stop in and see what new things he has this time, maybe ai can get a ...."
So the first one is like an 'ice breaker' or maybe the first couple until folks get to know me a bit. It was a big investment in time, about 10 days of cleaning and setting things up, and some money, those signs cost about $120 for just 5 of them, the printed postcards, and food. But As I said, I am past the break even point. Now I am making notes for how to improve it. Those signs need work, printing is too small and I don't want to re-do them completely, so I will work on enhancements. I have plenty of time to think on it whilst I am sitting around waiting today.
Today will be mostly overcast and remain cold (17 now), but dry until well after dark tonight. Let's see what happens. I have to get out there and get the stove cranked up and make coffee.
Thanks for the encouragement. :wink_2:
Doesn't that look a lot better? ffcheesy
Good luck in the open house.
Well, the bottom line is that it wasn't a loss after expenses, but not the gain I had hoped for or needed. Everybody is busy and I can tell some of the excuses I heard were pretty lame, which is fine. You don't wanna stop in? Then don't. But don't waste my time with nonsense excuses. It happens to be a busy weekend and lots of holiday parties going on, a ton of church fairs, etc. I get it. But I did get a couple of brand new people in the shop so that was good.
Mostly what I gained was a lot of thinking time about if, or how, to make this work better. I am still working on that. Some are suggesting I open once a month but I'm not doing that because it will just be a week of setting it up, then a day of sitting around, then a few days of cleaning up. Besides, I am always available by appointment if somebody wants to come by. Also, my zoning rules don't really allow for regular public hours and I don't want to push that issue. I am allowed a home business, provided it remains inside the building.
I burned a lot of wood trying to keep the shop around 70 and it was pretty boring for most of the weekend. Now that temps have risen, it just takes a few sticks to get the temp up to the high 60's.
I really had enough time in the shop over the last 2 weeks that yesterday I was really not motivated to be out there all day cleaning up, but I started poking at it and got some stuff started, but it rained all day. So I took some stuff down, boxed some stuff up, and poked along at it. I want to do a full clean on the trailer since it is empty, then fix a few little things that have broke over the summer or make a few small improvements before I repack it. I also have more stuff now, so I need to think it through better. That will just take some time and a few warmer days would be helpful.
Frankly I am not real motivated right now, being a tad disappointed that my efforts and plans did not work out. I spend a lot of time pondering what I am not understanding here. There is something I am missing. Maybe my stuff just sucks or has no appeal to folks? At this point I have little idea what it will take. Believe it or not, I am seriously thinking of doing this again in the spring around the first weekend in May. With the doors open and stuff out front where folks can see it from the road better, maybe that will be a draw? I can't even believe I am considering it. Spring 'shows' are generally poor. Anyway, I have plenty of time to think about while I clean up from this one.
Supposed to hit 50 today, so I should be able to get something done.
Glad to hear it was not a bust but I was hoping some jolly old elf stopped and bought a sleigh full. Maybe he took a wrong turn coming out of Canada. Better luck next time.
I will say don't get discouraged folks are missing dollars. Two of my scheduled elective surgeries were no shows this morning. I was done for the morning by 10:30. I went by the grocery store to buy some sandwich stuff. My son and his fiance were here for a quick visit and to leave their cats for a visit while they travel to her folks in Connecticut. We didn't have much for lunch. I hadn't bought sliced cheese and basic lunch meat in there for a while but I swear they took an ounce out of the package and raised everything fifty cents. Your stuff doesn't suck. It's just tough to find a market. I' m happy with your product I use. Keep swinging.
I just keep thinking about that old expression : "Insanity is the process of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Although I am varying what I do in certain ways and trying different things, none of those seem to help much. Any changes I see in performance are easily attribute to 'luck of the draw' on that particular day. It's beyond frustrating for me to put over a week's worth of effort into something and have it go flat. I am not really used to that. You work hard, you reap the rewards of the results you generated. But not in this case. It's a crap shoot.
So after all my alone thinking time yesterday as I cleaned up I came to the conclusion that I have to make some kind of directional change. I think you are right Pat, the money is not out there like it was. Just as Howard observed many times, $100. seems to be a pretty hard ceiling to get past for most folks. I also think their brains are more on things they can get actual use out of, rather than have something nice to look at. Those were my thoughts, right or wrong, but I didn't come up with anything.
Then this morning, it hit me. If I do a spring show, which could be out in front of the shop as well as inside with the doors open, I could also do some log inoculation demos, and sell inoculated logs. I could make up some saw horses, raised garden boxes, garden stakes, and things like that to put out on the lawn near the road. All I would need is decent weather. I was planning on adding inoculated logs to the inventory this year anyway, so why not do some demos?
Of course, it could be the same deal, all that prep and setup and nobody shows up. But at the very least, I would wind up with a stack of logs done and ready to sell, so there is that. I will have to spend some money for materials and make up the documentation to go with each log. Will it work?, I don't know. But I (apparently) never know. Probably it won't, but then I can add another major effort to my list of things that haven't worked. :wink_2: I just thought of this a few minutes ago and I will ponder on it through the day, but it does have some good elements and gives me a load of stuff I can build on through the winter to have ready. It's all pretty simple stuff with very low material costs, just labor, and that is fairly quick. I need to make a Loginator for myself anyway, so might as well cut materials for 3, it is nearly identical to my sawhorses with shorter legs and a few extra parts and wheels. I'll think on it for a bit, I have the time.
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Yesterday it hit the mid 50's and contrary to the forecast the sun was mostly out all day. Puddles on top of ice everywhere here, but it was melting. I could let that weather slip by, because it allowed me to open the shop garage door and back the trailer up to load without cooling the building off too much. SO I got 90% of my inventory back in the trailer very neatly after I gave it a good cleaning and fixed a couple of things. I still have some small items to go in, but I need to think on a better securing system for my side high shelf which has dumped it's cargo 3 times now during transit. Haven't quite come up with the right plan yet. Still thinking on it. But the vast bulk of the stuff is in. I left 3 tables in the shop that strap right to the floor so I have working room to do that shelf adjustment. They go in the easiest anyway.
My wife came out and packed up her stuff and I'll carry a box back to the house on every trip until they are gone. Since I cleared the main bay completely out for this 'thing' I sat there yesterday looking at it and thought, "This would be a real good time to paint that floor, it looks terrible for a show setup". Well about 6-7 years ago, I bought a 5 gallon pail of garage floor paint to do the deck on my first loft. Then I used some more out of that pail about 3 years ago for the short bay where I parked the Mule in the winter. There is still a little left, but not near enough for even half of the main bay. SO I looked up another bucket. Holy COW! $212.00! No way do I have that kind of change available for an 'appearance thing' as much as I would love to get that done. It will have to wait until I find the magic formula. ffcheesy Besides, painting the floor in the winter isn't a real good idea anyway.
Supposed to hit 42 or so today and still sunny for now. Rain coming tonight. This is monthly food shopping day, so we'll get that done first, then I'll see what I can do in the trailer or shop with what's left of the day. I have some firewood logs to buck up and split. Maybe I can at least get them bucked.
Time to get at it.
I'm still plugging away, slowly, at my woodworking skills. Though I'm in a boat where I'm doing it for fun and not trying to make any money, we're in a similar "insanity" feeling boat, where I end up frustrated, a lot, with what I'm trying isn't working. I guess maybe I should say I'm in a "refining" stage of my woodworking skills. My interests are very scattered, as well, so that doesn't help me focus and get good at much of anything...
I agree with Nebraska that your stuff doesn't suck.
There are different "needs":
Got to have, want to have, be nice to have, dust collectors, stuff, etc.
The further you get from the first need, the less likely for a sale.
Clocks were my niche for several years with mantel and wall striking clocks being priced from $125 to $250. Face only wall clocks were $50 to $75. Grandfather clocks sold for $1200. I sold over 100 clocks before my market saturated and played out. I had a table set up at flea markets for a couple of years but I never sold the first one there. Folks talked and asked questions, took cards, and called later placing their orders. I was full time in the shop during October, November, & December. This was from 1983 until 1994 when I closed my cabinet shop.
Well I have never been accused of being an overly fast thinker and it takes me a while to come around to a new way of thinking after I debate all the fine points in my head. But I guess I have to accept that unless I can find a remarkable new outlet in the art world, I should take my game down a notch to more pedestrian items of everyday use and just try to make the best quality I can. At the very least, I have to begin thinking in that direction I guess.
Austin, you can get very good at almost anything you want. I have 'found' that it takes two things at the top of the list in addition to the tools or materials you need. The first one is patience and the second one is focus. Just go as fast as you can produce the results you want. As soon as it begins to go wrong, you have to STOP and backup a bit and work on that part until you 'get it', then move forward again. This is much easier said than done, of course. The Focus part means really getting your head and hands in the game to the exclusion of any distractions until such time as you have learned and internalized the new goal. Then you can move onto something. Again, easier said than done.
I full well knew these points for most of my life, but it took me over 50 years to actually 'DO' them well enough to appreciate what they meant. I hope that day comes for you too. It's pretty cool when it happens.
-cough- sanding -cough-
Magicman- Clocks? Still got any around? I'd love to see them? Any in your Gallery or anything? I don't know much about clocks other than the wife and I love them. We tend to go after small art deco style or mid-century stuff but we probably have more clocks (non-running mostly) as decorative pieces than anything else in the house. Radios and cheese graters are also tied for 1st or 2nd place.
I've got 3 clocks here. A Howard Miller mantel cloth wound with a key with Westminster chimes every quarter hr, a Delf wall clock with pendulum and brass weights that chimes a bell every 1/2 hr with hr strikes and, and a Bulova mantel clock which is quarts battery powered, Westminster chimes on the hr. Shop has a $5 quarts wall clock.
Magicman builds Jeff a clock. (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=51950.0)
Thanks Donk, you kept me from having to look.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/Photo291.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=143225)
Here is a "School House" wall clock built from "wormy Pecan".
Here is a special order clock that I built for a customer in Minnesota from Redwood from barn flooring. Part is finished and part exposes the rough lumber: Clock LINK (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=57230.msg830909#msg830909)
Very neat MM! Thanks for sharing (and SD)!
MM, pretty neat with the clocks, even neater learning you have re-invented your business so many times and successfully too. I may be due for some re-inventing myself. So once again, I am taking some inspiration from you.
Were all your clock s quartz (battery) movements, or did you make some with mechanical (spring) movements? Did you build your own movements, or buy from a supplier? My Dad was an amateur clocksmith from his teenage years right up into the early 70's when he lost interest and folks weren't really interested in restoring and repairing their old clocks. By golly he a had a LLT of tiny tools and special stuff for restoration work. I still have some of them, including two high end staking sets, probably worth $600-800 each because I don't think you can find them anymore. They look like new in the walnut cases. My dad got a lot of his supplies form a company called 'S. Larose" and I am surprised I still remember that. They sold out around 2005 or so. I had been thinking lately of making some face only clocks with quartz movements, they are fairly easy, even for me. Not sure where to look for parts though. LaRose had everything.
I still have the first clock my Dad restored hanging on my wall. He was 12 years old and found it in a dump rusted up pretty bad. He brought it home and stuck it in his closet. A few years later he took it apart and painstakingly cleaned every part and re-assembled it. Then he gave it to his mother after he had it tuned up. It was her kitchen clock for many decades.
The Grandfather clocks were all weight driven and everything else were quartz/battery. Klockit was my principal supplier: Klockit LINK (https://www.klockit.com/)
I preferred electric over mechanical which still gives you the actual hammers striking rods. That option does not seem to be available anymore.
Note: I kept looking and finally found Bim Bam Strike movements on Ebay @ about $115 plus shipping, shown below. They were $25 when I was building. Everything else that I have found has a speaker for the strike/melody.
I used mostly Walnut, Cherry, & Pecan and preferred Pecan with ambrosia beetle holes. The Grandfather clocks were all Walnut & Cherry and sold for $1200-$1500.
This subject is stirring up memories from 30+ years ago. ffsmiley
Yeah, some deep memories for me too. After I made that last post I went over and looked at the kitchen clock. I gave it 5 winds and off she went. I had to balance it a bit and that reminded me of my Dad teaching me how he leveled them by ear. That had to be more than 60 years ago. The thought sent a little shiver down my back, his voice was as clear as day in my head. "You have to get your ear right up there and make sure the length of the 'tick' is exactly the same on both sides of the pendulum swing. It takes a little practice and you have to think on it hard, but it will come to you in time". It's pretty neat and comforting to hear that clock ticking away again. I think it's an 8 day, but I can't recall and I am scared to death of ever overwinding a clock having seen the result many times.
I was in my mid 20's when my Pop got a wild hair and started working on a bunch of clocks that needed finishing work and tune-ups. I came in the shop and I think he had about 8 clocks all hung on fitted boards for each with penicil lines showing where the exact center/level for each was. He had a note pad on each one where he noted each clocks timing in 24 hour increments, so he could adjust the movement a little to either speed it up or slow it down. That process could take 2 months to get the clock accurate but most times just a week or so to be sure.
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I went and looked and found something I wrote back in June of 2000 about that clock for another purpose. It's not really well written, but I thought it was kind of neat that I did find it.
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CLOCKS
A psychologist will tell you that one of the most powerful reminders of memories can be sounds. As I sit here and write, I'd have to say that I agree. This morning, after five or six years of silence, I've re-started a clock that holds many memories dear to me.
Clocks, in my family, can be very special objects. The one that hangs on my family room wall is no exception. I like clocks. I know you're probably thinking that there's nothing very exciting about a clock, but then again, you're probably picturing a device that hangs on the wall and indicates the time (no clock can tell you the time, for that it would need the power of speech). What you have in mind are just timepieces, tools, everyday appliances. That is not what I mean when I say "clock". When I say clock, I am referring to a thing with history, character, a part of the household, something with a "voice". These clocks do not plug into the wall and you can't find anyplace to put a battery in them like the types that are prevalent today, they are from a different era. An era when time moved at a different pace, and priorities were set in a different manner.
The clock I write of here has a history and a voice. To look at it is to be unimpressed. It is not an ugly clock, nor is it overly ornate. Actually it is quite nice, and most people would probably say so. The clock is what would probably be called a plate clock. The face is actually a delft plate of the type that would come from Holland. It has scenes of windmills and people in wooden shoes with the old Dutch hats from the nineteenth century. The plate itself is square with corners cut at forty-five degree angles. Aside from the delft design, it is somewhat plain. Behind the plate is the clock itself, contained in a round can-like section. It is from this can that the pendulum swings.
It is an "eight day" clock. This is of some significance to "clock people." Most old clocks would have to be wound every day to keep time, but this was one that only needed to be wound once a week with a day to spare. A major technological improvement in it's day.
Winding the clock has a lot to do with it's character, and it's demise. When you have to wind a clock, it is akin to caring for another family member, it requires your time and consideration so that it, in turn, can provide you with the information you expect from it. Clocks of this nature require care. In addition to winding them every week, they require cleaning by a clocksmith every couple of years. It is also necessary to keep the clock level so that it can keep good time. These requirements, simple as they may sound, are what led to the demise of clocks such as this. After all, who has the time?
This clock has a history, and also a pre-history. I cannot tell of it's prehistory, but I can tell you that a young boy found it at the end of it's first life. It was in a community dump. It was in the 1930's. He saw this clock and thought how much his Mom would like to have such a clock if it were working. He thought it was pretty even though it was lifeless and the cover on the clockwork was rusted and ugly. He took the clock home and put it in the closet. It remained there for some years until the boy became somewhat proficient in fixing mechanical things. One day he remembered that clock and uncovered it from the closet. He made it his project to restore the clock to life. He cleaned the cover and repainted it. He carefully and tediously cleaned and oiled the mechanism. He tinkered and played with it until he understood how it worked, and had returned it to an accurate and functional state.
He presented the clock to his mother. She was very happy with it, so much so that it hung in her kitchen until after she died, some forty years later. When her son was cleaning out the house after her death, he took the clock home with him and hung it in his basement workshop. The clock stayed there for another fifteen years. When he retired, he looked again at the clock. He remembered when he first found it. He remembered how it had taught him it's secrets of mechanics. He thought about how much he had learned from that clock, and he thought about the joy it had brought to his mother. Once again he disassembled, cleaned, repaired, and restored the clock. He brought the clock back to life and fully functional for no particular reason except to enjoy it's sound. He spent weeks tuning and checking it's time until it was just perfect.
That is where I found the clock, hanging on a special board in my father's workshop. I was there on a visit and had gone downstairs to have a beer with my Dad and sit. Occasionally we would talk, but it wasn't required. We would both just "think", and then every once in a while we'd share a thought. "I see you've got Grandma's kitchen clock working again", I said. "Yeah" he said, "It's finally keeping good time, but it took me a while. That's a short pendulum and they're pretty tough to get the length just right. Then you have the problem of getting it just level because with the short swing it's hard to tell if it's swinging evenly". He went on to tell me what he had to do to get it cleaned up and operational again. I got him to tell me, for the first time, the story of where the clock came from. He also told me how he had been fixing it over the years because his mother "depended" on that clock.
In turn, I told my father what I remembered about that clock, how it was part of my Grandmother's home, and to me, how it was part of my Grandmother. I told him that "some day" I would love to have that clock. Without so much as a blink he said "Well, then I think you should take it home with you. I've got it running fine now. I'm done with it." Just like that. He knew it was time this clock had a new life.
I brought the clock home. With great pride I hung it on the wall, leveled it up, and wound it. I kept it going for a few weeks or months and enjoyed the sound it makes. Perhaps I even checked it's time once or twice. Then I got busy and forgot to wind it for a while. The next time I remembered, I couldn't find the key. Apparently, one of my children had found the key and squirreled it off as a "treasure." The key remained missing for the next five or six years. Last night it showed up somewhere and when I came into the kitchen this morning it was laying on the kitchen counter next to the coffeepot. I came right down here and wound the clock
The clock sounded wonderful. It's regular tick, tick, tick brought back wonderful thoughts and feelings, and that very was nice. I finished my coffee and hurried off to work. When I returned home and walked in the door I had forgotten all about the clock until I heard it ticking. Immediately I was transformed. It was as if I had just walked into the waiting soft, warm and nurturing arms of my grandmother. Everything was going to be "OK". It was a good feeling.
As the semi-self-appointed "family historian", I have many artifacts from our family's history laying around and filed away. I look at these things from time to time and they evoke very strong thoughts and feelings. Some of these articles are over one hundred years old, yet they are just part of "the clutter" that I surround myself with. I enjoy them and I like to keep them close, yet none of these things can do for me what that clock does.
As I sit here and write these words I am listening to the ticking of that clock. It is ticking away the seconds as they pass, and yet rather than feel that time is slipping by, I feel a warmth and comfort. It's as if the clock is telling me that "it's OK, I'll be here as long as you want me to keep you company."
I gave the first clock that I made to my Mom. It was a Cherry Mantel clock that my Sister now has. All three of our children have my clocks. Two are Walnut Mantel, and one is the Wormy Pecan Schoolhouse wall clock shown above in my previous post.
Here are 4 that we have here at home:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6981.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357102)
This Mantel clock has the Westminster Chimes striking on the quarter, half, three quarter, and the full melody on the hour plus striking/counting the hour. I built it for my FIL and after he passed, it came back here along with my MIL.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6982~0.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357100)
A nautical theme time only wall clock.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6983.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357101)
A tall Mantel clock with striking/counting on the hour.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6984.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357103)
Amazingly this mini Mantel clock has an electronic Westminster chime & striking.
All of the above clocks are Pecan and all of the striking is turned off. We have a Walnut mantel clock at the Cabin. I do not have digital pictures of my displays nor any of the other clocks. I can think of several different wall clock styles that I wish I had pictures of.
Ok, got two clocksmiths to question. When we moved into my current house back in 1997, my wife wanted a clock for the entry. She found one at a distant auction online. Bought it with only pictures. It was shipped and made it in one piece.
It's a very large wall clock, no chime. It is an 8-day and was made in London. Anyhow, explain this. When it gets down to its last 12 to 18 hours of wind, it starts to run fast! It will gain from 5 to 8 minutes. If I forget to wind it and it stops, I need to only wind it up for 7 days, not the full 8. Otherwise it stops after an hour or two. If I don't let it run down and stop (wind it every 7 days), I can wind it till it stops winding and it will run all week just fine. I'm careful winding it. I count the half turns and slow down for the last crank.
That smaller one in your last photo looks a lot like a Seth Thomas style with the handle. My uncle had one, but oak case with cherry finish. That went to his girl friend after he passed away. But it was mechanical and it had chimes. He bought that in the 70's I think, somewhere in Maine I suspect. It's American.
Old Greenhorn, that's a nice story that should be printed off and put behind the clock so others can enjoy the history of The Clock.
MM, I love the tall mantle clock!
Tom, your story brought a tear to my eye! Well done and well told. The sweetness of the talk (or lack thereof) with your dad was really nice and while my relationship with my dad wasn't great, it was getting better as we got older. I miss him more than I ever imagined I would and it shows up in unexpected ways.
John, sorry but I am not a clocksmith although I dabbled a bit. Sadly, my go-to clocksmith passed a couple of years ago.
Tom's description above of "leveling" a clock to get the proper sound is correct if the clock's verge adjustment is correct. There are two exit drops and the "verge depth to the escape wheel" must be equal. After the clock's enclosure is absolutely level, the exit drops are adjusted by bending the anchor. The entrance drop must be adjusted first and then the exit drop is adjusted by varying the distance between the anchor and the escape wheel.
We have an Elgin "store bought" grandfather clock in our foyer that has a Cherry cabinet.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6986.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357104)
Here is an old Waterbury that I spotted in the top of an open garbage can. The glass door was open and dustpan sweepings had been dumped inside. (I sat it on the kitchen counter trying a get a better picture.)
John, I too am not a clocksmith, it's a profession that has nearly died out these days. But I learned a few things from hanging around my Pop. Problems such as yours are common and fortunately not due to abuse such as many of the clocks my dad repaired. Overwinding being the number one offence.
Tell us about the clock, how old is it (date of MFG is very helpful, it says a lot)? When was the last time it was serviced? Has it always behaved this way since new? 8 day clocks are intended to be wound every 7 days, so running fast near the end of an 8 day cycle shouldn't be an issue. The stopping 2 hours after a full winding is a puzzle, but it could be that with a full load on the spring, the escapement cannot overcome the friction to release. Somebody with a good ear could probably hear this when it happens because the pendulum will swing but there will be no 'tick' at the end of the stroke. It's kind of hard to catch it doing that.
My suspicion is two things, first the movement needs a cleaning. Was it new when you got it? Second, the escapement area MAY need a little deburring and smoothing out. This is delicate, but do-able with the right tools. Mechanical clocks are very susceptible to dirt and dirt and a lack of lubrication. They should have proper clock oil on all the jeweled movements parts and bushing every few years. One drop per bushing.
Knowing more details about who made and how old the clock is will provide more hints. A true clocksmtih could probably fix that issue in short order. Of course, it could be the quality of the main spring itself and that would require replacement of it and a lot more work. Hope some of this helps, but I am no clocksmith.
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Ray, maybe I should print that and keep it with the clock, good idea.
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Austin, Thanks, but I think the writing is poor. I wrote that 24 years ago, just to document the clock for family as I was working though some family history stuff. It was more of a writing exercise than anything. I did a few of those articles and had them up on a early webpage so family could access them. One was read by a person who wrote me for permission to reprint in a genealogy magazine, which she did. I can't even remember the subject now. I always wanted to write something of value with good quality, started 3 books, only finished one (the genealogy), never published it, just printed a few copies. Wrote some articles for technical magazines, They were published, got very good responses, but were not paid gigs. Writing is tough and I will never be good at it, but sometimes I do it just for the enjoyment. If some folks like it then that's great.
So here's the clock. It's level. I use a little bubble level on the top to check.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009517.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357108)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009519.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357107)
Supposedly rosewood with brass inlay circa 1860. Some of the brass was missing and they used some gold paint to dress it up. Found the receipt from the auction house. With premium and tax, $1,009. I thought that was way too much back in April 2000. Have it serviced every 3 years? 🙄😔 It may have been serviced before going to the auction.
I have another mantel clock that is marble from France.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009520.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357109)
Took it in once to see what it would take to get it running. The winding is CCL so at one point someone stripped the mainspring gear forcing it. IIRC, it needs that, a key, a pendulum and something else for the chimes. Not sure if it was the rods or hammers. I may get it fixed before the last two clock shops around here are gone.
My great grandpa's mantle clock.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48503/IMG_3363.jpeg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357110)
This one quit after my grandpa inherited the house. Grandpa put this one in the closet and got a replacement very similar to this one.
Dad got this one and rebuilt it when I was 10 or 12 years old. Our best guess is this is about 130 years old. That's based on great grandpa's age and when he married and built the house.
I start it every few months and let it run several days just to keep it going.
I think the maker of your clock is Daniel Johnson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Daniel_Johnson), it fits the period. I also think your clock should certainly have grown in value over what you paid for it, so don't fret about that.
If you open the back door you may find some more info about it. Most clocksmiths will make cryptic notes in pencil inside the door or cabinet with cleaning or repair dates. Also, the builder will often put a more detailed engraving on the main plates such as their address, year made, and things like that. Mr. Johnson stood tall in his business during that period and should have had some other marks inside, no doubt.
I'd get that to a clock smith before they are gone, as you say. The value only increases if they are in good shape and running well. That is a fine example and worth maintaining.
I may have spoke too soon John. More research is needed by somebody with the right materials, but there are several clockmakers using the name Johnson between the 1750's and the 1920's. I can find no evidence that Daniel Johnson made clocks like your, he focused on pocket watches and chronometers, which might explain why he was blind when he finally retired. His son's were also in the business. There was another big clockmaker in London tha was active in the century after Danial Johnson, but all hi work I found used his first two initials followed by "Johnson". The only maker using 'Johnson' alone (no initials) and "London" was active about 90 years earlier. It is possible your clock was made around 1770 or so?
Again, the secret, or part of it, may be revealed inside that cabinet.
@SawyerTed My great grandmother had one just like it. It was in my grandfather's house up stairs in the hall all the years I spent up there. I don't know where it ended up after uncle passed away. It was his to do whatever, he saved it's life I think. It did run and had the key. Not sure how accurate it was. I know it was never cleaned or looked at.
Quote from: Ljohnsaw on December 20, 2024, 11:59:25 AMI have another mantel clock that is marble from France.
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Took it in once to see what it would take to get it running. The winding is CCL so at one point someone stripped the mainspring gear forcing it. IIRC, it needs that, a key, a pendulum and something else for the chimes. Not sure if it was the rods or hammers. I may get it fixed before the last two clock shops around here are gone.
My Pop had a few of those, also called 'shelf clocks' made in the late 19th and early 20th century. One had little marble columns on it, but I think they found a substitute rather than marble to use, but it sure looked like marble.
That mainspring keeper may cost a fair amount to repair because at least one movement face will need to be removed, then a new keeper made. Keys and hammers are usually an easy purchase, try the link that Lyn posted previously. Hammers generally come on the rods if I recall and usually need fitting and adjust for each clock. But if they rod is there and just the hammer is missing (and not found somewhere in the case) then the 'smith might be able to just make and fit a new hammer on the rod. Many of these clocks are based on similar designs and will have similar parts. The tricky part is the final fitting and tuning of replacement parts because that's what is needed to function and keep reliable time.
All pendulums have to be tuned after fitting, but initial length range is critical and it needs to have the correct suspension system to match the crutch (if there is one). Short pendulums can be trickier than long ones.
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Ted, that clock you have is a beauty also. You are lucky to have it running and know it's history. Have you ever opened the cabinet to look for makers or repair info?
Tom, thanks. I haven't done much research on the clock beyond what dad and grandpa told me.
Those clocks were quite common. I think the last ones I saw in good condition were +/- $150 at auction. In the early 1900s I think they were like Timex watches. Doesn't mean any less to me though.
The mantle clock chimes the hour and a single chime on the half hour. It makes the pets kinda antsy so the clock doesn't run more than a week at a time.
My dad also saved an old school clock around the same time he was working on this one. I believe my brother has the school clock. It had a much sharper TICK TOCK for some reason and don't miss it due to the sound. I don't know its history.
Well, opening that clock back up might provide you with more info. Yes, those clocks were very popular and in so many households. Mass produced beginning with stamped brass for the major parts, but still a lot of hand work in each one to a degree.
Since I have already forgotten more than I currently know about this and many other subjects, I had gone through the few of my Dad's clock books that I still have while trying to get info on John's clock. One of those books was a 1969 reprint of the Ansonia Clock Company catalog, complete with prices. (Ansonia is an easy lookup, closed in 2006 I think.) There was a larger photocopy of one page stuck between the pages. I ignored it yesterday because I was looking for an example of John's clock. This morning I went back and looked at it more carefully. I realized it was a clock my Pop had got 'somewhere' that he began a full restore job on. It's a hanging 'hall clock' with very ornate woodwork. I have that clock boxed up in my garage someplace and IIRC the wood is all cleaned and sanded. The movement is likely stored elsewhere around here. I wonder if I could collect all the pieces and have a go at it. Pop would spend years working on those things in fits and spurts. This one he never got finished, but it looks like he did get a lot of labor into it. That clock is priced at $70.00 in that 1914 catalog. By comparison, a full hall clock (AKA 'Grandfather") of similar detail is priced $160. - $250. depending on the wood and detail. It might be fun to give it a go, but I have a number of movements in that size group and not sure which one is correct. Also, I never recall seeing the eights around, let alone the pendulum.
Just another rabbit hole.
$70 was A LOT of money back in 1914.
My father was born in 1923 and use to load trucks with gravel for a buck a day.
Ok, "opened" it up. There is a small door on the bottom to swing the pendulum. Nothing in there.
There is a small side door I can barely get my hand in to rehang the pendulum. Here is what you can see on there.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009529.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357132)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009530.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357131)
Pretty cool and simple. That's when I saw that four wooden pins hold the face on. One is missing. Take the face off and place it face down. Some script on the tin.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009531.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357130)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009539.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357136)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009540.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357137)
It continues under the works but can't make it out. It is upside-down on the back of the left side, if that matters.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009533.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357133)
On the back of the right side is this.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009535.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357134)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30640/1000009537.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357135)
Looks like a signature. I see nothing that looks like a date.
Well John, that script (looks like maybe pencil or scribe?) appears to me to be marks made during the manufacture. Like notes, or which clock that face was made for, or which person in the shop made that part (so he got paid for it). Like guns, they would put a 1, 2, or 3 digit number on the important parts so they could get to or back with the gun the were fitted for if mixed up down the line. But I think by the 1860's they were past that and most parts were very close if not already at final finished size.
This looks like a clock that was built as they got closer and closer to mass production because I see many of the early 'niceties' are missing, like polished finishes on all part regardless of importance. The parts are cleanly machined, but not polished. Also I see some rough edge on the back plate, which may have been cut on a shear. The parts were made en masse, but each was 'fitted' for one single clock assembly. Simple parts like stantions did not require fitting, only the working parts.
As for markings, if they existed, they would most likely be on one of those two plates that the movement is built between and most likely the back one. From what you said and shown, I am guessing there is no back door/cover on this clock case? In any event, I am doubting that there are any markings on those plates. It appears that these clocks were made as quickly as possible for the 'common' market.
Your clock looks to be in great shape, could probably use a drop of oil on each pivot. The Pendulum holder and the crutch is your second photo look to be in perfect shape. These often take bad hits during moves and such. I see a very encouraging lack of dust, and that is a big thing, dust can really screw up these old clocks.
Yes, it looks simple, but that's the beauty of complex devices, making them look simple. Isn't it?
Yeah, I didn't snap a picture of the back plate but it had nothing on it. Thinking this was a mass produced clock. So does 1860 sound right?
Well John, I am no clocksmith nor an appraiser, just an amateur who has seen some stuff and studied manufacturing techniques for a long time. What I can see, and what I think I know tells me it is much more likely to be late 1800's rather than late 1700's. The lack of marking on that back plate is a tell, as are the finishes on the parts, plus I can see that there is a focus on making clean and fast parts with nothing 'extra'. This all indicates to me the later generation just about 30 years or so before they really got into mass production. So yes, my 'opinion' is that 1860 is probably correct, but my 'opinion' isn't worth squat. It is a very nice clock regardless, and worthy of keeping it going as all these old clocks are. Clocks and guns represent all the development of man's advancement into an industrialized world, and the preservation allows us to re-visit those struggles at improvements and progress.
The thing that keeps dogging me is that I can find no other examples of that or similar clocks from that period that are marked the same on the face with just 'Johnson' and London. You would think in this internet age we could find another one somewhere. I only have a few of my Dad's reference books and wish I had them all right now, but that was a lot of books. Also, Johnson was a very common name for English Clock and Watch smiths, which makes it no easier.
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Yesterday in a brief jump a little further down this rabbit hole I went out in the (very cold) garage and searched for that wall clock my Dad had worked on. I did not (yet) find it, but I did find another clock that I have saved from destruction at a garage sale almost 40 years ago. It is in very rough shape, and hall clock, weight driven, no weights, no pendulum, missing wood trim pieces, full of mouse droppings, etc. I completely forgot I had it. No ideas what to do with it. I think I gave 5 bucks for it. Another project I may, or may not ever get to. I'll look for that other hall clock when things get warmer.
Best of luck with your clock.
Well it's been about 10 days since I had added anything here that I actually did and that seems to be pretty accurate. I spent those days goofing off reading, working on some genealogy things, and stuff like that there. Still trying to shake the blues from the open house. I looked into cost for doing the log inoculation in the spring. the supplies look do-able and affordable. Not enough to think too much about and I would have leftovers to use later. SO I think That's a 'go'. I'll put Loginator on my to-do list. Just need some 2x4's and a short 2x12.
I finally went down to the mill today and brought a grandson (his first time), really just to check things out and make sure all was good to go. I had one 17' log on the bed that was pretty thin on one end, maybe 10" so I thought I would mill that up to get it out of the way and let the Grandson see how this is done. We had some extra trips aback and forth to the shop for ear plugs and a potty break, but eventually got to work and blew out the log into 1x6's in short order. He helped by marking slab lengths and stacking them in the rack after I cut them up. It went pretty quick and we cleaned up and headed home by about 1pm. He seemed to have a good time, no complaints, it was pretty cool, about 20 or so but sunny. Even though the sawdust, he managed to play with it, he just needed a good shovel to break it up. :wink_2:
Anyway, it was nice to get out and produce something.
Freezing rain coming in early tomorrow morning, then rain. I still have 200 pages to slog through in that book. I've been kind of keeping the shop warm, but barely. Shooting for 50° to keep the thermal mass from getting too cold. When I am ready to work it will pop up pretty quick if I start at 50.
Tomorrow is another day and I'll deal with it when it comes and we see what it looks like. :wink_2:
Glad you had a helper, bet he comes back.
Well, we'll see. He had no complaints that I am aware of. I had a hard time finding him gloves because he had a thumbnail torn off last week and the bandage is kind of thick and changed daily. I gave him my good Carhart's, but when we got home he had a brain fart and pulled the glove off too fast and the bandage came with it. So there were some tears until I gobbed together enough stuff from my kits to replicate what he had, except for that special wound care gauze with the Vaseline in it. We made it work and he survived. I just checked with his Dad and he's not dead, so all is good. :wink_2:
If he doesn't 'come back', I still have 2 more grandson's to go through. ffcheesy
Not many updates here recently because I haven't done much of anything. I have been going through the end of year blues I always get. For various reasons I need not get into, i get depressed and morose. The lack of firewood and bad income year did not help either. I stopped heating the shop around Christmas except or very cold weather just to keep the thermal mass up at around 50. So today for instance it was 35 in the shop this morning so I did a fire and have been feeding it with the goal of getting it to settle in at around 60 for 12 hours or so. It just now (4pm) hit 60, but I am not stuffing the stove just keeping it going upward slowly. I had also spent many many hours buried in the genealogy work staying up until the wee hours checking leads and I found a mess of new stuff and several breakthroughs. But that can be mentally exhausting work, discovering dark news from the past. So that all built up and it was time for a break from that. Back to work.
So recent days have had poor weather, cool/cold and overcast all day with non productive snow. But yesterday I forced myself down to the mill in spite of the 20's being the high for the day. I had the right clothes on and was pretty comfortable and zipped through the first log, but the wind was out of the north so right through the mill area which is not normal or common. Try as I might, I could not get my finger tips to warm up. I finished off the one log and bagged it. I had to get my fingers warm. I should have never started out without gloves thinking I could warm them fingers back up. The wind was just too much.
So I came home and the wind wasn't as bad here, having some shelter on that north side. I bucked up a bunch of short logs I had piled here. I still have more but I made some progress. By that time the sun was below the trees.
Today I was up early and fired up the shop stove as noted, then headed off to the mill. I stopped in at Bill's for a bit because they were having a breakfast birthday party for his daughter, now 8, and said hello to everyone and had some coffee. Then to the mill, fuled it up, lubed it, and knocked out several logs until that neuropathy took good hold of my right foot and I could feel that foot at all. I can't work like that, so back home, had lunch, foot finally warmed back up. So I went out and hand split just about all the wood I bucked yesterday. Moved 3 cart loads into the shop and one into the house.
But now my back is shot for the day. ffcheesy So I took some Advil and have time to cruise the forum. A new book arrived yesterday so maybe it's time to start.
Do not fret Tom, you got us for friends!
Garth Brooks - Friends In Low Places (1080p60 HD) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7P97b64Q5E)
That tune (the live version) is in with the regular rotation of about 400 tracks in my truck. Great, so now when it comes around I'll be thinking of the bunch here instead of the shirt-kicking crowd I was hanging out with when that song was released.
The Oasis bar was in the basement of an old Motel in my hometown of Concordia, Ks. Garths guitar player, Jim Garver, added the name to the song. we went to HS together. He was a few years older than me. he was a drummer in Band but played fiddle and guitar in a family band. his younger sister was in my class, and was gorgeous, but died of ovarian cancer in her 40s.
Jim Garver - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Garver)
I am practically famous. :wacky: :wink_2: ffsmiley
I had to go check the writer. I have an acquaintance who has written several of Garth's tunes (The River and other), but this wasn't one of his. Good tune that.
I think it was a group compilation, and Jim added the old bars name to the song as they were trying to make things work with the lyrics. "I think", I was not there. :wacky:
Stuff like that happens all the time. I was sitting in on a session while 2 friends were trying to write the music for the lyrics they had. My job was to drink the beer and once in a while decide which sounded better when they couldn't agree. Eventually they got to the point where they were playing it out and because they had not yet memorized the lyrics so they asked me to read/sing the lyrics as they worked through it so they could keep their place. You go over, it, make and change and go over it again, over and over and over trying out the options. We did this maybe 20 times and eventually it started to roll into something and at one point, just to break my own boredom I threw in a fill riff and they both stopped playing and said "THATS IT!" we need that, do it again. Next thing you know 3 months late I am in the studio with them. Weird things happen.
I have a raw cut that another friend wrote and was working through, he thought he had a good song and sent me the cut. I liked it a lot and it wound up in my truck rotation. Well it was a good song and wound up with a full arrangement on the next album a year later, which is now about 3 years ago. I was talking to him the other night and the tune came up and I told him I was still running the raw cut in my truck and now when they perform it, I sing the wrong words in a few places because he made changes as they produced it. He laughed and said 'Hey, if you get a chance, send me that cut back, I'd like to hear it again. I forgot about it. I was sick as a dog when I wrote that and barely had a voice to sing it. I recorded it on my phone while in bed."
Weird things happen in the life of a song.
You should be getting royalties, Tom!
One of the best things ever invented for aspiring musicians were phones with built in sound recording. Anytime you have an idea, you can quick record it on a file. And if you're practicing, you can prop up your phone and put down what you're playing. And then go back and review it (good or bad). ffcheesy
Not uncommon for the pro's to do this, and pitch songs to band members or producers just off a rough demo. And sometimes the "rough demo" track is the one they actually use.
Yes, it's quite common. But those things usually do not get circulated until they work into some sort of fuller version. But I have been lucky to get a few of them while in development and it's fun to compare them to the finished and polished album a couple of years later.
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Austin, in order to get royalties you need to have sales. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Yup, I'm still at the poor boy stage, hope to put together a home recording studio someday. Amazing what can be done with sound tools and digital editing to produce a "fuller version".
Best story I recall a few years ago Ricky Skaggs put out an album of some of his favorite songs. He tracked every song himself in his own studio. He did all the vocals himself, and every instrument he played including a little piano. He said it was nice for once not to have to pay other musicians to record. ffcheesy
Yeah, what Skaggs did was not new, lots do that as part of the growth stage.
I have a friend Gordon Titcomb (you can easily look him up), lives in CT now and retired. He liv3ed in Woodstock for a while in the 70's while learning the business. He played with a bunch of the locals and is on at least one of Bill Keith's albums as well as one of the Woodstock Mountain Review albums, the first one I think. Anyway, Gordon left music for a while and became a commercial pilot flying for one of the major airlines to get his kids through college. Then he went back into muic playing in Arlo Gutherie's band for over 20 years on the road (you can look Arlo up too). When he finally retired from that, he sat down and arranged all the tunes he had written while on the road and played all the instruments and recorded and album called "The Last Train'. It is a beautiful work and I treasure the copy that he gave me. Hard to believe it's all him and just one guest female vocalist here and there.
Talking about 'low end recording'. There is a David Grissman album called 'Early Dawg'. Bill clued me into and you can still find it, but only on CD. I see there is now a deluxe edition which I will add to my list. Anyway, the original recordings were done in the early 60's (before '63) and it was done in David's Mother's apartment, a 6th floor walkup with DC electricity. The living room had no room for anyone to sit, they all stood and crammed around the mic's and recorded on a 6 track tape recorder. It was not released until David found the recordings around 1980. Now apparently he has found more recordings and added to the album with a new release and about 32 tracks. This is a hidden treasure and any newgrass student should internalize the entire album. Just the list of the players on all those tracks is a "who's who" in music. Last time I saw David he signed it for me.
Well after yesterday I decided not to even try going back to the mill today until it warms a little. A man has to know his limitations. :wink_2: So I committed to the shop for the day. First time since the open house almost a month ago. My wife has started working on a batch of those log carriers because I was down to one of them. SO I need to make handles for them, just 1" dowels by 18" long, but I make my own form mill stock. I found some 1x4's and skip planed them then cut 18" chunks and ripped them into 1" squares, then ran them through the table router to round them up and make a pseudo dowel, good enough. I sat by the wood stove and hand sanded them. After lunch I put on a coat of wipe on poly. I'll do another tomorrow.
I piddled around with a little toy I am thinking of making, brought in another load of wood into the shop, and did some shop chores and a town run. But I spent the day out there and started working on 'stuff'. I guess I am back in the saddle again.
But this winter will be different. I am not sure exactly how, but I have been studying my performance and more importantly income from this past year and thinking about it a lot. Maybe too much, I'm not sure. Right now my trailer is pretty full of inventory. I could maybe use a few cheaper rustic benches as backup, but not too much else. I think I will focus this winter on small knick knacks, gizmos and trinkets. Small stuff in the $5 to $50 range. Stuff that I can put a bunch in a box and spread out on a table and maybe sell a dozen or so. I am also re-thinking this show thing entirely. I again looked over my show performance last night and weighed the effort against the return and realized I have to do just a few shows very carefully chosen, like holiday weekends and such. I know this past year was down because of the election year, but I can't keep putting that effort in for no real return. So this year, once again, I will try new stuff. Mainly I will try to find a way to get folks to come to me. Sounds simple, but it's not and I have a 'sort of ' plan and some test marketing to do, but we'll see how it goes and what I learn.
I keep thinking there HAS to be a formula that can work for me and I just need to keep trying things until I find it. In the meantime, mushroom logging starts just about anytime now, so I will work on drumming that business up because that is good ca$h, just very hard work. Hopefully I can do 1,000 logs as I have been pulling the last 3 years now. I just hope I have the back for it. I am feeling older this year for sure.
I am still trying to latch onto a project in the shop so I am piddling with little stuff here and there and jus trying o spend a full day in the shop doing 'something' because it all needs to get done, whether it's sharpening tools, cleaning up, or fixing stuff, it all takes time. So I stay busy without trying.
About a month ago I was stuffing the stove and found a piece of maple in my hands that has remarkable spalting and no rot at all. Really solid wood. In fact I had 2 pieces like that, so I put them on the side in case it came up during the open shop weekend I could show something. Anyway, I have been staring at those pieces for several weeks now thinking it would be a shame to waste that nice wood.
In keeping with my bendable plan of trying some new stuff this winter and inspired by Austin's woodcarving skills and persistence I decided to take a block of that chunk of firewood and try to make a spoon. I split off a piece about the size of a 2x4, brought in a block to work on and traced out a basic shape. Then I sharpened up a small camp ax and had at it. It's hard and very dry maple so ity took a while, but I got the shape done and I have a nice pile of spatted chips.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250108_132958125.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357344)
The heavy black lines are my outline for the shape, the other lines are 'natural'. Since I took that photo I have gotten some more more done on it. I have no curved knife so I have to figure out how to do the bowl, but I am getting there. I'll just work on this as I have time and am in the right frame of mind. I probably should have taught myself this process on a piece of pine. This stuff is pretty hard.
I don't think this will turn into anything pretty or usable, but it is nice wood. I'll give it a try. I need to get some new sanding belts for my big belt sander and I am looking for a curved knife, but that may have to wait a while until cash flow improves. Right now I am just trying to learn all the things I should not do. ffcheesy
Tomorrow is another day.
Spoon reminds me of what Dick Proenneke would make...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3NRdZ8J24Q
Starting around 30 seconds in, he shapes it using mostly an ax, then a gouge, rasp, sandpaper, and a bow saw.
Yeah, looks like he used softwood and it was semi-green at least. Probably a better idea. I wish I had a gouge like that. Another thing to put on the list. I have a small (tiny) one that my dad used for tweaking gunstocks when he was bedding actions. It's just too small. But I can't imagine selling spoons or anything at a rate that would really add to the bottom line. I have little hope of becoming 'a carver' especially since there is a guy 'over the hill' who is really good and has been doing it for 40+ years. I neither want to compete with him, nor can I. He has the tools, the skills, the eye, the charisma, and most important, the clientele. I'm not gonna put a dog in that fight. ffcheesy
But it's fun and nice to build new skills.
I would be using a bandsaw and a router. ffcool :thumbsup: :usa: ffsmiley
Here I made a template of the profile for cabinet legs and traced it on a piece of square stock.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-002.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90950)
Cutting it with bandsaw
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-004.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90949)
Rough cut on the right, finished piece for comparison on left.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-006.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90947)
Rounded the feet on the lathe.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-008.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90945)
Ran a centreline down the middle with pencil (both faces), the edges will be sanded round on a table belt sander and that centreline is the thickest part of the leg.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-009.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90944)
some sanding
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs-010.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90943)
Finished product, two shown to demonstrate that it can be duplicated with decent accuracy.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cutting_legs_011.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=90942)
Looks like a good start Tom, that wood is going to be tough move out! I can't imagine you don't have some scrap metal in the shop that could be converted into a round knife or gouge or something.
Yeah Doc, I suppose I should get my bandsaw back together, but I have no idea how you would work a router into that sort of job. Scares me to think about it. :wink_2:
Nice work there SD! that's way over my head, at least for the foreseeable future. Again, that bandsaw would make things a lot easier. No lathe here that is usable either.
Austin it is hard wood, but a little at a time helps. It is very time intensive. I started on the bowl after that photo and I am about half way down, maybe less, so far. Making a knife would be more work than I have time for, fining material, annealing it, then shaping it and hardening is something else I really don't have all the tools for here. Curved blades are a special challenge.
I mentioned the carver over the hill in my prior post. Lately he has taken to making these FB live things where he sits in his TiPi or by his woodstove and works while chatting about this and that. They run for a while. So last night I spent an hour watching him carve a spoon out of dried walnut. It kind of got me in the right frame of mind. Patiently watching someone else work can provide a lot of education.
They make really inexpensive cut-resistant gloves nowadays Tom. Be safe!
What are you implying? ffcheesy
A small carving set is handy to have around.
Harbor Freight has an 11 piece set for $14.99 and a 5 piece set for $11.99. Both include round chisels/gouges.
Not a bank breaker to piddle around with a few projects. They are good for those little fine adjustments when working other projects.
Ted, I actually made good progress today on that bowl. I found a curved gouge in a box of old tools that gave me a pretty good jump. But I am at the point of letting it sit for a bit while I think on it some more. There was a crack in the bowl lip that popped out and I have to rethink what o do about it or throw it in the stove and but wood is too nice for that.
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Speaking of stoves, I am about as depressed and disgusted as I have been in a very long time and I am thinking of chucking the whole business plan and re-thinking entirely what I do and how, as well as when I do it. Refer back to post 502 for the background on this, but my neighbor was back again this evening asking if I had done anything about my woodstove. Well, this pithed me off right away. I 'informed him' that I have bent over backwards to be a good neighbor after his last 'request', I don't start my stove until after 9am each morning by which time he SHOULD be off to work (which he isn't) and his kids should be in school. It smokes for about 15 minutes until it is rolling and then the chimney burns clean. I get a little more smoke here and there when I refill it. I keep a close eye on it and the wind direction He says he has noticed less smoke, but he can still smell it and it smells like the chimney isn't clean. Now I'm mad. I ask if he expects me to 'make it stop smelling like wood is burning' and does he realize where he is? This is 'the country' and people burn wood, you can smell it everywhere and people mostly like that smell. I burn clean dry wood, no rot, no junk. He says well your house stove, when you run it, is just fine, even smells good. I point out that the house stove runs 24/7 and burns the same wood as the shop, in fact I have been bringing my shop wood over to burn in the house for 3 weeks now. One of the things he said that really upset me was that 'he noticed that sometimes the stove was running and I am not even in the shop'. Really!? He is watching me and deciding when I am there and whether I should have the stove running? I am wondering what he is thinking here. I tried explaining that I have to keep the building thermal mass up, but realized there is something else going on in his tiny brain.
He asks if "I can do better,' and I ask what he expects me to do?
I have about had it. 35 years we've lived here and get along with all the neighbors past and present(except one who is long time gone). This guy moves in and he finds lots of complaints about most folks, meanwhile he is running a mini-dump and is an obnoxious neighbor as perceived by anyone I've discussed it with. I've had it. I don't have the energy for a pithing contest, but if he wants one, he will loose. I just don't need this crap. All my wife and I want is to be able to live out the few years we have left in peace. So either I join the fight and spend months working through the process with this idiot and losing sleep the whole time, or I just give up and re-think my life. I just hate to roll over, I worked my whole life to get these few years of enjoyment before some sickness or whatever takes me down and this idiot 30 something has to pith on my parade. I am pretty ticked off.
I say burn more wood if you can afford to. Then tell him next time he comes on your property that you will have him "trespassed". I've always believed that good fences make good neighbors.
You try to be nice, and some people then respect you less. the problem with stupid people is they are not very smart. He will start a pissing match and when you turn on him, he will be whining about why you have to be so mean. I love the smell of wood burning and at low concentration should not affect any asthmatic. You walk over there with about 8 neighbors and tell him he needs to get all the junk out of site from all of you in all direction and the road. Maybe he will realize he should live and let live. :snowball:
In a somewhat friendly/joking tone "get the eff outta here..." then in a clearly not friendly/joking tone "No, really, GET THE EFF out of here! You and your trash pile can eat a d while I burn as much wood as I want."
That's probably not the right response but as a sometimes patient-to-a-fault person I'd be real close to saying that.
ffcheesy ffcheesy I think if a new neighbor came over and started this BS. I would say it's not going to happen and if you don't weave now you won't like what's coming next. ffcheesy ffcheesy
But, I do like Docs Idear if you can get the neighbors to help. Maybe Stupid has had words with them too.
If he thinks the whole road of neighbors hates him he might come around.
Ask barge monkey to take him fishing. ffcheesy
Could go to burning Green Willow or something else obnoxious. ffsmiley
Old G do not let this guy ruin your life. If he comes over again ask him to finance and install in the shop a certified energy efficient clean as can be stove and chimney system and you would be glad to have him pay professionals to install it. Then just back off close the door and load the stove.
Tom,I've got a neighbor about like yours. Dumb as a rock. It used to upset me as I like to get along with everyone but I think some people enjoy conflict. I've found it's best just to ignore him for the most part. I've never heard of any laws against burning wood for heat so he needs to accept it or he could always move out. That's what I keep hoping my neighbor will do.
Do what suits you because NOTHING you do will ever suit the neighbor. You've capitulated to his first round and now he thinks he can demand more concessions. Forget it! You'll never satisfy him.
Who can he complain to? EPA? You think he wants authorities coming around to check on your smoke when he has illegal dumping activity on his property?
And don't let him have space in your head rent free!
Well I thank you all for your empathy. I don't want to enter a 'race to the bottom' with this guy and I refuse to do mental battle with unarmed people. But something in the back of my head says he might do something stupid and he is not telling me what his real issue is. It cost me some sleep last night for sure and I wound up sleeping in until 8am this morning. I mentioned it to Bill today on the phone and he nearly went ballistic and wants me to set him loose on the guy. I don't think I want that either. Bill too has a history with him and it's not a good one. Bill's elderly Pop lives right across the road and there have been 'incidents'. No, it's not just me, I am just the latest attraction for him. But I will admit, he now has me second guessing everything I do with regard to my shop. I didn't re-fire the stove until 2pm today which is about when he finally went out to work or whatever it is he does. It was warm and I only got the shop up to 58 but it was adequate for the work I was doing. I just know this isn't over yet and I am trying to pre-plan my responses. The next 'conversation' is going to go up a level.
--------------------------------------
The wind finally died off today and the temp got over freezing so I headed to the mill. I finished off the logs I have on the deck and marked another for bucking and loading, then I just need one more to complete the current order. Next up id some 3x18x12' for Bill's top boards on his F750 dump truck. It's not going to be as warm tomorrow, nor as sunny, but the wind should remain low so that will be good enough for me. If he is around to lend a hand here and there we may be able to finish it all off. I haven't even looked at next weeks weather yet, but I am thinking I would love to get some hardwood milled up for my own projects and there are a few nice logs that have to get milled soon or become firewood. I found a WO the other day that I really wanna slice up and it's aging quick.
I piddled mostly in the shop trying to find my way and I put an old handle on a cheap ax head whose handle rotted and broke off. It was a 3/4 ax head and I hung it on a hand ax handle, probably from the 40's or 50's. It doesn't fit fully and properly but is secure. I will fille the gaps with epoxy the next time I mix some up. I am having good success with that. Did the same on a maul handle and it is holding up great. I find these short handled tools to be pretty handy although I have a bunch of camp axes around already. I figure it's better to have a usable hand ax than a head laying in one corner and a handle sitting in a box of handles anyway. It didn't take me long to get a good edge on the ax either.
Tomorrow is another day.
I bet he was recording the conversation on his cellphone. Just show him the certificate of compliance from when the stove was installed and tell him to pound salt. He can then fight and loose with the code enforcement officer because it meets all town codes. Woodstoves are still legal in NY so he doesn't have a leg to stand on. If you know the local sheriff call him and file harassment charges. Be sure to get next conversation in front of your security camera. It's not going to end on its own.
I would try to start the stove earlier not later and it will already be in the no smoke stage when he gets up. As you know good dry wood puts of less visible smoke and if starting from coals, start with some small kindling so it flames up fast and fully burns all the volatile stuff.
Don't listen to me, but I'd likely toss a couple of railroad tie pieces in and choke the damper down. And maybe a chunk of an old tire.
If you really want to tick him off, toss in a roadkill squirrel or rabbit (or skunk). That'll get his nostrils flaring.
I have no use for dimwits and busy bodies
Maybe when the next time he comes. Call the cops first then open the door. Don't listen to his BS. Just say get off my land. If the cops get there soon enough tell them you want him off your land and not come back. The cops will record that and the next time he will get arrested.
I'm not sure what NY laws are, you could look it up. Maybe you might have to put a restraining order on him.
If your not doing to just punch him in the head. ffcheesy
Either way, someone said [nip it in the bud] if you don't
stupid will drag this on forever.
I'd just tell him "I have tried to be a good neighbor but it isn't working so I am done trying. I am in compliance with all New York state and local ordinances and am done with the issue. Next time come with a court order and the sheriff. Now get off my property and go home and play in your junkyard."
Then afterwards I would call the sheriff and tell him what I had said so he is aware and prepared.
I am slowly learning to ignore that neighbor.
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Today I managed to make another step out of my winter funk. With the coming snow and my very low wood reserves, I decided I need to get a move on here and suck it up. Also Bill needed some stuff from me this week that we should have gotten done more than a week ago, but the grapple on the toolcat blew a line just before ew got that log loaded and it's not fixed yet. But he did find a log we could use and put it on the mill a day or two ago. He also needed to get firewood out to 3 customers and I needed a load too. So yesterday I went down in the afternoon and helped him run off a truck load through the processor. This morning I went down and we ran off another load, then while he was delivering it, I walked over to the mill and milled out his 3" top boards for his 750 dump. Then he came back just after I finished and we ran off another truck load and he dropped it by my shop. After that we both had family stuff we had to do. But it's progress anyway. It's good to get out and do something even if I can't feel my feet after a few hours. If he can load me up some logs I might go back and mill up some 4x6's tomorrow from hemlock for shop builds during the deep freeze coming this week. He wants to keep his carpenter busy, but not outside. ffcheesy
As for this week, I think I am just going to read. I am nearing the end of my current book, but I have 2 more ready and one is about600 pages by the looks of it. For some reason my reading lately seems to be interrupted by unplanned naps. So these days it takes me longer to get through a book.
Anyway, I seem to be working my way back a little at a time.
I usually plan them afternoon naps in winter. I'm an old ground hog. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 19, 2025, 02:04:34 AMI usually plan them afternoon naps in winter. I'm an old ground hog. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
If I were up at 2 AM I would be taking a nap too. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
For me it seems to be affected by how hard I work. Yesterday, 4 hours of steady work outside with a fair amount of physical exertion was enough to force a one hour nap while I was trying to read in the afternoon.
Hard work will definitely do it. zzzz_smiley
Tom,
I was thinking about your post yesterday afternoon. We had done up a cord of wood, did a 15 mile atv ride, got the plow on the truck, and readied the yard for snow. I was thinking of your post in my chair..next thing I knew it was half an hour later! I think better when I am napping
You guys talking about firewood now make me think you are burning a lot of green firewood. I confess I do. I have a supply of dry split ash I mix with the green maple and beech that fell. I kind of mark the location of fallen trees for future use and take my ATV up and get the ones I reach as I need them. I also have a few dead standing locust I can cut as needed. With them I generally save anything that will make a 7' fence post or 12-15 ft pole and cut the rest up for firewood.
As to books I am constantly reading a book. I read a few pages every night no matter how late it is or where I am. I just picked up a Cracker Western my dad sent me 20-30 years or so ago I guess. They are written about Florida and often include cow hunters (they weren't called cowboys there) and their whips they used to drive the cattle and hogs and such out of the thick brush where ropes could not be used effectively.
I have heard 2 versions of the term Cracker and one was they were named after the sound of these whips. The other version is they were called crackers because they cracked their corn to make their grits which was a staple food item for the region.
Anyway, you guys stay warm, take care and don't slip on the ice.
I cut mine the fall/year before, it's bone dry. And I cut a substantial pile of it. I ain't run'n out of dry wood. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool Shop only takes a stove full for heat in the morning, I don't add none until the next morning. Well, now that I see if I load it a second time it will go to 100° in there. ffcheesy ffcheesy 80° out there now, nice and toasty for the next 18 hours. :thumbsup:
Well, this last load has more drying left to do than I would like, that's for sure. I bring in several days wood at a time to the shop and park the carts right next to the stove and that helps take a lot of the surface water off quickly. When they are froze solid like this current load, it takes a lot longer. So when I fill the stove, I put in a bottom layer of dried wood, then the newer stuff on top. None of the wood I have is fresh cut, it's all from standing dead trees.
Now Ash is my favorite, if it have been standing dead for 5 or more years, I can go from stump to stove in an hour and it burns fine. It also hands splits like a dream. If it was on the ground and pick up water it will still dry very quick after it was split.
Most of the firewood guys around here have several years worth of logs, including bill, so they sit in a pile and do dry a bit at a time. If taken dead, they likely already had a few years of drying on the stump. So when you buck and split them open, the remainder of the drying goes pretty quick if stacked and covered from rain/snow. Airflow is critical. My preferred system is to buck and split standing dead in the spring and have 8 cords stacked by June 1st. This gives about 5-6 months of airflow and works pretty well. When stacking I separate the pieces that feel more wet and burn those at the end of the season or the following year. This year, given very poor planning and mental attitude I really blew it and was the least (worst) prepared that I have been in at least 10 years and am paying the price.
Bill has no setup for drying or cutting ahead yet. But he just bought a skid full of 1/3 cord bags and is working on a hanging rack for them now that he can put under the conveyor. This could allow him to cut and split ahead or split wood whenever his guys are available and not have to worry about delivering it just then. As with every wood guy, he tries to get his customers to order for spring/early summer delivery, but hardly any do. The load we did Friday was to begin filling a woodshed they had just finished building for a client. That 8 x 16 shed should hold a bunch.
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Granite, there are several ways to interpret your comment:
Are you saying my posts put you to sleep?
Are you saying that simply thinking about my posts put you to sleep?
Are you saying your are a slow reader?
Are you saying it takes a long time to think and consider what it in my posts?
Are you saying it takes a long time to figure out what my posts are trying to say?
I'm confused, so come on man, which is it? ffcheesy ffcheesy
My confession is I'm behind on firewood much like you, Tom. It's a downer to think about. I commiserate completely. Working in firewood not as much "fun" as it used to be...
There's no lack of firewood on our farm, I can't keep up with it. Between standing dead, dying red oaks and blow downs, there's plenty of ready to burn. If we get a green blow down, I usually cut it to log lengths to mill or cut for firewood.
What has me behind are the house renovations. Between the renovation work and routine chores, the firewood work got a backseat. Now the weather has curtailed firewood work the last couple of weeks.
If I can get my son and my neighbor/buddy to help, we can put a month's worth of firewood in for two houses in a day and a half.
Right now I'm burning sawmill slabs in the fireplace insert and regular firewood in the water stove. Running the insert stretches the water stove firings out a bit. I kept a stockpile of slabs just to help me get by. So far it's working out by a slim margin.
Well I have excuses and I made choices on how to spend my time thinking it would lead to better things. I spent most of my time working on that trailer to get it ready for shows and building sales stock and all that, then there were the shows to chewed up a lot of weekends, plus the milling work in between. Live and learn, right?
But the firewood is getting harder to do for me. It's a lot of bending and handling and I just can't do 8 hours sessions of it anymore. Also, since I am not running my sawmill all the slabs I cut (pine and hemlock) go into Bill's OWB. If we run hardwood I will take those home.
But now that I spent all that time on the shows and trailer, I really won't be doing as much of that this year. I'll have to come up with a new plan. Part of that plan may be to shut the shop down for the coldest months of the winter and read more.
Tom,
You mention Bill's 1/3 cord bags. My dad used to call that a Strand which was equal to a stack of wood 8' long, 4' high, 16" long and stacked tight.
I have also heard people talk about a Face Cord which was 4' high, 8' long, stacked tight but with an indeterminant length. I don't know if either of those are standard terms or measurements.
Howard,
I burn wood that has seasoned at least a year, I like 2, and when my sheds are full next year, it should put me on a 3 year rotation...that is the plan at least.
Speaking of Westerns, I just finished a "Sackett" book, I really enjoyed this one.
Swamp,
If it gets to 80 in my house, it means my wife's been feeding the stove! Damper full open, spin the air adjuster all the way open, modulate heat via windows! She doesn't do any of the firewood work so I get a bit ornery when the windows are open and its 15 outside.
Tom,
To answer your questions:
No
No
Sometimes
No
No
I was just pointing out that hard work (or play) sometimes leads to a "siesta of tranquility" :thumbsup:. I may have googled "fancy name for a nap" for that description!
Ted,
I've found that making firewood a group activity helps me get more done (for myself and helper, not customer stuff). A lot of times we'll shoot to get a cord done for each of us, then either do an atv ride, or bbq, and sometimes during summer, the family's will meet up at the lake after and have a fun afternoon
Howard, I am sure I mis-spoke, they can't be 1/3 cord bags, they must be 1/4 cord bags, but I could be wrong on that also. I'll check into it further.
I consider a face cord to be a half cord, I use 18" wood. But there are all kinds of terms and misrepresentations to go around, like 'ricks' and such.
I'll put my book comments in the 'goo reads' thread at some point.
I'm tired of plowing and shoveling today.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on January 20, 2025, 02:34:20 PMI have also heard people talk about a Face Cord which was 4' high, 8' long, stacked tight but with an indeterminant length. I don't know if either of those are standard terms or measurements.
Standard is 16" on local face cords. However, the use of 'face cord' won't hold up to scrutiny in a dispute up here. Has to be called 1/3 of a cord if that is what it is. Weights and Measures Canada has the authority on what is acceptable up here for firewood volume. A lot of people have been ripped off believing they have a cord, when it's 1/3 of a cord they got. They think face cord, that must be a cord ain't it?
A standard full cord is 4' tall, 4' long, and 8' wide. A standard face cord is 4' tall, 16" long and 8' wide. I've sold firewood by the face cord, 16" long split and stacked pieces for years, and build my cord racks to that exact size. When I cut firewood I have a 4' stick I use with 2 notches to mark 16" cuts on every piece (yes, I'm OCD about wood). ffcheesy
I've only had 1 guy that didn't think he was getting a face cord with what I sell in all the years I've sold wood. He was a 1 time customer. The majority are repeat customers who are more than happy with what I provide for their money. Some even rave how much heat it gives off or how nice black cherry smells. ffsmiley
The most valuable load of wood I ever went to sell was when I was leaving Beaufort SC and had a bunch of seasoned oak, hickory and pecan. I had a brand new long wheelbase Dodge pick up and did not want to deliver but would for an extra fee. I advertised in a local trader type paper and a guy called and I told him a load was something like $50 and that meant the truck was filled level and I told him the bed size. He ordered a load and drove over with my 5 y/o son along. I got to the site and asked where to unload and he pointed to a back porch so I backed up as close as I could and drop the tailgate. The guy walked over and talked all cocky and said "That's pretty good looking wood. I'll give you $40 for it." I told my son to get back in the truck and I raised the tailgate and got back in the truck. The guy asked what I was doing and I told him I was leaving as we'd already agreed on the price. He said "Okay, I'll pay $50 for it." I told him "You don't understand. You don't have enough money to buy this load of wood." I drove off and stopped on the way home and gave it away to a co-worker.
The guy figured I'd already gone to the effort to load and the expense to drive over and would not want to unload and restack it at home. He was partly right. I wasn't going to take it home but he wasn't going to get it. I'd have given it to a stranger or taken it to the county dump before he could buy it.
Quote from: Resonator on January 20, 2025, 03:20:55 PMWhen I cut firewood I have a 4' stick I use with 2 notches to mark 16" cuts on every piece
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I also want my firewood to be close to the same length so I use a "ledger stick" marked @ 17". I may adjust the lengths a bit to make them come out even. LINK (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=115249.msg2036159#msg2036159)
Quote from: Resonator on January 20, 2025, 03:20:55 PMA standard full cord is 4' tall, 4' long, and 8' wide. A standard face cord is 4' tall, 16" long and 8' wide. I've sold firewood by the face cord, 16" long split and stacked pieces for years, and build my cord racks to that exact size. When I cut firewood I have a 4' stick I use with 2 notches to mark 16" cuts on every piece (yes, I'm OCD about wood). ffcheesy
I've only had 1 guy that didn't think he was getting a face cord with what I sell in all the years I've sold wood. He was a 1 time customer. The majority are repeat customers who are more than happy with what I provide for their money. Some even rave how much heat it gives off or how nice black cherry smells. ffsmiley
As I understand, there is only a standard (depends on the state commerce laws) for a full cord. No standard for a "face" cord.
No, face cord is just a term like 'rick' or 'string' or 'whack'. It's no more accurate than a 'truckload'. If I am really talking about cord wood ad money, then we talk cubic feet to be absolutely clear. A cord is 128 cubic feet stacked. a half cord is 64 cubic feet. It's simple that way.
Yes, 16" wood is the standard around here too, but when you order wood, the cutter should ask 'how long?" I prefer mine 18" to fully pack a stove.
Bill cuts wood to all sorts of oddball sizes from 12" up to 36". Some clients it has to be split small and he has bought special wedges for his Eastonmade splitter to make that go quick. Some clients want only green wood (restaurants for smokers). Everybody is different. All the hickory trees I drop for Mushroom logs get their branches cut up into smoker wood.
NH is the same as Tom states, you must sell as a cord, or 1/2, or 1/3. That is how the state can "measure" it in a potential dispute. If Tom's half cord doesn't measure out to 64cu ft, then the state can say he shorted the customer... That what the guy with the fancy hat and shield told meat least (not about Tom shorting people ffcheesy)
I have to cut two lengths, and never with accuracy. ffcheesy Around 16" or shorter for the shop and 18-22" for the furnace in the house. When I cut wood, I aim the saw blade but it rarely lands in the right spot. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy I don't sell so I don't have to be fussy. If she's a shy long I get out the dandy electric saw and snip off a little, usually cut in half, than I've got two for one and say I'm ahead by one. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool ffcool ffcool
Yup different places do different things. As for my business, I sell 16" pieces spit and stacked. I show a picture to the customer of the face cord, and even give them a choice of stacks if one looks "fuller" to them. They know what they are buying, I'll even measure it for them if they wish. And if they want to go elsewhere to buy, it's a free country, thanks for asking.
Could always do like some other members have done selling slabs or sawdust by the "load". If don't think they're getting enough, wait here while I get the big wheel loader... ffcheesy
Units of measure for firewood are whatever seller and buyer agree to here. Long bed, short bed, dump trailer, "bob cat scoop" or loader scoop all are not unusual measures here. Some speak of cords, 1/2 cords or face cords but nobody but wood cutters seem to grasp those.
I cut all my wood ahead so it's nice and dry, The chimney stays clean too that way. Sometimes a logger who sells firewood wants me to saw some logs for him. We trade sawing for firewood all cut and split and del. :wink_2:
Cord measure of wood products, be it pulp or firewood, originated a century ago. Steam trains pulled up to a stop and loaded up with cords of pulpwood, paper companies still buy cords of wood, etc., etc. When there were disagreements and things ended up in court over disagreements, then a standard unit of measure was needed.
However, loose descriptions that work for individuals buying and trading a years worth of firewood could get by with a bucket full, a pickup load, a wheelbarrow load and the like worked just fine.
But there are standards if needed.
Common term here back in the day was 'cord wood' in the days of 4 foot pulpwood. Most times all cut by hand and hand piled and hand loaded on a train on the other end. Back in the 60's all that handling over and over by hand then onto a train got you $20 a cord. I can remember people could load cord wood onto a pickup truck and take it to the mill to unload for that week's groceries. A pickup load of cordwood won't buy the groceries now, not even a full cord of it. Something ain't right. We've been bleed for years and went right along. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Donkey,
The cordwood sounds like like our pulpwood where I grew up in N. Fla. Pulpwood was 8' long and often loaded by hand because it was very small diameter pine logs.
We used to joke, but it was true, that when you wore out a truck and it could not be used for anything else you'd make a pulpwood truck out of it and drive/use it another 20-30 years. If you saw a pulpwood truck coming down the road you'd better give it the right of way because it probably did not have any brakes, the turn signals did not work, usually there were not back glass or window glass and the windshield would be badly cracked. Don't even think any of the lights would work and there were no mirrors left on them.
Usually there was a gun rack where the back glass used to be and a single shot .12 gauge shotgun with a cracked and taped up stock and maybe no forearm in the gun rack.
Interesting/Sad but honest comment on the value of a load of wood compared to other prices.
Howard I can't read you description without thinking of this Jerry Clower story and by the by, the Ledbetter's in this storry made part of their living off of pulpwood.
I knew an old guy here that had lots of woods ground and he'd cut 8-10' spruce logs and roll them onto the back of the old FORD, not the bed, but the rails. Put in stakes and chain them up. And off he went to a saw mill. Once there, remove the chains and stakes, give'r a jerk, and she was unloaded. No tail gate mind you. That old FORD was his skidder. He'd go down skid paths made by a real skidder when he had logging done and he'd work for years pulling and cutting up tops and limbs for his firewood.
When I was a kid growing up the paper industry was still going strong in central Wisconsin. The big mills owned thousands of acres of wooded land, and train loads of logs came in every week. There were close to a dozen mills within 1 1/2 hour drive away making a good market for pulpwood.
Anybody with wooded acres could cut and haul pulp cordwood to the mill. Lots of guys with old cable skidders and dozers, and old 2 ton (or bigger) straight trucks to haul it. Peeled sticks paid better, and I spent hours as a kid peeling bark paid by the stick.
Different now, and some of those mills are long gone. The guys hand felling and using a skidder are few, replaced with high dollar felling machines. And what is hauled into the mill is often paid by the ton.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that the cordwood was all peeled as well for that $20/cord. A chainsaw chain was expensive for the times, today a chain for a 20" bar is $30 or so, but it was near $20 back then. Dad remembered that distinctly. He said if you factor in the times and today's price, it's way cheaper now. 40 years ago there were over 250 sawmills in New Brunswick and I think 30 pulp mills. We are a fraction the size of Wisconsin. The small town of Miramichi, had 3 pulp mills, but a lot of public land timber access to. It had several sawmills in the area, I'd bet at least 15, not all in town but down along the river. That's in my time and I'm not that old. Also our public land had signage for every stream and lake you come to and every woods road was named with a sign. None of that now.
That's why I say the 70's was the best decade of my whole life so far. By far better than now.
I loved the '70s, fast cars, and fast women. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Cops were nowhere to be seen. Best of times, leave the keys in the truck, windows down, and the gun hanging on the back window. Got out of class and no one touched a thing. Leaving High school doing a smoke show, No teachers looking out the window. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I can remember single wheels dump trucks going by the house with wooden stakes and pulp wood in the dump body heading for the paper mill.
Now they are scrapping the paper mill.
My Father use to cut pulp in the winter time for money.
I got in trouble for white smoking, in reverse, in my 1977 Skylark on one of my last days of school, it was a pile of junk and I'm not sure how I got the tires to lift and spin, but it felt great!
Quote from: aigheadish on January 22, 2025, 07:04:21 AMI got in trouble for white smoking, in reverse, in my 1977 Skylark
We had a Skylark in 1976 and I remember thinking, "this car will be so much fun to drive next year when I get my license" (with its 455 V8, 4-barrel). But even before I got my license my mother said, "you will not be driving
this car!"
So I had a choice between the 930cc Honda Civic or the '66 Ford shortbed pickup--straight 6, 3-on-the-tree ffcheesy
Smart Mom. At 14, we all think we are naturally the best drivers in the world. It is some of the near missed that make us careful and really good drivers in the future. many of us could write a book about our adventures, and hopefully near misses as opposed to really learning the hard way, I plead the 5th. bike_rider no_no smiley_crying ffsmiley
It must be true then, that the really bad young characters make the best doctors. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool
Twar that was the good one! Also, as a Civic driver and fan I bet I would've loved that Civic!
Mine was a clapped out 231cc driven by my great aunt, and left to me, after finding a 4" deep puddle of water in the back footwells (finally figured out the smell!) of a 1985 Golf, don't remember why else we got rid of that VW. The Skylark eventually started smoking more on the inside, through the vents, than the tires ever did.
My first car in 1977 was a 2 door '68 Delmont 88 fastback with a 2 barrel carb. At 70 mph, the rear end would lift from the airfoil shape and get pretty squirrelly. That car had nearly equal parts steel and rust (NY State) later upgraded to 50/50 steel and Bondo. smiley_smug01
Edit: Forgot to mention, it had a 425 engine!
That looks to have been a fun car John! Eek to the squirrellyness! My wife drove a contemporary (modern era) VW Beetle a couple years ago as a rental that felt the same way to me.
My first car in 1978 was a 1969 Pontiac Lemans. Awesome car and I wish I had known what I had then.
Quote from: SawyerTed on January 23, 2025, 06:00:49 PMMy first car in 1978 was a 1969 Pontiac Lemans. Awesome car and I wish I had known what I had then.
Same year, 1978, I had a pristine 68 Lemans...I wish I still....oh well. I also sold a 1968 GTO, 1976 TransAm, 1969 442 Convertible...SMH
I had a few nice old cars but always needed the trade in value for the next reliable car.
My first was a hand me down several times over 1981 Honda Prelude that I eventually burnt the clutch out on. 900 bucks to fix so I sent it along, which, today, makes me quite sad. It was a neat and fun little car that I did several terribly irresponsible things in.
Tom,
Thinking about your shows and interesting items that could move rather quick, without large amounts of time to make them. It was 4deg outside, so I'm not jumping to get out the door!
A neighbor friend, that has since moved to the other side of town, is a carpenter / framer. He always slows way down during the winter months. He needed some cordwood, cheap, to keep his tiny shop warm so he could do something. He didn't have the cash, but I wasn't too worried about getting paid right away, I knew he would pay when he could. Anyways, as a thank you, when he came up with the money in early spring, he gave me a few wooden,state of NH cut outs. He said thats some of the stuff he'd work on during winter in the shop. He didn't have many fancy tools, but plenty of skills. I think he cut it out on a scroll saw.
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I'm not sure how he got the "old man of the mountain" inlaid. I know he didn't have a laser/engraver, unless a friend did it for him? I just thought it might be an idea, or maybe inspire an idea.
That's pretty cool. I would buy an Ohio one, if the price was right! Doesn't appear to be laser engraved to me, unless he went back in and cut out the burns.
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Stuff in the shape of a state always seems popular to some people. Here is an Adirondack chair I made for my mom's retirement several years ago. Different states seem to lend themselves to different objects like chairs, benches, cutting boards.
First one is a pain, but if you have a template all the rest are quicker. Seems like Colorado wood be an easy one to start with.
...or Wyoming. ffcheesy
Ohio!
I like the Wisconsin shape!
Ks would be easy!
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Here's another idea if you have access to skis. Sometimes ski areas have old rentals laying around that you can get cheap. I've also seen them with snowboards (benches), cross country skis or water skis.
I love the chairs, which I had enough skis laying around, I have to take inventory.
Those state shapes are neat too. I bet Hawaii would be a challenge.
Things remain slow here, I was going to read some today and enjoy the weather outside somehow. But the wife went off to town and was back in 10 minutes with a blown master cylinder. So there went my day. I moved stuff around in the shop and made room, fired up the stove and pulled the van in. The shop in town had a master, so I drove down and picked it up. Turned out to be the wrong one, wrong fitting sixes. Back to town again and the other 'option' was not in stock. On order now, be here in the morning, so another trip to town. The whole affair pretty much blew up the whole day with not much accomplished. Brining the cold van in the shop pretty much drew the thermal mass down pretty well, but it's catching up now. I'll give it another shot tomorrow.
I had a nice thing happen this evening. But I am too tired to share it now. Lots of words involved. But it did provide the highlight of my week and some work for me to do coming up. Not business work, but fun work with hopefully, a nice reward at the end in the form of pure joy for others and myself. These things used to come along regularly, but I haven't seen one in a while, so I'll make another post when my eyes don't want to close as I type.
A high and a low all in one day. I guess I have some kind of balance in my life now? ffcheesy
We are all sitting here (hear?) with bated (baited?) breath (bredth?) waiting (weighting?) to (Two, too?) see (Sea, Si?) what (watt?) you (hew, ewe) have to tell us. :wink_2:
Howard, after these years we've shared, you should know (no?) me by now. Don't get your hopes up. ffcheesy Really it's just a very personal (music) thing, but I am really so very tired tonight I can't put the keystrokes in to deliver it in a way that might have any value to even a few. I have a small life, so my little joys are really nothing in comparison to so many others here. But for me, a joy is a joy, and I do revel in that. It's just a tiny thing, but I am already deriving pleasure from it.
Tomorrow man, I promise.
Well, since COVID, followed by retirement, the life I enjoyed in the local music world, as well as on a national level sometimes has been greatly curtailed. Along with that came much reduced contact of a casual nature with local musicians that perform on the world stage. The opportunities have diminished greatly, local clubs have changed significantly and we've lost most of that 'local feel' where one could walk into a small club on a Wednesday night in February and see someone like John Sebastian, Maria Muldaur, or Happy Traum playing with friends. It just doesn't happen anymore. Making it worse is that I (we) are losing these folks as the years go by. We lost my buddy Bill, then Eric Weisberg, and just this past Year, Happy Traum. Even the non-local pros would sometimes stop in at a small local gig to visit old friends and play a few tunes. I met and enjoyed so many people on a personal level through those experiences and hanging out with Bill.
This has left a big hole in my life, as you might guess. I still have friends in that world, some remain close, but it's not like it had been or even close.
So last evening I got a phone call From Bill Keith's wife that was a delight to receive. We hadn't talked in a few years since Bill passed because she expressed the need for some space to reorganize her life. She told me that period is over now and she wuld love to have me drop by for a visit. After catching up on things she told me that and old friend, Thierry was trying to set up a Bill Keith Workshop at Grey Fox this summer so that he could explain and teach the nuances of what make Bill's playing unique. Thierry is likely the world's expert on this subject and among the best players in Europe right now. He lives in Belgium. As a young adult Thierry came to stay with Bill for an extended period in the 90's and then spent a summer on tour with him, going from festival to festival and living in that Tipi I now have. He also hosted or attended many of Bill's shows all over Europe. Along the way he spent his days in study, documenting and practicing those special traits Bill had, as well as learning how he thought and approached his music. For nearly 40 years now Thierry has worked on this craft and even has a website teaching the 'Keith Style' which goes well beyond that melodic style that most people think of when they here 'Keith Style'. I spent a few days with Thierry when he visited just a few months after Bill passed on. He's a marvelous player and extremely knowledgeable. I know his workshop would be a benefit to the Grey Fox patrons, but he is not very well known here in the states.
So the point of last night's phone call was to find out who and how to make introductions to the Grey Fox Senior staff to see if Thierry could get a shot. Getting a slot at Grey Fox can takes years of hard work, doing it in just a few months, if at all, will be a tough road. Claire (Bill's wife) sent her email off last night and I will follow up with mine in a day or two. Getting involved in making something special happen at Grey Fox is something I have not done since Bill passed on. We had put together a Bill Keith Banjo Summit just before he passed and he was on stage for that. We had 8 or 9 of the best players in the world for that one covering 50 years of his music. It was a lot of work and I was so proud of being on that team and how we pulled it off. (That entire show is available on you tube in two parts, each an hour long.)
So this is a small thing in a big world, but it feels good to get involved on that level again. Hosting Thierry in our campsite along with friends Mike & Ruthy and their band who are performing once again, PLUS my long time friends from KY who wil be int3erviewing artists and creating radio shows, will be a super fun experience. Since I will be repeating my temporary assignment as the staffer in charge of the VIP/Artist's camping area again this year, my 'job' will be to hang out in that area for 4 days and enjoy the music and fellowship as well as make sure things go smooth and take care of the artist's needs if any arrives. Probably next year I'll have to find another job, but for this year, it's working out pretty good.
So again, not a bid deal for anyone but me. But it does bring me a pretty good dose of joy in an otherwise boring life, so I will take it.
(See Howard, I told you.)
I'm plumb purple with excitement for you. Congratulations and I have every confidence you will be able to add this new act to Grey Fox this year.
Well Howard, it's not up to me. I am not even a fly on the wall when it comes to talent selection and scheduling. When I had decided that my friends Mike, Ruth and their band would be a good fit and become popular at Grey Fox and also learned they had submitted for it several times to no avail, I started a gentle 3 year campaign to try to make it happen. I talked them up to the right people, wrangled them into conversations, shred their CD's with the key staff and none of it really worked. Finally I got cre4ative. The woman who owned the festival at the time was a big Del McCory fan and personal friend. Her favorite tune that he did was a Richard Thompson tune called '52 Vincent. There was a video of Mike and Ruth doing this as a duo, they have their own version. I sent the link off to the festival owner just saying that I knew how much she liked the tune and thought she might enjoy Mike & Ruth's version. I said nothing about getting them in the festival. A month later Mike and Ruth got the call, just like that. :wink_2:
We don't have that kind of time this time, we are almost late to the party, but I will give it my best shot. I think the timing is right on this one. Given his international travel and booking ahead, we need to get moving. But first I need to fix that master cylinder. ffcheesy
Again I tip my hat to you Tom, with all the who's who's in music you've got to know. :thumbsup:
Quotea big Del McCory fan and personal friend. Her favorite tune that he did was a Richard Thompson tune called '52 Vincent.
Great song, one of the great bluegrass standards. Perfectly written ballad with a motorcycle, robbery, true love and a shotgun blast. Del and his boys nailed it out of the park, with bluegrass banjo, mandolin, and vocal singing.
Interesting side note, when made from 1948 to 1952 the Vincent Black Lightning was THE fastest production built motorcycle of its time. There's a famous photo of a stunt racer wearing a helmet and swim trunks, laying flat on his belly on the back fender, and gripping the handlebars for dear life. Setting the world speed record at the Bonneville salt flats, doing 150MPH. :shocked2:
Just dumb luck I guess.
I went and found that video I referred to. M&R were doing a northeast promo tour I think and did a bunch of radio studio interviews along the way.
Is it hard to see why these are two of my most favorite people, friends, neighbors, and musicians?
edit to add: In a strange twist of fate. Eric Weisberg was a collector of rare cars and especially rare motorcycles, which he kept in running order. He had, for a time in his collection, a Vincent, but I think it was a '51.
Said Red Molley to James that's a fine motorbike. One of my favorites also.
I have seen Del perform that tune several times, I have also seen Richard Thompson perform it at least twice. Their version is by far my favorite and I have seen them perform it at least 25 times. Never get tired of it.
Will say those 2 have a beautiful harmony together, and he's got the claw hammer strum mastered. :thumbsup:
Good ear Res, Ruthy 'sings like a sparrow escaped from the city' and Mike is no slouch either. You can hear a lot of their stuff on you tube, just search for either "Mike & Ruthy" or the full band "The Mammals" You should be able to see a bunch of their headlining shows at The Hoot and some of their stage sets at Grey Fox.
Tom,
It was cold and I was inside a bunch this weekend. I was cleaning, moving, tossing, sorting "stuff". I came across this crete/box and said, man I think that'd work for Tom!
BK (before kid) me and my wife would go to the Fryeburg Fair in Maine every fall. The first Monday is always " Woodsmans Day" we'd get there early to get a good seat for the different competitions. Anyways, one of the things we'd also do every year was buy a box/crete on the way out. They were local made (it was in the wood working building) and would have the fair name and year on one side, sometimes both sides. I was thinking they might be something you could make that isn't too time consuming, people could use to put more of your small products in, and could be a way for them to remeber the year, or event they got them at? Just an idea, I think they were in the $12-20 range but its been at least 7yrs since we've been.
EDIT: Pictures, or it don't count! After pulling one out, the joints don't look simple like I remembered, I might have lied about the quick and easy part!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18262/IMG_20250203_082911.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357627)
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Forgot, they would change the spray paint color(s) every year too.
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Handles on each end so you can carry more stuff!
Matt
I go for the Woodsmen Day every year too. Last year they had everyone go through a metal detector. The line was crazy. ffcheesy
But I get there when they open, no line. ffcheesy
Making that box is easy. Just make a jig for the table saw and go.
Made like a bee hive box. :thumbsup:
I haven't posted anything here of substance since before Christmas. No new builds, no projects, no shop improvements, NUTTIN'. That's because I ain't done hardly nuttin'. Yeah, maybe some home repair type stuff and I had my wife's van in the shop for a few days fixing the brakes (that was no fun). But nothing that could be viewed as 'progress'.
After this past year's shows and my considerable attempts at selling I was pretty despondent over the results and decided to take some time to re-think what I am doing and why. Money to keep the household going was always the main driver and I have always been terrible at managing money for my entire life. It's not that I do stupid stuff like gamble or waste money and throw it away in luxuries, it's just that I am really bad at financial planning, investing, and stuff like that there. Our idea of a 'big luxury' is putting money aside to drive out the a pig roast in Michigan.
Well I had a good reference from a former co-worker for a financial planner which I have been sitting on for 3 years now (I told you I suck at this) and we finally made an appointment to see her several weeks ago. In a marathon session (she told me it's the longest single session she has had in 30 years doing this work) of about 5 hours, she managed to set me up by moving around the little money I have and we will be getting some money on a monthly basis that should make a huge difference for us. That will begin in May when I hit 70. In addition, we consolidated some other stuff I didn't even know I had and we will be retiring a goodly chunk of our debt pretty soon. It's entirely possible that I may not HAVE to work.
As you might guess, this has helped my mental well being somewhat, but I will wait until around June before I can see for myself that we are doing OK. I hope to feel better by September when I can see for sure that we are 'OK" on a month by month basis. There are still other things going on that I continue to worry about.
-----------------------
So I continue to re-think this business thing. I still like working and making things and learning things. If I don't do that, life, for me, stops. But the heavy work can taper off and I won't miss it much. :wink_2: I still have things (skills) I cannot do and want to learn, but they don't make money. Like woodcarving and the finer arts. I might like to get back to writing also. I used to do that a bit and did have some things published. (I know, reading here, that's probably hard to fathom. I actually have 2 unfinished books.)
I have developed the Mushroom logs into a good cash business, but that is really heavy work for me at my age and condition. Still I like the clients. I have orders for 500 logs so far and have not solicited any orders at all this year. These are all repeat clients that called me. So, I need to get on that and VERY soon if I am to meet delivery dates.
But I have a trailer full of nice stuff I have not been able to sell and I really want to make that happen. It wears on me that I failed and I continue to explore how I might make that happen. It's frustrating. I really don't want to sell a bench that I have 50 hours of work into for $150. I'd rather have it in my own house someplace or give it to someone who would love it.
In fact, I was thinking, if I don't NEED to make stuff for sale that maybe I can actually make stuff for myself? I have never had time to do that...ever. I would love to make myself a new desk instead of this Formica 'monstrosity' I inherited from the previous home owner. I'd also like to make a new vanity for our bathroom, new bookshelves in my den/office and there is a long list. In fact I would like to re-do the entire room where I am sitting now with new flooring, wall panels I mill myself and the whole bit. Maybe even a wood floor?!
But I have to see how this is all going to pan out. So I spend this winter plugging along, thinking about it, reading to feed my soul, and getting the mushroom logs in.
Anyway, that's why I haven't posted much here. I am trying to re-think my life and see if I can maybe get this thing right.
Godspeed Tom!
OGH!
Good news!
Check out "serviceberry" a short easy read on the gift economy. Something I'm sure you are no stranger to already.
It's made my small family think a little differently about some of our "business" ventures
I hope your load has lightened already and you can breathe a bit easier
Keep building and creating!
Living well in retirement is an art. Finding an equilibrium takes some time. Sounds like you are doing the right things to reassess and reset.
Living well doesn't mean living wealthy. Quality of life on modest means comes down to choices. Learning how and what to choose in retirement takes time and is unique to each of us. Only you will know what works best for you.
It's a big shift from being fully engaged in a career to retirement. That kind of life change takes getting used to.
I think you should start to prioritize your own projects sooner than later. I find that I procrastinate on stuff for my own house, but if you get into it and tear it apart then you have to finish it. Just have to get that initial go. When I finish something that has been on the list awhile, there is usually a pretty good sense of accomplishment.
That being said, I don't think the master bathroom in my house has been touched since it was built in 1977. I was born in 1978. Every other room has had multiple updates.
Hopefully you have less internal stress after your meeting.
Make retirement work for you.
Good to hear Tom!
Sounds like what one of my customers said who is transitioning into retirement. He said words to the effect of when you see more years behind you than ahead of you, you should plan how to spend your time for yourself.
I was involuntarily downsized/retired in 1994, yikes over 30 years ago. At age 51, there is no SS and that whopping "package" was reduced by 24% because of my age.
I did OK with my cabinet shop, but no "living". I did OK building utility buildings, but no "living". 22 years ago I started sawmilling. Sawing & selling did not pan out for me so I have been portable sawing only for 21 years. I am doing OK, but still no "living".
We very much depend upon my sawing income as attested by the fact that I am 81 years old and still working/sawing.
Good for you Tom!
I can't express enough, to pretty much everyone I talk to about money, the importance of saving and investing, something I'm not great at myself, but I've seen, after a small inheritance from my dad, the results of. I hope I can be disciplined enough to save better in the future (I started a while ago, but I have debt).
I hope it goes well for you and hope that you have the opportunity to give up some of the tough work you do. You deserve the ability to read and study amd write as much as you'd like without worrying about stuff too much.
It took several failures at retirement between 2015 and 2022 to figure out my balance. It hasn't been perfect but Emily and I both have reached a good balance of work and retirement.
The woodworking gig is tough when you are putting in the custom order time and effort but only getting production line prices but on the bright side you learned a lot and gained a bunch of experience and confidence there.
Getting out of the heavy lifting work is probably a good idea for anyone, it always catches up with you.
From the outside looking in I see a good opportunity without personal financial risk in running Bill's saw but it would require a better layout and plan to make it lighter work were you don't have to lift anything. Thinking rollers, racks, log deck and a decent machine with forks. It would provide extra cash for you while keeping you moving and thinking. Keeping it part time will be the key to leaving you time for other things you like to do.
To better times ahead! smiley_beertoast
Well first, thanks everyone for the encouraging thoughts and comments. On one hand it's nice to know I am not alone, on the other hand I hate to hear of others trying to get by like me. It ain't fun some months. And now there is talk of them messing with Social security, don't get me started on that.
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The 'making things for myself' deal will have to be down the road a bit when we feel more secure and have put a few 'rainy day' bucks away.
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The sawmill income is more like blood money, I sure don't make much at it. I do it because Bill needs it, it gets me out a bit, and I can mill stuff for myself, though I rarely do. Yes, if we could lay it out better that would help, but we have only made baby steps in that direction. If I took it on myself to just ignore Bill and do it myself we might be in better shape after a week or two of work. But we need to make space and that's where we keep knocking heads. Again, it's a lot of physical work and after our short firewood session yesterday I was pretty tired last night.
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One thing I can say: once I get through mushroom log season, this year is going to be quite different from the last. I don't know how yet, but I will not repeat the mistakes I just made (even though they weren't really mistakes). Time to move on and make changes.
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I finished up all the plowing this morning and hand shoveled all that I am gonna do. Just had breakfast and now I am going to read a little, then find something else to do.
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Every day is another day until it isn't.
I retired 5 1/2 years ago and although my yearly income dropped quite a bit I have found that I have less money worries now than I had when I was working. A lot of the money I made came in the form of overtime and it seemed like it was always to much or to little according to the economy at any given time. I also have found that it cost quite a bit to work. Seems I was always needing some kind of new tools, work clothes and the like. I had a company vehicle but it was only used for work so I really don't miss it. Having a steady check coming every month without having to worry about injuries or cutbacks is almost a dream come true for me. I was getting pretty tired of being a rat in the race and thankful to be out of it. WV has always been called a poor state and maybe it is but taxes are pretty low and it doesn't cost a lot to live here which works out pretty good in retirement. I'm staying warm and so far I haven't missed any meals. Hang in there Tom,like Red Green says We're all in this thing together.
I finished my last assignment a little over 12 years ago. I worked with the same company for about 20 years and probably 16 or so of them were overseas. I got lucky especially the last few years because my dive partner I met in Saudi Arabia changed careers and became a financial advisor and took me on as a client. He did well in that role and helped ensure a stable retirement for us.
Also my last few years paid well and often there were few expenses because there was nowhere to spend anything or costs there were very, very low on the local economy. There were several years of people trying to shoot at me or blow me up and several of my co-workers died of tropical diseases and such you never see or hear about any more. My wife worried some but my old dive partner/financial planner told her not to sweat it as I'd get killed here on a 4 wheeler or cutting a tree or such on me instead in a foreign land.
Those kind of assignments were long hours and often 7 days a week but they also provided a lot of time off. Think assignments like 12 hour days and 8 weeks on and 2 weeks off and in Iraq it was more like 8 weeks on and 3 weeks off. Food and lodging were usually provided - often under my supervision as the camp manager. I like excitement and don't require a lot of creature comforts so while others were complaining I was enjoying myself and often, when the security situation permitted, seeing things and making friends of the locals my co-workers missed out on.
For tax reasons often it was better those days off were spent out of the USA. Think of it as a subsidized vacation. I could come home and pay taxes or vacation elsewhere which is what I did. Often I spent a lot of money on those vacations, especially the ones where I could work around my wife's teaching holidays or our daughter could swing the time off in the summer and Christmas and once my wife even took a years leave of absence to live with me in Norway.
I look back at the extra money we did spend on such vacations and my wife's year off work and it was a lot. It would have added a lot to our investment kitty/nest egg but looking back at the time we got to spend together, I don't regret one penny of it. Too often people do not take the time when they are young enough and physically able to go visit the places or see the things they dream about. Health and other issues, including the world political climate, now would not allow us to enjoy many such a trip if we had waited till now.
I can and do look around our house at the souvenirs we brought back from Europe, the jungle, desert, plains of Mongolia, and such and I can return to those times every day.
I guess my point is when planning for retirement don't neglect to plan and do some of the things now that you won't be able to do when you and your loved ones are too old to enjoy them. You can't put a price on memories made with your spouse, children and grandkids.
Tom, make a plan and then tell Bill you need a helper for a few days. see if he will go for it. It is hard to work in a mess unless it is a mess of your own doing. ffsmiley
then get caught up on his stuff (if that is even poss.) then mill yourself a stockpile to dry so when you are over it, you will have some hobby wood to use. It may also help you regain some physical and cardio stamina. None of my business. If I have offended you, then Howard told me to say it. If not, it was my idea! ffcheesy
Tom,
If the mushroom logs are the most reliable income is there a way to reduce the manual labor aspects of it? Is there a good labor source you may be overlooking? Do any of the local schools or colleges have any kind of ag or forestry program where you could get a bunch of strapping teenagers who want to learn the process and in return for their learnin' carry the logs out of the woods to the trailer, which I assume is the hardest part?
Could you do it as a consultant where you take customers out and maybe saw the logs but let the customers haul, stack, load and unload them? Be sure you are protected with releases and liability insurance for such work.
And don't let Doc make you think I said anything unkind. He is still upset after finding someone he is pretty sure is his grandmother while surfing Only Fans accounts. She was wearing a veil but that tattoo sure looks suspicious/familiar.
Doc, that is down on the list in the "when opportunity presents" section. I really need Bill and his equipment for a lot of that early work. Truth be told, over the last 3 years we have been moving (slowly) forward. We have be whittling away at the log pile directly across from the loading arms of the mill which gives more working room. We have carved in a drainage tunnel and dropped in a pipe to prevent that huge deep puddle or small pond that used to form right in that are and it's working pretty good. We have put in a blower for the sawdust and within the next week or so his carpenter will be working on a collection box for it. We still need to get the rest of the logs out of that area then bring in his heavy excavator and peel up the shale shelf to level it off and finish back filling the pipe we put in, giving me back the 'drive through feature I am missing now (I will crush the exposed section of pipe without fill over it. It should also eliminate the little bit of icing we get now as far as is practicable. (It snows, it rains, it freezes. Only a fool would think they could prevent that entirely.) But this is just the little stuff. All of the above can be done in well under 2 hours, probably less than one because we have made progress and are very close.
The nice thing about that shale is that with a heavy enough machine, good teeth on it, and the right approach, you can peel it up and virtually shape what you want. So we need to clear out at the far end of the mill and square off, perhaps undercut or move back the wall (cliff face) about a foot or two, then grade it for the outflow side. After yesterday I am thinking we may need a French drain or slit drain at that end of the mill slab also due to the ice coming off the roof. This is where I would have the sawdust bin and also a staging area for larger beams and such that need to be handled with a machine or two people. I can also move stickered packs there, but that shouldn't be needed. So call it an 'overflow area".
THEN we get to the bigger and more important work. If you look at the following video from minute 1:49 to 2:06 you can see the log stack that is 'in my way' and needs to be moved. Section 2:28-2:43 shows it from the mill side, sort of. Ignore the lumber stacks, they are long gone. That all needs to be cleared out, graded fairly flat and cut up closer to the cliff. Then and only then, can I install the roller conveyors for sorting and tacking or edging. Ideally at the end of that first 20' of roller conveyor I would like to put the edger, similar to what Jake has on his 'short' mill so we can back drag right from the mill to the edger, or pull off finished boards from the mill and stack on a pallet.
Now that is my basic vision. Bill's vision is somewhat different, is a moving target, and changes every time we talk about it. As you may guess, our conversations on this subject can get some what 'animated' as my frustrations mount. He is looking to do work he will never have to adjust later, even 25 years down the road. I am trying to evolve something that is easily transformed as time, knowledge, and needs evolve. I have spent a career laying out shops, work flows. and manufacturing processes and it's frustrating to get him to come around to why I have the approach I have.
So yeah, it would be nice to make a plan, but there is the first rub. Then we need to get together on actual work dates and/or goals. When we did that drain I was at the mill just finishing off an order on the weekend (Sunday I think) and he came down to check on me. Nothing particular in mind. Next thing you know, we have the transit set up and he is hammering in the trench as I am plumbing the pitch, while he did some refining touches I went up and pulled some 6" pipe from stock. 45 minutes later, it was done, less a little bit of backfill. It was not even close to being 'on the list for that day'. It wasn't even on the bloody radar!
Making decisions and sticking to them seems to be the hard part here. We come at it from different ways. I have a lot of background in this, plus I have looked at several dozen carefully thought out set ups from those here on the forum from manual mils all the way up to full automation, and I have asked questions and learned from what those sawyers found worked and things they had to change moving forward. He doesn't have those mental pictures in his head and it's hard for me to paint them.
I do love the guy, but sometimes..... Well, you know. ffcheesy
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This morning Bill gave me another one of those 'check-in calls' He does this every few days and says "Oh, nothing much, just wanted to see how you were doing and what you had planned for today'. Translated this either means, he has something he'd like me to 'participate in' such as a tree job I could get mushroom logs off of, or he is simply reminding me it's a beautiful day and I should be out doing something. Today's call was the latter and it was just enough to make me dress for the weather and head down to his place, say 'hi' to the guys working in the shop and then go grab a couple more dead standing trees for firewood. Working alone took a little more effort and the snow is deeper now than it was Saturday. I could either work in house slippers or needed snowshoes. ffcheesy It's a frozen marsh with a lot of hillocks and grass tufts. So with the snow you can't make out which is ground and which is a hole. There were a few spots where I went in up to my knees, but thankfully there was no water, it's all froze up sold. I took slightly bigger trees this time, dropped them with the tops just landing on the road, the threw a chain and dragged them up on the road, bucked them and into the truck. Two trees and I was sucking wind like a freight train. The truck bed was nearly full.
I had to do a run to town and on the way I saw Bill's crew was lunching at the local Hickory Pit, so I stopped in and had a coke with them. Then I did my errand, came home and hand split most of the wood that I had cut, the rest went right into the 'dry' pile. Once again I was sucking wind. This dead standing is neat stuff. I have a cart full of it by the house stove right now and I can hear it thawing and cracking as it gets warmed up. It's so dry that most of these trees have full length drying splits in them when I drop them. But in the house it is still cracking open. Burns pretty dang good.
Having done '
something' for the day, I am now in the house and ready to read a little. I have to get back into that swing of getting out every day. These mushroom logs ain't cutting themselves.
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Howard, yes, that's a good idea and you have suggested this before as have others. But those kids are not available. I only cut in short sessions of 4 hours and usually less.. The other issues is where I get these logs. It is often not in the woods as might be thought. I often go out with Bill's crew on his tree jobs and work with them when they have the right species. I cut off all the top wood I can for mushroom logs and load them out, this makes a lot less handling for them into either the chipper or onto the log truck. I can't take 'civilians' onto a jobsite like that. It's risky enough to have me there. When I have my logs cut and loaded I usually pitch in for an hour or so feeding the chipper, hauling branches and cleaning up the site, so it's a win for them too.
If I start to tout it as 'a learning experience' then I have to line up enough trees to fill the day and have them in a safe place. I can't waste their time while I prospect trees. There are a lot of variables to overcome. Last year I did have a young fella that owed me some labor from a barter deal and he was a huge help. He enjoyed it too one he fell into the groove. If I had enough stuff lined up in one place I might give him a try again, but I have to do the advance work. I still keep thinking about it though.
Nice video. kind of how I pictured it.
Well it's probably as you picture it because you've seen it before. ffcheesy That video is 3 years old and those lumber stacks went into framing and siding the new shop section which in now all closed in and being heated. We have pulled a few logs from that big pile but added a lot more. I've done more significant work on the stack across from the mill which is now pretty small.
I have been working on Bill slowly and we now agree that we need to throw a lot of these logs up on the mill and either dice them up, or make a decision to send them to the boiler. Some I just take 4 big slabs off then either make a post or 2x4's out of them. There is a lot of hardwood in the pile directly behind the mill I just want to slab up or burn out.
It all takes time.
Watching the video, I'd suggest spending a day with a log loader truck in there and doing a complete "sort". As said, the older hardwood logs may be better suited for firewood. Which could be worth more than the lumber they would have produced.
Definitely enough wood there to keep a one man sawmill busy. ffsmiley
Yeah Res, actually there is a forwarder parked right next to that pile now, and we have talked about doing just that. A lot of the odd chunks close to the mill are probably a days work for me to throw up on the mill and make a decision. We do need to mill some slabs for our 'whatever use' like a picnic table order when it comes up or something. So I can just whack it into 3" slabs and get it covered someplace. Clearing just that small area would be a nice start.
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Today was the day.
I gave myself a choice or either doing more dead standing wood or mushroom logs. Since I really need to get moving on the logs I went down and dropped two trees. I had to drag the logs about 60' to the truck and in this slippery snow, that takes a toll on me. I got 16 logs in the truck and unloaded at home. So it's a start. I'm getting my sea legs back.
Do you wear ice creepers when working in the woods?
If there is ice or it's slick, absolutely Pete! But right now it's soft snow which is more like sand than anything. We haven't had any warming except from the sun which only thaws and refreezes a very thing crust, not worth worrying about. I keep a bag on the backseat in the truck that has all my 'possibles' like wedges extra gloves, marking tape and paint, screnches, etc. In that bag is also my Yaxtrax which work great. My next trip out I think I may switch to my husky chainsaw boots which are huge and awkward, but have screws in the soles for traction. They weigh a ton and are size 15 (I wear 11), I feel like a clown walking around in them.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 11, 2025, 08:35:49 PMmy husky chainsaw boots which are huge and awkward, but have screws in the soles for traction. They weigh a ton
I almost got some at Windy Ridge the last time I was there. [logging store] I use a pullover rubber creepers over my leather boots from LL Bean.
I often wear them when I have a saw in my hand in the winter.
I always wear chainsaw boots with chaulk bottoms when I'm chainsawing. I wear them all summer running a clearing saw as well. Keep my but off the ground. Hard soled work boots are the worst for woods work, if you don't want your knees or hips for long. The first slippery spruce root that takes you down will have you rethink this. ffcheesy ffcheesy I know several older guys than me that only wore leather boots in the woods, they can barely walk now.
Well I like these Yax Trax. They are a bit of a pain to put on sometimes in the snow, but they work well. If you walk on dry concrete they don't hurt your feet at all.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20220119_163530167.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=318610)
I got those I think, on a suggestion from Nebraska a few years back.
Tom looks like you fell on the ice and broke you lower leg. I would try to straighten it out and go to the ED. ffcheesy ffcheesy make a splint out of some newspaper or magazines. ffsmiley
Quote from: doc henderson on February 12, 2025, 08:36:13 AMTom looks like you fell on the ice and broke you lower leg. I would try to straighten it out and go to the ED. ffcheesy ffcheesy make a splint out of some newspaper or magazines. ffsmiley
ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy :thumbsup: ffcheesy
All good. I just happen to be very flexible :wink_2: .
Thank goodness you are flexible! I had a Joe Thiesman-like injury flashback! No thanks to
@doc henderson! ffcheesy
When he's not sawing mushroom logs, working on his box trailer, abusing stringed instruments, or fabricating custom wood pieces for thankless customers he moonlights as Mr. Fantastic, the stretchy guy on The Fantastic Four.
I used to wear those Yaktraks in Bagram in Afghanistan as we had problems with ice all over the camp. Using big river rocks for dust abatement instead of crushed gravel was an even bigger problem causing year round ankle injuries.
Worth their weight in gold on a slick ice day, anything to help prevent falling down. I wear the lesser price stretchy rubber ones with carbide cleats over my shoes, can slip them on-off as needed. Only caution if you have to climb on machinery with metal steps/hard floors, your feet can slide on them.
ffwave Thankfully I haven't gotten my set out so far this winter. Got 4 or so inches of fluffy dry snow last night. I'm sure they come in handy on that shale you work on around the mill.
So far, I been doing well with my LL Bean winter boots. We haven't had any ice storms and no constant freeze and thaw cycles. They are pretty good on patches of sanded ice along the road side. I had a pair of expensive leather work boots with Vibrum soles one time. The sole was too hard, and when you stepped on frozen packed snow with those your feet were going everywhere. I couldn't wear those cursed things in winter. They were insulated to. That was 30 years ago and they was $300 back then. They were comfy boots, but no good in winter. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 12, 2025, 09:13:10 AMAll good. I just happen to be very flexible :wink_2: .
Pre-season Mushroom Log Special!
Get a FREE 20min 1 on 1 Yoga Session with "Gumby Tom the Mushroom Log Man" with every 150 logs purchased and prepaid!
Spaces are limited. Limit, 1 per household. Bring your own yoga mat. Offer expires 2/25/25. No flash photography.
Ugh! Spandex yoga/mushroom logging? Eeewwww! ffcheesy
Ted, I have no idea how you made the leap from Granite's post to spandex. Both were pretty funny though. ffcheesy
Yeah um, no spandex here... ever.
Apparently it's a tragic flaw in my imagination... :uhoh: ffcheesy
Yeah, our minds can be a terrible thing sometimes. Like you I have little control over where mine goes either. For instance, after reading your post, somehow my mind went here:
Did Hayseed Dixie have a version of that?
Either way I enjoyed it. ffsmiley
I don't know who hayseed is, but a lot of folks have covered that tune. I like what 2Cellos does with it, very intense, but I thought that version might be too much for this crowd. Then again, of I was thinking of the audience, I might have posted this one:
I've only tried it once or twice but spandex under your normal pants, in the cold, with socks over the spandex is a beautiful thing. When it hits October or November I wear pajama pants under my real pants and pull my socks over the bottoms, it's incredible, but I assume most the guys here wear long johns. I find pajama pants much comfier.
That may have been a little more than we needed to know Austin. ffcheesy But whatever works. I like lined jeans and have more than a few pairs. What I hate about jeans is they get wet easy and don't dry easy but for general work, they are pretty good and in a cool shop they are great. But if I have to kneel in the snow, as when I take a tree, they soak that water right up. If it's serious cold (which I try to avoid) getting jeans wet is not a workable situation, so I go for the heavier duty stuff that will discourage water, like wool or snow pants. Sometimes saw chaps wil bee enough to keep the knees dry.
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2 days ago (Tues.) I got a text from a machine tool salesman I worked with for almost 40 years. After I retired we remined good friends and he repeatedly said we had to get together for lunch and he wanted to see my shop and operation. we had a few close calls where it almost happened, but his business demands got in the way. This time we set up lunch for Wednesday and he invited along one of my former co-workers who is still on the job. On the day of, he also invited one of his long time buddies who is a hobby woodworker and had an interest in my shop. SO we had a nice lunch, talked very little about machines and more about retirement and of all things, teaching the next generation. My buddy is still trying to get me to take a job with one of the community colleges in neighboring counties. He got another flat "NO". ffcheesy
S0 two of these guys could have retired years ago, but are too tied into the businesses. My co-worker is 59 and trying to figure out a plan because just like I did, he hates his current situation. He is pretty jealous that I got out at just the right time, he says. Then they turned to me and asked what it's like and I told them. :wink_2: I have ben feeling down lately because the last year hasn't been great, but these guys were a bit envious and made me fell pretty good about my choice. As we were leaving Bill and his crew showed up for lunch and I introduced everyone.
My co-worker had to get back to work, but the other guys came back to my shop for a short tour and discussion, then I loaded them in my truck and took them down to the sawmill and gave them a tour of Bill's shop and grounds. Bill's guys were filling in the afternoon doing firewood and testing out the new bag system. It is working like a charm! Then I took them up in the back woods showed them some of my marked trees, Bill's trommel and screener setup, and we got stuck on the slick ice and snow. ffcheesy It took a little effort, but I drove out of it after sliding around trying to find a proper line. All good. They were impressed with everything, especially the towering piles of logs.
Now both these guys make a lot of money and have VERY nice homes in the metropolitan area, but neither of those things were ever life goals for me. It was kind of interesting at our parting that they both mentioned how they thought I had it made with a sweet setup for retirement and was living their dream. In some odd kind of way it made me feel pretty good.
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So with that in my mind I resolved that since the forecast was off and we got pitiful little snow and I thought I would go out this morning and grab a couple more trees. That is until I stepped outside and felt that fine rain coming down. That would be no fun. It was that kind of sneaky rain that seems like nothing but after an hours or so in it, you suddenly realize your are soaked. So it was a reading morning (almost half way through the current large book), then after lunch I got out and cleared the slop as best I could because it's going to freeze up and stay that way for a week or more. Worked out perfect, after I got done plowing and shoveling, the sun peaked out for a while and melted what was left on the walks and driveway, but I have some puddles here and there that could not drain. Temp says it's 33 now, but the crunch and firmness tells me it's a bit colder, at least on the ground. Tomorrow I'll have to hit problem spots with some salt or planer chips for traction. It won't break 30 tomorrow, so I will get back in and take some more trees. It should be clear, but they are calling for some strong winds. None of the trees I have in mind have any nearby hazards, so if they go wrong I can still work with that, even if they hang. I gotta start pushing more, I only have 3% of my logs cut.
Tomorrow is another day.
I man can have all the $$ in the world. But, if you are not happy what good is it? I'm looking forward to retirement. At 70 it's time. I know I will miss the mill and my good customers.
They don't want me to retire. ffcheesy ffcheesy
I still have a complete woodworking shop if I want to work with wood. I was going to fill my building with lumber before the mill went away. 10,000 --15,000bf or so should do it. ffcheesy
I'm getting calls already when I,m going to open. ffcheesy
The Hot Rod is coming along without too much of a fight. ffcheesy
Be happy before you die. ffcheesy
I wish Ann was here for this. smiley_love
You know
@aigheadish , without a picture, it did not happen... :uhoh: Well thats OK. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
YIKES! What is this thread coming to?!?
Yoga, Spandex and PJ photos!?!?
Is this that kind of forum?
I'm concerned! ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Me thinks he doth protest too much.
Tom,
Sounds like you had yourself a real good visit, and tour, with some old work friends, that is awesome! Were you able to help the fella out with wood shop setup stuff?
I'm glad it wasn't just us that got crummy weather yesterday! We got 1-2in of snow, then sleet/rain. I got out of work early to go to a funeral service and banged out a couple driveways before the COLD and wind froze them up. I hate the heavy / wet snow, it just doesn't "stack" nicely.
Peter,
Are you planning on keeping the mill once you retire, or does it take up too much room / or too much temptation to do more work?
You might want to keep it around...never know when you might need to bang out a couple loads of lumber to get yourself a new fancy hot rod part!
Doc,
sometimes we DON'T want pictures, because then it DIDN'T happen!
Ted,
I feel bad :wacky: about my yoga comment and it derailing Tom's thread...but, not wicked bad, cause think of all the merch $$$ Tom will be banking once the first set of "Gumby Tom the Mushroom Log Man" tshirts and hoodies hits the market!!!
Quote from: GRANITEstateMP on February 14, 2025, 11:01:33 AMPeter,
Are you planning on keeping the mill once you retire, or does it take up too much room / or too much temptation to do more work?
You might want to keep it around...never know when you might need to bang out a couple loads of lumber to get yourself a new fancy hot rod part!
No, I think I'm going to let it all go.
With the lull and all, I think I will end up with $145000.00 That's enough to get more Hot Rod parts. ffcheesy
That's a big decision Pete, best of luck with it. Take your time and get your price, then enjoy it. Making the transition can be tough or most enjoyable, often both. Do what is right for you, you earned that.
_---
Yeah Granite, sloppy yesterday and my call was spot on, what I cleared and could run off or evaporate looked nice today, and dry. But where the water couldn't run off or puddled it was a skating rink and I nearly fell several times in the yard. That stuff firmed up pretty well after dark last night.
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Today I was resigned to grab a few more logs, I have to keep at it and know we might lose the next 2-3 days. We had pretty good wind today, but I was determined. I put on my yax trax and went on into it. But the wind where I was cutting was coming out of the NNW at about 25 mph steady and trying to blow the stems I wanted right at some power lines. That was unacceptable and I walked away from them, live to fight another day. I couldn't live that one down if it went wrong. But there was one that would work safely so I took that and it was textbook easy. None of the others in that area fit the conditions for today. I went up to the shop to say hello and saw another tree that had blown over (broke) back in December. It was blocking a trail into Bill's burn pit and laying on a skid full of septic drainage pipe. So it had to come out anyway. A little tricky getting it out without damage to the pipe, but I got it out and it turned out to be a good mushroom tree with a tiny bit of firewood. So I came home with about 20 more logs and cold feet. :wink_2: It was a beautiful day though if it weren't for the wind. Temp held around 28 or so all through the daylight hours.
We have weather coming in around mid-day tomorrow and it's anybody's guess what we will get. THEY say 4-6", but I have my doubts, more worried about the sleet and freezing rain they predict at the end. It's not a big storm (my words), but it could make things lousy for a few days. I just want to get back to harvesting logs. I have a long way to go and only a couple of weeks to get there.
Tomorrow is another day, hoping to hit it in the morning, then read for the second half of the day.
And to think that I retired and bought a sawmill !! :shocked2:
20 logs and some firewood, sounds like an ok day to me.
" And to think that I retired and bought a sawmill !! (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/alienine/shocked2.gif)"
Yeah, me too Lynn!
Quote from: Nebraska on February 14, 2025, 09:25:11 PM20 logs and some firewood, sounds like an ok day to me.
Yeah, but I gotta kick this up a notch Pat. If conditions work tomorrow I will get the toolcat in there and use that for bringing logs to the truck. I have been hand dragging these so far and that is just blowing out my legs. We'll see what the weather allows. The next two trees have bigger wood and a lot more logs, hand carrying is just not time effective. I can't fit the truck in that slot, but the toolcat will fit fine. The snow on the ground at least allows dragging without scarring the logs up. So many logs, so little time.
Like Pete, this may be my last year.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 14, 2025, 10:04:45 AMMe thinks he doth protest too much.
I don't think so, Tom! There are some things a man can't protest enough! ffcheesy
Quote from: Magicman on February 14, 2025, 08:44:06 PMAnd to think that I retired and bought a sawmill !! :shocked2:
Everyone I know has had to work after retirement needed the $$$. I did plain better. I think it would be nice not to have to answer to anyone. Except the Father.
And then some need to work.
I have a tractor, chainsaw and plenty of woods and grown up pastures to keep me busy for another lifetime.
I might have to work a little to keep me in diesel. :wacky:
I go through some diesel on vacations and weekends.
We did the the 'retired thing' and traveled extensively for several years driving to 49 states and all of the Canadian Provinces. We still take a couple of shorter trips each year.
I have always worked and will continue to work as long as my health allows. My sawing goal is now 2-3 days every 2-3 weeks. The travel sawing has always matched very well because there is no equipment, inventory, laborers, nor overhead. Just 'Have Sawmill will Travel', just not quite as far as in the past. My sawing days average ~$800 which ain't bad.
Well I am pushing along slowly for this harvest season, but pushing none the less. We had that storm coming in Saturday afternoon, so I got down to the woods a little earlier than normal. My plan was to collect a good tree, a little side firewood, get it home and unloaded, and do the chores before the snow began.
The next tree up was a nice WO of about 12" on the stump. Really too nice a tree to take for mushrooms, but the top was busted out and it would last long. Lots of epicormic sprouting going on. I had to take a dead standing EWP pecker pole to clear my fall so I cut that up for Bill's OQB, it's perfect wood. I also cut up 4 or 5 more small ones that were already on the ground, making it easier to walk and more wood for his stive. General cleanup stuff.
The I cut the WO but it's so tight in there that there was no really slot to drop it into cleanly. However, I cut one log off the butt and the stem dropped then very slowly laid on the ground. I backed the truck in and chained it and dragged it out to the road. Normally I can't drag but the snow keeps the tree clean and scar free. I cut it up until I was halfway up, then re-hooked and dragged the top all the way out and cut that up. Got a tiny bit of dead topwood for my stove. About that time Bill and Inga came down to see what I was up to. Bill looked at the tree and asked if it was marked for me. It was a really nice oak. I pointed at the flagging tape which HE had tied on it last fall. When I pointed out the broken top, he recalled it better. So he helped me load it, then he got the toolcat and we filled the forks pretty well with all the OWB wood I had cut up, about enough for one full load in the boiler.
I headed home, unloaded the firewood, stacked the logs and parked the truck. Then I fetched in a full load of firewood for the house stove. I checked the fuel in the Mule for plowing and did some other prep work outside. Lastly I brought in my even supply of beer from the shop. I sat down to take off my boots and before I had them both off, it started snowing. Pretty good timing I would say.
We didn't get much snow, just about 6" but it had a crust of ice about 3/16" thick and a lot of water in it. It rained all day Sunday and so I plowed everything I could hoping for the best. Temp hung at 33° all day. Today we have a lot of ice everywhere and it will stay that way all week. Not much I can do about that except salt in the trouble spots and throw planer chips elsewhere.
I had planned to cut again today but the winds are weird. It will be normal 10-15 mph winds, then all of a sudden we get 35mph or more blasts coming through. I don't like being in the woods with that kind of wind. Stuff is coming down everywhere. The wind is predicted right through tomorrow, so I will see what I can do. I have barely 50 logs cut so far and I have to keep at it.
I'll just take it hour by hour and see if I can sneak in and out.
Snaeking ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
This sawing customer has had about 40 logs; White Oak, Water Oak, Tulip Poplar, Cherry, Cypress, Sweetgum & ERC that I can think of.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_7278~0.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357838)
It was all separated by species so really spread out and hard to picture.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_7280.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357837)
Most of what is seen here got sawed with the exception of the Tulip Poplar in the furthest whack.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_7282~0.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357839)
The customer and his Grandson were excellent help.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_7281.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357836)
We quit early so they could haul this to the shed and sticker. It is about 1400bf that we sawed in 5 hours.
We both have appointments tomorrow and whether we saw Wednesday is dependent on the weather/rain. We can easily finish this job in three days....maybe two if he finds good help.
Nice mix of logs there MM!
I was too tired to post last night. It was our monthly food shopping trip and the wife will not be denied. So after humping a months worth of supplies into the house, the pantry, the freezer, and upstairs to the kitchen I changed outer clothes and took a 1/2 hour break before heading out. It hit about 24° yesterday. I took only one tree which did not go as planned. I tried to put it across the trail but there was just too much side lean and it broke the wrong way, no matter, no harm, but I had a heck of a time dragging it up to where I could work on it. I also had trouble with the toolcat forks popping off at a very inconvenient moment. Took me a minute to get that fixed. With all the snow and ice plugging everything I could not see clearly that the locking pins were not engaged fully and popped the whole thing off. Of course I was on an uneven slope at that moment, so it became a 'thing' to get things lined up and re-hooked. I worked way too hard for that single stem and only got 9 logs out of it. 1 more tree in that section for today further back then I have to look elsewhere.
So I got home, broke as much snow off the log pile as I could, then unloaded these logs on top. My son had dropped off some log chunks he had cleared from a clients parking lot after the wind. So I cut a bunch of that up, split a bunch and brought a cartful in the house. Neither of us can figure out what it is. It has a yellow interior wood and the outside looks like any barkless tree that has been standing 5 or more years. I have to work a bit at splitting it but it burns faster than anything I have. Perhaps some sort of willow, I don't know. BTU's come in all forms. What is left I will use for daytime wood because it barely lasts for an overnight burn. Anyway, I quit for the day around 4:30 and never did get lunch.
Hopefully today is a bit easier. I'll wait a bit until it warms some, only 11° so far, then head down again and get that last tree. Maybe I can squeeze in 2 runs and get some firewood on the second run. It's hard to let this weather go to waste and I have a lot of catching up to do. But I see that wind seems to be picking up, dang.
Could that yellow wood be Cladrastis Kentuckea?
The common name is Yellow Wood or Kentucky Yellow Wood.
It has seed pods similar to Locust and blooms that look kind of like Wisteria vines. The bark is slick like Beech.
If the tree was an ornamental tree, it's possible it was the Yellow Wood. It's native in more southern states (I see a few around here) but has been cultivated as a decorative or ornamental tree. It's not uncommon in nurseries for landscaping.
It's a relatively soft wood and probably doesn't burn too well like you describe.
Tom,
Any chance that yellow wood was Black (Sometimes called Yellow) locust? It is a real dense wood and burns really well. It is the preferred firewood for many in my area because it burns hot and leaves very little ash. When dead the bark slips off fairly soon afterwards in many cases.
We've had black locust planted around here for over 100 years, and also bristly locust. The old people loved the flowers on them. The black locust seems more hardy. I've seen those by old homesteads on back roads that was abandoned eons ago.
Locust is great firewood. Unless it's rotten, Black Locust and Yellow/Honey Locust burn much better than Tom describes.
Ted,
Around here Black Locust is sometimes called Yellow locust. I have never seen honey locust, which I understand is an Acacia, referred to as yellow locust. Is honey locust called yellow locust in your area?
We have both varieties here but not in great quantity. Black and honey are the names I was taught. Locally, and possibly erroneously, I've heard Honey Locust called yellow. It doesn't seem correct since as you mentioned, Black Locust wood can be quite yellow.
But they are completely different species. Black Locust is weather, water, & ground contact resistant/safe.
Honey Locust as fence posts will rot before you get the hole filled. ffcheesy It also stinks when it burns so I will not use it for firewood.
Around here we never had any honey locust until the mines started using it to reclaim ground that had been surface mined. A buddy of mine cut several as he was told it was locust ( which it was)and used them for fence posts. They rotted in no time like MM said. The coal companies have brought a lot of undesirable plants into the state just because they grew and spread rapidly.
I don't know what that wood is and it's not worth worrying about. I can tell you it's not Ash, WO ,RO, Maple, Birch, Basswood, or beech. :wink_2: I can also tell you it's absolutely not black locust, but it might be honey locust, common here. It burns easy and pretty fast, not very good at an overnight fire, so tonight will be interesting because I will load the stove with it and hope for the best. I only have maybe 3 days of wood out of it, so no big deal. It's BTU's and I will take it, but not something I would want to split and stack for next year. No way in heck, it would be campfire wood.
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Today was truly a beautiful day. One of those rare ones that reminds you there is a higher power giving us gifts from time to time. Low was 8 and the high made it to 26, but with almost no wind, blue skies, and blazing sunshine, spending it outside was the only way to enjoy such a gift.
The shop was down to 29° (first time in many years) so I started a fire out there to keep anything from freezing.
So I changed up my routine and started by splitting up a cart load of that junk wood and getting it in the house to thaw. Then I grabbed another chain and headed down and took out the last mushroom tree in the section I am cutting (I think, but I should re-check that). Less effort than yesterday's tree. Bill had his crew working at his place doing firewood and other stuff so I had to be judicious in my use of the toolcat because they needed it also. I had my logs loaded in the truck by 11:30 and gave them the toolcat back for firewood bag changeouts.
I headed home, unloaded logs and skipped lunch to head back. I took 3 standing dead trees off the swamp edge and got them up on the road using 2 chains and a choker to reach that far and had to do it in 2 pulls. I bucked those and filled the truck bed. Cleaned up, headed home and unloaded. I wish I didn't have these mushroom logs to worry about so I could concentrate on firewood. This standing dead stuff is so nice, needs no drying time, and only half of it needs splitting. I will only be able to grab these trees as long as the swamp stays frozen and there are many hundreds of trees to come out. I could do a years worth of wood if I could process it fast enough. It's also great for Bill, because he wants to dig out and make that swamp back to what it was 40 years ago when it became neglected. Even with it frozen I am still falling into my knees in some spots between those swampy hillocks but at least I know I won't get a boot full of water, it's just very difficult walking. I got about 5 days of firewood today, maybe more with the warm weather coming in.
No plan for tomorrow, but I need to find more mushroom trees and fast. More firewood is also helpful.
Still poking along, not getting logs in fast enough and I didn't get many over the weekend Friday the wind picked up pretty good, but Saturday Bill need3ed a hand getting a 750 gallon gas pig back from one of his job sites so I did the rigging and he operated the machine. Brought it back to the shop and reset it level to finish emptying it. I wandered a section I cut last year and found one or two more trees, but they are big and I will need some skidder help to work on them. Then I also found one tree remaining in the area I thought I had just finished, so I'll get that on another day. Sunday I was hoping to mark more trees with Bill, but he had family stuff going on, so I just wandered over on the 60 acre side and found three marked trees I had missed. Well one was missed, it's scrawny and I let it go, hoping it might frow a bit more. I cam home and split some firewood.
Today I got out at a fair time, swapped my truck out for the SxS and headed over to fetch those trees. My timing was good, 5mph winds when I started and 20mph when I finished up. I filled the SxS pretty well.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250224_115602546_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=357960)
There's a little bit over 20 mushroom logs, and handful of firewood, and some broom handles in that load. I try not to waste anything.
I headed the mile back to my truck, transferred the load, headed home, unloaded it all and had lunch. I have to go pick up a GS at 3:30 and take him to his weekly outdoor study class at the Ashokan center. They tramp all around the woods, learn about flora, fauna, aquatic life, trees, and stuff like that there. The instructor is a guy I have known for 30 years and is very knowledgeable and a good teacher. Good program that.
So I have time for a 10 minute nap before I have to take off. :wink_2:
On a different subject, out of the blue, a week ago I got a note from this gal who is the president of the Woodchuck lodge (https://jbwoodchucklodge.org/) which, for those not familiar, is an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Joh Burrough's lodge where he spent his retirement. It's right here in the Catskills and although I have never visited it (I will) it's not far off the areas I tromp around in the central Catskills.
Anyway, she had a lot of questions for me. Would I do an interview for her publication? Would I care to donate something to their annual fundraising auction? Would I care to do and afternoon talk/seminar for the Woodchuck Lodge (they apparently get a speaker a month). Did I have a use for some American Chestnut saplings that had been storm damaged?
It's interesting how these folks find me. I am not sure what the draw is, but she says she read most of the stuff on my website and was intrigued. So who knows what, if anything, will come of this? But today I finally wrote her back and answered what questions I could and asked a few of my own. Next step I guess is a phone call to see if we can narrow some of this stuff down. Then we'll see if it goes anywhere. One thing I do know, I have been meaning to look into Burroughs for many years and now that I can make time, I plan on doing that. He was an interesting fella in a very interesting period in American development and he influenced as well as befriended a lot of well known people. I am curious to learn how that all came to be.
Glad to see it's not named Possum Lodge. ffcheesy
Or that could be a fun thing too!!!
Ray, I don't know if I could provide anything of value to the Possum Lodge. Those guys scare me. ffcheesy
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So Tuesday I got out again and took a couple more trees about a mile apart. I know of one more that I left in the second location because the buggy was full. But I desperately need to get more trees marked and/or get pusher help on the big ones here and there. So Tuesday night I was sitting at my desk pondering my predicament when I got a text from Bill with a lumber order for finishing wood on 2 projects they need to close out. Great. I don't have time for that now being so far behind, but I replied to get me some logs and I would make time for it. He said they were already waiting on the mill.
So yesterday I headed down and worked on the 18' log until I hit a lag bolt. Spent a half hour digging that out and by the time I finished the log, my patience was shot. Bill then texted me an address, nothing else. This is his code for "We are here, you should come over". After the session I just had on the mill I was not really in the mood, but OK. I get there are they are doing a safety clearing job taking down huge EWP's that are either dead or too close to the house. He had a 'slight miscalculation' (Said the sun was in his eyes.) and when he topped off one of the trees it clipped a major leader on a nice Hickory. His loss was my gain. In about 20 minutes we put about 20 nice logs in my truck and removed the evidence. :wink_2: But I was pretty much shot at that point, so I helped drag and pile some brush to feed the burn pile and then took off. I had to run into town for fuel and beer (is that redundant?), then came home around 3:30. I didn't even unload the truck, it's still waiting for today's rain to stop. I have about 130 logs on hand now.
I came in the house and had a lite lunch to not spoil my dinner and found emails confirming that my friend from Belgium will be appearing at Grey Fox in July as well as staying in my campsite. So a short flurry of emails back and forth with details. More this morning to try and find a camp cot I can borrow for him to use and other details that need hammering out. This is looking to be a good year with him, my friends from KY, and my neighbors Mike & Ruth all camping together. There will be good music in the campsite this summer!
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A few minutes ago I finally ordered a new color laser printer to replace the one that broke right after Christmas. I will still try to repair this one, but it's like doing brain surgery, these things are not made to take apart or repair. My wife has been pushing me, she uses it as a copier, but I just have a hard time dropping that kind of money....again. The deed is done, it arrives tomorrow.
I should get some of these other household tasks done today, but I dunno.
I might start a fire in the shop and get some tasks done out there, it's been a while.
Another day to just poke along I guess. 40° and raining.
My Grandson at about 10-12 years old kinda reminds me of Red Green.
That kid could come up with some great ideas. :wacky:
I used to tell him, when you get your own place, we are going to do some building!!!!!
I spent many summers growing up visiting my uncle who lived in Ontario (Canada). He was a northern version of a hillbilly "shade tree" mechanic. He could fix anything, anywhere, with whatever junk he had handy.
With him and some of the friends he had, it was common to have an assortment of cars and machines in various states of disrepair, scattered all around the property. I can honestly say seeing that first hand, Red Green was not a comedy. It was documentary. ffcheesy
Well I lost pretty much all of my weekend to more important family obligations. My daughter's 40 birthday party on Saturday and building pinewood derby cars with the grandsons on Sunday. Meanwhile my first large log order is looming.
I would have blown off today based on the temps, but I have to keep pushing hard and it turns out the weather wasn't as cold as I thought. Phone, texts, and emails blew up this morning as if most of my log clients conspired to hit me up all at once. Everybody 'checking in' to see how their orders were going. That all delayed me getting out by about an hours, but it did give a me a little relief jugging these orders as we altered a delivery date or two based on their changing needs and plans. This always happens but I can't rely on it. I still have that first larger order due for pickup next Tuesday, so Monday afternoon is my drop deadline. I am sweating this one out. As of this morning I still needed at least 125 logs to finish up that one.
SO I didn't head to the woods until just after 10am and headed for the spot where we had discovered some trees we marked over a year ago and I had forgotten. There are about a half dozen or more trees in there, not all easy to get out. I wound up putting 5 of them on the ground, hacked up about half of them and managed to hand carry them to the truck, plus did a little clearing work to get better access going forward. (Part of my 'deal' is that all the work I do will benefit this stand of woods and access is part of that, as well as TSI benefits and it is beginning to show good results. No matter how pressured I am to meet deadlines I have to do it right.) The logs I left laying were too big to carry to the truck and I will bring in something smaller to get further in tomorrow, drag out the stems I dropped and did not hack up yet, possibly get another tree or two that have 'undesirable' fall lines. I get a lot of 'bad lays' because taking those out eliminates non-productive growth.
I only came home with 18 logs, but left 4 laying and I also have two stems laying to be pulled out, so tomorrow I have a god jump on it. I could have done more, but I had set a deadline of 1pm to leave the woods because I had to unload, eat, and go get a grandson form school and drive him 20 miles to his after school outdoor program. That's important too.
Tomorrow is another day, I'll keep pushing. Bill tells me he has another spot scoped out here their are dozens of trees I can use. Getting him to show me, very soon, is the challenge right now. I have no time to spare and Wednesday is a rainout.
Well, time spent with the kids and grandkids is sure more important than hauling fungus logs IMHO I am sure they all had a good time. I hope all goes better tomorrow to complete your order.
BTW - my customer this morning on my burnt run and I were looking at the remaining logs and he told me his wife wanted him to make a waterfall table and we discussed his logs and my mill/board width constraints. When he asked me if I knew what a waterfall table was and I told him of course I did. I did not tell him I'd never seen or heard of one till I saw one you did here on this thread a little while back. That just proves you never know what knowledge may be useful in the future. I doubt I ever make a waterfall table but knowing what one is made me look smarter.
One question I will have for him when I see him again is about the thickness of the cut. He said he wanted a 4" LE slab out of a big pine log. As I understand a waterfall table means you cut a leg piece off the top, cut a couple of 45's and re-assemble them at the cut so the grain pattern continues to flow as it originally. Now I am wondering what he will use to cut a 4" thick 45 degree angle which would be what 6" deep or so. Its his problem but my question.
Anyway, thanks for the unexpected help.
A skil 16 & 5/16th inch saw.
Yeah, doc has the right idea. I've never used or seen skill's version of that saw but I have used the Makita version which is a beast of a saw and cuts very well.
There are a few critical things about making that joint to get it to come out right. First, setting the saw angle is critical. You have to take your time and get it right. The cuts on both edges must add up to exactly 90°. So 45 on both is fine, but one could be 40 and the other 50 and that would still be fine. Best way for me was to set it, make test cuts on scrap slabs then clamp them together and check the resulting angle. This is a cut you don't want to do twice or try to 'sand it in'. It has to be right the first time. A clamped on edge guide is a 'must have'.
Second, you have to do your best to minimize the amount of kerf you remove with the saw on the 'show' surface. That is, you set up your saw to exactly 45° and separate the two pieces, then when you turn the one piece around to do that second cut at 45, you set your guide edge so that you only cut the minimal off you need to make the joint. You want to not remove any more wood on what becomes the top surface than you need to make that corner. Taking too much makes it harder to get the grain lines to match back up.
Third is that spline. Use hardwood with the grain in the same direction as the table top. Make the slot a teeny bit loose to allow room for epoxy or glue. You don't want a driving fit, but it shouldn't wobble either. It can be in pieces and does not have to be full length. When you dry fit the table it may wobble, but should easily handle your body weight.
Lastly clamping after glueup needs to hold it all square and tight. Make some perfectly square blocks like 4x4 or 6x6 and wrap in a layer of clear plastic. Clamp them to the top very carefully aligned with the edge, then glue and clamp the leg to the same block. Test it very carefully while dry. After that you can add long beam clamps (gently) in both axes over the joint if needed. Test, test, Test, before committing to the glue.
Someplace in previous threads I think I have photos of the joint before gluing. If he needs them, just give him a link. Wish him luck for me. That's a thick joint but will look great if he pulls it off.
P.S. It can't hurt if he swings a dead chicken over the whole thing before he makes that cut. ffcheesy
Just another day cutting yet more logs. But I went in with the toolcat this time and promptly got it hung on a high stump that 'somebody' didn't trim low enough. Couldn't go forward or backward Finally threw a log down, pushed the forks down on it enough to get the front a-frame unhung and backed off the stump using the log as a roller. I dug down around the stump and cut it off lower than I wanted. Figured I fried the chain a bit, but I got lucky. :wink_2: For the record, I did not drop that tree originally, it was a pine and I don't cut pines. Let's just assume it was cut when there was lots more snow on the ground and leave it at that. I also (taking no chances) trimmed off the big WO stump I cut yesterday but could only get about 5/4 off the top. I got in where I needed to be, dragged out the two stems I left yesterday, then I bucked them and loaded the forks. That made a full load so I drove back to the truck, 1/2 mile away and dumped them in and headed back.
I looked over that tree on the bank edge and felt a little lucky. I would try to swing it uphill and keep it on the high side. This was in all opposition to the heavy lean/bend in the stem. :wink_2: I was going to try a siswheel cut but it turned out when I opened the notch there was a rot hole right where I needed the heavy wood. Plan B was to leave a heavy hinge and hope I could swing it up far enough using wedges. It mostly worked and I kept it out of the ravine, but halfway down that weight tore the hinge off. I just had to throw a chain around it and dragged it off the pile of junk it landed on. I filled up the forks again and dumped them in the truck. I came home with my best single day load this season. About 30 or more logs.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250304_140946250_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358125)
I'm tired tonight, but the forks took a load off my back carrying logs. Tomorrow might be a rainout, but maybe I can grab a tree at least. We'll see what the weather really turns to in the morning. I still need about 70+ logs for the first order.
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Remember the birdhouse project? I promised finish photos and it was finally done on Friday. Here is the front side
The 'open corner' is screened in and the 'picture window' is also screened but has rebar bars for some reason that is required. I don't profess to understand all the rules for this thing.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250228_123407273_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358124)
Here is the backside.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250228_123442538_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358123)
Originally the building was supposed to have flat inside walls and the framing was supposed to be visible from the outside, but they changed their minds after they saw it, hence my second and third orders for lumber. So the braces and such were made flush to the outside and the doors were already on, and then the carpenter had to set the siding around it. It cam out pretty nice I think considering the client he had to work with.
Anyway, another job finally completed.
Tomorrow is another day, let's see what we get.
Tom,
Thanks for the notes on the waterfall table. Actually I think it is going to be a counter top but same principles should apply unless he needs to swing 2 dead chickens. I am not sure he will understand that part of the instructions. ffcheesy
I'll e-mail a copy to him in a few minutes.
Reading Tom's directions, sounds like something you'd want to practice on some scrap wood to get the cuts and joinery right. Before you make the final waterfall joint from the selected slab.
Yep, I think he covered that point pretty well and it was a good one.
The dry fitting and such reminds me in 2006 or so we built the US embassy in Haiti and I went down and built a man-camp for all our Ex-Pat workers to live in. My contactor who actually did the work dry fitted the water and drainage line and after we move in and had been living there for over a month we had a big blowout on a line. Turns out they dry fitted, confirmed it fit but forgot to glue one of the pressurized water lines. What amazed me was it held and no evidence of leaks for over a month. Was a quick and easy fix once it was found.
Tom,
I know you guys do things different over in NY vs us over here in NH, but man our bird houses are A LOT smaller! You can only get a couple birds in one of ours. You sure that isn't like a bird luxury highrise or maybe a bird multi-family? ffcheesy
Was that for bird rehabilitation or was the customer a falconer (is that the right phrase?)?
ffcheesy ffcheesy Good one, but yeah, we get some really big robins and chickadees here for sure. It's the high taxes that seem to draw them in. :wink_2:
No this is for a client that wants to raise and train a bird of prey, in this case some sort of hawk. I know that when the unit was completed on the inside he did take care of one for a week or so. Now that it is gone back home, the house was finished on the outside which adds a layer of wind proofing and likely makes it a tad warmer in the closed back room which has no screening. I believe the larger room is for the bird to be in during the warm season but I have no real idea. All I know is that this house was subject to a couple of inspections by State and bird people before it is 'approved' for housing a bird of prey.
Yesterday was largely a rainout. I took the day off and played 'retired'. ffcheesy The mail brought my EyeMuffs and a biography on John Burroughs. I messed around with both of them. I was surprised that the muffs got here in exactly 1 week from shipment, all the way from Eastern Australia. It took the same amount of time for the book to get here, all the way from Indiana! I also went over my 350 and gave it a full cleaning because it wasn't oiling right and I was getting a lot of oil on my pants. Turned out the bar passage was clogged and it was pushing out the sides of the bar. All good, tight, clean, and sharp now.
This morning I have my chiro visit which I really do need this time. Only half way through my season and I am getting pretty sore every day. After that I will get home, change, and head to the woods for a couple more trees. I am interested to try out these eyemuffs.
Full overcast this morning with a few sprinkles and 43°. Hopefully we get some sun poking through later, but they are also calling for higher wind gusts after 3pm. I won't have a lot of time to work today, but two more trees would help. I only have 180 on the deck now.
It's another day.
On the shipping, I made an order the end January from Ontario. They had to order them in to their end, 2 weeks for them to get them, then I Adjusted my order for more of an item, sold by the piece, another 2 weeks, just shipped to me Tuesday, won't see it until Monday. The stuff I ordered is all made in Sweden.
My safety glasses I ordered from and Arborist store in Calgary, Alberta was shipped the same day, got it in a week. Some people have stock on hand others order stuff in on demand before shipping out. The way of the world.
2 weeks minimum was more what I expected. I worked closely with the seller. This was his first product sale through eBay so he wanted to see if he had it all setup properly. Worked like a charm of course, but he was gratified to see it all looked well from the buyers end because sometimes you never know until you get a raving complaint.
In your case, I am wondering how much time was consumed by processing? Sometimes things take a few days or more before they actually get the order to their shipping department.
Oh, this place in Ontario I order from is just a small business. I bet there are lots of days nothing moves. They even have to order a lot of their stuff from Quebec near Trois Rivieres, but that would only be a days travel because the shop is within the 'golden horse shoe'. Can't see that it would take more than a day to ship out if it's stocked. I think a lot isn't stocked. But they do have a lot of certain stuff.
Shop (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Camilla+Valley+Farm+Weavers'+Supply/@44.0098132,-80.1408152,17.75z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x882a5500904b0c99:0x20129a853d70171c!8m2!3d44.010017!4d-80.1392531!16s%2Fg%2F1vpq7h_n?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDMwMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)
Poor weather today, drizzly morning and solid overcast all day. When the drizzles stopped it stayed damp. I was driving home from the Chiro Doc when Bill called and to me to stop by his current job site on my way home. "Where?" "Just look for my bucket truck skidder on your way home." I found it. He was trimming some trees overhanging a house and takin g out a couple of trees. All bucket work.
So I went home and changed, grabbed my saw and headed back. We only got about 20-25 logs out of it. most were too big or two small. But I look on it as a freebie that I didn't expect. Although we undid just about all the good work my Chiro did and I am pretty sore tonight.
I helped cleanup and we all went to lunch on the boss. :wink_2: I came home and didn't unload. I did house chores instead. Will unload and count in the morning.
I did give the new EyeMuffs a test and they worked great. Very pleased with them, no fogging at all and comfortable to wear. It does take a little effort to get them adjusted on your head. When Bill tried them he managed to get two chips inside the lenses. I have no idea how he did that. I found them tight and with all the sawdust floating down on us from the bucket cuts above I had no issues as I usually have with regular glasses. Bill wants me to get a price on 6 pairs for his guys with the blue tooth.
Cooling down to the low 20's tonight and just making 40 tomorrow, but the big story is wind. Gusting through the night over 40mph and in the 30mph range tomorrow. Blowing pretty good now. We'll see if I can find some trees I can cut. Closing in on my deadline with about 50 logs minimum to go. It should be very do-able if I can find enough trees and have safe cutting conditions.
But tomorrow is another day and I'll figure it out then.
Eye muffs? Is the price I saw online correct, $300?
Yeah Ted, I have a separate thread on these. You likely found their website. Keep in mind that is $299. AUS. When you convert to USD that's about $190. What you found was the bluetooth version. I have the orange ones, no bluetooth. I paid just under $100 for mine. I grant you, that is a lot, but I am tired of getting stuff in my eyes around the glasses.
Not being critical at all. I was confirming to make sure I'm seeing the correct product. I see the orange version now. I get asked about safety equipment with some frequency. It's good to know what I'm looking at.
Given your ongoing sawdust issues at the mill, I see your need for goggles.
For the majority of what I do earplugs and safety glasses are sufficient. Much more than that is awfully hot to wear most of the year.
Sounds like wind with our little blizzard got there. Good deal on the tree work and lunch. I wonder if there are some flexibility exercises that would help keep your back Moving?
No Ted, I didn't think you were being critical. I thought you reacted the same as I did when I first saw the price, which was "WOW! These guys are really proud of these things!" But as it turns out (IMHO) these things are pretty high quality and being as picky as I am about spending money I took a chance and spent the money. I am glad I did. They really did put a lot into this design and quality.
Because I get plugged ear problems leading to ear infections I avoid ear plugs. I am curious to see how they work and feel when we get into 'sweaty weather' of which, yesterday was certainly not. As a former Fire Instructor and Machine Guarding 'expert' I firmly believe that safety gear is only good and will only work if it is used. Therefore, comfort of these PPE items is/are critical. So my venture with these is as much an interesting experiment as it is a search for better gear.
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Yeah Pat, in fact I went over them again yesterday with my Doc to make sure I was doing them right. I have come a very long way from where I was in '18 and could barely walk. The work he has done on me has allowed me to go through more normal 'overwork then self recovery' than I could since my mid 20's. I used to overwork and then be in pain for a week, sometimes more. Now I overwork and most times am recovered the next morning or at least within 48 hours. Knowing I was full into my harvest season the first question he asked yesterday was if I had cut back on the harvest because of the condition I was in. He had nothing really special to address just realigning things and getting a couple of stuck joints to loosen up and reset.
So yeah, last night I was a 'hurtin' unit' but this morning I can just feel a couple of twinges now and then. I plan on increasing those stretches because they are working.
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Yeah, the winds arrived in force overnight hitting up to 45 mph and I am surprised I didn't get a call this morning for an emergency tree job. :wacky: Average winds now are 15-25mph but still gusting well over 30. So wind chill is in the teens. Temp is only 34 and it won't hit 40 today. I may go do some scouting for trees, perhaps grab one or two if I can find a safe spot to cut and still get in there. But first I have to unload the truck. Just another day.
Agreed, PPE is a necessity and is useless if it's not effective. Part of effectiveness is a degree of comfort.
When I was teaching and later supervising workers, getting individuals to wear PPE was always a challenge.
When I was teaching, NC General Statutes require students to wear PPE. So there was the starting point. Since it wasn't negotiable, I'd give the kids a budget and the catalog and say I'd buy whatever PPE they wanted if they would wear it. That usually worked pretty well and provided students with a good dose of reality/a problem solving opportunity.
Since that worked for the shop, I tried the same approach during my time supervising in industry. Since wearing PPE is non-negotiable, what do you WANT to wear? I let them choose their style as long as the PPE met the necessary standard. It worked pretty well there too. Again, the process helped educate employees.
PPE only works if worn and worn properly. If it's not relatively comfortable, PPE won't be either.
"Requiring" folks to wear PPE only goes so far. Many will spend time and effort trying to figure out how to cheat or avoid it. Some just don't get it.
When I was an officer in the FD and one of my crew would report a hand injury (cut) I would ask for his/her gloves so I could get them a new pair. If he gloves presented did not have a corresponding cut matching the injury "Somebody had some 'splaining to do". ffcheesy
My last job the company covered everything in PPE and I think this was an OSHA regulation. Our people were able to pick their PPE including boots and anything special to their particular job. Some folks needed hearing protection, hard hats, high voltage gloves, some metatarsal shoes, etc.
Part of my job was machine guarding and I spent half my time explaining to our safety nazi's why I was NOT going to design guarding the way they thought it should be and that I was not going to require additional PPE on tasks they THEY thought were hazardous. Asking some one to wear a full face shield over the safety glasses while deburring tiny parts on a delicate buffer. If they can't see what they are doing they WILL get hurt. Guards had to be easy to use and not interfere with doing the work safely. An inspector one time wanted me to add a fully interlocked (double doors) safety chain link fence all around a horizontal cut off band saw. They also wanted me to fence the top :to keep people from climbing in'. I pointed out quite simply and directly that the inspector was a fool and he should leave our shop before he tripped on his shoelaces and broke his nose. There is always a limit.
But, back on subject, it has to be functional and comfortable.
my favorite run in with the Corporate safety nazi.
I was working on a machine and had the control cabinet door open so I could do some troubleshooting. There were no other people around.
While I was pretty deep in the troubleshooting I got interrupted by the safety nazi, He proceeded to start in on me for having the door open.
I looked at the person he was giving a tour and asked "If you're the safety expert, where are his safety glasses and saftey shoes"
The best part is he went to my boss to report me and my boss got on him for his visitors lack of PPE.
Having prescription safety glasses I always had mine on and safety shoes were put on first thing in the plant. I wasn't good with gloves, I have never learned to work with them on, I need to feel things.
My students were trained early on, if they saw a visitor in our shop, my students were responsible for offering safety glasses and telling them where they were safe. I told them there were absolutely NO exceptions! I installed signage to that effect.
They loved making the principal or assistant principals wear safety glasses. School board members, the superintendent and any number of guests were intercepted and either put on safety glasses, had to wait in a safe area or were turned away
Several former students have come back over the years and said that's exactly what the company they work for does! Of course I knew that. ffcool
My last shop nobody would get in without the right gear on, period. Not even the CEO of the worldwide corporation. He had a special pair of shiny safety shoes ordered and kept in a closet at every facility he ever visited (he had something around 80 plants around the world).
Safety Nazi's wore me out. It's like arguing with an inanimate object. Most were just afraid of their bosses, never ran equipment, and had no ability to use common sense. I once ran into a very heated debate with our on-site nazi and she refused to pass on my report up the line to corporate over an investigation I had to do. She said it was unacceptable and 'they' would not accept my conclusions. I told her to send it on, I stood behind it, not her. So she said "OK fine, [hands on hips] I'll send it on with your name on it but I will not add my signature." I just said "knock yourself out.' So she sent it in. A week later I get an email from her boss's boss (she get a copy) and it just says "Thank you for looking into this so thoroughly. Your report reflects a solid grasp of the issues and it would appear you have addressed it completely and properly. I wish the other facilities had your grasp of these issues. Would you be available to consult and assist with those facilities that are struggling with this issue? Thank you again for your quick and proper handling of this challenge."
After she got that note she didn't talk to me for 2 months. Win-Win. ffcheesy Another win was when I had a two part article printed in an industry safety magazine. She thought I wrote it to make her look bad and although to this day I don't know how she saw that, it did get me 6 months of silent treatment, a huge win.
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Never a fan of gloves in a machine shop, they can be more dangerous than what they protect you from. The exceptions are handling raw stock, hot work, rigging, and stuff like that. Near the end of my career I was beginning to get used to using nitrile gloves to keep my hands clean. Of course, now that I am working outside and doing what I do, I buy gauntlet gloves by the dozen and go through them on a regular basis. It's a different world.
Oh, BTW, I had asked that question many times as to how to diagnose a machine electrical problem without opening the door. The answers I did get would curl your hair. ffcheesy
PPE usage needs common sense. So often, common sense doesn't happen. Just blindly following "rules" is not, IMO, common sense.
My Dad was a truck driver for many years. He did not wear a ring on the truck and would sub-consciously put his gloves on and off depending on what he was doing. I do not think he even knew he was doing it. they could be held in a hand or in the back pocket. he did not miss a beat. rings are a degloving hazard (the loss of finger kind) so he did not wear them.
I can hear my dad to this day say, 'You can't do anything with mittens on'. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
These are the glasses I have been using for a few years now when cutting wood and running the clearing saw. They are about $21 a pair. They have a foam pad around the inside edge of the lens and a hard nose piece. After awhile the foam will break down, but I wear them a lot before that. I've never broke a pair of frames yet. It's better eye protection than I can get locally and it doesn't steam up because it's mesh. The shop here wants $50 for crap ones. I see the shop ones for about $13 online, talk about mark up. ffcheesy
Mine
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/notch-glasses-2.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358166)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/notch-glasses-1.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358165)
Shop ones
https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-T1150SM-Forester-Polycarbonate-Resistant/dp/B0179T0EPK
Quote from: SwampDonkey on March 07, 2025, 04:06:26 PMI can hear my dad to this day say, 'You can't do anything with mittens on'. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
I haven't worn mittens in decades but I did wear them when winter camping and skiing and I could do quite a bit with them on. ffcheesy In the FD I encouraged, in fact it was something we all pushed in training that you had to learn to do EVERYTHING with your gloves on. The reasoning for that was simple, take your gloves off and badly burn or cut your hands. Firefighter gloves run around $100./pair or more these days and each member had a pair of fire gloves and a pair of extrication gloves. The latter being thinner and more nimble but cut proof and also very expensive. Some had rope rescue gloves if they were qualified. Working hose fittings, tools, and some meters or thermal cameras with gloves were mandatory skills. No excuses.
When I work at the mill I am just like Doc's Pop. Gloves are automatic and sometimes I have to look at my hands t see if they are on or off. (This is also where I wear out most of my gloves.) Same tying cutting trees and firewood. BUT, go in the shop with 'clean' work and it's a lot different. I haven't worn my wedding band in 20 years, I can't get it on anymore. Those were not allowed on my last job. I remember when my Dad aged his finger started growing around his ring and covering it up. Before it disappeared entirely he had to cut it off. That wasn't fun. Maybe I can get mine re-sized someday.
Swamp, I may have mentioned here or elsewhere I have two pairs of those glasses. They don't work for me on the mill because the fine airborne sawdust goes right through them. They only work for me in the woods when the light is just right. Sunlight coming from the side tends to reduce what I can see. They are still in my truck bag though for those special days or to loan out.
If I boil it all down, I am constantly a student of this stuff. I like trying new thigs to see if there is a better way. I never think I have the perfect answers and there is always more to learn and sometimes teach. That's why I am the Old Greenhorn, because I am always trying new stuff and learning. Hopefully I never stop... until the fat lady sings.
I definitely prefer cloudy days with any kind of safety glasses on when running a saw. That sun, which is far worst in the fall in Oct-Dec than in the summer can be a real pain in the but. When the sun hits anything plastic, or glass for that matter, there is glare. At least when brushing one can work smart so the sun in behind you or some thick trees. ffsmiley I do find they work well in fine dust because a brush saw makes fine dust compare to the chainsaw. And if a pair don't fit right, the sawdust will come up from below, not at the screen. I know those other kind aren't good either way, sawdust under and through. Not these. Finer screen. I'm not trying to argue, but that's my experience.
My dad was only referring to turning wrenches and fingering nuts on to bolts around equipment. There was always a pair of stove gloves around the welder, cutting torch or wood stove. I have a pair with the furnace and one pair with the shop stove. I like my Watson's goatskin with polyester work gloves on the saw. I wear them all summer on the clearing saw. Just ordered a bunch awhile ago. In the fall I will start out with them, but might need the Wells Lemont pair for more warmth for firewood cut'n. I get them for $19 or so online, about $10 cheaper than local, Wells Lemont's are pricy but they are of more substance to. ffsmiley
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on March 07, 2025, 05:21:12 PMIf I boil it all down, I am constantly a student of this stuff. I like trying new thigs to see if there is a better way.
Emily used to be fascinated how I could leaf through a catalog just for educational purposes. A fellow could learn about all kinds of new products. "How can you out look through that catalog and not be interested in buying something?"
Now it's internet rabbit holes. "Somebody has to make something that...." A few Google searches later and there's exactly what I'm looking for.
Safety equipment is one of a thousand things I might look at in a month or so.
The last thing I looked for was a way to jack up a shipping container. There's a device that works with a hydraulic jack that fits the lug holes on the lower corners of a container. Now I have to level a shipping container... :veryangry:
Swamp, I am glad you found something that works for you well enough to replace them regularly, that's the sign of a good product. Now I know these come in finer meshes, I just never tried them after my second attempt. Honestly, I had days cutting trees with those that were excellent, just not all days. As I said, I still keep them handy in my bag which means they didn't get hung on the wall to give away to somebody who looked at them. They just didn't float my boat is all.
Ted, geez, you pointed out a flaw I've had since being a little kid and had nearly forgotten. I remember the great days of "The Catalog". Sportsman's catalogs, L.L. Bean, Equipment outfitters, tool catalogs and all that stuff would arrive in the mail at our house regularly and I explored every page of every catalog, dreaming of the possibilities. I learned a lot from them. It carried through when I had my first shop and I would always ask for a catalog so I had time to explore, think, and choose carefully. Always a source for ideas. Even before I retired, my suppliers knew I wanted a hard catalog. If I needed a recent price I could check online, but the catalog w3as my workbook of sorts.
These days I do a lot of looking online and some of the stuff I see I just think 'are you kidding me?" Who would buy that? What moron thought this would sell/be useful/ make any money, or most likely "how stupid do you think the buying public is?" BUT, once in a great while you find something cool, interesting and MAYBE even worth your money. Then it's pretty cool, but it's still rare for me.
Let us know how that shipping container job goes. ffcheesy
I like to look through Uline or Lee Valley catalogues now and again. They are both online, but they send them anyway. That Uline one is thicker than Sears ever was. :D
Cabela's catalogs were a favorite when I was much younger. ffsmiley
I have known many people get serious finger injurys from rings.
I know several guys that wear silicone wedding rings, claiming they will break before injuring.
I love paper catalogs, manuals etc. so many companies websites are horrible for looking stuff up.
I got pretty upset when all my Parker Hydraulics catalogs got thrown out in a cleanup.
There were many times I needed the catalog to verify what a salesman told me to order, and Parkers website is horrible.
Lee Valley online catalogues are great and you can download them. Print off the index pages if you want to look up stuff and type the page number in to go there. Saves scrolling between index and pages when looking stuff up. Of course I like a laptop and don't own a cell phone or tablet. You can click on an item on their online version and go directly to the purchasing page and it adds the item to your cart then come back.
Quote from: Machinebuilder on March 09, 2025, 08:57:34 AM......
I got pretty upset when all my Parker Hydraulics catalogs got thrown out in a cleanup.
There were many times I needed the catalog to verify what a salesman told me to order, and Parkers website is horrible.
You and me both brother! Prior to retirement I had 4 bookcases in my office and 1 file cabinet mostly filled with catalogs. Some were pretty old, but they had those quick charts, reference tables, design guides, and calculation tables that were a huge help for designing things. As time went on, a lot of those companies began leaving those references out of their catalogs so I would save the old ones just for that purpose. They made my job easier...a LOT easier and I did a better job than others because I could look stuff up and design it right the first time.
In my shop at home, someplace, I still have Travers tool catalogs from the 30's and some Starrett, Browne and Sharpe, and others. Fun to look through and see the prices. A #3 drill drift sold for $0.07 back in the day and a decent Mic was $4.00.
Ha, when I was a wee little tyke I used to cruise the Sears catalog for toys and the bra section.
Well I am sure it was tough finding ones that fit a little tyke properly. :wink_2:
Reminds me of the 2 nerds talking.
The first nerd asked the second nerd where he got the new bike and he said "This beautiful blonde lady rode up on it, jumped off and removed all her clothes and said 'Take what you want', so I took the bike."
Nerd #1 said "Good choice. The clothes probably would not have fit anyway."
Nerds never seem to grow out of that.
Fellow walked into the bait and tackle shop and saw a couple of his buddies.
"You'll never guess what my wife just did!"
"She took off her clothes and told me to tie her up."
His buddies asked, " What'd you do?"
He said, "I tied her up! Then she said, "Do what you want now!"
His buddies, enthralled at this point, asked, "What'd you do?"
He said, "Went fishing."
Both those jokes are old standards I haven't heard in a while. ffcheesy
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Well Sunday morning I got a few minutes in the woods with Bill and we marked at least 8 nice trees along a path he wants to open in a section I have never cut before. The wind was still blowing fairly well an for some reason, I think the snotty dampness, I jsut could not stay warm even though t wasn't very cold out. I decided not to cut.
But yesterday I got in there with the SxS. It's pretty steep where the trees are. I did some general clearing on the trail then dropped two nice trees, one WO and one Hickory. The butt pieces are kind of big and real heavy, may be too big for my clients, but the rest were pretty nice. Took out two loads totaling around 30+ logs. This puts me at about 270 total and may provide enough for my client, who is picking up today, to get 250 logs out of. It's a lot of logs and bulk. I hope he can fit them all in one trip.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250309_114701924_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358229)
There are 3 rows on that trailer, then I have all these short stacks plus the 30 logs I added yesterday that are not in the photo.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250309_114638199_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358230)
We'll know in a few hours. :wink_2: Once this day is done and these logs are gone, I can see what I have left, recount, and start working on the next 3 orders. I think I have another 250 to go to fill those. I really do think this may be my last year, working on the side hills i blowing up my legs and lungs. These large orders are killers. Small order I can handle because it just takes a session or two. 40 logs for someone's class is pretty easy, 20 is better. I'll be cutting some logs for myself this year too and try inoculating and selling those, maybe that's a better route.
Anyway, it's another day and I had better get at it.
Is that your W car?
I don't know what you mean by 'W car" Pete. The grey pickup is mine, any other carts are the neighbors. These logs are stacked along my driveway and property line.
There is a "white" Avalanche pickup in the background in pic # 2.
Tom, how long does a mushroom log produce?
Tom, can you saw some of the bigger diameter logs in half. make a stable base some may like and get two to sell. does that reduce the sugar and growing potential in any way?
Doc yes I can, in fact I offer this to every client as they pull in to load and also tell them they can pick their logs (within reason) by passing the ones they don't like. But understand that growers have to handle and stack their logs in some way. Many use the log cabin style to use a small footprint and still get maximum air flow. SO having all the logs the same length makes that workable. Others are more flexible. Logs 'last' as long as the nutrients hold out and they do not get completely dry inside. This is why they are stacked in cool, shady places, preferably by moving water. As we all know, logs dry fastest from the cut end. So yeah, cutting in half will shorten effective life, but I can't say by how much. I don't think its a lot on large logs. Think about how long a 2' long chunk of fresh and green red oak would take to be burnable without splitting. It's quite a while. Which leads to Ted's question. It's a function of drying time and how much nutrients and sugars the log contains. So an 8" oak log 40" long may last up to 5 years if cared for properly, but will likely beginning to show less yield after 3 years or so.
Commercial growers will rotate in new logs every year or so and rotate out the poor yielding or 'dud' logs.
One year I did cut some special order logs for a client that were 10-14" diameter and 40" long. Those near killed me. But he was using the to grow Lion's Mane in a totem log arrangement. The logs weighed in around 100-150 pounds. But totem logs get 'plated' upright and don't get moved. The log is prepped much differently. You can google it I think and find examples, there is a wide variety of techniques owing to the fact that there is much not known about mushrooms and what is 'best'.
I meant length wise so they could have a flat bottom with inoculants on the upper half-moon side. so, a 3-foot log would make two 3-foot half-moon pieces. sell as two logs from a larger diameter log. you have a sawmill. :snowball: Do not get Howard started, or he will have you standing them up to trim the ends on the sawmill! ffsmiley ffsmiley ffsmiley
If length-wise would work for the mushroom growers, then seems that slabs from sawmills would/could also work. Slabs meaning "first cuts" to square up the logs. My good friend that grew shitake mushrooms liked 4' lengths of 4-5" diameter oak. His process included periodic soaking in water tank to apparently keep moisture in the oak. Point being that he wanted wood that he could easily move around by hand, i.e. I'd guess about 75 pounds.
Sorry, lengthwise is pretty much a non-starter. The log would dry quickly cutting any effective life by 70% or more. I suppose you could play around with arborseal and such, but that just adds more work, maintenance, and cost. Of course, anybody is welcome to do a test study and let us know how it goes. :wink_2:
Certain strains of Shiitakes will accept 'forcing' which is done by soaking either in a tub, stream, or shower. This simulates a heavy spring or fall rain and 'forces' the mushrooms to go active and fruit. Using this technique, a grower can do a certain number of logs, wait 1 week, then do another group, wait one week, etc. Eventually, there are enough logs in the cycle that each group will fruit one week apart. The logs require a months rest (IIRC) after harvest before they can be forced again. So if you have enough logs to do 8 weeks worth of log groups, as you as you complete one full cycle, you can force the first group again.
Well catching up here a little, on Tuesday my first client came for pickup. They ordered 250 logs, I had 270 on the deck, but I always allow clients to pick or reject logs by their needs, within reason. Any clean log between 4 and 6" diameter should be good, those bigger and smaller or ones with a slight hollow heat may be reject for some or takers for others. It always has worked out fine in the past so I don't 'force' anybody to take what they don't want unless of course they specifically asked for it, then decide when they see it that it's too big or small. Tod bad, that's what you asked for, I cut it special, you just bought it. ffcheesy
So the folks on Tuesday only left with 200 logs. They had taken a bunch of large ones, but they could only work with so many of those and all I had left were large logs up to 9 or 10". The other reason was they were pretty much out of room in the dump truck. :wink_2: But they have no problem coming back for the last 50 whenever I have them ready, they enjoy the trip and getting out of the city. 2 days later now and I already pretty much have those 50 ready to go. Probably done tomorrow. Also with what they left I had enough logs that meet the needs of my next client, so he is coming up Tuesday to get them. It all works out. Funny thing. When I cut up the trees and I run my 40" marks down the truck I keep going until I am down to about 3" sometimes a tad less. Now I know these are too small for mushrooms and they are too large for broom handles, but I cut them and throw them in anyway figuring I will make them into firewood. But I throw them on the stacks at home because al these folks who teach sometimes like to take a few small ones for kids or the elderly folks. I usually throw those on for free. But these folks Tuesday took just about every undersized 'log' I had. So you just can't figure some folks out. ffcheesy
Tuesday was so nice that after I ran my errands in town I grabbed my book and sat in the sun reading even though I should have gone back to the woods. :wink_2:
Wednesday I went down and did another 20 log load and some other chores. Today I went down and put another 20+ on the ground, cut to length and brush work all cleared up, but I didn't haul them out. I will do that tomorrow combined with a couple more trees. My buddy Bob was coming by and I didn't want to be late or keep him waiting.
Bob dropped me off a 'gift bucket' which contains (I hope :wink_2: ) all the parts to make a 372 including some extras. It should be a fun project I am not going to rush into, I will enjoy it and have some fun with it.
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So I mentioned a few weeks back I think that I got this request from a writer to be interviewed for her newspaper as well as some other things. I donated one of my stools the the fundraiser auction for the John Burroughs Woodchuck lodge and we have been corresponding about that, the Burroughs Biography I was reading and other stuff off an on for a week or so. Today I got a large envelope in the mail with the latest issue of the paper. It is an advertising newspaper and contains two major articles in each issue. One is local history and the other seems to be a personal interview. I like the writing and the articles are well researched and thorough. So we'll see how this goes. Ironically, the feature article in the current issues is about Julian Burroughs, John's son, who was just as interesting as John but much less well known. It will be interesting to see how this interview goes. I keep telling her to keep her expectations pretty low and have a backup subject handy. She read my 'writings' on my web page and somehow thinks there is something there, but I just don't know.
Back into the woods tomorrow for another day.
Glad you got your first log delivery done, and the start of your mushroom log cash flow! As to the small logs and understanding customers, yeah, every time I think I've got them figured out, they go and throw me a curve!
Yeah, getting the first and largest order done is a good feeling, but no time to dwell on it. time is wasting and spring is coming. My next pickup[ is a new client who is an instructor at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and wants to teach his students how to grow the best mushrooms. New clients are always a question mark. Then I have 2 more orders totaling 190 logs or so and then some logs for me.
SO Wednesday evening Bill dropped a tree where is he going to cut in a new access road to a piece of his property, this was a RO about 24" on the stump. I am taking out most all of the top wood for logs. I worked on that for a couple of hours yesterday and added a new dent to my truck went I slid sideways into the butt log while trying to yank a big branch down to work on it. When I get that cleaned up there are more to work on. I got about 20 logs out of it, but more to come, then I fetched out the 20 logs I had ready from the day before plus those 20 and added them to the pile at home. I left a few on the ground, the truck was full. That gave me enough to finish up that 250 order with 'right sized' logs for them, so they can pick up the last 50 anytime now.
Solid overcast today but 40° so it's not a pretty day, but workable. I will head down and get back on it after breakfast.
It's another day.
CIA, that must be poughkissee?
Been there a couple times.
Yup, that's the one. I ate there once. It was 'interesting'.
Ever have one of those days when it would have been cheaper and more productive to stay in bed? Yeah, like that.
So Sunday at the end of my cutting session I wanted to lower and level off two stumps as I do with all of them. However I found a rock inside one of those stumps and I rocked the chain pretty good. SO I came home and unloaded then put some time into the chain. I got the top plates pretty good but the side plates still had a lot more to go. I gave it a try and it seemed to cut 'OK'. Didn't cut on Monday because of rain. Today I had a pickup come in the morning and he didn't bring enough cash, so it was a short sale. not a big deal, but I'm not happy. I shook that off and I got down to finish cleanup on that big tree I started Sunday and the saw cut lousy unless I pushed it. I didn't have a lot of cutting to do anyway, then I headed to another spot and tried to drop a tree but the chain was lousy and I could not get my cuts right and since I was cutting at cheat height it was even harder. I made a total mess of it, the tree is still hung and I just quit. Came back home and did a more in depth filing on that chain. Still it cut like crap. I pulled the chain and although the top plates look pretty good, the side plates and corners are heavy rounded. I'd have to bring all the teeth back 1/8" to get it clean again and I ain't doing that with a file. Checked my bag and I don't have a new chain for this bar in X-cut. Since I needed gas in the truck anyway, I went too town and got gas then to tractor supply and paid 30 bucks for another x-cut. Now it cuts great again. SO no production today and it feels wasted.
Tomorrow we have the monthly food shopping so I lose half a day and then I'll see if I can correct this trend.
Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes cartoon "Lucky Rocketship Underpants" is worth the time to search for it. It captures the feeling of having a day like that.
I have to reference that cartoon with some frequency.
May 17, 2015 which ironically is my birthday, is the one, and yeah, that's exactly it. I don't have lucky rocketship underpants, but if I did, they likely would not have helped me either. It was just one of 'those' days. I am hoping tomorrow is better.
It's pretty safe to say that the day I had today was not the day I had planned.
It was our monthly food shopping day and that went as per normal pretty much. On our way home around 12:30 or so we stopped at my Daughters work to pick something up. While waiting I got a phone call from my friends Mike and Ruth who live a mile for us and are touring musicians I have mentioned a few times. Anyway, Ruth sounds excited and jsut ask "Are You on your way?!" I asked her 'to what?". SHe said "The Fire! Did you hear the explosion?! I don't even know if anyone called 911 yet." SO I calmy told her to hang up the phone and call 911 and give them all the details she could. She said "H wait, I hear the firehouse horns going off now." I said 'call anyway' an she hung up. I called Bill knowing that even if he had his pager with him, he might not hear it if he was operating equipment. He didn't have it so he made a call and got on the road. I guess Ruth forgot I left the fire Dept. about 7 years ago.
We got home about 10 minutes later and I was listening to all the initial dispatches as I unloaded. mutual aid requested from 4 departments besides our own and also a medivac placed on standby for people missing at the scene and possible entrapment. When I was bringing in the last bag I heard them send a mutual aid company to set up a draft site at my old firehouse. This didn't sound good all the way around. SO I hopped in the truck knowing it was likely I could at least lend a hand at the draft site. Turned out I was right. The crew that came in was not familiar with draft operations and was trying to pull suction on a dry hydrant with a soft 6" hose. That won't work, plus they grabbed the furthest dry hydrant from the pond, making it worse. SO I got them on the right hydrant and setup with hard suction which worked a lot better. :wink_2: Still I couldn't be pushy but I tried to tell the pump operator what he needed to do to get his prime going. He had his way and didn't want to hear mine, so it took a while. Eventually he got it primed and pumping and we filled a few trucks in the rotation. We were about 3/4 mile from the scene. Mutual aid kept coming in, we had a ATF team from 2 counties away come in for an investigation and lot of cops and more investigators plus the medical examiner and still more folks.
Bottom line, an acetylene tank exploded and there were 2 deceased. The residence was flattened and burned through. The home owner is known to me and the father in law one Bill's best guy on his crew. Bill had managed to grab the first truck in and as I type this is still sitting on the scene watching investigators poke through rubble. It's a small town and this will have a big ripple effect throughout the community.
As I said, not the day I expected. I didn't belong at that job, but I figured I might be able to help and I did, so I stayed until they relieved us. Nobody from my own (former) department even knew I was there until we were packing up. By the time the guys from the mutual aid company realized I was "retired' they had already decided I was worth having around, so it was all good, I guess. I got a sandwich and a bottle of water for my afternoon of work. Good enough. Tomorrow is another day.
Thank you for your service, Tom.
I have great respect and admiration for first responders and especially volunteers! Even more for the retired who continue to turn out when needed!
I tried years ago and quickly learned, I'm not cut out for that. So for those who are, you have my respect.
atta-boy Tom! That's how it always used to be in the small town I live in. You don't have to be a member, or an active member, but if your able and you show up to help (and not hinder) you might be able to free up someone else, or give some relief, or in your case KNOWLEDGE to others.
Glad to hear that you were helping others in your community, but not surprised one bit!
Sorry for the loss, that is never easy.
Good thing you was there to help!!!!
Thanks fellas but your making this sound like more than it was. I heard what was going down on the radio and I had been there too many times myself. You get in your truck with your crew and head to where you are dispatched, in this case, the adjoining town at a remote station you have never worked at. Your job is to 'figure it out' without anybody from 'the home team' to help out. These guys are all well experienced, but they don't know the station or the setup. That's what was in my head and I knew it would be challenging for them to get up to speed for a working fire going in cold. For an active working structure fire, you have to work very fast and make no mistakes because a lot of people are depending on you for water.
In my mind, we had run big fires from that draft site and were filling two trucks at a time and taking a minute and a half to fill each truck (1500 gallons). That is with a finely tuned team. Going in cold, just getting started is pretty hard. SO I went over to see if they already had it nailed or could use a hand, it was no big deal, but I was able to help them get going. After that I just hung out and helped swap out lines as each tanker came in. I had not forgotten how heavy a loaded 50' section of 3" hose is. As it turned out, the house was blown flat and initially they had fire to put out, but not as much as expected. After that it was very slow. First dispatch was at 12:23 pm today. They just released our last crew on scene at 8:10pm. The State Police will be securing the scene overnight and the investigation resumes at daylight tomorrow. Apparently the explosion was heard and felt in some areas 15 miles away if not blocked by the hills. I really did very little except help them get going. I assure you, it's no big deal.
I did note however that of the 4 guys working that draft site including me, only one was under 65 years old and this concerns me. We need to get the younger people involved or we are gonna kill off all the older ones. I still get firefighter fatality reports every time one happens and way too many are older folks that should have moved to an advisory role years ago.
Yikes man... Good job on showing up, Tom. It sounds like every able hand was useful.
An acetylene tank you say? Like a homeowner sized torch tank? Like the one I now plan to move from the garage to the shed? A good warning and I'll probably take the hoses off and put the caps back on while I'm at it.
Glad you could be of help Tom. :thumbsup:
Friend of mine was an emergency first responder for years, and retired out because of age/fitness. He said if an emergency happened around him because of his training he'd be considered as a "Good Samaritan", and could help give first aid.
The definition of a great career/volunteer firefighter/first responder is someone who declines credit. Just doing their job, trying to help.
Your mention of the older volunteers reminds me of last week at the blood donor place, other than the Amish most of us donors are seniors. The lady taking my blood said they can't get the younger generations to donate.
Quote from: aigheadish on March 20, 2025, 07:15:37 AMA good warning and I'll probably take the hoses off and put the caps back on while I'm at it.
Having seen two incidents where tanks fell over, broke the valves and launched themselves like missiles, caps go on tanks here before they move.
One incident happened when a tank being moved at a welding shop fell over. The valve broke and the tank went about 30' and lodged under a car. The car was lifted a couple feet and I'm sure was totaled.
The other incident was when I worked for the Navy overhauling ships in Seattle. A worker was connecting a fresh tank to a manifold and lost his grip on it. The tank fell over, the valve broke when it hit a hatch coaming. That tank left the ship, skipped on the Puget sound a couple of times and went out of sight.
I didn't witness it but a fellow vocational education director in a county east of here experienced a tank regulator explosion in one of his shops. A student was badly injured because the tank pressure was not released by a previous student. The injured student wasn't even using the torch set when the explosion occurred.
Be careful with those gas tanks.
Volunteerism is definitely in sharp decline, we don't teach it in schools or most households for one thing. Second, everybody is working just to get by these days. Employers that will allow their employees to leave for for emergency responses are rare, and the employee has to sacrifice his pay for that time 'off' or make it up, which means somebody who leaves work for a major event may put in 8-12 hours on scene doing exhaustive work, then figure out how to squeeze in those extra hours at work to make up the time during the same week. I often left fire scenes at 6am after being out all night so that I could get to work on time. Many bosses had no idea what was involved or any sympathy for those answering the call. I had one boss refer to it as my "hobby" that I did 'for fun'.
In my last position, I was salaried and could leave work for major jobs where my delayed response was still of value, but still I got a lot of grief for it no matter what. It is largely thankless and I was OK with that, just didn't like getting hassled for it besides.
You are right, few young people can find the time, but some MAKE the time. My daughter has been giving blood since high school, she is 40 now and still gives as well as helps at church organizing certain events and other things, she works full time besides.
As far as age goes, I have nothing against older folks, I even are one, but there is little risk of dying when donating blood. Frighting wildland or structure fires is another matter. Studies have shown that 45 minutes of active structural firefighting takes the same toll on a human body as 8 hours of hard manual labor. Common sense should apply here, but seldom does.
Regarding those tanks, they are still investigating. There was propane and acetylene involved. I talked to a fella who was on scene for the duration yesterday and he isn't sure which went first nor did he get a look at either tank. The investigation resumed before 9am this morning. Most of our guys didn't get home until l after 10pm last night, they had hours of cleaning and repacking equipment to do after they were released.
I have a shed that would easily hold all my tanks of explodables, it's not terribly convenient to go out there when I'd need something, but the safety aspect should make it worth while. I'll have to move the splitter to the barn to make room. Sounds like a decent project for the weekend if it keeps from raining. I'll even recap my tanks before moving them.
Quick follow up on that fire because I know some of you started looking around your own situations. Final investigation is completed and it was determined that a minor propane leak built up a quantity of propane in the residence over a long period until it reached the explosive limit (gas/air combination) and a simple spark must have triggered the explosion. Both occupants had known issues with smell so they did not detect it as soon as they should have. There are other minor details I got from the immediate family but I won't share those here and there is nothing that changes the actual facts.
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SO today for me, the hits just kept on a comin'. I went up to knock down a few more trees before the winds returned. Timing was good but I had to wedge over 2 out of the 3 trees I took because the lean was all wrong. The good news is they all hit the ground as intended. But on the second tree, the biggest one which was hallow and needed a bunch of driving over, for some weird reason the trigger lock lever on my saw just broke off. Just laying there in the duff. Of course my notch was in and I was halfway through my back cut at the time. So I fiddle farted for a few seconds and could still make it work and run the saw with just the spring sticking out. As I drove the wedges I snapped one clean in half. Never did that before! I only had 2 in my pocket so I used the broken half of the one and re-located the other. Eventually I hammered the tree down and bucked it up, then I had enough confidence to just take the third tree, with the saw working OK as long as I was careful with that spring. I bucked up that ne and diced up all the brush from the 3 trees and I was out of breath. I figured I broke enough stuff and got lucky to finish out the morning, so I called it. The wind was back up to 20 at that point anyway.
I still can't believe I snapped that wedge. Late in the afternoon I was finished doing a lot of little 'fix-its' in the shop and I grabbed that snapped wedge and made a shorty on the belt sander.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250322_150725238.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358525)
These are Madsen's Blue Ox 8" wedges and I have a bunch of them and never had an issue. I use them in 8's and 12's . In the photo at the top is a full 8" wedge, in the middle on the left is my new 'shorty' with the broken piece on the right. The rest is just tool bag fodder. I am thinking I might be able to use it for that extra lift I need sometimes. I am going to call in my annual clothing and tool order to Madsen's on Monday and I'll ask them if they have any warranty on these things. ffcheesy I have two on my order list anyway, they are a handy size for mushroom log sized trees.
Tomorrow is anther day and I'll go collect some logs. We have some overnight rain coming in, then clear again tomorrow.
I'd almost be willing to make mine out of ironwood, dense closed grain wood. However, I never use them. Never had a need out in the deep woods, 9/10 land on the ground. The odd hang up gets sawed up where it leans. Those are usually the aspen trees, they are the worst tree to hang onto another on the way down. Maple or softwood limbs fold in as they fall. ffsmiley I'm not in old growth wood, most is 30ísh years old.
Sounds like a pain to try and saw like that. Glad you got some inventory down.
Swamp, I don't wedge them to get them on the ground, I can deal with hangers. But this is as much TSI work as it is harvesting the logs. So I have to pick falling lanes or paths that don't rip branches off of keeper trees or worse, crush the smaller saplings coming up. I also try to drop them where I can get them out without dragging, which damages bark now that the snow is gone. If I could get my hands on some ironwood I would give it a try, but it's not common here. Plastic wedges are cheap and I use up one or two a season by hitting with the saw or lots of driving. They are just a perishable and I don't use them a lot, only when I have to. But on a back leaner there is little choice and it's always a kick to fall a tree in the exact opposite direction from where it wants to go.
Yes Pat, it was a little distracting in the beginning, but I figured it out and just had to be careful not to get that spring hung up on anything and ripped out. I have to 450 on the truck now with a longer (20") bar and will just have to get used to the extra length. I cut a lot right on the ground and knowing the exact location of that tip is critical to avoid cutting dirt or rock.
It was 25° this morning, kind of cold, so waiting for a while before I go out to collect yesterday's work.
Tom, I already understood why you use the wedges. I do directional felling however. But, where I am cutting it makes no difference because the trees aren't high value. Very rare do I rub bark off a standing tree. If a tree top of a smaller one breaks for some reason, it comes down to. It will usually be a weak one anyway. I get a lot of hardwood coming up through fir, they are week and suppressed. Some will stand if I thin some fir around them, but they are nothing to brag about. I work with what I've got, trying to get more hardwood into the mix.
Never tried wooden wedges, but I do know how to make them on my mill. ffcheesy
Wedges are a product that will wear out, I think cold weather makes them more brittle and prone to break also. I carry a bucket with a few in it at all times when I'm logging. Cheap insurance to keep the saw from getting pinched both felling and bucking logs on the ground. I save the broken ones for doubling up, or to open up a cut enough to reposition a "good" wedge and finish felling a leaner.
I always try to put a wedge in every tree, if the tree is big enough.
Just never know.
SD, I know you knew that. ffcheesy There are lots of reasons we use the various methods we have. About 4 years ago I was cutting in a large overgrown thicket of pecker poles and the leaves were full out. If I just cut and pushed a tree over it would only go about 10° before it hung. So I would wedge a lot of them to help it go over faster and maybe actually fall. I got good at bucking it from the bottom up and dropping the tree 40" at a time. ffcheesy
Every tree is different.
Res, I just never had time or good enough wood to try to make my own wedges, I may still try it some day.
Ray, on bigger trees I do also. But these trees are small and most times I just do 3 quick cuts and hand push them over. It goes fast. It's also why I use those small 8" wedges. But when I need to alter the forces of gravity, wedges are mighty handy.
Mines bucked 20" leaning or flat or the ground. :wink_2: I'm actually pretty good at cutting on the right side of them leaners, a block or two off the end, and watching them fall to ground anyway. Ones I hate are the double top fir, one will go down with the main stem the other fork might be up in the crotch of an ash 20 feet up. ffcheesy ffcheesy That doesn't happen very often, rare actually, but I left of fir top in a crotch last fall. Still up there today and we've had lots of wind, windy today to. The broke end is in the crotch and the tip is pointed downward. The ash it is in is no prime specimen. I had cut off a low limb a couple years ago and it has a big dog leg in the but log. Just there for seed, but it really is nothing but a firewood tree. ffcheesy
A spare bar and chain works wonders on a pinched bar. :D I had one pinch last fall, all it took to free it was my splitting maul. Gave it just enough relief to pull the bar out. I've never actually been around anyone felling trees who used wedges at all. I could see arborist and such around town that would use them, but when they cut my maple by the road next to the line none were used. The tree had a good lean toward to direction of fall. Only thing you had to watch out for there was the bounce. The road was higher than the stump, and that brute had a mighty big crown to bounce with. :D
Weird day today. It was 28° this morning and hit 45 for a high at noon, then started to drop right off again. It's 37 now (5:30pm). I got up on top of the hill where I am cutting at around 10:30 and there wasn't a whisper of wind, it was really nice... for a while. I am at the point of spending as much time on trail clearing and cleanup as I am on cutting logs. The goal in this section is to re-open up an old trail that has a lot of deadfall, leaners, junk, and branches all over. Cleanup is more work than my logs, but that's my deal.
I took 3 trees today for logs and 3 more as cleanup work. The first two I dropped were both challenges. I wanted them to land on or across the trail to make loading easier. This meant I has to drive them over against their lean at an odd angle, like 130° or so from where they wanted to go. Really it was a long shot, It didn't matter where they fell, but my chosen path would mean less work on my back and legs. Besides, I love a challenge. ffcheesy How else does one improve unless one pushes his limits of experience? Besides, I had no witnesses, so if and when I screwed up I could just laugh at myself. At least this time I had 3 wedges in my pocket, nut just the two. :wink_2:
Long story short I dropped both of those trees exactly where I wanted them and nobody could be more surprised than I was. I guess accidents do happen. I did need all three wedges on one of them. The third tree was a pecker pole, cut and drop right on the money in 45 seconds. The other trees were dead and I just hacked them down and diced them up. Some might go in the boiler, most will just put nutrients in the soil :wink_2: .
Weird thing: When I was on that first tree it started snowing and got pretty intense for a bit, lasted as long as I was falling and bucking, then died off as I was loading but at points got pretty intense. Every few minutes after that it would flurry a little. For my last three trips up that hill I have taken about 25 logs/trip and dragged a butt log down behind the toolcat leaving them near the road for later transport. 2 will be firewood, one I will saw out (WO). I had the truck loaded and when I got home and was unloading the heavy snow squall came back for about 20 minutes. Weird. Anyway, I got that done and did my chores, then quit around 4pm
Noam Pikelny and his band are playing at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock tonight. I can't afford the $70+ ticket, but Noam put my name and a friends on his guest list, so it will be a fun night. I don't get out much anymore, so I am looking forward to it. I haven't seen Noam since COVID came around.
Tomorrow is another day, but today ain't over yet. :wink_2:
Same here, only with the firewood cut'n. There's thinning involved as well and opening trails, so the firewood adds up slower. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool
Been cutting another 4 cords this week.
Got a first aid course end of April (2 day), boss notified me about.
Keep on plug'n at it. :sunny:
I remember hearing Noam Pikelny on bluegrass satellite radio years ago when I drove truck. He had one of the best bluegrass album titles: "Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe". Which may sound odd, but if you know bluegrass music, makes perfect sense. ffsmiley
That is a killer album! Noam is a really funny guy with a quirky sense of humor. There's a promo video he did years back, I'll have to see if I can find it for you. But I gotta get ready and go right now.
EDIT: I found it! This was the promo for that album. I still love watching it.
I take it that he is still with the Punch Bros.
Yes he is, but this wasn't a PB gig. The PB is an odd bunch of guys, all great players, but as a band, an odd bunch. ffcheesy Hard to explain, you'd have to be there.
Tonight's gig was great, Noam had never played with any of them. He put the group together and they spent the last 3 days in a local air B&B working out their tunes. This was the first of the 4 nights on this short tour. I had a blast and we stayed until the band was loading out and they were shutting off the lights. It was great to catch up with Noam after such a long time now.
That was funny.
Noam is really a very humble and personable guy full of self depreciating humor. He does those promo videos rarely, they take a lot of work and people. That last one one for "Universal Favorite". This is one of the first if I recall for" Beat the devil and carry a rail". There is one other he did which is hysterical if you recognize the people he is 'coaching' through video lessons and know their musical prowess and proclivities. I am just really glad to see Noam's ongoing success both in music and in life. Living in VT now with his 2 small children and his wife, he nearly has it all. OH, and it should be noted that Noam really can sing quite nicely.
Been kind of quiet here these last few days. Prior to today we had at lest 3 days of grey, damp, overcast, snotty weather. Combined with my my raging dermatitis issues, I took those off and did little but read and piddle around. Last week I placed my annual fashion order to Madsen's and yesterday my order arrived with some new loggers jeans and hickory shirts. I also got a couple of replacement wedges, new wool blend socks, and a 20" rafting axe handle.
Also yesterday I began fitting the ax to the handle and did some cleanup work on the head. I have been continuing my search for the perfect ax to carry when falling trees. It's been going on for years and I have tried short, long, light, heavy, and all kinds. I may never find the perfect ax. Mostly it gets used for driving wedges, but sometimes limbing and cutting my way out of a problem. Lately I have been looking at the Fiskars 17" ax as a possible candidate splitting the difference between short and long as well as heavy and light weight. But I didn't feel like spending over $40. on just a test ax. I already have more axes than anybody I know, why get another one? So I looked through my pile of axe heads and found a pretty heavy one. I wanted to try a heavy head on a medium handle. This head is old, but not trashed. There is mushrooming on the pall but the eye is not swollen. I did some cleanup work on the head and painted it. The 20" rafting handle arrived in the afternoon and I fitted that up and waited for the paint to dry.
This morning I hung the handle and drove the wood wedge and trimmed it. Now waiting for the steel wedges I ordered to arrive. I made a couple of test cuts and it works ok. Then I tried it in the belt scabbard I have for it and dang, it doesn't fit. In my haste I had not ground completely away the mushrooming on the pall and those hangers are keeping it from sliding into the Grizzly Peak scabbard. You can just see them in this photo.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250401_132559030.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358654)
Anyway, the ax looks fairly good and is nice and tight. Swings with good weight for driving wedges and I am anxious to get it out in the woods. But first I'll have to do more grinding on the head.. This head has got to be over 100 years old but still in fair shape. I can't find a name on it though. Given how much mushrooming is on the pall with no opening up of the eye tells me it is well made with good steel selection. Certainly worth putting some time into and 14 bucks for a new hickory handle. 20" is an oddball length, this just may finally fit the bill because I am an oddball guy. :wacky:
I mentioned a while back that a woman called and wanted to interview me for an article. Well she showed up today right after I finished messing with that ax. She picked up the stool I donated to her auction which goes live today. (Auction found HERE (https://app.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/john-burroughs-2025-charity-auction-44021/).) Then she started asking questions. Lots of questions. She thinks I am an interesting guy. ffcheesy Still, I enjoyed talking with her and gave her a short tour of the shop, stuff in the trailer, and we took a ride down to Bill's so she could see the quarry bit where the mill is. She has an interest in the bluestone mining that took place here in the mid 1800's. I also showed her some of the areas I cut over and how the place is getting cleaned up. She was here about 3 hours I think and was happy with what she got, although I have no idea what that might be.
I was planning on heading back to the woods, but instead got involved cleaning out my truck seat bag that holds my sawmill and mushroom logging do-dads. I threw out a bunch of worn out holey gloves and wound up with a lot more room. It was like an old lady's pocket book full of junk and I couldn't find anything in there. Then I collected all my falling wedges and sharpened and sanded off the rough spots on the belt sander. They get pretty banged up and apparently somebody keeps hitting them with the saw chain. :wink_2:
It's a beautiful day, so I think I'll head back out and do some more grinding on that ax head.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 01, 2025, 04:15:49 PMsomebody keeps hitting them with the saw chain. :wink_2:
That guy sure gets around
Yeah, he does, you'd think he'd learned better by now. :wink_2:
Well today was one of those days I was working toward, I finished all my log orders. ffcool ffcool Glad that's done, now I wish folks would just pick up what they ordered. I will likely still cut a few more for myself to inoculate and sell, but first I want to see what's left when all the logs are picked up. But the pressure is off and now I switch to milling made. I have two orders waiting for me to get to ASAP. Tomorrow should be a total rainout according to the forecast.
I just had to drop and buck 2 trees to finish up, but I had a bunch of storm downed brush and tops to dice up and clean a bit. So as much time working on the ground as I was on the logs. It was a pretty day even when the wind was blowing, and of course, it blew up to 20mph every time I was dropping a tree, in the wrong direction of course. :wink_2: I really wanted to try out that new ax, but these were small trees and I needed to drive them in a direction they didn't want to go. But I cut them too well and when I drove the wedge, it only took one hit on each tree and it went over. Dang. ffcheesy
After stacking the logs at home I did some other chores enjoying the nice weather, put some stuff away in the trailer, and other odds and ends. It was the nicest day of the week with some sun for a change and it hit 65 or so. I'm just glad the logs are finally done.
Tomorrow is another (rainy) day.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 04, 2025, 05:19:13 PMI will likely still cut a few more for myself to inoculate and sell, but first I want to see what's left when all the logs are picked up.
Tom,
If you don't mind me asking, what does an inoculated log sell for vs a plain log? Is there a pretty good market for them already inoculated? If they don't sell do you just grow and use/sell the mushrooms from an unsold log?
Do you plan on inoculating and keeping a log or two for your own use every year?
A man has to enjoy as many good days as he can, puttering around or otherwise working. :sunny: :thumbsup:
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on April 04, 2025, 05:43:38 PMDo you plan on inoculating and keeping a log or two for your own use every year?
I don't mind at all. But, I can't tell you that... yet. ffcheesy
I sell my logs at $6./ea and I am the highest price I know of. I have never done my own logs. The are startup costs for some simple tools, and then the perishable supplies of spores, wax, labels, etc. Inoculated logs depending on size sell for anywhere from $25 to $45 depending on the seller, size, and market. The internet prices are nuts and I recently saw you can order logs from home depot. I have no idea how these sell. I am told anecdotally by another local guy that it is "a good seller" for him but there are no numbers to go along with that claim. Once I get into it, set up my materials and process, and drill some logs I will let you know how the costs work out and what price I settle on for a starting point
This is another thing where the stuff I see for sale doesn't follow a good pattern or business model. So again, I would be exploring the market and feeling my way again. Whereas I sell lots of logs to growers, the inoculated log sales are more for the gardener, the curious, or the experimenter. Therefore sales are mostly one or perhaps two at a time. Often bought as gifts.
I do not plan on raising my own crop but am sure I will get stuck with some (maybe all?) of these logs and will figure out what to do with the output when the time comes. If a sales outlet develops I can always set up a growing yard down in Bill's woods, but that's a ways off and we would need an easy outlet for them before I would go there.
Thanks. I hope it works out well for you.
I would think the growing experience would add even more to the value of your other logs as you can fall back on your experience there too. When someone asks about them you can tell them "Well, from the ones I have grown I found out that ..."
Tom, can you recommend a good book on mushroom growing and a supply house for materials. You got my interest up.
Good question Doc. Nobody ever asked me about a book before. There are a lot out there I am sure, but frankly I don't know how they could keep up with the current knowledge. New and fundamental things are being learned all the time. Take the use of Red Maple for Shiitakes, a few years back nobody would use them, but new research shows that with proper planning and handling they produce quite well. It's really changing all the time and can be hard to keep up. BUT, the internet does provide more timely information. I find that the work done on the Field and Forest website is the most up to date and well researched material. They have MANY instruction sheets and videos that I send folks to all the time. They carry a high standard.
I also find most of my clients including commercial growers use them for their supplies. That's where I will get mine when it's time. The LINK IS HERE (https://www.fieldforest.net/). Check the materials under their 'Resources' tab. Also use the search tool to find more elusive stuff such as the Red Maple research project.
I should say I had read a bunch of books but then, working with folks I discovered a lot of the information was either old or not exactly correct. Also regarding the internet, you have to look carefully at who is providing the information and what it is based on, documented research or hearsay? More than most subjects, this one carries a lot of self proclaimed 'experts' that really are not. This is why I sought out folks who had a scientific approach and worked with this subject everyday, were active in higher level learning, and had the hands on experience. I use those folks for information when a tough question comes up. Knowing something works in one thing, but knowing WHY it works is the real key.
Let me know if I can help in any other way.
If it were me, I'd be looking at mushroom books by Paul Stamets. Something like, "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms". I remember him wearing a hat made of a mushroom on one of Joe Rogan's podcasts. :thumbsup:
Tom,
I think you may have your first customer for your first inoculated mushroom logs. Do you deliver/ship to Kansas? ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Doc,
You might check with your local soils and forestry agent folks. I did a couple of workshops/sawing demos for our local agricultural/forestry folks and attended one of their meetings and they mentioned mushroom growing as topics they had addressed before. I was not hugely interested at the time but it would not hurt to ask your local county/state guys. Good luck.
We know from last years workshop in GA that you have a truck and trailer so I am sure you can haul a lot if you want to pick up a load in New York. :wink_2:
url=https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358748](https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55256/IMG_9395.jpeg)[/url]
I saw this truck not far from the Hotel we have been staying in visiting our daughters in Manhattan. Made me think of this thread.
That's one of my little subsidiary's. ffcheesy Actually those folks are not very far from me, about half way between me and the city.
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Yeah Howard, I could send him logs but the shipping is a killer. Probably best to just send a pallet full, common carrier.
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Swamp, I am sure there are a lot of good books out there, I just haven't read any....yet. The only books I have on on Mushroom id's and foraging, which I also don't do. :wink_2:
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So, forecast was for a rainout today, but only rained until 11am, another 1/2" or so. Anyway, I decided I needed to 'do something' do I fired up the shop stove and built a Loginator for myself. Mostly new wood but I had a top left from the first design, which was only 1" thick. I have since changed to either 1-1/2 or 2" thick. I skip planed the old one and scabbed on another 1" board underneath. I also used cheaper and smaller wheels because HF had them on sale and I didn't want to waste money. I can change them out later if I really feel the need. So little bit of a cob job, but fully functional for my own use.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250406_161356885.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358750)
I suppose I could paint it and all the cob work will go away. Don't really like the smaller cheap wheels but I will se ho they work out now that I am a 'user'. :wink_2: Next I have to order the bit and adaptor to put on that angle grinder, as well as the inoculation supplies: Wax, spawn, labels, etc. As long as I am going to all this work, I might do a video to put on my web page for my clients in case I don't bail out of the business. I still gets lots of questions on the process itself, even though it's quite simple.
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The weather is going to take another dump in temps for a few more days, some nights in the 20's and they are calling for snow before daylight tomorrow. Highs only in the 30's for a few days and not breaking 50 until Friday. Kind of makes me wish I wasn't out of firewood. I have a little left for the shop, maybe a day or two, but almost none for the house. I might go fetch some but jeez I am getting tired of this dribs and drabs thing.
Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
Thanks for the link and info above. I'm fascinated with mushrooms (and I actually like to eat them!) and it'll be nice to read some info from a reputable source. I'd love to forage but the only thing we have around here, that I trust picking, are Morels and they are short lived and short supply, though it is about time for them.
I was going to put this in a PM to Doc, but then I thought I'd just post it here for anybody else that might be playing along, either now or in the future.
I was on the Field & Forest website last night just trying to rough out my costs to get this started. Obviously the first time through is more expensive, but after you have the tools and are setup, the actual re-supply isn't bad at all. A 5# bag of spawn will do well over 50 logs, closer to 100, I think. Labels, wax, and the other stuff usually leaves you with leftovers for the next time. The spawn is the only thing with a shelf life, but can last a few months.
For the first time grower, there are a few choices. First, are you going to use sawdust spawn or plugs? Many choose plugs because they are easier and you don't need the sawdust inoculation tool the plugs are pre-sized and you just push them in. Plugs take a little longer to propagate in the log though. I am using sawdust spawn and already have the tool. I notice pricing on their tools went up since last I looked. They get a pretty penny for the drill adaptor, but I need one and don't want to have one made locally. You should note there are different drill sizes for plugs or sawdust. Plugs are 8.5mm and sawdust is 12.5mm. You can use standard or brad point drills just fine. But the purpose made drills are real rippers and when used on a angle grinder with the adaptor, they zip right along. This won't matter much until you have drilled about 1,000 holes and are starting to go cross-eyed. (Figure 32-60 holes per log, maybe more on big logs.) Plus you need a depth stop on the drill and this is built into the purpose built ones. You have to make something for conventional drills.
The big question is which spawn? Yeah, you want Shiitake (or some other species), but which Shiitake? Do you want wide range strain, warm weather strain, cool weather strain? After you make that choice there are up to a six options in each category. This can be a bit much for a first time grower, don't sweat it too much, but do a lot of reading before you choose. (If it helps, I will be getting the WR46 strain which several of my clients have told me works very well for them and is also recommended by my local mycologist guru.) But this is why I recommend Field and Forest, they have the widest variety, do a lot of their own research, and have the people on staff that can answer questions quickly and accurately. YMMV with other suppliers.
Other stuff you need includes the labels which are aluminum and you can engrave with a ball point pen. Most folks do Date, Log species, and Spawn Strain. I think it's too much to put on the tag and still read 2 years later. I have tried to read a LOT of tags and half of them I have little clue on. I plan to just give each log a number and track the data on a spreadsheet where I can also include the cut dates, inoculation dates, first fruit date, etc. Those labels need to last and be readable for a long time (5 years?) so anything like plastic marked with a sharpie just won't work.
You will need sealing wax. Pretty much anything will work that is food safe but keep in mind that anything with beeswax may/will attract insects or chipmunks, squirrels, and stuff like that which will nibble it off. I will start with the cheese wax, then maybe try to standard canning wax sold in general stores if it's cheaper. To apply the wax you need daubers, which are cheap and can be re-used from session to session until they are just too messy.
Also required is some way to melt your wax, and old yard sale pot on a small camp stove or hot plate will work fine. Build your setup with the understanding that you will have wood chips (from drilling) and wax drippings all over the place, it just happens.
The process is simple: Drill all your holes, fill with spawn (using the tool or plugs), seal with wax over the hole, make a label, and staple it on the end of the log, then just stack in your fruiting location. You can do the whole thing on a plastic folding table (remember that hot wax). You just need something to keep that log from rolling while you are drilling it. A pair of 2x4's spaced a few inches apart (parallel) and connected to each other with cross pieces should wok just fine for a cradle on the table top.
Although this is my first time doing this for myself, I have participated in a half dozen workshops and helped inoculate a few hundred logs in the past few years. I have also visited about a dozen different growing operations to get an idea of various setups. I thought this might be helpful to those thinking about giving it a go. If you are going to just do a half dozen logs, time and efficiency really is not as important and you can get by with a lot less "stuff" than I will be using. I figure my first go-through I will need to spend a little under or just around 100 bucks for supplies.
I tried doing some mushroom logs a few years ago, had mixed results. I do still have one log that gives me some shiitakes. I think one mistake that I made was running out of wax and not sealing the ends of all the logs. I used an old crock pot from the thrift store to melt the wax. I also think location is important and maybe they weren't in enough shade and dried out easier.
Field and Forest is a good ol Wisconsin company, they were on the WPR radio not too long ago. Very knowledgeable.
Have you seen anyone use the "totem" method at all? I have some oak logs that are too big for plugs but might be worth experimenting with.
Yes, I had one client ordered specifically for totems, bigger logs up to 15" or so. He grew Loin's Mane on those and he said they produced like crazy. AFIK he is still growing on those logs and it has to be 4 years now.
Where you stack/store your logs is critical. A shady moist area is best, little sun to dry them out. If they do dry too fast, you can always water them from time to time. Wind is also the enemy, so think about dark edges near flowing water. There are also blankets you can put over logs stacks. Insects and slugs can be a problem, so watch for that.
Great additional info Tom, thanks!
Yesterday was back to work day in the shop. We had rain, sleet, snow, drizzle, and drips all day long. temp was about 37° all day. So I fires up the stove and started working on some things that have been waiting all winter. First, back in December I had decided that my sign at the end of the driveway needed improvement. What is the point of saying "by appointment only" if I don't give people a way to call and make an appointment? Also thought I needed to list a few general things I do. So I ordered the sign 'amendment' made, but then in January, the idiot started giving me grief and I let it drop for a while.
Yesterday I figured it out and added the new section.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250407_164517117.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358764)
I even put the right phone number on it. ffcheesy
Along those same lines I had ordered a durable poster on vinyl made last December for the open house. I was not careful enough to leave enough border on it and wanted to keep the cost down. This presented a problem in displaying it. I used it for the open house by stapling it to the wall, but I can't do that at a show. I don't want to blow about $25-30 on a re-do, so I thought about it over the winter. Yesterday I worked on a picture frame using that very small margin. I got a sheet of plexi and used that on the front while using 1/4 pine off cuts to keep it flat from the back. I think it will work. I finished the frame itself, but am waiting for a little bit of wood filler to dry before final sanding and staining. Hopefully finish that off today, or nearly so.
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Today is cool all day, not warming much for a few days, then more precip. But I have an issue with my truck. There is grinding coming and going from the rear. I still can't tell if it's a wheel bearing, differential, or a u-joint. It could even be a stick jammed in somewhere from banging around in the woods. I even picked up some higher speed vibration yesterday for a short period. Now that the rain has stopped and the sun is out I am going to see if I can draw a bead on the issue. The truck rolls fine, there is no resistance, the driveshaft does not clunk when I put it in reverse, it's weird. Possibly it's a hung up caliper, but that would not explain the vibration I had. color me confused.
Bill also has mill orders he is itching for me to get done.
It's another day, time to get at it.
Always some challenges in life. :sunny: ffsmiley
The sign looks great!
Tom, to help pin point the problem with your truck can yoy easily remove the driveshaft by unbolting it? is there a flange that'll stay in the trans (to prevent leaks) or does it slip in? If its easy, key word if, thats a good way to check if it is a ujoint. Just drive around in 4x4, no noise, then its a U joint. Still got a noise...it ain't a driveshaft!
How many miles and when was the last time you did rear diff fluid? Can always pull the plug and look for any metal. If your do for a change then its just maintenance. If you have limited slip, make sure to add the right oil or additive. Is the noise just under acceleration, or only when coasting?
Rear wheel bearings on trucks can be tougher to diag. As you stated check things like a hung caliper first, if you can pinpoint which side that can help. Back in my Toyota dealer days, the Tundra backing plates would rust and swell and come in contact with the rear rotor. Some techs would try and sell you a wheel bearing kit (with new backing plate) and rotors. An honest tech would usually let you know what the problem was and offer a few options. The best option was pull the rotor and turn off the edge where the swelled bolts were rubbing.
Well I won't keep you in suspense. Bill found out about my 'issue' this afternoon and browbeat me into bringing the truck down to his shop after dinner tonight. It was a hard sell because I don't feel like doing much after dinner, and the weather here is cold and windy. But I succumbed to his badgering and we pulled it in his shop and pulled the tire where we located the noise. Turned out I had snapped off the emergency brake cable and the end was rubbing on the inside of the wheel. We took a cutoff wheel and shortened the cable. I never use that brake anyway. It's likely I caught it on a stump or rock when banging through the woods. ffcheesy But I have bad tire wear on the front (really need an alignment badly), so while it was there we rotated the tires. I need at least two tiers now. He checked his stock and didn't have my size. :wink_2: Then his girlfriend showed up and needed air in her tires, so I puled my truck further into the shop and she pulled in behind me. We filled all her ties and tried to locate any leaks in the one tire that keeps loosing air. No joy there. SO we had a cou0ple of beers and told stories. I couldn't leave until she pulled out anyway.
So it was something simple, noise is gone and just to be sure that was all it was, I will take it on a high speed run tomorrow.
You must be like old logger Watson with his old 'skidder' Ford pickup truck going down skidder trails getting anything solid on the ground for firewood. He used to roll spruce logs width wise onto the side rails, get to the mill unhook the chains , give'r a jerk and let'm roll off. ffcheesy ffcheesy
SD I am not quite that bad, but I do tend to drive or back in and load Mushroom logs to save steps and sometimes with snow, it's hard to see all the obstacles underneath. Since the cable and sheath were not rotted at all I can see that it took quite a bit of force to break it off. It was kinked hard. Try as I might I still get bangs, dents, scratches in my truck. I don't want to beat it up, it's my only truck, but it still happens. I really thought this was rear wheel bearings because that truck is so often squatted down during my season and poking through the woods with that kind of load can be tough on a bearing.
But it was simple this time. I'd rather be lucky than good.
Tom,
Sometimes its nice to have the fix be quick, easy, AND cheap!
Well yeah, quick fix to get me peace of mind. But in this state, if you get a proper annual vehicle inspection, that emergency brake needs to work. I have never use it, it's an automatic. So at some point I will need to fix it proper. But I will wait for better weather and tie it in with another job. I've been thinking about adding air bags to those rear springs to balance my loads better, so maybe then.
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Sunny and a bit warmer today but still not spring weather as far as I am concerned. Pretty windy this morning dying down through the day. I built a fire in the shop stove and finished off that sign frame I was working on. Nothing special, not anywhere near my best work, but it does the job. I had this made up for my open house, it explains the basics of what I am and what I do and how/why I make my stuff. I have found myself repeating this stuff over and over in response to questions so I figured it was a good idea to just put it on a sign for the folks who don't ask questions.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250409_122705979.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358793)
Not even sure why I did it because I am rethinking doing shows this season. Last year was not great and everyone said it was because of the election year. This year the economy is crashing fast and nobody has any confidence in the personal finances, or should. My retirement accounts have lost 15% in value in the 1st quarter and that is before the big crashes of last week. So I am thinking the convivence spending is going to fall off a lot. I think shows will be flat dead this year except for small inexpensive items, which I am not selling. I am better off putting my time into firewood. But I will say I am still thinking of doing a spring open house the first weekend in May. It's easier, this one will be in the front of the shop which will draw more folks in as they drive by, maybe I will get lucky with a couple of sales.
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I also went out in the swamp and doped out some trees that have to come down. One is an EWP about 24" on the stump. The top came off in windstorm last year and the 40' stick is still standing and getting hammered by bugs and birds. I need to drop it in the right direction before nature puts it where I don't want it. I have 2 or 3 RO's that are dead and will be delicate and careful falls or they will destroy a drying rack and possibly 2, shed, or other stuff I don't want hit. But those are solid firewood, slow drying, but I'll take it. Get the down bucked and split in the next few weeks I have a chance of usable wood for fall. It's a shame, nice trees, tall and well formed but killed off by repeated gypsy moth attacks for 3 years running. But each is a very tricky fall and I will take my time and pray for the best. I also have a dead pine on the front lawn I have been meaning to take out for 2 years now. I just keep putting it off because of the hundreds of branches I will have to clean up on the lawn. There is no hiding it. Another careful fall job because, well, the house. :wink_2: Now that I think of it, I have 3 that will need to be dropped int he backyard too. Geez, I got more tree work to do than I thought. ffcheesy Maybe I should approach this as a project?
Tomorrow is another day, I'll think more on it then.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 09, 2025, 09:44:00 AMTry as I might I still get bangs, dents, scratches in my truck.
My tractor is the same way.
Some people who see it has a fit about my tractor.
But I put way more then 100 hours a year on my tractor too. :wink_2:
And I do things that most people would never do too.
With 170 acres, instead of a house lot that is 500 feet square, ffcheesy I use that poor thing, alot.
You need an old truck to pound around in the woods.
I think the military has the right idea on their trucks. A flat, non-glossy paint finish and such that you don't mind getting scratched or beat up.
My cousin was telling me last week his truck was stolen and recovered and he had to get new fenders and a paint job from it being beaten up and bragged about making the insurance pay to redo the paint job because the shop painted it white instead of the Pearl it was supposed to be. The whole time I was thinking "Who the heck cares?"
Be careful on those trees. If you need help sawing some real big ones I hear there is a guy in Mississippi trying to set some new records. I hear he likes to eat so if you feed him a good meal of Beef and Shitake mushrooms with grits and some Blue Bell ice cream for dessert you might coax him to come up. He likes to travel anyway. ffcheesy
Bernstein uses his old M37 for fetching firewood down grown in roads and dry gullies when he can otherwise the tractor and sometimes Grizzly with a cart behind. I never saw him cut wood ahead, he cuts mostly dead stuff for firewood, oak and ash. Set in his ways. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 10, 2025, 03:24:38 PMI never saw him cut wood ahead, he cuts mostly dead stuff for firewood
That's what I did for about 16 years except it was mostly dead spruce. I went to the bank for a mortgage renewal after 5 years and they asked me how much I spent on heat I replied $150 to $200, he said that's not bad per month... nope a year for saw gas/oil and a diesel fuel, I don't think he really believed me.
I cut mostly live or recent windfall here because I'm thinning out the ground the second time. First go was with a clearing saw. But I season it of course for a year, don't even need kindling wood, just news print and a match or set on coals. Worth more to me as firewood than logs or pulp pays. You don't pay, you don't get. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Yeah, I think I will go cruising for more dead standing when the weather gets just a bit nicer. That should offset some of the green stuff I have to get down and cut up this summer or earlier. Anyway, seems like I walked past a bunch of stuff during my harvest days, so I will retrace my steps.
So today I had a client coming to pickup his last 50 logs and it was not a bad morning but I had to hang around anyway, so I fired up in the shop. As the day wore on it got damper, windier, and nastier. Downright unpleasant by the afternoon. It hit 48 but you would never know it. I jumped into another waiting project I have been walking past for months. I was given a 372 in a bucket, all parts scabbed off other broken saws but enough parts to make a saw that will hopefully be run-able. So as the shop wormed up I began dis-assembling and cleaning everything. I didn't make it 'full restoration clean' but made it as clean as I could so I could see everything and I took out years of crud. Fortunately I had a 372 fuel line new and a filter in the drawer. There are just a couple of utility screws I am missing and will see what I can dig up in the shop tomorrow. By dinner time I had it all back together. It has spark and good compression (by feel). But dinner was ready and I had to quit. I won't say it was without it's challenges. I can fix and work on these things but have to figure them out each time and some things, like snaking the impulse line through the boot hole and getting the fuel filter to lay right in the bottom of the gas tank can be strangely unreasonable challenges for me. :wink_2: My back is tired from standing at the bench all day but I am pretty happy wit with I've been given to work with and what it looks like so far. Tomorrow I will throw gas int it and see if I can get it running and adjusted. I only have a spare Chinese bar to test it with (it's brand new, but junk), but I did find a brand new Oregon chain I can use. If it turns into the runner I hope it will be, I'll get a proper, hopefully lightweight bar for it, something longer than 24" for sure, I think it can handle it. :wink_2:
So it was a pretty good day and I feel like I accomplished something. Tomorrow will be more of a challenge making it work. Of course I could get lucky with that part also, but I generally don't. ffcheesy
Well today was much like yesterday. The weather was icky with a high of 44, zero sun, average humidity of 80% white ground this morning and rain for several hours. I had a pickup coming today, first at 11am, then 1pm, then 3pm, and finally showed up at about 5pm.
I did the same as yesterday and fired up the shop and worked on that 'new' saw. I had a hard time starting it until I saw that I had the fuel and impulse lines swapped. Once I fixed that it fired right up. I 'sort of' have it tuned but I suck at tuning. It idles nicely and revs up good, pumps oil like mad. I put a bar and chain on it for test and it cuts quite well with zero issues. I am tickled pink to have a real 372 in the stable. I still have a couple of pieces missing and made a run to town and got some bar nuts and a 10-32 x 2" screw I could make into a air filter post. Got that done and replaced the parts I scabbed off another saw. Only thing I need now is the screws to hold the inner felling dog on and the chain catch. I found those online and they are now on the way. Lastly I am trying to decide on a bar and chains. I think I have it figured out, but thinking on it a bit more before I spend the money. Looking very good now. As I said, I am tickled with it. I even have a tree to test it out on, but I think I may wait until I have the new bar on it. Yep, very pleased indeed.
More snow coming in tonight, more lousy weather tomorrow. Not sure what I am doing, but I might take one more shot at getting that 372 clone saw running again. It's been nothing but one disappointment after another with that saw, just like Spike predicted. But I still think I should be able to make that thing reliable at some point. So maybe I'll mess with that a bit and see if I can figure out it's problem. I sure don't plan on working outside tomorrow. Not until that sunshine comes back or the temp goes up.
I'll figure it out tomorrow.
I have a 372 that is fit with a 28" inch bar and skip tooth chains. It is a great setup for bucking bigger logs. I keep a 20" bar and chains on hand which get used as much as the longer setup. It is a great saw.
The 372 was bought as a CSM saw. It's great for bucking the bigger trees. It sure isn't the go to saw for working up the tops. At 15-16 pounds it is a workout for anything but bucking, although the long bar does reduce bending over. One drawback is my temptation for overhead or reaching with that long bar. That's more a personal thing I have to keep myself from doing.
The only complaint I have is it's easy to flood . A diligent starting procedure prevents it.
My 372 starts great.
When cold, I set the choke, turn it on, press the decompression button. I pull the starter rope 3 times real slow, to allow gas to come up and then pull the rope hard and it fires. Put the choke in, press the compression button again and most times it is running.
Then on a warm start I press the compression button and push the choke in and then back out.
Quote from: thecfarm on April 12, 2025, 08:43:09 AM......... I set the choke, turn it on, press the decompression button. I pull the starter rope 3 times real slow.........
It's that one little thing that gets me almost every time. ffcheesy "
Turn it on". I keep forgetting about that kill switch. It's the only saw I have with one so when I use it, I have to re-learn it. The other night when I was still putting it together I tried checking the spark. I pulled it a few times and my heart sank, no spark. But I had gotten the dinner call so I walked away, thinking I had a longer road to make this work than I thought. After 3 steps, I remembered the switch, turned around, tried it again with the switch ON and it sparked like mad. ffcheesy Did that same thing when I test fired it for the first time. When I shut it off I try to flip the switch back to ON, but don't always remember.
This particular saw seems to start like a charm. When it's warm I don't set the choke to high, I just yank and it starts back up. But I need more time to really dial it in it's preferences better, only having run a few test/load cuts. I also have to turn that oil pump down, it's hemorrhaging oil down the length of the bar. I am not too familiar with how sensitive that adjustment is or how it functions.
Ted, I agree, it's not the saw you grab for pruning the fruit trees. At my age it's the last saw I want to swing around, and with a 32" bar it will be dead last, but when you need it, you need it. Sure, you can easily buck 24-30" logs with a 24 inch bar and a 50 or 60cc saw, but a saw like this, with the grunt it carries will make that work go faster and easier. My first task with this one is to drop an EWP stem that lost it's top over a year ago and could fall in a bad spot if left. It's about 30" on the stump and still sound but the birds are ripping it up.
I have wanted a 372 in the stable since before I retired. It just seems like the completion of the saw compliment. I have constantly looked for repair saws, project saws, or other stuff, but the folks around these parts think they have gold and want $500 for a partial carcass of a 372. I just can't justify that for a saw that gets used a few times a year after I put a couple hundred bucks into restoring it.
All I can say is that having this saw makes me smile just looking at it. Maybe I am weird, but I don't care. :wink_2:
I'm weird too. :wacky:
The small saw,50cc can feel like a toy
Yeah Ray, but someday that 50cc is gonna feel like more than, or the most that yo can work with. I hope that's a long time off for al of us. My Dad started asking me to pull start the motors, and saws he was fixing when he got to be about 92, a year later it was 'check the tightness on all those bolts for me', the year after that he would put all the screws in and just have me tighten everything. When he was 95 he started working on smaller stuff. At 96 he couldn't see well enough and he kind of gave up. He never saw 97. But Pop was a tough guy all his life. Kind of like Teddy Roosevelt he was named after. He spent many months in bed with rheumatic fever that nearly killed him and left him with a heart murmur. He worked his way back and built himself up. The Navy wouldn't take him because of the heart issue, but the Coast Guard did. Eventually he got his unit assigned to a Navy contingent chasing subs in the Philippines and served that way.
I wish I were half the man he was.
Oh mine starts fine, just have to stick to the steps. Never has failed. The first few times I flooded it. Since then it's fired right off.
372 was my favorite saw. Someday maybe I will have another.
I have 2 love them, do everything with them.
I also make my own chains and buy them by the role.
The first job I started on this morning around 8am wasn't going so hot, so I changed gears and decided to make something I have wanted to make for about 8 years now. A shelf that will get ALL my working saws off the floor, organized, and also a place to hang/stack chains and bars, as well as other supplies. I had an offcut 8/4 pine slab with one live edge. The wood was not good enough for lumber but I took it and dried for a quick a dirty shelf.
Ta-da!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250413_140458533.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=358835)
As you can see my wall is cluttered already, but this deal hangs all the saws, loops, spare bars, and new boxed chains nicely. Also my felling belt and climbing spikes each have a hook.
Now I am going back out to get back on the original task of this morning. :wink_2:
I like it. Are those the screw in hooks that you hung the saws on ?
I only see one problem. what do you do when you get more saws? ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool ffwave ffsmiley :thumbsup: :usa:
Doc, thats easy...ADDITION!!! ffcheesy
Yeah, I call those bicycle hooks. They work well for this.
If I get more saws I guess I'll need another shelf some place. But it's not in the plan. Now having just typed that I realize I'd like to add a battery top handle saw. Dang, now I gotta think about it again.
No shop work yesterday except for that roller guide debacle clarification. I headed to the mill for the first time in a long time late int he morning. I know full well that every time I restart at the mill after a long layoff, the first day is going to be a wash. Things have been moved, relocated, or removed, stuff is missing, there is a mess left by 'someone else', and I generally lose that first session getting things cleaned up.
Right now, the boss is about 2/3's of the way through running a proper electrical service down to the mill. He has finished the run going to the pole about 50' from the mill, has the boxes and conduit runs going along the wall parallel to the mill, the wire trench dug and the pipe run down over the hill and the wires pulled. It all just needs hooking up with outlets switches and covers to finish.
But all that means there is bunch of scraps and supplies laying around, excess stubs of pipe not yet fitted and things like that. SO I cleaned all that up and got it off the mill bed which had served as a work bench for the electrician. I also had to work on freeing up the lubemizer clogs and getting that working again. (clogged tip and filter screen, as usual). I also had to climb up the cliff and re-plug in my extension cord to run the blower that was unplugged during the work process.
All in all, I was up and running faster than expected. However, the logs I had on deck did not fit the order requirements I had in hand. It's hard to make 6/4 x 12's from a log that will only make a 10" cant. Not knowing what or if I can make any allowances in the order sizes, I was kind of stuck and took a guess. That stuff may wind up being used for something else much later down the road and I will have to re-cut it. Anyway, I just did 2 logs and called it. I couldn't read the setworks screen with the sun directly on it and messed up a board because of that. Today I will continue to work through lousy logs just to get them cut up and out of the way including a very spalted maple that is either going to be beautiful slabs or total junk. We have no orders for it, but I can make 'stuff' out of it, assuming it's not junk. But I am wasting a lot of time on all these junk logs and it's frustrating. I have to replace the full slab rack today and that is more wasted time.
The weather is warming up in general so that's good, and today is partly cloudy with scattered showers, so that is workable.
Time to get at it, it's another day.
Tom,
I noticed your comment about the sun on the screen causing a mistake. I seem to be running into more cases of the sun causing me similar problems my screen. I am wondering if there is screen I could put over it to make it easier to read. I have not tried, but suspect, the right sun shades would help but I almost never wear them.
Maybe another viewer out here has the answer for both of us.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 15, 2025, 09:31:48 AMTime to get at it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIOIe96dElo
The only thing that will fix it for me Howard is a roof extension to keep the direct sun off the control panel. I have tried a lot of things, but it's hard to fight direct sunlight. Maybe an umbrella. But I don't want anything in my way. I deal with it the best I can. The direct light and ambient light are just too much to overcome.
I can't visualize what the box with the screen looks like but could you tape a baseball cap bill above it to provide shade?
I think they make non-glare screen overlays for computers screens, but not sure if they work. Is it possible to know what the display is called technically and then research accessories? LED? red or green?
Well thanks guys, but none of that stuff will work and most has been tried. It already has a non-glare screen on it. The issue is that there is just too much ambient light around the entire control panel when tat sun is at the right (wrong?) angle. I have put a box over the entire control head and it just does help. The screen is pointed right at the sun. It's just something I have to deal with and come up with something easy to extend that roof out and lower the light around the mill head area.
It's one of those 'you'd have to be there" things.
Other than adjusting the screen contrast which you probably already did the only other thing I can think of is the old radar screen shade my uncle had on his boat in the 70's. It was a box that tapered up to a U shaped hole about 3" x 6" that you put your face against to block out all of the sun. Not very convenient but you would be able to see the screen.
A cheap effective way to block the sun is a 8x10' shade cloth. If I'm not mistaken the giant online retailer sells them for +/-$10. The shade cloths have grommets like a tarp so one could be hung up with some cord, nails or bungees.
Ten bucks and 20 minutes would be a quick solution to the sun bearing in on you and the display. It will reduce but not eliminate any breeze you get. It won't whip in the wind like a tarp.
No umbrella in the way.
Yup, a shade cloth would work.... except.... it has to hang right where I walk through to tail my lumber. That's what I meant when I mentioned not making a new obstruction. It's not as big an issue as everyone is making it out be, and I fully understand and appreciate that everyone is trying to be helpful, that's what we do here.
Hilltop is right, I did adjust the screen darkness as much as I could. I know these screens fade over time. Many other remembers here I have noticed have had to replace screens as they age out. We do have a small rook extension in 'the master plan', but we're not there yet. Still have water mitigation to finish up and the wiring work to get completed. I may take another, and better shot at making a radar shade. I have used that in other applications in the past. I tried once but it was kind of half ashed.
Besides, the 'bright side' is that I have something to blame my offcut boards on.
That's the beauty of a shade cloth, string it up horizontally ABOVE your head. You can walk under it. It doesn't catch water.
Tom, it is nice you look on the bright side, but is that not half the problem? ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :thumbsup: :usa: smiley_beertoast :smart:
Move the mill. I see your pics, not the best setup, no room to work. I do wish you the best of luck, sawing. Get your buddy to bulldoze a big flat spot for you. That way, you can get to all sides of the mill. Put a roof over the mill. Now you can work like a King.
That's what I would do. A sawmill never has enough yard-- room. :wink_2:
That's not gonna happen Peter. I don't know what photos you saw but the mill is already under a full roof and on a poured slab. Yeah, sometimes it's tight when things aren't the way I want them but mostly, it's a pretty good setup and getting better every year. All I need is a little extension off the roof. But things will get better on their own as the season continues and the sun gets higher in the sky.
Quote from: Hilltop366 on April 16, 2025, 09:49:55 AMOther than adjusting the screen contrast which you probably already did the only other thing I can think of is the old radar screen shade my uncle had on his boat in the 70's. It was a box that tapered up to a U shaped hole about 3" x 6" that you put your face against to block out all of the sun. Not very convenient but you would be able to see the screen.
I have not adjusted the contrast on my screen and have no idea how to even start with mine. It is just a little screen about an inch high and a couple inches wide with 2 settings. It is either on manual or activated. If activated it has 2 options you can toggle between such as when sawing framing and siding off the same log/cant.
Tom,
My problem can be worse than yours because I am sawing mobile and could not even build a shade overhead. I am at the mercy of each job where one day I an sawing into the sun, the next sawing away from it and just have to set up based on the terrain and the log layout.
The one I saw Tom was a rock face on the sawdust side of the mill, and water running down the road on the loader side.
Maybe not your pic. As I get older, I forget where I saw something.
Sounds like what I saw in person Peter! Your mind still works!
Well, you guys both have old pictures in your heads. :wink_2: The water issue was eliminated from around the mill last year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20241010_165529548.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356015)
We cut a trench and paid a pipe, then graded all of the ground out from the loader side with shale. We just have a little more grading to finish up after we move a log stack or two. But at this point water is not an issue anymore nor is mud.
Possibly you are thinking of this photo, also a few years back when we had the sawdust problem.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20210812_112001248_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=309615)
That too is long gone. We added a blower and now there is pretty much no sawdust hanging around the mill except what falls off the logs. I can now keep the cement deck free and clear. We are working on it all the time. Permanent wiring is nearly done now and more grading of other areas. To say we should abandon it is not something either of us will consider.
Still lots of shine to that mill Tom. ffsmiley
I try to keep it clean, and it's always out of the weather so it's pretty easy to do. Also, that photo of the mill is about 2-3 years old.
My wife's van developed a new crunching noise in the rear right on Wednesday morning when we went food shopping. That changed the course of our week. We made the trip and I put it in the shop after we unloaded. Turned out to be pieces of the E-brake assembly rusting off and rolling around inside the disc. I just gutted it out. Final straw. We were trying to make it last for 3 more months, but inspection is due before then and it won't pass like this. I'd had it.
So we moved some money around, paid off my truck loan, applied for another loan, and went car shopping on Thursday, then found a car she likes. 2021 Ford Eclipse I think it's called. We slept on it last night, gave it a test drive this morning, and have the paperwork being finalized now. We'll pick it up on Wednesday. Done and Done. But it took 3 days.
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When I had time in between trips and phone calls I tried getting some work done on chainsaws. No luck with the clone saw, the coil I got was dead out of the box. Ordered from a different source or may get one from a good buddy if I can get out his way. But in all that troubleshooting I took the coil out of my 372 project saw, which had been running fine, and used that one in the clone to prove it was the coil. When I put the OEM coil back in the project saw I just verified I had spark, but didn't run it. I closed it up and waited for the other parts I need to finish it fully.
This afternoon I put the new lightweight bar on it with that X-Cut Skip tooth Square ground chain. I was anxious to try it out. Now it won't start. Got in some new spark plugs today as spares, didn't help. When I built and tested it last week it started real easy and ran like a top. No issues restarting either. Cold it took 2 pulls on choke, then choke off and starts on the first yank. Now I can pull my shoulder out of socket and I can't get a pop out of it. I don't get it. I think these saws just like to see me suffer.
I went over everything quickly and find nothing wrong. I have spark, seems to have fuel (new filter and line). Only thing I can figure is I must have done something when I borrowed the coil out of it and put it back. As I said, it has spark, but maybe not enough? I checked to coil gap, all is fine there. I guess I'll take it back apart again tomorrow, but this is getting tedious. When they run, I love them, when they don't I hate them. Seems like I am on a streak here and would love to turn it around.
Tomorrow is another day.
Old pic, I guess. I'm happy you all got it worked out. :thumbsup:
Good luck with the saw.
Well it's been a while since I've updated here while I was busy with other things and on other threads, getting those two 372's running, the great Chain Gauge Debate, roller guides, and the Husky corporate video conference kept me busy when I wasn't working on replacing my wife's car. We picked up her new car, a 2021 Ford Escape yesterday afternoon after some paperwork delays. She seems happy with it and is trying to figure out all the doo-dads. I haven't driven it yet, I'll let her get some time with it then test it out. She's happy and that's all that matters.
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I forget what day it was now and I spoke of this in another thread, but Tuesday I think, I went up to Spikes and we messed with saws and sat and chatted for a good while. It was the most enjoyable afternoon I have had in a very long time. We also got those two saws running. We talked abut that video conference I had wit Husky Sweden, but we also talked about hockey, snowblowers, and how frustrating women can be sometimes. ffcheesy ffcheesy Just a great day.
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After we got the car hoe late afternoon yesterday, I decided to take my 372 project saw out in the swamp and try out that new 32" lightweight Husky bar using the new Square ground skip tooth chain. I had a broke off tree from a prior winter and although it is no threat to property, it is getting really ugly. It is actually on my neighbors property, but the right way to fall it is onto mine. The tree is now an eyesore and since the neighbors property is on the market, it doesn't help the aesthetics at all for them. I saw home shoppers pointing at it last weekend. They are good kids, so I sent him a text and told him I would take it down, he was happy with that. About 35" on the stump and a 50' stick. I had no issues with that saw knocking in the front notch, it's nice have the bar reach through all the way. Then I tried bore cutting to size the hinge but that thin light bar was pretty whippy and it threw the chain. One of the drivers got buggered up and I had to file it smooth, put it all back together and forgot about bore cutting. Bore cutting with a skip tooth is tricky anyway. I put a back cut halfway through and let the saw sit in the cut while I tapped in 2 wedges to keep it from sitting back. While going that, the saw puttered and stalled. I could not restart it. I think the idle was wet just a tad low for a hot running saw. I didn't want to mess with it any further. The issue was likely operator frustration/error. That's a bad time to start chasing adjustments. I put it back on the bench and grabbed my 562 and finished it off, but I did have to come in from both sides with the 24" bar. The 32" bar would not go through that stump anyway. The tree hit the ground right on the mark and threaded the needle just right. :wink_2: Then it was dinner time and I quit.
But my mind was working and I realized that's a pretty good and clean stick with no rot until over 45' up from the stump. It's a pian for me to load logs here and get them to Bill's mill BUT I have a manual mill right there. I started brain storming and realized I could build a nice heavy duty bridge across my creek and into the swamp that would support a skidsteer or small excavator and maybe I could start filling some rubble in there to get more usable ground. It's been my dream for decades now. I spent last evening parsing out what I would need and if I could get it out of that stick. I figure 5 6x6's for runners on about 1.5' on center with 2x10 beck boards shuld do the job nicely. I have a couple of PT 6x6's I can use for the bridge footings. I know it will have maybe a 5 year life, but at my age, that's good enough. I eventually want to get a culvert in where that bridge will be, so the bridge will go away. Overall size on the is a 12' span and 8'+ wide. A new project is born! whoa is me.
Today was my Chiro tuneup at 10am, and I splurged and got a haircut afterward then picked up some cheap bar oil at TSC (9 bucks a gallon!). Came home and skipped lunch. I took the 372 project saw and (cold) adjusted the idle up just a tad and went out to the swamp and bucked up the log. GEEZ LOUISE! For bucking that chain cuts like mad! Just piles of nice little square chips! I bucked up 2 12's and one 10' log and the top section is whatever it is, around 11' or so, but 3' of rotten junk to buck off later. The I collected every chain I could find and backed the Mule up to the creeks edge. Started by pulling the crossest first. It was slow going, first I am mucking about in a swamp which alternates between firm ground and ankle deep black muck, swamp grass with broken off logs sections hiding underneath. It[s tough walking around. Anyway I would would the log forward a ways and it would hit an obstruction, so I would slack ff, teeter across my shaky slab foot bridge, roll the log over a couple feet, then get back to the mule and pull until the next obstruction, such as the creek itself. The I would unhook the chains, roll the log arch over it and lift the front out of the water/mud then drag it to a staging spot. I made many many trip walking back and forth. I got 3 of the 4 logs out, but the butt log was too heavy for me to roll with my old wood cant hook. My legs were shot anyway at that point. So I ran down to Bill's mill and got one of my Extreme cant hooks. Tomorrow I should be able to roll that log and get it out and up to my mill. That will be first up for the 6X6's.
I had told my neighbor the tree was down and I was pulling the logs so things looked a lot better from his house. I asked him if he had any offers yet. I had previously asked him to find a buyer that would be as nice as they were. I don't want bad neighbors. Today he told me they had two offers and were trying to decide which one would make better neighbors for us. ffcheesy ffcheesy
Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
Sounds like some good things were done. I'm excited for you to get that bridge going, I remember you talking to me about trying to dry out your swampy area when we were there and I imagine wrestling that log around probably wasn't much fun, but building a bridge should be!
Well that little bridge is going to be a lot of (manual) work, so lets see how far I get. I am a bit sore this morning. I still have the butt log left to pull out and then as longs as I have all the chains handy, there is a firewood tree and some other stuff I might as well drag out too. Then I have to get that butt log on the mill. If I can mill that up, then the rest will be a little easier until I start digging in the footings and building.
Lots of manual work, I'm used to that when making corduroy posts for wet crossings on trails. I sometimes add some spruce tops first oriented length wise then put the posts on top width wise. Lasts a long time. I have quite a long crossing to do, I started it already when I got some poles from thinning this spring when cutting the firewood. Leave some branch stubs on so posts don't roll when set in place. I've got thousands of spruce to make poles with.
Cordoroy would be a lot easier, but this is a creek not a wet spot. It drops down nearly 2' from grade and back up over a 12' span. The bridge will jump the creek and lead into the giant wet spot that is my swamp.
I got the last log out but boy howdy did I have to earn that one! It took all morning because the butt jammed against the near creek bank. I couldn't even roll it with my mega hook. So it took some alternate rigging and now it lays by the mill. I hooked up my water pump for the season and washed the mud off the log. Now I need to go over the mill and finish off the ash log that sits on the mill.
But first I need a little break, my legs are cramping up. ffcheesy
@Old Greenhorn, I'm inspired by your bridge built project! I too have a small creek that needs a bridge substantial enough to at least get my mule to a part of our acreage, heavy enough for my tractor would be best but since I'm no engineer the smaller version may have to suffice :wink_2:. Looking forward to your project and some build pictures!
Well I am no structural engineer either but I am figuring to over build a bit. I think 6x6's at about 18" on center should handle a pretty good load with 8/4 decking. I am hoping to drive a skidsteer, tool cat, or (very) mini-ex across it. So in my head I am thinking 8,500 pound load max. As I mentioned, this is hopefully temporary (couple of years?) so I can carry and dump material in there to dry things up and make it usable.
That bridge will go right here where you can see the log drag marks through the mud in the foreground.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250425_112114838_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=359047)
It's really only about an 8' span, but I am cutting the stringers at 12' to make sure I don't have a compromise. If it makes sense when I lay them down, I may shorten them. Either I will build a small apron ramp or fill in with material to slope the lead on and off. I want to keep the bridge at least 8' wide to allow for some mis alignment and turning going on and off.
It's a work in progress in my mind. I just came up with the idea 48 hours ago.
remember tums for cramping Tom, Calcium Carbonate.
Yup! All the time. I keep a bottle on my desk and a bottle by the bed, and some in the shop too. But when your are cramping up 'on the job' from excessive overloading of the muscles, I am not sure how they would work. Since you told me of that 5 years ago I have never been awakened at night with those screaming cramps. Works like a charm for me.
is the 8-foot span over the water or including the saturated dirt/mud? This is a great project. I there a good dip at the water so it can span, or maybe some big cants on either side of the water so it can be filled with gravel and sand and not wash into the stream.
We have this spread over 2 threads, my bad I guess. Next time I am looking at it I will try to get a better photo to show grade change. I think I answered your questions in the watcha sawing thread.
Glad I got those logs out yesterday! We've had close to an inch of rain since last night and it's still raining a bit. I have some much deeper mud and muck out there now. During a lull I tried to get some pictures to show the grade better. But now the water has come up and it's close to bank full.
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This (above) view is perpendicular to the previous photos, looking NNW. Logs we dragged in from the left and out to the right. Swamp on the left and mill on the right.
This other photo is 180° from the first one looking SSE. You will note a group of slabs I dropped across the creek a few years back to allow me access to this side of that drying rack. That kind of shows you the height the bridge will sit at.
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Not much else doing today, just a lazy day. I worked on that clown saw a bit. The .404 rim spur arrived today, o I took the old B&C off, cleaned things up and opened up the clutch. Since that saw was new, it always dragged the chain around if the chain brake was off, doesn't matter what RPM. Bob noticed it the other day and thought I had a busted clutch spring. Turns out the everything is where it should be but those spring are loose so even at low RPM the shoes go out just far enough to make the chain turn. I'm tryin to decide if it's bad springs or a bad clutch. I also noted that the clutch bearing is poorly made, so that needs replacement also. I am getting a little tired of al these nickel and dime parts adding up. and they no longer cost nickels and dimes, prices keep going up. I had also ordered a rebuild kit for the bad carb we took out of the project saw Tuesday. I'll rebuild it and have a spare.
Thanks Tom. Yes, if the design committee is going to direct this project, we need good information! :sunny: :thumbsup: :uhoh: :wink_2: ffcheesy. looks like a nice slope near the edges. the boards in the background make for a nice visual. It seems more of a long slope in the area you used. will you block it up a bit and fill with some gravel. nice to see the limit of the water as well. will the stingers go lengthwise and deck boards side to side? I think you mentioned some PT stuff to form a footing on each side of creek (parallel to the stream).
Bill seems like the kind of guy that may have broken up concrete sitting around. how about culvert pipe?
That's going to be a decent sized creek to build across. I've never really done any creek crossings just damp places that often dry up by July and come back in late November. Spots I cross are hard bottomed, you probably would not sink more than 1" in mud. Rock and gravel base, organic layer on top.
Well as I said, the 12' span will more than make it across and is probably overkill, I should be 2 or more feet longer than I need. I plan to partially bury a 6x6 PT footer beam under each and to land the stringers on, put he stringers across, then the decking. Whenever the elevation sits is fine. Then I'll lay in rock and crushed shale for ramps on both ends.
Yes, I could put in a culvert and that is, in fact, the end game, but this I can do almost complete without a machine to do the digging, grading and needing fill to cover the culvert. I can do that later easily once I have material coming in and a borrowed machine here to start filling in the swamp. I can only do what I can do, and this is what I can do. Definitely not efficient, but it works for now. This is basically a large heavy pallet. I don't think we need to waste the design committee's time with it.
----------------
SO today was a rainout as mentioned earlier. Around 2:30 it began to ease up and there was 5 seconds of sunshine. During that 5 seconds, Bill called me. :wink_2: "Whatcha doin'?" 'oh, not much, this and that'. "Well the sun is out here, you wanna take those bigger trees, I got the machine there?" When we hung up the sun went away. I grabbed the 372 project saw and headed down.
In short order we took out a 12" pine (50'), a white oak about 16" (65'), a red oak around 20" (75'), and a EWP around 30" and 90' tall or so. I cut and he pushed. He also dug the stumps and dropped them in the swamp across the road. I will go back in the next day or two and take what mushroom logs I can get out of it.
Pulling stumps.
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Dumping stumps.
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We did make a bit of a mess, but got the trees out. This is for a driveway cut he will be putting in to his 12 acre parcel over time. I took a few of these trees mid-winter for logs and now we are just putting the fishing touches on the trees that need removal before he starts cutting and grading the new driveway line. Still a few trees to go, but these are the ones that needed two of us. That excavator is one Bill is testing out, but he says they want too much money for it. It's a heavy machine though and took those stumps out with little issue.
We were done by 4:30 and as I was driving the long mile home it started raining again. ffcheesy
EDIT TO ADD: that 372 project saw is running really well as is the chain and bar, but I do notice now that the lightweight bar will flex in stressful cuts and one has to be careful. Again today it nearly threw the chain when I got it pinched in a limb cut. The chain was jammed halfway out of the track. I had to loosen the bar to reset it. A PITA, but it was my fault for trying to yank the bar out of a pinch. But still I have to be careful with it. Still I notice the saw hangs pretty flat in my hand without the nose drooping down. I put a 32" standard Husky bar on the clone saw today with .404 x .063 gauge and the nose is quite a bit heavier in the nose. So I like the balance with the light bar, but it is a bit whippy and finicky for that length. I have a husky lightweight on my 562 with a 24" bar and have no such problems. I guess I am still learning stuff.
My damp crossings will actually grow trees on them, but it hard to keep them standing, especially softwoods. I was walking one stretch that had some nice spruce and tamarack established, but some high winds a couple years ago took a few down. Oh well, not much you can do. I saw one tree a week ago rocking in a stiff wind, the roots were lifting up, so I cut it off and used the wood and poles from it, better than a root ball bent up in the way. Water percolates down through those areas under the root mat.
Did Doc say something about the "Design Committee" getting in on the early stages of this bridge??? Let me sharpen up my crayons and find a clean napkin :veryangry:
Well Doc did say that, but I expressed a different point of view. ffcheesy Since the cost of this project will be just for some gas, oil, sweat, and Advil. No need to complicate things at this stage. ffcheesy
Tom, as a member of the committee, may I recommend generic Advil, Ibuprofen as a cost saving measure. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Yes, that's what I use. 'Advil" is just easier to spell than ibuprofen. :wink_2:
Time for afternoon nap. zzzz_smiley zzzz_smiley
Oh! That's substantially more water than I realized! Looks like a good plan.
Also nice to have that big ol' hoe around to pull stumps!
Tom,
As a cost saving measure for a valuable infrastructure project, the design committee is willing to wave its normal fee.
Now with that set aside, have you thought of a suspension bridge??? Also, will the approaches to each side need to be raised any higher to accommodate river traffic from below?
HA! Well, I wasn't worried abut the design fees, I am very concerned about the costs incurred as a result of the threatened advice. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
I did check and no permits or adjustments are required in bridge clearances for boat traffic or shipping commerce. This is legally classified as a non-navigable waterway of perennial longevity.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 27, 2025, 12:31:24 PMYes, that's what I use. 'Advil" is just easier to spell than ibuprofen. :wink_2:
Apparently not! ffcheesy
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 27, 2025, 02:54:26 PMI did check and no permits or adjustments are required in bridge clearances for boat traffic or shipping commerce. This is legally classified as a non-navigable waterway of perennial longevity.
Well, I think we can fix that! :snowball: you say you have access to an excavator? ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
You need some rayrock for each end of the bridge and then rayrock to hold the backens back.
I just happen to have just the rayrock you need.
And just because you are an FF member and I always help out those in need, I will give them to you free.
These are organic rayrock that have lived there whole life here on a hill and I can certify each and every rayrock and give the paper work to prove the above, if needed.
are these kiln dried or at least heat-treated Ray? Don't want a bunch of rock bugs infesting Toms rocks down there. :sunny: :thumbsup: :wink_2: ffsmiley
Ray, Doc is right, NY will require a certificate of origin for each rayrock, and proof that they are bug and beetle free.
Tom, I assume your going to have a pillar of some sort on each corner. Are you thinking stacked stores, bricks, some kinda of conrete, of maybe fly in someone that can sculpt marble?
Just a few ideas.
Is there going to be Ice Cream for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
I can see some of the crowd are going to want Rocky Road
Well I see the word got around and now the floodgates are open.
Ted, I did spell that right, read it right off the bottle. Maybe the bottle is wrong?
Ray, thanks but I don't need imported rocks, the domestic ones work just fine and there are no import duties.
Doc, let's just keep it simple. I don't want no warning lights and navigation markers to maintain.
Granite, sorry no stone pillars, just a PT footer. Remember, it's temporary.
Lefty, I can't promise ice cream, but likely there will be beer. Maybe I can get some Rolling Rock, but I hate the stuff. I think it's brewed with the run off water from the Pittsburgh steel mills. (When I started buying beer as a kid it was $3.99/case, now it's a vanity beer or something and they charge for it as if it's good stuff.)
Yeah, lets keep this simple guys. I know, I know, Howard has not yet offered his collected thoughts to this yet but I am braced for it when it comes.
Is it going to be brown?
You mean paint? We don't need no stinking PAINT!
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 27, 2025, 02:54:26 PMno permits or adjustments are required
Tom, you live in NY and I don't believe you!
thecfarm, I wish I could take you up on the rock giveaway! We need to figure out a rock teleporter.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 27, 2025, 07:40:07 PMTed, I did spell that right, read it right off the bottle. Maybe the bottle is wrong?
100% correct spelling on both! One didn't
seem harder to spell than the other! ffcheesy You did it with ease.
some drugs use ph vs f and can be confusing. many medical names use 2 Rs such as in the case of Hemorrhoid. No implication is implied. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Quote from: SawyerTed on April 28, 2025, 07:51:48 AMQuote from: Old Greenhorn on April 27, 2025, 07:40:07 PMTed, I did spell that right, read it right off the bottle. Maybe the bottle is wrong?
100% correct spelling on both! One didn't seem harder to spell than the other! ffcheesy You did it with ease.
Not sure about that. Seems he needed a visual aid to correctly spell Advil.
Tom,
Are you going to build it in place or do you have the room / ground conditions to build it near the shop then walk it in (thinking telehandler or excavator). Maybe in sections if possible? just trying to keep ya out of the mud!
Assume there is no way to "drain the swamp" and get that water to flow away and not pond up there ??
looks like that has been the makeshift crossing and the sides are broken down. can build it back up with pressure treated dam/blocking for the approaches.
When I recut that drainage nearly 40 years ago, I spread the sides out a bit so that it would not cave in again as it had before. In the last 6 years or so I have been dragging logs out through that path, so it appears as it it is a crossing, but it is not. I can build up a a little but it doesn't need as much as the pictures lead you to believe.
Draining the swamp, then filling in to grade is the goal but it is a string of steps to get there. I need a machine to dig out a culvert that got disturbed and lifted on one end. I'll need a machine to remove that and then I can re-grade the bottom and the creek will empty pretty much and nearly go dry. At that time I may relocate the culvert to where the bridge is if I can get fill to cover it. Some seepage from the swamp can then make it to the creel, but I also need to cut some drainage paths from the swamp toward the creek because there is a bank holding the water in the swamp. I will likely need 3 or 4 trenches, which I may lay 6" pipe in to keep them open permanently and fill over.
Once that is done it will take several months for the water to creep down to it's low point and at least partially dry out the swamp area. At the same time I can begin finding and moving rubble in there. I'd like to burn it over first and get the broken branches and ground clutter cleaned up before filling/grading. If/when the bridge becomes obsolete I plane t reset it back in the swamp on newly graded ground on concrete blocks or pads or pucks and use it as the deck/floor for a new storage shed. Either a drying shed or winter storage for the Mule or any number of other things. I have time to decide that and will likely change my mind a few times.
As far as the bridge build goes, I will do it in place. The bridge site is 15 feet from the mill. I would have to carry/move all the lumber about50' to the shop door, build, then move the bridge 70' back. That makes no sense. If I build in place, I don't need a machine to move it. Mud washes out not matter what your Mamma told ya. ffcheesy
rayrock will keep you out of the mud :wacky:
QuoteI need a machine to dig out a culvert that got disturbed and lifted on one end.
I see that machine you need in reply #978
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Yeah, um, NO. That machine won't fit through behind my shop, and besides, that is just available for testing contemplating purchase. Bill has about 5 excavators ranging from very mini sized all the way up to almost that size. I'd like to borrow his tiny toy mini, which everyone laughs at on job sites but is his most used machine because it is light footed and goes anywhere. It can also dig more that anyone expects. But that little machine travels all over the dang place and is never around. His business operations are interfering with my little projects.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on April 28, 2025, 05:22:39 PMI have time to decide that and will likely change my mind a few times.
Can we help?? :wink_2: :thumbsup: :usa: ffsmiley ffcheesy ffcool smiley_beertoast
Sure, why not, you will anyway. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Well I thought I had a plan for yesterday, then Bill stopped by. ffcheesy
My plan was to go down and clean all the usable logs off the trees we took down Saturday, not much, my guess was about 15 logs, the rest was too big or too small, or wrong species.
Bill's plan was to go to another job site just a 1/2 mile from me with the bucket and crew and take those trees down for the homeowner as promised a while back.
Since that job was only a bucket job, I opted to adopt his plan. So I met him and the crew there and they brought the bucket truck and a chipper. We took down about 10 trees, some hemlock, pine, RO and dead RO. Trying to keep pace with his crew knocks the life out of me, and I had to sit down twice for a couple of minutes. But we got it all cleaned up, plus chipped up some pile left from winter damage, etc.. They had enough time left in the day to go setup and start the next job 1 town over. I had to do a run to town. When I got back, I returned to the scene of the crime and loaded all the logs there were. I got 30 out of it.
Today I resorted to yesterday's plan and got down to Bill's just before 9. There was much good stuff in there, but I got another 15 out of the tops and limbed and bucked up a big pine for saw logs.. I was home before 11. :wink_2: My order was for 40 logs and I wound up with 45. I will deliver those tomorrow morning and be done for the season now. Like it or not, the trees are flowering out, Fortunately the RO's come out nearly last here with WO just behind them. I got these just in time. Another week is too late. So I am done. Just with yesterday and this mornings session my arms and forehead are screaming red with that dermatitis already. I took a shower and that felt pretty good.
This afternoon I have a lunch date with an old buddy, so I am done for the day.
Tom,
I drive by a farmstead (or it was at one time, not sure how to describe it now) every day on my way to work. Its only got 30ft of front yard to the road so.I always see whats going on. Last week a couple pallets were put onthe front yard off to the side. Next day each pallet has 8ish red oak logs, all about 30ish inches long and around 5-6in diameter. My working brain cell lit up my light bulb, I said "those are mushroom logs!".
Yup! That's what the were. There are still a bunch of folks that have them as part of their home garden operations. Since the fad is dying down after everyone during covid seemed to either be baking their own bread or growing mushrooms, it is interesting to watch the market change. These are all my opinions and likely to be wrong, but I see some trends. The folks who bought logs to try it out during COVID seem to have run their course. They didn't have proper log yards setup for the dormancy/growth periods of the mycelium and the logs dried out, rotted, got bug eaten, or just didn't produce well. They lost interest and it was too much work. The folks with serious gardens which had been supplying a good part of their food for decades were used to the work and have figured out how to include mushrooms as part of it. They seem to have 'right-sized' their operation to their needs and can now cut or acquire enough logs on their own (for free) to keep them going. The small farms (I call them truck farmers) who sell to select markets and outlets have either gone boom or bust with mushrooms as part of their growth. If they found lucrative outlets, they are still looking for decent log quantities to supplant their operation. If they had crop failure or markets didn't provide an outlet for them, they gave up. So in my observations I think the whole fad is slimming down, and as with any fad, some found a way to make it viable while others did not. For the mushroom logger, it remains a good source of extra income, but sales and marketing are a key factor, as is customer service. I am frankly surprised that the independent garden centers do not sell logs as part of their operations. Seems like a natural thing to me.
------------------------------------
Anyway, catching up here again, it's been another couple of good days and most enjoyable. I had that lunch with an old buddy Tuesday and we had a lovely time and came back here and sat in the shop an talked for a few hours about 'life' and 'what's next?', and stuff like that. Just a lovely afternoon for me, and I hope him too.
Yesterday morning I delivered that load of logs to a happy client and she gave me another nice tip again, just like last year. If I do give up the logging work, I may keep her and a select group of clients to supply. Their orders are smaller, but not too small, and they are nice local folks. Anyway, I was back home around 10am and saw that the new clutch for my 372 clown saw had arrived. So I wasted some time trying to get the old clutch off, but just could not get it loose. After messing with it for a while and trying all the usual tricks, I broke down and ordered a clutch tool. Now I have to wait some more. The new bearing arrives today.
So I bench sharpened the chain on my 350 which has seen some dirt from al the mushroom logs in the last week. Then I went out to the mill and thought about how to get that log up and set while I looked into that gas drip. Turned out to simply be a loose fuel trap and it took longer t remove the cowling than it did to clean and fix. All good now and running well. Onto the dreaded log loading.
I did it in stages because it was so heavy and it needed to be set perfect so the mill would pass over it. That log truly maxed out the mill in every direction except length. I should have grabbed the big mega hook from the mill instead of the 72" one. I nearly blew out my legs trying to turn it up on the mill, but I managed, with a few rest breaks to get it set. However, the mill still would not pass over it. I had to do some very careful and accurate bibbyng to trim it so the blade guides would clear at full opening. Turned out, I came very close to ruining the log, but pulled it off.
After a break so I could feel my legs again I figured I might as well take a cut or two to get it started. I flattened the top to 8" wide, then dropped 6" and took off a big slab that I can get a 6x6 out of in the center. Then I rolled the log 90° and did it again and put that slab on the side. One more roll and I get 4 more 6x6's out of that last piece, which is one more than I had planned. I also wound up with a 2x6 and 1x6 from side wood.
I got all those stacked, again no small task with no machines and milled up one of the slabs to get another 6x6 and stacked that. Then put up the last slab (which was the first half-round I took off) and was trying to get that squared up when the wife notified me she was home. I looked at my watch and it was already 5pm. I lost track of time.
So yesterday was our 48th Wedding Anniversary and we had dinner plans. I closed up the mill, came in and cleaned myself up and we went out for a very nice dinner.
It is gratifying to have the mill running well and having to do almost nothing to get it up and cutting. All the stuff I had put in place came back to life and use with no downtime. The water tank and pump for cleaning off the mill all worked just as well as when I last used them, that 4° blade cuts like a bandit even in full width cuts. It took a lot less time to get those first five 6x6's off than I had expected. This morning I am a little sore, but functional, and I did sleep very well last night because I was quite tired. ffcheesy
I'll give it another shot in a little while because today is another day. :wink_2:
QuoteI am frankly surprised that the independent garden centers do not sell logs as part of their operations. Seems like a natural thing to me.
I have a good friend and customer that runs a commercial greenhouse, he supplies big retail garden centers with flowering plants. From what he's told me it can be a tough business, you'd better have a sharp pencil and be ready for a wholesale price, and have a big inventory on hand ready to deliver. Also you'll have your own truck, and plan on delivering to all the locations and stocking (handling) the product yourself. And at the end of the season, likely you'll have to pick up any unsold logs, and credit the store for what gets returned. :uhoh:
Not saying it can't be done, just a tough row to hoe.
---------------
Happy anniversary! :thumbsup:
And some retailers will drop a vendor for a dime, nickel or penny even if the quality decreases by a dollar.
Tom, if only Danny was here to remind us of paragraphs! ffsmiley
A Christmas Story- Ralphie Daydreams for an A+ Clip (HD) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYxkULH-tQ)
Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!
Ray, thank You.
Doc, give me a break. ffcheesy As I always told Danny, if you read carefully you will see there is an indent at every paragraph. Sometimes when I type in that blank line (for the paragraph challenged folks) the forum software drops it. I gave up a long time ago going back to edit the blanks back in.
Ted & Res, I was talking about independent garden centers, not chains or even large groups of outlets in a region. Mushroom logs are not like rakes and shovels. They have a shelf life, cut and inoculation times matter. You can't buy them back and sell them next year. They are more like eggs and milk. A local garden center could manage that when a chain cannot. Working closely with a supplier such as me they could even take orders for their customers, getting them filled in a week or so. All they would need is signage and a process to handle it. If I weren't thinking about getting out of this racket and trying to expand, I might try to build a partnership with a nursery or two to see how it goes.
It was just a thought.
Yes Tom. I just have fond memories of that whole moment in time Rest in peace
@WDH
Quiet weekend here owing to the rain which kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm. ffcheesy I've been piddling in the shop and doing some of the annoying chores that I always avoid or can't make time for. Since retiring I have tried to make time r force myself to do at least a couple of these a week and they add up over time to make life easier in the long run. Some times it's cleaning out a long neglected corner, sometimes its fixing something so I can use it again, and sometimes it's an improvement. I did several things yesterday and have already forgotten when they were. ffcheesy
Today I walked around the shop looking for a job and settled in on that Jonsered 2050 project saw. I did some basic looking at it and checking things, today was the day to start cleaning it. Holy cow, what a mess. I bet I lightened it by at least a pound with all the crud I dug out of it. :wink_2: I don't think I have ever seen a small saw that packed with crud everywhere. Now I have the handle off and the sides and covers removed. I pulled the muffler, bore looks pretty good with no scoring and compression feels good. I had thought I had no spark, but I checked it again after all the cleaning and in fact I do have spark. The fuel filter is horrible and the gas line in the tank is hard as a rock. Air filter was packed up to and is one of the screen types, not the fleece type. The spur drive on the clutch drum is one of the most worn ones I have ever seen. I also think this saw was either dropped or partially run over. One of the handle springs is badly distorted and needs replacing, the handle has a crack but is serviceable. When I cleaned out all the packed crud around the cylinder/flywheel area, a rubber grommet bumper fell pout. It took me a while to figure out it was part of that munged up spring mount. It must have been in there a long time, packed in oily sawdust and what looks like grass. No doubt this saw was run very hard with little care. I didn't take the card off yet, but I am sure that needs a lot of cleaning too and only the Good Lord knows what they put in this for fuel.
When I first put this on the bench I honestly didn't know if I really wanted to get into it, it was such a mess. But now that I started cleaning and looking and figuring it out and it is cleaning up a bit, I am encouraged, I think I can do this. It looks (according to the IPL) that there was an option available for this saw to use a clutch drum with a rim sprocket, so maybe I will look for that kit. Right now, even though this saw takes a standard socket on the clutch, I am having trouble getting it loose. Now I have two saws I can't get the clutch off of. ffcheesy
Anyway, it's fun to work on a saw that is built a bit different than what I am used to. I'm learning new stuff and that takes a little time. As soon as it gets frustrating I walk away and come back later. If I can locate the right parts in workable shape, this could be a very nice little 50cc saw. I had always wanted a Jonsered, but never had the money to go that route. So if I get this one running and into the stable, it will really make me smile. It's time to get some parts and start putting it together enough to try it. It will take a while, but it's worth the time, and it's good to learn stuff. I'll say this though, if somebody had brought me that saw to work on, I would have told them they should be ashamed of themselves for treating a tool like that and refused to work on it, or charged then an 'idiot premium'. I have never seen a saw so packed with crap through and through. I can't imagine how that saw could breath or cool properly. I love a challenge though.
Tom, you've got me enthused working on these old saws . I have a old 3400 Poulan chainsaw that has been hanging in my barn for 25 years and I bought it new 20 years before that so it's 45 years old. I've researched it a little and from what I've learned it was a well built saw in its day . Around 55cc but weighs around 15lbs. I don't really need it but I cut a lot of wood with it and would like to hear the old girl run again.
You know, it's a funny and weird thing Bill but for all my life before retirement with the house, kids, job(s), and normal pressures of just getting by and trying to keep all the leaks in the dike plugged up, I never had the time or patience to work on these things. Either I couldn't focus long enough before something more important came up, or I just wasn't disciplined enough, but I always turned that stuff over to my Pop and he helped me out with little effort.
That's all different now. I can let stuff sit, but when I get in the mood to work on it, I can take my time, work as much as I want, then slide it to the side until I am ready again. Eventually I get it done and it's very gratifying to finally work it out. I am not fast and have to do many things several times before I get it right, but that's OK, I get it eventually.
I probably have 2-4 dead saws laying around that I just don't see the value in putting the time on them, at least two of which are those little red Homelite jobs. But maybe someday I will get and urge and work on them, who knows. I am not looking for projects but I do pick some that appeal to me for whatever reason.
But when I fix a saw that turns into a reliable runner which I can use, I find that very gratifying. That's not to say it is easy, or without frustration (sometimes a lot of that), but it is gratifying to an aging man. Besides, these saw parts are pretty cheap, so it's not so expensive to make mistakes, and extra parts just go in the drawer for the next time.
I'll have to say that being retired sure is nice. I wish I could have started it earlier but I'm grateful that I'm getting to experience it at all. My 50 year high school class reunion is coming up and I found out that 75 of my classmates are already gone so I consider myself pretty lucky.
mine will be in 2028, but a few of us will get together this summer. That way at the reunion with what is left of our class of 200, we will spread around the room, and not only catch up with best friends.
In the 1990s I was building my career, raising kids, trying to be involved at church and generally spread thin. Around 1998 or 1999, Emily asked for a deck for Mother's Day. I built our original 22x28 deck for her then.
These last few months I've renovated that deck. During the reconstruction I saw the errors I made and most got corrected and a few are hidden.
62 year old Ted thought back to 35 year old Ted and realized 35 year old Ted was doing pretty good considering all that was on his plate.
62 year old Ted voluntarily puts a heap on his plate and knows 90% of it is okay to wait until I get to it. I'm not under the deadlines now that I thought I was then, so my focus/work is far better.
There is the skills and knowledge difference due to experience between 35 and 62. I see myself in my son (35) very much now. He listens like I did back then.
When dad retired, mother thought she would ask him if he would like to volunteer his time for something to do. He said, he volunteered all his life and that ended the day he retired. ffcheesy ffcool ffcool
SD, those were my words exactly. I volunteered in Scouting pretty much all my life, until I joined the fire department. Both of those 'jobs' consumed between 20 and 50 hours a week of my time for decades. When I retired it was 'me time'. Now I only volunteer for short term events that have a high enjoyment factor or a good return on the 'investment'.
Ted, you're right. When I was 35 I never had time to do it right, but always made time to do it twice...because I was in a hurry to get to the next thing. ffcheesy Now I just poke along and try to get it right the first time and find that is a lot more enjoyable.
Speaking of which,
@Spike60 gave me a trash bucket Jonsered 2050 a week or more ago and I have been plucking along on it as mentioned previously. Today I got down to pulling the carb and cleaning under that area. Really this saw is just packed solid with oily sawdust and grass or something like it. Lots of tedious cleaning. Then I ran to town and got some fuel line, I had a filter on hand, as well as some bar nuts that fit right. SO this is one of the tougher saws I've had to get the carb out... and back in and I replaced the fuel line and filter with some difficulty. I started putting it all together. I don't have any replacement parts just yet, haven't ordered them, but I wanted to see where I stood and if I wanted to spend money on more parts. Got it all back together and shot some fuel mix in the card and it fired right up. So I put everything back together, air filters, covers, and found a Carlton bar that fit (I have no idea how I came by that, but it was pretty used and I had to redress it). I fueled and oiled it up and it started and ran. I made a couple of test cuts in the wood pile, but it needs tuning and I don't have a tach yet. Also, because of the damaged handle mount, I can't get a tool in there to make the adjustments anyway.
SO round two will be collecting parts and re-doing it the right way to make it 'as new' in so far as is possible. The parts cost is pushing the limit on how much I want to spend on a 'resurrection' saw, but it is a Jonsered, so... :wink_2: I'd also like to put a 16" bar on this one because I have 18, 20, 24, and 32" bars on other saws and I think this one will balance better with a 16" and give me another option for the woodpile work and I don't have a short bar.
Not a bad days work for a solid rainy day. Puts a smile on my face anyway and right now, that's good enough for me. Tomorrow is another day and I'll find another project.
Well I try to 'accomplish' something every day. It's tougher, but more important to me on rainy days or else I just sit around and waste my day. After 4 days in a row of rain I run low on satisfying jobs and have to work at it.
So this morning I went out in the shop and wandered around looking for a mission. The Jonsered saw is running, but waiting for parts until I do the final sweep over it. The clown saw has a new clutch sitting there, but I could not get the old one off with improvised tools so I am waiting for the clutch removal tool I ordered to arrive. Yet again today, it did not show up. So I decided to give it one more shot and this time I got it! As bonus, I didn't break anything else! So I put the new clutch in (used, but OEM) after cleaning the area and the new bearing I bought, then got it all put back together and NOW the saw finally works correctly, then chain stops when it should, chain brake works fine. all good to go. I hung it up on the rack of running saws. Seems like a small thing, but it made me smile and the only saw I have left to work on the the Jonsered. I have a new clutch drum and ring sprocket on the way. I'll let that sit until parts show up...I think. Still looking for other parts.
Guess I'll head out for round #2 and find something else.
OH, and Trimguy and Doc were right, I need another hook, so I improvised. I think 7 saws is enough. That is unless I come across a 30 or 40CC saw that is worth rebuilding. ffcheesy ffcheesy
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I went most of my life with just one chainsaw, good , bad or different. In the last few years something has changed, I don't know, maybe got a little more sense, but now I own 7. All in working order except 1 that needs the carburetor adjusted. 🤷�♂️
I have 3 working clearing saws, you need at least two or you're not going to make much money some weeks. Lost cutting time is lost money, there's no compensation. :wink_2:
Funny how the collection kind of sneaks up on you. ffcheesy But yeah, you need to have a reliable backup. I'm not sure you need 5 backups. :wink_2: Still I have convinced myself that each saw fills a different niche. Obviously I am not using a 372 with a 32" bar for taking down mushroom log trees that run 8-10" diameters, but when you need a bigger saw for a large tree, using a 350 with an 18" bar is kind of folly also. So I try to have a nice range of variety in my saws, bar sizes, and chain combinations. At least that's what I tell myself and so far it's working. ffcheesy ffcheesy
ffcheesy
We find our justification wherever we can! I'm guilty too!
My FIL heated his house with wood for decades. He owned 2 chainsaws ever. I still have his last Homelite chainsaw. It still gets cranked and run a little while every so often.
For years I had one saw, then 2 and currently own 3. All are Husqvarna- 445. 455 and 372. The 372 was purchased as a CSM saw. My everyday saw is the 455, it's just the right size for most of what I do. The 372 is a "big wood saw" and the 445 is for light work.
I don't need 3 saws. I could get along just fine with the 455. But I really want a good battery powered saw.
I've heated with wood ever since I got married and I always just had one chainsaw and considered myself lucky to have one. A few times I had to remove the power head from the bar because it was stuck in a tree and finish the cut with a axe. Even then I never considered owning two saws. I feel pretty prosperous now. I own four that run and my axe doesn't get used much.
Same here, heated with wood in some part since around 1982 or so. One saw did me fine, but I was only bucking up logs. When I started harvesting mushroom logs (and trees) an hour from home I only owned (working) 2 saws, my trusty 450 and that 372 clown saw that I still trusted at the time. Not wanting to get in a bind and hour from home and parts, I took the 372 with me every cutting day, never needed it, but it was in the truck and I could get it in a few minutes. I had a few pinches I used my ax on for relief, but never needed the 372....until one day. The day they sent a videographer up with me to do an interview of me and get video of the process. That one day I had a pinch on my bar and it was bad enough to close up the sides on the bar and also around the tip sprocket. Try as I might, I could not fix it in the field and I have this camera guy wanting to get footage. So I went and got the 372. The few times I watched the resulting produced video, there are clips with me cutting down 8" trees with a Chinese saw with a 28" bar on it and it makes me cringe every time. I felt like an idiot, but that's what I had and I kept working. A few weeks later I was given a Ryobi battery saw and that went in the Mule everyday as a backup. 3 or 4 times, it saved my butt.
Now I use a refurbished 350 as my mushroom saw, with the 450 as a backup. That whole experience, and finding new ways to have saws fail me in every circumstance mostly due to my own fault, have taught me to have backups ready at hand and keep working.
Beyond the '2 saw theory' I just like having a little harem of saws all working and ready to go, hanging in that rack to see which one I want that day. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. ffcheesy :wink_2:
I'm on my second 455 (turns out they really do need oil mixed with the gas) but would like to get something bigger for a CSM, though by my history it seems like a waste of a thousand bucks. I find it tough to get the motivation to CSM anything. I've got interesting logs just rotting away and it seems as though I find other more fun things to do, even though a nice slab of fresh wood is pretty dang satisfying.
I've said it before, funny how certain tools don't fit my hands like they used to!
This is 1 of 17 post holes, 16 got dug with a 3 point PHD.
I think I'd rather run a CSM! Nope, I'd rather go fishing!
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I was in school for years. I always wanted to cut wood and have a woodstove/fireplace growing up. I had a fireplace in an apartment in KC, so got a big box Poulon and used it till it would not start. I did not know much about saws so a few years later, got a Mccollough and used it. In Albany, I had a wood fireplace also and lived at twin oak apartments. they were putting in a twin oaks office complex, and taking down trees. they were 2-to-3-foot diameter oaks. I got a homelight with a 24 inch bar. I could only haul two logs in the back of my Bronco 2. I got about 20 of these home and spent hours on days off splitting them. After I arrived in Hays Ks, I got my first Stihl. the home light still ran well, and I sold it to my office managers husband, and it was the biggest, nicest saw he had ever had. The 046 mag was the only saw I had in hays and when I got to Hutchinson, I started filling in some gaps. blower, pole saw, weedwhacker ect. then I got a Stihl for my son with EZ start and a 250. I had a 2 foot and 3 foot bar for the 046. I later got a 271 farm boos as my son got older. He has never got the bug as he was never deprived of the joy of cutting and burning wood. I have now started adding the battery stuff. the batt blower and weedwhacker start every time. I got a hedge trimer as the tools are cheap after you already have the batteries and charger. I have 3 batteries that fit all the tools. I even got the cut off saw and can use metal and cement cutting blades 9 inch. I think I am at about 20 tools from Stihl including the chain sharpener, and rivet spinner. I was poor for a long time and now enjoy buying quality stuff. I enjoy owning an 880 with a 3 and 5 foot bar, but it has to be a special day to use it. I have nearly every saw I could need but am tempted to add a 500i. been thinking about it for a few years. first saw bought in 1985.
I'm a one chainsaw man. Oh, I have had probably 3 of my own, but not all functioning. :wink_2: A new saw for firewood every once in awhile is a good investment anyway. Thousands of $$ saved in my pocket, so I don't deny myself a new chainsaw now and again. This one now I've had for 8 years. I don't have that great of an attachment to a saw, it's just a tool. ffsmiley
A chainsaw is a tool. The reason I have Husqvarna equipment is the local hardware store is a dealer, service and repair shop.
I would likely own whatever the hardware store sells and services. I do like the Husqvarna saws well enough.
Agreed, it's a tool, just like a rifle. But also like a rifle, they can be fun to work on and tweak. I derive a fair amount of satisfaction in looking at that rack of saws and knowing I can grab any one of them and they are ready to go. (PHD's are tools too, but not so much fun to work with or work on.)
I have all Husky's and now a Jonsered because I had a great local dealer. Yes we also had a Stihl local dealer, but their service was a lot more spotty and not very important to them. I had one Stihl in my hands years ago for use and I found it extremely hard to start with VERY high compression. That turned me off to them. Now I am just so used to working on Huskies that it comes pretty easy, except for tuning which never came easy. I am always afraid of blowing up the saw.
I have a bunch of parts on order that should arrive Saturday, when I am out of town. This time I ordered a tach, so maybe I can tune things better. By the time I am done with this 2050 I'll have just under 100 bucks in it for the rim sprocket assembly, new (OEM) bar and X-cut chain and some other odds and ends. For me, I think it's worth it. Hopefully on Sunday I'll be messing with the tuning. The B&C show up next week.
Quote from: Wlmedley on May 06, 2025, 09:39:55 PMA few times I had to remove the power head from the bar because it was stuck in a tree and finish the cut with a axe.
When I had only one chainsaw (an old '80's Husky 266) I always carried an old bar and chain with my tools in the woods. If I got the saw pinched I would remove the power head and put on the old bar and chain to cut the good bar free. Only had to do it a few times, but was always glad I had them with me...
I now have 3 saws and one battery saw (the battery saw is not good and I would like to upgrade).
Well I have just been piddling in the shop all week because of the rain, working on saws and such. I was wailing for parts to arrive after raiding Bob's stash for that elusive AV spring I needed for the 2050 J'Red. Was still waiting for the clutch drum/rim sprocket assembly and tach to arrive. The new B&C will arrive next week.
We had to drive to VT today for a Memorial service for my first cousin. 5 hours round trip and an hour and a half there. I would have rather visited with all my cousins for a while longer, but the drive was in front of me. We got home around 5:30 and I saw that the clutch drum arrived as well as a box of fuel filters for stock, the tach arrived yesterday. Seems like my stock on things is dwindling quicker these days. I had used up my spare spark plugs 2 weeks ago and my fuel filters this week, so this time I ordered 4 more plugs. I only have one left already. I also ordered 10 fuel filters, that should last a while.
SO back out in the shop at 6pm and I put the new clutch drum on.
@Spike60 was dubious it would fit and told me so, but this part# was listed in the Jonsered IPL so I went for it. I always prefer a rim sprocket to the spur drive. Anyway, it fit fine and I set the B&C on and got it snug, then pulled the chain over by hand as I always do and something was wrong. It would move a few inches then bind hard. SO I loosened the bar a bit and it would move a little more then still bind. I loosened it to full slack and pulled it around. Now this is where it gets weird. as I pulled the chain around it would go from full slack (hanging) to snug (tight on top and bottom) then back to full slack again. I kept pulling it over and watching this happen, over and over. Then (As Jake says) I stepped back and scratched my watch and wound my head. What would cause this? I am not talking about going from sort of tight to a little loose. What I was seeing was a fully tight condition changing to a full 1/4" of daylight between the driver link tips and the bar groove. Totally unsafe and unusable.
My machinist brain kicked in. I took it all apart. I won't bore you with how I figured this out and checked it, but the bottom line is between the ID on the clutch drum and the OD where the rim sprocket rides is over .018" of runout. On the rim sprocket there is .009" of runout, plus, the tooth pockets in the rim sprocket are not consistent, some are small and some are larger. In short, this is horrible manufacturing practice in front of my face. I looked at the box: "Made in China". There's your sign.
Now it also occurred to me that this might be workable. ffcheesy If I aligned the high side of the rim, with the low side of the drum, I might get close to concentric. So I kept checking and changing until I got it as close as I could to actual concentricity. I put it all back together and it is actually what I would call workable. But who wants a 'one way only' setup? Not me. But that's where it sits right now. I will fire it up and test it tomorrow and see if I can tune the beast with the new tach that came yesterday. In the meantime I sent the seller a polite nasty gram and told him/her what I found. I would prefer he just gives me a refund and I buy another from a better supplier. I don't have any .325 rim sprockets around for spares, only 3/8, otherwise I would try a new (better) rim sprocket. Guess I will have to order some of those now. I have thought of converting my 450 over also, wonder if I could do the 350? :wink_2:
Anyway, it's been a long day. I will pick it up again tomorrow.
Ah, this saw project continues to challenge my simple mind. :wink_2:
Sunday I tried running it a bit and taking a stab at tuning it. I thought I was getting close when something went awry with the throttle cable and I had no ability to throttle it up at all. Seemed like the cable broke, but it didn't. I got involved in other things helping a young neighbor sanding down a slab for a counter top, Mothers day stuff and what not.
In the afternoon I got back on it and it took a while to see that I had the cable routing wrong, or it had slipped out of place. It also took a while to figure out what was correct. Then it took more time to actually make that happen. Eventually I got it correctly setup and it worked as it should.
Yesterday's plan was to straighten out that handle because it was driving me nuts and I couldn't get the tuning tool through the access holes to the screws. It took a while, but again I figured it out, put a small corrective bend in the handle and also assembled the main AV spring correctly this time. Everything lines up nearly as good as factory. SO I ran the saw through 2x 18" cookies to warm it up. it cut well but was bubbling on the low end. Before I could get a tool in to increase the low speed it stalled.
That was it, I couldn't get it re-started. It tried and would blubber a couple of times, but I just could not get it to run, I kept messing with the jets but no joy at all. I let it cool and did other things, then tried again throughout the day into the evening. No soap.
I got frustrated and walked away. I think there is a carb issue (I cleaned it but did not open it up) and getting that carb in and out is a real bear of a job. Otherwise it would have been out after 10 minutes of non-start. I guess I am resigned to take it all apart again and figure out which carb it is and get a kit for it. I think it may be flooding.
The new bar and scabbard showed up yesterday. I got an OEM NOS Jonsered 16" bar for it, but waiting on the chain today or tomorrow. I have no 66DL chains in my inventory.
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The woman that came and interviewed me last month sent me the draft of her article yesterday. I's a very nice article but somewhat embarrassing to read her impressions of me. I am certainly not used to that kind of stuff. She asked, so I sent her a marked up copy back with some typo and technical corrections. I may do some more today, I am re-reading and thinking it over. It's just a fluff piece to fill space and few will read it or pay attention to it, but I do like things to be accurate. It is hard to be objective when looking in the mirror. It's also weird.
I also got a note forwarded to me from the woman who bought the stool I donated to the auction. She is very pleased with it and using it as a plant stand. She sent a photo and had some questions. So I sent her a nice reply and thank you note.
Well today is another day and I will give that saw some more effort. I am also trying to get the TiPi into the canvas shop for repair of last year's storm damage. Time is getting short, but it seems difficult to arrange an appointment to bring this thing in and get it going. I'll try again today. I know that shop will be slammed with sail and boat work in the next few weeks.
I'd be interested in reading the article, if it's something that can be shared once published, Tom.
I think it will be available online once published, but this is, I believe, a quarterly paper so it mat not be for several months. The truth is I find it a bit embarrassing to have something just focused on me and I think it's a first for me. Only meeting me once and talking for an hour or two, she homed in on the high points as she saw them. Here's one line from one the opening paragraphs:
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" Tom was in the drive, tall, resolute, with that "woodsy" look many men spend big bucks to achieve, but, oh, not quite this authentic. White goatee, green felt hat, cigarette in one hand, and a firm welcome-grip with the other, he pointed to one of the stacks of logs. I judged each log to be about 7" in diameter and three feet long. Bark covered, stacked neatly on skids."
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After a first read through and some minor corrections I read it again this morning and I noticed some things that are a little bit factually mis-leading. As much as I dislike editing another's work (because I HATE having people edit mine), I may send her some clarifications. This is an odd thing to deal with and I find myself a bit out of sorts regarding it. ffcheesy
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I have nearly reached my limit with that 2050. Yesterday I tried it again cold and I could not start it. So I took the carb out and opened it up. Pulled all the little parts out that would come out cleaned everything, blew out the passages, found nothing obvious and put it back together. Now that I know how it goes in the right way I only had to do it 3 times. :veryangry: The first time I forgot about the throttle cable routing issue and had to pull it all apart to get that right, then I had the choke linkage connected, but it came off while manipulating everything to get it lined up. I didn't notice until the bolts were snugged. Third time I got it right, but it took a while. Worst carb setup I have ever worked on in a saw.
I took it outside and it started after several pulls but would not stay running. I adjust the L screw and eventually got it to stay running until it warmed up. Then I grabbed the tach and tried to see where the H jet stood. I revved it up high and when it came back down, it stalled. I could not start it again.
I checked for air leaks, but this saw has no boot, the carb bolts right up to the cylinder. Compression is good too. It's possible that the is a leak in one of the carb diaphragm's that I can't see. There is no impulse hose, it gets that directly off the cylinder also. The gasket is clean and good and tight. I looked for a rebuild kit but didn't really find one I am sure is correct. It's a Zama EL1 53P, or that's the marking on the carb anyway. I don't find that exact number anywhere. I think I've hit the end of my skills yet again. If anybody has suggestions, pass them along. It's a nice little saw and I would really love to have this thing run reliably.
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As one of my diversions yesterday I finally managed to hook up with the Canvas Shop and bring in the tipi for repair. I had a hard time finding the shop at the marina as the boatyard is chock full of pleasure sailing yachts getting their spring refits underway. It's a small job for them and they will do it on a rainy day soon (they say). I am sure they don't want that huge hunk of canvas clogging up their work space for very long. I'm excited to have that fixed and ready for another year.
Today is a solid overcast, damp, and cool day. It will rain or drizzle all day. Perfect day to work on saws, but I'm so frustrated now, I may let that sit for a bit until I can look it in the eye again. :wink_2: Maybe I'll find something else worthwhile to occupy my mind and get me a little ahead on something.
Great quote Tom and I can see why you may feel a bit embarrassed! You should start marketing/selling your look!
Well we each have our own perceptions and for each of us, our perceptions are our own reality. SO I won't make any comments about that. It's just embarrassing for me is all. I did re-read it yesterday and emailed her some more broad technical corrections about what I do. We will see what the final cut looks like. Won't be published until sept-Oct timeframe. It will be forgotten in a few weeks, I'm sure.
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So immediately after yesterday's post there began a series of texts with the one client I am still waiting on to pick up his order of 150. It's getting annoying now because the logs are jamming me up for other work. I've been sitting on them for a month now after rushing to meet his 'deadline'. He ran into money/job issues and has been delaying every week. There are actually two farmers who go in together for one order. The one guy wants his 50 log cut and has the cash, the other guy was trying to bail on his order (100). This is the 3rd year they have bought from me. He explained how this was out of his control, etc. I sympathized with him, but also told him he was now making his problems become my problems. He wasted 4 days of my hard labor and about 12-14 trees, not to mention my lost income, changing this into firewood after all that handling.
In 4 years, this is the first time I have been stiffed. Since I have been thinking about ending this part of the business, it might be the nail in the coffin. The hard work and back pain is one thing, but the wood allergy seems to be getting worse every year and this time took several weeks to fully clear. He finally called me and we talked through some options. They will come on Monday with truck and trailer and take what they can fit. The one guy will pay cash on the barrel head for his 50 and the other guy will work out a payment plan with me over time. Not the best option, but it's my choice. It would make me sick to hack these logs up into firewood and I don't want to invest a lot of time and cost into inoculating them and stressing over where to sell them. I need my driveway clear and my trailer empty so I can get things setup for firewood and summer operations.
I think I have pretty much decided that if I do this at all next year, I will not take orders over 50 logs, preferring the 20-40 log orders. If these guys want to order next year, I'll need a deposit if I take their order at all. I guess 4 years and only getting stiffed once isn't so bad. If they had done this early in the season, it would be no big deal and I could have used those logs for other buyers, but since they waited until long after everyone else had their logs, I got screwed.
Lesson learned, now it's another day so let's move on.
Tom,
Sorry about the hassle. If your other customers have been good I might continue for them but just require cash up front for this one guy. The smaller orders might be a good idea to keep the lot cleaned and the cash flow going. If somebody needs a couple hundred logs they might have to do 4 orders or such.
I hope it all works out.
Getting close to Constitution Day isn't it?
Yes, that is this Saturday and I will be up at the farm where we hold GreyFox in July. This is the spring senior staff meeting on site. I still don't know why they invite me and I won't go for the whole weekend, but will spend Saturday up there doing some networking.
My thoughts on the order size being smaller is that I can do a 40 log order in 2 work sessions with little stress. The larger orders can take me weeks working around the weather and conditions and I wind up pushing myself too hard, requiring recovery time.
I hope it works out for you/
A little off-topic, but I remember you or someone talking about leg cramps on this post and what was done to fix them. Or I could be wrong, and it's on a different post.
I'm not sure. If not here, I'm sorry I brought it up. Thanks for your time.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 15, 2025, 09:13:45 AMWell we each have our own perceptions and for each of us, our perceptions are our own reality
I took a ride on a coworkers Can-Am trike yesterday and he took a picture of me on it, making me realize how fat my belly area has gotten. The shirt I had on wasn't terribly flattering, but eek.
I like the idea of smaller orders.
@Peter Drouin I think Doc mentioned Tums somewhere.
Yes Pete, Austin is correct. About 5-6 years ago I was having bad leg cramp issues and from woods work and pushing the mill. Doc Recommended taking 3 or 4 tums when it happened or before. I was doing that pretty regular every night before bed. Eventually my leg muscles caught up with the work load and it is now an occasional thing. They work really well and pretty quick. If I get caught with a leg cramp in the middle of the night and pop a couple of tums, I can get back to sleep pretty quick.
Good luck with your issue and I hope this helps you.
Yup!
Thanks for the info, I will give them a try.
Calcium carbonate is an antacid, and it relaxes and stabilized muscle fibers. We use it for cardiac and potassium emergencies. If you have kidney stones, you might just use it when needed. most everyone can use more calcium. If you have young women in your lives like teenagers, they should build up calcium in bone like a retirement saving account. It will serve them well when they are older,...like us. :wink_2: ffsmiley ffcheesy
My grandmother used a pinch of salt for Charlie horses. Swore by it. But there was always lots of tums or Rolaids in the house, grandfather was always chewing on one for heartburn. ffcheesy
Rolaids used to have aluminum in them. I think they are reformulated but caused dementia. tums are fairly benign. salt will help if you are out in the heat and dehydrated. calcium is used no matter what. we did NaCl tabs in the summer at scout camp. for weakness and nausea in the worst heat. It is funny but you get acclimated after a while.
Happy Constitution Day Birthday Tom.
I was thinking I was low on Potassium, that will cramp things up too, I think.
low potassium will make you very weak. normal is about 3,5 to 5. 3.3 will not make a difference but at 1.8 you will barely be ale lift your legs off a bed. Lasix makes you lose potassium, and spironolactone makes you hold on to it. called potassium sparing. renal failure or insufficiency will make you accumulate potassium as it is the kidney that regulate it. some big antibiotics, antifungals and chemotherapy can make you lose it. this is why some cancer patients get into trouble with it. IV potassium is used to stop the heart in death penalty operations. oral is forgiving unless you are on meds that make you hold on to it and you take a bunch. It may be prescribed by your doc if you need it and should be monitored. If something is making you lose it and you are replacing it, you have to be careful if the medication is stopped, or your kidneys begin to function/hold on again. You can die from too much potassium from taking oral and not able to get rid of it. this is usually old folks (defined as older than me) that are on many medications and have variable renal function. ffsmiley "and that is all I have to say about that!" Forest Gump. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
Salt substitute is KCL (potassium chloride) so you could take K+ unknowingly. regular salt is NaCl. (sodium chloride). There are certain ethnicities that can eat too many carbs and drive the potassium into the cell from the serum. I think Mediterranean ancestry. One Italian man in a big city used to eat Sunday dinner at his mom's house. He would go home and not be able to move. He finally reported to the police that he thought his mom was trying to poison him. It was figured out, but Sunday dinner was never the same. :uhoh: ffsmiley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypokalemic_periodic_paralysis
Heard on the news, first case of a patient (infant) being administered gene therapy to treat genetic disorder called carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase. I wonder if it will fix it or if something else develops? Time will tell.
lots of genetic material is imported into our cells via viruses or by plasmids incorporating it into our DNA. this disease is rare but can be fatal if severe, and infants have to be on a low protein diet. That can interfere with development. Even at Wesley, these kids would be transported to children Mercy pediatric hospital in KC. There are many of diseases. I had a newborn in Hays whose older brother died of a fatal genetic mutation affecting a critical enzyme also in the mitochondria. I had never heard of it and called Harvard. got the genetic fellow who faxed me the info from a 4-volume set on genetic and metabolic disease. It was half a page. It told me the test to send off. It was positive. a 1 in 4 chance. We withdrew active care, and he died at 4 days old in his parent's arms. I ended up buying the 4-volume set and it only got used a few times, but we did not have the extensive data online that we have now.
Geez, I leave town for one lousy day and this thread sure took a dark turn. :wacky: Maybe I will et this go another day or two in case it cheers up, then do my annual new thread.
And thank you Howard.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 17, 2025, 07:38:44 PMGeez, I leave town for one lousy day and this thread sure took a dark turn. :wacky: Maybe I will et this go another day or two in case it cheers up, then do my annual new thread.
And thank you Howard.
Sorry, I started a dark turn here.
No sweat Pete, that's how it goes in our little world here, all good. ffcheesy
But I think I will close out this thread with a quick recap of yesterday, boring though it might be. The annual Grey Fox spring senior staff meeting on site. As mentioned before, I have little idea why I am invited to these because I am not a crew chief and although my current job is working alone, I still do technically have a boss that i 'report to'. But it's just an organizational arrangement. He only sees me when we cross paths, and he gives me information, but no direction. I am on my own. We do ask each other for help from time to time. This is just a fill-in position for me as I cover for a staff member who has done this job for years, but has a 2 year old child with very special medical needs and they are rearranging their lives around this challenge and waiting until she is able to withstand the travel and camping/weather situation. Hopefully next year he is back.
In addition to just doing the job during the festival, in the off months as I follow the artists on my own and run into people, I occasionally have one of those epiphanies that Howard has been getting lately. So every year or two I make a suggestion on getting certain artists to the festival, or arranging certain combinations and collaborations between what might seem to be disparate artists, that can create something totally new and fresh and fun for the artists. Once in a while, these things turn out to be pretty epic for everyone involved and the management appreciates these suggestions. They tell me that's why I get invited to these things, plus other reasons they do not detail.
I arrived at the farm around 9:30am and there was almost nobody there. They were all down the road at a group brunch. The only guy I found was our site manager working on putting in a new grey water drain from the farm house. SO I got down in the trench with him and helped him grade and lay the pipe, then figure out how we would handle the winter/summer configuration change. This little old house only gets used for the festival weeks and serves as the offices and laundry. The yard behind where we were working also serves as the food service area for 2-3 weeks before the festival and for a week after. So that drain is used for the kitchen sink during those periods, then it gets capped and forgotten until the next year. So we laid the pipe in and back filled it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250517_112903550.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=359340)
I finished up the job making the various caps and doing the final glue work after sending the boss off to do more important stuff. He set off with a group that was now arriving to survey some tent locations and changes. We have detailed survey maps of the entire farm indicating exactly where each stage, structure, public tent, road, and all the other infrastructure goes. We bury markers just under the grade to be found in successive years. When we are not having the festival, this is a 80 acre working hayfield and it has to produce. So we take a lot of care to make sure it can be worked easily when we are not there. We do a pretty good job.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20250517_093823640_HDR.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=359339)
If I take that same photo as above, in July during the festival you won't be able to see much grass at all, if any. In this photo, all the field you see is recrossed with buried water lines, seasonal roads. cable tunnels and other stuff, but right now, it's just growing hay.
The rest of the day was spent in one formal meeting and dozens of small informal ones. This year there is an effort to set up our handicapped access at at venues and other aspects around the festival to improve it over past years. This is no small challenge on a rough hay field but we have some solid improvements coming for this year and we now have a person specifically dedicated to that job at the management level.
When I got home last night I sent an email to an artist friend of mine in Belgium updating him on some of the new details I learned regarding his session at the festival this year. I'm looking forward to another great year.
Today I will either do some milling at home or take down a tree on the front lawn. It's grey and solid overcast and damp. This evening We are going out to dinner with my daughter and SIL for my birthday. Not supposed to cross 65° today.
I think I'll close this thread out with this post and open a new thread with my next post. It's long enough, and Howard will just keep giving me grief if I don't start a new one.
It's a new day.
Had some very good practical information from Doc Henderson. The "why" we will take some otc things that work to cure the ailment (such as Tums for cramps) is helpful, and precautions when it may not always work for everyone. Thanks doc.
Always good info from the Doc! We are lucky he takes the time to explain things as well as he does.
For those interested, the continuation of this thread takes place HERE (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=126045.0).