Making it through another year, '23-'24

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, this may seem pretty off-beat and pipe dream thinking but Friday morning I stickered stacked a little bit of wood up in the attic. A lot of it was around 26%MC. Most of it was EWP and one piece of ERC at 16%. Today I thought to move my shop remote temp/humidity sensor up in the attic so I can monitor it from my desk here in the house. Outside temp only hit a high of 72 for a little while today, the shop stayed around 67. The attic hit 94° and the humidity was 50% as opposed to 68% in the shop and 70% outside. The sun has been off the roof for 2 hours now and the temp is down to 78° and dropping. I checked the MC on some boards today and they are already showing 18% on the two pin meter.  So I am going to watch this.
I know the daytime heat is going to sort of 'cook' the boards, mostly on the surface, but I am also hoping the overnight cooling allows the board to equalize a bit and move moisture to the outer surfaces, then the next day about 8 hours more of cooking. It may be an odd way, and half ashed but I am hopeful this works to get that wood dried out. I know the stuff I took down the other day still will not register on my 2 pin meter and it planed up beautiful.
As my attic is 40' long, I am thinking of popping in an access hole near the other end so I can load boards up there from 2 ends. It also adds some storage but I am not going to try to load it up with oak. :D EWP and ERC are pretty light when they dry out. I'll have to cut some stuff for flooring once I get another hole in.
Anyway, it's something else to work on. I don't think this will work well in the winter, if at all. I had monitored the temps up there last 2 winters and they are nothing to get excited about. That's why I never pursued the heat exchanger idea to grab attic heat and pump it into the shop.

[SawyerTed]

You might consider loading from one end of the attic and unloading from the other.  In the interim, moving lumber through drying stages.  It won't be much anyway but it could be a stream of dried lumber.   

[Old Greenhorn]

It crossed my mind Ted, but I don't want to be moving it from one end to the other and I sure don't want to load up wood from just one end and then either have to lift it over and past what's already there, or do the same to get it out. It's tight up there between the trusses. Not a friendly space to work in at all.  ;D I would likely leave wood up there until just before I was going to use it in something, it's for me, not for sale. I am getting short on project wood and the reason is, I don't have a place to put it, so am reluctant to mill it. This would help with a bunch of that for the routine sizes anyway. I can't see myself humping slabs up there and there is a limit as to what I want to put on the trusses. It's something I will keep and eye on and get out of it what I can. Dry indoor lumber storage is a real issue for me, and this will certainly help. The drying makes it even better. Gotta work on some flooring first.

 I note that at 8:45 tonight the temp in the attic just dropped 1° below the shop temp, but the humidity is still14% below that of the shop. It's interesting to watch.

[doc henderson]

basically, a solar kiln, without the clear glazing.  I bet in the winter it will do ok, if the attic temp is 20° above ambient.  Mention to Bill and maybe your son, that you could build a solar kiln, if only you had some hand me down insulation.  that and the sealant paint would be the expensive stuff for a guy with a sawmill.  build a DH kiln, or solar, and have a place to store the extra wood.  Paint it "brown"!

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah Doc, I'd like to do that. It's one of the reasons I wanted to work on filling in the swamp this summer so I had a place for it. BUT that can't happen until the water table drops. Besides, my reality is that these larger projects are rough on me and I lose drive on them. I just came in from the shop for breakfast and looked at what I would need to add that other access hole to the attic. Funny how the list grows quickly. ;D. I have to move a conduit, relocate a light, then start on the hole. I have to make some rafter risers (12 at least) so the floor does not compress the ceiling insulation. Then mill and install the floor and build a sliding ladder to get in and out. I should put some basic lights up there also. I guess it will be a winter project, but boy it gets cold up there in winter time. ;D
 Now that I have a remote temp and humidity gage I am watching the behavior closely and writing it down. The low overnight was 50 (while it was 54 outside) and the humidity went up to 75%. The sun just hit it around 9:15 and the temp is up to 57.2 right now with 77% humidity. Outside is 63 with 69% humidity. The attic temp has gone up 2.5 degrees in the time it is taking me to type this. Time will tell, but when I watched it 2 winters ago the attic temp at best only got a couple of degrees warmer than the shop at the hottest part of the day and tat was rare. Might change if I closed the two vents.
 Anyway, it's something to play with.

[Hilltop366]

The thing about larger projects is if you wait long enough before you start you can usually lose the enthusiasm and interest and not waste time and money starting projects that you probably won't finish.  :D :D ;D

[Bert]

The thing about larger projects is if you wait long enough before you start you can usually lose the enthusiasm and interest and not waste time and money starting projects that you probably won't finish.

Thats probably the best advice I've ever heard!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well this is one of those projects that I can do in pieces without upsetting the apple cart very much. As for expenses, beyond my time, screws are the only thing I might buy to get it to a functional level, then as I see how it works I might start looking into powered louvers for the attic vents. I was not home most of the middle of the day but it did hit at least 90° up there with the outside temps only peaking at 72. I did a spot check and the MC is still dropping on those boards. The one that started at 26% is down to 18% now. It is certainly doing something, that is for sure. ;D
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 Today I went to the mill for a lazy day. I figured I would mess with the blower we plan on hooking up for sawdust control. Bill changed my mind and we decided we really needed to get the pile out of there before we could do any messing around. so we brought down the 10" diesel leaf blower and after a quick and disastrous test, we opted to back in the chip truck. (The bags had sawdust blowing right through them on all sides.)
 But this worked.


 

 We messed around for about 4 hours and pretty much got the whole pile in the truck. Little Inga held in with us all day pushing sawdust toward the pickup point and blowing down the mill.



 

 I did note that she took a little break or two to chase frogs for a change of pace.



 

 I (we) were sweaty and covered with sawdust in every crevice. Bill and Inga were hungry I wanted a shower. :D
 At least we got something done today. Now to get that blower working so we don't have to do this again.

[thecfarm]

Should of joined her on the frog hunt.  ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

I didn't want to take my socks off.  ;D

[GRANITEstateMP]

big kids can leave the socks on...it's just not a good idea for the big kids wives to catch you with said dirty socks on in the house!

[gspren]

Does my heart good to see a kid walking/playing barefoot in a big mud puddle, not enough kids now will do that.

[Old Greenhorn]

We were about 10 minutes working and Bill says, "Hang on, I gotta get Inga, she will get into this" and she came down and helped us figure out rigging the big blower then pushed and shoveled and blew sawdust. She is a lot of fun to watch have fun. She has more common sense than most 20 year old's I know. She will catch frogs, chase chickens, collect eggs, climb all over heavy equipment, find sticks and make 'stuff'. She drives her battery powered 4 wheeler all over the property (with some supervision) and is almost always up for something new like cruising for mushroom trees, she likes to tie the flags on, and she is learning how we pick them out.
 Yesterday she and Bill went to an auction up north. They stopped in on their way back. I asked her if her Dad bought anything good. She said "nah, just boring stuff". Turns out he bought a big excavator because he doesn't yet have one in that size class. She thought it was boring because he already has 5 of them. Last year he bought a peddle boat at the same auction and she was all excited about that one. :D She also liked it when he bought the school bus, which I think is hysterical since she is home-schooled. :D
 She's a doll for sure and I call her the "Shirley Temple of Stone road". Apparently I am the only one old enough to get the reference. She does make the workday go easier, for sure.

[Old Greenhorn]

I'll tell you what, 4 hours of shoveling wet sawdust into the blower took more out of me than I'd like to admit. Sunday night I hit the rack more than an hour early and I slept for 11 hours. That never happens to me. Monday was a rain out anyway and I piddled in the shop but didn't accomplish much. My back was a tad sore from the shoveling. I am distracted by the upcoming show and watching the attic kiln. I did start a junk fire in the shop and mostly burned some 1/2" think red oak bark that was cluttering around the splitter. Burns pretty good actually. I was trying to get rid of it as junk, but now I may throw what I have on the wood stack. A BTU is a BTU, right?
 Today we had the monthly chiro visit and he fixed that shoveling issue in my back. That lasted for 3 hours or so. :D I went out to my dwindling wood stacks and pulled an RO bark on slab to put up in the attic kiln and make a bench out of this winter. I reached too far and re-damaged my back. Bill called this morning and has chipper blades for me to sharpen, not my favorite thing, but it's bad weather work.
 As I said, I'm distracted by this show. I've been tweaking the display, adding some signs and poster type things, and trying to get my stuff to be as visible as possible. It was nearly 40 years ago when I worked as an applications engineer doing tool shows around the country and everything we did for our booths had to pass muster on how it appeared to a casual passerby and whether it 'engaged them'. I hate to admit it, but I am getting back in that frame of mind and that makes for a lot of minor tweaking. On the one hand I enjoy the challenge, on the other hand it reminds me of that miserable 'stepping stone job'. :D
 At any rate, if this show does nearly as well as the last one it will change my direction a bit and I will focus on shows as an income source which means some adjustments. When I retired and set on this path, this is not what I had planned. I was going to try to make some crude simple stuff and hoped it would be good enough to sell a few here and there. It would use up the oddball wood and give me work during the winter. Now it seems the work is coming out a bit nicer than I thought I could do and the finishes are too. But these take a lot longer and demand a higher price that makes them worthwhile to make and sell. However, it is easier work than trying to make a living running someone else's sawmill and I am aging out on that score a little at a time. So I need 3 things: A) a increased supply of the right kind of wood(s), B) more storage space to hold what I can make through a winter, and 3) A steadier string of the 'right' shows. That last one is the hardest and I have been pondering on that a lot.

 Tomorrow we do the monthly food shopping, so half that day is shot already. But tomorrow is another day and I'll worry about that then. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

As predicted, yesterday was mostly shot. By the time I got out to do 'something' it was 1pm. I did note that the attic kiln topped off past 101° yesterday around 3pm. I am watching and learning it. I did get the lawn mowed yesterday, so that was something anyway.  Today I'll get back up there and check the MC's again. Waiting for one board I need for a project, maybe next week.
 I looked more at how I will open up a new access hole to the attic and thinking on how I will re-route the electric and add an outlet in the attic for a light and fan with a switch. I'll have to start looking through my supplies and see what I have on hand, which should be most of it, but there is always some small 2 dollar item that seems to hold things up if I don't check ahead of time. ;D It's all in the planning, but I have other stuff backing up I have to get done first, like lumber orders, chipper blades, and chimney cleaning/refurb. I'll have to sit on my hands on this project until the weather turns.
 Now let's see what I can fill my day with today.

[Old Greenhorn]

I think I am going to start a new thread titled "Stupid things Old Greenhorn does" where in I list all the stupid ideas I come up with and actually try. For instance, recently we have had the 'beer can thing', the 'attic/kiln thing', and the '6 pack carrier thing' to name just a few. If things got slow, the design committee could come up with ideas to egg me on. Waddya think? :D ;D

 Todays stupid idea was that since burning that bark a few days ago worked out pretty good, provided heat, and got some large bark slices out of the way, I went and picked up a bunch more, split it into stove sized slices and filled a wood hoop with it.



 

 It cleaned up about half the pile on the splitter. I figure wood is wood and even though this was a live tree last year, the bark seems to be drying pretty fast and is quite thick. I figure it's good for the damp fall days. Now to figure out what to do with the rest of it.
 I'll think on that thread some more. ;D BTW, the attic kiln went over 103° today with humidity at 34%.
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 Speaking of stupid, These delivery drivers that come to our road amuse me. My neighbor across the road has a driveway that drops off the road at a sharp angle to the road. Easy approach coming from the north, but coming from the south one has to make a 160° turn and there is now way to do that unless you are on a bike. Still they all have to try it, and they all have to 3 point the turn (at least). Well, all but this one.



 

 I didn't want to embarrass him any further, so I didn't get detailed photos, but his front left wheel is hanging in space over an 18" drop, and the rear right tire is 4" off the pavement. I offered to yank him out (not my first time for this), but he said they had a contract, it was paid for, and the guy was ten minutes away. "OK" I said. The tow driver was a bit miffed. He said it was the forth one of these he had done in 3 days. He hates this contract. They give him a lot of work. :D ;D I told the van driver to use my driveway to make the turn safer for him.
 Tomorrow is another one.

[thecfarm]

I've burn bark before. Seem like I had some that was an inch thick. Maybe hemlock? It makes heat!! 

[doc henderson]

Cottonwood is thick also.  dry bark and dry wood have the same BTUs per unit dry weight.

[SawyerTed]

This is in Hanging Rock State Park family campground.   The driver's regular job was driving a delivery van.  

I wonder if she's still driving for a living? 

The maintenance men jacked the car up and pulled the rock out with a tractor and chain.  
br>
 

[Peter Drouin]

Some will never get it, [driving]  :D :D :

[aigheadish]

I was a bit nervous going down that driveway in your Mule (assuming it's the driveway I think it is), I think it'd be pretty easy to screw it up in a delivery van, especially if you aren't paying much attention...

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, I got the truck loaded up this morning for tomorrow's show. I took my time and it took me two hours with some messing around trying different stuff. I sold two large pieces at the last show, so it was a bit easier, but also the crates and things I made helped to consolidate it a little. I usually have the back seat loaded, this time I have nothing there except extra moving blankets. I also moved some stuff around in the shop and fit the whole truck inside and could close the door. I believe it's the first time I have ever gotten this whole truck in. I figure at best, I am driving home in the rain tomorrow and want it all inside for unloading. I am not sure I can do the unloading when it's inside using the floor space, but I'll figure that out later. ;D
A rare view of the truck loaded from above:


 

I got 5 benches, 1 coffee table, and a corner shelf up on the ladder rack this time. Looks good now, but in a driving rain, not so much. Also, there is stuff in the bed that will not hold up in the rain and will have to be moved to the backseat on the return trip, or just tossed in the woodstove at some point. >:(
 I piddled around on other stuff and went down my checklist (nearly forgot to bring my change money), but mostly I watched the weather forecasts. They are all over the map, but none are encouraging. I am not one to give up, I have a lot of time invested in this show and I need the sales. One forecast I just saw expects it to start raining around 8am. Complicating things is the show is an hour west of me, which should put us in a better spot, but it's about 1,000 ft higher. High temp for the day will be around 52° and they expect more rain out there for some reason. None of this is going to bring people out, and the overall is not looking good at all. I am fully expecting a bust. The only reason I haven't bailed out at this point is that I can't let myself quit on a plan, which is probably a dumb choice. I have seen these things turn around for weird reasons and if you don't hang in, you miss the opportunity. I know I am going to have a lot of soaking wet moving blankets to dry out, not to mention wet furniture. We won't have dry weather until Tuesday.
 So in more ways than usual, we will have to see what tomorrow brings, because sleeping in is not an option. ;D

[thecfarm]

Looking forward to the outcome!!

[Ljohnsaw]

Have a BIG roll of 6 mil drop cloth plastic ready to wrap everything for the trip home?

[Old Greenhorn]

Ray, I am interested to se the same thing and have it in the rear view mirror. ;D

John believe me I thought about it, but look at that photo above. How do I wrap that stuff up top? I did bring a tarp to at least try to cover the stuff in the bed, but wrapping that stuff on top is dang near impossible for 60MPH driving.


After a fitful sleep last night I woke to find the forecast changed.....yet again. The satellite shows the system is over us, the radar shows the rain should start in an hour, but the forecast is saying no rain here (home) until late afternoon/evening and for the show site around 3pm. The temp is about 50 and quite damp/cool. It is not going to be a pleasant day weather wise in any event. It's got me thinking 'where are my gloves?'. >:(
 So it is what it is and I will stay the course and ride it out. I'll be on the road in a little while.