Expressive or instrumental shed

Haven't posted a blog entry in a while:  just been busy (or preoccupied), I guess.


A few weeks ago I came up with an idea for a small shack:  just a proof-of-concept; something to make with the piles of salvaged lumber I have stashed around the back yard.  Or, more correctly:  I've made a pathetic little shelter out of a single-swing swingset by tying a tarp over it (so, an A-frame setup), and have that next to a small fire pit, which I sometimes sit next to on a wooden bench that I made and watch the flames.

This small shack is an extension of the little A-frame shelter:  wide enough across the back for a small bunk; deep enough front-to-back to make it unlikely for the fire pit (in the front right of the shelter) to throw sparks onto the bunk.  Has enough room for a small table/desk; a small standing-height workbench (mostly for firewood preparation -- but maybe also for food prep); room to store firewood; and a few shelves for misc. storage.

Thinking about having a second bunk across the back, just for the flexibility of housing a second person.  Otherwise, would just be used for storage.

It's more "expressive" than "instrumental" -- i.e. it fulfills something emotional or creative, rather than having a practical need.  Because of that, it'll (pragmatically) be years before I get around to it.  Although I might up the timeline by making it serve a second, "practical" purpose.

My current design has it with open windows and no door, just a doorway.  I suppose if I add shutters (or windows) and a door, and a padlock, it can be storage for the gardening tools (shovels, rakes, etc.):  currently they don't have a good place to go.

Or, I can make a "trench forge" in it (maybe as part of the fire pit):  the dirt floor would house the pit, and putting it all under a roof would help to keep the surrounding area just dirt, rather than grass.

I discovered the concept of trench forges a few months ago while laid up with a bad back:  I was lying on the sofa all day, just browsing YouTube.

This is my preferred approach (this guy also does sword-making, and viking reenactments):


This is a similar approach:



I think the idea of a shed or shack is a response to dim memories of my paternal grandfather's fishing shack, near the side of the river he used to fish at.  I went there once or twice (I think he actually had two different shacks), but my brother would remember better than I would, as he went there a lot more -- and for a longer period, and at an older age:  he actually likes fishing.

I did a bit of a YouTube search for fishing shacks, but just ended up with ice fishing shacks (similar, but not quite).  I also searched for tiny cabins -- but all were way too large (I think my grandpa's fishing shack was about an adult's arm width across:   door, with an embedded bench on each side of the door.  There was a small wood-burning stove, so you could sit inside during cold weather and watch your fishing rod through a window to see if it bobbed, in response to getting a bite.

This one is pretty close in size to my grandpa's fishing shack-- though not in layout:


Likewise, this one -- although I think my grandpa's shack would be a little narrower.  But:  I was a little kid -- so sizes would've seemed different to me compared to now.


--GG

Wood stashes

Similar to a quilter who has boxes of interesting scraps of fabric all over the house, I have stashes of wood for future projects.  Some of them have been around for a number of years -- out in the weather:  one of my "To Do" projects is to make a shelter for them.  But, by accident, I've learned that wood lasts a really long time "out in the weather" -- as long as its not lying in the dirt, and it has a chance to dry out again.


This is the pile of wood that inspired this blog entry:  I was selling something on Gumtree (the AU analog of Craigslist), and the buyer asked whether this was some sort of sculpture.

Nope:  just some chunks of wood, held up by some empty, inverted plastic pots.  I split the wood before it dries, so that the wood has "somewhere to go" when it shrinks as it dries.  And I paint the ends to try to minimize moisture loss from the ends (again, to minimize splitting and end-checking).

The rubber boot is there as a size reference:  I'm taking the photo with one boot and one stocking foot. 


The photo is dark, because it's inside my chicken coop! -- but here's a sash of 50+ year old beams that I've found around my property.  Been lying in the dirt (or, when it rains:  mud) for decades -- but only the surface was eaten away:  the core is good.  Hardwood; reddish color:  when slabbed it'll make some nice-looking lumber.

Would consider leaving some surfaces "weathered", and other surfaces smooth and oiled and pinky-red.


These are quartered "small logs", I guess you'd call them?  It's on a metal rack (a table, minus the top?).  Gonna make it into a rustic table:  it'll be an experiment to see if I can do the minimum amount of processing, and in particular, no slabbing.  Instead, the ends will be "tongued", to fit into grooves in the simple rails, and the legs will be tenoned into the bottoms of the rails.  I'll handplane the upper surface of the tabletop, but there's no need to plane (or even shape) the underside.  You'll see (eventually).

I think it's some sort of eucalyptus, but I'm not sure.  I wrote it down on the underside of some of them -- but I couldn't be bothered un-stacking the pile to see.


This isn't "finally", as I have other stashes -- including under the eaves (back of the house), and on the (fairly long) front porch.  Anyhow:  a cedar-looking wood (except it isn't).  A boot again, as a size reference.  No specific plans or vision:  maybe a rustic bench? 

Brother:  next time you visit, you can make something, if you like.  And/or take a sample home with you. 


--GG

Fire pit shelter

For the last few years I've -- now and again -- built small fires in a terracotta bowl.  Basically, I wanted a fire pit, so I bought the most inexpensive one that I could find.  This turned out to be what seemed to be terracotta -- but after it got chipped and the missing varnish(?) exposed the interior to rain, it turned out to be some sort of pressed material:  in other words, after a few years of being exposed to the rain (when in season), it abruptly and catastrophically collapsed (luckily, not while in use).

There's no utilitarian reason (cooking; heat) for my making a little fire now and again:  it's just for staring at and pondering -- something primal, possibly.  We live on acreage, so the firewood doesn't cost anything:  it's largely fallen branches, plus prunings that have been cut to length and dried.

So anyhow, I ended up spontaneously buying another one when I noticed the hardware store had one for -- what was it -- AU$30?  I wrote it down somewhere...

This time it's actual metal:  a wok-like cauldron, plus a ring to set it on.  It's also slightly larger in diameter than the previous one -- and withe a more useful shape (the sides extend outward at an angle, rather than going straight up).  So, win-win-win.

I drilled a hole in the center, so that rainwater wouldn't collect in it and rust it out -- and I placed the entire thing on an old garbage can lid, so that the hot coals (which probably wouldn't fit through the hole, anyhow) wouldn't fall through and set the grass on fire.  Note that I don't use it during the dry season -- only the rainy season.

Anyhow, so I had the idea to set things up so that I could sit by the fire while it was actively raining, and not get rained on, nor have the fire go out.

I took an un-used small swingset frame and turned it into a simple shelter.  The first photo shows the frame with some pink twine creating a framework, with my wooden bench in a reasonable position.  The second pic shows the cantilevered scrap piece of metal siding extended above the fire bowl, with a cinder block as the pivot and a log as the counterweight.  The third photo shows a scrap plastic sheet that I lashed over the frame (I kept the sides open).

On the whole, it worked pretty well:  I had a red plastic tub with kindling (pieces of branches) that I'd use to feed the fire, which sat next to me on the bench.  However, because the metal sheet that extended over the fire bowl pointed in the direction of the shelter -- the smoke was channeled into my face.  Duh.

So, I rotated the bench and the shelter 90 degrees clockwise around the fire bowl (also not shown):  much better!  Now the smoke was sent sideways, and thus away from me -- rather than into my face.

I tried it when it rained -- and I kept dry, and the fire kept burning.

Note to brother:  it reminded me a little of the paternal grandfather's fishing shack.


--GG

Firewood shed

I'm recording yet another small-to-mid-sized project that I did during my week's vacation.

I sometimes make tiny little fires in my backyard, in a small terracotta fire bowl.  Because the fires are small, I don't need a whole lot of firewood:  various branches gathered from my back yard are enough.  But I have odd little stashes in various places, including my back porch.  So for the past few months I've intended to make a little firewood stand.  So, here it is.


I started cutting the pieces of wood, intermittently, early in my vacation -- maybe the 19th.  And I finished it last night, on the 25th of September.  All of the assembly took place on the 25th.


The project is based around triangles, because triangles are structurally very strong.  It also meant that nearly all of the pieces are the same length -- which was handy.

You'll notice that the wood is currently darker at the joints:  that's because I rubbed boiled linseed oil on at the joints before screwing the wood together, to protect the wood from moisture at least a little bit.  If I had tried to oil the wood after assembly, the oil may not have reached into the joints.

Also:  I've had this wood lying out in the open for more than ten years, getting rained on.  Wood is remarkably robust:  it can get wet, and as long as it doesn't stay wet (i.e. it gets a chance to dry out again), it doesn't rot.  Note that the wood was off the ground:  if it had been lying in the dirt, then yeah -- it probably would've rotted.

Although:  if I lived in a cold and rainy climate, this might not have worked.  But we get most of our rain in the summer -- so it's sunny and things dry out pretty quickly.


Here's a tool I made myself, maybe five years ago.  Basically, it's a handle for an L-shaped Allan wrench of the correct size for the hex screws that I like to use on my larger projects.  The wood is actually a tree root:  I wanted to see if a root was strong enough to use as "wood" (the answer is "Yes"). 

For this sort of project I usually drive the screws with a hex-shaped bit, in an electric drill.  But it's a nuisance to keep switching between the driver bit and a drill bit (for making additional holes) -- so I'll often "start" the screws with this tool, and then drive a bunch of them at once, later on -- using the hex bit.

Because I often use this outdoors, I wanted the tool to be visually distinct from the dirt (and miscellaneous scraps of wood), so I spray-painted it bright green (because I like the color green!).  I achieved the spiral by wrapping the tool with a single spiral of narrow masking tape, with a gap between each loop; spraying the handle; and then (of course) removing the masking tape after the paint had dried.


Here's the wood rack taking shape:

Note that I also put some diagonals on the ends, to keep it from flopping over.  And that I've now oiled the whole structure.


Then I cut a scrap sheet of plywood in half, butted the halves end-to-end, and screwed it to the top of the frame.  By now it was starting to get dark.


This is a "Look!  I finished it on this day!" photo.  It was my last day of vacation, and I really wanted to complete this project -- so I worked right up to dark.

But here's a better photo, which I took this morning before work.

You can't tell from this photo, but the structure is about waist-high for me -- so it's not very large, as firewood shelters go.

It's sitting on top of a (salvaged!) plastic base to a portable basketball pole, which keeps the structure off of the dirt -- which will hopefully prevent rot, and make the structure last longer.

You probably can't tell (unless you click on the photo to enlarge it?), but there's a piece of one-by-four that covers the gap between the two pieces of plywood -- also rubbed with boiled linseed oil.

The black pots hold little stubs of wood that are too short to stack properly.  The three sections of the rack are for wood at different stages of drying:  the far left is for old, dry wood; the middle section is for "kinda dry" wood; and the far right is for "green" wood.  When I use up all the wood in the left-hand section, I'll transfer each section's wood to the left. 


Note that as I re-stack it, the order of the wood (which reflects how long it's been drying) will change.  For example, the wood at the bottom of the middle section will be older than the wood at the top of the middle section; when I re-stack in the section at the left, the less-old wood will end up on the bottom of the "To Use" section, and the older wood will be on the top of the "To Use" section -- i.e. the first to be used! 

This re-ordering doesn't apply to the wood from the "green wood" section -- but by the time it reaches the "To Use" section it'll be so seasoned that it won't really matter.


This project was noteworthy in that, except for the screws, all of the wood was salvaged, not purchased:  the long pieces were from a neighbor's house construction, and the red plywood was from the pallet from our solar panels (which explains the peculiar cut-outs:  I cut the wooden blocks out; I wasn't able to remove the nails).  In fact, the short screws that I used to attach the red plywood were salvaged from a previous wooden outdoor project that started to rot:  I threw away the wood, but kept the screws.


--GG

Fire pit cover

I'm on vacation -- or technically, this is the weekend that leads up to my week of vacation.

I've decided to work on a bunch of small- and medium-sized projects, just to get things done -- rather than embark on a huge project, not finish it by the end of the week, and get all disappointed.


For some reason -- possibly because it reminds me of family get-togethers during the summer at my paternal grandparents' house -- I like occasionally building a small fire in the back yard.  I build it in a little terracotta fire pit (see photo above).

However, sometimes it's raining, and it puts out the fire.  Sad.

So, I decided to use an old rusty barrel (it was already on the property when we inherited it; presumably one of the "treasures" collected by The Lady's granddad) into a simple shelter.  It was already squished:  I didn't do it.

Below is a photo of the project partway through: I had used a framing square and a grease pencil to draw a guide line -- then had at it with an angle grinder.

Once it was cut all the way through, it was kind of a "C" shape -- so I stood in the middle and used my (gloved!) hands to bend it into more of a "U"-shape.   Unfortunately, I was wearing shorts (as usual, when I'm working outdoors), and accidentally backed into the rusty, jagged edge.  Whoops.

I leaked a little bit.

Sometimes I'd just keep on working after cutting myself -- but this time I was sensible, and went inside and washed it out, and bandaged it.  But before putting the bandage on (not shown), I used my electric clippers to shave off my leg hair all the way around -- so that the bandage would stick better.


And, here's a photo of the results, which I shot tonight:  a fire, under the shelter.  Proof of a completed mini-project.

By the way, I don't purchase firewood.  Some of what I burn is small scraps from various woodworking projects.  And I also collect fallen branches from the trees in our yard, and burn those.


(9/19/16) Addendum:  Here's what it looks like in daylight.

I haven't yet tried it in the rain.  But it seems like it would work.


--GG

Tall grass

It seems that Australian plants -- including grass! -- have evolved to chill out when it's dry -- and then make use of wet weather when it does occur.

I'm pretty sure it was only three weeks since I'd last mowed the yard.  But, we've been having storms about twice a week for the last month.

My kids are pinching stalks of grass that are aprox. their own height.  That's how much it's grown since then.


--GG

The world is your workshop

Tomorrow is the final day of my eight days of vacation.  I got a lot done -- although (of course!) not as much as I wanted to get done.

One thing that this vacation has reinforced for me is that projects that don't take a lot of person-hours can still take several days -- because every time you glue something, or paint/varnish/oil something -- that's it!  Shift's over!  Time to stop work!


For example:  one of my projects -- which I'll discuss tomorrow -- is two pieces of wood glued together, with two dowels sticking out of the front, and then rubbed down with some finishing oil -- and then screwed to a rack.

But!  Prepping the two pieces of wood so that I could glue them together took maybe half an hour to an hour (I didn't keep track).  Then I glued them -- and that was it for the day!  (On to other tasks...)

The next day I handplaned them (mostly) flat, created two dowels, laid out and drilled the holes, and glued the dowels in -- and that was it for the day.

On day three (today), I oiled them.  OK, end of that segment.

And finally, on day four, I get to actually bolt it to the rack.  Whew!

The other thing I've learned is that, when you're fortunate enough to live where the weather is pretty mild -- that the whole world can be your workshop.  Or, at least your back yard can.

Here you can see three different projects glued and clamped.  My workshop space is pretty small -- and my workbench is (unfortunately) pretty cluttered, so I don't have a lot of room at the moment for bulky things.

Part of the clutter is due to various partially-finished projects -- something I tried, unsuccessfully, to address this vacation


To bring the message full-circle:  my primary project this vacation was the Swamp Guitar (basically a cigar-box guitar).  But because I'd have to keep stopping due to glue-ups, I also worked on a custom tool caddy, and a little bit on the Bretz steps, as well.  Once I actually finish any of these three projects I'll post some photos.

But, about two days ago I realized that there were just too many stages remaining for those three projects, I changed my focus to three fairly quick tasks -- such as the one I described above.


Tomorrow is my final day of vacation, and I post some pics of the projects I **did** finish.   As for the three "main" projects -- well, I'll keep picking away at them, an afternoon or two per weekend.  In among my other duties.  :)


--GG

Best vacation EVER

I'm on a week's vacation.  This is the best vacation I've **ever** had!!! (!!!!!) (!!!!!!!)


It started out unpromising, in that last Friday was supposed to be my last day at work:  I just had two tasks to wrap up -- tasks that I really couldn't delegate.  However, Friday morning I was given two new tasks, that needed to be completed "sometime next week" -- while I was on vacation. 

So, instead of spending Friday wrapping up my two existing tasks, I ended up spending all day working on my new tasks. 

Since I didn't have any specific plans (e.g. a family road trip) for my holidays, I ended up deciding to come in on Monday, as well.  I ended up finishing all but one of my now-four tasks -- and the person to whom I owed the fourth task said that it could wait until I got back from holidays.


So!  Vacation started Tuesday.  It is now Friday evening.  Each day I've spent at least a half a day in the shop, working on my "swamp guitar" (it's like a cigar box guitar; more info when I finish it). 

When it gets too dark to do woodworking in my workshop (no electricity), I go outside and clean up small sections of the back yard:  clearing things out of the way and mowing the long grass that remains.

Today I managed to spend the whole day in the shop.  I reached a "gluing point" -- when I glue a section of a project I'm basically stuck until the next day -- so I turned my attention to two other projects:  a tool caddy (photos when I'm finished), and the Bretz Steps (free-standing steps, three steps high, for the back years -- for exercising). 

Today, as well as the other days, I also spent a little time clearing off parts of my cluttered workbench, as well as lapping (flattening a surface) and sharpening some chisels and handplane blades (i.e. making second-hand chisels and handplanes better).


Picked up a 300 grit Japanese waterstone a few days ago, to make lapping my blades easier.  This is the coarsest, fasting-cutting sharpening surface that the speciality woodworking store sells -- as far as I know.  It seems to work:  I'm wearing down -- and therefore evening out -- the backs of my blades noticeably faster than with my previous gear.


And!  I'm only halfway through my vacation.  So hopefully I will actually finish my swamp guitar -- rather than have yet another partially-finished woodworking project.


Stay tuned.  :)
   

--GG

Book on tips and tricks for working alone

Good book; lotsa useful tips.

Good for if you're building things (fences, sheds, houses) by yourself -- tricks for if you don't have a helper available (e.g. to hold the end of the tape measure; holding the other end of the board).

WORKING ALONE:  TIPS & TECHNIQUES FOR SOLO BUILDING, by John Carroll.  (2001)

My copy says US$18.  I see a few used ones on Amazon for about $12.


I recommend.





--GG

Chickie house update

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've mostly finished the chicken coop.

I still need to take some good photos of the chicken house -- but here's some views of some of the specific components that I finished after getting back from our road trip. Basically, over this weekend:  and today I started on the major ''shed tidying'' project.


The first photo (below) is of the sliding latch.  This has been installed for a while -- but I came across this photo that I hadn't yet used, so I'll raise the topic again.  Basically, because there's some ''play'' in the latch, I intentionally installed it at a 30 degree angle, so that it always falls to the left.  This allowed me to be more precise with its placement. 

Also, instead of using the loop that came with the latch assembly to keep the shaft from pulling **away** from the doorframe, I reversed the position, hammered the loop flat, and used it as a wear plate (i.e. to keep the wood on the door from wearing away).  The shaft of the latch now forces the door closed:  this is a more structurally sound arrangement, as the four screws holding the shaft mounting are bearing the load, rather than just two screws for the loop.

That photo was taken a fair while ago:  before I installed the screening, as well as the handle.


Below is a photo of the door handle that I constructed for the outside of the door:

It's made of two pieces of wood -- an L-shape for the top and vertical portions, and a short, angled segment for the ''spacer'' at the bottom.  I designed it to be weather-resistant:  there are no gaps in the top portion, and there is no place for water to get stuck (and cause rot) where the lower segment connects to the vertical. Plus, I gave it a few coatings of Danish oil (finishing oil).


And here is the door handle for the inside of the door:

This handle is a simpler design: three pieces, with the two shorter ''spacer'' pieces notched into the vertical section.  Since this handle is under shelter (i.e. inside the chicken coop), I didn't worry about weather resistance as much -- although it still has a few layers of Danish oil (finishing oil), as well.

Both are made from lagistromia branches, from The Lady's grandmother's front yard. I've had the branches for two or three years, and I still have some segments that I'll eventually use to make other things.


This windowsill protects the chickies' feet when they roost there.  During an earlier phase of construction I'd borrowed my brother-in-law's angle grinder and cut this window in the front of the metal shed that I was converting into the chicken coop.  I did this for ventilation:  it gets hot around here during the summer.  I didn't have time to install the windowsill before we left, so I just draped several layers of newspaper and cardboard over the bare sheet metal edge -- so they wouldn't hurt their feet -- and held it all in place with a small C-clamp.

The window still involved my cutting a two-by-four into an L-shaped cross-section, and leaving parts of it long, for aesthetic purposes.  You can see the parts that have been left long -- it's the far left and far right of the windowsill.


This is the inside view:

You can see that the **inside** of this piece of wood is even with the verticals of the window hole -- in contrast to the horizontal extensions that I retained for the outside.


This is a closer view of the outside of the window sill.  I added the little plus-signs to the photo to illustrate that I've ''clocked'' the screws.  This is a practice that my dad showed me when I was a kid, helping him around the house:  orienting the heads of screws in the same direction is a subtle sign of professionalism.  And once you know about ''clocking your screws'', you'll notice this (or the lack thereof!) in a lot of places -- such as the switchplates and wall outlets around your home.

And finally, here are the happy residents!

Three browns and a black one.  The browns in the rear are standing on a two-by-four screwed to two upturned plastic flower pots -- a little perch that I'd whipped up for them a few months back.  The feeder (foreground) and watering trough (behind it) are hanging from wires that are tied to the two-by-four beam that supports the tin roofing overhead.



So, except for two tasks, the chicken house is completed!  The chickie house is still operational -- but I can't cross it off my list until I (1) install a turnbuckle to keep the front frame from sagging (the weight of the door is skewing it sideways), and (2) move the pile of ''Grandad metal pieces'' from the back left corner of the chickie house, so I can then properly bury the anti-predator mesh.


--GG

Chix rest

And, here's the chicken roost that I made.  It's intentionally ''rustic''-looking:  it would've been easier to just build something out of broom handles and two-by-fours.

I made the roost out of branches from a wattle tree that had been in our back yard.  It spontaneously started growing in our back yard (from seeds in bird poop?), about the time we moved in.  It grew for about three years, then died off when the outflow from our waste treatment system kept flooding that area of the back yard.  (Note:  It wasn't yechy water.  It was tertiary-treated, so technically (supposedly!) you could drink it.)

I figured it would be neat to use part of that tree in a project.  So, I did.


You don't get a sense of scale from the photo, but the top bar is about as thick as the handle of a baseball bat.  The front ''feet'' are as thick as the end of a wooden baseball bat. 


This was just about the last thing to be done for building the chicken coop.  Still gotta post a photo of the whole thing...


--GG

Misplaced car

My wife's late grandfather owned the property we built our house on.  Grandad was a pack rat.  Because of that, we have a pretty neat-o back yard.


For example:  I knew this car (pictured) was underneath the brush and vines -- I just hadn't excavated it.  So now -- or technically, this last weekend -- it's seeing the light of day for the first time in probably 30 years.

It's a Rover P4:  I don't know anything more than that.

Somewhere out back there's also the cab of a 1940s flatbed delivery truck.  Somewhere...


--GG

To not lose your tools

While in the (ongoing!) process of building the chicken coop, I've discovered that it's pretty easy to misplace tools on the lawn.  And damp grass isn't very good for them, either.

I've discovered that it's better to lay them on a scrap of wood.  This keeps them together, provides contrast so you can see them more clearly, and keeps them off the damp lawn.

It's even **better** if you toss them in one of those $3 tool totes.  You can also find them in the aisle with the brooms and mops, labeled as ''laundry caddies'' or such.

The item pictured isn't part of the chicken coop.  It's a raised veggie garden frame, at The Lady's request.


--GG

Slow pan upwards

I rather like this.

It's my back yard, and my children's (somewhat rusty) swingset.

Although I miss the weather (and all the nice people I know) in Seattle -- it's still pretty neat-o to live in Australia.  Exotic (to me, anyhow).


--GG

Big toolbox

My shed is basically a big toolbox.

(Cultural note:  What Americans would call a ''(detached) garage'', Australians call a shed.  Also smaller, garden sheds, woodsheds, workshops, etc.)

During this remarkably drawn-out chicken coop project, I stage all the tools that I'm actively using in the doorway of the shed.

Big jug o' juice (to keep hydrated:  I drink one of these a day.  It's actually diluted to about 1/4 strength).  Extension cord.  Various clamps.  Jar of paint.  And etcetera.

Then, as I use them, I bring them out to my work area, next to the chicken coop.  I either place them on the ''raised garden bed kit'' (the pile of lumber) that The Lady purchased about two weeks ago (which I have not yet assembled -- because I'm still building a chicken coop!), or else on my sawbench.

And then, slightly after dark, I gather everything up and put it back in the entrance to the shed.


The chicken coop project is interesting enough.  But I'm looking forward to completing it, and moving on to other tasks.


--GG

Clever hinge

Still plugging away at the chicken house.

Here's a component that I'm rather pleased with:  the door hinge.

Instead of getting a pair of regular-old butt hinges (insert juvenile joke here) -- like these: 

I decided to do hinges my own way.

I can't tell,. from the Wikipedia article on ''hinges'' (which is also where I found the term ''butt hinge''), the type of hinge I made.  Basically, I put a long screw through the door fame of the chicken coop, into the top and bottom of the door.  I used a few washers as spacers, and I lubed the washers with WD-40.

Here's a shot of the washers, approximately in position:

The one below has a ''tooth'' that I created, using a hacksaw and pliers.  I've drilled the hole into the wood, through the center.  The other washer is resting on top of it, waiting to be modified as well..

Here's a closer look at one of the washers that I customized.  As I said, it has a tooth that drives into the wood.  That keeps the washer in place, relative to the wood -- which ensures that the metal washers will wear against each other, rather than wearing into the wood (and eventually burrowing **into** the wood, which would defeat the ''spacer'' purpose of the washers, as the bottom of the door would end up rubbing on the lower door frame.

I think it's well-engineered.

 --GG

Marking knife

The property that we live on used to belong to my wife's grandparents.  And grandad was a bit of a hoarder:  if he found something that was potentially useful, he'd bring it home and put it in a shed, or in a pile somewhere in the backyard. 


This means that there are oddball stashes of things all over the place.  Like this pile of metal bits and pieces -- bracket, car parts, whatnots -- that I discovered when clearing the brush for the chicken coop in-progress.



I found this item somewhere in the yard, two or three years ago.  It seems to be a homemade half of a hinge -- or a hinge that has been bent.  I've placed it across my work glove to provide a sense of scale.

I'd always intended to make it into a marking knife, which is a knife used in woodworking to make a very precise reference line:   more precise than a pencil mark, as a knifed line is very thin.

But, I was waiting for a grinding wheel, to shape it.  Finally got one for Christmas -- and then it took me another four months to actually set it up!

The above photo reflects what it looks like after I used the wire wheel on my bench grinder to clean up the loose rust and crud.  So this is an ''almost-before'' photo.


My aim was to make it functionally (but not stylistically) into a marking knife like the one to the the left:  two bevels, with a flat back that is the ''reference surface'' that is pressed against the ruler, trysquare, or other reference item.




To do this, first I used a hacksaw to cut off the tip, at an angle, because I knew it would take a long time to remove that much metal through grinding.

Then I used the grinding wheel to shape it, and put on a knife bevel.

I didn't bother further sharpening it on a whetstone, as it just needs to be sharp enough to score the surface of wood.


Below is the mostly-finished item. I used it in the laying-out process on a side project I've somewhat started:  seems to work.

In the photo below, you can see just how curved it is.  But it still works as a marking knife.  Depending on whether I'm marking the left or right hand of the reference item, I hold it in a pencil-like grip, or else in a handlebar-style grip.

Here (below) you can see my efforts at flattening the back of the knife.  The back needs to be flat, all the way down to the tip, so that the tip will mark the surface of the wood perfectly in line with the ruler, trysquare, or whatever.

So:  functional, and unique.  Clearly a ''user-made'' shop item.

Seems to work.  :)


--GG

Long time chicken house

This chicken coop is a long time coming. Spent all day today (Saturday) working on it. Again.

If I made it smaller, or was more slapdash, it would go faster. But --

-I'm building it to last 5-10 years -- maybe longer. So I don't want to do things that will bother me for the next ten years, every time I see it: things like beams not properly vertical (or horizontal), or joints not quite lining up. My rule of thumb is that I can see an error from across the yard -- and it's right next to another building, so things off-vertical will be obvious -- then it's worth fixing.

-I want it sturdy enough that I don't have to fix things in just a few months. Also, it'll be sturdy enough that if we ever stop having chickens it can be a decent storage shed.

-A web search indicated that you need a certain square footage per chicken. Rather than build it for the bare minimum, I ended up making it a little large. From my recent experience, I've found that it's not the physical size of the parts (or the finished project) that takes up time -- it's the amount of handling. For example, building a two foot by two foot by two foot storage box takes the same amount of work as a four foot by four foot by four foot box. More cost for materials, sure -- but the same amount of time.


Anyhow: it might get done by the end of this weekend. Probably **not** -- but it'll be **nearly** done.

Maybe done enough to move the chix in, anyhow.


--GG

Further progress

The chicken coop project that would not end...


So far, I've spent two days on a weekend clearing brush; a four-day weekend plus a regular (two-day) weekend levelling the ground, assembling a shed kit (without instructions, and the shed was slightly mangled from the last time), and starting to build the wooden frame for the "yard" (including paining some of the lumber). Oh, and getting up an hour early this morning to do some minor things for it.

I still have about half the frame for the yard to do; plus build the door to the cage; plus string up the heavy-duty chicken wire. We bought the heavy-duty stuff because the local snakes apparently can force their way through the thinner-gauge fencing.

I'd **hoped** to be further along this recent weekend: I hadn't expected to **finish** -- but I thought I'd at least have the frame up (i.e. just the door and the chicken wire remaining). But, I ended up cutting three pieces about a foot too short: the plans for the chicken coop changed, but I forgot to update my measurements. So, I had to make a special trip to buy three more lengths of lumber.

Ah well -- it's an interesting project. I've planned out -- and executed the entire thing myself. The exceptions so far were having The Lady hold up the sheet-metal walls of the shed while I attached them (I tried doing it myself, but every little gust of wind made the wall flop over), and having my brother-in-law and his son help me lift the roof into position.


I'm taking daily ''progress'' photos. I just haven't grabbed them off the camera yet...


I **might** get it finished by the end of this weekend. But somehow I think I'll be just a **little** short.


--GG

Chicken coop

Or: "Very expensive chickens."


So, a few weeks ago my brother-in-law found some chickens wandering around. The Lady had been considering -- for the past year or so -- getting some chickens. No one else in the family wanted the chickens (hens) -- so we get to have them. But for now, Mum is watching them: they're locked in the shade house (like a greenhouse, but backwards: it's to keep plants from getting too hot).

Here in Aussie-land we don't have a formal separation of church and state. So, Easter weekend is a four-day weekend: Good Friday and Easter Monday! I spent most of Friday and Sunday (we went to church in the morning), and all of Saturday and Monday, working on building a chicken coop and caged-in yard. Unfortunately, I'm only halfway there.

I'm hoping that I get get a lot more done this upcoming weekend.

And have bought lumber, screws, and chicken fencing. I won't say how much we've spent...


I'll post some"before", "during", and "after" photos when I **do** finish...


--GG