So like many here, this summer has been one of hardship, and little work, and lots of stress. But as outlined earlier, that’s why this blog is titled the way it is.
This spring didn’t see as many trees fall as I figured would, so not as much work there. One old box elder did take a plunge…right into the fork of a large mulberry tree, splitting it about 10 ft….but still 10ft off the ground….and over a fence right into the neighbor’s garden…so that was some work, but I did get a ton of nice green wood out of it. Much of it twisted and destined for the BBQ smokers of a few people around here, such as myself (best..bbq…wood…ever…ok, maybe lilac is, but it’s close!).
I’ve refinished some tools, rived a lot of wood, some destined for projects such as a chair I need to build. But the two big projects for this summer/early fall are:
Shaving Horse -Made from some scrap and salvaged lumber, I’m making a “traditional” shaving horse. The quotes are because I’m not sure any shaving horse could be considered either traditional or non-traditional.
Spring Pole Lathe -That’s right, a human power lathe, made in the traditional way (for the most part). I’m really excited about this one.
I’ve done months of research (what else is winter in IL for) on both, and have already done a fair amount of work on both, almost to the point on starting blogs for them, but I hate those blogs/projects which are “something or other #1” and never…actually..get there. So I’ve been working on these and taking pics as I go. The lathe starts with a big ol’ log, covered in bark, which gets split using hand tools and wooden wedges. Another step or two and I’ll have enough for somebody to waste time looking at, pics and all. I’ll include links to research materials so that other people interested can find ‘em. I’ll post other tools I make or refinish whenever I add onto this blog as well, I only posted the handaxe as a separate project because of the symbols on the head, really.
Anybody as poor as I am right now, think you can’t do anything, go grab what you can, get some fallen logs, anything…remember there was a time when people did all kinds of stuff, usually nicer than people often do it today, which lasts longer, and they did it without the kinds of tools so many “experts” say you can’t live without. Given the choice of “I can’t do woodworking because I don’t have the tools/space/money/materials/etc” and “Hell, I’ll do it anyway with this old rusty thing I’ll fix up, and with this log from over here that I’ll turn into what I need even though I’ll need to learn 6 million traditional techniques to do so”...which sounds like you? Which do you want to sound like you?