Antique Store BH 4

Back Doors and Signage

All four 'antique store' birdhouses now have backdoors. These come in handy in the Spring if the house requires a clean up.

Though the trim is all neat and tidy, I have to assemble and paint a proper sign, then hang it over the front entry hole.

Lots to do today, as usual.

Link to Antique Store BH 3

Photos GH

Little Library 'Book Barn' Project 5

It's All in the Name

A 'Book Barn' of ample size has been parked inside the front door of 'Milos' Craft Beer' establishment almost since it opened over a year ago. A sign on it reads 'Little Free Library - Take a book, Leave a Book'. Message received.

I visited a coffee shop in Wortley Village recently and noticed a small space on a shelf was dedicated to  the sharing of books. A single sign read 'Take a Book, Leave a book'. I understand.

No matter what type of sign I put on these book barns I bet people will get the message. Share.

But, before I get to the signage, I have to add doors, paint this or that, and cut up trim by the yard.

More to follow.

Link to Little Library Project 4

Photos GH

B & W Antique Store BH

A Missing Birdhouse

'Number four' is underway. See you soon.

Link to B & W Harrison Specials

Photo GH

Antique Store BH 3

What is Missing?

I have room for one more antique store birdhouse on a basement shelf.

Today I'll add the light yellow trim to 'number four', including a metal BA sign, and start the finishing touches.

Finishing touches include more signage, a back door w hinges and a door pull or latch. Oh, and a Coca Cola machine.

Busy times ahead at the old antique store.

Link to Antique Store BH 2

Photos by GH

Funky Birdhouse 8

 Third Funky - Finished

Once this one finds a home - on a basement shelf for the time being - I can start the last batch of three 'funkies' It's time for a change up and I don't know exactly what the change will be. But it will be something!

Link to Funky Birdhouse 7

Photos GH

Rustic BH w a Twist 4

Six in This Batch - Finished

 "Small version of the Rustic Harrison Special"

Other than painting a roof or two, my latest batch of BHs is finished and sitting on shelves in the basement, ready for two upcoming sales.

"I will face minor complications when painting this roof"

"Lined up on shelves in the basement"

"My paint station will be busy for a week or more"

Though I have a few other items to do in the shop during the next ten days, I won't attempt another batch of birdhouses until mid-June.

So, tune in to see another project or two, and about birdhouses... I'll be back.

Link to Rustic BH w a Twist 3

Photos GH

B & W Harrison Specials

Three Levels of Special

I have been building Harrison Specials for a few weeks and making modifications to them as I see fit. Because I have a lot of old, rustic western cedar in stock, I have come up with, in my opinion, a very very good way to use some of it, i.e., a third level of special.

Level 1: Barnboard from Handley Lumber Mill, Fenelon Falls

"The face is 9.5 inches high x 6.5 in. wide"

Level 2: Rustic western cedar from Joe Flagler's dock reno, Fenelon Falls

"The face is 8 inches tall x 5 in. wide"

Level 3: Joe's cedar again, this time with a taller face, and more volume for feathered friends than level two.

"The new and improved face is 9 inches tall, 5 in. wide and the

two sides will be attached to the outside of the faces, not inside" 

More to follow along these lines.

Link to B & W Rustic Western Cedar

Photos GH

B & W Rustic Western Cedar

Just Add Trim

Link to B & W Funky BH 2

Photo GH

Rustic BH w a Twist 3

Six in This Batch

On top of the pile

I have assembled a wee collection of rustic, western cedar birdhouses with side apartment. I think they're lovely lovely, which is more than just lovely, because they not only look like a cozy home for a wee bird who appreciates added floor space but they smell grand as well.

"A mess of trim includes perches, fences, benches and windows"

Apart from one wee side job, I dedicate this afternoon to adding a mess of trim, aka 'full-on trim'.

More to follow.

Link to Rustic BH w a Twist 2

Photos GH

B & W Funky BH 2

B & W Pair

Link to B & W Funky BH 1

Photo GH

Funky Birdhouse 7

Colourful Pair

I now have three of six funkies finished and look forward to coming up with the next design and colour scheme.

I will be interested in comments about the above during an upcoming sale.

More to follow.

Link to Funky Birdhouse 6

Photos GH

Wee Side Job 1

Going Sideways

"Nice wee pine and plywood frame for fabric art"

Sometimes I travel through my workshop's to-do list in a straight line. Item A - check. Project B - check. C and D - check, check. However, sometimes I travel sideways.

For example, on a fairly regular basis someone will call and say they need something by Tuesday and I know that if I put their request at the bottom of the to-do list I would not get to it until 2018. So, I then squeeze the job into my list and travel sideways for an afternoon or two, risking abuse from others on the to-do list who might one day find out their project was a day or two late, not because of my allergies, a wee headache or that my Uncle Louie from Detroit dropped by with a big bag of dirty laundry (i.e., troubles in his family), but because I squeezed in a wee side job.

Just so ya know, I charge extra when I have to go sideways.

Link to Little Library Project 3

Photo GH

Little Library Project 4

The Tall Boy (Book Barn)

"I make little libraries using pine barnboard from Fenelon Falls"

What started as a short but stocky pile of lumber at the end of an old church pew now stands pretty tall on my portable work bench. This style of 'Book Barn' (to be used as a book trading centre on a nearby front yard) is taller than one other style I make and once filled with used/carefully read books it will weigh about a million pounds.

So, I make them sturdy.

 A "stocky pile of lumber at the end of an old church pew"

"I applied cedar slats 'shiplap style' to make the roof"

shiplap style, def'n. - boards overlap in a particular way (Link to shiplap at Wikipedia)

Stay tuned. More to follow on this project.

Link to Little Library Project 3

Photos GH

B & W Rustic BH w Twist 2

Rescued Landfill Lumber

I have hardly made a dent in the pile of western cedar I rescued from the dump (w the help of my older son) in the summer of 2014. I may be still working on the pile in 2020! Amazing stuff.

Link to B & W Rustic BH w Twist 1

Photo GH

Rustic BH w a Twist 2

The Plans & Assembly Line

"I call this a 'small single w side apt, set back'. Makes sense, eh!"

Assembly related to six rustic birdhouses is underway and the process is much faster than measuring, cutting and sanding stock. I feel like I'm getting somewhere now!

Though I think the finished house is solid and stylish - in a rustic sort of way - I may make future models one inch taller. Modification is always allowed and takes place frequently inside The Workshop.

Once trim is applied, these will look A1, fer sure, fer sure. Not bad at all for lumber rescued from a landfill site.

More to follow on this model.

Link to Rustic BH w a Twist 1

Photos GH

B & W Rustic BH w Twist 1

Western Cedar Rustics

The rescued cedar boards are only 5 inches wide but a lot can still be done with them.

: ) I love me cedar!

Link to B & W Barnboard BH w Twist 2

Photos GH

Rustic BH w a Twist 1

Like the New Harrison Special (But Smaller)

 "Plans for this barnboard BH, available here"

I made a few barnboard birdhouses (BHs) 'with a twist'* recently and think they turned out pretty well. And since I have a large pile of western cedar sitting just outside the workshop door I decided to make a few more, this time a smaller version of the above model. (I decreased the main faces from 9.5 inches high, 6.5 inches wide to 8 x 5 inches and all the other pieces of stock shrank accordingly.)

I measured and cut enough western cedar for six rustics and soon had one assembled.

I'll have a 'full-on trim day' sometime this week, then show you the finished results.

"Rescued Western cedar is from a dock reno"

More to follow.

*'with a twist', with a sideroom that increases interior space significantly

Please link to Barnboard BH w a Twist 4

Photos GH

Little Library Project 3

Busy Times

"On Deck: Library, 'antique store' BHs, six Harrison Specials"

Two 'little libraries' are now sanded and ready for assembly. And I was just about to drive a few nails the other day when something happened inside the workshop that occurs on a regular basis. The phone rang... and I answered, and shortly thereafter agreed to meet with someone about a wee side job.

wee side job, def'n.: a little something other than what I was just about to do

So, the line up of jobs visible on the shelf above (assemble library, trim two antique store BHs, etc.) is going to shift a bit sideways for a minute or two.

I'll be back.

Link to Little Library Project 2

Photo GH

Little Library Project 2

It's a Big Pile

 "I will be sanding a library today"

Most of the stock needed to assemble two little libraries sits neatly on a spare bench inside the workshop and is ready for sanding.

I will tackle the big pile of 'easy, dusty work' after lunch, dust mask at the ready. If there is a breeze I will set up my sander in the backyard. Pop by but don't sneak up behind me when the sander is in operation!

"The cedar roofs are each made from 8 or 10 slats"

Though the stock is piled high I may even be able to start the assembly process before suppertime. : )

Link to Little Free Library Project 1

Photos GH

Little Free Library Project

A New Name is Under Control

Now that a couple of smaller projects - each involving multiple units that require a lot of painted trim - are involved in an easy rhythm (I paint the trim in the house, then attach the trim in the workshop, back and forth, back and forth), I have time and space to begin a larger project, i.e., to build two 'little free libraries' for nearby front yards. Maybe the first thing I should do is come up with a new name for a 'little free library', because they are definitely not little unless compared to a city library.

Oh, and they aren't free.

"Two are underway. The piles are only about half way so far""

When finished the library will be attached to a sturdy wooden platform or table and filled with used books, and then the trading begins. 'Take a book' and 'Leave a book' describes the process pretty well.

"Everything's under control"

I've got good pine barnboard for the job and I'm pretty sure I'll have a better name for the project within just a few minutes.

Book Barn... Book Trading Post.... Turn The Page... Have You Read This One?...

Any ideas?

Link to Antique Store BH 2

Photos GH