The Second Batches (3)

Time to Getta Movin'

Time to clean off, then clean up, a classic chair"

Side projects are a way of life in the workshop, and I'm learning to handle the 'this and that' atmosphere better every year.

THIS: Three pine and plywood picture frames, for a very productive and creative neighbour, are ready to deliver.

THAT: Then I will be able to clean and paint the classic chair the frames are sitting on at the moment.

"Where are the roof slats?"

THIS: While the first coat of paint on the chair is drying, I will drill and sand the holes for 13 birdhouses, six of which are sitting like ducks in a row on a shrinking pile of barn board next to my work bench.

THAT: The other seven also need roof slats added to their individual piles of stock. And three others, shown yesterday on this site, need perches and final assembly.

THAT X 2: And I need another cuppa coffee too.

All in a day's work.

Link to The Second batches (2)

Photos GH

The Second Batches (2)

A Week of Hodge Podge

"Two '5-minute' birdhouses are ready to go out the door"

I am enjoying productive times inside a warm and cozy workshop, no matter the wacky March weather outside. Seventeen new birdhouses are underway ("moving along the assembly line"), two others are set aside for a PM client ('5-minute' models, i.e., quick and easy to install on a tree), and an old chair has captured my imagination. So, I have lots to do, as usual.

 "Second coats of paint will dry nicely, in spite of wet days ahead"

 "Seven rustic houses require attention, i.e., roof slats and sanding, etc."

"This walnut classic needs a power-wash, and a face-lift"

So, as March comes to a wet, wild, windy, and woolly end, I will paint, power-wash, ponder and ply my trade. All in a good week's work.

Please link to The Second Batches (1)

The Second Batches (1)

Things are Piling Up

Birdhouse stock - from new and rescued lumber - builds up pretty quickly once weather is warm enough for me to set up two saws outside the shop. And when the table inside the shop is full I take out the sander and let the dust fly.

"Only 'The Best'?"

Close neighbours know when I'm busy. The smells of pine and cedar, and the (sometimes) uneasy strains of Bob Dylan - at his best and worst - fill the air.

While Bob mulls over a line I'll be thinking about what to do with a nice slab of walnut.

More to follow.

Please link to The First Batch of the Season (5)

 

Project: Doing the Slow Mull

Something Unique Coming Up

"An art piece? "Slab of Wood Atop 1950s CCM"?

Oh, it will be something special. I just don't know what it will be.

Yesterday I picked up a slab of walnut from a nearby construction site. (A foreman had seen me eyeballing a slab about three months ago while he supervised the digging of a new hole in the ground - for an apartment building - on Wortley Rd. I asked then, "What's going to happen to this walnut?" He said he had something in mind, but he'd set the next piece aside for me. And he did. Man of his word).

"There's gold in them there hills"

At this point, I don't have something definite in mind beyond stripping the bark, or most of it at any rate, and giving it a good cleaning.

That being said, while walking it home atop my '51 CCM (very similar to the bike I rode around Norwich, Ontario as a young kid), I thought about looking for three or four well-worn drum sticks or child-size baseball bats, maybe from ash. For legs.... or something.

It's time to slowly mull things over, inside the workshop.

Please link to Two Deck Chairs

The First Batch of the Season (5)

All Ready for Saturday's Sale

I think my timing is getting better. I aimed to have ten cedar birdhouses done by today, and they were finished off by Thursday at about 2 PM. Now I load boxes with 24 - 30 houses and pack the car.

Deadline - 6 PM.

"I'm getting better at stackn and packn too"

Please link to The First Batch of the Season (4)

Photos GH

My Last PEI Birdhouse (2)

Road Trip to PEI?

 Yesterday's first photo, taken at 3:00 BT, i.e., "Before Trim"

I enjoyed finishing this large model together yesterday using the last three slats of lumber from PEI.  All the while I was thinking.... maybe I should drive East to get more lumber.

"After the last nail was placed, I went inside the house for supper. Yay!"

Surely there is an easier way. I will scout out the local scene first or use what I have on hand, to see what I can create without having to drive all that way.

I will trust in my Cub and Boy Scout skills right here in London. I bet I won't come home empty-handed. : )

I earned the "Rescue Lumber Badge" as a kid

"Now, if I could just find my glasses I'd go sniff out some more wood"

Link to My Last PEI Birdhouse 1

Photos GH

My Last PEI Birdhouse

No More PEI Lumber!

Last year I constructed 3 - 4 large, solid birdhouses from boards I carried home from a visit to PEI. I now wish I'd brought back a truckload.

Yesterday I used my last three short slats of lovely gray barnboard (from my brother-in-law's "burn pile") and wondered how much it would cost me to have Jim mail be a shipment. Hmmmm....

"Last year's PEI number after an all-out trim session"

Please link here to see more photos of last year's finished PEI model.

Photos GH

The First Batch of the Season (4)

Some are All Trimmed Out

The paint looks AOK. The trim looks good. Three are all done except for the 'telephone pole perch', and seven (with painted roofs, etc.) need the telephone poles along with their front perches attached - hopefully today.

 "Waiting for Gord to attach telephone poles"

"Sitting pretty in late PM sunshine. Seven perches and poles will be added ASAP"

Conclusion - ten basic cedar birdhouses are almost ready for action.

Please link to The First Batch of the Season (3)

Photos GH

The First Batch of the Season (3)

First and Second Coats

"Lots of trim and decor required on basic models"

Coming up.... a full-on trim day. I will cut (then sand, and attach) roof ridges, trim on the roof and face edges, perches, doors, windows and telephone poles. All in a day's work.

Because there are ten birdhouses in this batch, maybe I should say two day's work!

Please link to The First Batch of the Season 2

The First Batch of the Season 2

First Coats for Group of Seven

Although I assembled ten basic cedar birdhouses last week, only seven will soon receive a first coat of paint. The other three will stand by - for full-on trim day - until second coats are dry.

As usual, while I sorted things out yesterday I thought about the next birdhouse(s) I would build. I found just enough gray barnboard for one of these....

Very popular model, using rescued PEI lumber

Please link to 2016: The Workshop is Now Open

2016: The Workshop is Now Open

The First Batch of the Season

"I have a trunk-load of fresh lumber ready to go"

After two months away from building birdhouses and what-not, I unlocked the workshop door March 1st as planned. I put away Christmas lights and chairs and uncovered the table saw. I was soon at work on a batch of ten birdhouses, small- to medium-sized, using red cedar for the face and back, pine barnboard for roofs, and rescued lumber for the sides and bases.

I puttered along at first, and as I got back into the groove the process sped up. A few days after opening the door I saw ten birdhouses - like ducks - sitting in a row.

"Back in the saddle again"

Link to Big Sweep 6 (Dec. 31, 2015)

Photos GH