A Salute to Thee, Dragonslayer

I dont know who the artist is who built this, but in a tiny ski town in Colorado stands a brave knight facing his worst nightmare!

and a Salute to Thee brave Craftsman Artist who put this together!

State Fair Update

the B-man did well at the state fair, his boot box got a blue ribbon and the Jungle puzzle got the Purple! Way to Go B-man! he really put in the time on these projects. And the prairie maggots? can i interest you in a recipe for rack of lamb?

Another project in the works

I scored a metal kitchen cabinet from a remodel job. im thinking this would be cool down by the garden to store garden tools and a place to wash veggies and hands. the counter top and sink i found to go with it is pretty well trashed. so, im thinkin a concrete counter top would be spankin cool. i have never done one before and the process looks simple enough. im not expecting house quality the first time around but it should be workable. stay tuned to see what happens next.
and what ever happened to the corn crib?

Entry Step Rebuild

the entry step was going bad with dry rot and falling apart so i finally got around to rebuilding it with cedar.. nice, I'm going to try to preserve the cedar color with spar varnish
pictures when i remember to take em...

Here they are!

Finally got a couple of good pictures of the B-man's projects. He spent a lot of time on these with very little help from me..

and the prairie maggots did pretty good too.. one purple and one blue. now the B-man wants to take one to the state fair... i just want to paint one up like a poodle.....

Important Lessons

Ok, important lesson number 1, polyurethane will never dry as fast at it needs to. the weather will always be 526% humidity for three days before achievement days.

anyway the judging went well, pictures to follow.....

more Choises

Ok, here is another book i found at the library. this uses the plywood method of kayak building. the book is very easy to read and the instructions are simple to understand. now all i have to decide is what method to use. paddling is a lot of fun, but i think i am drawn to the beauty of the piece, the smooth lines, the glowing finish.....i might just have to try one of each!

Fantasies in Wood

I have finally found the one wood working project that has totally captured my imagination, even though I live in South Dakota – the farthest you can possibly live from an ocean in the United States - I want to build a sea kayak. This weekend I found a book by Nick Schade, The Strip-Built Sea Kayak.

The process is so simple, the costs are reasonable. I have the space, but never the time. I have the tools and the talent. We are surrounded by plenty of lakes and rivers to use the kayak, im thinking of an 11’ boat like this…. This is a picture of a Little Auk built by Jean Yves Drouet from France. Thanks for the picture Jean, I got it from the Guillemot Kayaks site….

This might even be better than my idea of pet caskets!

Crunch Time!

4-H Achievement days are here again! and the B-man is working hard on two wood projects this year. one is a jungle puzzle where he cut out animals and trees with the scroll saw and the other is a wooden box in the shape of a cowboy boot. I'm thinking purple ribbons all the way around.
ill post pics when he takes them in.

The Wife Wants......

one of these.......


i just got the latest issue of Workbench Magazine and of course the wife grabbs it before i have a chance to look at it... then i hear my name being yelled and she says "you know you could build this really easy"
if you want to look into this yourself check out this months issue or go to workbenchmagizine.com i think that it would work, if i can find the time to do it.. should fit above the french door below.

Oh Well, back to the shop!

Fruits

of the labor... the camp box works great!

Last Post for June

yup, june is toast and im heading off for a well deserved vacation. im taking the family and meeting my brother in the black hills of South Dakota for a week of camping, fishing and 4wheeling, campfire cooking, eating and drinking...

i did get the final touches on my red neck camp box, a wooden base for the portable shower and more tiedowns for the trailer. the wife wants to do the driving at night so no one sees the contraptions we are pulling.. oh well cant please everyone...

Wordless Wensday....

on Friday the 13th and im still typing


here is a silly little sprout holder


and the flock of prairie maggots... barn photo


bad pic of camp boxs


bad pic of Linies box, half empty or half full?
who cares, if they are cold?

Monday Update

on Tuesday...

module 2 for the camp box is coming along very well. note to self, when using recycled materials be sure to square the dam plywood before cutting to size. i have a perfect parallelogram for a box... oh well, I've been known to lean one way or the other. picked up some handles from MAC's hardware, and found some parts on an old junk tent trailer. tonight's plan is to make a couple of drawers and sliding doors for the front. to bad work gets in the way, i need to weed the garden and finish the scout as well. oh and did i mention that we want to use it this weekend? things left to do: paint, hardware, hinged drop front , trays for cooking tools, rack for plates and pans and cups....arrrg i need a vacation!

STD's (stuff to do)

ok on the top of the STD list is to take the camera home and snap a couple of pictures, module 1 of the ultimate camp box has been built, and a planter box for the herbs. the stupid sheep got a hair cut (i'll never work for supercuts) and a deck on the new trailer.. with any luck ill take pictures..

mayday mayday mayday

no its not may day but i feel like the ship is going down. no pictures yet but i haven't just been sleeping through spring. the garden is in, a couple of planters got built, a screen door for the bro-in-law, fence for the prairie maggots. time to start building the ultimate camp box...why? because we like it!

Stupid Sheep

Yes, we are back in the stupid sheep business, the project this time is a self feeder that will hold 50lbs of pellets. this year we have started with 4 lambs, got them as bottle lambs. i dont know how we will compete with the fancy $1K lambs people were buying at a fancy show. i paid $20 each for ours, prob'ly wont get the purple ribbon but the process is kind of fun, besides its a learning experience for the B-man....

Greatest Gold Fish Joke Ever

from comedy central:

Two goldfish were sitting in their tank,

one turns to the other and says,

"You man the guns, I'll drive!"

Dead Fish are no fun!

its been really busy around here over the last couple of weeks. i did finish up a couple of projects, if i can just to remember to take pictures. anyway my main distraction has been the fish kill on my local lake. its been coming for a couple of years, lots of sediment and manure has been running in, bringing in phosphorus that feeds the algae. then when the algae die in the winter, the decomposing uses up the available oxygen and the fish cant breathe.. here is a couple of pictures.

but dont worry folks, im from the goverment and im here to help.............right

Slow Update

still the same project, did get a couple of coats of paint on the sheep shed. scored on the pain, the local paint shop just happened to have 35 gallons of mistint paint that matches close enough for a sheep shed. normal $20+ a gallon, MY PRICE $5 A GALLON. woo hoo what a bargain! i love it when i win! still no pictures but ill keep trying... still need to build doors. with a major spring snow storm on the way, i might get some snowed in shop time.

Quick update

Lots of things going on, not enough shop time.... anyway after the Jr. High Basket ball tourney in Aberdeen, the bman and i finished the siding on the sheep shed. still need to build doors and install trim and nail down the roof. and paint andandandand.... cant seem to get the camera from the house to the shop and back to the computer.... ill keep trying

in progress

well its time to start thinking about 4-H projects again, this year we decided to do the sheep project again. my barnyard improvement for this season is a little lamb shed that measures 6x8 with a sloped roof and a 2 ft overhang. the framing is done and i am now working on the siding. I'm using old barn wood that came off a 100 yr old granary. i need to recondition the boards into ship lap siding... ill send pictures next time... built the frame in the shop and almost couldn't get it out.... thought i was smarter than that, good thing the B-Man set me straight.

Sad Story

a friend has a son who has a horse..... no its not one of those story's..... anyway the horse passed away this winter and the

kid couldn't bear to have his buddie hauled away by the rendering truck. so he talked his dad into digging a grave out in the shelter belt. well every grave needs a marker and the kid asked his mom to talk to my wife to ask me if i would make a simple cross to use as a marker... here it is

Silly projects

i know i should be spending my time in the shop doing more important projects, but what the heck, gottta do some fun stuff once in a while.. this is a little veggie crate for the farmers market. we are going to partner up with some other people for a booth this year and sell veggies in these little boxes. i made this one out of scrap pine and some old cedar shingles

Fun Weekend

i realy need to quit my job and play in the shop for the rest of my life.... on the otherhand if i did my life wouldnt be very long... anyway

i found the cheepest way to color wood... easter egg dye! turns out bright. sometimes i even amaze myself!

March Update

its been kind of slow here at the woodworks, of course the temperature may have something to do with it. but last weekend it was to nice to stay in so we went ice fishing. the typical things happened, everyone around us caught fish, we got nothing. as no good day goes unpunished, the wife and friend decided that if they can spend a day fishing, we can spend a day shopping. as you can tell, it was a good quality family day (yea right). anyway i did enjoy the weekend and finished a couple of projects. i made one of these contraptions for about 10 cents.... im so thrifty i squeak!

Presidents weekend

Oh how i love a three day weekend! however this one was very unproductive, well kindof. Saturday was spent with the niece and nephew. Sunday was a total rest day, couldnt get motovated to do much more than the dishes, but did work on some plans. Monday i did make the trip to pick up the old camper, of course the wind chill was right around the -stupid mark. the old camper is one of those popus built in the seventys, with real metal. its so cute i dont know if i want to restore it or turn it into a atv trailer... oh well, spring is comming!

Ideas are a brewin!

it appears that winter time does leave one to contemplate the leasure activities of warmer weather... im planning on a camping trip this summer with the family to the hills and we want to take a couple of atv's along to cruze the logging trails... the problem is how to load two atv's on a short box truck and pull a camper at the same time.... or do we do the tent thing and pull a trailer with the atv's on that... either one will work but what would be best?

right now im thinking of pulling the atv's and building a box for the truck to handle all of the gear and kitchen stuff... somewhere between a Adventure Trailer and a King Kamper

a friend has given me an old popup trailer, which i plan to strip down to haul the atv's on. Im hopeing the stove and interior stuff can be reshaped to fit the ultimate camp box and have a fold out/slide out kitchen of sorts. perhaps even have drop legs that would allow me to slide the thing out of the truck and position it around a camp site or something.

i already have a yard long list of things i want to include, but you know how the best of intentions usualy turn out....

Just For Fun

ever see something in a magazine and think what the heck? well the wife likes chickens in the kitchen, no i haven't hung wire from the walls yet. but i thought that this project would be kind of fun to try. its not as easy as it looks but doesn't take that much time. just like any thing else practice and a good light near the scroll saw is the way to go.

whats the theme song from "super chicken"? now you will be singing it all day!

Catching up!

ok, here is a project that really tapped my skill.... its been cold enough to freeze the water in a heated bucket. oh about -15 or so.... the little guy has been making a mess of his hay, doing what little critters do ya know? tough plan and of course as always, general rule of thumb, always build it twice as big as you think you need!

here is the lucky guy... kind of cute in a cow kind of way.

I Love a 3 Day Weekend!

woo! hoo! been gettn er done out in the shop this weekend. besides its to cold to spend a lot of time outside, and its better than cleaning house!

First up is the trash can.... its finally done, its really hard to get polyurethane to dry and cure when the temp is below nothing, however on the plus side, the humidity is so low that the moisture is sucked out.....

As you can see, this is setup to use a 30 gal bag if you wrap it on the outside of the can or you can use a typical kitchen tall bag and hang it on the hooks on the inside. still a little dust on it. ill have to wipe it down with polish before delivery.

off topic but fun none-the-less

stupid news from south dakota

i know i haven't done one of these in quite awhile, but as this is the first really cold day we have had this winter, it kind of made me wonder why i live here in the first place.

first lets start with our state legislature. this years 35 day session has seen a lot of bills introduced. although the deadline for submitting is still a few days away, there are three of note that i would like to share with you.
hb1210 prohibit recyclers, scrap metal dealers, or scrap yard operators from purchasing certain beer kegs. [edit:huh? what if they are thirsty or tossing a party?]
SB111 extend the prohibition of road hunting of big game to include all firearms. [edit: so what firearms could you use?]
and finely (i cant find the number now) is a bill that the Game Fish and Parks department will have to pay you $200 if you hit a deer with your car. [edit: party on garth!]

now im sure you are sitting there like i was going huh? but if you think about it with a twisted mind like i have you will see an opportunity here..... i am going to go purchase an old pickup, around 1975, and weld on a bumper that looks like an Abrams tank and go for a drive! ill never have to swerve again! im thinking with all the extra money from the GFP i wont have to recycle my beer kegs ever again. is this a great state or what?

anyway this morning arrived with a temperature of -12. as this is the coldest morning we have seen so far i thought i would jot down a couple of safety reminders for those who live in warmer country....

1. do not stick any exposed body part against metal. this is not funny, where do you think politicians get the forked tong? some bully made them stick it to a flag pole...
2. always put your keys in an outside accessible pocket. when you have to take your glove off and dig through 5 layers of jacket, coat, scarf, coveralls, pants. you seem to be standing on the door step doing the jiggy dance. [edit: expecaly if you are dealing with #5 below]
3. never put your keys in your mouth while trying to put your glove back on. see note 1
4. spit will not freeze before it hits the ground until the temp is -22. don't try it, it is disgusting and frozen spit will stay there until june.
5. be prepared to make two trips back into the house. i have noticed as i get older, when going out into Arctic conditions, certain body functions demand attention (please note the 5 layers).


that's all for now... i wouldn't want to live anywhere else
roger

Winter Notes

Here comes winter again! temps not going to get much over zero this weekend... its going to be tough to keep the shop warm when the wind is howling and the temp is nothing. B-man and i did make some progress last weekend, he is progressing with his intarsia box and i did a little segmentation project. i also got the trash can stained and the first coat of poly on it. ill send in pictures soon. meanwhile the farm show is fast approaching and I'm not sure we will be ready......again

Skunked

didnt get much done in the shop this weekend... decided to take a break and do some fishing! had great luck and didnt have to clean any fish

Holidays

the good thing about Christmas and new years falling on Tuesdays, is that its like two extra weekends.... the bad thing about the same is that its like getting two extra Mondays! ug!
anyway the B-man and i got some quality shop time. B-man is about halfway through his insartia project and i am about 3/4's of the way through the trash can project.. one more good weekend should wrap both projects up! of course there is always time for ice fishing! if i can remember to take pictures i will post them here....

Better Off in a Pine Box?

interesting enough, today i saw a story in USA Today about biodegradable coffins. the story is here http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-26-coffins_N.htm

I'm thinking that if you want a pine box for the last ride, i can make one for you! cost you about $200 + shipping. i can get some nice Black Hills Pine for the box, and perhaps use some rope for the handles. I'm thinking a natural finish would be linseed oil and rubbed to a nice shine. and being that you wouldn't want it to fall apart during the ceremony, ill just use a little glue and iron nails that will rust and decompose along with you.

if you want one, send me email or comment

Got it Done!

Yes! With an hour to spare, i finished the macniene shed for the nephew and made it to grandmas house in time for dinner!

dosent the sweet child look so excited? he cant wait to get it home so he can park his John Derre combine inside.

here is another closeup, shh! dont tell but i spent about $8 on this project

christmas crunch

working hard, or hardly working... for the nephew that has everything except the perfect shed for the new JD tractor in 1/16 scale... i took the picture around midnight when i ran out of trim. i think ill have it done in time, but then i always am overly optimistic.

Uncle Rog?

....can you make me a barn for my toy tractors?
not a problem, i live for this stuff!



should be able to cut this down to 1/16th scale and have it wrapped and packed for xmas in just a few hours... i just need to find a few hours to do it! thanks morton building for the pic!

can i have the next project please????

next up on the never ending to do list is a trash can for a friends kitchen..i dont have any pictures yet but will be posting as they are available

here is the plan sheet i drew up to work off of..

converting from a dwg to a jpg realy screws up the picture.. i have a great pdf of this dwg but cant get it to upload....

Working hard....

and using that shop time most efficiently! yea, get a little time and all i do is play with a sign...

We have some friends up north who put on the biggest private fireworks event in this corner of the world. there are a lot of friends and family who camp out in the yard and the site was jokeingly refered to as "Camp Cowpie" being that it is in a pasture....


look mom what i did!!!

they should get a kick out of this

could it be?

it looks like the wife is going to Fargo to do a little x-mas shopping and catch a show with some friends... that means i will have an entire weekend mostly alone in the shop....Hmmmmm what will i work on??????

Turkey day is over!

Its amazing what ill do for a turkey sandwich... i don't care if the high temp is only 28 deg Fahrenheit I'm going to finish Granny Flow's deck this weekend, snow or not... winter is on its way and i need to finish this project to free up some shop time.

went on a week long cruse and in the Bahamas i saw a really cool bar stool that i want to build... perhaps with a few modifications... ill post pictures when i down load em...

The adventures of Granny Flow's Deck

i don't know why but it happens every time i try to do a project for friends or reliticks. its a simple project, a 10x12 deck off of the kitchen door, about 2ft off the ground. first of all was the screws, i know i should update myself but square drives are a pain, then the material was short and the additional stuff ordered was the wrong type. to make a long whining session short, a simple project that should have taken a weekend has drug out for 3 weeks and if i get it done before its covered in snow....

oh well i feel better now

Quickey....

i scored a couple of free hours last night, knocked together the drawer fronts for the fireplace pedestal.. going to stain them up tonight. i built a version of this miter sled, this one looks better than mine. if you are interested you can get the plans from Wood Magazine. the link to the site is HERE

very handy this is..... my corner miters even look good now...

October is....

...Crunch time to get everything buttoned up for the "great white winter". lets see, the STD list for this month includes..... build a 10x10 deck for the mother-in-law, bring home two more loads of firewood (dam, gunna be a cold one), clean chimney! and whatever repairs and projects i can squeeze in around the homework. I have a couple of non-wood projects to finish up as soon as possible, and i keep forgetting my camera to take pictures of the stuff ive done... and i supose the trees are going to drop leaves like they usualy do bout this time of year, someone is going to have to clean that up....

September

once again september flew by, i havent been slackin, but the only wood working ive been doing is chopping firewood.... lots and lots of firewood, its going to be a cold winter baised on the pile of wood this whiteman's wife is making me put in the woodshed.. there is a joke there someplace if you search long enough.

Three Project and.....

three Purple ribbons! great Job B-man! the judging was tough and took quite awhile, but B-man saved the day and talked the talk. he is really happy with the results, he needs to fix a couple of small things and will send two of the three projects to the state fair at the end of the month. i will post pictures soon...

One Down and ...

Two to go! all of the 4-H projects need to be finished and to the extension office by Monday...

so we are showing some progress but we have a long way to go.. i think the hardest part is not helping too much, my job is to keep the B-man from loosing any fingers!

Summertime.....

Ahhh yes, summertime is in full swing out here in the great white north. better enjoy it as much as you can, the first possible frost is only 40 days away.

i really need to install air conditioning in the shop for days like this but its hard to justify for only a week or two during the summer. like everywhere else its been to hot to do much more than sweat in the shop. but a change in the weather is coming and we should be getting back in there soon.

the B-man needs to put together his trophy case for 4-H, we are going to be hard pressed to get everything done... again...hahha if is wasn't for the last min.........

last weekend was the B-mans first sheep show, fun was had by all!

Achevment Days....

is fast approaching, and the workshop is humming with the sound of air compressors, sanders and a few choice adult words thrown in with a smashed thumb.....

here is the B-man working diligently on one project. he is refinishing a 4-H box that his mother used for her projects some 25 years ago....

Sheep are stupid.....

but i still need to transport the little critters to the vet to get a health certificate and then we are off to the show. the Clark County Prospect Show is this weekend and we are entering the larger black face lamb known as "Chops". the FLCC is mostly a joke, it stands for "Foote, Land and Cattle Company. my wife believes that this is the most redneckish thing ive done yet.....

One more time

OK here is a project that i have had going for about two years. finally got it done, i don know why it has taken so long, its been kind of fun. kind of says it all don't it?

Sheep need to Eat

and some place to eat at. ok so i suppose that the little critters could just eat out of a pail. but your know me, why not build something that is kind of cool?

June is gone

but i did get quite a bit of stuff done. this time of year is always crazy, with the construction season in full swing. so i was determined to build a blocking stand for the kids 4-h project and here it is...

yep the little critters definitely need a hair cut....

prairie maggots..... hahaha

Summertime Fun

Spent a great weekend remodeling the shop, moved the table saw to allow more room in front of the overhead door. There might be a project in my future that requires more space... Once i did that, i noticed that i have more stuff that really needs to be stored somewhere else, so i spent the rest of the day building a floor in the attic space. i am still trying different things to come up with the perfect layout for the shop. ill let you know when i get there.

next project: wooden blocking stand............... for sheep

Happy May Day....

sort of.....
ok so im a little late, been busy. as the school year winds down, there seems to be less time spent on homework and more stuff to do in the yard. but the spring cleanup is about done and time to start a couple more wood projects. i did break out the chain saw and start carving on the log i have laying out in the yard. going to put our names on it.
the B-man wants a couple of sheep for a 4-H project so we are going to build a little barn for them. should be cute when we are done... if we get it done before the sheep grow out of it...

Rejects

Whoops! i had 8 hearts fail the Pam test..... need to make some more. ill have to double check the Quality Assurance procedures next time...

April Fool's

sure every blog on the net has a title like that! however this post has nothing to do with an april fool joke, besides me putting a snowball in my son's bed....to wake him up...

anyway, im still working on low tech improvements to the shop, this weekend i built a 28 cube storage rack for fasteners. each square is sized to perfectly fit a folgers coffee can, the plastic ones. i used a sheet of 1/2" osb and half a sheet of 1/4" osb. the stuff was on sale at Menards... it wasn't to warped for me to cut up. i spent all of $16 and ended up with a very useful cabinet.

then i spent a good half hour filling coffee cans and labeling them, im telling ya that happiness is a nice neat row of cans labeled 1", 2", 3" and so on!

master woodworker?

well, no super fancy projects this weekend. i didn't use fine wood, expensive laminates or even fancy hardware. i suppose even the greatest woodworkers need to build silly little projects from time to time..... i built 6 magazine holders, from scrap pine....

Great Weekend

i just had a great weekend, started off by going out to dinner friday night. then helped a friend work his cows saturday morning. had to package up the Pam blocks saturday afternoon and then went out to the in-laws to help paint the new house. paint paint paint all day sunday. it is nice to do a paint job before the carpets are in... well its a good thing i came to work this morning, i need some rest.

Ok, here is the latest project. its a paying project but just not very much. ever want to change those silly blocks that are in the corner of every window and door in your house (older houses mostly).

well here is an idea, instead of a typical rosette block have a couple hundred custom made... you can change out the heart later if you get sick of it.

Here Ya Go...

here is the not quite finished picture of the fireplace surround, if you want to see what it looked like before i started it, look here i still need to add a mantle, and the overall plan calls for bookshelves on either side with an under window seat on the right side. and it looks like i have forgotten to put on the drawer fronts.

happy hammering!

productivity

Ah Yes, i love a good long weekend with lots of shop time, and even a little time on the ice. I finally managed to finish the fireplace modules #1 and #2. but didn't catch a single fish! oh well, all time spent sitting on a bucket is precious.

anyway, we did the final sanding on the fireplace surround and primered it with a kills wall paper primer. the wife found a cool wallpaper, it looks like a rock wall, limestone or slate. then we put a small chair rail around the edge between fireplace and sheet rock. the total effect is stunning. the wife found some slate tile/rock to put down on the hearth and i mortared it in. again the overall effect is quite stunning. ill have to take home the camera tonight and get some pictures.

Farm show 2007

Yes we did the farm show again this winter. the theme was "procrastination". anyway Brandon managed to get his project completed on time, but of course a few more days would have helped the polyurethane dry better. as it was we had to bring the project inside and put it by the heater....

Ok, Where Was I?

Lets see, its been awhile sense i posted. just like everyone else in the world things have been busy. anyway I'm getting back in the groove.

I have an order for 300 Pam Blocks which should be a lot of fun to make. they are simply rosette blocks for my Sister-In-Law's house but instead of the target, i am putting in little hearts! yea, i know, if i had to look at hearts every day for the rest of my life i would get pretty sick of them in a hurry. so i am setting it up so the hearts can be popped out in the future and replaced with another carving when she finally comes to her senses.

the blocks are simply 2-7/8 square with a 7/8" flat hole in the center. i am using a 1/4" round over bit to smooth out the inside edge, a 1/4" beading bit to put a little profile on the outside edge and am using a flush trim bit to shape the hearts to a template after trimming on the band saw.... can you believe that Menard's doesn't carry a decent flush trim bit? i can find a pair of socks but not a router bit? perhaps they moved the bits i want over to the paint department?

i need a new store.....

anyway ill post pics when i have a few

here is my other little project. the picture turned out so well i had to post it. 

I did this little stand for a paying customer.. wow i didnt think anyone would actualy pay me..... 

darn cute if you ask me, it kind of says it all 

Slacken off in November!

Ok so I'm a slacker.... At least when posting is involved... Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing over the last month.... Homework started again so I only have a one day at most a weekend.. But I think I'm making lots of progress. Just one more day on Mother-IN-Laws trim work and I will be freeee!!!!! Just kidding, ill never be free.

September here we go!

Wow I intended to post more in august, but that's the way it goes. So now its September and summer is fading fast. Time to setup the firewood supply for winter, put the yard to bed and get some hunting in!

Weekend Update

Well, well, well... I made a little progress this weekend in the In-Laws house. Did the final coat of mud on the laundry room drywall. Patched some holes (man I love caulk!) and got a good start on the door and window casings. I also put on a lot of base board. The contractor did a lousy job in a couple of areas of trim, where the new addition and old house come together. I think I'm going to have to redo some stuff. I'm thinking a couple more days will finish off the inside. There is still a years worth of stuff to do. Yard work, decks and steps. New lights and stuff. Of course they want to move in this weekend.... Oh well, keep plugging away

Handyman Update

Just received my marching orders for this weekend. I need to finish up the taping and texturing of the laundry room in my inlaws new (old) house. I also need to measure for the black walnut trimming I need to do... not to worry things will change by Friday..
hahah

Achievement days 2006

Brandon made some wooden cars for grant county achievement days. He got his 4-h project ideas from toys n joys catalog. We ordered the plans and cut em out. Pretty cool. He got a purple ribbon on the cars and now they are on their way to the South Dakota State Fair! We are going to make a trip down there to see how they did. With any luck ill remember to take a picture.

This is the latest wild idea. still in the planing stage, this will be a complete 96 sf house. i think i can use it for ice fishing and a guest house! 

What happened to June?

June is gone and now its July! Man the time just flies when the wife is cracking the whip!
I have lots of things to do so I will just do a quick update and get back to work.

the garage project went rather well, the walls were actually plumb. We didn't get to the shingles but its pretty amazing how much work we accomplished in a week of 12 hours days. The project did expand a bit to include a 30x16 cedar deck enclosed with walls and roof. (matching the house was tough) someone didn't know the diff between 2.72/12 and 3/12 pich. Then we did another deck 8x30, the garage itself was 30x32 with 10ft walls.. For a couple of guys that hadn't even built a dog house before, I think we did pretty good. We did get shut down by a couple of thunderstorms.... Something about being on a aluminum ladder and lightning.....hmmmmm what was that? But it did give us a chance to drink a beer or two... Normal people have fun on their vacation, I seem to build stuff!

meanwhile I'm still waiting for the in-laws contractor to install a couple of windows before I can install a couple of false walls for the new shower and utilities. Go figure, that project is expanding too.... Now we get to paint the whole house! Oh well it keeps me out of the bars at night....

shop notes:
finally unpacked my tools from the garage project and decided I needed to install my chop saw with vacuum connection the right way. So I build a box in the wall behind it to run the vacuum line and came out under the bench for the blast gate... Should work great. I also installed the roof fan for the summer, I swear it was 500 deg up in the attic....Whew!
gotta run, have fun hammering!

May is almost gone

Time, Time, Time....
must be the biggest problem I have, lots of projects and no time to get it done. I haven't been totally lazy this last month. All of the typical spring activities and getting the garden ready. The hearth project is moving slowly, I am making my own tile out of field stone. Cutting slices about a half inch thick. The colors are wonderful from red, black and green granite.
I also had to rebuild the step for the garage entrance, I used recycled cedar from an old granary I tore down. Surfaced planed the boards and plugged the nail holes. Turned out really cool.
oh well, this is all the time I have for this month. I wont get back into the shop until June. Working cattle this weekend, removing a garage next weekend and building a new garage for my brother the week after that.....