Bird Bench

I was asked if it would be possible for me to save an old bench for a freind that her Grandfather made when she was younger.  I said, " Sure no problem".  I should have looked at the bench first.  Not that it was too bad, just that it was almost all rotted out.  I keep some wood behind my barn so that it can grey from weather.  At first I stacked it back there because I hadn't made enough room in my barn for it and needed to pull all the old nails out of it.  Now, it turns out that having some wood on hand that's grey and weathered is a good thing to have for "repairing" projects like this.  I'm going to have to make a rack out back to store some wood occasionally and weather it.  But the rest needs to be put inside in some racks up in the hayloft now.  I finished the bench without too many problems.  All but the back rest and back legs had to be replaced.  She was very happy with the finished project.  I told her to let it sit out until this fall with her plants on it and I would come and get it and finish it with some linseed oil to preserve it.  It should all be the same shade of grey by this fall.

Door With a Star

So I finished the Barn door that my customer wanted a star cut into.  Man I wish all my jobs could be as easy as this one.  Took all of about 15 minutes, start to finish.  I had her find the exact star she wanted and printed it out to the size wanted.  Then I took the star and placed it on the door in about 6 different spots and took a picture of each position, and emailed her the photos and asked her to choose where she wanted it.  When I got the email back, I took the paper star and sprayed contact glue on the back and placed the star on the door.  I drilled five 3/8 inch holes at each inner point so that all I had to do was to cut each side of the stars without having to turn it on the jigsaw.  When I finsihed cutting it out, I took a router and gave the whole thing a slight round over and sanded the outer points to match.

Sunday

When the kids came out Saturday night to see how it was going, they all just stopped in their tracks and looked in awe.  One of my boys said it looks more like a cabin than a fort.  On Sunday I headed back into a old shed that I found, and started to tear off more siding.  After about an hour and a half, I called my wife and the kids to come in with the trailer and load it up for me while I tore more off.  Then back home we went (with a trailer so full that I thought the tires might pop).  I started on the next side.  The screen door came from the shed also, it was just sitting there against a wall.  So when I got home, I dug around the shop and found three hinges (three different ones of course).  One of the hinges is a self closer, so that was nice - don't need to have a spring on the outside to catch on the kids or their stuff.  They all spent the night out there last night and are already having a blast in it.  Now to get a railing up before they start having friends over!

Another Busy Weekend

The whole weekend was about the fort again.  We spent Saturday getting the steel roof and siding on the front.  Then I put the windows in.  Two of them are hinged so that the kids can open them, then there is the big one and a little glass block up beside the bunk, so that whoever is sleeping up there can look out too.

New Customer

I picked up a new customer this week.  She has an old milk cart, that the big cans went on, that needs all new wood and some metal work that needs to be heated and straightened out.  Not sure how I will do with the metal work, but I am going to try.  Along with a quilt rack that is just huge and needs resizing, and a small barn door that they want a star cut into.  Then this really cool old garden bench that is about to fall over and die.  I am really glad that I have been raiding all of these old barns of wood before we burn them down.  New wood on the bench or the milk cart would just look awful.  I will post before and after pictures of them.

Fort Update

We had a perfect weekend here.  I got one step further on the fort so the boys are getting super excited with their fort now that they can see it with the plywood on the walls, and the joists up for the steel to go on.  My daughter even made lunch yesterday for everyone and we sat in the fort and enjoyed a nice little picnic.  I am hoping to get started on the steel tonight (which is salved also from an old pole shed).  A buddy of mine stopped by and told the kids that they were spoiled to have such a big fort.  Then he told me that with a fort like that, there was no reason to have to spend money to go on vacation - the kids would never want to leave it.  And yes, you do see three ladders standing there.  I even have one inside the fort - who knew that it would take as many ladders to build a fort as it does to build a house.

Fort for the boys

I had a busy weekend - spent it framing a fort for the boys.  Tonight I will put the rafters on, then we will put 1/4 inch plywood on so that all the old barn siding can go up and I won't have to fill all the old nail holes.  I also had a chance to go and tear down more wood from an old garage.  Holy cow - the lumber was six feet high in there, alot was rotted but I still came home with three trailer loads full including oak flooring and walnut boards.  I am hoping to go back this weekend and get more siding and dimensional lumber from there before it gets torn down.

Old Betsy Steering Wheel

Here is a photo of Old Betsy's steering wheel finished and waiting to be put back on the steering coloumn.