I find myself on the drive into work this morning looking at the world through a new set of eyes: everywhere I look all the sudden I see scraps of usable wood going to waste: burn piles, stray fence boards, stacks of broken shipping pallets, old furniture destined for the landfill. Would it be obsessive if I said I have an entirely new appreciation of twigs?
It just seems to be everywhere and one of those things I didn’t notice before being bitten by the woodworking bug.
I want to grab it all up, store it away, strip it, clean it, and give it a new home. Imagine all the beautiful knots, crotches, and grain patterns that won’t ever get to be appreciated. It’s like a chef (or in my case a couch potato watching a chef on the Food Network) watching pound after pound of fillet mignon being used to mop the floor with. Oh, the travesty!
There once was a hero named Robin Hood who reached a breaking point and started recycling the dignity and livelihoods of the English peasant class. Maybe that spirit blew through the trees and entered my dreams last night. Maybe it was just heartburn. All I know is the urge to respond is almost palpable.
I’ve had all I can stands, I can’t stands no more, as Popeye would say. I don’t have a proper pickup truck, but when the seats are laid down in the Cherokee I can get a fair amount of stuff in there. From here on out ol’ Pappy’s gonna knock on people’s doors, ring a few telephones, slip quietly at night into recovery mode and rescue these darling children from an undeserved fate.
It is, after all, only right… :)
Disclaimer: Pappy knows it’s wrong to steal. Any indication or interpretation that the previous post advocates or reflects a gaping hole in his morals should be attributed to literary license rather than a moral deficit.
-- --==[ Pappy ]==--
15 comments so far
Calgirl
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188 posts in 794 days
posted 778 days ago
Isn’t it the truth, Pappy. Every new hobby seems to open up things never seen or felt before. I am that way about wood and also about metal detecting. Every time I see an old house about to be wrecked, I want to slip in there with my detector. I was bumming around the beach a while back and found a man’s diamond ring, so there are treasures out there! When a hurricane comes thru northern Florida, I see all the trees that have been blown down and I wish I had a chain saw!
-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !
Zuki
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1234 posts in 976 days
posted 778 days ago
Pappy . . . you make for some interesting reading.
2 weeks ago there was “bulk garbage” pickup in my area. The tables and chairs, entertainment centers and other wood products that was thrown out for garbage was amazing. DW would have killed me if I brought any more stuff home. :-)
-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them
john
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1201 posts in 1280 days
posted 778 days ago
Pappy if it wasn,t for recycling old wood i think my yard would be empty.
It,s a great feeling to know that you made something worth while out of wood that was doomed for the fire pit and your sure can,t beat the price.
I always keep a large stock pile of free recycled wood.
-- John in Belgrave ,(Slideshow http://cid-69bce320c6d8b119.spaces.live.com/ (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com
Thos. Angle
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4013 posts in 861 days
posted 778 days ago
Pappy,
You certainly add to this site. I look forward to hearing what you will come up with next. Keep at it. All dumpster divers are welcome. I’d have more if Carleen would let me.
Tom
-- Thos. Angle
Bob Babcock
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1808 posts in 985 days
posted 778 days ago
Hehe…good read pappy. Your going to fit in well here.
I just found out about a great source of lumber. My nephew erects steel buildings. The pieces come in on truck seperated by 80” 3×4 hardwood blocks. He says there are 3-4 pickup loads each building. I’m going to turn the waste from the next building they do into hardwood floors. I figure I can get a planer with the money I save….:)
-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org
A.W. "Pappy" Ford
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98 posts in 781 days
posted 778 days ago
Ah shucks, everyone, thanks for the great comments. (blush)
John I gotta tell you I’m inspired in no small part due to you. Your projects were the last thing I was reading before bed last night – I can’t think of a single one that I saw that you didn’t make from recycled material. Really got my mind going…
Zuki, that must have been like pulling teeth to drive past :)
I had my first “Robin Hood” experience at work shortly after posting this, but the details will have to wait ‘til the next blog posting. I’m thinking of going with “Sherwood Forest #2: Wherein Pappy Discovers Tights” as a title. Whatdayathink?
-- --==[ Pappy ]==--
WayneC
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6061 posts in 996 days
posted 777 days ago
Given you logo, tights might be an improvement….lol
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
MsDebbieP
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14174 posts in 1059 days
posted 777 days ago
Pappy Hood to the rescue!!
lol @ Wayne.
(FYI: in our local city they have a bylaw that says that anything put on the curb belongs to the city and taking it is “stealing” and you can be charged. Not sure what their intention was behind this law but it just doesn’t sit right with me…. the most stuff we can keep out of the landfill / recycling, the better. Even if it is only for one more, single, use. )
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Sawdust2
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1188 posts in 986 days
posted 777 days ago
Robin Hood
Men in tights
I’m a Lumberjack and I’m OK
Pappy mooning us.
Soon someone will be talking about insertnig a tenon into a mortise
-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.
Douglas Bordner
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3427 posts in 962 days
posted 777 days ago
All I have to say on the subject, except save those orphans!
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
A.W. "Pappy" Ford
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98 posts in 781 days
posted 777 days ago
Um, Sawdust, the tenon rib comment made me pucker right up! Anyone got a shoe-horn? :)
I agree, Deb, thats a lame ordinance. Sounds like a trip to the next city council meeting is in order. Ask them about their commitment to recycling before you spring the curbside stupidity on them
I’ve been Bordnered – what an honor!
-- --==[ Pappy ]==--
Douglas Bordner
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3427 posts in 962 days
posted 777 days ago
Glad you liked it Pappy. I just feel better about the drawing with the pants up. ;^D
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
A.W. "Pappy" Ford
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98 posts in 781 days
posted 777 days ago
Y’all act like you never seen a pair of gnome cheeks before.
-- --==[ Pappy ]==--
WayneC
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6061 posts in 996 days
posted 777 days ago
I drove through walnut coutry today. Wanted to raid some firewood stacks…
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
A.W. "Pappy" Ford
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98 posts in 781 days
posted 777 days ago
Took the family and my mom over to Woodburn to shop at the outlet stores today. En route we drove through farm and nursery country. Ten minutes on the road and I see the remains of a large, and I do mean large, oak sitting half in the ditch. The base section was probably about 5 1/2 feet long and at least 6 or 7 feet in diameter. Tapped the brakes, winced real hard, and kept driving – no way I can get it in the Jeep with a car full of people. May drive out there in the morning and see if the nursery folks will let me haul it off. What I’ll do with it after that is a mystery as I have nothing to mill it down with. Wonder what my neighbor with the chainsaw could do about that…
-- --==[ Pappy ]==--