# random



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*

Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!

What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


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## brianinpa (Mar 16, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Gary, it smells great but in my opinion the taste does not match the smell. For me I really like the smell of cedar.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Another wood that has a nice odor to it when you work with it is cherry.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I like Gabarelli. It's a wood found only here in Maine and near the Canadian border at that. It smells like cheese melted in a fondu kettle but only if the wood is cut wet. If it's put dry on a jointer or planer it smells like shredded cheddar. When I'm done I just bury my face in the pile of shavings on the floor of the shop. That is until my wife comes in as she knows that I'm just full of it (ah.. not cheese).

I've dulled more planer blades than I care to mention producing enough for dinner engagements.

On a serious note… hand planing dry sitka spruce is a very woodworking sort of smell. Guitar makers know what I mean.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Padauk has a slight chocolate smell. But, it is toxic and a respirator must be used.


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


You're not alone about Black Walnut. Does any other wood REALLY exist?

Unfortunately, I've tasted MUCH more MDF sawdust lately, and my palate is slightly off. Not good considering I'm a chef. hehehe

ok, so… Red Cedar is nice too, as is American Black Cherry & Apple.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Years ago my dad turned a lidded bowl out of some New Zealand native ( not sure which one, it was a long time ago) and no matter what we did it stank of puke, seriously it was pungent and it just wouldn,t go away and the longer the lid was on the worse it got. Funny thing was customers in my dads craft shop would always lift the lids on bowls and smell them, not sure why people do that but we left the puke bowl on the shelf and it was always amusing watching their reactions after enjoying the smell of Kauri ,apple wood, pear and walnut when they lifted the lid on the puke bowl. That joke never got old. Funnily enough nobody ever bought it.
Personnely i,m a sucker for the smell of pine, spruce and fir, I guess thats from the years in sawmills.


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I love the smell of walnut in the morning….


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Brian - Agreed. The taste of the wood shavings was a big disappointment after that build-up 

Scott - Good to know! I have yet to work in cherry. It's been on the list for months.

Rob - Hadn't heard of pinion pine, adding it to my list, and I'm quite curious about olive wood especially.

Daniel - your fancy 'only in one part of Maine' wood makes me realize even more the difficult task that lies ahead of me in collecting samples of every wood there is. I don't find any hits on Google for the wood. Does it go by another name, or is it part of a larger species?

John - I have some padauk now - a 2' plank from Rockler that's been sitting around for awhile, waiting for a purpose (it was on sale). I'll be curious to see how it smells when I finally cut into it. Thanks for the warning about the toxicity. It's such a small piece, I probably would have mistakenly assumed it was safe.

Ric - seems like fruit trees by nature smell nice. I actually have 3 bundles of firewood from Home Depot and the grocery store that I wanted to practice resawing on, and see if I could make something nice out of them, and the HD bundle claims it might contain some fruit wood. It's hard to identify quartered logs, but I have Bruce Hoadley's book "Identifying Wood," and am scouting for a small handheld miscroscope. I'm not giving up yet.

Kiwi - that's great! I got 4 boxes of assorted hardwoods from Rockler earlier this year, and while going through, taking pictures, weighing them, making guesses as to what they might be while researching online (you know, being a wood geek), I found a few here and there that were just awful to smell, almost like you say. I wondered who would ever want to work in those woods, especially with any regularity.

Barry - I have had basswood strips, but never really cut into any bigger blocks of it. You've got me curious. I like pine, but at the same time, after awhile, it makes me a bit nauseous. It's very nostalgic for me, as I built pretty much everything out of it in high school, but the other side of that coin is that I often feel really old when it reminds me of how much more fluidly I could dance around whatever I was building in that younger body 

sIKE - nice


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## teenagewoodworker (Jan 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


walnut, peruvian walnut, pine, cherry…. those are some of my favorites but ebony though is horrid. i can stand smelling the stuff


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## ShopMonkey (Dec 8, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I could lick a cedar or a walnut board. haha.


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## JuniorJoiner (Dec 24, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


not sure about eating it, but you should try port orford cedar, sandalwood, and juniper. 
I made a sandalwood burl box a few years ago, still smells amazing.(got the wood for 23 dollars in iran)

I also like putting some alaskan yellow cedar through the planer. I keep a bag of the shavings to throw some into the shopvac whenever i change the bag. that way it dosen't make the room smell musty when it turns on.

I have exotics that smell awful though. I have some greenhart that smells like fueloil when i plane it.

unfortunately, smell is usually a low priority when choosing wood for a piece. also the best smelling are usually expensive. But a nice smelling object always brings a smile when handled(and they usually sell). So us woodworkers cherish making beautiful things from these woods. 
just remember to keep a few for yourself


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I can usually tell when cutting from the rosewood family. It has a very distinctive smell.

Of course I love red cedar. My cherry scraps go into the smoker for smoking meat.


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## lazyfiremaninTN (Jul 30, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I love the smell of Walnut. I also have taken a liking to fresh cut cedar. I recently went to the cedar mill and got 3 beautiful pieces and have them drying on the top of my lumber rack. I have walked by the garage door and opened it just to smell the fresh cedar.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


bentlyj - You could just get 1bft of walnut, and keep sanding the end grain, taking hits off of that for your fix 

teenage - You're the second person to tell me ebony stinks. I'm so very curious now. I think I have 4 turning blanks of that in an assortment from Rockler that's been sitting around since the holidays waiting for me to get good enough on my mini lathe to warrant digging into them.

Jarrod - I'm wondering now about wooden 'recipes.' I.e. gluing up certain amounts and numbers of pieces of various fragrant wood types to create aromatic blends when, e.g., turned on the lathe that are practically irresistible to people who want to give me money 

ShopMonkey - haha! nice.

JuniorJoiner - I know a bit about juniper smell. I have Hollywood Junipers in my back yard, and cut off a pretty big, sprawling limb to make room for a shed I built, and it was about 2.5" at its thickest. It looks amazing in cross-section, like a slice of ham. I cut it up around its small, burlish areas into fairly-straight turning blanks. I'm curious to see what I can get out of them when they finish air-drying.

Karson - I looked into rosewoods recently, and some are just gorgeous. The things I've seen made in them online fill me with a deep desire to improve my skills enough to warrant using them. Got me curious about the smell now, too. Also, I didn't realize cherry was a good smoking wood. Thanks for the info!

Adrian - I got a box of hardwoods, and was stumped on one piece for awhile, looking things up, and then - as with all the pieces in the box - I smelled it. It was immediately identifiable - aromatic cedar! After that, I smelled each piece immediately when investigating it, though I wasn't really familiar at that point with any other wood smells. I've been working to train myself while working in the shop to recognize the smells more quickly. It just feels right, like a captain knowing the sounds of his/her vessel. Oh, and the reason I was stumped by the cedar - it was amberish and yellowish-red. I didn't realize those were the colors of cedar, as all the cedar I'd ever known - in ball and shake form - had always been purplish. I later read that there are a variety of fragrant trees masquerading as cedars for those kinds of applications (e.g. mothballs), and some of those are more purple. They aren't cedar, IIRC, but have some shared properties. Also, I think fresh redcedar heartwood is purple, but fades more to tan. More on that. The juniper/cypress/cedar stuff really confuses me.


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## joemick (Feb 24, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I'm with some others, the smell of newly cut cedar floats my boat.

joemick


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## Daren (Sep 16, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I love the smell of walnut fresh on the sawmill as well as eastern red cedar, cherry, persimmon, sweet gum, honeylocust, sassafras, osage, mulberry, pecan, sugar maple…(I could go on) I don't however like the smell of red oak, call me weird, but I just don't enjoy it.


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


I agree with Daren about the sassafras; I would have to call that my favorite although I've never made anything with it except wood chips for tea. How is it to work with? Has anyone made any projects with it? I don't like red oak either. I think it actually smells pretty bad.


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## Pie (Jan 28, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Yeah the economy has me getting my wood high on pine but after reading all of this I might have to graduate to the harder stuff soon.


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## DavidBethune (Feb 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Walnut Wood - I just need to know...*
> 
> Does anyone else - when working with black walnut - think it smells delicious? I just want to eat it whenever I'm cutting it. I was recently cutting out a ball blank from a glue-up of walnut, maple, and wenge, the latter two of which don't really have a smell when cut. But the walnut! My dull band saw blade was more burning than cutting, and I was just about drooling all over the table. It smelled like warm cinnamon chocolate bread pudding. I almost ran to the bakery in defiance of my new year's diet. What torture!
> 
> What other woods do you love to work with for the smell (or taste!  alone? Which ones stink too much to enjoy?


Before I can give you an opinion, I'll have to cut a chew or two and try it. Would you swallow it or use a spittoon? Dam I'm hungry now!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is *

I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6' tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4' behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I plan to use for wood drying of small logs I find here, and tiny resawn/stickered stuff - the bonsai version of a real wood drying area , and then it turns right in line with the edge of the garage and terminates on the other corner, butting right into that side. This means I can't get to the outer side of one long wall of my garage.

It's sealed off from me by a cement wall and a wooden fence. It's my neighbor's wall, esentially and sometimes I hear him banging on it. I think he might have pegboard installed, because it's sounded like he's gardening, hanging tools up as he finishes using them on the outside of my garage wall. I think he has a potting table pushed up against it, but I can't know, because it's hidden by a wall across my entire property. It's especially weird for me, as I grew up in the middle of nowhere, in the deep woods, with no neighbors, really. It was total seclusion, and now even in a separate home - which definitely beats apartment life of a few years ago, don't get me wrong - I still don't 'own' the whole garage. I can't go knocking out a hole to vent my dust collector, or a fume extractor on that wall, which is the empty (of windows/doors) long wall. But I digress. It's just a rental house, and I'm hoping to buy a house with a 2-car garage one of these years. This place is just a stepping stone to my dreams, and I'm plenty happy with everything the place does allow me to do in the meantime, which includes a lot of learning, and experience building.

Anyway, it's 13'x17.5' inside, or a whopping 227.5sq. ft. I subtracted the footprints of my tools, which include a very large router table (Woodpecker's biggest), a RIDGID table saw (pretty big), 2 2×8, heavy workbench tables (on sale a couple years ago at Sam's Club), a Craftsman 12" drill press, a Delta 6" jointer, a Craftsman 18" wood/metal bandsaw, a Delta 1HP dust collector w/ 30gal galv. trash can separator, and the floor cabinet I just built. And I'm really anxious to get a good 9" disc/6"x24" belt sander. Where am I going to put it, though? And where am I ever going to set up all the welding stuff I want to learn about? I'm glad the landlady pays for gardeners, because I barely have room for the 2 shovels, rake, and pushbroom I hung in the corner behind the door, all in overlapping fashion.

The remaining, scattered, usable floor area in my garage is 124sq. ft., or roughly a 10'x12' patch. I wish that were all contiguous. That would actually be a pretty sweet area for me to work in. Unfortunately, that's all in bits here and there, lost in large part between tools against the walls, or divided in half by the huge table saw in the middle of the room. It was quite a struggle to move heavy tools around back and forth for weeks while building that cabinet. There's no chance of making anything like a bed, or couch, or dining room table, so for now I'm concentrating on smaller things. I can't even imagine how much faster I'd be with another car's worth of space in which to have a true woodworker's bench - the big 4'x8' kind, with the vice built in and everything. While building the lazy susan this past week, I'd set up the saw, make some cuts, then knock it down, sink the blade, remove the guard, stow the fence, and use the saw as a work table upon which to biscuit-join the pieces. Then I laid out wax paper and did the glue-ups on the saw, moving everything setting up the saw again to rip the edge banding later, and knocking it down once more to glue that on. It's like working in a tavern puzzle.

The other problem is that my one 2'x8' table upon which I could do a lot of assembly-type work has been piled at least 1' high in junk spilling off all edges for probably a year. There's just been absolutely nowhere to move it all to. That's why I built the shop cabinet, and it holds a tremendous amount of stuff - need to post about that soon. I'm moving almost everything into there, or recycling it, giving it away, or selling it. I managed to sell my fold-up circular saw to my officemate's friend 2 weeks ago. What a huge relief that was! Almost 6 additional sq. ft. of space! I danced in its emptied corner that night, in celebration.

Probably the next half-year is just going to be getting my ducks in a row, cleaning the rest of the place out of my accumulated junk, organizing, and building more shelves and cabinets to get everything up off the floor and in a place, so I can reclaim my space. I suppose in some ways this is good training. If I had 2-cars worth of space a year or two ago, I'd probably spill into all areas and choke myself out of there, too  Now I'm kind of hardened against that sort of space-waste, like I've been through some kind of military academy that trains it out of you. I've also built a too-elaborate wood storage shed outside to hold pretty much all of my lumber, and am making a smaller, stepped shelving thing now to hang up high on the long wall of the garage, and will post about that soon, too. The only part that's a little upsetting is that it'll probably be a year in all of building just to get me more room, and then I'll probably find a great place to move to on craigslist, and have to take down all of my intricate work getting this place set up as well as it possibly can be. I don't know how I'll ever get the wood shed out of the back yard. It's far bigger than either of the gates, and those are the only ways out. Maybe helicopter 

What kind of sq. ft. do you have in your shop? Ever considered subtracting your tool/table/storage footprints to see how much actual usable space you have? Do you wish you had more, or can you pretty much go from tool to tool, to assembly area with no need to reshuffle your whole shop?


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is *
> 
> I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6' tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4' behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I plan to use for wood drying of small logs I find here, and tiny resawn/stickered stuff - the bonsai version of a real wood drying area , and then it turns right in line with the edge of the garage and terminates on the other corner, butting right into that side. This means I can't get to the outer side of one long wall of my garage.
> 
> ...


Gary, I can that for most of us, there are three essentials for our shops- space, tools and clamps- that we never seem to have enough of to satisfy our woodworking needs. I have never formally subtracted my tool footprint from my shop area but I can say, without a doubt, that I, like the vast majority of us, do not have enough space in my shop. I can assemble one cabinet at a time and that is with a lot of shuffling during the process. I have a personal paradigm that, in a similar fashion to time, work will expand to fill the available area.

But it amazing what can be done in small shop spaces. I have often commented on a former co-worker who could boast of having a 10'x10' shop with a benchtop jointer, planer and table saw in there. And he managed to produced some fine furniture in this shop. In a recent post Dilo gave us a look inside his 42 sq ft shop. There is no arguing that the work he produces is simply masterful.

I am sure, at least initially, that I would be more than satisfied with a 1000 sq ft shop but I am equally positive that in short fashion I would lamenting the lack of available space. But is would be fun to have this space "problem" and it would obviously give me room for more tools!!!!


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is *
> 
> I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6' tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4' behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I plan to use for wood drying of small logs I find here, and tiny resawn/stickered stuff - the bonsai version of a real wood drying area , and then it turns right in line with the edge of the garage and terminates on the other corner, butting right into that side. This means I can't get to the outer side of one long wall of my garage.
> 
> ...


will this do?

Just kidding, this is a "before" shot of where I should be working, but thats a long sorry tale and a blog post for another day. My "workshop" currently depends on the weather as it,s outside. I,m on a hand tool trip now so my space needs are flexible as I don,t need a power point but i,ve been in your position before. It all depends on how organized you are. Just remember if you aren,t organized then it doesn,t matter how big the space, you,ll still fill it with junk!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is *
> 
> I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6' tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4' behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I plan to use for wood drying of small logs I find here, and tiny resawn/stickered stuff - the bonsai version of a real wood drying area , and then it turns right in line with the edge of the garage and terminates on the other corner, butting right into that side. This means I can't get to the outer side of one long wall of my garage.
> 
> ...


Scott - I'm adding one more necessity: I'm also always in short supply of time! I actually have enough clamps for most things I do now, but then, I did recently build a floor cabinet, and simply did not have enough for certain glue-ups, and those glue-ups suffered. You are definitely right about space filling up regardless, though I think for me, a 2-car garage with about a 9' clearance before the roof studs, and then an A-frame rafter space built solidly for all the winched "liftables" I'd want to install overhead would about do it. I'm actually almost out of tools now, meaning I've pretty much gotten everything I need, save the belt and disc sander. I can see upgrading to larger versions of some things - bigger saw with large table, larger dust collector - but the "must have" acquisition list has been pretty empty for awhile.

For anything larger than something that fits easily on a table, I seem to be forever shuffling, sliding tools out of the way so I can set up infeed and outfeed rollers for the saw, always banging into benchtops when moving things around. The thing I'm absolutely missing every time is a workbench. I think everyone would agree with that, but I'm plumb out of room in which to have one, let alone build one. I'd like something about 4'x8', with space all around it so I can attack work from all angles. My 2'x8' bench, which is a mess, but is getting cleaned up, is pushed into a corner. If I'm working on assembling something 3'x3', I can't get the whole thing on there. Currently, I'm making a shelving system that's 2'x2'x6'. It'll just fit on the table (when cleaned off), but won't really leave any room for the tools, jigs, and other things with which to assemble it. I'm certain the dream of a 2 car garage would still have struggles, but I'm 90% certain that someday, when I have that space, at least 80% of what I do will require no shufflings, and I can just work. That's my biggest wish, outside of more time.

Kiwi - HAHA! That cracked me up. My stepdad has a kind of warehouse-like metal shop, usually filled with loud noises and foremen, but I went down there in high school one night by myself to work on a camera rig idea I had. I only turned on a couple lights here and there, where needed, so I was kind of in isolated pools of light at each station in a sea of darkness. It was creepy, and very lonely. I think if I had as much space as in that picture all to myself, my original post would have ended with different questions, more like "Does anyone want to come over? Please? You can use my tools… whatever. It's so lonely here." 

And organization indeed. That's what I'm doing right now. I built a floor cabinet that holds a crap-ton of stuff - still moving things into it. I built a wood storage shed that holds all of the 2'x4', 4'x8', and 8' long lumber I have so far. And now I'm building a wall rack that will be up high, and not hit me in the head, by design, and hopefully ALL of the small cutoffs and shorts piling up around me in the garage will fit into it. I'm moving more and more piles around, and they keep getting heavier, and more wobbly, like jenga games. I know this is a growing problem, and I'll keep building until I run out of cubby space there, too, but the idea is to keep tabs on it, and when I see it filling up, I'll come up with a little project - like a nice box - and pull from it to reduce the clutter back down. Here's hoping, on all fronts.

Thanks for the support, guys!


----------



## BigBob (Nov 5, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Just realized exactly how tiny my shop is *
> 
> I finally ran the numbers. My shop is a 1-car rental garage in cramped, suburban LA. Making things extra strange is that there is a 6' tall cinder block wall running down one side of the property that terminates right at the corner of my garage. It actually buts into it, overlapping the wall by the width of the cinder blocks. The fence around the back of the property passes about 4' behind the garage, giving me a little tree-covered (Hollywood Junipers and Ficus benjamina) area I plan to use for wood drying of small logs I find here, and tiny resawn/stickered stuff - the bonsai version of a real wood drying area , and then it turns right in line with the edge of the garage and terminates on the other corner, butting right into that side. This means I can't get to the outer side of one long wall of my garage.
> 
> ...


Hi Gary, the space is always an issue, no matter how large your shop is. My shop is a 2 car garage. The car livesin the driveway, the shop mine. It measures about 21ft by 24 ft and it's STILL not big enough. Fine Woodworking has a lot of articles about small shops andlaying them out. I built a 16 ft workbench along one wall with a radial arm saw right in the midldle of the bench. I use it to cross cut only and it really saws a lot of time. a radial arm saw is out of fashion these days and cheap to buy because they are dangerious to rip with, and have been replaced by the chop off saw. 
Thanks for your kind comments on my bench and ships wheel. I'll add you to my buddies.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*

I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


Hmmmm . . . I think you should put the dust bag back on the ROS Gary. It appears that you have have inhaled a little to much purpleheart dust. LOL


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


It's not like that! I can quit the purpleheart any time. Just… not yet.


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## savannah505 (Jul 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


I want what your smokin. I get the same feeling from some of the stone I work with.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


KILL IT! KILL IT NOW!!!! I,VE READ ASIMOV, I KNOW WHAT IT WILL DO!!!!


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## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


Leave it alone - Its CUTE !!!


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## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


Yeah what are you smoking?????


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


PG_Zac understands. It is cute. It's just like this guy:



I believe they share another trait as well: scratchy bellies.


----------



## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


Here's another aquatic ROS for you Gary.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


That does it, Zac. I'm getting one.


----------



## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Anthropomorphic tools - My DeWALT sander is watching me*
> 
> I hadn't noticed until now, but I think my little DeWALT ROS is a robot who's been watching me now for more than a decade. At least he's adorable, like a little puffer fish. I only hope his intentions are peaceful.


ROFLMAO…...


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*homemade walnut pegs*

(don't miss the video at the bottom!)

I'm currently building a rack for lumber shorts and cutoffs under 3' in length. I wanted to do a bit more than slap together Home Depot plywood and solids this time, though. One small 'extra' will be exposed pegs through the sidewalls to help support the thin ply shelves (they're also getting #0 biscuits - I like overkill). These pegs will be flush-sawn, sanded, and finished with the rest of the rack, and most importantly, they'll be walnut, for beauty and contrast. So I needed walnut pegs. I had a 3/4" square rod I'd ripped from a 5' plank from a separate project, and from about a foot of the end of that, I used my bandsaw to free 32 little ~5/16" "blanks."





Back in my little machine shop inside, I set up my Sherline 4400 CNC mini lathe to turn the little things on centers, and wrote a blurb of Python to output the g-code to do the work for me of turning each to precisely 0.25" diameter. My lathe isn't trammed properly, so it added its own taper, which worked out for me, as it's 0.002" under the mark on one end of each, and the same over on the other. I can drive in the narrow sides, and they'll tighten up as they go in.

I made a nice little pile of walnut dust as I went:



The 32 little 1/4" pegs came out so perfectly, and now I have the code ready for whenever I need to turn some more in whatever crazy wood I need pegs made out of. I noticed a chunk of the silver birch out front was coming free (someone before I moved in cut it in half, and was a bit sloppy about it), so I pulled it off, sawed it up in the band saw, found it was riddled with tunnels and live, squishy bugs, but managed to get a piece large enough to turn in the lathe, and it made a really nice, usable little birch peg for me. If only I had a robot arm that could feed in blanks, and remove finished pegs, I'd have my own little peg-maker working behind me on the workbench here in my office.





My code exposes some variables to me, so I can change the step amount (how much to shave off) each pass, how long the peg is, so I don't run past it into the tail stock, and how fast to make the movements. Each peg took about 2:30, though I could probably push it to under 2 minutes. However, between centers, such a tiny piece of wood slips a lot, because I can't tighten it up too much, or I'll just split the little blank apart. This means if I cut too aggressively, the peg just free-spins on the centers, jamming in place. This happened a lot until I started tightening up a lot more, then I was able to increase cut passes from 0.002" each pass (which still occasionally jammed) to about 0.02", dropping the time from 28 minutes to under 2.5 minutes.

Here's a "blank," with a finished peg next to it:



I had fun editing together a little video of the process (which you can see much more sharply at YouTube here):






More pics and descriptions in the Flickr set.


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


Fancy method. Nice video.

I have used a different method by pounding through a dowel plate. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=DP
Takes a bit of time.
Have you used one?


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


This is an interesting technique, Gary. I agree that you could have just bought the dowel rod but then you would have missed out on the fun of making your own. If I have the tools and the time I would rather make something than buy it. Nice job.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


That is a sweet little setup Gary, of course you could have done it with a dowel plate and a mallet in about 2 seconds each but where,s the fun in that, right?. I guess thats the luddite in me trying to get out after too many years on the CNC,s and more than a few mind numbing months on the copy lathes. Not sure if I can put a copy attachment on a treadle lathe but I,ll keep you posted.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


I read somewhere that square pegs in round holes, while counterintuitive, can have a beneficial effect. Wish I could remember where I heard it. I think it was somethign Chris Shwarz wrote.

either way, that came out wonderfully. way nicer than the walnut dowels that I bought at woodcraft.


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## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


I use the same method taught to me my by my Appalachian elders - a dowel plate.
I had a dowel plate made for me at a local metal shop about five years ago and it still works.
I've used many local woods for dowels, including: walnut, cherry, oak, ash, maple, hickory and hackberry.

Armed with a homemade wooden mallet, then whack, whack, whack and out comes a peg.

For large diameter pegs, I use a doweling cutter, then cut pegs to length.


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## JMatt (Mar 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


G-code and Python. Now you're talking my language. I think I could do this on my tabletop CNC and just cut them from a thick board vertically. Of course I would need several profiling cuts for each one. Not nearly as fast as your setup. Can I get a peek at how you use Python to generate G-code? I wan't to write some Perl or Java to generate G-code for making holes then add it as a screen in Mach.

Good stuff.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


looks great, nice to see it all coming together .

seems very repetitive those, how far can you open the lathe? it would make it more efficient to make one long dowel and cut it into pieces, then cut the pieces and make smaller dowels - unless your machines are limited in that respect.


----------



## David (Jan 26, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


Gary -

Very interesting post! Thanks.


----------



## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


Here's a link to an article on how to make and use a dowel plate for peg making:

Pegs


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


Sorry I thought "python" meant monty python, geez i,m a caveman.


----------



## sidestepmcgee (Mar 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


I like your creativeness but here in tallahassee FL any power saved is good seeing how our local power suppliers are out to make a dollar off a penny.Plus I cant get you to write me a code whenever I want.very cool though,thanks for posting


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


gizmodyne: I'd seen something like that once before on GaryK's awesome birdcage project. I didn't know they were a for-sale item, though. Thanks for the link.

HokieMojo - I've heard that somewhere, too. If the wood can handle compressing like that in a clean way, it makes sense to me.

Scott, kiwi, and Randy - believe or not, my lathe is substantially quieter than anything with a mallet. I made these late one night over the weekend - well after midnight, when I wouldn't have been able to bang on something with neighbors on 3 sides of me, but my tiny lathe can't be heard outside  I agree that it would be faster during normal hours, however, with a doweling plate. This just gives me a nice, very quiet option to keep working after-hours when I'm not allowed to be banging away in my shop.

Randy - I haven't heard of a doweling cutter. I'll have to look them up.

Matt - I'm not sure if you know any Python, but it's as easy as print statements to spit out whatever info you want when you run your code. I'll follow up this comment with another that has the code I used.

PurpLev - I can get something almost 16" long between centers on this lathe. The problem, however, is deflection. This happens regardless of whether it's wood, metal, aluminum, or plastic. Basically, the farther you get from the supported ends, the more the cutting tool tends to push the material away from itself. You'll end up with properly sized ends, and a fat middle that's quiet out of spec with what you wanted. One thing made to counter this is a follower rest, or if you're working on the end of a part - say, drilling through the center of it, a steady rest. Those are the ones made by Sherline, who make my mini mill and mini lathe, and those links are pretty good reads on the subject. It's expensive stuff, though, because all of their stuff is really meant for machining small machine parts, accurate to 0.001". I haven't had enough need to splurge on these kinds of rests yet.

David - thank you!

Randy - that's a cool read. I may end up making one of those, or breaking down and buying one  I'll have to see how much use I have for dowels for awhile first.

kiwi - believe it or not, Python, the programming language, is named by its creator, Guido van Rossum for Monty Python, which he enjoys. People working in the language are encouraged to use tongue-in-cheek references to it whenever they like. Thus, two of its most popular editing/testing environments are Eric, and IDLE.

eric - I agree with saving power, but I save quite a bundle all the time with my usual conservative energy use. My energy bills are incredibly low, so much so that I determined that I can't save more money with most of the ways people do. An example is a pelletizer and pellet stove. I determined that if I spent about $3500 on the very cheapest set of those, it would take me on the order of a few decades to make the money back from what I'd save in my very tiny heating bills. I even added in what I spend per year on A/C in the warmer months, and even if pellets could also cool the room, I'd still need the stove and pelletizer to work for about a decade, heating and cooling to make it worthwhile. I'm not sure why this is, other than that I'm single, and don't use much in the way of appliances. Maybe California's energy costs are really low.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


Matt - I went and posted my Python code to pastebin, checking the 'forever' radio button so it should remain up there. I syntax highlighted it, too, so it may be marginally easier to read. The output would be something like this, and that can be loaded directly into EMC2 on my Ubuntu Linux box, which controls the mini mill and mini lathe.

G-code has loops, and it would be a tremendously smaller output program to use them, but it's so much easier to code a loop in Python and just spit out straight, imperative commands. Anything with large loops in g-code makes EMC2 take ages to finish parsing it all before displaying the cut paths in its viewer, and allowing you to proceed to the actual cutting. I'm not sure there's really any savings to shrinking even enormous things down, except for the original filesize, because EMC2 is only going to blow it all back up in memory before letting you get around to cutting.

Eventually I want to get around to wrapping this stuff up entirely into something more visual, like a proper CAD package with automated g-code outputs, but it's so much work, and I'm so busy and also lazy


----------



## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *homemade walnut pegs*
> 
> (don't miss the video at the bottom!)
> 
> ...


amazing!.....is it possible to make a 3" diameter, Hard Maple Bench Screw with tht CNC???....for sure it's possible, I just want to throw the idea and see what others think….


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Ouija Router*

I just had this idea after commenting on roman's Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we'll just see what happens 

I'm hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Ouija Router*
> 
> I just had this idea after commenting on roman's Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we'll just see what happens
> 
> I'm hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.


um yeah, a bit spinning at 21k RPMs - thats one place I'd like to keep my fingertips AWAY from.

it's only funny until someone gets hurt, and then its just hilarious!

no thanks, I'll pass on that one, but thanks for the invite though ;o)


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Ouija Router*
> 
> I just had this idea after commenting on roman's Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we'll just see what happens
> 
> I'm hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.


I think it will spell out" do you have medical insurance"


----------



## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Ouija Router*
> 
> I just had this idea after commenting on roman's Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we'll just see what happens
> 
> I'm hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.


I dunt tink so…..............................LOL


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Ouija Router*
> 
> I just had this idea after commenting on roman's Bosch laminate trimmer review. I need to get a group of woodworking pals over to help me channel the spirits of past woodworkers by lightly laying our fingertips around the base of my Porter Cable 7518, running at 21k RPMs. Then we'll just see what happens
> 
> I'm hoping the spirits will see fit to channel up some fine inlay work for me.


You guys are upsetting the spirits!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Suffolk Machinery band saw blades - helpful folks*

I made the mistake of ordering 1 each of their 1" thick (my saw's max) 103PC (3TPI) and 102PC (2TPI) swedish steel blades in the wrong length. I went by info I found online when ordering, instead of walking out to the shop to check for sure. Online places said 133". The machine says 135"-137". It just wouldn't go on, even at the bottom of the top wheel's extension.



I called Suffolk just now, and they said 133" is a common length, so no restocking fee. Just send it back, and he's sending me out the right lengths, based on all the info he had on file, so I didn't have to repeat any of it to him. I like good companies. Rockler and Sherline have been 2 others that have been as easy and helpful to work with, and they've gotten tons of business from me because of it. I had spent months occasionally looking into what would be the right blades, and finally realized I should just ask the people who know, and called them. I'd heard nothing but good things about them, and I got a person immediately, which I'm no longer used to, and he was calm, friendly, and patient, and helped me weigh all my options, and I felt I'd really gotten the right blades for me by the end.



The blades looked great, too. So much more powerful and professional looking than the junky stuff that came with the Craftsman 18" wood/metal band saw. I see people on YouTube, and on "How It's Made" flying through wood on their band saws, and then I go try it, and the ~8TPI blade it came with 'for wood' just burns away, barely making it through. I couldn't wait to try these new ones out, but at least now I'll have the weekend to work on the 12 other projects I should be finishing, instead of playing with resawing logs at last, though I only have a few so far (hard to come by here in the LA suburbs).


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Suffolk Machinery band saw blades - helpful folks*
> 
> I made the mistake of ordering 1 each of their 1" thick (my saw's max) 103PC (3TPI) and 102PC (2TPI) swedish steel blades in the wrong length. I went by info I found online when ordering, instead of walking out to the shop to check for sure. Online places said 133". The machine says 135"-137". It just wouldn't go on, even at the bottom of the top wheel's extension.
> 
> ...


you are going to be thrilled with the results.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Suffolk Machinery band saw blades - helpful folks*
> 
> I made the mistake of ordering 1 each of their 1" thick (my saw's max) 103PC (3TPI) and 102PC (2TPI) swedish steel blades in the wrong length. I went by info I found online when ordering, instead of walking out to the shop to check for sure. Online places said 133". The machine says 135"-137". It just wouldn't go on, even at the bottom of the top wheel's extension.
> 
> ...


I did the same thing ordered for my small bandsaw 59 inch instead of 95 inch without thinking.Anyway I telephoned the company I had gotten used to talking to the boss there on the phone as he's welsh like my wife anyway he gave me the extra size for no extra charge just told me anyone can make a mistake and asked me to send them baCK so a great company what do you think of that for service.??Alistair


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Suffolk Machinery band saw blades - helpful folks*
> 
> I made the mistake of ordering 1 each of their 1" thick (my saw's max) 103PC (3TPI) and 102PC (2TPI) swedish steel blades in the wrong length. I went by info I found online when ordering, instead of walking out to the shop to check for sure. Online places said 133". The machine says 135"-137". It just wouldn't go on, even at the bottom of the top wheel's extension.
> 
> ...


HokieMojo - I cannot wait. I'm so excited for the right-sized blades getting here, but man are these dangerous. The wood blade my saw came with is like a kitten next to these tigers. Coiling it up again to ship back, the 3TPI sprung and raked across my arm, and it looks like I got in a fight with a big cat. I'm going to be keeping my hands well away from the blades when they're in and running at speed. Maybe I'll come up with a jig that lets me stand outside the garage 

rob - good to hear more support for these blades. I'm too excited now to see what they can do when the right-length ones arrive next week.

Alistair - that's a heartwarming story! I too often hear about ruthless companies these days. It makes me extra glad to see all of these little acts of kindness. It seems to be pretty prevalent in the world of people who make things, at least in my short experience in it.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*

I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.

I like the faint grain revealed in the piece on the left, sanded down from one like that which I'm holding:


I clamped my belt sander down to the table to use it as a mini (though relatively enormous) benchtop model:


Here's a long piece sanded down, revealing either a straight grain, or the lines of the thick abrasive grit:


I set up a little resawing jig by laying a strip of plywood down against the bandsaw fence as a zero-clearance surface, and that's about it. I used a push stick to help guide the mini logs along.



And that's it! Mini planks, with some band saw blade grease on them:



You'll want to get your slabs stacked and stickered right away:



I made the toothpick sized stickers out of some strips that had ripped out of a split piece of the same log:



You'll want to leave these to dry for a good 4 to 5 hours, up to possibly a full day, and it helps to put something heavy on top to keep them from warping. Here I've used a 1/4-20 nut, and star drive bit:



I managed to get some extremely thin resaws out of my simple bandsaw with its cheap, included, generic 'wood' blade. This example is thinner than a credit card:





A dust mask is essential. I had nearly a tablespoon of sawdust after all of this resawing work!



I've a small forest of resawing work to be about still, but in the meantime, I think I need to get to work on that very tiny, natural-edge top hall table 



A couple more shots, not unlike these in the Flickr set. And now I need to go get this tongue out of my cheek, before it gets stuck there.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


A dust mask is essential. I had nearly a tablespoon of sawdust after all of this resawing work!

Priceless! I have to draft all those mice that love my shop so much for a workforce.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


EEngineer - Sounds positively adorable. Please take pictures of this.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Looks like you have some pieces left over for some bowl blanks as well. Maybe you could give the table to Barbie for her 50th birthday!


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Gary, Thanks for the post while quite funny it is neat to see the entire process of the resawing in small scale where you can see everything not just small biits.. well you know what i mean 

CtL


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## Xander (Mar 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Too funny and useful information too. I have been wondering how to do this myself since I work in miniature size myself.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Maybe Woodmizer needs to make a minature sawmill.


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## Julian (Sep 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Now all you need is to build a mini shed to store ALL that lumber.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


those are HUGE hands ….. (and machinery…and everything else)  nice post


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


kiwi - you don't want to know how long I stood there in the shop, turning those little stumps around in my fingers, scratching my head, trying to figure out how I could affix them securely to the lathe, and if a bowl could be shaped out of them. Especially a natural-edge bowl. They're just so tiny, though. I'm pretty sure I'm still going to try it, spurred on a bit more by Mike Rowe's amazing work.

Chris - thanks! I've been thinking about it more, and I think I'm going to build myself a little jig for use with my Japanese flush-cut saw. It can be as simple as a little wooden thing with hardwood rails on which to slide the saw, and a bottom that can be adjusted up and down by a screw to set depths. Once I set it, I can just press the halved minilog's face against it, saw along the rails to remove the bottom, then take that piece out, and reseat the log in between the rails to make a whole bunch of boards exactly the same thickness. This is upsetting me, because it seems really cool, and I'm suddenly interested in making some small tables, chairs, and such for dollhouses, for sale, and I already don't have nearly enough time to finish my projects 

Xander - just took a look at your newly-posted project. I like the rings! I have a thing for miniature work in spalted woods. Here's another example. So cool. Thanks!

8iowa - I will sign that petition! There are some pretty sweet miniature woodshop tool makers out there. Here's one (seriously have to enlarge that first image and look around), and another of his mini creations is this beautiful mini workbench

Julian - And a mini wood drying kiln! I sure have my hands full for awhile…

PurpLev - I'm HUGE. Thanks!


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## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


This is really cool. I enjoyed this post. I used to be in to model railroading when I was a kid, and I would do stuff like this. You brought back some memories. I really like miniatures.


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## ryno101 (May 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


That is awesome… Can't wait to see what you make with them!


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## DavidBethune (Feb 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


That's cool.. It would look good with a miniature railroad setup. Maybe even build a miniature mill..
Great job!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Blake - Thanks very much. I have a particular love of nostalgia, so this makes me happy.

Ryno - I was just having fun, not planning to build anything with them, but now that I said "natural edge top hall table," and having seen how cool these little slabs look, I actually do want to build some little things out of them. When will I find the time. Maybe I'd have more time if I wasn't going off on flights of fancy like this all the time 

David - You're right! I know of a family friend with a large model train setup in his basement who would probably love something like that. Maybe I'll surprise him this Christmas.


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## Xander (Mar 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


I took a look at those photos of the complete branch you found. The way it grew and the ball that seemed to have come from underground makes me think this might actually be a vine instead of a tree branch. I am not familiar with common vines planted in California so its hard to say what the likely types might be.

Thanks for the link, those are amazing. The detail in such a small form just astounds me. Maybe one day I can do that level of work.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Gary A great job on the trials of cutting small logs. I just cut a bunch of 1/16" strips to be glued as edge banding on drawer fronts. So the mini work is not just a small trial. It has practical implications.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


Xander - I think socalwood nailed that one in the first comment in that other series. It looks to be an uprooted Pride of Madeira, or at least of the Echium genus. It's hard to find any shots of its bark, however. The leaves so cover and spread over the base, that I don't think anyone's found it necessary to get a peek 'under the skirt.' I'm thinking about a little 'mini resawing jig' for use with a japanese pull/flush-cut saw. That'll make such things easy, clean, affordable, and it'll waste even less wood than a thin bandsaw blade.

Karson - Thanks! I did a little bit of thin resawing in my table saw recently for a rim on my very first lazy susan. I did a test in walnut, but found the color to not go well, and switched to an all-maple design. What I'm building now - soon to be blogged about - is a little lumber rack, and I definitely do want some walnut edging on the front of its plywood frame. I'm also doing walnut through-pegs into the shelves from the sides, with the pegs I turned recently, and would also like to peg the fronts of the edge banding with something like maple, to reverse the dark-on-light color scheme of the sides. I think it'll look nice, like some old-style toolbox inlay. More to come soon re: that!


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


This is awesome… Like Blake, I like this idea for model trains.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The tiniest woodshop - resawing miniboards*
> 
> I didn't want to waste any time slabbing up some of the minilogs I cut out of the mystery branches I found last week, so Saturday I had a go at it. Very exciting. I had some split pieces, so I sanded them up on my belt sander.
> 
> ...


that sure solves the space problems

and finding wood sounds cool too

after wrestling that wood into your truck
you can take it home in your lunch box lol


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Square trees - how convenient!*

So little waste in the resawing process!



Also handy - "extrusion trees" :



Both made by an art group, with more info at the links (just click the pics).


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## ljh2 (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Square trees - how convenient!*
> 
> So little waste in the resawing process!
> 
> ...


Nifty stuff. Handy too. Probably not many knots either.


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## noknot (Dec 23, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Square trees - how convenient!*
> 
> So little waste in the resawing process!
> 
> ...


Now thats eco freindly growing a tree for the peice you want


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Square trees - how convenient!*
> 
> So little waste in the resawing process!
> 
> ...


the design of the growth rings is fascinating.


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## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Square trees - how convenient!*
> 
> So little waste in the resawing process!
> 
> ...


Do the square trees come with quarter-sawn oriented grain throughout?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Just having one of those projects...*

I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.

In part 2, I stopped by my local plywood shop, and got 1 each of 3/4" and 1/2" baltic birch ply in 5'x5', having them cut it to 30"x30" panels so I could work with it more easily, and fit it in my hatchback (on laughing . The rack walls are about 24"x24". I realized upping it to 27" would take care of the profiles of the shelving, and still leave me 3 8" tall shelf sections, so I fixed my plans, and promptly screwed up again, cutting all of the panels to 24"x24" before I realized what I was doing.

In part 3, I put those panels back in my wood storage shed, and prepared to wait until Monday to go get another piece of the baltic birch ply (almost $60… sigh). As I did so, I noticed I had 5 2'x4' "handi-panel" sheets of 3/4" ply - 2 construction - though nice - and the others regular birch ply with okay faces. I decided to just use those. I cut out 24"x27" panels this time, then as I cut in the stair-step shapes I needed, I realized the panels, unlike the baltic birch ply, were way out of true. I had carefully checked the baltics, and they were dead-on 90° - impressive - but these were crap Home Depot grade boards, with something like 3°-4° angles at the corners. Also, the rough edges made me trim my one 24" dimension down to 23 3/4", sort of messing my design up a bit.

In part 4, I've decided to go tomorrow to get another baltic birch board, and just carefully do it the right way this time. I've had lots of practice at it now. I can still use the 8 ruined boards and their many cutoffs, but it'll be awhile before I find a use for this many small pieces of plywood, especially small pieces of 3/4" ply. They'd make for some pretty beefy little boxes 

Ever have a project like this? I feel like as I age, I'm descending into madness. I measure and check more than twice for each cut, but nothing saves you from just having the wrong idea in your head. I checked that 24" measurement 3x, but it should have been 27". sigh…


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Just having one of those projects...*
> 
> I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.
> 
> ...


About a billion times.

I have a theory on this for myself.

Whenever I write out a plan of procedure (list of steps to take) and have a measured drawing… success.

Whenever I work without my list or plans… often failure.

I am the master of over jointing and planing boards.


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Just having one of those projects...*
> 
> I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.
> 
> ...


Gary, I have two of those projects in my shop just lying there. One is two years old. Their purpose in life is to make me remember. Regretfully, they don't always work.


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## Shotgundad (Mar 15, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Just having one of those projects...*
> 
> I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.
> 
> ...


I feel your pain. I am still doing it on my current project which is just a kitchen garbage can "holder" for my wife. I originally was just going to hinge the front to tilt out the front. Then I decided why not use a dowel and support for the tilt out door. Of course this raised the base of the trash can support to allow for clearance which meant there was now not enough clearance for the top when the can was inside….sigh. Drew my plans and as always measured 50,345,872 times but when I started to deviate from my plan that is when I ran into trouble. I hate to say it but gizmo is right. Unfortunately I am too hard headed to just follow plans…even my own. Hang in there Gary, those scraps will come in handy someday.


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Just having one of those projects...*
> 
> I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.
> 
> ...


Been there done that.. recently. I hate it when the wood is shorter then the size I was supposed to have marked and cut it at. 

CtL


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Just having one of those projects...*
> 
> I'm building a little rack system currently, and I just keep failing miserably. I wanted to do something a little nicer than usual, so I made some 1/4" walnut pegs, and was planning to face the front edges of the rack with 1/8" walnut strips, and drill and peg through that with lighter wood that matches the plywood of the sides and shelves. To hold the shelves in, I'd drive pegs through from the outside, walnut pegs through ply sides, the inverse of the fronts. For whatever reasons - cost savings, space savings, 'coolness' factor, I went with very thin plywood. Not only did I keep screwing up measurements and cutting things wrong, causing me to have to change the shapes in the plans in ways I didn't like as much, but eventually the thinness of the ply caught up with me, as clamps were bending it all over the place, and pegs were just smashing through the side walls of the shelves, even after using Rockler's pro doweling jig. Wrong selection of materials, and lots of dumb mistakes.
> 
> ...


Misery loves company. Thanks, guys, for the solidarity. It cheered me up, and I have a bit of renewed energy now. Right now, as the sun sets, it's time to cut a few rafters and see if I can't get something accomplished today.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Hooray for windy days in LA*

After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the 'burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I'm collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to 'an entire tree' that had fallen over in today's crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in tow. The city had conveniently already been by to cut it all up into pieces, so I loaded all the biggest stuff in my dying hatchback, and then set to work cutting up endless amounts of the tinier stuff. I filled my '00 Ford Focus hatchback cargo area from floor to ceiling, driving the remaining pieces into all cracks to make a rather impressive tree wall . Backing out of the parallel parking space was interesting 

That's the dirtiest I've been since before moving to LA in '03. I was covered in sap, and the sap was covered in dirt and leaf debris. I stuck to everything until I could dump Goop-Off on me later. I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I had to go back for the last piece - the 3'+ tall, ~18 diameter stump that was still half in the ground. I wrenched it out, and realized how heavy wet logs of that size are. Even lifting from the knees, I could only hover around an inch off the ground before all of my muscles would give out. It must be over 200lbs. I had to drag it across the street between bouts of traffic, and then fight like I haven't fought in years to hoist it into the car. Back home I just pushed it out, and rolled it end over end (it's Y shaped) around the back of the house. I have an awful lot of 'tree' now, especially with that fallen Eucalyptus I spirited away from a development last week.

Anyone know - can you paint Anchorseal/Rockler's end grain sealer (both wax emulsions) right over cuts still oozing tremendous amounts of sap? I'll have some pics up in my Wood IDs series later to see if anyone here knows what I found. Hooray for windy LA days!

The down-side - I forgot the saw after my first run, and it wasn't there when I came back for the huge stump. There was a guy there dragging tons more of the tree out of his yard. I don't know how I missed seeing it through his iron fence, but it more than doubled the pile. I grabbed many more sawn-up (maybe by him) pieces on that trip. I'm going to have to head back to Home Depot for another of the Irwins. I bought about 6 saws the other day, and gave them all a test on the Euc, and that one was the best - fastest and easiest to cut through wet lumber out 'in the field.' I'll have to do a little review of it here.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Hooray for windy days in LA*
> 
> After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the 'burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I'm collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to 'an entire tree' that had fallen over in today's crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in tow. The city had conveniently already been by to cut it all up into pieces, so I loaded all the biggest stuff in my dying hatchback, and then set to work cutting up endless amounts of the tinier stuff. I filled my '00 Ford Focus hatchback cargo area from floor to ceiling, driving the remaining pieces into all cracks to make a rather impressive tree wall . Backing out of the parallel parking space was interesting
> 
> ...


Nice score, Gary. I always enjoy hearing stories about reclaiming wood.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hooray for windy days in LA*
> 
> After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the 'burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I'm collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to 'an entire tree' that had fallen over in today's crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in tow. The city had conveniently already been by to cut it all up into pieces, so I loaded all the biggest stuff in my dying hatchback, and then set to work cutting up endless amounts of the tinier stuff. I filled my '00 Ford Focus hatchback cargo area from floor to ceiling, driving the remaining pieces into all cracks to make a rather impressive tree wall . Backing out of the parallel parking space was interesting
> 
> ...


haha, nice score! I had a maple tree fall on my place 2 years ago, unfortunately - at the time, I did not have the means to mill it, nor the place to store anything, and had to sit there and watch the city haul all those logs out to the dump… it still sadens me to thing of it, but I really had no choice.

now you made me wanna have some pollo loco… I miss those, they should open a franchise in the east coast (if only).

as far as sap goes - thats when I wear those "need to throw but still have some life in them" clothes - for the last time. (ooops, I was so excited I forgot to change my 'just bought, brand new white clothes'... crap, oh, next time)

I'm curious about the erwin saws- will wait for your review.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hooray for windy days in LA*
> 
> After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the 'burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I'm collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to 'an entire tree' that had fallen over in today's crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in tow. The city had conveniently already been by to cut it all up into pieces, so I loaded all the biggest stuff in my dying hatchback, and then set to work cutting up endless amounts of the tinier stuff. I filled my '00 Ford Focus hatchback cargo area from floor to ceiling, driving the remaining pieces into all cracks to make a rather impressive tree wall . Backing out of the parallel parking space was interesting
> 
> ...


I'm getting interested in your enthusiam and adventures. guess I'll have to put you on the buddy list to follow along.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Hooray for windy days in LA*
> 
> After a little get-together with friends last night around a backyard campfire in the 'burbs of LA, and them hearing about how I'm collecting wood from wherever I can find it around here now, one of said friends left a message for me today. He was outside of an El Pollo Loco (Mexican fast food chicken place) that I frequent, and alerted me to 'an entire tree' that had fallen over in today's crazy wind storms. I was over there in 10 minutes, new Irwin hand saw in tow. The city had conveniently already been by to cut it all up into pieces, so I loaded all the biggest stuff in my dying hatchback, and then set to work cutting up endless amounts of the tinier stuff. I filled my '00 Ford Focus hatchback cargo area from floor to ceiling, driving the remaining pieces into all cracks to make a rather impressive tree wall . Backing out of the parallel parking space was interesting
> 
> ...


Thanks all! Lev, you're story makes me cry. I feel that way just a little this week, knowing how much wood fell in the wind that I never even heard about. LA is very 'groomed,' so the moment something falls, a truck appears to scoop it away before it upsets anyone enough to drop their latte on their designer sandals 

Apparently a 50 year old Chinese elm fell down, and was pretty big. I don't know where it was. Folks at work, upon hearing of this haul all had stories of trees they saw down somewhere. I need to get a cell phone finally and alert everyone to call me whenever they see something.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*

Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.

With all of it put together, normally more like a 2-3 day job for me (around the workday hours), I stood back to take in bits and pieces of it with my tiny LED cone of light from the headlamp, thinking how nice it will look in the morning. Then - and this is why I rushed it out - I started cutting up branches in the garage with my large pullsaw, again, as quietly as possible, so I could load them into the rack, out of the way of the gardeners who come tomorrow. I didn't want them throwing everything away in my green waste bin. At some point, I heard voices next door, and thought "Oh good, they're still up - I can't be bothering them." A bit later I heard a racket right outside the garage, from right where the new rack was. It sounded like someone was coming over the 6' cinder block wall, landing on my rack, falling off of it into the large garage door (2×4 frame with corrugated metal nailed into it), then running away. My first thought was that the neighbors threw something over the wall to try to shut me up. Maybe I was making noises they could hear. I worked a bit longer, sawing, lost in thought, then decided to check - nothing out there.

I worked another 15 minutes, and then heard more distinct voices, so I opened the door, and looked out, and there was a red laser pointer dot on my lawn, moving all around, scanning for something. I walked out and looked all over. I had no idea where it was coming from. Then I heard voices around the side of the house, and saw the gate there was open. I went over and asked "Hello?" You know, exactly what you shouldn't do in a horror movie  A man replied "Hello." Three flashlights were hitting me in the face, blinding me. I asked "Who am I talking to?" "The police." They asked me if I'd heard anyone come through my yard. I told them what I'd heard, and realized that was why the gate was open. The person jumped the wall, landed on the rack I had just finished building about 20 minutes earlier, rolled off, hit the garage, then ran through my back yard and out the gate. The cops scanned all around my yard, in my garage, and then went through the side fence to where the new rack was. I wondered what must they think here in LA finding something like 3 trees worth of logs and branches laying everywhere 

One cop wanted to see over the wall, so he grabbed the ratty old pallet I rescued from a fast food restaurant recently (bottom half of this post), leaned it up against the rack I just built, and started trying to climb it like a step ladder. I said "That's not going to hold you. It's falling apart." The other cops laughed and said "Just climb the rack." I thought "I just built this a half hour ago, and now it's part of a police chase!" So climb it he did. It has 4 shelves, and a moment later he was standing in the center of the top one, shining his light all over the neighbor's yard. I thought to myself "Rack, please don't break." The other cops went around to the other yard, while he sat there on the vantage point of my rack, surveying for probably 10 minutes. I had mentioned at some point that I had just built the rack that night, and he said "Not bad. This thing is strong. I'm about 280, probably 290 with all this gear on." The rack wasn't even flexing. I made it beefy to handle the load of lots of wet logs.

He asked "What kind of woodworking you do?" I couldn't think of a solid answer, so I gave the most truthful: "I'm mostly in the learning phase right now." Not too long after there was some commotion next door, so he jumped down, and ran off yelling back to me "Thanks, buddy!" And that was that.

Now I'll need to wipe dirt and footprints off the top shelf, and then tack on a rain canopy of some sort


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## GMoney (Dec 27, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


That's a good read for this morning! got me smiling, thanks. Don't remember ever saying this to a guy before, great rack!


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## dalec (Oct 3, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


If things don't settle down in your neighborhood, you may need to add some razor wire to you newly build industrial strength lumber rack. LOL

Dalec


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


where are the picy-picy? I wanna see!


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## littlecope (Oct 23, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


I'm picturing the face of the suspect, who probably used the same route to get to whatever nefarious activity he was engaged in, returning, and coming face-to-face, in the dark, with a "lumbering" monstrosity that had not been there an hour earlier. LOL The first "voices" you heard surely must have been his more than mumbled "WTF was that?" and similar appreciative comments on your handiwork!
And then your assistance to Law Enforcement! I'm hoping your Lumber Rack will get a Commendation for it's efforts, for rising above nearby fences! Maybe they'll commission you to build similar surveillance stands, kind of like mini-siege towers.
Maybe, you've inadvertently discovered the remedy to our Border problems. Gary's Lumber Racks along the whole border! Foiling would-be fence jumpers, and offering observation platforms for border guards! LOL
Too funny! Keep 'em coming Gary! Always a great read! Michael C.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


Stories always go great with woodworking projects. This one has one that will stay with it forexver.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


Was that 290 pounds including doughnuts? funny story mate.


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


Great Story! ...and some wonderful log finds!


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


you are great about pics, so I won't complain about them not being here, but imagine if you had been photographing your work right when he jumped over the fence? That would have been awesome. When they post the picture of suspect in the paper, you would become a published woodworker with your rack in the background!


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


Great post ;-) You're lucky the creep didn't jump in your lap while your were working on the rack!


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


GAry,

From the events of your story, you are going to have to start sleeping with an fully loaded nail gun :^)

Lew


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


GAry sounds like you built a great police.. er lumber rack. Any pics of it int he daylight?

CtL


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *What a way to test out my new lumber rack!*
> 
> Last night I ran to home depot for 4 pressure treated 4×4s, 8 2×4s, and 5 sheets of 23/32" construction ply. Today, in bursts of uncharacteristic stick-to-it-ness, I actually put together the whole rack. On my lunch break from the office, I ran home and cut out 8 4' 2×4s, 8 23-7/8" 2×4s, and cut the 4×4s not only to height (about 69"), but also cut in a 10° angle, and used Sketchup to plot the angle on the front leg to meet up with the back. I'm going to be putting on a rain canopy of some sort - maybe corrugated plastic. After work I got all the countersinks drilled in the long 2×4s, the pocket holes in the short 2×4s, then watched "Lost," heading out during commercials to make marks on the 4×4s, and then out in the dark with a headlamp on after the show, I worked until around 1AM getting the whole thing screwed together as quietly as I could with neighbors on either side of me, and an otherwise dead silent neighborhood. Naturally, I kept knocking over piles of 2×4s, dropping my plastic clamping square on the cement, and just generally making a terrible racket, despite my caution.
> 
> ...


Love the comments, all. I'll get some pics up in a few!

HokieMojo - there was a shot from my view of the cop standing, legs apart on the rack, with the top of the building behind him illuminated by his and the other officers' flashlights that looked like a movie poster. I wished I had my camera handy, but it was in the garage, and I didn't want to run off during all the excitement. Also, I'm not sure how much cops like you taking their pictures when they're doing their job. It seemed rude, somehow.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Hatchback toy update*

I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window 









Big version:


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Methinks you have too much time on your hands


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


LOL…I like it : )


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## littlecope (Oct 23, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Hey, I don't know. But I burst out laughing when I saw this…


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Looks like your logging car is over loaded ;-))


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Gary,

Maybe it's time to consider purchasing a small (?) trailer!

Lew


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Looks like there is room for wood chips too!


----------



## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


I think you have logged way too many miles on that car. It deserves a rest. mike


----------



## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Hilarious!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Hatchback toy update*
> 
> I decided to update my old toy version of my '00 Ford Focus hatchback to more accurately reflect the typical look of its big brother these days. I've made a couple of trips for Eucalyptus that have looked very much like this, complete with long branches sticking out the window
> 
> ...


Kiwi - I ran the numbers. I think even if I didn't have a full-time job, I still wouldn't have anywhere near enough time. Maybe it's because of things like this 

Lew - I'm pricing trucks, and worrying about my credit as we speak.

Spanky - I like the way you think. I can fit some pen blanks in around the branches, too.

Mike - You're right. Time to send this thing to the chipper.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Bryan Nash Gill's Hemlock Relief Print*

Artist Bryan Nash Gill has created a series of 12 prints in the traditional block printing style by inking the cross section of a very large stump of hemlock - from the mill next door to him - and then hand-rubbing large sheets of handmade paper into all the growth rings. The prints look beautiful, but at $4k/ea., I think I'll make my own  Now to find a 3.5' diameter chunk of hemlock…

Some shots of the creation process
[via Craftzine]

And as way leads on to way, I've picked up a new term today as well: dendrochronology. Neat!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*I bought a truck tonight!*

No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.

I don't know a whole lot about car pricing, but I managed to get him down from $17k to $13k. What's the consensus? Sound like an okay price? Everything was in perfect condition - no dents, scrapes, dings, broken plastic, scuffed whatevers. It looked pretty much like a new truck to me.

If you'll permit me a moment of reflection for the old '00 Ford Focus hatchback that's pretended for 9 years now to be a truck. You were a trooper, and you never once complained, nor broke down whilst hauling my absurd loads. You will be missed. Let's reflect a moment on just a small subset of your honorable service…

Ah, my old Rigid shopvac, and a bunch of 8' lumber. I think those melamine shelves were 9'. How did you do it?



The Delta 6" jointer I got from Rockler at 50% off! What a day! We got there at 5AM, and got the 7th of their last 8!



My old Halloween '05 Star Wars AT-AT costume! This was the year my new truck was born!



Here's how I looked in the costume. What a nerd!



Supplies for the wood storage shed, a project I keep meaning to post here (soon, hopefully!). We made so many runs like this, or far worse, while building that thing. Btw, if you were wondering, 26 is the ABSOLUTE LIMIT to the number of 96" 2×4s you can cram into this thing. Seriously, a 27th cannot fit (w/ windows shut):



The giant treadmill! I never thought we were going to fit that one. The guy at Sears was gobsmacked when it dropped into place. It was an oversized model that could handle up to 300lbs (I was 280 at the time! I've lost quite a bit since then).



Then there were the paperbark limbs from the tree cutters that fogged up your windows.







Those same tree guys told us to come back the next day for an entire other tree (possibly an olive).



There was that enormous fallen Eucalyptus we took home in 3 or 4 trips, full cargo area each time:





And of course the highly sappy Pittosporum undulatum, or Victorian Box, aka Australian cheesewood, which blew over by the El Pollo Loco Mexican restaurant, which we picked up in 2 very dirty trips. The huge trunk base you handled on the second trip was the largest piece of wood you've ever carried, easily over 200lbs, maybe even 250lbs. You will not, my old friend, be asked to do that again. Not by me:





Let's not forget the huge branch of that as-yet-unidentified tree we found late at night while out scouting for fallen trees after a very windy day. It took us 2 trips like this, a great deal of elbow grease to get those limbs in your cargo area, and even more to get them back out!





Yes, you have been a real trooper. I will do my best not to cry when I trade you in. I imagine the guy at the Toyota dealership might weep a bit when he sees how much sap is dried into your roof fabric, though 

As a final note about the possibilities this new vehicle will afford me, I will say only this: 4X8 SHEET GOODS, FINALLY!!!


----------



## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


Good on you Gary, it's about time.

I'm glad you got a real truck, and didn't just upgrade your existing one.


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


No trees will be safe with you having a truck! Nice get Gary!


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


what, no gun rack? and how the hell did you drink beer and score chicks in that costume?


----------



## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


Wow-nice score. I've got a 1991 Dodge Dakota with over 180K miles on the clock, but it still is purring along (with the 2.5L - 4 cylinder / 5 speed). It's not quick, but man it's nice to just go to the store and not worry about how to fit things in. I've been there for a lot of years on the car pics you posted though. For a number of years I made do with minivans, but never dared to load them like you have there . . . wow. Now way back I had two awesome cars for hauling (stuff in one case, and some booty with the other)-a 1979 Dodge Omni and a 1983 Dodge Shelby Charger. The Omni was fantastic -it held two 15" subs in an outlandish speaker box . . . it could carry my old RC racing stuff, pit boxes, tables, etc… The Shelby was great for long things-the computer desk I have fit perfectly in there, right up against the rear seats. (Later changed it to Lunati camshaft, Hooker header, dual 40mm Weber carbs . . . it was fun!) Now with the ways the front passenger seat folds flat on some cars - man, who needs a truck? Especially after seeing your pics! 

The best part of life is no car payments though-my old Dakota looks a little rough, but everything on wheels in my driveway is paid for and someday doing that Dave Ramsey thing, I'll be able to drive like no one else, because I've driven like no one else now.


----------



## Jimthecarver (Jan 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


I have a 95 tacoma…with 153k on it. She has a V-6 and runs like a champ, although I have a newer nicer truck I would rather drive the old Tacoma.
I'm sure you will love yours.Good luck w/it and congrats.
BTW you put that poor car through HELL!.....Good Man.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


congrats…. you chose wisely.


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


Aww man. I feel like we used to have a bond. You with your Focus and me with my 96 civic. I could fit a 9'6" board in that car (and did often). I brought home 200 bd ft of walnut in that thing.

Anyway, I guess I'll still read your blogs… lol

There is no way I'll be getting a truck anytime soon. Its just not an appropriate choice for me considering I only haul stuff a few times a year, but based on the photos above, you sound like you madea good choice. Good luck with it!


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


WOW did you need a truck . I've always heard good things about Toyota, they sometimes get up to 300k without problems. I'm not up to pricing, not much help there. Congrats


----------



## oldwoodman (Feb 4, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


Gary,

I always find your posts fun and informative. Congratulations on the "new" pickup. And thank you for taking the time to write about what you are doing. You have inspired me to keep on the lookout for "free" wood, even if it has just blown down.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


I'm afraid yoiu will be disappointed in the truck. Things will fall off when you try to load it like you did the statiion wagon )

Congrats on moving up. I don't know how anyone gets along without a truck?


----------



## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I bought a truck tonight!*
> 
> No pics yet or anything, but after looking at an '06 Ranger at the Ford dealer with 42k on it, I kind of fell for an '05 Tacoma with about 85k on it at the Toyota dealer. A little older, a bit more used, but it just had a lot more I wanted. It's a certified pre-owned with 3yr/3k bumper-to-bumper, and 7yr/100k drivetrain warranties, power everything, AM/FM/CD, access cab - 2-door, but has a small back, and little half-doors that make loading things/passengers back there easy - lined bed, knob-lock tie-down clamps, and my favorite weird extra (maybe it's common?): a 400W max grounded power outlet with spring-cover built into the right inside wall of the bed area. This means I can plug in my electric chainsaw whenever I find a fallen tree, or large branch, without needing an inverter! Now I don't need one of those. It's a shiny deep royal blue (color was the least of my concerns, but it's quite nice), handles very well, and has new, rugged, off-road tires.
> 
> ...


why waste your money that looks fine to me i have a audi estate 200,000+ miles on the clock and she is still going strong and i love the fact that No one can or would to get in there with me lol…....


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*

Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.



It's 5 years old, but the engine looks pretty new.



Obligatory guy and his new truck photo:



"Access Cab," woo!



Let's go find some dead trees!



Few more pics in the flickr set if you need them.


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Now you are ready to haul some "found wood". You can give that poor car a rest now. 

With this "increased capacity" and your propensity for finding wood I am not sure where you are going to be able to put it. But it will be a fun challenge to deal with, I am sure.

Have fun and keep on truckin'.


----------



## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Congrats Gary!
Looks like a nice one, should serve you well. A guy at work is still driving his 1993 Toyota truck. 
Now let's see what kind of trees you bring home…

CtL


----------



## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


congrats


----------



## botanist (Sep 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Nice gloat!


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


I must be doing something wrong!

When my truck (bought new in 1979) gave up the ghost last year- and just 2 more payments to go- I moved "up" to an 86 Mighty Dodge Ram pickup.

Nice Truck, Gary


----------



## TraumaJacques (Oct 25, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


What you need in that truck is a load of WOOD!


----------



## TraumaJacques (Oct 25, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Oh !!!!and back over the PT cruiser behind you LOL


----------



## MikeLingenfelter (Feb 19, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


I've had my 2000 Tundra SR5 for maybe 7 years. Except for the person that hit me while going through an intersection, I haven't had any problems with my truck. My wife and I are life long Toyota owners and it's not likely we will buy anything else. We just bought my wife a 2009 Camry Hybrid, and she loves it. We traded in her last Camry with over 200,000 miles on it, and it was still running really well. Welcome to the Toyota family .


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Danger to dead and live trees alike! Nice wheels Gary!


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Looks great, now if you can just keep the wood only in the bed and not inside.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New truck pics - 2005 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road*
> 
> Here it is. Certified preowned, but no dents or dings or anything.
> 
> ...


Scott - I have some log racks I built, but they're all full now  I'm going to be adding 3 more sections to the 3 that are already there in the coming weeks. Then I'm going to be chewing through some of this wood, trying to make some things to free up space, just in case I run into another entire fallen tree!

Chris L. - I love hearing about Toyotas that are going strong after 15 years. I bought a Toyota after hearing so many stories like that, and then seeing what the Top Gear guys put that Hylux through. It's the same truck underneath, basically, and they just couldn't kill it.

Barry - Indeed! Never changed my own oil before, but maybe now I have no more excuses!

Jacques - HAHA! I haven't found anyone yet who doesn't hate PT Cruisers. After driving around in one for a week (returned it tonight to Dollar Car Rental), I don't much like them either. It's like every feature they put in it was done wrong. I'm actually impressed.

Mike - Thanks! More anecdotal evidence of Toyota's solid builds.

All: Thanks for all the supportive comments. I'm liking the truck more each time I climb inside it, and it is a bit of a climb, after 9 years in a short hatchback.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*

I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


----------



## Durnik150 (Apr 22, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*
> 
> I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


Interesting stuff Gary. What woodworkers need to figure out is how to divert the workable logs to us instead of them ending up as mulch.
I work for a city in Colorado (Aurora) that has a population of 310,000 and a dedicated Forestry division as well. I'm trying to figure out how I should open the conversation with the Forestry representative where I end up claiming all (or at least part of) the maple, oak and walnut that gets taken down.
It may not ever work out but the only way to find out is to ask!

Thanks for the information and the great posts on all sorts of topics.


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*
> 
> I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


Thats a great setup you have, you should be proud of that. Recycle and reuse is something I try and live by. Over here you just put it in a pile and torch it, or it all goes here to smokey mountain manila. Type it into you tube to see how not to dispose of waste.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*
> 
> I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


Cool Stuff! I wonder if other cities have similar procedures?

Thanks, Gary!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*
> 
> I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


I think Rob has a point instead of free wood it's more like rescued wood so it might cost a little to rescue it.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *What LA does with its wood (and lawn trimmings)*
> 
> I've been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn't seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn't constantly felling trees.


I'm glad you were able to crack the case. Now, if you can divert some of the waste?

I was thinking of youi Friday PM on the way down to the Tree Farm. There were piles of slash waiting to be burned. Windfalls across roads with just enough cut out to get through. Lots of debris in the stream beds from last winter's flooding. You could bury that new Toyota in just a few minutes )


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*I finally have a proper wood lathe!*

Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.

They only had 2 chrome wine bottle stopper hardware packs left, so we got those, and chose 1 bottle stopper blank each of osage orange ($1.49), black and white ebony ($4.99), and tulipwood ($3.99).

Somehow this lead to a long talk about lathes and turning, and the small capacity of my Sherline mini machinist lathe, and suddenly she asked if I'd like an early birthday gift (birthday's in August!) of the on-sale lathe we'd seen in the front of the store. It was the JET JWL-1220 12"x20" wood lathe. Of course, I said yes  It's normally $450, but this was the floor model, occasionally used for demos, and had light finish wear, though no actual machine wear, so they wanted to get rid of it for $380. I later found out the little yellow key for the on button was missing, so I'll need to get a replacement, though one from a different machine worked, despite not fitting correctly. Also, the little tool rack on the back is missing, but it's just a stamped metal piece with one 90° bend and a few drilled holes, so I think I'm just going to quickly fashion a replacement to hold the live center, drive spur, knockout bar, wrenches, and whatever else. Now I need a press brake!

I have nowhere left in the garage to put it, which is forcing me to do a tremendous, and much needed cleanup and reorganization, but meanwhile, of course I had to set it up on top of my table saw and give it a twirl. I don't really know what I'm doing with larger things yet - and by that, I mean > 2.5" radius  - so I've already caused my first 3 attempts at it - all in some really crappy European olive tree wood that's splitting faster than a deadbeat dad - to fly from the chuck across the garage. Nothing's hit me in the head yet, thankfully. I have the Oneway Talon, and the #1 jaws for it.

I've tried drilling out a hole in the bottom with a Forstner and clamping outwardly from inside it, and I switched to a blank of Eucalyptus from the tree I found awhile back, this time turning the blank's outside between centers, and flipping it around to turn a large tenon, flipping it back around to clamp that from the outside. In all cases, the wood has given way when I've gotten to turning the inside. Either the jaws tear out of the Forstner hole, or shear off much of the tenon. I'm currently looking through how-tos, like this one.

One of the problems is that I'm turning smaller things, and don't have much wood to waste on hollows, or tenons. Maybe these smaller things need to be glued to something bigger first, though that probably means I have a lot more waiting for them to dry out better first. I'm not excited about all the work and waiting of the glue-ups, either. Any thoughts here? I'd say the olive might be too soft, but I don't think it is. It's somewhere around birch, I'd guess. The Euc is much harder. I'm surprised that tenon sheared away, especially as I was taking light internal cuts with the internal tool, and wasn't far in yet. Maybe I should have switched back from the #1 jaws to the chuck's original ones, and used a much larger tenon - most of the bowl width, to provide a lot more clamping area to spread out the forces. I think the ultimate answer may be that I simply need to sharpen up my tools, and turn at a much slower speed. I have been taking it very fast, as I can get a really smooth finish that way.

I'm still too busy to take a bunch of fun pics, so here's one I took just before we unloaded the lathe. It's a heavy little thing. Oh, and that heavy-duty retractable cord reel is on sale for 50% off now at Rockler. Score!


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## trifern (Feb 1, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


Sweet, tell your mom my birthday is in July. I look forward to seeing your projects.


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## MRod (Apr 11, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


I just aquired a jet lathe as well, really nice machine.

I too have had to come to the realization that I do not have the luxury of saving every piece of scrap wood I produce. As of last week it is all gone. My primary wood I am moving into storage down the street which I like as the storage room is kind of like my showroom now. I have all of the individual species separated and its like I am walking through my own little store and picking what I need.

I need to get good lathe knives/tools next. Any suggestions?


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## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


I'm jealous Gary.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


Great Score, Gary!

That doesn't look like the bed of a pickup truck! When you go to the "store" you always take the biggest vehicle you have- just in case ;^)


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


wait a minute…my bday is in augost too? what does THAT Mean?!?

Congrats on the new Toy! new possibilities await… dont try to make it all at once… let time and one project at a time show you the capabilities of what you have now.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


Hey Gary
Nice gift nice MOM. can't wait to see some great turnings from all that found wood.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *I finally have a proper wood lathe!*
> 
> Mom visited last week, and with some ideas of things she wanted me to build, we checked out Anderson Plywood (LA, CA) - she loves zebrawood  - and my favorite place: Rockler (Torrance, CA). While at Rockler, she fell in love with some turned bottle stoppers made by Robert, who I think might be a manager there, and decided she wanted me to make a bunch for her and her friends, starting with a set of 3 for one friend in particular.
> 
> ...


Happy Birthday!! You always have some cool links in youir blogs, thanks, good job.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*

22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.

This was the pile left me after the tree trimmers had their field day:



The tarp was to keep out the gardeners. After about 15 minutes of sawing twigs the first day, I had this, and realized I had a long road ahead:



I got a lathe - care of mom on her visit (detailed in this blog post) - and had to try out a tiny piece of the juniper to see what was hidden inside. I made a randomly-shaped thing to test out angles and curves:



I really liked the marble-like translucence:



A few weeks later, and maybe 5 20-minute-average sessions, with a power-session of a couple hours on Memorial Day, I had a pretty sizable pile of detwigged limbs. The greenery in the background is composed of twigs trimmed off by the 15" Irwin carpenter saw and limbs that were already too tiny to be useful. I'm the idiot covered in sap.





Here are the two largest limbs - not much, but a nice size for smaller turnings. Maybe I'll try a juniper vase or two. The translucence could be pretty neat. They have very red heartwood.



Lots of knotty, burly regions on this one. I'm eager to see what's inside.



And the worst part: the sap. It takes about 5 hard hand-washings, using fingernails to power through the dirt-covered sap on my hands. There's a line that forms just behind the saw's teeth, in a line across their gullet tops, which has a thickness - maybe 1/32" sticking off the saw - and nothing can pick it off. I've tried fingernails, carpenter nails, wire bristle brushes… they all just slide right over it. It's like hardened glass. The only thing that works is gum and pitch remover, sprayed on, left to sit for a few minutes, wiped away hard with a rag, and then I repeat that, agitating the puddles of remover for a few minutes each time, with about 8 repeats to get back to clean. It's impressive stuff, this juniper resin. At least it smells great.



That's all for this update. Now there's a ton of work in cutting them up into little vase, bottle stopper, pen, and miscellaneous blanks. I probably don't need to seal them. I cut up a branch a year ago, and none of the pieces have checked yet. It doesn't seem to want to.


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## Jimthecarver (Jan 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


Nice score!
Thats gonna make a tun of pen blank/bottle stoppers.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


you found beauty in something that even most woodworkers would have considered trash. I agree with your assessment of it's marble-like characteristics. cool blog.


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## jlsmith5963 (Mar 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


late as it might be, two words: work gloves….


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


you have a lot more energy than I do Gary.Now with all that juniper you have lots of projects to come


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


Maybe you could build a small log cabin for a homeless racoon


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


Jim - I know! I can't wait, though I don't particularly relish the thought of having to now cut all of these up into blanks. I'm sure I'll enjoy it once I get going.

Hokie - why thank you!

jlsmith - HAHA! I thought of that afterwards, too. It's ridiculous that it never occurred to me during those few weeks. I guess I secretly love to get my hands dirty. It makes me feel part of the earth.

Jim - I wish I had so much more energy. I drown it away in fast food and internet surfing. I'm hoping to make at least one, if not more chess sets with some of these found branches of mine.

Gary - Funny you should say that. Just last night while driving home late at night, I saw a raccoon just moseying down the street, like it was normal. He went right by my car, and as I slowed down to look at him, he just ignored me. I do have possums that enjoy my yard, too. I love the idea of a little log cabin. It would be occupied immediately. Stray cats, too. This place is a zoo.

Rob - Are you telling me you've only been doing this sawmill activity for less than three years!? I can't imagine that. I will most definitely keep pushing. This whole world is just too fascinating to give up at this point.


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Progress on those Hollywood Juniper limbs*
> 
> 22 days ago I posted about the decimation of my Hollywood Junipers (Juniperus chinensis). My plan was to go through and 'limb' them, or at this scale, to 'twig' them. Little by little, I've been going out there for 15 minutes or so at a time, sawing each little twig off with a stroke of the Irwin carpenter's saw, then scrubbing the sap off my hands. What a giant pain, but I admit it was fun. I love the feel and sound of the saw, the smell of the junipers, getting dirty, and watching the pile of humorously narrow branches grow.
> 
> ...


It was a possum you had last time in the video…now I remember. I'm sure he'd love it


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*

I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.









I'm off now to start my 1/1000th scale miniature of Los Angeles. How hard could it be?


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## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


That's probably going to use up the rest of your weekend Gary!
Thanks for sharing.


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## Elaine (Jun 24, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Gary,
Don't forget Mike's on de Soto and Washington…and oh yeah, there was a great little Mexican restaurant on Washington not to far away- across the street from Meat Packer's Supply "Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine…" I'm also wondering if the City of Hickory couldn't take lessons on road lay out from the City of Moscow. Great find!


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## NickTobis (Feb 6, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Ive been to Moscow twice, and I think id almost rather visit this…..Just kidding, Moscow is an impressive city but this model just about beats all that Ive ever seen


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Hey Gary
Wow so impressive. when do you start the LA version?


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## kolwdwrkr (Jul 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Crazy


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


I HEARD THEY WERE GOING TO UPDATE ALL THE FIRE HYDRANTS THIS SUMMER…AND WERE GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE THEM TO ACCOMADATE THE NEWER WATER LINES…...IM SURE YOU WOULDNT WANT TO BE INCORRECT ON THAT ONE…..SOMEONE HAS TO MUCH TIME ON THERE HANDS…I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS ME….I DONT EVEN COME CLOSE.


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


The US military uses this type of model to strategize urban defense.

What WAS Moscow thinking?

Lee


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Jim, he said he was going to start, that's why he gone!! ;-)) I wonder how they get in there to make changes? Seems like hanging upside down would suck )


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Hey Gary, are you done yet?


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Most elaborate dollhouse ever: Moscow?*
> 
> I continue to be amazed by how many amazing things there are out there by which to be amazed. I find new ones every day online, and have for the last decade. One I found this week is a 1/500th scale miniature of all of Moscow, built in 1988, and maintained ever since. It looks to be all balsa, or basswood. If the city changes, or a new house is built, they correct the model. It's stayed current for the last 2 decades. Tons more pictures here.
> 
> ...


Dale - just finished! I had to add Mike's on de Soto for Elaine, but that was it. I also hope when the neighbors get back from their Saturday night dinners and/or movies they will not be upset. I had to extend into - okay, entirely across - their yards.

Topamax - looks like it's all in sections. They may be able to remove each one as they go to get to the middle. What a pain!

grizz - OH GREAT. Now I have to be ready for a monumental hydrant change. The paint is still drying on those, too.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*

I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.


"Oops" in mahogany


"Crippled Table" in walnut and hickory


"How to Build Furniture" in cherry


"Self Portrait" in walnut


----------



## SPMaximus (Mar 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


those are incredible


----------



## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


Wondrous!


----------



## mtnwild (Sep 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


WOWZEERRSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Very cool and funny! Thanks…........


----------



## kolwdwrkr (Jul 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


These are magnificant! Thanks for sharing


----------



## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


Fantastic imagination and craftsmanship!

Thanks for posting.

Scrappy


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


Wild and crazy guy!! ) Thanks for the post.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


Heck Gary, that's nothing. I've been building stuff like that since I started. The only difference between his pieces and mine is the quality and craftsmanship, but I've gotten all the mistakes down to perfection. And I hate to brag, but my mistakes are a lot worse than his. Thanks for showing us this this fun stuff.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *The whimsical art furniture of Jake Cress*
> 
> I found this talented woodworker's site tonight through a post on Make Magazine's blog. He makes very well crafted furniture in the Chippendale style, but also creates art pieces with meta-humor baked in. Some appear self-animated, the rest are a fun juxtaposition of solid craftsmanship and glaring oversights.
> 
> ...


wild stuff


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*some ramps for my truck, almost*

To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.

I also picked up the required 2×8s, each 8' long. Unfortunately, measuring my truck's unfolded tailgate height just now (33"), and using the lookup table in the Ramparts' included instructions, I should be using 10' 9" planks for a 14° angle, which is about as steep as you want to go. I modeled it in Sketchup, and it's a pretty sharp angle, though doable with a handtruck.

But those are huge planks! My bed is only about 6'. I don't want 4' 9" - almost half their length - sliding around over the edge on a long drive to pick up some lumber. Also, anything over a 2' 0" height (7' 9" long boards) should have intermediary support. I imagine something like a 2×4 or 2×6 screwed on edge to the bottom through the top of the flat board to create T-beams. Now the idea is even more unwieldy.

I guess I didn't just solve my loading problems after all. I knew it was a high bed. Originally I was looking for something like my dad's Toyota from the 80s, small and dark blue, and not unlike this one, though that's an '88, and his must have been from between late 70s, or very early 80s. As a kid I could easily sit on the tailgate, whereas the truck now I have to leap up into a bit. Still, I would have put quite a strain on that little truck's shocks getting all those huge eucalyptus logs home 

I think the winch + unfoldable/steep ramp idea is gaining traction.


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


soudns like its time to convert your truck to a low-rider.


----------



## RobS (Aug 11, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


forget the low-rider and use the hydrallics to make a lift gate, similar to all the modern day bob-tail trucks, or keep an eye on craigs list for an old-used wheel chair lift (like off a handicapped van or something)...


----------



## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


Get a winch that operates off a car battery and hook up an eye hook, heavy duty of course, to the front of your bed and hoist the suckers up.


----------



## Trikzter (Jun 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


I don't know if this will help or not but Harbor Freight has a bed extender that might work,
called a ""bed extender"":http://http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39168


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


Rob,
Hydrolics sound good and all, but I'm far more concerned with maintaining Gary's sense of style than his convenience.


----------



## bowyer (Feb 6, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


Well Gary you may want to look at Cabellas or any sporting goods store for a game lift. They usually fit into a hitch reciever and allow the loading of heavy items into the back of your truck. They consist of a crank loaded with cable and some models will swivel over the bed. You would have to rig up a sling to go under the logs.
Alot easier on the back

Rick


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *some ramps for my truck, almost*
> 
> To save my back the next time I luck into some huge logs, I found and purchased some Highland Ramparts brackets from Pep Boys, while there replacing my new truck's dead battery. I've seen gardeners in the area loading and unloading rider lawnmowers and everything else with these things, so me and a log on a hand truck should be fine, despite my ample size.
> 
> ...


Hokie - that would make it easier to get into! I feel less than cool taking 2 maneuvers to hop up into it, instead one smooth, practiced slide.

Rob - a tailgate that could lower would be pretty cool, I admit. Wheelchair lift, maybe not so much 

Mike - yeah, that was a suggestion back in my post about the huge euc logs, and I'm very much considering it, provided I can secure it well enough to the bed. It has a black plastic liner I'd also need to get through. I don't really want to cause too much damage to that, but I don't know how strong a winch bolted onto a plastic substrate (through metal beneath) would be. I'm wondering if it would crush into the plastic while wrenching up heavy stuff.

Trikzter - it's a possibility, though I'd be a little nervous about having almost 5' of lumber sticking out past the usual back end on the LA freeways. Thanks!

Rick - this might be one of my favorite ideas to date. I was wondering if there was just a simple crane arm, like those used for loading and unloading boats that I could rig up somehow. Interesting that it works with the tailgate up, meaning you have to lift even higher, but if it's doing all the lifting, especially with a winch, might work out for me! I'll look into them. I have a Sport Chalet right down the street - 2 department store sized floors of almost everything sports-related. They might have it. Thanks!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*JACKPOT*



In early February, 2009, in rough seas 14 miles off the coast of Sussex, England, Russian cargo ship Sinegorsk lost its load of 1500 tonnes of sawn timber, which washed ashore on the beaches of Kent. The police issued warnings, but scavengers came out in force.

Daily Mail has several great shots of people braving the icy surf and a high wall to claim the lumber, which is apparently still the rightful property of the original owner, according to law. Police were powerless to stop the looters, or didn't care hard enough  The article and comments shed a little bit of contradictory light on the maritime laws.

I think this is one of those times when you rent a flatbed truck, or in this case, a "lorry."


----------



## mattd (Aug 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


"That's an interesting piece of furniture."

"Thank you. I built it from stolen knotty pine."


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I was thinking more like:

"Whoa, where did you get this second house?"

"I stole it from the ocean."


----------



## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


A lumberJocks dream


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i imagine there are allot of folks

"pineing away "

over this !


----------



## KentS (May 27, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Way more fun than an oil tanker loosing it's load. --Interesting.
Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The beaches are fouled with driftwood. Great story.


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Patron,
Maybe there just plane board!


----------



## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I remember Yorkshire Stewart telling us about this 6-7 months ago. He said it was on the other side of the Island from him so he didn't benefit, or he wouldn't I think it was the latter.


----------



## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats an amazing picture!


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *JACKPOT*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I doubt if it will lst long. My brother in law lost power crossing the bar at Westport, WA. He washed up on the jetty which is solid rock. He said by the time he and his 3 kids got off, there wasn't much left but the engine block! I would guess a lot of the lumber will break up in short order too.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Band saw wizard*

Well I'm impressed.

http://izismile.com/video/player/player.swf
via videosift.com

Just watch those fingers, everyone.


----------



## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


I say he must have done that a time or two before.

What kind of wood was that?


----------



## sval229 (Sep 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


I've seen that done at every Woodworks show I've been to for the past five years or so. I've always seen it where they were selling Carter stabilizer guides. I have the regular Carter guides for my 14" Jet but the Stabilizer lets you run 1/8" blades & spin the work like a scroll saw. Maybe next year I'll go for it. These guys cut about one reindeer every 10 minutes or so.


----------



## bowyer (Feb 6, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


What a show off!!! Yes I'm envious


----------



## woodworm (Jul 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


Wow!
I wouldn't do that even in my dream…the real dream.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


I saw it live at Carter Demo too ;-)) They are good after 1,000's of them!!


----------



## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Band saw wizard*
> 
> Well I'm impressed.
> 
> ...


Way cool, great post.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*list of favorite woodworkers*

While searching up something else on the Google last night, I stumbled upon an exactly 900 day old post on our very own LJs site in which user ToolCrib asked the question Who are YOUR top five most influential woodworkers?. ToolCrib (Garrett) then went on to compile that list to his own site here. I thought I'd repost that effort on the 900th day as a little look back at who everyone thought was inspirational a few years ago, but then I fell asleep early, so here it is, 901 days later


----------



## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *list of favorite woodworkers*
> 
> While searching up something else on the Google last night, I stumbled upon an exactly 900 day old post on our very own LJs site in which user ToolCrib asked the question Who are YOUR top five most influential woodworkers?. ToolCrib (Garrett) then went on to compile that list to his own site here. I thought I'd repost that effort on the 900th day as a little look back at who everyone thought was inspirational a few years ago, but then I fell asleep early, so here it is, 901 days later


I think that this is a chance for LJers to mark their place in history.,..
.
#1 Patron.
.
#2 Andy
.
#3 CharlieM1958
.
#4 GaryK
.
#5 Lee A, Jesberger

a peoples choice award for
*Beginningwoodworker*
These are my choices of who inspires me!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*

What a day I'm having!

Okay, so September of last year I was gearing up to buy a band saw. I liked the Craftsman 18" Wood/Metal deal for $1300 (and eventually got that one). Above the picture on the saw's page were clickable, hierarchical categories, something like "Power Tools > Saws > Band Saws." You could click on each to go to broader categories - pretty standard. I noticed in the address bar that these category names were echoed in the URL as variable names. On a whim, I modified them in the URL and resubmitted the page, and it worked. My new categorizations showed up. I posted my modified link for my friends on another site to show them which saw I wanted, and they all laughed at the categories, and that was that. Here's a screencap, with the parts I was screwing with highlighted (warning: vulgar language 

Last night, someone here at LJs asked me which band saw I had, so I typed "craftsman saw" in my address bar and as Firefox does, it showed me the most relevant, previously-visited links. I saw "Craftsman 18-Inch Wood / Metal etc" and clicked that one, copied the link, and commented back to the LJ commenter. Only then did I realize that the spaces in my vulgarities - which I had forgotten all about, and didn't intend to post here - had broken LJs' markdown, so what I had commented was a link to the page, followed by a broken stream of swearing. I couldn't edit it. I slapped my forehead and commented again explaining the humorous situation, and apologizing for any unintended offense.

Then I thought I'd post that to reddit.com - a user-submitted news site from which I've gathered LJs a few members recently (woodworkers there who didn't know about LJs). My submission is here, and the headline I posted used to go to my modified Craftsman saw page at Sears' site, though it is now broken. It's broken, because the smarty-pants nerds at reddit had a field day with my link, trying everything from SQL injections (which would let them modify Sears' inventory, etc - thankfully these attempts all failed outright), to getting code to run through the site (also, thankfully failed attempts). And naturally, they made many more tweaked titles, including changing grilling machines to be baby grilling machines, and listing computers as "Porn Enablers." This was funny (nerds can have quite twisted senses of humor), but worse was that Sears' site, to alleviate many requests coming in, will cache pages, such that people coming in from non-tweaked URLs - i.e. the public - would start seeing our goofball headings. Major headslap.

Some folks from reddit used Sears' live online support to have chats wherein they pranked them by asking questions like "How far can this thing launch babies?" for a baby carrier modified to now be called a baby launching device, and each was appropriately met with bewildered and horrified tech representatives. I started at this point to wonder what the fallout would be from my harmless little game. Was I going to end up arrested?

Soon my post, which had amassed nearly 1300 upvotes (very high for the site - most popular things are in the 10s, or low-to-mid hundreds), and which was sitting at #2 in the list on the front page (stories move up by popularity and upvotes, and down as these things wane) disappeared entirely from anything but a direct link to it. I was #2, then gone. I made a new post to ask if I'd been censored, and one of the site admins came in to comment that yes, he had been forced to take it down. Apparently Sears' lawyers were on the phone all morning with Conde Nast's lawyers (CN owns reddit), and forced them to remove my post from the front page. So my new post - asking about the censorship was on track for #1 with a bullet. It was #37 front page, comments pouring in (nerds are often very opposed to and outspoken against censorship). I refreshed. It was #12, many more comments listed. I refreshed again. GONE! Censored again!

I know the guys running reddit hate censorship, but what can you do when you have Sears and Conde Nast level lawyers on your back? So soon the links were all breaking. People at Sears were scrambling to turn off caching of links, and to even remove items! That's right, I can't even find my $1300 saw on Sears.com anymore. Direct searches don't list it! Removing the junk from the modified URL and resubmitting just brings you to a dead page. This seems a bit of an overreaction to me. I get the grilling machine thing, but what woodworker wouldn't want a manly saw that proclaimed its dominance with a little bit of proud swearing? 

Well, then it got worse. TMZ picked up the story, and last I checked there were 140 comments there, most of which believed this was all started by a disgruntled former employee. Then Fox was on it from there 

I'm kind of thankful that pretty much everyone is crediting the wrong sites and people for this internet mischief. I don't want it all to crash down on me! I'm just a silly goofball. I can't do jail time! As fun as it's been to keep up with this all day, I think I'm going to go hide under my workbench. Don't tell anyone you saw me.


----------



## hypnos (Dec 25, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


As a fellow redditor I'd be happy to start your legal defense fund 
Seriously though, good luck - people do stuff like this all the time but not so publicly. Hopefully sears will have a good sense of humor, and bad publicity is better than no publicity. Their web traffic went up - maybe a few people bought big f*ing band saws?


----------



## damianpenney (Jun 22, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


HA! Gary, I saw this on reddit and had hours of fun with it!

This was my addition.


__
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/9cefy/_/c0c8mdo

I can't belive Sears got them to yank the post though. You my friend are a legend.


----------



## jcsterling (Aug 1, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


oops. Clean up all the big ^%$^%#@ dust bunnies under the workbench while you're under there.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


thats just awesome…. LOL


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


you should go to MsdebbieP 's
whos famous ,let me get your autograph site ,
and sign in .

and here we thought you
were looking for dead trees to save !


----------



## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


LMFAO… this is by far the funniest thing I've read today


----------



## Alonso83 (Jul 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


here are some more, they are all over the net…. LMAO

here

here

here

here


----------



## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


Wow, you made snopes, that is impressive


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


hypnos - Thanks! I might need it yet. And of course, I actually did by that BFBS! I credit coming back to my own link and seeing those exciting words has having helped warm me to the idea. Maybe I should start a swearing tool company. I bet there's a huge swatch right across America of people who throw down some money for a large tool they can swear about in polite company.

Damian - I saw that one earlier while trolling my own posts. Nicely done!

John - Will do! It looks like a different guy - who posted in my thread with a different joke change - is getting most of the press. Maybe he can be my fall-guy.

david - Always on the lookout for trees, but on the days when nothing falls, I cause havoc on the internet… apparently.

Jimi - That's the best part about this. Yes, I inadvertently made Sears scramble around like fools, but everywhere I've found news about this, everyone is having a great laugh. Makes me wonder how many people laughed, then remembered they needed something from Sears and went and ordered it. I'm actually sore from laughing about everything I've read all day. I'm going to sleep soundly tonight, guilt-free 

Alonso - Good finds! The Snopes one kills me. I can't believe I'm on that site. Actually, that guy who's baby grill got way more press than my profanity-laden band saw made the site. Again, he'll be my fall-guy for when this goes south on me.


----------



## iozl (Dec 30, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


I glanced at my Reddit home page early tonight wondering what was up with that Sears business as the top story. I never would have guessed that it would all be explained by reading LJ's - that's hilarious and awesome at the same time!

(BTW - I have been wanting to ask this, but are you actually Zach Galifianakis using 'Gary' as a pseudonym? This comedic interlude would certainly suggest so…)


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


iozl - Quite a fallout today on reddit, no? I've stayed pretty clear of it.

And yes, I might actually be ZG. Even my mother couldn't get over how much we resemble one another when she saw him on a billboard for The Hangover. She made me drive by it when she visited me and said "There, that guy. You look exactly like him." I laughed pretty hard. Every friend I have has at some point brought it up, and my coworkers are urging me to go to one of his comedy shows here in LA to get pics with him. I'm tempted to show up to one and get up on stage before he appears and see if I can pull off pretending to be him. I'll have to work on some material first


----------



## ryno101 (May 14, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


I can't believe you made Snopes… Dude… You're SO my hero!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Internet intrigue! What have I wrought?*
> 
> What a day I'm having!
> 
> ...


Thanks, Ryno. Every once in awhile I do something crazy on the internet and become famous for a day or two


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Burl Wood... "Nutz" *

This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.

But c'mon… beautiful wood burls? Is nothing sacred? I can only hope it's injection-molded plastic wrapped in some kind of heat-shrink plastic print. I have a hard time imagining they're CNC milling these from real wood.

EDIT: Phwew! Crisis averted. The video explains the 'water transfer print' method they use to print anything on their product. They have quite a number of print styles.

Okay, now back to actual woodstuffs 

EDIT #2: Water Transfer Printing is a pretty interesting process.


----------



## Julian (Sep 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


Haha, whats wrong with **************************************** liking quality wood for their trucknuts..

Now those are ridiculous!


----------



## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


Ah… thank you for the ah.. wonderful post. I think.

(chrome ones… the best)


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


this is sick. I'm not even going to comment on this thread (oops)


----------



## RBWoodworker (Mar 22, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


Gary!!..this was your truck!!!..lol
I was thinkin.. If he got rear-ended..that would be the quivilent of getting "kicked in the nuts"..or it a lowrider got some..he would be "dragging his nuts on the ground"

Sorry..I was laughing so hard at this post..I just couldn't help myself..


----------



## Innovator (Jan 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


It takes a lotta ba…

Never mind


----------



## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


Hmmmm…to each their own I suppose…..I call my truck she…so I don't think she need nutz….at least I hope not….


----------



## SPMaximus (Mar 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


They dont look as polished as my nuts

Im sure you can find something else besides nuts for your car reggie ;P


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


I saw some on a truck last month… they were swinging freely as they went sailing down the open road.
sigh


----------



## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

gfixler said:


> *Burl Wood... "Nutz" *
> 
> This makes me laugh almost as much as it makes me cry. There's a guy in my neighborhood with a big black truck parked on the street, and a pair of blue TruckNutz hanging below, which I must pass and notice every night when I drive home from work. I do admit that the sheer obnoxiousness of it does at least make me smile.
> 
> ...


Oh Ms DebbieP!!

sorry could help myself 2019


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*

Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*

A piece of heavy, hard bark about 3"x5", and around 3/16" thick smacked me really hard in the face. I was wearing a polycarbonate full-face shield from Home Depot, though, and was saved. I'd say it was moving over 50MPH, based on the force - basically the speed of a decent overhand pitch. It could have been bad. It was dead center, right over my nose and eyes, but it's hard to say where it would have hit without the face shield. Maybe I'd lose a tooth, or get an eye all cut up or punctured, or maybe just a bloody nose, but it would've hurt pretty badly. As it was, it did knock my head back a few inches, and sent me tripping back a few feet. I was also dazed for a few seconds, completely unsure of what had happened. There had been no warning. Just suddenly a loud crack, and a glimpse of something black and rectangular occluding my view before I went windmilling backwards.

This comes on the heels of a similar event days prior that sent a piece of bark flying up the surface of the turning tool and into my thumb. Felt like I hit my thumb with a hammer. This turning can be dangerous stuff. The face shield worked, though. I was entirely unharmed, and after shaking it off, I went back in and finished up the work.

SAFETY FIRST


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


I am glad to hear you were not seriously hurt, Gary. At a 1000 rpm anything coming off the lathe has the potential to be a dangerous projectile. But I am glad to hear you finished the turning.

Be safe but have fun!


----------



## WoodyWoodWrecker (Jul 1, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Glad you're OK. With your progress, you're making me want to get a Lathe. I almost bought one at a pawn shop with an extension the other day but figured I had better stop buying tools until I get my shop built.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Thank Goodness for the safety shield. As you said, Safety First.

Lew


----------



## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Very Glad to hear that you were not hurt!! and also glad to hear you had a facemask on.

I have always advocated and use a full shield when turning….I also use/recommend a heavy apron or smock ( preferable leather for the apron - (I am looking for a nice one to replace my old tattered apron….so for now I use a heavy poplin smock)....a pair of gloves (I use a pair of good welders gloves (they give me all the dexterity with excellent protection right up to my smock sleeve)...and a dust mask. Some folks say that to use these are uncomfortable and ruin the "experience" of turning…...hmmm sounds like what they say about phophylactics…lol….but when you hear about the types and speed of material that can be ejected by the lathe (just like in your case)...I think a little discomfort is much better then whatever damage they would inflict. Needless to say, for all the time I have been turning (since high school) - I have not suffered any injury or serious mishap on the lathe (knock on wood here)....to me this is a great example that by taking a little time to be safe (and maybe a small amount of discomfort) makes all the difference in the world.


----------



## whitedog (Dec 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


gary … i can't believe how much i am learning about turning from your posts, i always enjoy them. one of the big things is for me not to buy one of those things, it's one of those tools that requires so many other tools. 
please keep up the good reporting


----------



## Hix (Jun 4, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Gary, glad you were not hurt. I always wear my face shield, it has saved at the least, my regular glasses several times. At least this was an easy education for you. Catches happen, chips fly, that face mask is cheap insurance. 
I enjoy your posts, keep them coming.


----------



## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Glad you're alright , Gary …Thanks for the warning : )


----------



## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Gary Glad that all safety precautions were in place. And thanks for the warning.


----------



## Broda (Oct 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


this happened to me not long ago http://lumberjocks.com/topics/8545
I never turn anything without my facemask


----------



## jimr (Jun 15, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


I got hit by a 2×2x4 in the nose just going to do a "quick" turning. I wear my shield all the time now when turning.


----------



## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Glad you didn't get hurt badly. I agree….*SAFTEY FIRST*

Always were my faceshield. Have seen too many things hapen to spinning objects for me to risk getting hit.

Keep it safe. Thanks for the reminder.

Scrappy


----------



## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


*OLD RULE*: *Always* wear a faceshield when using most power tools.


----------



## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Is the face shield still reliable after being whacked so hard? I thought they were like helmets and kid carseats, once they've being in an impact they should be replaced.

Glad to hear it wasn't more serious. I'd be getting myself a new face shield after an impact like that.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Good to know you were wearing a face shield. Glad you 're OK! Now we know you can take a punch)

Reminds me of a Milwauke Hole Hog on a 1 1/4" wood auger that hung up one day. The torque pulled it out of my hand and my finger off the trigger, but the residule torque took it around another couple revolutions. It wacked my chin pretty good, but didn't knock me off the ladder I was on. They run at 550 rpm I think.

Speaking of safety, I have never worn a wedding band being a working sort of guy. I see a lot of them in the "how to" videos. Good way to lose a finger or at least dislocate a joint.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Thanks for all the well-wishes, folks!

Woody - definitely! It's addictive. I've not done anything else in my shop since I got it, and it's a veritable swimming pool of wood chips and dust now. I have a lot to clean up and work on away from the lathe this long weekend!

reggie - You really suit up! You're like a knight in armor  I do want to get something like a long-sleeved apron to keep all the woodchips out of my collar, and off my arms. I'm a total mess by the end. I've not done well with breathing devices, because I'm big, and my breath is killer hot. I'm ready to pass out after a few minutes with a dust mask on. It's always been a problem, though, even when I was very thin. I just run hotter. My mom's even worse. She actually prefers snowy, cold weather, just because she finally feels good in it. When she visits me, she makes me point the portable A/C right on her, and sleeps with it blowing on her face all night, and isn't bothered. It's amazing. That unit blows freezing cold air. The gloves I also worry about, as I'm afraid to get the material caught. I've known of some people who've had gloves get caught up in machinery, and it seems so likely to me, I can't bring myself to wear them around any power tools. I would like to figure out something for the heat of the chips, though. I couldn't even make a single pass across the inside of a semi-dry Jacaranda bowl, because the chips coming off were red hot. My left pink was practically on fire. My tools heat up really fast, too, when I ride the bevels. About 2" becomes too hot to touch!

Broda - scary stuff! Glad you're alright, and it reinforces my beliefs.

Jim - you too! These lathes are dangerous business.

John - I've actually switched from goggles like these to the face shield for most other operations around the garage. The goggles always fogged up, and on warmer days, or if I'm doing something particularly tense, they fog up in seconds, and I can't see anything in about 30 seconds. I started putting something between my forehead and the top ridge to let them air out. Even removing all of the so-called vent plugs didn't help. The face shield lets in a lot of air around the sides, so I can finally see. It's rough having an internal fireplace, except when it's cold. Then it comes in handy.

Mark - I hadn't even though of that. It seems to be fine, though. There's no cosmetic damage or hairline cracks. It has the same sound to it. I'll keep my eye on it. Thanks for the heads up.

Topamax - I've got my own video of some auger troubles. I learned a little that day, and thankfully didn't hurt any fingers! And yeah - I have no jewelry, and wouldn't wear it in the garage if I did. Good thinking.


----------



## Innovator (Jan 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Gary every once in a while I cheat and put on safety glasses and the shield comes off when it gets too hot.

Your blog is a good reminder for me to keep it on.

Thanks
Rob


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Anyone ever thought about using a welding helmet with a clear glass?


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


Rob - interesting! It's the other way around for me. The face shield lets my face breathe. The goggles fog up immediately and cause the whole area around my eyes to sweat profusely.

Topamax - I'd be wary of that. The shield is probably strong enough, but it's not really designed for impact. It's made for heat, and to stop tiny sparks. The clear part may shatter into fragments if something strikes it, and if it's actual glass, that's even worse! Also, it's flat, and less resistant to shattering due to geometry than the curved face of a face shield. Face shields for woodworking are high-impact polycarbonate, specifically built to withstand point stresses and high speed projectiles.


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *New Rule: Face shield mandatory (when turning barked pieces)*
> 
> Just a quick note. I found some logs (again!) and quickly sliced up a half log for the turning. It had some loose bark I tore off, but also some seemingly strongly-affixed pieces that I decided to leave on. Too hard to remove. I was only at around 1000RPM (2nd out of about 6 speed settings on my Jet 12×20), when *wHaCk!*
> 
> ...


ditto what was said above-I'm learning so much about turning from your blogs/projects!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*

This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.

I watch the wood chips pile up on his left arm, just as they do for me here in my own present time. I wince sympathetically when his hook tool catches at 6:08. I note the injuries on at lest 3 of his fingertips, dark marks around his cuticles. With some small amount of introspection, I realize he's a much snappier dresser than I. Also, his lathe is bigger, and he has a more complete set of tools.

Wait… what was that? Was that jealousy? I think I need to get me one of those hats.


----------



## spanky46 (Feb 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Your right, all your missing is the hat! Interesting!


----------



## jeffl (May 3, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


I got that hat !


----------



## PetVet (Nov 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Neat video. Makes me look like I turn in slow motion.
There are therapy groups for people with lathe envy Gary…


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the video, Gary. That was interesting.

I could see you in that hat.


----------



## KentS (May 27, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Great video--Thanks Gary


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


The bottom of the bowl must be awfull thick to take the screw point in stead of using a chuck.


----------



## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Gary, Excellent video!!! Thanks for posting it!!!


----------



## cajunpen (Apr 9, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Thanks, that was entertaining and a great piece of history.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Cool Gary very interesting


----------



## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Great post Gary, Nice look into history.

I like your turned hat better then his. haha

Thanks for shareing.

Scrappy


----------



## Innovator (Jan 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Nice video Gary.

Thanks for sharing


----------



## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Cool video….I wish my turnings came out so smoothly….love the old tools and centers….lot of them are the same we use still…

Thanks Gary for sharing such a nice piece of history….


----------



## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Reminds me of Grandpa who by the way came from Germany. Veryyyyyyy Coooooooooooooooooooooooooll


----------



## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


That was way cool..


----------



## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Suweet!, I like the music too. I want a lathe so bad. I've never turned before but man would it be fun.

Thanks


----------



## TraumaJacques (Oct 25, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Great video I had about 10 minutes between glue ups so i watched… were did you get this? Love how he put on his "safety" spectacles .
Beware of the green eyed monster, the tools are always better in someone else shop, but remember what this guy had to go through like you said 13 years later. He was probably making parts for a tank or something. 
Thanks for posting


----------



## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Great video, thanks. It was interesting to note that the power was not from a motor immediately attached to the lathe. It was probably a mandrel hooked to some central power source, 28 predates the small electric motors we use I think.


----------



## dancampbell60 (Sep 23, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


Great video! Turning is art, self expression and desire. I believe it takes a great deal of talent to become a master turner and I have yet to meet anyone who believes they know all there is to know about turning…....... the joy is in the trip as well as the destination.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Archival footage: Wood turning in Germany, 1926*
> 
> This video from 83 years ago follows a German woodworker as he selects a log half, cuts out a bowl blank on a large band saw, and then turns 3 separate parts to create a lidded bowl. It's neat to feel such a kinship with a guy at his lathe some 13 years before his country would enter into WWII. I wonder if he made it to the war, and what he thought of it. There's something a lot more tangible about this video than the still black and white photos of men with saws over their shoulders standing by huge, fallen trees - my usual window into woodworking during this period.
> 
> ...


I've always wanted to sharpen my tools on a wheel that is rotating away from me rather than toward me. Glad to see somebody actually doing that!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Brian May's guitar*

I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Special

The manufacturing subsection at the link is a fun read for woodworkers and guitar enthusiasts alike.


----------



## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


I remember reading this in a guitar magazine when I was a teenager learning how to play. I didn't know the mantel was that old, I just knew they used one for the guitar. I also didn't know the rest of the details, like how he used motorcycle parts for the tremolo bar… far out.


----------



## bunkie (Oct 13, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


May is a very interesting guy. He recently earned his doctorate in astrophysics. And he has fantastic tone. I was hooked the first time I heard his solo on Killer Queen


----------



## mattg (May 6, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


One of my all time favorite guitarists!!!


----------



## damianpenney (Jun 22, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


cool


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


very cool


----------



## webwood (Jul 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


i knew he made his own stuff 30 years ago but did'nt know the specifics - very cool - thanks for the link


----------



## asthesawturns (Aug 23, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Brian May's guitar*
> 
> I just learned from a reddit post (I know some of you are also redditors) that Queen guitarist Brian May built his guitar, "Red Special" with his dad in 1963 when he was sixteen, mostly "from an 18th century fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away." He's been using it on tour and in albums for over 3 decades.
> 
> ...


Neato, thanks for sharing


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Tape Measure Hero*

I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers 

In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


----------



## Innovator (Jan 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Cool stuff Gary


----------



## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Very Dextrous.


----------



## KentS (May 27, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


That's great Gary--Thanks


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Wow Gary, reminds me of some kind reptile that sticks it's tongue out to catch insects. Frogs? Lizards? That guy is incredible, but I wouldn't want to have him working for me when I see how he uses his time. LOL.


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


That guy is pretty slick.

I noticed you have not been around for a while. There was a M.I.A. post the other night and it reminded me that I had not seen anything from you for awhile. I am glad to see you back posting again.


----------



## charlton (Jan 24, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Funny but it doesn't look as smooth as this stuff:










Lot of reverse video, fishing line, and doctored video.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


ha! very cool. nice to see you posting again Gary

Happy Holidays


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Guy is pretty good with a tape, but like Mike, glad he doesn't work for me ;-)) Reminds me of a carpenter who had his dog trained to fetch his hammer and saw many moons ago. He'd tell the dog to fetch his hammer. It would take about 15 or 20 minutes for the dog to finally get it to him. This went on all day long every day!! I have no idea why he didn't get canned for not getitng any work done!!


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Very fun to watch!


----------



## OhValleyWoodandWool (Nov 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Tape Measure Hero*
> 
> I haven't been around for awhile. I've been super lazy. I have worked on a few small things, and I'm starting to get it into gear again, getting the garage cleaned up and organized and making things once more. I will be returning to the fun here soon, probably just after the holidays. I miss this place and my fellow woodworkers
> 
> In the meantime, I give you some tape measure tricks:


Looks like a man with too much time on his hands to me. And to agree with Topomax -I'm glad he doesn't work for me.


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*

Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!

My resolution (do we do that here?  is to actually create more and get my shop a lot more organized. I've been making some headway on that recently, but there's a lot left to do yet. As my next post will indicate, I'm still in the stage of building things to organize myself so I can have the room to start really building things 

Also, thanks to the many great folks here who've helped me out this past year. I've learned so much. It seems like not a week goes by that I don't look back at the previous week and think "That was before I knew the right way to do that!" Thanks again, to all of you, and here's to another great year ahead!


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Congrats!

looks like it has been longer than just a year doesn't it?

looking forward to seeing your resolutions comes to life


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Thanks, Sharon. Btw, when I came to the site to post that 15 minutes ago, you were featured on the front page. I grabbed a screenshot for you, just in case you haven't seen yourself all famous on the front page.


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Congratulations, Gary. I am sure the upcoming year will go as fast as this one has and be even more enjoyable. I have always enjoyed seeing your videos and reading your blogs. I am looking forward to seeing more of them.


----------



## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Congratulations and thank you for all your interesting posts!
Ellen


----------



## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Happy Anniversary Gary and thank you for your contributions. You really break your projects down and they are a treat to read.

David


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


happy anniversary . gary .

glad you are organizing ,

and hope to see you back at it soon .

allways a pleasure to see your posts .

i remember my first ,

65 times now (LOL) !


----------



## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Glad you have been here this year! Keep up the good work!


----------



## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Congrats Gary. I really enjoy your posts. Keep it up


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Happy LJ day, Gary!!

I have really learned a lot from your posts, thanks!

Lew


----------



## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


More power to you.. and many more years killing electrons and making sawdust.


----------



## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


Congrats Gary !! Your getting there


----------



## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


I have been following your turnings and other posts so long, I thought you were here before me. haha

Congrats on the year Gary, Many more to come.

Scrappy


----------



## Broda (Oct 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *1 YEAR ON LUMBERJOCKS!*
> 
> Hooray! I've been here 365 days today. Special thanks to LumberJocks Bureaucrat and notottoman for reminding me with messages on my home page. I thought I had months to go and would have missed it!
> 
> ...


HAPPY ANIVERSARY GARY!!!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*

Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


----------



## jimofsanston (Oct 15, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


I haven't seen that one yet.


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


I received this one as well. I was as surprised and pleased as you. They went all out on this one. I thought maybe my ordering earned me some special trophy catalog 

David


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


I think you deserve it anyway, David.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


I received mine too, Gary. Like you I was impressed with the catalog's appearance. And it did the job it was designed to do. I thumbed through the catalog, even though I regularily browse Rockler's web site. Of course, I had to place an order to reward them for the successful marketing effort!


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## asthesawturns (Aug 23, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


Not gotten it yet, and I am in MN 30 miles from HQ, they must be saving us for last.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


Got mine yesterday, Gary. Had the same reaction as you- Wow! Spend the entire evening looking over the new products. As luck would have it, we had to replace our TV and settled on a flat screen. My wife wants it mounted on the wall. I see they have some really neat products for hiding the wires that normally hang down from behind this type of setup. Looks like I can't put it off any longer- unless I hide the catalog from her :^)

Lew


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Rockler's March "2010 Master Catalog for Woodworkers"*
> 
> Anyone get this in the mailbox this week? I was impressed. Every monthly Rockler catalog is 147 pages long with a simple, stapled binding. This one has a square, glued binding with no staples, and is 195 pages long. Too, every previous catalog I've received over the last 3 years is in the company's blue and maple-ish tan coloring. Sometimes the heading bar and Rockler text inside it are a reverse of these two colors, but usually not. However, this one is all-white, of a much heavier pound stock than the usual cover, and features an embossed and foiled blue and copper text/logo combo at the top. After a couple dozen previous issues, this one made me say "Wow!" out loud when I pulled it out of the mailbox. I always enjoy flipping through them anyway, but this one feels like a trophy version of the usual deal.


I received mine a few days ago! Darn, now I can spend more of my money…You know how us tool nuts are…gotta have it for the shop.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*To the Xylarium!*

I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.

Here's a short, interesting article (with photo) on the xylarium of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan, which claims they have over 23,000 samples from 8,000 species, which are available to scientific institutions, and have been used as a reference in high profile murder cases. They have the capability of identifying the woods they know from a 1mm sliver, great for figuring out wood species from ancient, priceless artifacts.

I also found a page on NCSU's site that mentions Tsukuba's xylarium of Japanese woods, and also mentions the Tervuren Xylarium, Laboratory for Wood Biology, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Belgium, which specializes in African woods and has a collection of 48,114 specimens representing 16,245 species. I would love to see these some day. And to think that the IWCS says there are over 100,000 species of trees the world over. Amazing how so much work by field agents and donations by private collectors still yields species counts an order of magnitude below "what's out there."

At any rate, I think we all know what I shall be calling these things for the forseeable future…



*TO THE XYLARIUM!!!*


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Holy Splinters, Batman!! To the XYLARIUM, Robin!!!!!!!


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## PetVet (Nov 7, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Gary, at the rate you have been collecting orphan wood, you can't be too far behind these places…


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Thanks Gary for sharing this with us.

I recently returned from a trip to Brazil and brought back about 50 examples of different species of woods from all over Brazil. I have a few woodworking friends down there and we decided to do a cultural exchange of domestic woods from our regions. I gave them quite a few examples of our domestics along with some exotics.

My wife and I visited a wood museum in the Sao Paulo area that is nothing short of incredible.

Keep up the good work!!!!


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


What a WONDERFUL word!

I've been reading your blogs on your wood ID antics and I was wondering where you were storing all of these finds. Now I know! Quite well stored if I may say so. I need you to come over and organize my uncut woodpile!

We have a dozen logs of maple, cherry, apple, black walnut, etcl., out on the back patio that need a good home/project. Come on over and take your pick.

Now, if we sell the house we can add Xylarium to the ammenities, no spa or pool, but I do have a 1500 gallon koi pond (stocked).

My humble indoor Xylarium:



As posted earlier - Wood Aholics Anonymous: http://lumberjocks.com/topics/10230


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Holy mackerel, an Xylarium!! I have always wondered what to cal the wood shed ;-))


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Rich - I know! Actually, things have slowed considerably. I haven't hauled wood home in months, but I still have sooo much of it. I have a coworker friend who was going to call me over after Thanksgiving last year as his place was doing a bunch of tree trimming. He never called, but I actually felt a slight bit of relief.

John - Are you the fabled traveler who collects wood from afar? I've read about your type! I wish I could have gone on that trip, and returned with all that wood!

mmh - That is anything but humble! What a gorgeous collection. It is absolutely worthy of the name xylarium. You have a lot stickered - did you cut that stuff yourself, or are you just helping bought stuff dry out?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


Just checked out your post, too, mmh - what a great xylarium. I bet it smells nice.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


I'm working on both, Autumn! I would say I'm a very amateur/wannabe dendrologist (tree studier), and a very fledgling wood collector. I still only have that first box of samples, but at some point I want to be sure to cut out and plane up IWCS sample-sized pieces from the woods I've found around here that I've been able to definitely ID. I'm more and more wanting to build something like a DVD wall, but for wood samples. I recognize - especially in my friends' eyes - that this is a little crazy, but at the same time it would be a very pretty, natural installation piece, and quite a conversation piece, as well as being fragrant and a great personal woodworking resource.

I actually took a walk last night at midnight (okay, 3 hours ago  around my neighborhood collecting more species samples. I'm now 100% sure a bunch of the trees I've been tentatively calling California Pepper Trees (Schinus molle) are definitely that. They should be an easy ID from now on, even while driving by them. I'm hoping they all yield pink peppercorns this year so I can wander around town and harvest enough to try whipping up a batch of essential oil and also create a few bottles of dried, usable peppercorns. Maybe I'll even turn a peppermill for them and present the whole thing with peppercorns as a gift to my folks.

Also from tonight's walkabout: the Chinese elms are doing something I didn't know they did, and I'm curious to understand it further. Everywhere the long, hanging branches have leaves, which is alternatingly down two sides of each, a whole new tiny branch with alternating leaves has appeared. The original leaves have gotten hard and thick and are cracking, and snap like potato chips. However, this makes every limb on the tree look completely overdone in leaves now. They're huge, weeping, solid masses of leaves now. It looks cluttered, but very rich and vibrant, like a jungle. What I don't understand is how I've not seen this until now, and what will happen to this next level. The branches they come from may be 6' long or more, and are literally just very long, thin sticks with rows of leaves. Now each is becoming host to another like itself at every leaf. The trees in the area are not busy with a fractal descent of weeping levels, so do these levels fall away later, or is it a particularly long cycle (7 years, e.g.?) that they do this? I don't see how the branches can all be these very long, hair-like things (when viewed at a distance) without having grown sub-levels all the while until now. I thought at first I'd found a mutant tree, but all of them in the area are doing it, so it must be their thing. More research to follow…

I've also learned American sweet gums flower. They're all getting large, fuzzy buds all over. I haven't noticed this before, so I'm interested to see how that plays out this month. Too, I got some samples of flowers and maple-like leaves from a spindly tree I've been really wanting to figure out since probably the middle of last year. I've got all the pics necessary now, so here's hoping. My favorite online plant/tree ID forum just had a big shakeup, shutting down and archiving forums while they shuffled around management. They did, thankfully, bring back the ID forum, but you could only post if you had over 100 posts. I have 52, of course. Tonight, however, I noticed it was 100 *after* February 3rd, or 40 *before*. I made the cut! I can still get expert help, and those guys really are experts. They've pretty much nailed everything I've shown them down to the scientific name.

I'd love to see a xylarium pic if you have one! Thanks for saying hi.


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


"To the xylarium!" - a "Young Frankenstein" reference?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *To the Xylarium!*
> 
> I'm very excited about this new word I've stumbled upon. This is an actual, in-use word combining xylo- from the Greek xulo- from xulon, - wood - and the Latin -arium (genitive -āriī), second declension - a place where things are kept from other things, or a place associated with a specific thing. In other words, a xylarium would be a place in which wood is stored. It seems to apply best to vault-like collections.
> 
> ...


You're full of surprises, Autumn. Forestry sciences lab? That sounds pretty exciting right now. I'd love to see a core sampling event in action. I'll have to look around the net. The only story I know about them so far is probably the most famous botching thereof.

I haven't typed up a list of samples, but there are 5 pictures of groups of all of them midway down this post. If they're hard to read and you want a list, I wouldn't mind typing one up for you. The size I'm interested in is 0.5" thick × 3" wide × 6" long. If I were to trade unfinished pieces, I'd probably want something bigger than that so I could joint, plane, and crosscut everything to exactly the standard IWCS size, as I'm hoping to build a very uniform display out of them eventually, and having them all identical will make it look a lot prettier. Maybe 3/4"x4"x7" or larger?

I'm a little afraid of sweet gums after hearing about some horror stories. They can send roots really far, like across-entire-back-yards far. There was a home repair show that showed how one tree in a yard wrapped its roots around the house entirely and under the front driveway, and was squeezing in, crushing the entire foundation like a vise grip. The roots are thick and carbohydrate-rich (I've read), so cutting even the whole tree down at the base just has them send up hundreds of suckers that all need to be stamped out, too, or then you just have lots more of them. They're like starfish!

The pics from my late-night walkabout 2 nights ago are in this set, and the sweet gum buds are here, specifically. Other users have some good shots in the wild here and here.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*the straw-like nature of red oak*

I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


A guy once told be that you can tell the difference between red oak and white oak by by taking a puff from a cigarette and blowing it into the end grain of a short piece of the wood. If the smoke comes out of the other end, it's red oak.

I guess this is good to know because white oak is often used for boat parts. Red oak would make for lots of leaks.

Lew


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Ha, true! I'll have to find it again, but there's a specific structure that pokes into the pores of white oak that look like little white puffs. You can see them pretty easily. There's a biological name for them, and they're what stuff up the pores and basically clog them up, making it harder for air and liquids to penetrate.

Edit: Found it! Tyloses. I am quite organized in my wood research bookmarks. This was under making->woodshop->wood research->wood science 

Looking up tyloses, I found wikipedia's page on Quercus (oaks), and under uses there's a nice blurb about it:

"White Oaks have cellular structures called tyloses. Tyloses give the wood a closed cellular structure, which does not allow water to pass. Tyloses are cell ingrowths of living wood parenchyma into the cavities of xylem conducting cells. The white oaks, with tyloses, are used in making wine and whiskey barrels as well as outdoor furniture. Red Oaks do not have the tyloses, thus white oak barrels are used in wine and whiskey production to prevent leaking, which would be the result of using red oaks."

I remembered and found this page again on "Distinguishing Red and White Oak," too. It has a good image of red (left) and white (right) oak end grains. The red has nice, big, open pores, and the white seems kind of plugged up.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


That is some neat information, Gary.

About a 30 minute drive from where we live is a park that has a Wye Oak descendant growing there. Apparently the state of Maryland collected acorns from the Wye Oak and planted them in various parks throughout the state.

This area was rich in both Red and White Oak but the Gypsy Moths have really devastated the forests. They spray every year but it seems like a hopeless battle.

I appreciate the links. The information is really interesting.

Lew


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## mdedm (Aug 18, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


If red oak is so pourous, would it be possible to soak one end in polyurethane or some other sealer, then have it wick all the way through it? If so, it would be a good way to make a nearly indestructible piece of lumber that wouldn't expand and contract with the humidity.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Sounds like something we ought to test out, Mark! I was thinking of related ideas, like making a decorative oak pillar that sits in a water tub and wicks water up to plants growing on top, or to some kind of diffusion watering system wherein water is pumped across an end-grain butcher block trough and weeps out of the bottom like rain drops. I don't know if the oak would hold up, though.


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


So what happened to the 13.75 piece of Red Oak that the thin CA glue went through? What was the end result? Did you use it for something or just got disgusted and threw it away?? Did it get stuck to something else?? You wrote a sentence and left it hanging with all kinds of possible endings! If you had added "Isn't that amazing?" then I would have understood completely! LOL

Erwin


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## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Or maybe we heat up some tung oil, or wait, how about we take an old DeLorean and a flux capacitor…

I love LumberJocks,


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Erwin: I mention it again, and show it at the end of this new post that I just put up. Basically, I jointed and planed some junk boards from a pallet and glued them up into a block, then jointed, planed, and squared that up, and I didn't have any reason  I just wanted to play with my repaired planer, and I like the look of composite blocks of glued-up wood pieces, like large plywood. There was a check in one of the inner pieces, so I poured in some CA glue to seal it up, and it just kept taking more, and then after it finally hardened over, aided by a spritz or three of the activator, I flipped it over to seal up 2 tinier checks in the other side and found a pool of CA glue seeping out of that side. A spritz later it, too hardened up. I sealed the other checks, then ran the ends against the belt sander to get them (and their CA glue fills) perfectly flush. Very enjoyable. I should work on a real project soon!


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Thanks Gary for the clarifications and new post. It looks like if you would cut it in 1 1/2" or 2" slices you would/could have a very nice looking end grain cutting board. Of course you may have to pour a lot of the CA glue to seal the pores. Good luck with the piece and congrats on your wood score.

Erwin


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Irwin - I like that idea the best so far! I made a new post that talks about just that. Thanks!


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


Gary -

That is just f'ing fascinating! A tip of the hat to ya!

What's even more amazing is that you could find it. I have my woodworking links pretty well organized too but the "miscellaneous" folder is the biggest and where all the interesting tidbits like this end up.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *the straw-like nature of red oak*
> 
> I just had some thin CA glue seep from one end to the other of a 13.75" long red oak board.


EEngineer - I am a bit manic about my organization. It's highly organized now, and I'm still not satisfied.


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*birch... juice?*

I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.





It looks like locally I could get some through Izze, though it says "Made with real fruit juice concentrates, other natural flavors and nothing artificial." It doesn't say "100% birch sap" like I'd expect, and like Adamba serves up - "Ingredients - Pure Birch Juice."

Maybe I can just go lick some baltic birch ply in the garage. I'm guessing the juice tastes a bit like popsicle sticks, as those are usually made from white birch (Betula papyrifera).


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


Cool!!


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


When I went to Alaska, I was able to get Birch Syrup. I like it even more than REAL Maple Syrup. It hasa bit more bite. It is pricey though.


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


Does the sap just pour out like that, or are those time lapse pictures?

Edit: should have clicked on the pictures. It's frozen.


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## wichle (May 2, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


Birch syrup is available on the web. Son brought some back from Alaska, we ordered more. Great stuff!


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


I think I need to try some birch syrup. You guys are not helping the diet I'm pretending to be on one bit.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


The price will help you with that (although a little good stuff is better than a lot of the cheap corn syrup stuff). I think you'll like it, but I think I paid about $6 for 3 oz. You can probably do a lot better online, especially if you buy larger quantities.


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *birch... juice?*
> 
> I guess I have heard of birch beer, but not just drinking straight sap from birch trees.
> 
> ...


Hey Gary,
I saw this and thought of you. I know you were talking a long time ago about distilling essential oils from various trees/plants. I think this falls more into the syrup category (and that means others that posted on this thread might be interested as well) but here is a link for if/when you have time. More pulling goodness from trees:
hickoryworks.homestead.com


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Employment update*

Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!

Everything is amazing and awesome so far. The building is big - 4 stories - but each has a kind of lobby wall after you exit the elevator, so you can't appreciate how big the building is until you get behind that. My first trip behind it was my first day on the job. The interview process was all in little rooms in front of the wall. Behind it, my heart sank a bit. I felt as though I'd strolled onto an ocean liner. It's so much bigger than I expected, and I don't do well at big companies usually. My first industry office had 2 small rooms and about 14 employees between them. My second had less than 20, and grew to 45 over the years. I worked at NC Soft for a time, and there were something like 11 of us in that small office on the 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, which is all small spaces. I did do a stint at EA in LA, and that was also 3 or 4 stories, and very big inside - hundreds of employees - but somehow it paled in comparison to this. It feels like a little city on floor 3. In fact, the lady who brought me to the desk of the friend who referred me to the position, back near our small party of animators got lost 5 times on the way there. It was quite a walk, and a bit of a labyrinth!

The 1st floor lobby:



Something that's apparently new, but wonderful to me, a person who loves things visual, is that they decorated the entire floor. Beautiful scenery with characters from various recent movies have been high quality printed at wall-sizes and used as wallpaper, so everywhere you go are majestic scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean, the Tinkerbell movie, Cars, and several others. Because so many are artists, their work adorns the inside and outside of the majority of the hundreds of cubicles on each floor. I've worked at about 5 games studios, and been to a handful of others, and while there were very good artists at some, these are Disney artists, so it's nothing but the most solid stuff everywhere you look. I almost caught a bad case of being-impressed poisoning walking around those first few minutes. It was a tad intimidating, I'll admit.

My direct boss is great. He's supposedly 60, but seems in his mid 40s to me, and he has a laid-back, happy, been-there/done-that/don't worry so much attitude, which is disarming and relaxing. My first assignment took me a week and a half, after I thought it would be 3 days, and when I explained some ideas I had for speeding up my workflow, he shrugged and said "Whatever. This was fine. Don't code yourself out of a job." He's worked on some cool projects, like 1984's "Ghostbusters" (he helped make the proton pack energy beams that would lasso the ghosts). My first day I was dropped off at his office. The guy who told me about the job - a friend from a previous job where we were coworkers - was in there, and 2 other animators. That's basically my team. There are 5 of us, and a 6th guy who sits confusingly far away - most of the way across the building. We see him occasionally. It really feels like a very large small company, and all of the issues I've had working at places like EA don't seem to exist.

It's an older, more mature crowd, and they're pretty much all very friendly and outgoing. I've never had so many people smile and ask me how I'm doing, except that time I visited Nashville (ridiculously friendly people there). I didn't expect that would be such a pick-me-up, either. I went to the kitchen the first day, and some guy I don't know said hi and asked if I was new. He got in a long conversation about working there, and then said he'd see me later. I ran into him at lunch, having brought something back, and he asked if I had anyone to sit with at lunch and invited me out onto the patio (3rd floor, overlooking the city), and there I met about 5 other people who all talked with me the whole lunch like I was an old friend. Lots of laughing and good times. Then I found out the guy to my left had been with the company since the 80s, and was actually kind of a higher up. He was in jeans and a casual button-up shirt, but otherwise just seemed like one of us, and no one treated him like he was 3 boss levels above us. The rank seems more like a suggestion here. Later at a full company meeting with a couple hundred of us in there, he got up and gave a presentation for one part, and afterward came back and sat near me and went back to being one of the crew. I love that. EA had insane levels of red tape. You weren't supposed to talk to some people, and there was a lot of attitude.

The 3rd floor kitchen:



On Thursday I didn't know what I was doing for lunch, so I just wandered out of the building and looked around. I heard a crowd calling to me, and it turned out to be 7 people from my area of floor 3, and suddenly I was off to lunch with them. All 7 were Asian of various places (Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian), and we ate at a Japanese/Chinese place, but I was the only one using chopsticks instead of a fork, and they were playing US top 40 hits of the 80s softly in the background. Not very authentic  The next day a guy leaned into my cube and asked if I wanted to join them in the courtyard of the building for lunch. I've eaten with probably 8 completely different groups now, and they've all been super friendly.

The courtyard:



My first day we went to the Disney Feature Studios (this place), because that's the only place you can get your official Disney photo ID (which now gets me into the park with friends for free, and maybe a few other things, like discounts on merchandise - not sure, as I'm contracting currently). We ate at the commissary, where I failed once again to see any celebrities. The first half of the pics on this page show some of the cool architecture and the commissary. I think I've been there 3 times now - the other times with a friend who used to work at Disney Feature.

He's seen many big stars, like John Cleese at a table next to him in the Commissary, and Jennifer Garner from Alias passing him in the hallway. If you've ever watched "Alias," the front of the office building that is her spy headquarters is actually one of the buildings on the Disney Feature lot with a sign stuck on it. He even had lunch with about 50 pirates one day - extras from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie on their lunch break. It's a working film studio with lots of those huge hangar buildings, which we also wandered by and nosily peeked into. I'd love to work at a studio like that and watch the colossal construction that goes on inside, like all the epic photos on this page of a Pirates sound stage. It looks like so much fun. It's amazing how big it all looks in real life, too. I feel like my eyes aren't designed to see things that big, because I'm always looking at bench tools or my computer.

Anyway, where I sit is great. It's a big, comfy, attractive cube with low lighting, which I prefer, and it's ambient. The lights shine on the beige ductwork and reflect down pleasantly. No blinding fluorescents. I have a 24" Dell flat screen monitor and a 21" Wacom Cintiq, which is a monitor you can draw on with included stylus. You can see a guy using one on YouTube here. Some cool features - finger-zoom bars on the sides - just rub up and down to zoom in and out - pressure sensitivity which you can hook to whatever - press harder for darker, and/or fatter lines, or whatever else you want that to influence, like color changes based on pressure. The monitor swivels for easing drawing, just like the old animation desks. Also, it recognizes separate pens, so while you can go through the motions to change the parameters of pens as you're drawing, you can also save time by having a bunch of pens set up as different tools with particular settings, and then you can just put down the 'pencil' and pick up the 'airbrush' and keep going. The back of the pens has a functioning digital eraser. This is one of those things artists drool over getting - $2k/ea. - so it was weird to just walk in to my cube and see that I have one, and so do tons of other folks. Also, there's a small TV and VCR combo on my desk, and for no discernible reason, VR goggles, something like these. I'll have to find a new power cord for them and try them out.

My workspace:



There are many games being worked on at once here. There's the section that makes casual games - the quick things you go play for 5 minutes and then leave behind. They make about 100 games per year. We have several big projects going, including a Tinkerbell game, a Cars game, a Pirates of the Caribbean game, and one that's been around for most of a decade for Toontown from Roger Rabbit. I started in on Toontown, and am being brought into Pirates more and more. Each team is separate - something they started years back - except for the animation team. There are artists who only work on cars, and artists who only work on pirates, but animation serves all the big teams, so last week, my 3rd week, I was fielding requests from Toontown and Pirates back and forth all day. I love it. Unexpectedly, that seems to be how I love to work - jumping back and forth. I guess it makes sense. I must have 50 projects started here and always switch between them.

The unexplained TV/VCR - might as well bring in some movies 



I'll be in the middle of some new thing for one job and someone will stop by with a pressing matter on another project, and I jump to that for 15 minutes, save the day, and move back to where I left off on the first. I'm pushing to make a name for myself as a Fixler who can fix anything, and also to help lighten the burdens on some of the more stressed directors. Early last week two folks I report to who always have a million meetings and seem somewhat worn out all the time stopped by with something that clearly was confusing them. Once I figured out enough of what they were saying to take over, I told them I'd rope in whoever I needed to figure out the solution and send them an email later in the day. They seemed palpably relieved to have someone who would just take the burden away. It was easy from my end, so I think it's going to be easy to be a very helpful person. I've left each night so far feeling like I helped out a lot. It's pretty satisfying.

My Aeron chair and more cabinetry:



Apparently the guy I replaced was a real bear to be around, and I haven't found anyone so far who had good feelings of any kind for him. Once you're full-time it's really hard for them to let you go, and I think they jumped the gun with him. It took many months for all the paperwork, probation periods, and whatever else was necessary to pass before they could get rid of him. He was extremely unhelpful, and even a bit of a womanizer. By default, they seem to love me just for the fact that I'm not such a giant pain. Just being introduced to people as that guy's replacement, I could see this relief sweep over them as they would each vigorously shake my hand and give me a very big, undeserved smile, like I was going to save everything. But hey, I'll give it my best shot! Speaking of the full-time thing, I'm currently a contractor. Disney apparently loves to do that, and there are over 100 contractors in this building, some having contracted for most of a year. The limit - legally - is 18 months.

I'm chipping in money each week to be on a contractor health/dental plan, so at least there's that. I'll finally have coverage of some kind again. I'll also be contributing to a 401k again, finally. It's been years. I'm also making a good chunk more than I'll make if/when they put me on full-time. Because of other benefits, they pay full-time folks less. That's unfortunate for a few reasons. I did the budget this past week and realized that I'm just barely breaking even after all of my bills - rent, cable, phone, internet, gas, electric, food, and my monthly truck payment. If I'm made full time, I won't be making enough money anymore, so I need to solve that, but at least this job saved me for the time being. I ran out of money entirely just as it landed, and in fact just got the first 2 paychecks and just barely have enough now for rent this month.

I'll be unloading things through ebay, trying to sell some woodworks through Etsy, looking around for things I can make at night while watching TV to bring in more money - things I can sew, for example, on my sewing machine. The big change might be moving north. It would put me a lot closer to work, saving me the $50 every 7 round trips, would give me back a bit more of my time (45 minutes to work, about 30-40 back home 5x a week), and rents up there seem to be a lot cheaper than around here. Everyone (except me) wants to live near the beach (no interest - I never go), so prices around here are stupidly high. My parents bought 10 acres of beautiful woodland with a 2-story house and shed on it in NJ for $150k. This is a 0.18 acre lot, and if I were to buy it with the old, dilapidated house and 1-car garage on it, and with neighbors shoved right up against me on 3 sides, it would be about $700k. That means $15k/acre in the secluded woods of NJ converts to about $3.9M/acre in the cramped burbs of LA, or about 260x the prices in rural NJ to live in west LA. And I'd far prefer to live in secluded woods surrounded by 50'+ trees, as I did growing up. This is a weird place 

And now, some shots from various drives through the mountains on the 405. It's a pretty commute:











Here's some of the drive south after work on the 405, just passing the Getty Center on the right. The 405 was being nice this day - no stopping!

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377


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## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


How cool is this…


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## tunkvalleycustomwood (Nov 24, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


oooh gary i am truley sorry tou have to drive the 405 every day.my last time through there was about 4 years ago.catrans would only allow me to travel through LA after 9:00 pm as i was 12 ft wide 245 ft long and weighed around 2hundred thousand lbs that was going on estimate of the manufactor of the asphalt plant i was pulling.even at midnight there was a lot of trafic out there.my hats off to any one who can drive that area every day


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## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Goof things for you Gary, good luck.


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## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


'grats Gary! It sounds like a great experience so far! One of the things I have to do for my portfolio class this week is take a list of my top 6 companies I want to work for, and they're on that list  tho moving isn't something I'll be likely to want to do any time soon. Contracting is always a great way to get in the door - I did that where I'm at eight years ago and got hired on in 7 months. It's just a precaution. They'd rather spend more money up front to make sure they've got someone that'll work out then hire full time right on the spot. Have fun and enjoy the success!


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Congrats Gary. That sounds like a really fun job. You are very lucky. That is an awesome chair they supplied you with too! I need to get me one of those for home use.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


sounds great. we should all be this lucky. making the waiting period worth it doesnt it?


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## Paul2274 (Nov 17, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Fantastic! It's a good way to start off the week with good news. Looks great… not only a beautiful building but it sounds like a great group of people to work for and with. May your employment be fun and long lived!

"To Infinity and Beyond" 
Can't wait for TS3!! (and yes I have young kids )

Paul


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


great news , gary .

glad it's working out .

it takes a while to get back to even ,
i just took 6 months ,

enjoy !


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## GaryD (Mar 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Good to hear the news Gary, good luck and keep us posted on how its going. It is amazing what we can do when we are pushed to do it.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


good news


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## woodpeckerbill (Jun 9, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Glad to hear that all is going good for you.
Bill


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


I'm happy for you Gary, hope you find much happiness with them and stay a loooonnnngg time with them. Don't give up woodworking!

Erwin Jacksonville, FL


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Gary Sounds like a great fit for you. Sorry to hear about the drive but the scenery sure looks nice. Hope everything stays on track.

A thought from Walt for you… "I happen to be kind of an inquisitive guy and when I see things I don't like, I start thinking 'why do they have to be like this and how can I improve them?'"

CtL


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## LateNightOwl (Aug 13, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Congratulations. It sounds like the perfect place for you. 
It also sounds like you got a liberal sprinkling of pixie dust your first day.  (Do they still call it that?)

I think Walt would have been pleased at your first impressions. Is there anyone left there from Walt's day, I wonder? I suppose not.

I worked in the Park off and on for a few years-omg, it was 35+ years ago! It was several years after Walt had died. I could tell you stories of my own, but I had some friends who had worked there from the very beginning and I loved listening to their stories about Walt. He had an apartment above the little fire station on Main Street and would frequently spend the night. (Last time I was in there, his slippers were still by the bed and his robe hung in the closet. I suppose they might still be there.) He used to walk around the Park in his robe and slippers in the mornings before it opened. It was his idea that everyone had a name tag with their first name only on it, and he was on a first name basis with many of the employees, and he insisted they called him by his first name as well. The way you describe your supervisors, it sounds like that tradition lives on.

Can't help but wonder what the guy who drew Steamboat Willie would think of the things you do in your job.


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## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Wow Gary, Congratulations on the success of the new job. I hope they find you indispensable, and jack up your pay. Sounds like a good place to work, in spite of its size.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Gary,
A long time ago- in my impatient youth- a very wise man told me-"Good things come to those who wait". It did for me and from the looks of things, it has for you.
So happy things are working out for you.

Lew


----------



## REK (Aug 30, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


I often thought about you, I'm happy you got such a cool job. My son might be getting some of the games you worked on for x-mas!!!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Employment update*
> 
> Several LJ friends have written to ask how the new job is going, and I've told them all that I'd post a little update here, and here it is! It's a big update!
> 
> ...


Awesome, and thanks, Bob! I hope he enjoys them!


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Martin is a benevolent genius*

Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


----------



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


I keep trying to break the top 100, but I keep lagging just outside the threshold (even with this post). I expect to break the top 100 on day 11. LOL.


----------



## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


yes Gary 
we just have to bawe in the dust for such a genius
or maybee he just have the best PC in the world…....LOL

Dennis


----------



## 2 (Feb 26, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


Thanks for cool label, Gary. I should design BENEVOLENT GENIUS shirt just for myself, LOL

I was checking the first 100 most active members the same way you did (I needed it to determine # of posts made by No.100) and I actually was #101 - you can imagine my surprise haha. But slipped to #102 in just a few days hmm.. I better start posting more


----------



## BertFlores58 (May 26, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


Martin, the truth is you deserve the most high award here in LJ. Just imagine your time given to it when you wake-up and before you sleep 24/7 because you have to see to it everything is working with server, anti-viral protection, etc. Keep it up. Thanks and God bless


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


That's too funny, Martin, and an amazing "coincidence" indeed


----------



## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Martin is a benevolent genius*
> 
> Right now we're having our 20k subscribers party with free giveaways. The first 10 giveaways go to random members within the 100 most active members list. If you go to the jocks page, sorted by activity, you note that it's 5×7 jocks per page, or 35/page. Martin is at the bottom of page 3. The first 2 pages are 70 in all, then the first 4 rows of 7 on page 3 are another 28. That's 98. Then Martin is the 4th one on the next row, or #102. He's carefully kept himself just out of the running for free giveaways! 6 more posts and he'd be 101, but that's a dangerous position. He might have to answer a handful of questions, and he has to post the next 3 winners still. This ensures he'll stay out of the 100 for a little while. Brilliant work, Martin! I don't know how you could have planned for this for 4.4+ years with all the jocks posting at random intervals, but you did it


Yikes. I had never looked before.
Like everything else in my life, I am on the precipice.

Steve


----------



## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Watch where you park your bench!*

Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Wow, Gary, I wonder how long that bench was there!


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


thats cool, reminds me of Lord Of The Rings and Tom Bombardil


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## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Reminds me of the "Bike in a Tree" in Washington State. http://www.google.com/images?q=bike+in+a+tree&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=aglXTI-AFJL0tgOanYzaAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQsAQwAA&biw=1221&bih=634

I like the interesting 'living' bench you posted….


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


How long does a bench have to sit in one place for that to happen? An interesting photo.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Somebody wasn't paying any attention to it for about 15 years a hundred years ago +/- )


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## NaFianna (Feb 11, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


This picture is from the Kings Inns on Constitution Hill in Dublin Ireland. I used to sit here on my way home from work back in the early '80s. It used to really fascinate me how the tree had just taken this bench as its own and was lifting it off the ground. The living wood owned the cold metal. I would take friends to see if we were nearby and nobody thought it was cool. They would say 'So what?. you need to get out more' Well I dont think they will ever appreciate Lumberjocks. I used to wonder who else had sat there over the years and wondered in awe at the life of the tree. I know James Joyce refers to the Park in one of his books - not sure if he appreciated this though. My wife sometimes jokes that this was one of the first things I showed her when I took her back to Dublin first time. Not sure that she gets it either.
Thanks for posting - must save this picture


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


That was some bench that could've fought back. Wonder how long it took the craftsman to make? Very ingenious, creepy bench! Simply awesome!

Erwin, Jacksonville, FL


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


A century later, a sawyer might puzzle over his broken blade. "What was in the tree? A nail?" "Nope, looks like an entire park bench…"

Thanks for sharing,

David


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## Jason34 (Oct 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Very fun post Gary. Makes one think.


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## Jason34 (Oct 17, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Very fun post Gary. Makes one think.


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *Watch where you park your bench!*
> 
> Or this might happen! That looks like an old sycamore, but King's Inns is in England, so I guess we should call it a plane tree. If only it had been this bench, it could have fought back.


Great pics Gary. I have often commented at work about the audacity and tenacity of trees. I see a lot of it but that one eating a bench is shear proof.

CtL


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*Lignum Vitae... hydroelectric turbine bearings?*

I've often heard that lignum vitae (Guaiacum spp.) is the strongest wood - some 3.5x harder than red oak - but this is darn impressive. As per the link:

From the Army Corps of Engineers
"The original hydro turbine bearings made of Lignum Vitae, lasted from 1934 to 2001. The Lignum Vitae bearing design kept the hydro turbine in service for sixty-seven years!
Modern composite metal bearing materials such as Thoradon, Ryetex, Mycarta, and Phenolics are unacceptable materials due to their inability to match the characteristics of Lignum Vitae."


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Lignum Vitae... hydroelectric turbine bearings?*
> 
> I've often heard that lignum vitae (Guaiacum spp.) is the strongest wood - some 3.5x harder than red oak - but this is darn impressive. As per the link:
> 
> ...


yep sure is very impressive
the nature never stop to impress


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

gfixler said:


> *Lignum Vitae... hydroelectric turbine bearings?*
> 
> I've often heard that lignum vitae (Guaiacum spp.) is the strongest wood - some 3.5x harder than red oak - but this is darn impressive. As per the link:
> 
> ...


Gary:

I've used some as cool blocks on my old bandsaw. They worked great.


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Lignum Vitae... hydroelectric turbine bearings?*
> 
> I've often heard that lignum vitae (Guaiacum spp.) is the strongest wood - some 3.5x harder than red oak - but this is darn impressive. As per the link:
> 
> ...


I've heard they use Lignum for the propeller shaft bearings (bushings, actually) on submarines, because it gets slick when soaked with sea water, and it's quieter than any mechanical bearing. Urban myth?

Hah - if I'd read a little further down, I'd have read it here, too.

I do take exception to their claim of "low construction cost" for hydroelectric plants. Maybe they're not taking into account the dam that has to be built along with it?


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *Lignum Vitae... hydroelectric turbine bearings?*
> 
> I've often heard that lignum vitae (Guaiacum spp.) is the strongest wood - some 3.5x harder than red oak - but this is darn impressive. As per the link:
> 
> ...


Are you building something out of Lignum Vitae?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

*outta time :*

That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do 

Disney hires into 3-month contract roles, and renews them as needed if they're not ready to make you full time, a process they call 'conversion.' Near the end of my 3 months (about a month back) there was talk around the expansive offices of me being converted to full time. Then my boss' boss was let go, and the boss said he didn't know what this meant for him or us. Soon I was in touch with recruiting and in the process of being converted, when communications disappeared. My boss brought me into his office to tell me that his former boss' boss, who was - and is - still there, said not to hire me yet, because of reorganizations going on. They were also in the process of figuring out budgets for everyone. So I went back into a holding pattern with some time left on my initial 3-month contract. Then my boss was let go as part of said reorganizations, leaving 2 vacancies between me and the remaining boss, 2 levels up from me.

Our boss just told us on a Monday that he was out Friday, after decades with the company (off and on). We had a big party and wished him well, and feared for our lives at the seemingly unstable goings on. The following week I realized my contract was up that coming Friday, and soon my coworkers and local bosses were scrambling to find out what was going on with me. Was I renewed? Was I going full time? HR was all (ALL) on vacation, so there was no one to ask. I found a producer who tracked down one HR guy who couldn't help, as his computer had a virus. I started to feel like I was in The Truman Show, and people were watching these crazy hijinks going on all around me. That guy fortunately (we hoped) knew enough from talks going on about me that he could tell that producer to tell me that I should indeed come in Monday and would be approved for some sort of renewal 'through fiscal,' which meant October, which was 2 months, not the usual 3 when being renewed. I went home on hoping my badge would let me in again on Monday, as that stuff is heavily controlled. I found this out when mom visited in July and my badge failed to let us in on the weekend so I could show her my office. Once I'm full time I can go in whenever, but contractors and interns are locked out on weekends. Anyway, it worked, and I was officially renewed for 2 months, which again didn't make complete sense.

Then following week, my old coworker/friend, who was best of friends for the past 5 years at this place with our boss (the one they let go), told me he was leaving, too. He had left for a week to work with a 3rd party we're developing a game with, and the day he first left was the day they let his old pal and boss go, and Friday, the last day he was away was the day our boss was out the door, so after 5 years of close friendship and working together, he wasn't around for the big goodbye. These two were the company to me. They knew years of things I didn't, went to bat for me all the time trying to get me employed, trying to get me more money (I've been just breaking even with a salary a bit lower than I've had in many years), and acting as a buffer to bosses even higher up. We're having this other farewell party tomorrow, and Friday's his last day. He was the only other guy who does the technical stuff I do, so now I'm the only one in the company who does this niche, yet critical stuff. This means I'm now the director of this kind of work (title: Technical Director) for something like 5 separate games. We're just gearing up on things again, and I'm working 12-hour days. I left work at 10PM tonight and have to be in by 9AM for a meeting where I'll be handed the reigns on one of the games - a sort of passing-the-torch ceremony in miniature (really I'm just meeting the team I don't know yet, and seeing what's going on). I also live 30-40 minutes away, depending on LA traffic. My days are pretty much gone now.

So this week, my coworker's last week, they finally made me an offer. I'm converting to full time! This means I don't have to pay $200/mo anymore for my benefits, and get much better benefits. I get a silver pass that gets me into all Disney parks, save maybe the one in Tokyo, for free, along with some guests. It also gives me discounts on all kinds of stuff that I don't even know about yet - hotels, air fair, computers, etc. One coworker told me she randomly mentioned her job at a yoga class and the lady said she should have told her, as they have a Disney discount. I hope Rockler has one!  I report Monday to the Disney lot (where all the old animation was done - Walt's old office is there on the campus) for my orientation. The next day I have a half-day orientation in the building I've been in for 3-4 months now. I officially report to 1 particular game now, but am 50% on another, and then in any free time I help a small side project with their troubles, and the 2 remaining franchise games will come to me if they need help, and currently, both do  I've never felt so needed, nor so under the gun!

So the down side is that I think even more of my precious time is going to slip away. I had somewhere between 4 or 6 new weekly meetings appear in my Outlook calendar this week alone. One of the art directors showed me her calendar, and literally every 1-hour block of time for all 5 workdays throughout the week is outlined, meaning it's a meeting. I'm afraid I'm heading that way, though, watching my calendar already fill up quite a bit in one week. Hopefully that slows to a stop soon, though the meetings will just keep coming. I'm glad the meetings are enjoyable. It sounds awful - "meetings" - but I just stand or sit around with artists and talk about how to make video games better, and look at what people have completed since the last meeting (which was probably 12 minutes ago . If I have to be in a meeting, this is the kind I want to be in.

The up side is that I absolutely love this job. I love everybody there, and there are hundreds on my floor. There are parties going on all the time for different launch events or just for the heck of it, and there's always food everywhere. I've never been this fat, and tomorrow I'm starting a rather major diet (good luck, me!). But I love my desk. I love the work itself. I love the goofy fires I have to put out every day. I haven't even really minded sitting there alone until 10 each night this week trying to finish up a pile of requests. It's so pleasant otherwise, and I cannot complain about being overemployed in this economy, especially as I'm broke still after 7 months of no bites. Also, though I thought I was going to have to haggle like never before for a decent wage, they just flat out offered me more than I'd hoped for this week, so I will be saving a good amount of money up again, especially given no time to go spend any of it! That's how I really built up a nest egg at a previous job, and why I could even afford to stay here for half a year with no income. This means that in a year or two I can splurge on tools again! That'll probably be about when I'll manage to find time and energy enough to use them again.

Sigh… it's always something.


----------



## nurvreck (Jul 16, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


I'm glad things turned out the way you hoped, other then the meetings of course. It's even better when its doing something you love. Good luck with the new position and enjoy those Disney perks (prolly get more then we do in the military )


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## UncleHank (Jan 13, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Man, that sounds cool. I've often wondered how much (more) fun it would be to work as a game developer. Seems like you really enjoy it!


----------



## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Great story! It is wonderful to see your hard work appreciated. It is an inspiration to many of us to keep trying and by doing your best you can be successful doing something you love. Congratulations!

Sheila


----------



## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Yes. It seems that you either have all the time or all the money you want, never a bit of both. Life!


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Great story. Thanks. Funny how we take twists and turns.

Heh, life goes on.
Steve


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


all well in the end. good to hear the full time hire news esp. in todays economy where one day youre up, and the next, swimming in the ocean.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary,
Congratulations on being taken on full time. I figured it was only a matter of time. As you've already pointed out indirectly, it is better to be happy in your employment than to be unhappy with a good hobby (-:

It sounds like you've got things lined up to get your finances back in order. Sometimes just a small thing like tool maintenance here and there is enough to keep the interest alive. That's what I've been clinging to lately with all my free time accounted for months in advance. Good luck!


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary,
My grandmother used to say- "be careful what you wish for.." but this time it looks like things really came your way.

Congrats on the new position. You really deserve it.

Lew


----------



## mtnwild (Sep 28, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Great news! So happy for you in these tough days. Beautiful man…..............


----------



## bigfish_95008 (Nov 26, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary, congratulations ongoing full time. The LA job market is very hard right now, my wife has been looking since I was transferred here over a year ago. So, being you are so busy now, how about I come over and get the new sander and keep it running well for you? LOL


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary, I hope all works out for you. This recession/depression? doesn't seem to be going away with any great speed and we had more bad news last month. In our area things are really taking a turn for the worse during the last few months. There are so many good people being hurt by all of this.


----------



## GaryD (Mar 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary, I was always told that good things happen to good people. Was wondering the other day about how things were going for you. Congrats ona going full time. And working for Disney. I am envious. It will all smooth out over time. Good luck and keep us posted.


----------



## dvhart (Feb 22, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Congratulations Gary, here's hoping you can find a way to remain productive and love your new responsibilities. I've found it takes real commitment to be able to find time between meetings to be able to pick something up and get it done. David Alan's Getting Things Done can be pretty helpful for ideas on how to manage tasks, all the more important when you have so little time. Good luck to you!


----------



## Robb (Aug 18, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary, that's awesome news about the job! I'm glad you're blessed with full time employment again, even though it means you're super-busy.


----------



## majeagle1 (Oct 29, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Congratulations Gary, so glad to see that you were able to land a position doing what you truly have the talent to do and love to do. This really is a good story…....... You may not be able to post many projects but please keep online with all of us LJ's out here, we love hearing from you. And one day again….... the projects will show up.


----------



## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Sounds like you are a smart hard working diligent team player who is willing to work 50+ hours a week and is not overpaid. In this economy if you want to keep your job, stay that way. Work is a privilege and not an entitlement. Congratulations and good luck.


----------



## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Good for you
Keep smiling, work hard and suck up when needed… but not always.
Best of luck


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Congrats on the new job Gary. Are you replacing your old bosses or are they just cutting middle management?


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone for the well wishes!

bigfish - a very noble suggestion, but I couldn't ask you to trouble yourself keeping my sander warmed up for me. You are too kind 

Darren - thanks for the book suggestion. I will have to check it out. I did well today, getting several big things accomplished between 2 long meetings and leaving early for the goodbye party for Dave at Laurel's Tavern in studio city. As I was walking up to the place I locked eyes with Tom Green through the window and we got in a kind of staring match for a moment  Later I realized a few tables away from us was Will Ferrell. It was a fun night.

Gene - I'm hoping to still get some things made on the weekends! It's funny… when I was unemployed for 7 months, I did a ton of sitting around. Now that I have to work hard all day and squeeze errands in at lunches and such, I'm way more on the ball and managing time far better than ever. It's like now that I have no time, I have *more* time. I've always heard "If you want something done, give it to a busy person."

Topamax - No replacing - they just culled management positions. There's a lot of people heading off for other jobs as well, but I don't think that's for any particular reason. I think I'm just not used to it. My last company had 40 people in it at its largest. There are something like 200+ on our floor alone at the new place. It's like a little city, and I find it constantly interesting.


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## blockhead (May 5, 2009)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Congrats to you Gary! I'm glad to hear that things have turned around so drastically. It's funny how things work out sometimes.


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## clieb91 (Aug 17, 2007)

gfixler said:


> *outta time :*
> 
> That symbol is a frowney/smiley, because the news about my job lately is bittersweet. After the 7-month unemployed spell that started last September and lasted exactly as long as my savings held up, an old coworker got in touch with me about coming to work with him at an online games division of Disney. It was a really great opportunity to do exactly what I do, which is pretty niche, and it marked the first time the job skills requirements matched 100% with my resume. They're usually more like 60%, and I smear the rest around until it looks like I'm the right person for the job, like everyone tends to do
> 
> ...


Gary, I am a little behind on catching up on blogs. Anywho, congrats on the full time position. Sorry to hear about your friends leaving but it sounds like there are a lot of great people there to know. 
Have fun at those meetings, they do sound a bitter better then ones I have attended in the past. hope you get some free time to use those great perks.

CtL


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