Sawhorses, #2

So, still not perfect. But the second go at building a saw horse was vastly improved. The secret? The right tools makes a huge difference. Bought a small rasp set, and a multi-square.

Now on to the bigger project... a work bench. And not just any bench, but a proper woodworking bench. They say that the bench is the first tool, and there is a reason. I already can tell you that working without a bench or a stable surface off the ground sucks.

I originally had this plan to make a really cheap bench, with a 2 inch thick top built from a laminate of 2x3s. The base was going to be bolted together 4x4s. Then, I did my research.

So, since I will be working primarily with hand tools, it is important that my bench is both solid and heavy. There are a lot of other important features of a workbench, but they are summed up beautifully here : http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Rules_for_Workbenches/

(inspiration from Chris Schwarz, editor Popular Woodworking)

Long story short, I am building a Roubo bench. It is an 18th century design, big, heavy, and functional. I purchased lots of douglas fir beams for a great deal ($40), which actually makes this bench design a whole lot cheaper than the "cheap" design I was tempted by earlier. Also, it is a lot of work.

I am more sore than I have been in probably a year. My hands are blistered. And I am only half way done. The top is laminated 6x6s, and finished thickness should be about 5". The legs will be 6x4s, and should be extremely solid.

Also, I feel like a hamster. Check out the shavings. :)

~ matt

Sawhorses!!!

So, I am done with Pioneer. Not really how I would have liked to be, however. I have had a cough for roughly a month, and I have noticed lately that it gets worse though out the week, and then gets better over the weekend. Turns out I have allergy induced bronchitis. So, no more work.

Today, I started the adventure. I need sawhorses, cause trying to join 4 pieces of 6"x6" on the garage floor would be a disaster. A quick trip to the Home Depot, and I had a handful of cull lumber, enough to make a saw horse or two... only spent $3 on it too.

Now, a normal person would buy a handful of nails or screws, throw the thing together, and get on with life.

I decided I would build a solid workhorse, with complex joints all cut by hand to give me some practice. Should have known better.

First off, I am missing several important tools. A wood rasp (like a file for wood), an angle square, amongst some others.

Second, cutting straight pieces with no way to accurately measure angles, no way to hold work, and a dull saw blade involves some fancy contortion and creative use of whatever means to prop pieces off the floor. I am afraid I did not succeed as well as I had hoped.

Throw into the mix some silly mistakes (mostly slight measuring errors), and it is not the most stellar example of my work. But it is sturdy as hell, and will do the job.

New Adventure

Ok, so Pioneer was an adventure for sure, but not fulfilling.

Now I have a new adventure in mind.

I will hopefully be unemployed in roughly a week, and while it will be a welcome change, I have a certain amount of trepidation about what I have seen happen to others in this economy. So, I have devised a plan.

I have decided that I am going to try my hand at making furniture. Nothing too fancy or pricey, to be sure. I am looking at making small pieces out of reclaimed lumber, using traditional techniques... sidetables, bookshelves, etc. The idea is to look for work for ~20 hours a week, and spend my other 20 hours working with wood, and if I can make any money at it, I will come out ahead. I will be working entirely with hand-tools, both to avoid the capital investment in power tools and to add a bit of qwerkiness to the whole process. By using reclaimed lumber, I will further reduce the capital in the project. (In case it is an absolute failure, I will not be out much more than my time, and will hopefully have some new skills to show for it.)

So, this blog will now become a chronicle of the process of learning, building, growing, etc. Should be a pretty good adventure.

First up, I have ~300 lbs of Douglas Fir beams that I got for $40. It will become a Roubo woodworking bench, based on the 18th century design that was, in-turn, based on 1000 years of woodcrafting tradition. I have chisels, a saw, and some ideas... must be out of my mind. :P

How exciting!

~ matt

Job Blues

I am really not a fan of my job. Actually, that is a pretty big understatement.

It is not that what I am doing is pointless. It is necessary.

Nor is it that I am not paid well. (On the contrary, it seems that I am paid rather well for the type of work.)

It is that I find the work mind-numbing. Beyond mind-numbing.

I count seeds. Eight hours a day, forty hours a week, I count seeds.

And while I count seeds, I go a little crazy. The big problem is that my mind is always moving, and without something to focus its attention, it fixates on the job... The terrible, mind-numbing job.

So, I think I need to start writing here more... There are grand schemes I need to focus on, to give my mind focus. I need a sounding board as well, and this seems appropriate.

First up. A self-regulating agroecosystem based off the long grass steep, one that integrates the grazing of livestock as part of its processes.

More soon.

~ matt

What are you worth?

So looking for jobs is always a bit of a fun exercise in self-worth. I have been told it has not always been this way, but that my generation grew up in times of economic security and prosperity, and are relatively spoiled in this regard. But...

My grandfather sat me down when I was 12 and told me that what was most important in life is to find a job, and to stick it out till I retired. Life, for him, was clearly split into the time that prepared you for working, the time that you worked, and then the reward of retirement for a life of good work.

The problem is that he found himself retired and a widower, with a half-completed dream house that he could barely will his body to get around, and a dysfunctional family. Some reward.

But when it comes to self-worth, there is an other tricky issue. What makes me worth more than the man with no education who farms 12 hours a day for barely a dime? Is there some intrinsic difference of worth that says that I should earn $12 an hour, and he $0.10? Seems like I have had different opportunities, and that is about all.

In a world where economic disparity is prevalent and real, perhaps, then, a better question is not what I am worth but rather what do I need, and what can I provide. What potentials and opportunities lay ahead of me, and what must I do to take advantage of those to the fullest?

Hmmm... not sure that makes life any easier.

~ matt

Trip is over...adventure begins.

Blogs are kinda fun in that they can be excellent sounding boards for ideas, social update tools, sources of information, etc. It turns out for them to serve any of those functions, I have to write in them, and you all have to read them...

*crickets*

Well, I will write anyway, and who knows... perhaps someone floating around the depths of the internet will someday read it.

Job hunt is going well-ish. Have hopefully a job offer from Pioneer Hi-Bred later today. It would help if I were still secure in my ideas of what i would like to do with myself. My current ideas are:

I want to breed plants with a place in an over-arcing holistic approach to sustainable agriculture that focuses on the farm as an ecosystem with an inherent great complexity of interactions. The organic movement has claimed the "holistic" label for better or worse, which cracks me up or depresses me (depending on the day). Nothing is greater than hearing someone tell you all about how their dogmatic avoidance of specific technologies and tools, and dogmatic interference with natural systems is a "holistic" approach.

I do not think that a holistic approach has to be hostile to science and technology, which is how most who claim to be taking the "holistic approach" take it.

Just my 2 cents.

Additionally, I have a new wisdom tooth coming in where my old one was pulled, which is super cool, let me tell you. Who has teeth coming in at 25!?! Seriously!

~ matt