Chocolate powered woodworking
It’s been an unusual summer, one that has left the workshop vacant for far too long. Among the many things I want to do, one requires lettercarving at a small scale. While practicing these 1/2 inch high letters, I made a Round TUIT.
The disc is turned from Cherry, 2 1/4″ in diameter, and 3/16″ thick.
Now that I’ve got a round tuit, maybe I can get to some of the other projects. (After one more outside non-woodworking project.)
Not the green wood of a freshly cut tree, but the green of freshly pressure treated, the stuff that warns “do not touch, eat, or sit upon.”
The first picture shows what happens when you buy a home center mailbox and post. After not very long, it slowly “degrades.”
We’re replacing ours because of that new wall in front of the house. The new mail box and post will be strategically placed to keep people from driving into the steps. While making one, I decided to make two. The other is for the neighbor with the ragged exemplar.
There’s no woodworking magic in these, other than being severely over built. The cross piece is joined to the post with a half-lap joint and zinc coated lag bolts. The lower pieces are also lag bolted in place. Hand sawn, hand planed, hand bored with brace and bit. The work was straightforward and since the wood is very wet, it was easy to work … even if the saw slobbered dripping moisture as it cut.
Every tool that touched the stuff accumulated “gunk” and got a good cleaning and oiling. Lots of hand washing too. And no, I didn’t sit on it.
Dragging the assemblies down to where they need to be planted will take three men and a little boy, but maybe they’ll dry some and get lighter while we wait for construction in the neighborhood to calm down. Every street around is being torn up to bring this pre-American Revolution village up to late 19th century sanitary standards; sewers are being installed.
Other than some more Pachysandra ground cover, it’s really done now.
All of the excellent plant choices and most of the design are Eva’s. The three trees on the upper level are 2 new Kousa Dogwoods and a transplanted Florida dogwood (the center one). The upper level shrubs are Wintergem boxwoods. The tiny plants are creeping thyme ground cover. Plants on the lower level are all Sea Green Junipers.
We’re delighted with it and think it is really, really done now. The local mandarins have asked for no more spoils and the crime scene tape has been taken down.
