Today at lunch I built the main hutch doorway. We picked up hinges to secure both doors. I'm going out to put the wiring on that door, and build the door to the nesting box. At that point, I'll be able to put the roof on and start putting a primer coat on the hutch. If I can get a full primer coat on tonight, I'd be able to put my first coat of finish on tomorrow. That would put me at this Thursday with the second and final coat of paint. She'd be able to move in by the weekend. More importantly, I'd be able to start working on the concrete piers for the woodshed. As soon as they are all in, I'm going to shift to building the two additional garden boxes and filling them with Merners. My wife is planting the carrots and lettuce seeds this weekend in the existing boxes. We are still a month to a month and a half away from plants being ready to go outside without the possibility of a frost. With the boxes complete, I can turn back to building the woodshed. The concrete piers will have cured and the inspector should have been by to approve them to move on to the next phase. Each time I have to stop to get the woodshed inspected, I'll move back to the garden or start on the brush cleanup. So long as I can keep the ball moving forward, then I'll be making progress. Oh, a by-product of the work from this past weekend was a solid sleep. It's been a long time since I've fallen asleep from a hard day of physical labor. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that. So much better than the constant drag of computer work. That is why I am trying to take my lunch working on projects and after work going to work on my projects. What a difference in sleep. Jason from RI
A friend in high school (died of cancer) had rabbits for meat in his teens. His hutches looked almost the same as those just twice the size. He had a few rabbits in the same hutch and iirc 4 hutches. Wire floors and it smelled rather rank under them in the heat of the Summer. He used a lot of hay - even to absorb some of the urine and pellets.
Two things for today. It always seems like the end of the afternoon when my co-workers decide is the best time to reach out to me. 5 pm then turns into 6 pm. Meanwhile, I was light all afternoon for a change. Ugh. I was able to frame the last door. I Still need to cut the plywood to complete the door, but the door is hung. The second thing is that I brought Ruby to the garage to see her new home. It did not take me long to realize I didn't order 1/2" by 1/2" mesh. I'll need that for her. The 1" by 1" is not going to work. Jason from RI
I went to the local hardware store and picked up 1/2" by 1/2" wire mesh hardware cloth to replace the floor. Last night I took out the existing flooring to make way for the new flooring, Then decided that I am going to paint everything before installing the flooring. I've also going to paint a couple of areas in the main area that will be exposed to the weather. To prevent her from chewing this wood, I'm going to use the 1" X 1" to cover these areas. Hopefully, this will help make the hutch last longer in the long run, This is extending the amount of time I planned to work on this hutch, but I figure I might as well get it right the first time. Personally I do not want to build another hutch in the future. Jason from RI.
From my last post, I've taken a while to get to finish line. Saturday before working on the rabbit hutch, I built something new I came across in Woodworkers Guild of America site. It's called a Sheet Stock Cutting Rack. After finishing that, I resumed work on the rabbit hutch. Finally at lunch yesterday I finished the painting, and after work I put the latches on the doors. Below are two pics. One of the finished product with Ruby in her cage. The second is a close up which is trying to show how I used the wire inside to protect the exposed wood. Now it's on to building the two raised garden boxes and finishing the front plantings in front of the house. This year I'm building the raised garden boxes out of white cedar rather than the HomeDepot knock off composite decking. I'll finish the rest of the boxes with the white cedar. We made headway on Sunday while paint dried. I have two more bushes to trim back and them get a load of mulch.
With the rabbit hutch done, I will now turn my attention to the raised garden. This year we are putting in two more beds. A 6' X 2' bed the goes across the back that connects to a 4' X 4' corner bed. If you look at the area, the left side starts with a 4' X 4' bed. going down the left side is an 8' X 2' bed. Finishing the left side and forming the left rear corner is a 4' X 4' bed. As a I stated above, I'll be coming across the back with a 6' X 2' bed and a 4' X 4' bed that will be the back right corner. Coming down the right side will be another 8' X 2' bed finishing out with a 4' X 4' bed in the bottom right corner. That leaves me with a 6' opening in the front. My eventual plan there is to build a nice entry way. In the middle where I have 10' wide between the left and right sides, and 12' between the front and back will go a multi-tier raised bed that we'll plant different flowers that bloom through the spring, summer and fall. This should keep the bees and such coming to pollinate whatever is in it's growing season. With only two boxes to complete, I'll be able to move right onto the lean-to shed for the wood up front. I need this up so my son and I can clear away the current logs on the ground to load up the shed. That will give me room to bring in the logs from my source as he starts dropping the oaks again. Once the shed is built, the log processing and getting the logs will be somewhat sporadic. This downtime will give us time to start clearing brush from the property. My son and I discussed our game plan, and we are going to start in the back right corner of our property near the burn pile. This will away brush we need removed from around the brush pile and would make it easier as move towards the front of our property to get the brush back to the burn pile. Once we clear a swath from the stonewall to the side of the house from the back down to the driveway, we'll move to the bottom of the driveway and work our way up to the where the log pile normally sits. There are 4-5 Cherry trees in that area that need to come down. 1 is just about dead, 1 large one is dying, and the others are healthy. That wood will be added into the mix of our fire wood. On rainy days or when the brush is done being cleared, I will be working in the garage. I have jigs and sleds I want to make along with reorganizing and changing the overall storage plan in the shop. I still have to get rid of the radial arm saw. The Dewalt 779 Compound Miter saw I want is sold out our local hardware store for $379. I want it, but need to wait until I make space for it. The one thing I really need in the garage is the Craftsman 2000 series 41" wide 10 draw rolling tool cabinet. My dad's current rolling tool box is half machining tools and half regular tools, and it's a mess. I'm looking to organize the draws with foam cutouts for the tools. This way one tool box is general tools, and the other will be in the back full of machining tools. Oh and let me tell you when it comes to machining tools, he didn't have one or two of each tool. No heed 4 or 5 of the exact same tool. Micrometers? He has over 20 of them. Punches, a bunch. I didn't count them. Socket cap screws? He has a large organizer that stands 4' tall and is 4' wide with a ton of draws in it. There are different sizes of those, washers, etc. I thought I was a hoarder. Anyone want a 1950's military centrifuge? How about three plastic boxes used to store slides for a microscope? I've just begun to scratch the surface. That is why I'll need to take everything out of there. One thing I am planning me on doing is emptying just about everything but the lathe and the milling machine. This would allow me to really clean out the buildup of dust and scraps of wood that could just be tossed. Some of the woodworking machines will simply be moved around to facilitate this cleanup. I'd to get them out to have it rain. One thing I have thought about since the passing of my dad is that I've been more productive now that I've ever been. With COVID-19 and no softball, I have time to really concentrate on this projects. Organizing these projects and working on them one at a time has made a big difference. I have mixed in working on some other smaller projects along the way while I have downtime on whatever current project I am working on. Onward and upward. Jason from RI.
If you have been reading my long-winded posts, you'll know that I plan to build a lean-to shed to store the wood in the front of the house. Our property is slopped, and the last thing I want to do in the winter is bring wood in from the backyard to the front yard down the hill between the houses. I called the building inspector today to validate that I am all set with my plans and placement with getting a permit. Well in your front yard facing the road, we have a 58' setback. Now I could pull a permit and get approval for a variance, but it's not worth it in my opinion. I asked if I could put them on pallets. Which he responded that is not a problem as it's not a permanent structure. . Now I'll need to level the area in order to put the pallets down, and will use other pallets to form an outer wall towards the street and the sides. This will save us a great deal of money, but I expected the wife to tell me no way. She was fine with it. Now my definition of leveling is different than most. I'm going to clear away 6" of soil, put down 4" of gravel, and put 2" of stone dust. All compacted to give me a nice level area to put the pallets on. Keep in mind that will be a fraction of the cost of putting up the lean-to shed. Jason from RI
I cleared out the area for my daughter's senior pictures that will be part of their virtual graduation. The girls went bought some flowers at Clarke's Farm. It's not even a 1/3 of a mile from us. Just down the road across the highway. First pic of the partially completed 6'X2' raised bed. I finished that box tonight. Tomorrow I'll finish the 4'X4' box and put both of them in place. Plus picking up a 1/2 yard of the Merner's to fill the boxes. Any extra I'll spread on the lawn. In the back of the pic you can see my dad's Bridgeport Milling Machine. In the back left is his lathe. It's a somewhat newer one than what he use to have. You can see all the clutter. I've had to move stuff all over the place in order to make a whole to work on projects. As soon as I can get the wood squared away and start clearing brush, I'll be able to start working on this on rainy days. Jason from RI
First box completely done. Realized as I was assembling the second box I shorted myself two 8’ers. What was I thinking. Held off getting the Mercer’s today. I’ll get the boards tomorrow and finish the assembly either at lunch or after work. Then I’ll get the Merner’s to fill them. Jason from RI Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I texted the resource that has all the wood for me to see how he was making out. He responded that he had a load of 8'ers ready to go. In order for that to happen, my son and I had to clear the area of the two loads we picked up from him before plus other wood that had gathered in that area. Ryan started while I was working around 4 pm, and I joined him right after 5 pm, and we worked until 8 pm finishing up clearing the area for up to two loads from my cousin's trailer. Once I knew he had a load, I texted my cousin, and he's going to join me with his 12' trailer. We'll take both trucks. He has a Ford F-350 Powerstroke. Very nice truck. Hopefully, he'll have smaller stuff that I can load in my truck. Sorry I didn't get any pictures before we started bucking the logs. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the result. After we get these loads home, we'll have to buck them in order to get the pallets set up for the split wood. Jason from RI.
Long day(now yesterday, I fell asleep before finishing the post). sorry I forgot to get pics of my cousins fully loaded 12' Bri-mar dump trailer with two trees. Made for easy work when got to the house. I'll take a pic of the pile. Finished the last raised garden box. Sorry, no pic for that either. Went picked up a 1/2 yard of the Merner's to fill both boxes. My son and I loaded both boxes, then drove the truck around the backyard top dressing the lawn with the leftover. I'll get a pic of the new boxes in place tomorrow. After dinner, I went over to my dad's apartment and started cleaning. We've decided to have my son live in the apartment for the summer while we get some needed work completed. The hard part for me is that I don't want to throw much away. I ended up with a long storage box that was under his bed full of books on guns and 0n machining. I know quite the combination I have going on there. Tomorrow we'll finish cleaning out the bedroom and move my son in there. The living room has a bunch of boxes that will need to go into his old mancave and eventually into the attic when I can find time to clean that. The wife is threatening to get a dumpster when it's time to clean the attic. Personally I feel like it's better if we just load the truck as we go. Beyond moving my son into the apartment will be bucking today's load of logs to make way to put in the area for the pallets. My cousin pointed out today that if I put my lean-to on skids rather than anchor it with piers, the town cannot say anything. The 58' off the road is for a non-movable structure. Putting it on Skids would give them the impression that I would move it should the need arise. Now I am going back and forth as the lean-to would look much nicer as it will be right by the road than pallets would look. The problem is that if I am stopping to build the lean-to, then my whole schedule slides. Much to think about. One thing I do know is that the lean-to would look much better in the front yard Jason from RI.
Welcome to the group.. I would cut, split and stack the wood where you want the lean-to so it can start seasoning faster, then build the lean-to over the pile. Saves moving it again . And pictures ... We NEED PICTURES !!!! (I think it’s in the group rules somewhere) (( just kidding)) ((( kinda)))
Problem is that the logs are literally sitting on the spot that the lean-to or pallets would go. I'll need to buck them to make room for me to build the Lean-to on skids. There just isn't enough room elsewhere.
Sometimes nature writes the wood pile plan. We have been having strong northeast winds today and after supper we heard a noise outside. Sounded like something had hit some metal. Looked up by the pole barn and saw a dead elm had come down. Both of my chainsaws are waiting on parts to get them running again so cutting up this tree will have to wait for a day or two. No damage done to the pole barn.
Here are the pics Two of the logs slid down the embankment towards the road. We'll have to put some chains on them and pull them up. Longview of the total pile Large rounds are in front. Smaller stuff that does not need to be split is in back between the older logs that need to be bucked. Finally the two new raised gardens in place with the Merner's in it. The cardboard is the remnants of what I put down on the bottom before putting the Merner's in. Now that I look at this pic it does not give you a sense of the design. I'll take a pic today that shows the full design. Jason from RI
Yesterday we moved my son into my dad's apartment for the summer. This will give me time to work on repairs that need to be done spread out over time. At the same time, I'll be able to press forward with my overall plan. I also replace the dryer vent assembly. Surprisingly there was not much lint build-up considering I've not checked in forever. The other two projects included me moving our 52" wall mounted tv from our old bedroom to the original master bedroom, and installing new blackout curtains. Waking at 5am every morning is just not working for me. Pretty much busy until 8 pm last night. Next, I need to trim two bushes in the front planting bed and add mulch to that bed and the bed around my dad's deck. That will move on to the lean-to/wood processing.
Welcome to group. I hope you are using A laptop or keyboard and not a phone for your posts! All good info, so don’t take that comment wrong. My posts are short winded due to iPhone being tool of choice for the forums.
I've been around since 2014. Just been missing for the past year+ due to my dad. I post from laptop. Sorry I've always been a little long-winded. COVID-19 has me a bit more long-winded. Jason from RI
You better get those chains out quick before buZZsaw BRAD happens through your neighborhood. You're only a state away...
He'll have to dodge all the cars that are normally parked there from the garage across the street. I was hoping they might just roll onto a car, but know that you say that, I'm happy that bloody cars are there so no one pinches my wood.
