Fruits of our labor

My son and I finished stacking the firewood pile yesterday.
Here's the fruits of our labor.

As always - Thanks for  following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

A chill in the air.

We spent the morning moving and piling the fire wood.
I love splitting and pilling fire wood. There's a chill in the air, it's fresh and smells great.

I love seeing the grain patterns revealed in the log as it splits.
I can't help myself, I have to set some aside for turning projects.
This is why it takes me forever to pile the fire wood, I sift through the wood slowly, imagining what I can make out of each log. I think I have enough mallet or candle stick material to last for years.

Some of the round birch logs are going to the local scout troop.
They use the white birch logs to make Christmas table center pieces. They sell them to raise money for the scout troop and local community charities.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Magic Fluke

We are in Sheffield, MA. A beautiful town in the Berkshire mountain area of western, MA.
We are staying with my wife's aunt, who recently purchased an old tavern/Inn built in 1740. The place is beautiful. The woodwork is incredible.
Yesterday we walked across a large field to visit the neighbors, Phyllis and Dale Webb. Phyllis and Dale own a company named the Magic Fluke Ukulele Company. Their store and workshop is next to my wife's aunts place.

On Friday my son found out that he'll be learning how to play the ukulele in his music class at school. I thought a trip to the Magic Fluke would help boost his interest.
The Webbs started their business out of their basement in 1999.
In the late nineties Dale jumped ship from the corporate world and worked his company full time. They then worked in an old gas station.
After eight years manufacturing in an old renovated gas station in New Hartford they moved in 2011 to a larger solar powered facility here in Sheffield Massachusetts, where they are enjoying the lively music and arts vibe of the Berkshires and welcome visitors to their store and factory. Their business has grown, their ukuleles are sold worldwide. Despite their success they remain very humble and are very gracious. When we arrived Phyllis met us at the door, made us feel very welcomed and proceeded to give us a tour of their facility. We were also welcomed by a 12 foot Ukulele that stands in the entrance. It was donated by the Ukulele hall of fame. The place is awesome''' My son was able to pick up and try various ukuleles. I forgot my camera, so I came back later to take some pictures. Mike, who works in the shop, gave a more detailed tour and talked about the process. It was very cool.
Their instruments sound great and play well, no wonder they're successful. After our tour we went to the local library where my son was able to borrow one of two ukuleles donated by the Webbs.
He's hooked'' Awesome

My good friend Glenn from Providence sent me this image of a chair he saw in a store made from old radiators.
I love it'
I wonder if this is how the first heated seat came about?

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

The Doors'

Nah' - It's not what you think.
My next door neighbor has been slowly repairing his , what was, dilapidated garage.
he;s been doing a great job. Yesterday he finished hanging the new doors he made himself. he painted the trim on one of them white to see what it would look like. These doors are awesome.

I have a thing for doors. To me they are like a store sign, telling you what to expect on the inside. These doors are approximately two inches thick. They've been insulated and he made the hinges himself.
My neighbor use to be a mechanic. The hinges are fabricated from car parts. They're awesome'
I wish I had thought of taking a before picture, he's done a great job.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

And it comes in orange'

A few weeks back I made a bench out of some pallet wood and scrap pieces I had. It turned out better than expected. The bench is simple in design and very comfortable.

I've been collecting vintage vinyl ottomans for years. I used the legs to create my bread side table that I made in episode one.
I love mid century modern, especially the colors.
I've been wondering what I would do with the ottoman cushions.

Well - I really like the bench, so I scaled down the bench measurements to accommodate the ottoman.
I changed some of the joinery as well. Instead of just gluing and screwing the seat stretchers to the legs I cut a dado and rabbet in the legs and posts to help reinforce the chair joints. I also had to shorten the stretcher by an inch to fit the ottoman properly. I raised the back and shortened the legs a little because the ottoman is three inches high. You can take the ottoman cushion away and still sit comfortable on the pine slats. Again - you can use whatever wood you like to make the chair. I chose some pine for the back rest and seat slats, and spruce 2" x 6"'s for the legs and posts. For $19 I have enough material too make two chairs. I'm going to paint them a white wash. I think the teal and orange ottomans will fit nicely with the white.

I think I have my next project for the show. I'm going to make the bench and a chair. Don't ever be afraid of just playing in the shop, experimenting with parts and materials. You never know what you'll yield from it. I made a jig to cut the legs and posts to size. I used it to make the chair and it worked beautifully.
I'll post more about the jig later. And - I'll put on the website.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Get a leg up'

Check out these two fantastic' treadle lathes I saw at the Sloane Museum. I worked as an interpreter at a living history museum in the cabinet shop eons ago - I can attest at how hard these are to use.
Don't get me wrong, they work wonderfully but you certainly give your legs a work out. Also- The rotation of the lathe can be tricky to get use to. Your feet are doing one thing and your hands another. Not an easy task for some of us''

These are two great early woodworking machines.

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Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Yesterday I finished building the work bench. I'm really happy with the way things worked out. I imagine we'll take a little break from shooting for a bit. We have a lot of material that needs to get edited.

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Be safe and be creative
Best

Steve

More Museum

Here are a few images of the wooden ware at the Sloane Museum.
I love the shovels.
Check out the barrels. They would carve them and then burn out the insides to hollow them. Fantastic'

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve

Eric Sloane Museum

Who drives 126 miles just to see a bunch of old tools?
Well - I do''
Yes, I am a woodworking tool geek and I packed up the family and yesterday we drove to Kent, CT to visit the Eric Sloane Museum.
Here is a description as found on the website.

"A man of great energy and many talents, Eric Sloane (1905-1985) was a prolific artist, author and illustrator of over 30 books, and an avid collector of Americana. His extensive collection of hand tools is displayed in a building gifted to the State in 1969 by Stanley Works, the Connecticut-based tool manufacturing company, to mark their 125th anniversary. The collection tells a fascinating story about bygone times and the great American heritage of craftsmanship."

The museum is in Kent, CT. an absolute beautiful part of the world.
The winding country roads through the Berkshire mountains is breathtaking. The museum of tools is such a visual treat. It's small, a single building, but there are tools from every trade and aspect of early american life. Sloane saw tools as works of art and literally would hold art exhibitions displaying his collection of tools.

I took so many pictures that I'll post over the next few days.
I was afraid that our family field trip was going to be selfish in nature but it turned out to be beneficial and fun for all of us.

On the same ground as the tool museum are other museums and buildings, such as The Mining and Gem museum. Connecticut was the birthplace of America's mining Industry. From the 1630's to modern times , iron, along with copper, tungsten, granite and brownstone were mined.

On the same ground is the Connecticut Antique Machinery Museum. The collection consist of 100 year old railroad equipment, gigantic combustion engines and stationary steam engines, and agriculture steam and gasoline tractors and other machinery.

It turned out to be a great day for all of us. My son ( with the help of the museum volunteer ) did a little gem mining and came away with a large piece of phrenite. Very cool'
My wife, who is a jeweler, admired the room full of gems.
And I got to drool over the fantastic collection of tools.

If you have an appreciation for the hand made and early american life then this trip is for you. After visiting the museum make sure to drive six miles further down the road to the quaint, yet hip town of Kent, CT. There are great places to eat, shop, and peruse.

As always - Thanks for following
Be safe and be creative
Best
Steve