The Load Out

Jackson Browne, in his song of the same name, had "roadies" to pack up after the concert, we have Marlys...and me.

Next week, we are taking off on the inaugural truck camper trip. Marlys started loading it up today and cleaning it up, since it has sat since last October.

She quickly found out that it has less storage space then our old travel trailer. She even had the audacity to ask about putting HER items in the basement storage spaces...of course I said no, but we will see how long I can stay with that answer.

I also had time to mark the camper for the laser back up alignment system, that I read about on the Truck Camper Forum.

The loading of the camper on the truck probably seems pretty straightforward, but in fact with all things that seem simple it is not.

The object is to center the camper in the trailer bed, so that the weight distribution is somewhat equal on both sides.

Jim, from whom we bought the camper, had a pretty good method using a string and a couple of reference points in the truck bed. I will not remove the string from the truck and camper until I have validated the laser method, which if it works removes the string and requires the driver to only look out of the drivers side mirror to make the docking possible. Kinda like the shuttle docking with the space station.

The laser is mounted on the truck bed rail and while backing I only need to keep the light on the two lines in the pic to the right.

We will see how well I do. Using Jim's method I did it on my first try, in a rain.

One of the other things we accomplished this week was the replacement of the awning on the camper. It had been previously damaged, so we ordered a new one from Carefree Colorado via the AwningDepot.com.

This was a task we approached with a little trepidation, since I had images of a big gust of wind catching the awning in mid-install and destroying it.

I went to a few sources for instructions, but actually ended up using those that came with the replacement awning, word for word. This is one of those tasks where you should read the instructions BEFORE you start rather then mid-stream, when something is going wrong.

It took us right around an hour to remove and re-install the awning. I used the part number on the original one when ordering so it is an exact replacement.

It worked our well, just remember if you attempt this that there is a spring wound up inside the awning tube that has a little power to it. SO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS on releasing the tension and re-applying it.

I also got around to installing the gate leg table in the camper. There was only one snafu...it was three inches too tall. After some surgery in the shop it fit real nice.

BTW, yesterday when these pictures were taken it was close to 60 degrees up here and I was wearing shorts.

...Today I just got done calling to get the Associations roads plowed as we have 5" of an expected 12" of snow already on the ground.

I get to plow our road starting in about an hour.

Ahhh, springtime in Colorado.

What's a "Little Nicky"?

What's a "little nicky"?

Adam Sandler and his movie came to mind, but this wasn't while watching TV or picking out a movie.

This was during a very vulnerable moment...while sitting getting my hair cut. Marlys was handling the duties and the RAZOR.

All I heard was "Oops, a little nicky".

Dreaded words.

Now I have the start of a Vanilla Ice chevron over my left ear.

At least I can be thankful it wasn't what Bill had to live through at the hands of his LOHL, Cathy.

Luckily hair grows back. Only not so much, or as fast in my case.

The Mystery of the Blue Bottle Solved...I Think.

Amanda and John left a mysterious comment on last week's "The First Day" post about the appropriate gift to bring to Leland at the Hermitage as "wine in a blue bottle".

Other then knowing of Leland, via a friend we have in common, we have never met, nor have I met Amanda or John, but all three are building/living in the San Luis Valley or south central Colorado.

So I was stumped what wine comes in a blue bottle...Blue Nun?

Leland has a blog/website call "The Hermitage" where he has covered the building of his off-grid home. If you haven't read it you should.

Anyway Amanda and John are acquaintances of Leland's and when I threatened to drop in on him last week the "Blue Bottle" mystery arose.

I have asked a number of people around here for help...as I am a beer drinker and I know of only two types of wine; red and white, or maybe its bottled or boxed, anyway I had no idea.

So I went to our common friend PP, who just like Amanda and John said any wine in a blue bottle.

I asked for an explanation.

Leland is building a blue glass bottle wall at the Hermitage and needs all of the building materials he can get.

So there you have it mystery solved.

Golden Mean-Ratio-Section and the Fibonacci Gauge

When I finished the bedroom side tables I noticed that something didn't quite seem right...the drawer pull didn't appear to be the right size for the drawer fronts. I experimented a bit by changing the size, but I kept thinking there had to be a better or more formal way to figure the sizes/proportions for different aspects of a piece of furniture.

Derek had mentioned on occasion when looking at a piece the use of the golden mean formula in sculpture in proportioning pointing to Da Vinci's use of it in his works .

So the search was on for how this formula was used in woodworking. At the time I had just added a blog to my Google Reader list called Design Matters by George Walker. Most of what George writes about in his blog and in Woodworking magazine is way over my head, but his practical method of using the golden mean seemed to led me to finding the tool ( yes there is a new tool involved ) to help in my building projects. My next big one being the dresser for the bedroom ( Read George's post on figuring drawer size).

All of this lead me to the Fibonacci Sequence. In reading about the Fibonacci Sequence I came across a gauge used in design along with golden mean rulers in proportioning called (dramatic pause) a Fibonacci Gauge. Now this could be purchased, but as I searched a number of interesting plans to build one came up. I printed out one of the simpler ones from goldennumber.net .

So I had a plan in hand, now it needed to be built.

As you may recall, I retired earlier this week and most of the time since then has been taken up with consolidating and moving items from the Denver crash pad to Pinon Rock, yesterday was the soonest I spent anytime in the shop, but the objective was to build a modified ski back Adirondack chair...this one would be more of a love seat.

As I sat contemplating what I would need to do to my current templates I was a bit befuddled in how to get started. So I decided I needed a warm up project to get in the right mind...the Fibonacci Gauge.

I used scrap luan plywood and pop rivets for the pivots.

To understand how to use it, I recommend watching this YouTube video.

It only took about 30 minutes to build, but it was a rewarding project, it put me in the right mind.

Which is good since I am left handed.

Gate Leg Table is ready to be installed.

We purchased our truck camper (Okanagan 117DBL) last October it has been sitting in the driveway waiting for its shakedown cruise, which since I retired on Monday will be coming up soon. Even though we haven't been using it, we have been thinking about it.

The need for a table to use while sitting on the sofa was one of the main objects that either needed to be purchased or built.

Being especially lazy, I went to eBay and was out bid for a new cherry folding table coming out of a Class A being retrofitted for wheelchair access.

So it looked like I would end up building it myself. I started a exhaustive (you bet) search and fold a plan on Popular Mechanics site for a Gate Leg Table.

After measuring the space that was available and knowing that I wanted it to be secured to the wall behind the buffet and at the end of the sofa with the slide in or out I adapted the plan. It is built out of Home Depot oak and finished to match the interior. It will go right under the window at the right rear of the camper.

It is pretty skinny so that the slide can close in front of it.

The gate leg will swing out to stabilize it, when in use.

We will be leaving for a month on the road starting later this month.

First Day

This is the first official day of retirement.

The Team at work had a real nice going away at a local Irish Pub on Friday evening, thank you everyone.

The next couple of days are about getting the crash pad in Parker closed down and everything consolidated up to PR. Wouldn't you know it would be kinda snowing today.

Gallery Wall in Shop & the Gate Leg Table

It has been a snowy weekend in the mountains, but that's to be expected during the winter in Colorado.

I have "had to" even plow twice...but it is more fun then work running the plow. Remember, I said this if I start to complain about plowing when we are up here full time.

Dusty the dog always gets a good run when plowing in that he tries to bit the plow blade. I am hoping that as he gets older he slows down and stops chasing it...although with more practice he may catch the plow some day.

Be careful what you wish for dog.

BTW, that little peak in the background above the barn roof is called Samson's ( the next one to the east is Delilah) and is ~9200' MSL.


Let me get to what I promised in the last post. Here are a couple of shots of the developing shop/gallery.

Derek seemed a little hesitant when I mentioned the shop as a storage facility for his sculptures once he moves them out of the studios when he graduates from Western.

He mentioned that they are being prices to sell, during his show the end of March.

The posters/pictures do add a little more character to the space...as if it needed it.

Wait until the phone booth/bathroom is put in this summer for some character.

On the top of the bench you can see the gate leg table starting to take shape. At that point I was dry fitting everything to make sure it worked.

Drilling the hole for the wood hinge and pin turned out to be less problematic then I actually thought, but fitting the swing out section took some finagling so that it cleared the apron the stationary portion is attached too.

Here it is glued up and with a first coat of stain/poly. I used the Minwax PolyShade product and as far as Oak is concerned I am sold on it.

For the second coat I wet sanded it after application, but before it set up. The surface is baby-behind smooth.

There will be at least one more coat before I am finished.

Setting the hinges into the bottom of the top surface showed off my lack of chisel technique. It took me a while but the hinge mortises are just right, and luckily when installed the chisel marks underneath will be hidden.

The edge also has had the same round over used on the folding join. Re-setting up the router to match the joint had me going through a few pieces of scrap to get it right. I did this on the plastic router table I picked up at Menard's a few years back for ~$25. It works like a $25 table too, but it was better then using the trim router and bearing.

Next weekend we are moving everything up to PR so there will be no fun time, but after that the projects will focus on getting the Truck Camper ready for the shakedown trip to Texas to visit Tom and Joy and Inks Lake State Park.

Wood Finishing Flow Chart

If you don't get this ezine, you should. One of today's items was a real treasure for me, since I am finishing challenged.

http://woodworkersjournal.com/Main/Articles/Skill_Builder_Finishing_Flow_Chart_5463.aspx

The sanding section alone was invaluable.

Thumbs Up on the Alston Shower Heads

I mentioned last Friday the installation of the Alston 1. 5 gallon lower flow water amplifying shower heads ( http://www.alsons.com/he-watersaving/showerheads/products/658.aspx ) that utilize pattern and droplet management, rather then air injection and we can now say that they work.

Water feels warmer due to larger drops, and the pattern makes you feel wetter (figure that one out), but now the flow rate has been reduced ~40%.

The Alston and Delta shower heads look identical, but Delta calls them H2O Kinetics.

Shop and/or Art Gallery

Due to the GPC (Great Pothole Controversy) during the Daytona 500 there was some time to fill Sunday afternoon. Not sure how long it would go on and not wanting to miss a second of what would become a 6+ hour race, I started through the closet under the stairs near the big screen.

In it was a pile of framed pictures, poster, etc. from days gone by, previous homes, artistic epochs....you get the drift.

Like piles of shoes these would not move unless they could be re-purposed or given to a charity for distribution in some third world local.

Somehow I could not picture a framed copy of the "1990 Olympic Festival" or vegtables soaking in a pot pretending its a hot tub, hanging in someones, home, hut, shack, shanty, abode etc., so the natural place would be the shop. Here everything literally flows down hill.

Luckily there was a wall with nothing on it (above eye level) screaming...actually mumbling for something.

Just like a "To Be Continued" episode on TV, you will have to wait till next week for the pictures.

As a teaser, let me just say it is very eclectic.

Daytona Delimma

Just got back from walk in a nuisance snow (more then flurries, but less then a light snow), and I am facing a dilemma, should I watch the Daytona 500 or continue working on the latest project in the shop? Now you may say these are not mutual exclusive, but in this shop they are, as there is no TV in it yet. We don't get broadcast TV up here so a satellite receiver and probably another dish will be needed.


Another project for the post-retirement life.


So, since this is the Superbowl of NASCAR, and since I got further along on the current project then planned yesterday, I am going to watch the 'Tona...at least for a while.

But let me tell you about the latest project. It is a table...again, but it is for the truck camper we got last fall. In the camper there is a wall with a mirror between the sofa and the dinette when the two slides are deployed. So this will need to fit the space and not get in the way when the slides come in. So what fits those requirements?


I found a few folding RV tables on eBay. One in fact was made out of solid cherry and when folded formed a cabinet. Alas, I was out bid, as normal when it is something I actually needed vs. just wanted.


So in searching the Internet found something called a gate leg table, So the search was on for some plans that could be used as a starting point and that is where I found this.


I mentioned that this was going into a camper so some adjustments were needed and that is what the chicken scratching is on the sheet.


This also lead to another project that is on the list, a Fibonacci gauge. I will let you google/wiki that one.


After the head scratching (different from chicken scratching), I came up with the overall dimensions of 26" tall, 18"/6" deep and 24" wide. When the wing is folded down the sofa slide should be able to pass the table, which will be attached to the wall under a window. With all of the interior pics of the camper I don,t have one of this area, but here is the area from the outside http://picasaweb.google.com/PTCaulfield/OkanaganTruckCamper117DBL#5396911027761780034 the table will go under the window between the two slide outs.


I need to pause for a minute here as we are coming up on the boogity, boogity, boogity moment, e.g. start of the race.


Ok, a clean start, so back to the blog. Which lasted right up until I started typing.


As you can tell from the dimensions, the top will not be round and in looking at how to do this I went to a source used on many of these projects Highland Woodworking's website and their tips page http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/free-woodworking-tips.aspx which gave me a formula on how to figure the table radius. I will bring the edge to the line using a belt sander.


This table top because of the ability to fold had an interesting technique between the fixed and folding wing in that one edge has a cove and the other a round over, that caused me some real fine tuning on the router table before I got them to match up. BTW the top is upside down.


Before closing up yesterday dry fitted the legs and aprons. What looks like a spare leg is actually the gate leg. I need to cut a wood hinge in the front secondary apron on which it will be attached.


The legs are tapered from 1 1/8" to 7/8" on the inside faces.

In order to do all of the table saw work I need to build a new zero clearance insert...because I dropped the current one on the floor and broke it. Here again I used a spare cherry drawer front in the cutoff pile.


This also brought back my wounding of the table saw top when I made the zero clearance face for the circular saw that was needed for cutting the office work surfaces. The carbide tipped saw blade cut right into the cast iron top. I filled the wound with epoxy.


I need to go back to the race.

After a Snow Shower

Waugh looked kind of interesting after a cold front induced snow shower went through at sunset.

Small Projects

Friday when we arrived I was able to get a few small projects done.


The first got rid of a blanket that we draped over a Doolittle print we have to keep the Sun from hitting it.





Last weekend the novel and revolutionary (to us) idea of hanging a roll up shade behind the glulam that could be pulled down when we aren't in resident (here).


The next project is one that those of you using wells and cisterns may appreciate. It was the installation of low flow shower heads. Now I have seen these before and had no interest in a dribble shower. Over the last few year fixture companies have experimented with ways t0 reduce flow without reducing the flow...how can that be you ask, well it has to do with "apparent" flow experiments. The two methods used currently are air injection, similar to the jets on a hot tub, but this tends to cool of the water. The other is pattern/droplet control. This is the way we went. Read up on the Delta H2O Kenetic's and Alston.






The last project had to do with door stops. I don't know if you have problems when the windows are open and the wind is blowing with doors slamming shut, but up here it is pretty regular. We have installed a number of these magnetic door stops around the house. The also have a cushioning spring built in. Initially I had to buy these at jobber hardware stored, but Lowe's now carries them.

I am retiring

February 28, 2010 will be my last day.

Now it is time to get to the growing list of things, e.g. projects, trips, beers, races, etc.

The Office Comes Together

I know, its been a few weeks since my last post. But in the last few episodes I have talked about the office build out using the excess cedar form the house build back in 2006. The 6x6 timbers say outside beside the shop for a number of years waiting for me to come up with a project for them.
The timbers were sawn into 5"x 1 1/4" pieces on the sawmill back in August and allowed to dry even more in the shop for the last 5-6 months.

Last mentioned here I was edge gluing them into 30" wide slabs and getting them ready for the install. Well I finally got a round to cutting them to fit the office.

I started by setting the height at 26" ( a compromise between Marlys and me, but well within the acceptable work surface height). I used a tool that has come out only a few times...the laser level which worked nicely in running a line around the room. Then I marked the studs using a finder in order to attach the wall brackets.

The rough lengths were pretty good in that they were long enough to allow me to fine tune, but short enough that I could get them into the office without marking the walls and ceiling too badly.

Once on the brackets I could check the angles and shave off (if you could call using a cir saw shaving) the excess. I used biscuits at the joints to make sure the heights aligned and pocket screws on the under side to draw them together. I tried to get the joints as tight as possible by putting a 5 degree back cut on the ends, but there is still enough room to slip a piece of paper into.

Next the surfaces were taken out into the garage for finishing, where we attempted to blow up the house by applying the BLO/tung/poly blend while using a propane open flame heater. This situation was frowned on by the local retired fireman (Bart). I think the fumes had me addled because once he brought it up it was kind of a duh to me.

They have turned out pretty nice. Now it is on to the shelving for the corner area, that and the printer will serve as a hard boundary between Marlys area and mine, since she is a noted sprawler.

The Shop that OSB Built - at least on the inside.

Last weekend I finished covering everything in the shop in OSB.

My pile of 100 sheets is now history. It does have a woodsee feel to it and the stereo (I should call it the sound system, but everything is from the 70's so its a stereo) sounds great, even to those of us who are hard of hearing.

The ten panels in the middle of the ceiling are lift out to allow access for storage.

The centrally located throne chair is for sitting and bouncing the ball off of the door for the dog or dogs as need be.

Sometime in the future it will be properly christened, but for now it is off to the next project, which will use the glue-ups on the bench and sawhorses.

Sometimes project demands that you have some skin in the game.

Sometimes projects seem to demand that an item very personal be donated to facilitate its completion.

This donation seems to lessen the wiser you are in undertaking the task.

During the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the thickness planner during the RV spice rack, and now the office work surface undertakings.

Although most of the learning was via hard knocks U, I still reverted to the owners manual when the "donations" started to get colorful (red).

Its amazing what you can find in the owners manual. It leads you to believe that the builders actually know something about which they sell.

I have been using the planner since the summer of 2006. Since that time a lot of wood has gone through it for the house, and now the various putterings, as Marlys would say. Having need to use it right away there never seemed to be time to really get acquainted with it (read the owners manual).

A while ago I sent a prototype sled carrier for thin pieces through that didn't work, but did manage to put a nick it the knives. That didn't stop me from using it though, I just needed to sand the ridge on the right side of every piece a little more.

Also the wood didn't feed consistently, causing moi to push and pull the boards most of the time.

So lets go through what I found out:

• First, if you clean and wax the planner surface the material feeds real nice. I already do this with the table saw and jointer, but brain farted on the planner.
• Second, read about the gadgets on the planner, if you want to use them effortlessly, in this case the thickness stop gauge for repetitive planning of boards to a set thickness. Never really used this since the number on the gauge never matched the actual thickness. Low and behold, when I looked at the instruction picture in the manual it showed that my had been put on upside down. I should of known, since to read it I had to be on the outfeed side of the planner. Took it off, turned it around and WOW, not only could I read it, but it also worked.
• Lastly, and the most costly, read about how to change the knives before attempting it. In this case I didn't. This planner is equipped with reversible knives, so I thought I could just open it up and turn them around. Heck, the Allen wrench needed to do it was in a holder on the planner.

So off I go removing the top and the knife guards, and yes I did unplug it first. Out came the Allen screws for the first of three knives. My first indication that maybe I was not getting the most out of the engineering put into the machine was the amount of time it took me to lift the knife and backer plate out of the holder. For a machine that seemed to be so well thought out it was less then elegant in how I needed to execute the maneuver.

Now things started to get ugly. After reversing and re-installing the knife, the holder needed to be rotated to get at the next one. Of course, I tried to do it by hand. It wouldn't turn. Next I got a piece of scrap and tried to push it, resulting in the donation of skin from three knuckles when it slipped.
My knuckles bleed like a head wound with blood dripping everywhere. Even the bandaids I put on were soon overwhelmed. So I went to the masking tape secured by mechanic gloves (apply pressure to the wound) solution, along with holding my hand over my head.

Since I couldn't continue until the dripping stopped, I though "what the hell" and took out the owners manual to see what it said about changing the blades.

Damn, I should have read it first, it only to validate the places I could screw it up.

First, the Allen wrench has two magnets in the handle to grab and lift the knife and plate from the holder.

Second the knife holder has a brake that engages when the cover is pulled so that the holder doesn't rotate while changing the knife. To go to the next knife the brake tab is depressed and it turns real easy, locking in place fore the next knife.

Damn I am ignorant sometimes.

After "doing it by the book" and reading the instruction "completely"(not just the part on how to turn it on), this machine is more of a pleasure to use then before.

Which is good because next into it went 95' of 5" wide Cedar boards to be reduced from 1 5/8" to 1 1/4" thick to build the home office work surfaces.

For those of you that helped with the sawing of these boards on the mill last summer, you would probably not believe they are from the same 6x6 posts that had been sitting outside beside the shop for three years, but it is amazing how they look now. I had to fill a few knots, but that was not a big deal.

I worked up a bit of a glow doing this last week which was OK, since it has been a little cool and windy of late in the high country. In fact having gotten sick of the breeze coming in around the sliding barn doors (ala New Yankee Workshop), I finally sat down late one afternoon and over an elixir of enlightenment (beer) figured out how to seal them up.

Luckily, there was still OSB available and I had the gasket material. It took me a whole day, but now the doors are insulated, have an OSB inner liner with a soft rubber seal at the edges that closes any gaps when the doors are drawn in by the wall latches.

This is good because the HVAC system (on the right) was being taxed, to its limit. I was even thinking of adding a second window fan. That is the refrig (portable Coleman electric cooler) on the left.

BTW, I got a sharpener for Christmas so now I can get the chisels and planes blades wickedly sharp...does anyone know of a good Kevlar glove?

One project down another almost given up on.

As you can see from this first picture this was a good weekend to be indoors, if it was not snowing there was a strong wind with which to contend.

This weekend saw the end of the bedroom tables project and the beginning of another... the spice rack for the camper.


All in all the tables turned our well. All of the wood came from tree cut here in 2005 (beetle kill).





The attempt to match the two pieces for each top turned out OK, but would have been better if a single piece had been resawed.





Marlys did the finishing over the weekend and it has 3 layers; the first was GF Original Seal-a-Cell, followed by 2 coats of GF Arm-R-Seal Urethane Topcoat. She steel wooled between all coats. 2 coats of lacquer were also added to the tops only.

While Marlys was doing the finishing, I got started on the spice rack to replace the one in the truck camper. The new one should allow for more spice and incorporate a paper towel holder.

Golden Oak is used through out the camper and in looking through the wood in the shop there was only Oak cabinet grade plywood. This was not going to work.

In digging around a bunch of cherry draw fronts removed from the bathroom cabinets during the build were collecting dust in the rafters (trusses really). These would become the next victims of the wood butcher.

It took be a while to re-mill the drawer fronts into 1/2" cherry stock, then I made wrong cut - repair, wrong cut-repair, until I stopped inflicting damage to the boards and built some OSB shelves for finishing stuff. I will start up on the spice rack again this weekend.

Hopefully the wood will be fully healed by then.

The Start of the Winter Furniture Season

It was cold and snowing most of the weekend, finally starting to clear after sunset (4PM) on Sunday.

Some of you may notice something is missing in this photo. I re-touched it to remove the platform bird feeder.

For those keeping score, the Stellar's went through 50#'s of feed between Saturday and Sunday. I believe that Bart (Family Feeds @ the Royal Gorge) has trained the flock to fly around and decimate bird feeders, so that they need to be reprovisioned... often...from Family Feeds.

Although I did have the John Koskinen Memorial (6 years) Sauna Bake Off on Sunday, which included a number of walks outside to cool down, most of the time was spent in the shop. I tried to snap a shot standing in the cold and steaming, but it was deemed unsuitable for viewing...by anyone.

Last weekend the legs and top pieces were cut for the bed side tables. This weekend the tables were actually built.

They are built entirely from beetle kill Ponderosa, harvested here at Pinon Rock, and milled on the band saw mill.

Since, Bill (the consultant) picked the "best" pieces to take back to Minnesota last summer, I have been forced to use the seconds.

Actually, I hide the best pieces so he wouldn't find and abscond with them.

The tops of the table have tapered edges to complement the tapered legs.

The drawers have the sides dovetailed in to the fronts and backs, and the pulls (not shown) are deer antler.

Although the "Molesworth" sideboard had drawers, these were a step up on the complexity scale, but they turned out good.

I used 3/4" cabinet grade ply for the sides and back of the drawers and it was not the best stuff when using a template and router, but my thinking was that it would be stable and reduce sticking when the humidity is high... say 20%.

Because of my past failures at staining, these tables will be left with a natural finish. General Finishes tung/poly/linseed combo will be applied by Marlys next weekend.

Three Years @ Pinon Rock

On Thanksgiving it was our 3 year anniversary of moving into the house.


I remember that first Thanksgiving in that we had everything needed for a COP, but the carpets would not be put in until the next day, so there was still and unfinished feel.

Now it seems like home. Even though there are still things/projects to be done.

There is even have time now to notice the things that change day to day, like these Elk tracks in the snow.