!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

Every time I see examples of the rock and gravel at Wheaton Labs I just get jealous. All that beautiful, angular shattered material that interlocks and knits together when it's put in place. I'm on what used to be the riverbed and everything here is rounded. It's good hard rock, but it packs about as effectively as ball bearings :-(

B.E.L. Post # 136

Slept in a bit this morning… one of those slower starts that felt needed. Rolled out of bed, fed the cats, grabbed some breakfast, then took the dog out for a short walk to get moving. Nothing fancy—just easing into the day.

After that, Melissa and I took one of the work rigs—Toots—into town to fuel her up, then headed over to the lab to make sure the cats there were taken care of too. A couple small but important missions before diving into the main project.

Then it was straight to work.

Today’s focus: building shelving for the solarium using some scrap wood from the sawmill score a week or two back. Always feels good giving those pieces a second life. I measured everything out to 30” lengths and got clean cuts with the miter saw—nice and straightforward start.

Then came the “figure it out” part.

I wanted to remove the rounded edges so the shelves would sit flush against the future support pieces (which will also be roundwood). Took it over to the table saw, but the piece was just a bit too wide to get the full cut I needed.

Time to improvise.

I secured the piece in place by driving screws into the workbench on either side of it (not into the wood itself), keeping everything from shifting while I carefully ran the chainsaw through to finish the cut. It did the job—but left behind some rough ridges. Nothing a planer couldn’t fix. Ran it through and cleaned it up smooth again.

Before finishing, I went over all the live edges and corners with the orbital sander—softening everything down so there are no sharp edges. Gave it a much nicer feel in the hands and a cleaner look overall.

After that, I coated the shelving with raw linseed oil—always satisfying watching the grain come alive and knowing it’s protected.

Next step will be building the support pieces… and here’s the fun part:
no metal fasteners, no glue.

Everything will be joinery-based—from the supports, to attaching them to the shelves, to mounting the whole unit in its final spot. Keeping it simple, strong, and true to form.

One of those days where things didn’t go exactly as planned—but still came together through a bit of creativity and persistence. Honestly… those are usually the best ones.

Phil Stevens wrote:Every time I see examples of the rock and gravel at Wheaton Labs I just get jealous. All that beautiful, angular shattered material that interlocks and knits together when it's put in place. I'm on what used to be the riverbed and everything here is rounded. It's good hard rock, but it packs about as effectively as ball bearings

I feel this in my soul 😄 Rounded river rock really does act like it’s got somewhere better to be—just rolling around instead of settling in like a team player.

You’ve definitely got the durability going for you, though… it just takes a little more convincing to get it to behave. I’ve heard of folks sneaking in some fines or even a touch of clay to help everything lock together, or just working it in thinner layers so it knits up a bit better.

But yeah… I’d be a little jealous too. That angular Wheaton stuff looks like it practically high-fives itself into place, while yours is out there playing bumper cars.

Those are some nice finished boards!  Another option for next time is to peel the bark off (yes it might not be the barky aesthetic...) and then you can run the rounded board thru the planer to work your way down to the desired thickness.  That's probably a bit safer than running them thru the table saw.

Another bark-on option is to use the table saw to get a decent ways through them from both sides and then finish the cut on the band saw with the flat side against the saw's fence.  Or do the whole job on the band saw.

B.E.L. Post # 137

Today had a nice rhythm to it—one of those days where a little bit of everything finds its place.

After the morning blitz, I said farewell to the wwoofer as he set off on his next adventure. Always a bittersweet moment, but sometimes that’s the nature of this place—folks come, share some sweat and stories, and move on down the road. May the force of the sunchoke be with him 🌻

Not long after, I got to enjoy some seriously delicious meatloaf that Samantha made—hit the spot just right and gave me the fuel for the rest of the day.

Melissa and I then made a run up to the Abbey to move more of her things up there. Bit by bit, it’s all coming together. There’s something satisfying about helping shift life uphill, one load at a time.

Back at it later, I put more time into the shelving project I’ve been working on. Started shaping the brackets using some roughly 3" diameter dry wood. Cut three pieces down to about 8" lengths (keeping it aligned with the three shelves), then ran them through the bandsaw to split them in half. After that, I trimmed the rounded sides flat to create a better contact surface for the additional pieces I’ll be fitting in later. It’s starting to take shape in a way that feels both sturdy and a little bit artful—just how I like it.

Wrapped up the day on a slower note—journaling, writing a few letters, and just kicking back with my dog. A good balance of building, moving, creating, and being still.

All in all, a solid day.