Reid's BRK

BRK 21

good morning



wait....why is it dark?

oh yeah......

daylight savings........

i went to bed an hour earlier than usual (so at the same time). and i got 8.5 hours of sleep. i still feel tired though. can we all agree that interrupting our circadian rhythm twice per year is the worst thing ever?

and with most individuals in the US agreeing that its a major inconvenience, why are we still doing it?

next time im going to attempt to gradually shift my sleep schedule over the preceding week to the time change.

anyways, this morning i am sharpening hatchets.



there are 17 of them, so im sure it will keep me busy.

and in the afternoon, Stephen and I went to take down a live tree for the sawmill. diameter at the base, including bark: 21 inches. aka large. use of the timber tool was helpful. 4 chainsaw batteries later, we had cut through the tree twice.



delimbing the tree presented an opportunity to test the newly sharpened hatchets. i am pleased with their sharpness.

my chainsaw sharpening? definitely needs improvement.

after work, enjoying this beet juice kombucha courtesy of Grey. im guessing by now it has some bonus ethanol content.



to all my fellow humans struggling with daylight savings, we will get through this together. and we can only hope, that one beautiful day in the future, that its existence may be cancelled. the end.

BRK #22

hello

this morning Wesley and i did some library paneling. after we ran out of panels, there was a chance to work on sign making.

this is my second sign, and ive learned many things from the first. this sign will be displayed by the kitchen sink.



i had my piece of wood, so today i cut it to size and added a fancy bevel. i used a cracked piece of wood, which ended up in an uneven bevel. i think it adds a nice character to it.

after that prep, i got to burning. its about 94% done, but im not gonna share a picture until its up!

in the afternoon, we cut up the tree from yesterday.



our chainsaw skills leveled up today. 0 pinched saws in this log.

Wesley is probably contemplating the impending artifical intelligence takeover of GPT4.



towards the end of work, cold feet and tired minds, we managed to get 2 cars stuck in the snow, with no shovels. with above freezing weather, the slush and mud proves to be worse than the ice. note to self: always bring shovels to the lab.

aaaanyways, that is all. have a good day Permaculturies!

BRK #23

roundwood furniture day. in my opinion the most epic half ass holiday yet.

the first thing i did was develop a set of instructions to ensure everything goes smoothly this afternoon.



the plan divides everyone into 3 groups, and we convene for the assembly.

i added this finishing touch, so everyone understands this is serious business we are dealing with.




after making these plans, Wesley and I worked on library paneling....its complex. between cutouts, limitations of lumber lengths, variation in stud distance. we are racking our brains trying to make this work. and little by little, it comes together.


in the afternoon, we got started. tasks included debarking wood, creating round tenons and drilling round mortise holes. 0 chairs were completed today. but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

working with roundwood presents its own challenges, sometimes throwing all the math out the window. but i believe we will end with an extremely satisfying result.

here is a peek at some of our materials.




aand lumberjack breakfast for dinner was everything i could have asked for. eggs, bacon, pancakes. tops off an exciting day.

all of the problem solving, physical exertion, and discussion that goes into a big project like this can be taxing. but definitely worth it.

have a great day Permaculturers!

BRK #24

last night i started some kombucha batches.



if you cant read the flavors in the image, ive got:
cherry vanilla
strawberry ginger
nectarine tulsi


im periodically opening the tops to prevent too much pressure buildup. a 24 hour test on the strawberry batch is promising.


this afternoon Wesley and i scouted basecamp for seed ball planting locations.



spring is really coming up soon. i had a chance to smell some of the native soil, and soak up the suns radiant heat.

while we are up there Wesley also managed to dig up 4 pennies.

this evening Stephen gifted me a sick multitool.



now im off to repatch the knee of my pants, because the patch i did is falling off. of course.

that is all. thanks for tuning in

BRK #25

today was eventful. in the morning, we tried to take advantage of below freezing weather to haul some big logs over to the sawmill. unfortunately, the tractor had different plans.

while we were there, a woodpecker was at work on the stump we had created. here is what it left behind



this was the first time id seen a woodpecker at Wheaton Labs, so i was excited. i could also hear the call of chickadees. surely these are signs of spring being around the corner. but why is it still so cold around here though ? -_-

sooo later in the day i finished up and hung my sign



burning wood precisely is difficult, so that is as good as its going to get. i am satisfied with it.


and for the rest of the day we worked on the chairs. the first chair came to fruition.





i think it is beautiful. the main problem with the chair is that it doesnt fit under the kitchen table. so modifications are being made.

this was due to my miscalculation. i set up the measurements for everything, and in general i failed to account for the diameter of the wood adding to the dimension. its a nice chair, but overall too big to suit its purpose as a kitchen chair.

the second chair will be modified accordingly and i am guessing we will get a better result.

however, we wont really know the outcome until the chairs dry completely to an equilibrium of moisture exchange. until then, they may warp or fall apart. only time will tell.

that is all. have a great weekend Permies

One trick to shortening chairs, or getting all four legs to sit evenly on the floor, is as follows..

Set it on a flat surface.  If wobbling, hold it or weight it down in the way you want it to sit.  Using a spacer of a desired thickness, mark around each leg.  So with a 1" spacer you'd mark 1" off the flat surface and then be cutting 1" off each leg.  Or a bit less off the short leg if there is one.

Good luck!

Reid organized the teams well. The basic measurements were all good in what was produced (just needed a bit of that second dimension added to the calculations). Execution of mortise and tenon drilling was not quite as spot on, with spontaneous angles showing up uninvited. A little ratchet strap 'correction', along with a quick chiropractic-ish maneuver, made the frame square up better than a computer scientist in a hot air balloon. With all four legs resting perfect on the ground and the seat slab fitting nice, this made a sweet throne fit for a Proenneke castle. Unfortunately the spatial demands of a community table in a double-wide are such that the edges of the construction need that bit of redaction...

Mike Haasl wrote:One trick to shortening chairs, or getting all four legs to sit evenly on the floor, is as follows..

Set it on a flat surface.  If wobbling, hold it or weight it down in the way you want it to sit.  Using a spacer of a desired thickness, mark around each leg.  So with a 1" spacer you'd mark 1" off the flat surface and then be cutting 1" off each leg.  Or a bit less off the short leg if there is one.

Good luck!

thank you Mike!

BRK #26

today. was a good one. definitely the warmest weather i have seen at Wheaton Labs. i started the day off with some stretching and spoon carving.

these are my first spoons, and i am thoroughly enjoying the process.

admittedly, i did use power tools to jumpstart things (shoutout to bandsaw and angle grinder).



that is all for carving. im going to let them dry for a few days, then sand them to perfection.

i was inspired by the assymetrical aspect of one of the spoons we have in the kitchen.


warm weather today meant going on a run and cat playtime. trash panda is quite the hunter.



(they are playing four square if you cant tell)

50°F is perfect for running. with the sun beaming and no wind, my own body heat was plenty to keep warm.


also, cracked some firewood today with serious sap deposits. cant wait to burn this stuff!



looks like honey

BRK #27


good morning



i started the day off at the cleaning blitz.



for me, that meant cracking some firewood, drinking tulsi tea, and taking out the compost.


for the rest of the day i mostly piddled around.... eating.....try to read a book....walking around basecamp..... feeding scoby hotel (they were hungry)



i am sorry you had to see that.

some research today on making hard kombucha persuaded me to save that endeavor for another time. i think ill benefit from some experience in normal kombucha making.



for those of you that saw my post about the cubby dividers (see BRK 13), i will soon be dividing the upper cubbies too.

its the same process, with bigger cubbies.

not only does this create more cubbies, but it prevents objects falling from a great height when a cubby is stuffed just a little too full.

so i cut up 27 pieces of wood until there were 35 pieces of wood of very specific lengths and shapes (all rectangular prisms), and then i decided that should be enough for this project.


all in all, projects going well. kraut-chi is tangy. pants are repaired. spoons are drying. water bottle is (75%) full. and i am lying in bed. sounds like a successful weekend at Wheaton Labs. so that is all.

have a fantastic week out there Permies!