Sunday, November 23, 2008

Project: Wood Cradle


I made this wood cradle to hold the firewood delivered two weeks ago. It came just in time for the first real snow. It holds about half a cord of wood and has good air circulation and keeps the marks left on the deck to a minimum. It's made out of pressure treated, weather resistant 2"X4"s and weather-resistant deck screws. It took me an afternoon to put together with a circular saw and some other basic tools. I stapled a water-proof tarp to the frame to complete it. I could have just stacked the wood on the deck, but it might have left marks on the deck. So I'm very pleased with my little construction project.

A Number 5B Jack Plane

But it gets worst--one of my projects right now is making some new cutting boards from some left over wood I found in the wood scrap pile in the basement. I made the initial cut with a handsaw, but I couldn't get enough material off with a sanding block to clean up the cut surface, so I bought a Jack Plane and used that. Figuring out how to use the Jack Plane took some experimenting, but it's a really satisfying tool to use. It makes nice little paper-thin rolls of wood. It was so nice that I actually took Betsy down into the workroom and she got to try it, too!

I'm such a nerd.

-t

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