Men's work

I've been a bit focused on "women's work" in my posts lately.  What I've been doing....  So today I thought I'd write about what the men in my life have been doing....

John's not as able has he was 7 years ago when we bought this wonderful place.  Joshua came to live with us last March.  It's been a Godsend having him here.  Really.  He's been so much help to us, it's amazing.

They've been doing a lot of projects together.  Most of it involves working with wood.

John and Josh in 2007

An old dresser out in the barn.

A custom made kitchen island for my bread making.

Here's one of the first projects we worked on together.  We turned this old dresser into our kitchen island.  I've talked about that in a previous post....  but I wanted to show the before and after.  This was done in 2007.

I love the way this island turned out.  It's just the right height for kneading bread.  I use it all the time.




And when I'm not baking bread, it's where we leave out the goodies to snack on.  Very handy.











But, back to the subject of this post...

The first step in making anything from wood is getting the tree down on the ground.  Firewood or lumber, the tree has to come down first.  Sometimes nature does that for us. 

Large hickory that came down on the garden.

Like this big tree that was out by the workshop.  One July day in 2009, it came down.  What a mess!  It damaged the roof of one small storage building and broke the railing of the fence.  But it didn't damage the garden or the house.  And that's a miracle!

Once the tree is down, it has to be cut into pieces.  It it's meant for lumber it's cut into 8 - 12 foot sections.  Firewood is cut into 18 inch sections (or smaller).  Then it has to dry. Most people have an idea of how to cut firewood.  Today, I want to focus on lumber making.   

Making lumber is a family affair.  We're usually all out there, having a good time.  I like to watch & keep them company.  But I don't get involved in actually cutting the lumber.

Brother Joe, John and Nephew Jareb.. with canine supervision.

We have a Hudson one-man saw mill.  John got this mill before we got together.  When we moved to Arkansas, we moved it with us.  He used this mill to make all the lumber he used for thresholds, shelving, windowsills, potato bins, drop spindles and a thousand other wooden items around our house.

Our living room in 2011.  Shelves are home made.  Loom was from commercial 2x4's.

A close up of the sawmill.  The Hudson Oscar 18".  It can handle logs 18 inches wide and 12 feet long.

Once the logs have dried for at least a year, they rolled over near the sawmill.  Using a cant hook, they're rolled up onto the tracks of the mill.  Then they are locked into place with the hooks and the bark is removed with the first pass.

Then the log is rolled 180 degrees.  Now each pass will result in a straight, even board.  This is important, because you want the boards to be of an even thickness to prevent warping as they dry.

The mill uses a long saw blade and is pushed by the operator to advance it through the log.

Nephew Jareb learning to use the sawmill.

Here's what the boards look like once they're off the sawmill.

The sawdust, chips and bark form a pile under and behind the sawmill.  We don't mind because nothing goes to waste.  Sawdust has a million uses.  Chips can go in the chicken cages as mulch under the birds feet.  Bark can be tinder for the fireplace or wood cookstove in the Summer kitchen.  The sawdust and chips can also go in the garden as mulch. 

Once the lumber has been cut, it has to be stacked to dry.  We stack lumber in the barn.

After the lumber is dry it can be made into so many different things, it's amazing.  One thing John likes to make is "whiz jiggers".  The technical name for them is Mayan spindles.  They're used for spinning yarn.  He made them from a variety of woods for a sale we did last spring.  I labeled each as to what wood was used, and wove the basket.

Whiz jiggers

John also likes to make drop spindles.  He made these in 2011 for our Hardy Homesteader's demo.

And he made the loom in this picture, (back in 2005) as a wedding present to me.  Its cherry.

Hardy Homesteaders 2011

He made the tripod in 2011, so I could use the loom at this demo.  It came out very well and I really love it.



Josh has been making some wooden spoons, forks, hair picks and lucets.  They've sold fairly well.  Here's some of his projects this past year.

Home made knife from an old pruner blade.

Wooden forks

Hair fork

Pistol grips

He used the old blade from a pair of pruners I had to make this cool knife.  The handle is plum, I believe.  He put polyurethane on the handle.









Each of these forks is from a different wood.  After each was shaped, it was sanded and finished with olive oil.






I use this hair pic all the time!  It's great.  Before I got my hair cut this past winter, I had almost waist length hair (all 1 length) which is very thick and curly.  It would hold my hair all day long without falling out.

He made a variety of these from different woods and in different styles.  They sold well.

And he fashioned new grips for his pistols.  They came out well.