No, I’m not expecting, and definitely not hoping for, a Kangaroo Bird or even a Thoober to take up housekeeping in this delightful birdhouse. It was just a bit of Springtime fun, and just in time for Easter too!

Blending both woodworking and woodturning with a bit of funky color resulted in this whimsical, and what my wife calls, ‘Seuss Hoose’. It measures almost 40 inches from the finial to the bottom of the base with a maximum diameter of about 13 inches. It features two levels of housing with two ‘apartments’ on each level.

This is something that has been on my ToDo list for the past couple of years. There was a Spruce tree just to the side of our patio that the top came off of and I always thought that it would make a great pole for a birdhouse. Last year I made the Easter Basket Plant Pot Bowl so I wanted to make something for this Easter, to keep up the tradition. It seemed to be fitting to make a birdhouse.

Here’s a photo of how it looks atop the 12 foot tree/pole:

Continue reading 'This House Is For The Birds!'

Here’s a cutting board that I just recently finished. It is made of Maple and Cherry and is approximately 10″ long X 7″ wide and 1″ thick.

It is finished with a liberal coating of mineral oil to protect it. Of course, regular applications will be required for maintenance. The edges were rounded, giving it a completely different, and a much preferred, look than a previous Maple and Cherry Cutting Board that I did.

Cutting boards are something that I do on an ongoing basis. I seldom stop to specifically make one. I tend to throw appropriate sized pieces of scrap in an area on one of my benches and once they collect into enough pieces they move to the next step, which in this case would be to be cut to size. Then each step, like the gluing, planing, finishing, etc., that is to follow is done piecemeal, at the end of a day or when I’m stumped with another project, or just need a break from another project. Over time they are completed, like this one. As with books, I usually have several boards in various stages on the go at any one time.

Here are a couple of more photos of this one:

Continue reading 'Maple And Cherry Cutting Board'

I mentioned in the previous post that I used the chainsaw quite extensively following Hurricane Juan and that I am still cleaning up remnants of it’s arrival so I thought that I would shed a little light on that. I know that it’s not really ‘woodworking’ but cleaning up the devastation left in it’s wake was definitely working with wood!

At 12:10 a.m. ADT, Monday September 29, 2003, Hurricane Juan made landfall in Nova Scotia as one of most powerful and damaging hurricanes to ever affect Canada. It hit us broadside as a Category 2 hurricane with winds near 160 km/h. It claimed 8 lives in Atlantic Canada and was the first hurricane since 1893 to bring these types of winds to the city of Halifax.

The winds came in from the South and luckily there is a small hill on that side of our home. We figure that it hit there and bounced over the house since the trees on both ends were blown down. There was also a small area sort of behind our place that there was some loss. Other than losing the back window of our son’s car and a wooden swing we fared out pretty well. Only one tree, the one that smashed the swing, came within 3 feet of our home.

I estimate that we lost around 300 trees on our small piece of property. These were mostly spruce that ranged in diameters from 4″ to 12″ and in heights, or lengths in this case, of 40 to 50 feet with a few even longer. Spruce has little root depth and grew so close together that when one toppled it would bring down several others with it.

Continue reading 'The Lingering Effects Of Hurricane Juan'

You know, it’s just one of those things. You pick up a new tool and start using it. Oh sure, you read the manual, but only to read how to quickly get it started. There is no thought of proper use or concerns for safety. It’s a tool, it makes lots of noise. Let ‘er rip! That was then.

Now, after using a chainsaw for the past twenty-five years or so, I figured it was time to get some proper instruction on its use, maintenance and above all, safety. Although it’s not a tool that I use everyday, except for the months following Hurricane Juan’s arrival, I do use it quite frequently, especially in the spring and fall. There is always new downfall after the winter and yes, I’m still cleaning up Juan’s mess. Later is better than never and so far I’ve been pretty lucky and had all the gear so it was time.

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources recently held a Chainsaw Use and Safety Workshop that I was able attend. This was an all day event that included lecture, discussion, and both indoor and outdoor demonstrations.

The course followed the practices described in The Forest Professional, Guidelines for the Stewards of Tomorrow’s Forest, which, according to our instructor, is the ‘Bible’ for anyone working in forestry or with chainsaws. We received a hardcopy of this manual to take home for later perusal and review.

The instructor was professional forester and certified arborist, Patrick Allan. Patrick began working with chainsaws on his cousin’s woodlot at the young age of 14 wearing only sneakers, shorts, a t-shirt and a ball cap. After many close calls and seeing others get injured he began to focus on safety and proper felling techniques. This, in addition to becoming a professional pulp and trail cutter, led him to becoming an instructor in chainsaw and safety courses in 1985. He was once Bowater’s primary trainer.

Continue reading 'At The NSDNR Chainsaw Safety Course'