Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

31 May 2016

Good Morning Everyone,
It's been raining here again and my yard looks like it need a good hay bailing.

None the less, I send out my thanks and gratitude to all those who "gave all" in the service to our country on this Memorial Day Weekend.

Been working a lot for the day job and trying to get stuff ready for the first grand-baby, who is due in just 6 weeks. Excited we are but we also have a lot to get done before we can rest better.

I'm still working on the chair rebuild project and I hope to make some better progress on it this week. I started oncall duty today so we will choose to hope for the best of this week.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this Memorial Day Weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Jim Becker]

Aside from mowing the grass on Friday night, pretty much all of Saturday was dedicated to landscaping work...I've been in a process of cleaning things up, restructuring some areas and "mulching" with stone for lower maintenance over time. While the stone costs twice as much as mulch, it doesn't rot and doesn't catch on fire if I want to use a flame-weeder. But moving tons of stone still is work, even with the the "big orange power tool' (Kubota tractor) doing most of the heavy lifting because a shovel is still required to get the "mulch" into many areas from the bucket. Once I get this work done, I can get back into the shop for projects that are on "my list". At any rate, this is an example...a few more bee-friendly perennials after weeding and then the stone.



Sunday, I did a little more of this in the morning before we went to a friend's house for a "meet the new grandson" event. Monday, I did a little work in the shop on some things for Professor Dr. SWMBO's beekeeping activities, but wasn't feeling well (medication reaction) and transitioned to spending many hours reading a good book.

[Rod Sheridan]

I moved all the ash that was drying outside into the shop.

My procrastinating on this task meant I was doing it on the 30C day instead of the 17C days of a few weeks ago, live and learn..........Rod.

[Mike Ontko]

Looks good, Jim! My dad always said it's a good thing to have trade skills that you can fall back on in times of need

I'm about a third of the way into my twin-over-full bunk bed build, having spent the majority of the three-day weekend doing the M&T joinery for all of the main supporting members. I'm making better progress than my usual snail's pace, and so far everything is going well, without any major snags or misscuts. I can't ask for much more than that. When it's finished, I will have routed, drilled, and chiseled my way through 94 M&Ts.

[Robby Tacheny]

I dismantled my old lumber rack in my shop and made one based on Jay Bates Conduit Lumber Rack. Wood and EMT conduit was just under $50. I also salvaged some from my other lumber rack. I am adding cutoff bins on the sides and a mitersaw station too.

Over the years I rarely pile more than 4-6 inches of lumber on a shelf, so this design lets me space shelves closer together to get more wood in less space.

Robby

[Shawn Pixley]

I spent Saturday fixing my work computer. It crashed in the middle of an OS upgrade and wouldn't properly restart. It got fixed without losing any work or data. Sunday was spent fishing - chasing the elusive yellowtail around the islands. No luck on the yellowtail but it certainly tested my stamina. Yesterday, I helped LOML with some casting. I then smoked a tri tip for dinner. Low key but delicious.

[Jay Larson]

The tasks were many and varied.

Recovering from the shock of a bid to put in grass on the lot... $19k 1.5 acres, plus $7k for a retaining wall.
Searching for a riding lawn mower.
Entertaining family on Saturday night. We had to move into the garage during and after the cool thunderstorm.
Wash the motorcycles.
Put a new battery in the Jeep, and then go for the first ride since pulling it out of storage since last July. And subsequently blowing out a brake line. Got it back without issue.
Finish up my 'mini' Nicholson work bench for in the garage area. I call it mini because I used 2x4s for the legs and 2x8s for the skirts. Even so, it is stout.

[Garth Almgren]

It was a busy weekend for me. Built a new gate out of western red cedar fence boards and treated 2x4s to replace one that is rotting out, and the new one is on the largeish side at 6' tall and 64" wide. My wife then drew out a pattern that was inspired by something she saw on Pinterest, and together we took turns jigsawing her design. Sunday involved running several errands and a little bit of yard cleanup, and then yesterday I put a coat of spar urethane on the gate, which really brought out the red in the western red cedar nicely.
I then had an idea about adding some color behind some of the cutouts, so my wife spray painted some scraps that I had cut to fit on the backside, and I attached them using brads (in case I ever want to pry them off and repaint). When you look through the gate, the grass behind it will be the green leaves. Turned out pretty nice, I think.
IMG_3452.jpg
(Sun was setting so it's a little hard to see all the detail)
Now I just need to remove the old gate, hang the new one, and install the latch hardware.

I also broke ground on my office shed project by literally breaking ground and digging up some sod, but I was getting tired by then and only got about 36 of the 196 square feet done. Dirt is heavy!

[Mike Heidrick]

100 sheets of plywood (32X48) sprayed white (airless sprayers are sooo awesome) and 50 sheets made into slats late last week. Also more insulation and 2X6s installed Sunday above 8' in the SE corner of the shed. Also ran a 16ga 4 conductor control cable for start stop 24V stations for RPC at each outlet - had couple more stations to run it too. Also mowed the property and filled in sink holes out back. Today I delivered 16 Plyometric Jump boxes to a customer an hour away - new crossfit gym ordered them. I need to go back to work to rest!

[Earl McLain]

I went to a car race in a little town in Central Indiana. One of my truck mates took a picture of his TV screen while watching the replay last night. The guy bent down picking up a piece of debris (with back side to the camera)--that would be me. After 4 straight weekends at the track (and a full time job in between)--i'll be home next weekend.

I did have Wednesday afternoon free so i spent a few hours at the Rockler and Woodcraft stores down there--never got to do that before. It's 3 hours from home, and on the wrong side of town no matter why i am in Indy. Picked up some nice sapele and mahogany off-cuts for cheap--short but over 4/4 thick so they'll resaw nice for continuous grain boxes!!
earl

[Lou Ortiz]

I spent

- Saturday hunting down enough cherry to build a bed i've been contemplating for my daughter (10/4-16/4 seems tough to find right now);
- Sunday building jigs and laying out the legs;
- Monday I cut them out, shaped them, cut the mortises and sanded them to 320 (planning an oil and wax finish).

The bed i'm working on is in this style -- http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/103444/sleigh-bed

Really like Shackleton's work and really appreciate that he shares so much.