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Mar 22
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Easy, Tamper-Proof Compost Bin Plans

By Gardening
Compost Bin Plans

Rodent and dog-proof compost bin… for under $40

We’ve all got our shortcomings. Our compost bin situation has been severely lacking for… a few years, I’ll say. How embarrassing.  Let’s just say we were kinda lacking on the “bin” end of things for a while… until now. These great compost bin plans we came up with eliminate dogs and rodents from getting into our pile, allowing us to create soil fertility without the headache of critters messing things up! All it took was a roll of hardware cloth, and a bag of zip ties. I’m so pleased to have a functional compost bin that I just had to share this here. The whole thing costs under $40.

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Mar 16
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The Year of Mud Back in Full Swing

By Uncategorized
bugs

Yikes…

At least once a year, I spend several stressful hours troubleshooting a new website problem, at times hopelessly, and finally, at the brink of despair, a solution rises up like a phoenix that instantly alleviates the technical bug. Well, that is what just happened.

For the last month, any posts and updates to pages I have made to The Year of Mud were not publicly viewable… but all of that is ironed out now. You may see a few “new” posts here since February, and additionally, the 2013 Timber Frame Workshop details are fully viewable!

Thanks for your patience! You can imagine I’d much rather be outside building than scouring troubleshooting forums for answers all night, but it’s all important and worth it in the end.

More updates as they come. Spring is here!

Mar 06
Love0

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear

Ambrose Redmoon Quote
Mar 04
Love0

Timber Frame Joinery: How to Make a Mortise By Hand

By Hand Tools, Strawtron, Timber Framing
Millers Falls Boring Machine

How to make a mortise with hand tools: boring machine and chisel

You can’t have a tenon without a mortise. They go together like peas and carrots. (Or insert your favorite “go together” cliche here.) Uh, anyway, I described how to cut a tenon by hand in a previous post, and in this article, I’ll describe the process for making a mortise in a timber by hand. A mortise is basically a slot for a tenon, which is later pegged to secure the joinery. It’s simple and timeless.

Mortises are arguably more difficult to make by hand than tenons. I’ll describe how to do it with a boring machine and chisel.

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Mar 02
Love0

Exciting Announcement Coming Soon

By Uncategorized

Timber

We’ve got an exciting announcement to make in the coming week. I’m holding out for now, but I can say that it you’re itching to get your natural building on later this summer, you’re going to enjoy the news we have to share.

Here are a couple clues, though. It’s an event that you can participate in, it involves creating wood chips, and… well, maybe you should just wait a few more days.

2013 is shaping up to be a big year!

(Photo credit: GrungeTextures via photopin cc)

Feb 26
Love0

AUTINE: Bladesmith John Neeman’s New Tool Company

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing
Autine Hand Forged Tools

John Neeman’s new wares

If you haven’t heard the scoop already, master bladesmith John Neeman of Neeman Tools, whose dazzling photos and videos of deliciously hand forged woodworking tools have whipped up a lot of excitement over the past year, has now branched away from his namesake company and is heading AUTINE, a new family company dedicated to creating stunning, and absolutely top quality axes, knives, chisels, and more.

It is unclear how the split between John Neeman and Neeman Tools has occurred, and it’s certainly confusing that his name is still the brand for the company that he has detached from, but regardless, we lucky tool fetishists now have two incredible sources for excellent hand forged tools.

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Feb 22
Love0

Hans Karlsson Makes Some Fine Tools

By Hand Tools, Woodworking
Hans Karlsson adze

Hans Karlsson 5cm adze for bowl carving

I like learning about new tool makers, and Hans Karlsson is a Swedish blacksmith whose high quality, hand-forged carving and woodworking tools are ones I’ve been recently taken with. I picked up a small carving adze and heavy duty bent gouge for bowl making, and the excellent quality is distinct from the get-go.

Here’s some information on Hans Karlsson and his tools that I have been able to glean. If you’re interested in bowl and spoon carving, or any kind of hand tool woodworking, take note!

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Feb 19
Love0

Restoring an Old Millers Falls Boring Machine / I ❤ Craigslist

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing
Millers Falls Boring Machine - Replacement Base

The partly restored Millers Falls machine with brand new base

First of all, I love craigslist. I actually don’t use it that often in my daily life (it’s less useful when you live in the country), but we’ve made a few real scores in some lucky searching stints. While in TN, I happened to do a Millers Falls boring machine search, and I found one… for $160, and it wasn’t terribly far away. The only downside is that it needed some work, namely a new base and one or two small parts replaced.

Considering these suckers can go for $400-$900, I’d say it was worth it. And they just don’t make any equivalent (hand-powered) versions of these things anymore, so I felt obligated to pick this one up, tune it up, and preserve it. (And use it, too, no doubt.)

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Feb 17
Love0

The Best Shaving Horse Plans

By Hand Tools, Woodworking
Shaving Horse

The “Smarthead” shaving horse design

During our time at Greg Pennington’s workshop here in Hendersonville, TN, I got spoiled using his awesome shaving horse, and knew that I would eventually have to make my own. Well, I had that opportunity over the past couple of weeks, and I based the design on Greg’s live edge seat, and Peter Galbert’s super sweet ‘Smarthead’ plans. This is the best shaving horse, I do believe. The beauty of Galbert’s design is that the user can adjust the size of the working area by simply ratcheting the head, without fiddling with pins. It’s also super strong. And very comfortable, which is equally important. I love it.

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