The Barn on White Run

About 35 years ago as our girls were getting tall enough to use the bathroom sink and help Mama in the kitchen we used large, unwieldy folding stools for them to accomplish the tasks.  I decided to use some scrap birch plywood and made a foot-high two-step stool for each of them, Older Daughter, Younger Daughter, and Mrs. Barn.  They were simple and sturdy, painted with some leftovers from unknown projects; black, red, baby blue.  They were stout enough that all three of them are still in service today after three decades of service.

A couple years ago I made a similar one for L’il T, painted in what were at the time his favorite colors with a little pizzazz.

Last week I finished the stool for his little brother, ‘Dozer.  (L’il T is long and lean, ‘Dozer is not, and not.  A nose tackle in the making.)  We weren’t sure what his favorite colors were, are, or will be so I left it to my own discretion.

In a year I’ll be making one for grandson #3, and the same for grandson #4 the year after.  These are so simple that they are not really even “woodworking,” but they are treasures that will likely last several lifetimes.

Building precious memories and robust traditions, one stepstool at a time.

Or as the distinguished Congresswoman from home state of Minnesota might say. “What Winter Hath Wrought, Eleven.”

Once things finally melted off from this past Snowzilla, I discovered another severe after-effect.

The stone foundation walls leading to the underground root cellar were pretty much wrecked by the ice-rain-sleet-rain deep freeze in late January.  After more than a hundred years of being in place the base rocks were literally pushed out of place by the block of ice accumulating behind it.  Yikes.

I’m hoping my brother is feeling strong as I plan to excavate and reinstall several hundred pounds of rock wall during his scheduled fall visit.  It can’t be all firewood fun and games.

One of Mrs. Barn’s favorite things is the annual visit from “Eddie the Spoon Guy” at the craft market during our local celebration of all things pertaining to maple syrup.  She stocks up on a multitude of wooden spoons, spatulas and similar items to use and to give as gifts throughout the year.  This year Eddie had some teensy spoons that she thought would be perfect as gifts for each of the grandsons.

Once she had them home she asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have their names carved into the handles?”  What could I say, other than, “Of course.”

Sorry, just can’t seem to get this image to load horizontally.

Givin the diminutive size of the workpieces my first task was to find a good work holding system, something that would hold these itty bitty pieces solidly yet allow me to have access to the surfaces to be worked.  Fortunately, I have a jeweler’s bench top rotating vise with movable jaws, allowing a close fit for the round a tapered handles.  To maximize the grip and eliminate the risk of damage I used abrasive pads to cushion the jaws.  That solution worked perfectly, padding the wood yet gabbing the spoons hard and steady.

Then the question was, “What do I use for the incising?”  Using a chip carving knife was not within my ken as the pieces were like carving names on a round pencil.  In other words, beyond my confident skill set.  I thought about using one of my engraving burins or a tiny chasing tool, but practice with them was not encouraging.  Looking through my box of carving tools I came across a 1mm veiner from a project I cannot even remember now.  That was just the ticket.

The end result was great.  I won’t show that as I strive to protect my loved ones from the netbots.

In my never-ending quest to organize and reorganize the barn, I often find myself in a Christmas moment; “Wow, I forgot that I had this!” or more likely, “Oh, so that’s where I put this.”  Four floors of tools, books, and supplies to sort will do that to you.

I recently had an instance that was and was not one of these times.  I found myself relocating a chair frame I commissioned Philippe Lafargue to make for me probably more than three decades ago.  It served for so many years as my reading and writing chair at S.I. and for some time at the barn.

Being a classically trained chairmaker at Ecole Boulle this project was like falling off a log for Philippe since virtually all of his fabrication work was curvy fancy French chairs.  This severe boxy form was no challenge for him.

He was there long before the beginning of the Roubo Project, he translated the Table of Contents for me around 1987 when he was a post-graduate Fellow with me in the Furniture Conservation Studio.  That ToC burned brightly for me, and when Michele Pagan and I started the project for real more than a decade later we knew that Philippe had to be part of it.  Philippe was a classically trained 18th Century Ecole Boulle craftsman, where he completed the full four-year curriculum, simultaneously conversant in 18th craft technique and lexicon, a native Francophone and fully conversant in vernacular and academic English.

For the years of the project until his untimely death a few months ago (somewhat unnerving to us since his fatal illness was the same one that took Mel Wachowiak from me a decade earlier) his contribution was a vital connection to reality.

I am now diligently searching for someone to take up his portfolio.  If you know anyone who fits the job description above, let me know.  Really, let me know.

This was the last time Philippe and I were together in person, at the premier of the Deluxe version of Roubo on Marquetry during the 2013 Woodworking in America shindig.  He eventually wound up back in France, fleeing his domestic life here in the States.

About once a month I get together with a small group of local friends primarily to talk about living in the hinterboonies and all the topics adjacent to homesteading.  Lately the topic of communication has been prominent as we’ve been talking about using small walkie-talkie type tools to keep in touch in the event of the phone or power systems going down (not a crazy paranoia out here where one or the other goes out occasionally).  Last week I talked about my six decades of experience listening.  In that arena I’ve found listening to AM and shortwave to be useful and entertaining.  Here is what I talked about, in part.  I figured there had to be one or two of you interested in this topic.  If I’m wrong?  The sun will still come up tomorrow morning.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If there are regional power/internet outages -– we have experienced week-long outages in both Maryland and here in Virginia, and getting news was nearly impossible – alternatives for knowing what is going on are useful.  I have found that AM and Shortwave radio listening are really useful for that task.  Most stereo systems have dreadful AM receivers and are not useful tools for AM listening.  Instead I have tried out dozens of units over the decades and hands-down the best performance/best value are the portable radios based on the GE SupeRadio platform.  Obviously GE started the platform as a consumer product but many, many other companies followed suit, either borrowing, licensing, or stealing the design and technology.  I’ve seen many new models on the marketplace that look similar but have not tried them out.  I would suggest looking ebay to find a gently used one or even occasionally a new-old-stock version, prices ranging from $15-75.  I bought mine for about $20 back in the mezozoic era.  They are still so cheap and available I honestly would not bother with anything else.

These models have good long internal AM ferrite rod antennae, and analog tuning.

A critical additional accessory is an inductive antenna, a/k/a an external tunable loop AM antenna.  These devices are set adjacent to the radio, usually perpendicular to the unit, and increase the sensitivity by up to a hundred-fold by adjusting the potential of the copper wire loop with a rheostat, “tuning” the antenna to the station on the radio.  They operate much like a magnifying glass for visible light, but only in the much longer RF electromagnetic frequencies.  Just as a magnifying glass amplifies and focuses light, the tunable loop antenna focuses radio waves onto the internal antenna of the radio.

The loop antenna I showed was one of several I bought from Radio Shack 40-50 years ago for about $20 IIRC.  I have not seen another one like it for at least 30 years.  The only loop antennas I know still on the market are made by Grundig and certainly would work just fine.  I’ve never looked to see how available they are.  The Grundig tunable loop antenna is based on an earlier design called the Terk , a version of which is currently on the Walmart site for $45.  The Cadillac of tunable loop antennas is called the Select-A-Tenna, of which I have two.  I have not seen one of these since forever.  Mine cost about $80 each new, and I still find them from time to time on ebay.

I cannot overemphasize the necessity for these inductive tunable loop antennas.  They can make a pocket transistor radio pull in stations from unbelievable distances.  Even at dusk during our meeting I was able to use my $20 radio and $20 antenna to easily pull in signals from St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.  In the middle of the night you can occasionally get stations from Canada all the way to South America.

This is an inexpensive and high-performance way to get information from a great distance away.  The utility of that should be self evident.

The other radio platform I used was a shortwave receiver-only unit.  This is where some real money can be spent.  My experience has shown that the best quality/value brands are Sony, Sangean, and Grundig.  They are not cheap, the one I showed you was probably $300 in 1980.  I cannot remember if I brought my Sony 2002 or 7600 model.  The Sangean 909 I showed you was bought at Radio Shack for about $200 way back then.  A long lost treasure was my Sony 2010 monster portable multiband radio.  Its motherboard got fried way back when.  (CME?  Hmmmm.)  A $750 radio down the hole.  It had digital tuning and I could even pick up signals from the eastern slope of the Rockies with that baby combined with a loop antenna.

Both the Sony and Sangean portable multiband radios I’ve normally used were digital tuners, many times programmable with station memories.

Very good deals on portable shortwave radios, usually referred to as “portable multiband radio” are available at ebay.  I just saw one identical to my Sony 2002 (but in black rather than silver) for about $25 over there.  I see a lot of similar-looking radios on the Walmart website but usually do not recognize the maker.  If you know what to look for high-quality vintage radios are out there in great quantities, hundreds on ebay right now.

As with standard AM radios, an antenna accessory is critical to the performance of a portable shortwave.  You gotta, gotta, gotta have a wire reel or spool antenna that can be used in concert with the retractable FM antenna on the unit.  I recall mine being about $7 from Radio Shack.  CCrane radio has them for about $15, Amazon has a Sangean model for about $30.

Fix the wire antenna fitting to the extension antenna on the radio, then get the wire as high as you can while running as much as you can horizontally.

And don’t forget batteries.  I buy lots of them, they last for a decade or two in cool, dry storage conditions.  Rechargeable batteries are also an excellent option, I’ve found the Energizer brand to be excellent.  You can get 110v plug in chargers but you should also have some off-grid charging capacity.

… here’s a place to scratch it.

My friend JimM alerted me to this recent listing on ebay, for those of you with a hankerin’ to own a Studley-era piano maker’s workbench with two wheel vises.

It’s remarkably similar to the one I own.  Someday I will restore mine fully and pass it down to the next generation.

I’ll see your Roubo Plate 331 folding book stand and raise you about 1000%.  Gotta see it to believe it.

Here it is.

We’re now in the middle of asparagus season.  Yummmmm.

That is all.

PS  My favorite asparagus treat” freshly picked asparagus, steamed and still hot, laid over a spread of Gulden’s mustard on a piece of still-warm sourdough bread toast, topped with a slice of muenster cheese melted over the asparagus.

Recently L’il T participated in one of the greatest American traditions and rites of passage; he started t-ball.  Thanks to diligent practice with his loving dad (boy, did we luck out in the son-in-law department!) L’il T hits the ball practically every time.

We saw is first ever t-ball game last weekend and it was immensely entertaining.  Describing it as “herding hogs on ice” would be accurate.

They’re starting them younger now, these tykes were 3 and 4.  My brother and I remember playing t-ball at 7 and 8.  I was an enthusiastic and pretty good player until late adolescence when my vision started going south.  When your eyes can’t pick up the ball coming from the pitcher your baseballing days are over.

Last week I finally wrapped up processing all the windfall I’d harvested several weeks ago.  The bounty was impressive, the cribs are three rows deep.  The pile on the ground near the splitter are all the wonky pieces I will use next winter in the barn wood stove.  The haul *should” get us through next winter when combined with the leftover wood still in the cabin firewood crib, but the harvesting and processing will continue through the summer and fall.  When you heat with firewood, you can never have too much.

“What is truth?” asked Pilate.

Jesus of Nazareth died, proving he was truly a man.

Jesus the Christ walked out of the tomb like a boss, proving he was truly God.

There you go, Pilate.

Truth.

I’ll be one of the presenters at next month’s 2026 edition of Plane Wellness.  If you are in the region of Butler PA May 16-17 and have the inclination, we would love to have you join us.  I learned about the organization from a class student a couple years ago and wholeheartedly agree with their mission statement, Improving Mental Wellness Through Woodworking.  And who could not use a little extra dose of mental wellness these days?

My presentation will include (of course) the finishing process and the beauties of polissoiring.

The list of presenters is impressive and include a lot of voices I do not know, so I am especially looking forward to being challenged, informed, and encouraged.

I hope to see you there.

I am finding that in my 70s I am working just as hard and almost as long as ever but only manage to get about half as much done as I used to.  After moving a pickup load of mulch for Mrs. Barn this morning, I popped up to continue building the firewood inventory for next winter and beyond.  Currently I am working my way through the pile of approximately 300-pound cherry bolts, which must be handled with great care as I am not even remotely interested in experiencing a broken leg.

I roll them to the bottom of the ramp then cautiously navigate the way up until it plunks down to the bed of the splitter with a WHAM!  I thought about raising the splitter upright but decided that wouldn’t really work any better.  I quarter the bolts then move three of those aside (I can handle those at about 75 pounds’ apiece), splitting the remaining quarter into nine full sized pieces of firewood, then repeat the process for the other three.

Once I get done with the last of these it will be time to head back up into the woods to begin processing more windfall.  I’m pretty sure we’ve got next winter covered (quite a bit left from this recent brutal winter), but you can never have too much firewood when you live in the mountains and it is your main heat source.

Not especially romantic or blog worthy, but it is a central theme for this time of year.  Along with hauling mulch, of course.  I’ll resume again in the fall when my brother returns for a visit.

Reflecting on the bountiful tools I saw last weekend at the PATINA tool shindig I was reminded of a tool my friend Justin showed me when he visited a few months ago.  Fashioned entirely out of a whale bone, it is spectacular.

I had a great time at the PATINA toolapalooza on Saturday, connecting with many friends and acquaintances, and communing with hundreds of thousands of tools.  Every year I can spend up to a dozen minutes shopping for clothes and such, but I could spend dozens of hours browsing and shopping here.

There are two parts of the event, and I always start at the tailgating outside in the parking lot.  That’s often where the real deals are found.

My big score for the day was a full NOS sleeve of vintage 220-grit 3M Tri-M-ite sandpaper.  My experience is that this is getting harder to find, but one fellow had several tables of sandpaper-ish inventory, most of which I did not need.  But the Tri-M-ite was priced nicely so I bought the whole pack.

I was only tempted a little by a smaller patternmaker’s vise that was missing a lot of parts.  It was only $60 but I let someone else go home with it.

But if vises were what you wanted, there were plenty.

Inside was packed with both people and tools.  Bins and shelves of tools.

The only other things I bought for myself were a file handle for $3, a Lufkin 10-foot tape measure for $2, and an extension carpenter’s rule for $8.  I did buy a number of good tools for the grandsons, small back saws, eggbeater drills, and chisels for a future date, etc.

Very much looking forward to next year.

I’m involved in a couple more tool events this year; stay tuned.

This coming weekend is the PATINA tool swap near Frederick Marlyand.  You can get the details here.  If you are anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic it is well worth the effort to get there.  Yes, there are scores of tables with thousands of premium vintage tools, but for me the real treasures are out in the tailgating tool swap.

I’ll be there Saturday morning on the hunt for tools appropriate to little boys.  Can you believe Lil’T is four years old?  And his brothers and cousin are stair stepping right behind him.  I’ve got plenty of tools a-waitin’ for them, but not nearly enough.

Anyway, it you see me there and recognize me come up and say “Hi.”  If you see me but do not recognize me, well, don’t.

A few days, ago my longtime friend retired broadcaster Brian Wilson and I had another of our long-form chats, commenting about the state of the world.  He posts these and other musings on his Substack account, Brian Wilson Writes.  Feel free to indulge (or punish) yourself as our conversations are definitely no-holds-barred, not for the easily offended.

NB – Pictures from last summer

With a break in the brutal winter weather I got myself up into the woods to chop up that grove of black birch trees that came down last winter.  The amount of firewood from this one incident of windfall is about what we should need next winter, but even when done here I’ll keep at it.  It’s fun and good exercise.

The work site was quite the mess so I spent most of the first day just clearing brush, then got to work chopping my way up the trunks.  I got two good truck loads of 6-8″ 16-inch bolts with the occasional 10-12″ piece, but those were almost outside my lifting ability.   I followed those two loads with two more today.

Once I get to the biggest section of this tree, about 20 feet from the root ball, the pieces will be 20-inches in diameter or more.  Those will be so heavy I will have to roll them to the tailgate and up the ramp into the truck.  If past experience is any indicator each one of the biggest sections will yield 32 pieces of firewood that are manageable in size.

Another couple days and another couple truckloads and I will be done with harvesting from this site.  Then on to splitting and stacking.  I’ll use a system new to me I’m adapting from Mike Wilson, whose yootoob channel is one of my favorites.  Previously I just spent way too much time stacking carefully to make everything “just so,” crisscrossing each layer for good stability and air flow.  This new system should cut my time by at least half with even better air flow.

Then on to harvesting some more windfall elsewhere on the homestead.

Good thing my little 4WD S10 is strong and nimble.  It may be dissolving before my eyes and maybe not reliable for long trips anymore but I’ll keep it until it runs no more

Now about a month out from our weather episode that brought three inches of snow, three inches of sleet, a half inch of rain, and another two inches of snow, we are starting to see some ground again.

These two picture were taken from the same spot, just turned 180-degrees.  South facing slope?  Grass!  North facing slope?  Glacier.

Tomorrow – harvesting firewood Day 1

Every winter brings about some damage to the waterline for the hydroelectric turbine, a/k/a the penstock.  Usually this is because a tree branch has fallen on some of the 1100′ of 2-inch Schedule 40 PVC, which is cheap but gets really brittle when cold.  I knew from the very beginning that replacing some of the PVC every Spring would be an issue but just accepted it as the cost of doing business. Last year was great, I had to replace and patch only two little sections.  2015 was the worst as I had to replace 600-feet of pipe.

Except for the last thirty feet all of the penstock is above ground.  I did originally get an estimate to burying the entire penstock well below the frost line, but the >$75k+ price tag was a bit much.  My hydroelectric system is more of a hobby than anything else, at least until the EMP or CME or some other grid-down calamity, so that wasn’t in the cards.

A shredded section of the penstock just before the ice storm.

This damage was peculiar because it was a compound spiral fracture which is only supposed to happen as a result of water freezing in the pipe and bursting it.  Since I drained the system in November this damage was a head-scratcher.  I am not looking forward to surveying the entire length of pipe once the snow and ice are gone.

I am now rethinking the penstock altogether.  Rather than sticking with PVC I am going to check into industrial irrigation polypropylene line which is continuous and much more forgiving to the forces that bust the PVC.  Since a pressurized/enclosed water line can run down to about -15 degrees maybe I could even keep it running year-round.

Stay tuned.