Olio

That's a word that often appears in my crossword puzzles. It means a miscellaneous collection of things. (It's also a spicy stew from Spain, but that's a different blog...)

It's been a while since I've posted, so here's some olio for you.

Das Book

I guess the most exciting thing to me is that the novel I've been working on is finished and available on Amazon, paperback and Kindle versions.  It's an adventure story, so if you're adventurous, it's only three bucks.

 

The Shop

Not much has happened in the shop department since my last post.  Been trying to fatten up the building budget (good luck at Christmas time) and doing other things. I did manage to make myself a little drawing desk with clips to keep the drawings from flying all over the place when I blow sawdust off of things.

Arizona

In October I had a little trip to Arizona. Quick visit with my old pard Randy, a mini vacation in Sedona with Cousin Karen, and a working visit to Brother Fred's to install some pull-out shelves in their kitchen.

Old pal Randy

In Sedona with Cousin Karen

Sedona

New pull-outs at Fred and Gayle's house

The Van

Another project has been helping my buddy Brian convert his new Sprinter van into a mini motor home.  He's been here twice so far, about a week each time, and we're making progress, but he's gonna have to visit me a few more times for sure.

While Brian worked on the complicated wiring and installed a cute little diesel-powered heater, I worked on insulating the floor.

 

Then we built him a bed platform and a box for his four "house batteries."

A couple of cupboards and a bit more olio, and he had to get back to his life (which included some skiing in Mammoth in addition to his "pay the bills" job.) Stay tuned!

Firewood Season

There's a dead oak tree with four trunks that will heat my home this winter. 
The branch wood is ready to burn.

The woodshed used to have an open back but the roof overhang wasn't keeping
out the rain so today I put a back on it.

The big pieces will pile up here until all the trees are down, and then I'll rent or borrow a splitter.

Generator Blues

The old generator developed some heartburn this year, so I jacked it up
to work on it without breaking my back 

Those batteries need to be charged even when the sun doesn't shine, so good neighbor Bob
graciously lent me his spare until I could get mine fixed.

When you live alone and need to lift heavy things, it's nice to have some mechanical muscle.

That's olio for now!

Toward a More Perfect Woodshop

If you know me, you know that my woodshop is my pride and joy. A little building dedicated to woodworking has been a dream of mine as long as I have been making sawdust.

This has been a working shop since before the Sábado house was finished, and in fact even before the shop had a roof, because I needed to get the kitchen cabinets built while the contractors were still here to install the plumbing.

Work was going on in here with only a tarp to keep out the rain.

Kitchen and bathroom cabinets came first.

Other than my big old workbench, everything in the shop was temporary, thrown together in a hurry so I could get to work.  There was no insulation or sheetrock, and initially even the doors were pieces of plywood.

Imagine working in this mess!

Well now most of the house furniture is done.  I have posted previously about the colonnade, the Craftsman bookcase, the hall tree, etc. and it's time to give a little love to the woodshop.

As always, the project started with drawings done in Adobe Illustrator.

North Wall (Same wall as above photo)

South Wall

West Wall

Old buddy Bruce came down from Washington to help with Phases 1 and 2, which were to set up a temporary shelter to store stuff so we'd have room to work, and then to insulate and sheetrock three of the walls.  The fourth wall will have to wait until I finish making the first batch of shop furniture.

Temporary home for a lot of crap, much of which will

probably end up getting thrown out. 

Some texture and paint, and it's time to get started building things.

There goes this month's Social Security check!

First order of business is an extension for the table saw. This piece does triple duty, since it also hides the saw's dust collector, and serves as a router table for two, count 'em two routers.

Next came the cutoff saw bench, which is also my primary toolbox.

I finished this piece and the table saw extension in teak oil with no stain, but everything else will get stained, making this bench kind of the 'accent.' 

The goal is to get everything possible in a drawer or behind a door because of sawdust.  This cabinet alone has 18 drawers plus two pull-out 'breadboards' to support long boards.

By the time I finish, I will have made 40 drawers.

There's no way an old guy like me is gonna remember what's in 40 drawers, so I made some home-made pulls with label holders on them.

The next project was a seven-foot workbench with more doors and drawers. This will be a tinkering bench, where I can work on small things, even non-wood stuff. The doors hide a shop vacuum and a paint sprayer blower.  Both of these have 20-foot hoses that I can haul out as needed, then just stuff back into the hole in the cabinet.

The black spot is the vacuum hose, and to the left is the blower hose.  Switches for both are in the middle.

Today, I just finished the first of two tall cabinets.  This one is for storing lumber, and the top is hinged in case I want to store boards that are too tall.

That's were we stand as of late September, 2019.  It's a slow process, but what's time to a retired guy?

Stay tuned!

LeMay Car Museum

After the Boat show, Bruce took me to another great display of craftsmanship, this time with cars.

That's custom-fitted luggage in the front, since the engine is in the back.

Bruce, the Man, the Myth, the Legend.

Bruce had one like this before we went in the Navy

I had one of these during a short-lived midlife crisis...

I had one just like this while in the Navy.  Four inches of ground clearance in Rhode Island in winter. 
(I was young...)

Sure was fun though...

It's called a "Bugeye Sprite." Can't imagine why.

The "Real" original Mini

Exit through the gift shop...