I hope you had a chance to check out the sky the last couple of nights, in particular the conjunction of Jupiter and Earth’s moon. Just spectacular.
I didn’t get any photos of that, but I did grab images of golden morning light as it crept down the ridges and across the valley yesterday.
It’s my favorite time of day here on The Mountain. I’m really gonna miss these long views when they’re gone a few months from now.
With the promise a warm and peaceful Friday ahead, I decided to get into a small woodcraft project. First, I needed to fell a small, live hardwood. I could choose from oak, elm, hickory, ash and others, but I ended up taking a leaning honey locust.
I stripped it of its thorny branches, shortened it from 15 feet to ten, then sawed a five-foot length from that.
I settled at the picnic table and, using a drawknife, I began peeling the bark. The objective was to expose the sapwood so the piece would dry thoroughly.
Peeling is a calming ritual I always enjoy. It’s easiest when the wood is green.
Once this honey locust’s bark and cambium were off, it was sopping wet to the touch.
Eventually, I’ll fashion this length into a stout walking stick, but it has to dry first, and that may take a year or more. I put it up in the cabin’s rafters and moved on to the project I really wanted to tackle yesterday.
I pulled out the small chunk of black locust I’d set aside the other day and peeled off its bark with the drawknife. It was different than the honey locust, not as damp but just as easy.
The end grain already showed signs of checking, so I cut back both ends to expose a fresh surface. (They’d get a coat of beeswax later.)
Then it was back to the remaining length of honey locust. I chose and cut an 18-inch section, as straight and knot-free as there was. At the smaller end, I employed a “Scotch eye” tool to reduce the diameter to exactly one inch.
I ended up using only one power tool yesterday. The auger-style drill bit opposite the Scotch eye didn’t have the reach I needed, so I broke out an electric drill and a one-inch spade bit to punch through the black locust.
After sawing a three-inch-deep kerf in the reduced end of the honey locust stick, I drove it into the hole in the block of black locust. I made sure it was seated securely, then hammered in a wedge fashioned from dry red oak.
And with that, it was done — another hardwood mallet, this a little more conventional than the last one I made.
Since this mallet basically is two pieces of green wood joined together by friction, I expect it to loosen-up as the wood dries and shrinks. That’ll be simple enough to address when the time comes.
I’m no craftsman. Both of these projects have turned out pretty crude — I’m not trying to impress anybody here. I have a lot to learn, and I know I won’t learn anything if I do nothing.
I had a great time investing a few hours in this project. More to come, I think.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable