Author: Daniel

Lots going on, per usual. Today we start in the workshop at the lathe. The second-to-last bit of installation is shown here, a dust scoop. I have no delusions of being able to catch the dust from the lathe as it flies everywhere. What’s the next best thing? Letting the dust hit the floor, then … Continue reading Lathe, Logs, Birds, and a Basket (among other things)

The very last idea for getting a wire out to the solar array for the outdoor wifi mesh device was to use the existing wires in the conduit to pull the fish tape through (by pulling the wires out), then tie the network cable to the bundle of wires and pull it all back through, … Continue reading Network Nonsense, Birds and Bees

They say of a rainy day, “it’s nice out… if you’re a duck”, but as far as I can tell, these ducks had no interest in waddling about when we were having heavy rains recently. That said, my little drainage channel (a/k/a frog habitat & nursery) seems to have attracted a pair of Mallards. Usually, … Continue reading Water, Water, Bees, and Trees

Third in the title but first in the story: the assembly table. This is the second to last (not counting the tidy/finishing room, which it a nice-to-have but not a prerequisite for using the workshop effectively) step on the workshop readiness journey. What is it? Simply a big table with melamine laminate top (resists glue, … Continue reading Freight, Fright, Table, & Tenacity

One of my major goals for the winter is to get the workshop fully operational. I’m getting close! The tool island needed a dust shroud for the chop saw – which needed a fitting for the dust hose – which of course meant it was time to spend a few minutes with CAD and my … Continue reading Workshop Progress

About a month ago, I showed you this rendering of a tool island I meant to build. I built it. Or, rather, I’ve built much of it. The tool dock shelves are pending, as is the dust collection shroud. But it is coming along nicely. Already it is helping make space in the workshop and … Continue reading Island, Saw, Fish, and Flue

While there’s a lot to be really concerned about regarding climate change, one thing that is handy about it is that unstable weather patterns also means sometimes it’s 50F in January here in the northeast. A week ago it was near zero. I took the opportunity to build the new flue supports and snow break … Continue reading Flue Fixing and a Snow Puppy

You might guess from this post’s title, along with the general notion that flues shouldn’t fly once they’re installed, that things didn’t end well with that snow-glacier on the workshop roof. If you guessed that, you’d be right. While I was not able to actually inspect the system except from ground level (it’s not safe … Continue reading Flying Flue, Frozen Floor Flow, Chocolate Cove

It’s back to the workshop to continue the long, slow task of framing and dressing the walls. Almost done! Here we are were we left off last time, in the back hall by what will become the Tidy Room. What’s missing here? Well, the upper course of framing is incomplete here (the hallway) and behind … Continue reading Last Walls, an Island, and Snoverhangs

Remember the heavier wire installed in the junction box by the solar array? Of course you do. Time to do the inside part of that, which happens in here: It’s only kinda crowded in those two wiring boxes, but definitely crowded enough to make this job harder than it would have been had I installed … Continue reading Electric Upgrade, A Door, and a Wall