Creekers Weekend Accomplishments....

[Dennis Peacock]

9 Jun 2008
Good Morning!

Well, the summer heat has arrived as well as the humidity. One of my window A/C units went out last September and that leaves me with one A/C unit for my shop. Needless to say that that will not be enough to get the 110ºF + temperatures down in my shop to be able to work in it. That's one problem I have with a metal building for a shop....it's like an over (even with insualtion). I'm trying to get me sleep schedule shifted a bit so I can get in the shop "early" in the morning and work while it is cooler, but my day job seems to keep me late in the evenings most nights on the days I work.

I've been playing bass at our church almost every Sunday since we moved to our new building. I'll have to get some pictures and post a few one day.

The other commitment is with the family on our "family garden". It's doing really nicely. All the radishes are done now, onions are coming in and banana pepper is getting picked.

I sold my 18 year old son my 2002 Sentra because he needed a car (that I didn't have to keep fixing) and I bought a cheaper mode of transportation. I bought a 2007 Honda Shadow VT750 Sprirt (shaft drive). Really nice bike and yes, I have all the necessary safety gear and will be taking the motorcycle safety course this coming Saturday. This is bike #18 for me as I've been riding motorcycle since I was 6 years old and my 1st bike was a Honda MiniTrail 50. I stopped riding when I was leaving the military, then I got married. Now, 27 years later? I getting back on a bike, but I need training for highway riding as most of my riding before was dirt.

So what did YOU do this weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Joe Cunningham]

I finished the case on a shop cabinet I am building. All hand-cut dovetails, with hand-sawn stock (squared on the shooting board). Next up, prep'ing the shiplapped and beaded back boards.

I am hoping to use all hand tools for this project, we'll see how it goes.

[alex grams]

I didn't get enough done it seems..

I did manage to insulate about 2/3 of the attic above my garage (western facing garage and a roof above it that cooks the attic. That dang near killed me in heavy coveralls/gloves/mask at 10 in the morning (which was still killer hot). Lots of moving stuff around in the attic to get the insulation in.

Did some finishing on the bookshelf for the wife to go with her desk i recently completed. Hopefully will finish that this week.

Cleaned out lowe's again of 24" Bessey K body clamps with their price match to the Woodcraft sale.

Hopefully the insulation will help some, because that remaining 1/3 uninsulated has lots of boxes on it and wood down to use the area as storage, and I would HATE to have to move that stuff around and insulate there. Time will tell, but i figured something is better than nothing. I suspect maybe I could buy the loose insulation and stuff it under those boards without having to tear them out and moving everything around.

Played with the new omnijig some, but didn't have the chance to do any test cuts on it, it seems a very powerful and versatile tool, but equally as complicated.

[Matt Meiser]

We went on our first camping trip of the season in northeast Indiana. We were supposed to leave as soon as LOML got home from work, but the storms that pounded central Indiana looked like they were headed towards where we were going so we held off a few hours. We managed to sneak around the top of them as they came across Ohio and got to the campground to find they barely got rain. Had a good relaxing weekend, then came home and promptly got hit by another storm that has had our and 140,000 other customers' power our for the last 16 hours and counting. I'm running on the generator so that I don't have to take a vacation day.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Completed my 2nd hanging wall cabinet for the shop. Got it hung on the wall using french cleats. Primed both wall cabinets. Did a little yard work.

[Jim Becker]

I'm happy to report that the A/C in the addition works admirably! LOL

I had the YMCA run for karate this week on Saturday and the girls also chose to swim afterward. I did get the lawn mowed prior to that and then did some necessary landscaping maintenance once we got home...hot, sweaty, energy-sapping work in the heat and humidity. Needless to say, not much got done for the rest of the day, although I did start to do a little shop cleaning to stay out of the sun after a rejuvinating shower. Sunday, I did some more necessary yard work in the morning and then stayed indoors for the rest of the day...cleaning the shop (still not done...) and painting some trim work in the house. We watched some of the Planet Earth series on BluRay Sunday night after dinner while enjoying some home-made strawberry ice cream.

[J. Z. Guest]

Hey Dennis, congratulations on the new bike. I'm betting you'll get 50 mpg with that bike. (if it has a windshield)

I have a Yamaha FJR1300 and a Suzuki Burgman 400 myself, and am enjoying the (relatively) low re-fueling costs. The FJR gets 42-47 mpg, and the Burgman gets 55-67 mpg.

The trickiest thing for getting back on a bike, especially one that is bigger than the one you had years ago is the low speed handling. Most states' tests are centered around low speed maneuvers. Ditto with proper braking technique.

As for my weekend accomplishments, I did a bunch of work on the adirondack loveseat on Saturday (sweat like a pig) and went to a family B-day party for my grandma and brother. Mom roped me into planting a tree and hanging a blind before I left, hehehe.

[Steven Wilson]

Well, I got the bending forms made for a couple of fishing nets. I also jointed, planed, ripped, and prepared some 1/8" and 1/4" strips of Ash and Walnut to use for the hoops on the fishing nets I'm making. Since the bandsaw was out and about I also slabbed up some birch from a small tree I cut down (too close to the house) a couple of weeks ago and carved a couple of spoons out of one of the blanks.

[Art Mulder]

No ww'ing for me this past weekend. Partly just busy with life, partly just didn't feel like it. Even with our AC going, I think the heat put all of us into "kick back" mode... :cool:

On Saturday... No wait, on Thursday morning, at 35km into a 40km bike ride (ie: 1:45 into a 2hr ride) I had a blowout that literally tore a hole in my bike rim. I guess it was a bit worn out after 2 years of riding.
90502

So there was no biking either this weekend, as the bike is in the shop getting new rims+spokes+tune-up. Of course, with these crazy heat, wind, and thunderstorms, I'm not exactly disappointed about that! :rolleyes:

Saturday was a birthday party for #2 son, and I got lucky... ahem, I graciously agreed to take the two youngest out for 3 hours to give the birthday boy+friends some room for their party. :D

Sunday was another hot one and I took 3 of the kids to a Splash pad in the afternoon to cool off. And then in the evening watched a crazy downpour race through. Though it seems we got off easy, when I read about the other places in the midwest.

Maybe I'll get back in the shop this week. Got a dresser on the go, and some cutting boards needing a finishing touch.
...art