Woodsrunner's trail

I just made $35.00 an hour

2012-01-28T02:41:00.000-05:00

WOW! $35.00 an hour. Well kinda, sorta. Not long ago I aquired a early 1920's vintage S&W .32 Hand Ejector. The price was right, really right. This is my second .32 long chambered revolver I've owned. The first was a Colt Police Positive of similar vintage. These guns make perfect "kit guns". Better than a .22 rim fire in my opinion. When I aquired the Colt 10+ years ago it came with nearly 2000rds of assorted ammunition and a set of reloading dies. I never had a chance to use the dies until tonight. When I sold the Colt I kept the dies and about a quarter of the 32 long brass and 2 boxes of recent manufacture ammo. everything else was collector grade ammo and got sold at a very healthy profit.

Well having aquired another gun I went out and blew right through my 2 boxes of ammo. Tomorrow I'm going shooting with a friend. This friend and I have always had a competitive streak when it comes to guns. He pulls out a 1910 vintage S&W 38 with target sights and I pull out an early Colt 38 Officers model still in it's box. That kind of competitive streak. Well, I couldn't show up tomorrow without my newest toy, so I hit the local gun shop for ammo. Talk about sticker shock! $37.00 a box for ammo! Well My solution to that was "give me a pound of Red Dot and 200 primers". 7000 grains of powder in a pound and 2 grains of powder in a 32 long cartridge case. Red Dot is $26.00 a pound and primers $2.96 a hundred. Years ago somebody gave me a coffee can full of 90 grain cast SWC bullets. Pulled out my mics and they were pretty round and were right around .312" diameter. A dab of liquid alox and they were loadable as is. I just spent two hours loading 100 rounds on my coffee table. Pelenaka wouldn't have appreciated me clamping my powder measure to her glass table top, so I hand weighed all 100 charges. Otherwise it would have taken half as long. Still if I do my math right it works out to $1.85 a box. Or about $35.00 a box savings. That's less than $.04 a shot. I can't buy good .22's for that.

I gotta be careful. I could end up shooting more and that would blow any saving out the window.

What a horrible dillema to be in.

Woods

No school for me

2012-01-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

Bad news today. I qualify for school. Unfortunately I go to the bottom of an 18 month long waiting list. To get financial help as a dislocated worker I have to complete courses within 24 months of being laid off. The course is 16 months long. The math just doesn't work out.

I'm bummed out, but, far from defeated.

Woods

Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

2012-01-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

What's this Pelenaka said as she brought in the mail?

An envelope.. I replied.

PA Gunsmith School ? She said.

I just smiled and replied, Yup sent for it for giggles.

The veterans counselor at the job service mentioned he sent a guy there a few years ago. I was looking to attend school locally. While online doing school research I requested a catalog. Just out of curiosity. Telling myself all along that even though it's something I wanted to do all my life it wasn't realistic.

Well maybe not!

A couple mornings later my lovely wife rolls over in bed and says to me, "I really think you should look into it". "Into what?" "Gunsmith School."

So I did look into it. Next trip to the job service I ask. Two counselors verified the school is one that I can get grants from NY to attend. I have to apply and get approved first. Then apply for grants. Then the school is approved for federal grants and student aid. If I can get the cost down enough it's doable. There's not alot of extra cash around in this house, but, our lifestyle does leave some room for flexibility. While I love having a stay at home wife, she will return to work. It's only for a year and a half. The long term benefit is we can start a business. One that can be run from home in a rural area. I've already talked to several gunshop owners I know. Several don't do thier own smithing and send out thier work. I am closer than anybody they currently use. One shop is more smithing based than selling. He would like to retire and he is planning for that to happen in approx three years. At that time he would be willing to sell the business, shop and house. Or just the business and fixtures.

I'm hoping that "not realistic" just turned into "right place right time".

As a result of all this, my readers won't be seeing the "ugly gun" soon. That project is on hold for now. If things come together I will need a couple project guns. The"'ugly gun" will be more than a budget scout type gun. For years I have wanted a trim little bolt gun in either 250 Savage or 257 Roberts. The ugly gun's action is clean enough to become that gun. A barrel is only a hundred bucks and the stock blank is cheap if purchased through the school. I might just get the custom rifle I've always wanted. I'll just have to build it myself. I have several other guns that need work in the collection. The school estimates $1000 in actions and parts to work on. I don't think it will cost me that much. I've managed to accumulate a bunch of that stuff over the years. I hope to pull 3/4's of that stuff out of boxes.

wish me luck!

woods

The Other Woman

2012-01-05T23:48:00.001-05:00

My wife says it's like there is another woman in my life.

Don't worry my friends. I haven't been unfaithful or broken my vows.

The other woman is a gun making town in the Czech republic. So far the other woman has given me three children. The first was an Interarms MarkX in 7x57 mauser with a manlicher style stock, made by CZ for Interarms in 1977. The second child is a Brno VZ24 in 8x57 mauser. A gun that someone in the past put through a sporterization that at best can be described as brutal. Bad enough of a job that the gun has been nicknamed UG (ugly gun). Soon you will see more of her, just as soon as I have gathered up the parts.

Today the other woman sent me my newest child. I have actually saved the money up to buy this gun four times. Two of those times I sold other guns to get the money. All four times some emergency has come up that caused the saved money to be spent. The last event was in november when the car broke down. I had just gotten the price quote minutes before the car broke. When the store I worked for closed in october some of us were offered an extra months severance pay if we stayed long enough to take the store apart. I took them up on it. That check came last friday. I stressed about it over night. I know giving the state of the economy, my health and my age, this may be the last NEW gun I ever buy. I've nicknamed this one "The Understudy". She is the 22LR version of my Interarms deer rifle.

I didn't spend the $60 for CZ made scope rings. While the CZ has 11mm grooves for the scope mounts, I have found windage adjustable 3/8" groove rings have enough adjustment to work on the CZ. I had these rings in my junk box left over from another gun I sold. The scope is a Deerhunter BSA 2.5X20 shotgun Scope purchsed off Amazon with gift cards earned through swagbucks. If the weather holds tomorrow we'll see how she shoots.

I found a way to get stuff for free

2011-12-28T01:28:00.000-05:00

Yes free stuff! I've started getting the parts together for the ugly gun project. I haven't paid one cent out of pocket either yet. If you follow my wifes blog you already know about swag bucks. My wife has been getting things like Coffee, sweetener, creamer, Spam, and buttermilk powder all for free.

Here's how it works. I do all my websearches from the swagbucks site rather than using google. Every search doesn't earn swagbucks they are awarded randomly. I also take a few seconds to do the daily poll every day, which is worth one swagbuck. After doing the poll I look at the NOSO which gets another 2 points. Then if I have the time I'll do a survey or two. That's where I earn my swagbucks. I've actually gotten 250 swagbucks off a survey though 50-100 is more likely. My wife has found a way to watch swag Tv while doing her household chores, that's where she makes her swagbucks. By now you're asking just how does this amount to free stuff? Well, you cash in your swagbucks for Amazon gift cards or paypal gift cards. Actually there are many different things you can cash them in for. My wife and I cash in for gift cards though. Now you may ask is it worth it? I earn $25 in Amazon gift cards most months and another $5-$10 in paypal gift cards. I'm spending maybe at most half an hour a day on the swagbucks site not counting searches. Also keep in mind I seldom use my favorites list anymore. Instead I search everywhere I want to go with the swagbucks search engine. Takes very little extra time, and I get paid to go to my favorite websites that way.

Now before I give you the link let me make a truthful disclosure. If you go to the swagbucks site and sign up without my link, it won't be any different than if you used my link, for you. However if you use my link I'll earn matching swagbucks for refering you for your first thousand points. Here's the link. http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/thewoodsrunner

Now for another truthful disclosure. You will notice the occasional picture that takes you to Amazon.com in my blog now. Yes like many bloggers I've become an Amazon associate. If you click on my picture I will earn credit towards more amazon gift cards if you make a purchase. Here is my promise. I will not put a picture up of any product that I have not personally purchased and found satisfaction with. I will strive to purchase as often as possible American made products. If I can't find an item that is American made I will strive to find the same item made in a country with a standard of living, environmental rules, and quality standards similar to those here in the U.S. I will only aquire items from China or similar countries after exhausting all other possible avenues.

Woods

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T13:03:00.000-05:00

I just want to wish all my loyal followers a very Merry Christmas!

Woods

It's been a long time since I recomended a book

2011-12-20T14:17:00.013-05:00

While at the library yesterday I spied on the new release shelf the book "American Pickers Guide To Picking" We only have basic cable here on the urban homestead. I've heard alot about the TV show, but, have only managed to see about ten minutes of an episode while visiting family. It's bad etiquete to visit just to watch TV. So, I didn't see much. The little bit I did see I enjoyed. I like the book so much I read over half of it last night. I never realized it, but, I am a "picker". I've always seen value in promising pieces of what others consider junk. I also learned a long time ago I could buy a whole pile of stuff for not much more than I would pay for one piece. Having learned this I know I can usually make a small profit or at least get the stuff I really want for free by selling off the extras. I have even managed to learn a few things from this book. Mostly how to deal with "pickees" as the authors refer to them. So, if you're like me and like finding treasure in other peoples junk. Check out "American Pickers Guide To Picking". I think you'll enjoy it.

Check out the guys at The Frugal Outdoorsman

2011-12-05T18:00:00.001-05:00

I found this site a few days ago. I'm pretty sure anybody that enjoys this blog will enjoy it too.
http://www.castbullet.com/index.htm

Woods

The One Hour Gunsmith makes a score

2011-12-04T22:40:00.002-05:00

Well my friends, the one hour gunsmith has another low budget project gun to play with. After many many years of being shotgun only, the state of new york has decided we can be trusted to hunt big game in certain areas of the southern zone with centerfire rifles. While I have a very nice Mannlicher style Interarms Mark X mauser in 7x57 to hunt with. I find myself shying away from taking it out in incliment weather. You see I was too young to purchase one when I first fell in love with that picture in the 1977 interarms catalog. So when one popped up on a local dealers shelf a couple years ago I grabbed it. The date code of 0477 stamped on the reciever sealed the deal for me. So after waiting so long to get it I don't want to abuse it. Add the fact that now the sidekick wants a rifle after shooting mine. And Pelenaka has decided she wants to hunt. So, we find ourselves needing a second rifle. A rifle I don't have to worry about. A gun that can be taken out in the rain, carried and possibly dropped by beginers. I set out calling around for a Handi Gun by New England Firearms. I found a few, but, with one exception all I found were in calibers more suited to varmints than big game. The one and only 30/30 I found was pretty overpriced for a second hand gun. On one call to my favorite dealer he suggested a cheap surplus mauser rifle. So, off to gunbroker.com to look around. Didn't find much for a reasonable price after adding shipping and FFL fees. Then I got an email. The dealer that suggested a surplus gun picked up a collection of them. In the lot was a poorly sporterized BRNO VZ24 in 8mm mauser. Well friends we did some haggling and did some trading. In the end he got some non gun stuff of mine and I walked away with the ugliest gun I've ever owned. When this gun was captured and put away after the war the guy doing the cosmoline held her about 3" from the end of the barrel. How do I know? Because the marks of his fingers are still there lightly rusted to the finish. But, he did a good job with that cosmoline job. The inside of the barrel and action are in near mint condition. So my friends we have a gun project. More to come!

Woods

Fishing is good!

2011-11-23T20:29:00.001-05:00

Fully intended to take my daughter hunting this morning. We woke up to a downpour. Cold, windy and wet are not my ideas of good hunting weather. The deer only hole up in thier beds and the only shots are gotten by jumping them in thier bed. We decided to spend the morning in front of the wood stove rather than waste the gas driving 20 miles each way. By 9:30 the rain stopped. Instead of hunting we went and got some worms and headed out to a big pond in a local park. Due to work schedules we didn't get much fishing time in this year. We intend to not let that happen again. Ten minutes after we arrived there was honking in the distance. Shortly there was the first of four flocks of canada geese joining us at our pond. Again I found myself time traveling. When I started hunting it was on waterfowl. A love of owning and using vintage firearms soon ended that passion. Thanks to the mandate of steel shot. Now I find myself soon to be out of work, and having few prospects for full time work. Newer non toxic shot alternatives have been developed. None are cheap, but, some are downright gentle on those vintage gun barrels. There is a huge pile of cedar and basswood planks out in the shop. I think by next fall they could become a rig of hand carved dekes.

Yes fishing is good. It gives you time to put things in perspective. Life is good when your in the woods. The deer will still be there Thanksgiving morning. And we will be there with them

Woods

Remembering "the Grove"

2011-11-22T18:30:00.001-05:00

For whatever reason I have been taking little trips down memory lane in recent years. Maybe it's old age, maybe it's reflecting in comparason to current events. Mostly going to one place in time and one particular group of people. At the time I didn't realize the influence that group of people were having on me. Indeed to my peers of that era this group of people was to be despised or worse. We're travelling back to the 1977-79 time frame. Maybe it was my own families economic reality back then. We had just returned from NE Oklahoma. Tails between our legs and pretty much broke. I was in my mid teens and was repeating my freshman year of highschool. Times were tight and if I wanted anything of my own, it was up to me to get a job and get it for myself. Also because times were hard I was expected to pay my parents a portion of my pay towards household expenses. The solution to my problem was the Rochester "Times Union" newspaper.

My dad rented us an apartment north of Rochester on a bay of Lake Ontario. A fairly upscale suburb was developing thanks to the location. My paper route was mostly made up of what we would later come to call McMansions. However right in the middle of it all was a place known as "The Grove". The Grove was a little nieghborhood or community created during the great depression. A landowner about to lose his land leased a bunch of cottage building lots to other people whose economic reality wasn't a whole lot better than his. 40+ years after those leases were created The Grove had evolved into a group of about 12 little houses. It appeared as though the depression never ended for most of the people living there. I learned quickly appearances don't always tell everything. I also learned poverty can be just a point of view. Frugality and living within your means can appear as poverty to some. I can remeber many cups of hot chocolate waiting for me on cold winters day. I remember being invited in to warm up next to woodstoves. I remember glasses of lemonade in summer, the real deal too, not fron a frozen can or worse a packet of powder. I remember Mr Johnson teaching me how to tune up a car on his 58 Biscayne. I remember being amazed that such a small 6 cylinder engine could even propel such a huge car down the road. I remember bags of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables being sent home with me. I remember Mr Johnsons old johnboat and the motor that bore the same name as his family. I'm sure that motor was almost as old as he was. I remember making extra money splittng firewood for people too old to do it for themselves. Often refusing payment, knowing I would leave with a full belly and/or a mess of fresh filleted fish. Speaking of payment. I can't recall ever having to chase a resident of "The Grove" for payment for thier newspapers. Sure I remember being asked to collect once a month or biweekly. I always remember that envelope being on time, and more often than not there was a generous tip there too. I can't say I have any of those memories from the more well heeled customers on my route. Just the opposite.

I have to wonder what the current generation could learn from a place like "The Grove". Maybe they would decide to pool thier resourses and create a "Grove" of thier own to occupy rather than trying to occupy Wall Street. But alas, it's too late. The occupants of "The Grove" got even older, or moved away and "The Grove" lost it's battle with the McMansion movement.

And that my friends in my oppinion is where we really went wrong.

Got me a date with Bambi!

2011-11-13T15:25:00.001-05:00

And I don't mean a stripper or porn star!

It's been a hectic month. Which I'll elaborate on later.

It's been all I can do to get to the range. Had a scope mounted on my little mannlicher stocked 7x57 mauser 98 last summer. Never got around to sighting it in. Went to the range two weeks ago and it wasn't even on the paper at 50 yards. The target backer was so shot up I couldn't tell where I was hitting. Went again last weds, only to get told the range was closed while the local police dept was practicing. Finally got there this morning with a little 1.5" dot on a 2x3 ft piece of paper. Found the girl was putting them dead on elevation, but, 14" to the left. Had to play with the rear scope ring to adjust that out. But, if I can see it, it's dead now. Next saturday is opening day. The freezer is low on meat and my wife will feed me nothing but beans if I don't shoot something.

Come on Bambi! We've got a dinner date!

Woods

Feedback please

2011-09-23T20:25:00.001-04:00

Looking at the stats page it seems my most popular posts are the ones about amature gunsmithing. My most popular post is over two years old and is still visited daily. I've started the one hour gunsmith label and I am wondering how many of my followers would like it to become a regular feature. I intend to make these projects low budget is in under $100. Also as the title implies projects will be able to be completed in one hour, or be able to be broken down into one hour or less stages.

I will still continue my regular "How to's" and homestead life posts. I will just use the "One hour gunsmith" as a means of keeping the blog posts more frequent.

Also, go recrute me some followers people. I intend to do give aways at the 50 and 100 follower marks.

Woods

The one hour gunsmith puts a new mainspring in a muzzleloader

2011-09-18T00:37:00.000-04:00

The subject of todays project is a CVA Squirrel rifle that was built from a kit back in 1990. Over 20+ years the mainspring has gotten weak. Used only for target shooting witha 45 caliber barrel over those years a miss fire now and then was no big deal. This year I've decided it will be a squirrel killer and I have reinstalled the 32 barrel.

After making sure the gun isn't loaded, place the lock on half cock. Then partially loosen these two screws. when the screws are about half way out give them a light tap with the handle of your screwdriver. This loosens the lock from its mortise. When the lock is loose you can remove the screws completely.

Here is the backside of the lock showing the mainspring. Also shown is a replacement spring. Genuine CVA mainsprings bring $15 and up on ebay and you don't know thier history. The spring shown is a Traditions part. The Traditions spring is wider, but otherwise close enough to be an almost drop in part. It was also purchased at a gunshow new in it's package for under $6. The mainspring vice was borrowed from a friend.

After lowering the spring to it's fired position you can remove the spring. Here is the old spring in the vice. I've been told you should only use a proper mainspring vice to avoid breaking the spring. The new spring however had ideas of it's own. CVA left an oxide coating on thier spring and the vice was able to hold it quite well. The Traditions version was highly polished and between the extra strength and the polish it just kept slipping out of the vice. I ended up using a pair of needle nose locking pliers. Even using the pliers I had to use a file to roughen the surface so it wouldn't fly accross the room.

Here is the lock with the new spring installed. I got lucky and the inletting was sufficient to just reinstall the lock. The new spring was easily 30% wider than the old one. While I didn't have to make room for it, you may have to depending on your gun. Now it takes some serious effort to pull the hammer back. Thankfully this gun has set triggers otherwise I may have had to do some trigger work.
A gunsmith would have charged $30-$35 for this job. It cost me $6 and just over half an hours time.

Woods

Flatheads Forever!!

2011-09-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

Before there was a homesteader.

Long before there was a urban homesteader.

Right about the same time there was a long haired kid hiding out in the woods and fields with a gun or fish pole.

There was a kid hanging out in garages messing with all things with engines. At one point there was a Ford pickup truck that was 25 tears older than me. A truck powered by the most magic of engines.

I just found this video and it took me back in time. Kinda makes me think a 34-39 Ford pickup would fit in my life again

Woods

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=13328

Projects

2011-09-10T01:15:00.000-04:00

I purchased this from a coworker a couple weeks ago. He cleans out old houses and garages for extra cash. Usually he scraps all the metal stuff. This was parked in the weeds along side a very very old Troy Built. Supposedly they both ran two years ago. The Troybuilt only needed a new spark plug and fresh gas to run. This one has compression. Plug wire is bad, so I haven't checked it for spark yet.

It's a David Bradley Handyman tractor made in the late 50's and early 60's. This one has the tiller attachment on it. Also available was a snow blower and the usual assortment of 2 wheel tractor attachments. It wasn't very popular and was dropped after 6 or so years. It's smaller than the usual DB. I've been looking for a Planet Junior tractor to restore for a few years now. The handyman is about the same size and much rarer. I would apreciate hearing of attachments for this one if anybody comes accross any. This baby will be a long term project.

More projects in the works. This week we will make some low budget, off grid security lights.

Also in the works is a new gun project. Back in the late 80's I built a CVA Squirrel rifle from a kit. It has developed a weak mainspring and we'll be replacing it with a new one. Also when this gun was built it came with two barrels. I browned the 32 barrel first. It didn't come out as planned, while the 45 barrel did. Later after hunting season we will fix the nasty finish on the 32 barrel.

Woods

Low budget billy

2011-09-10T00:00:00.001-04:00

I found this at a local thrift store a few months ago. Nice and light. I figured for .89 cents I'd take a gamble.

Big enough inside to hold a esbit stove and fuel with room to spare for spices. Good enough to heat soup or some beans during a cold hunting season lunch hour. I plan to add a coffee pot style handle to the side opposite the pour spout. When your spouse is of carribean hispanic descent, you get used to drinking the occasional cup of boiled coffee.

The alcohol burner came from a neighbors trash after a garage sale. Somebody paid $5.00 for the chafing dish it went to and forgot the burner. You can't see the flame here, but it is burning. First I tried rubbing alcohol with no success, which I figured would be the case. Rubbing alcohol has too much water in it. Best results have been with isopropyl dry gas. The perforated metal is a piece I usually use in my forge to stabilize my lead pot when casting bullets. One of these days I plan on building a hobo stove that will be able to use either the alcohol burner or twigs.

Woods

Rain Barrel Building 101

2011-06-16T22:28:00.000-04:00

As most of my followers know, I work in a "home improvment store". During the spring and summer months it's not unusual to get a phone call from the plumbing dept. Almost always it's a question about building rainbarrels. Most people are looking for what's called a bulkhead fitting, because they got barrel building instructions off the internet. Our store doesn't carry bulkhead fittings, so, plumbing sends the person to me and I try to give the person instructions to build a barrel my way. This usually pisses the person off, because they got instructions off the internet and it's got to be the only right way to do it.

So I'm going to put my way on the internet, so it can be acknowledged as being a correct way too. By the way I've sold these barrels to people that don't want to build thier own. I've never had a complaint about my design.

So, lets get started.

First of all. You do not ever want a bulkhead fitting! Not Ever! Why you ask?
1) They are expensive
2) They usually leak or start leaking soon after being installed.
3) To use them you have to cut the top of the barrel open. Which is a bad idea because it causes an evaporation problem. It's also a bad idea because it turns your barrel into a mosquito farm.

Materials for this project are:
1) Food grade plastic barrel. $5-$10
2) 1/2" Hose bib $5.30
3) 2-3" of 2" pvc pipe $2.90 for 2 feet
4) 2" pvc male adapter $1.14
5) 3"x2" pvc coupling $2.98
6) 1/2" nylon male x barbed adapter $.60
7) 4" square of fiberglass window screen material free from my scrap pile
8) A length of 1/2" garden hose, again from my scrap pile.
9) A tube of Rectorseal pipe sealant. Not sure of the cost, less than three bucks and it has built at least six barrels.

Tools needed are:
1) Electric drill
2) 3/4" spade bit
3) Hammer
4) Punch or metal rod

First make sure your barrel didn't have something nasty in it. Just because it's a food grade barrel, doesn't mean it didn't have some industrial detergent of something similar in it. This barrel came from a cannery and had 10% strength white vinegar in it.

Next use your hammer and punch to remove the bungs from the barrel. One of the bungs will have a 2" pipe thread and the other will have a thread that I have only seen on barrel bungs. I should add here that you should be sure to have the bung with the special threads when you select your barrel. Throw away the bung with the 2" pipe thread on it and screw in the 2" pvc male adapter. Now place your piece of screen on the 2" side of the 2x3 coupling. Use your hammer to gently tap the short piece of 2" pvc pipe into the 2" side of the coupling. Trim the excess screen away. You can also now put the bung with the special threads back in place. I try not to overtighten the bung in case I want to get it off again.

Now place the other end of the short pvc pipe into the 2" male adapter. You've now created a funnel to place you downspout into. The screen will keep out mosquitos and also prevent debris from your roof from getting in.

Stand your barrel in front of you with the funnel farthest away. I keep the funnel side to the rear for reference. Decide which side you want your overflow on. In the case of this barrel I put it on the right side. Drill a 3/4" diameter hole about 2" from the top of the barrel. Here I am using the metal threads of the hose bib as a tap to make threads for the nylon hose adapter. Be careful on this step. Pipe threads are tapered, if you screw the hose bib in too far, you will make the threads aversize and they won't seal well. Screw it in about 1/3 of the way in.

Coat the threads of your nylon barbed adapter with rectorseal and screw it into the threaded hole you just made. Rectorseal is the only thread sealant I've found that works well. The plastic these barrels are made of will not take glue. All your seals must be mechanical in nature.

Lay your barrel on it's back and drill another 3/4" hole about 8" from the bottom. Coat the threads of your hose bib with rectorseal and thread it into this hole. The location of this hole can closer to the barrels bottom. Locating the hole here leaves about 10 gallons in the bottom of your barrel. At this height you can still get a bucket under the hose bib, when the barrel is on a 4" concrete block. Also by leaving some water in the bottom, the barrel is less likely to be knocked over when it's empty. If you locate the spigot closer to the bottom, you will have to raise the barrel up higher to get a bucket under it.

Here is your finished rain barrel. Ready to put in place under your downspout. After you have installed it, put a length of hose on the barbed adapter. Use a hose long enough to get the overflow away from your house. If you need alot of water, you can use a straight adapter and connect a second barrel. Now you have free water for the garden. Also when the municipal water has problems, or when the power goes out and the well pump won't run, you have water. The perfect companion to the water purifier we built last week.

Be Prepared
Woods

Water filter update

2011-06-08T22:01:00.000-04:00

So far so good! It works,

Water coming out has zero taste. Which is good, because my cities water has a strong chemical odor/taste.

Coffee made with this water has no bitterness. That's another issue with our cities water.

With only one filter candle it is slow however. About 1 liter an hour, When it gets down below 2 liters in the upper bucket it nearly stops dripping. If this became an issue, I would build a second unit rather than add a second filter candle.

For an upcoming project I will show you how I build a rain barrel for under $15.00.
Afterall, who wants to scoop water from puddles.

Water for all occassions

2011-06-07T17:59:00.000-04:00

Pelenaka: Know what we need? She says to me.

Me: What do we need baby?

Her: A water filter. One of those countertop ones. Like in the Lehmans catalog.

Me: Are you sure? They are pretty expensive.

Her: Well what if the cities water was bad like in Rochester a few years ago.

Me: We could just boil water like everyone else.

Her: Well what if things happened and we needed water from any source.

Me: Like a bugout situation?

Her: You know exactly what I mean.

Me: well a counter top unit wouldn't be very practical then, would it?

Her: We need to get prepared, it would be a big deal not to have water!

So, woodsrunner then did what he does best. Research and procrastinate.

I looked at just about every model of water purification made.

I read every product review I could find.

I looked at prices of the units.

I looked at the prices of the replacement parts needed to keep them going.

Then I searched the web for people making thier own units.

I found one home made one.

Then I decided the way to go was to make my own. And here's how I did it.

First what you'll need.

Two 8 liter food grade buckets, with lids that are snug, yet easy to remove.

I got mine from a local restaraunt supply for $6.00 each

A Doulton Super Sterasyl filter.

Mine came off ebay new for under $30.00 shipped to my door.

You will notice there is no spigot.

Remember I said I read all the reviews. Guess what breaks most.

Yup, that silly $3.00 spigot will leave you with a $200 counter decoration.

Tools are pretty simple.

A drill

A set of spade bits

An Exacto knife

A half inch bit was closest the the threads on the filter. I drilled a half inch filter in the bottom of one bucket.

I then used my exacto knife to trim the edge of the hole.

The filter was then installed, gasket on the inside under the filter, wing nut on the outside.

Careful not to over tighten. But be sure to get a good seal.

Then I used my largest bit to drill a hole in one of the lids.

As you can see the lid cracked when the drill broke through.

This could have been prevented by backing the lid with a piece of wood while drilling.

Again I trimmed the hole edges with the exacto knife.

Here it is stacked up ready to use.

After taking the reciept out of the bottom bucket that is.

Here it is nested together for storage when not being used.

Or if we had to bugout.

I'm sure Pelenaka will be more than happy to make a carry bag for it.

Why did I choose the components I did?

Without a spigot any larger bucket would be too heavy to pour into other containers.

I don't anticipate putting more than 6 liters of water through it.

Lifting 12 lbs of water sure beats lifting 40 lbs that 5 gallons would weigh

I don't trust the plastic that 5 gallon buckets are made from.

Leaving the spigot off also made it possible to nest the buckets when not in use.

I wanted to be able to see just how much we had. So clear or almost so was a must.

The filter was an easy choice.

You could pour water from almost any source through the Doulton and it would come out drinkable.

It's the best you can buy.

Best part of all.

It cost under $50.00 to build it!

Be Prepared!

Woods

She said it followed her home!

2011-06-06T01:26:00.000-04:00

Friday Pelenaka and friend stop at a barn sale out in the country. They found this. She says it just followed her home! I wonder where she learned that?

http://woodsrunnerstrail.blogspot.com/2008/08/honest-it-followed-me-home-can-i-keep.html

It looks to be in nice shape. There is more there than I've had in the past. The bad news. The leg on the left that is missing the foot is completely dry rotted.

The good news. Lots ther for a pattern. If you look close the factory pinstriping is still intact.

Look close and you can see the factory stenciling. This leg is dry cracked, but, not rotted. A couple holes with dowels glued in should save this side. The other side will require complete replacement. Things won't match. I will save as much old as possible anyways. After this one I have two waiting in the wings to be done. Including an exact same set of metal parts that I had no patterns for wood. Now I have a pattern in this press.

Some others I've done in the past.

http://woodsrunnerstrail.blogspot.com/2007/10/unintended-collection.html

Woods

LL Bean comando sweater

2011-05-26T15:41:00.000-04:00

This was my belated Christmas gift from my lovely wife which I recieved the end of january. I've been wanting a new one for a while now. I have the real deal, one purchased years ago from a surplus store. The surplus sweater has seen better days however. Several years ago the moths found it leaving several holes. It has also put in many hours on deer stands and in ice fishing shacks, on top of it's former military service. At first I was disapointed with the new one when I found the labels inside that were in chinese. I knew it was imported, but, couldn't help hoping it would be made in a part of the former british empire. Sorry, maybe it's wrong on my part, but, there is a certain snob appeal to a tag that says "Made in New Zealand", Scotland, Australia, etc. However, I must concede that I found no quality issues with this sweater. Some changes have been made style wise. However the military inspiration is still there.

It's woven just as tightly as the real deal. It's slightly lighter weight than the surplus version. However I still found it warm and comfortable by itself down to temperatures in the high thirties farenheight.

While LL Bean calls the color olive drab it has more of a brown tone than any of my olive color surplus clothes. You can see it above with the Brit military version. As for looks and style, I like it. More important I've been asked about it by several strangers. I've also noticed more than a few admiring glances from the ladies while wearing it. Including one really sharp brunette. Though I'm sure she didn't marry me for my ability to fill out a sweater that she gave me. Yes overall the LL Bean comando sweater gets a thumbs up from me. I may just buy myself another next fall. That one will be in black though.

Woods

A blog to check out

2011-03-27T17:46:00.000-04:00

Not long ago I stumbled accross this blog http://manta-bushcraft.blogspot.com/ .After following it for a time I want to shine the spotlight on Manta. His projects have given me some inspiration towards a few of my own. His workmanship shows. As a former quality assurance guy I love seeing that. All too often home made ends up meaning makeshift and cobbled up. His stove alone has made me rethink sending an old stainless steel portable gas grill to the scrap yard. I think part of it will end up becoming a small stove for our camp and homestead use.

Woods

** A note. The term cobbled was in no way meant to be derogatory towards those practicing the fine art of shoe making.

Like having money in the bank

2011-02-19T00:35:00.000-05:00

The weather has temporarily broken here in western New York. The power company has begun thier yearly tree trimming operations. I passed thier truck on the way to work yesterday. As I left work I backtracked my morning trip. Finding many of the wood piles still in place, I called ahead and told Pelenaka to be dressed to work and ready to go in 15 minutes. The days score was a trailer and a half of sugar maple and oak. coming home tonight I caught a tree trimmers truck at the gas station, it's been windy all day and thier are trees down. They told me the area they were heading. I'll head there in the morning, hoprfully there will be some left for the great scrounger.

That wood sure does feel like money in the bank.

Woods

Food Storage and Survival website giveaway

2011-02-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/?p=492

I just started following this blog a few weeks before the new website was started. I wanted to be sure before making a recomendation. Check it out. If you want in on the giveaway there is still a couple days.

Woods

A Big Thanks!

2011-02-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

Last week there was a givaway over at The Sharpened Axe blog. I won the flint and steel. This steel is smaller than the one I already have. It's the perfect size to fit in an altoid tin fire starting kit. My stepdaughter often referred to here as "the sidekick" is turning into a pretty serious outdoors gal. She's old enough now that she can start hunting separate from me. This flint and steel is going into a kit I'm putting together for her. A big thanks to Mike Oscar Hotel at "The Sharpened Axe". Check out his blog, I'm sure all my followers will enjoy it.

Also, keep your eyes open. There is another blog moving to it's own website. They are having a big givaway too. I will post more info soon.

Woods

Keeping those home fires burning

2011-02-02T15:05:00.000-05:00

The problem with living on our small city homestead is sometimes it's size. There isn't always enough room to stockpile the things you need. Like enough firewood to make it through a cold winter. I actually gave away a face cord and a half of partially seasoned sugar maple last fall. Just didn't have room to store it without stepping on the toes of nieghbors or worse the code enforcement guy. Last week we had a snap of sub zero temps. The wise decision was to fire the furnace rather than rely on the wood stove. Mainly because the woodstove isn't in the cellar where the soon to be frozen water lines are. Well, those four days of furnace running saved a little bit of wood. Which is good because we are down to just a hair over three face cords. Enough to get us to the end of february. But, the end of february isn't good enough. I've seen more than one easter weekend snow storm. So, how do we solve the problem without paying $85.00 for a face cord of firewood.

Working in a home center has a few advantages. Very few. However a few days ago a possible solution to our problem presented itself. Wood pellets, yup wood pellets. Everyone said you can't burn them in a regular wood stove. The reasons everyone gave. They won't burn right without a fan forcing air on them. They burn too fast. They won't burn without a special grate. etc. etc. etc. Well all I have to say to all the experts were wrong, really wrong. A guy came into work and bought two skids of wood pellets. The skids are stacked together. The top four bags in the bottom skid are usually torn open. we usually replace them for the customer then mark down the torn bags to $1.00 each. So, I bought a bag to experiment with. If it didn't work I would have 40 lbs of cheap garden mulch.

You can see above my solution to the supposed problems of burning pellets in a conventional wood stove. The pellets burn just fine without a fan forcing air on them. They only burn up too fast if you throw them in the stove like you are feeding the chickens. Put them in a pile and they will burn just like regular wood. With a box stove like ours there is no special grate needed unless your stove has a grate above an ash compartment. In that case the pellets would just fall through into the ash pan. What I do is make an envelope out of news paper. A single sheet of newspaper folded and stapled then filled with pellets works great. By putting them in an envelope it's easy to get them in a compact pile quickly. The paper takes about half a minute to ignite.Then dumps the burning pellets into a pile. An envelope of pellets burns about 30 minutes. I figure 20-25 envelopes for a 40lb bag. A days heat for a buck can't be beat in my book.

Hunter seems to approve. So, I must be doing something right.

Woods

Thoughts on preparedness

2011-01-09T17:19:00.000-05:00

When this winter started I thought we were prepared for the worst of it. Then about six weeks ago a piece of firewood that was cut to the long side of what would fit in the firebox found it's way into the stove in the middle of the night. Not a problem if the person loading the stove is fully awake and remembers the longest dimension inside a rectangular box is from corner to corner, not front to back. The other unfortunate factor is our stoves door has a glass window in it. Worse yet it happened the night before a major cold front blew in. Now the bad part of the story. Pelenaka calls me at work the next day to tell me there is a big crack in the stoves window. She already called the local jotul dealer and they don't have one in stock and it will take a week to get one. No problem I tell her. call them back and see if they will sell us the one out of thier display stove. An hour later she calls me back to tell me they don't have a display of our stove, it was sold. My poor wife is now getting frantic. I have her call the dealer back and get the phone numbers for all the nearest jotul dealers. By the time she finds one, I'm out of work. I come home too exhausted to drive, just as it starts snowing. She hops in the car and drives seventy miles to the nearest dealer that will sell us the window from a display stove. By the time she gets home You can barely see the house three doors away, it's snowing so hard. Withing fifteen minutes the window was replaced and the stove fired up. Due to the temps outside being in the low teens, it took all night for the house to get to a comfortable temperature. We now have a spare window and set of gaskets stashed away in the attic. But, this all got me asking questions. What if the widow got broke during the brunt of a storm? During this incident, I could have walked over to the thermostat and just fired the furnace up. But, what if the power were out as often happens here during storms?

I took a walk through the house and started asking myself the What If? question as I went room to room. We no longer have a land line phone. My cell is older and is sometimes tempermental with battery life. What if somebody were hurt or the house was on fire during a storm and we couldn't call for help. I solved that problem. Pelenaka is a weather watcher to the extreme. She got a new Eaton weather radio for christmas. It features a USB charging port. Then I went and bought a universal phone charging kit that works off usb power. Now we can charge our phones or my stepdaughters ipods with the solar panel or crank on the radio. Last week one of my coworkers informed me, our store was closing out little power inverters that plug into a cars cigarette lighter. 90 watts of 120V AC current. Enough to charge the laptops, or even power small power tools or a sump pump. It too has a USB power port. I bought the last one for less than five bucks.

Yesterday at a local gun show, I picked up half a dozen P38 can openers. alot of what we store foodwise is in cans. It used to be, you bought a hand operated can opener and you were still using it ten years later. Now they are made in china and it seems we buy three or four a year. The P38's will be around in twenty if we don't lose them. That's the bad thing about thier size. Easy to lose. The good thing about thier size. There is one on every persons key ring that lives in this house.

My point to all this. We think to stockpile the firewood and the food. Shoot, we even have a full blown first aid kit we put together that even includes scalpels and sutures. However, we can't really call ourselves prepared until we've played out every possible scenario and prepared for those too. Tools aren't enough if we can't repair them when they fail. And they will fail right when we need them most.

Woods

Help needed from fellow history buffs

2011-01-06T22:40:00.000-05:00

Last spring I picked up a new computer and lost a folder of links I was saving. Part of what I lost was all my links to mid 19th century suttlers. One place had authentic wheel caps for really reasonable prices. If anyone has links to suttlers they have done business with and have been happy, I would apreciate a link.

Thanks!

Woods

Merry Christmas and my best wishes for the new year

2010-12-27T00:51:00.000-05:00

To all my loyal followers I want to wish a Merry Christmas and may the new year bring you success in whatever your endeavors may be.

Some of you may be visiting for the first time. Probably because I recently started following your blog. I spent several hours over the past few weeks looking at blogs of people who list similar interests in thier profiles. My purpose is to see what others are doing and learning what I can.

For those of you that are new reading here, here's the reason.

For years I attempted to get where I'm heading by working multiple jobs, and trying to do the homestead thing at the same time. I thought I could abuse myself for a time and get far enough ahead to be able to homestead full time. What I ended up doing is making myself sick enough to nearly kill the homestead dream entirely. You see when you work constantly you end up getting in situations where you are spending more than you make with the extra job. Then there is the damage you do to yourself in the process. Bad diet also became a factor in my case. Always being on the verge of exhaustion, I tried to solve the problem with caffiene, sugar and nicotine. Stimulants are OK, until you seriously hurt yourself. Now I find myself 47 years old, with diabetes, asthma, and arthritus in both legs.

Even though I meet the criteria to be considered legally disabled, I won't give up the homestead dream until the undertaker pats my face with his shovel. I also refuse to stop working, not yet at least. Odds are those of you most recently added to my list of followed blogs write about foraging wild foods, homemade old fashioned foods or natural herbal remedies. I've been ruminating on a new plan recently. More is to follow soon. So, if your stopping by for the first time, stop back now and again. We might just be in the same frame of mind.

Woods

A Kudos for Thompson Center Arms

2010-11-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

I have to give a hat's off to Thompson Center Arms. Several months ago I picked up a TC Renegade at a local gun show. The gun was represented to me as being unfired and it was still in it's original box. There were also some accessories included. The gun was priced around $200 and the dealer was willing to move on the price. Too willing to move on the price. I figured I could sell the extras for around $50 if I had to. The stock alone would bring $100+ at auction, so, I figured an offer of $170 was safe. He took it and I made a phone call to a friend. He had seen it the day before and informed me it was without a nipple when he saw it. He also informed me that someone had cross threaded and messed up the nipple hole. sure enough I got it home and got a nipple wrench out. Pulling the nipple confirmed it was the same gun. Still it was a pretty safe buy.

Some further inspection revealed an issue with the lock. Everything seemed fine until the barrel was on the gun. Then the the half cock was too far forward to be functional. A quick call to Thompson Center was made. They informed me the lock was under warranty and to send it in. They wanted $85 to replace the bolster which would have solved the nipple problem. I sent in the lock and bought myself a couple nipples with oversize thread diameters from Cains. The oversize nipple carefully forced into the damaged threads succeeded in chasing them out to funtionality. A week after sending in the lock, it was back with a new style hammer which solved that problem. At this point I was ready to put the gun up for sale in an attempt to make a profit. Which was my original intent. Then my 14 yr old stepdaughter out of the blue asks if she can deer hunt with me. Well, she would need a gun. Heck, I have the perfect gun right there waiting for her. So off to the range to get it sighted in. It liked Maxi Balls over round balls and it didn't like tripple seven or pyrodex. Real black powder in fffg granulation got the ignition right.

Saturday we went hunting. At lunch time I told her to shoot the gun and we would reload with fresh powder when we came back. Well sometime in the last 15 minutes we were in the woods the new hammer screw was lost and the new hammer with it. Today I called TC again and talked to Tim in the service dept. A ten minute phone call got us a new set of parts at no charge sent via fedex They should be here in time for the princess to be back in the woods this weekend.

Quite a few companies could take lessons in customer service from Thompson Center Arms.

The Scot stikes again!

2010-06-01T15:16:00.000-04:00

Yup! That's me. Born a mongrel with a strong scottish streak in my ancestery. Can you get any cheaper than me? Ebay has free listings this week, through today. We gave up internet at home due to the cost. Today is my day off. On the days I work, I stop at the local Coffee Culture for a coffee and muffin for two bucks. Every day I get my little card stamped to get my two free coffees. Today I sit in Coffee Culture listing stuff for free on ebay, drinking free coffee, and charging the netbooks and cell phones dead batteries on thier dime. Beat that for cheapness Woods

The seasons first fire

2010-04-24T22:40:00.000-04:00

If it were autumn, I'd be talking about the wood stove. But, the weather has for the most part broken, so except for an occassional evening fire to ward off a little chill, the stove is done. We have also managed to put by most of a winters worth of wood for next year. No, the fire I'm talking about is coal and smoky with the smell of hot iron. About a month ago I found my long awaited forge blower. A Buffalo "Silent 200". Located practically in my back yard, it was well worth the $80 it cost me. Now the possibility of incliment weather won't stop me from forging metal. Back in the scrounged hair dryer days there was always the possiblity of electrocution in the back of my mind. Even though I've had it, my plate has been too full to do anything. Whenpeople start telling you about free firewood for next year, firewood becomes the priority. Well, today Pelenaka asked me for a second closet rod in her closet. I thought there was a pair of closet rod brackets in the hell box, but, I sure as hell couldn't find them. The shop is full of scrap pipe and dowels, but, no brackets were going to mean a trip to work on my day off. Then I tought, "hey wait woods, there's I pile of quarter inch round stock in the scrap pile". So a couple six inch pieces, flaten out and shape leaves on the ends, crank them around the anvil horn. a little twist to the leaves made them stand out slightly from the wall. which allows for some bend in the 3/4" dowel rod. well it worked. Not as pretty as I would have liked. Shortly after the first leaf was shaped the fire didn't seem to do what I wanted. Either the metal seemed not to heat, or it was getting so hot it was burning up. Being the first fire I was coking off alot of raw coal. Later when the fire was out, I found a clinker the size of a golf ball. Biggest one I've ever pulled out of the forge. To those that don't know. A clinker is a big chunk of impurities from the coal. They all melt out and settle to the bottom of your fire. When they form the wreak all kinds of havok with your fire. Doing things just like happened to me today. Even worse when you are trying to weld, which becomes impossible. Maybe my next upgrade will be a comercial firepot with a clinker breaker. Then you use the breaker to bust up your clinker and then it falls though and out of the fire. Or maybe, I'll figure out how to build one. I'm sure it was some blacksmith that built the first clinker breaker. Maybe I'll follow his lead. Woods

What is a hero?

2010-04-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

I've pondered starting a second blog for some time now. I honestly feel as a country, no, make that a civilization, we have lost our moral compass. Part of the problem is how we define heroism. Those members of our society that deserve recognition as extrordinary. Somehow over the years we have come to look to wealth or fame as requirements to be a hero or heroine. Sorry to say in spite of a youth spent being forced to wacth "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous", Robin Leach has never shown me anyone worthy of being called hero. Also, while thier are many fine personalities in hollywood, and many strong figures in the sports world, many as shown by Tiger Woods and Jesse James aren't really worth the effort expended upon them by our society. So, I have decided to point out fine examples of heros from the past. Men and women in my mind worthy of the term. So let me start with a fine example of what makes a hero in my mind. Eugene Bullard I came accross Eugene Bullard several years ago. I had just watched the WWI epic "Flyboys". The movie had a character that was an african american pilot flying for the french. The world not being the friendliest place for people of color in the early 1900's, I had to know if this was a real person or just Hollywood taking liberties with history. A quick google search showed the truth. What I found was a man. I mean a manly man, One worth showing our son's as an example of what is great. A man who took cicumstances and made them suit him. Not letting circumstance control his destiny. Facing death with and danger with courage. Doing the right thing in spite of great odds. Later living life as an average person and dying in obscurity, largely forgotten to history for most of us. I have to say, if I was fighting in the trenches or just standing on a street corner, Eugene Bullard was the type of man I'd prefer to have standing next to me. I've just asked my librarian to get me his biography, "The Black Swallow of Death". I will come add more when I'm done reading. Until then you can read more on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard Woods

Shopping around

2010-02-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

There is some good news. After several years of breaking my butt trying to save, there is a tiny bit in my savings. Enough that I feel comfortable shopping for a small piece of land. Not quite enough yet, but, enough to make a nice down payment if the right opportunity reared it's head. Really this is only practical if it is land close enough to home. Also, it has to be wooded. I can justify the thought if I don't have to pay the gas man for fuel to heat the house. I figure it took six face cords more or less to get us this far. So eight face should get us through an average winter and ten through a severe one. Ten face would set us back $750.00 if bought. I've recently found small 4 acre and up wooded plots within 20 miles for $1,000.00-$1,500.00 an acre. Land too wet or steep to build on, that is. However as long as it grows trees, squirrels and deer in harvestable quantity it's a practical idea. Payback in ten years or less for the purchase price just by harvesting heat for our house. Harvest a little extra to pay the taxes and we're good. The rule of thumb in these parts is a real cord per acre is a sustainable harvest. A real cord equals 3 face cords. And if we're real lucky, maybe we can find a place with a dry level corner that could hold a small cabin retreat eventually. Ideally this land would be located in either Wyoming county or northern Allegany. I would also consider Gennesee and Orleans counties. If any of my reader know of places for sale I'd love to hear about them. Also if anybody catches wind of the tax sales in these counties, I'd appreciate a heads up. Maybe it's just a foolish dream, maybe not. But, it's one I've carried for most of my life and I can't ever give it up. Also doing some other shopping. Looking for a flintlock rifle between .32 and .44 caliber for small game hunting. It has to be flintlock. Also looking for a 12ga single shot persussion or flintlock shotgun. It has to be traditionally styled. The old Euroarms Magnum Cape Gun would be the ideal. Just before hunting season I aquired a percussion Euroarms "Kentuckian" carbine for an unmentionable low price. The gun shoots clovers all day long at .50 yds with a tight patch, and keeps them in an inch at that distance with a looser easy to load patch. The Traditions flintlock I previously reported on will shoot as well from the bench. However the length of pull is so short I can't shoot it well off hand. The traditions may be available for trade on the right squirrel gun. I'm also looking to aquire soft lead scrap. If you're in the Rochester/Buffalo area and have lead let me know. On the tool front the only things that have evaded me so far are. A combination plane, Stanley preferred, though Sargent and Craftsman offered thiers recently enough to interest me. A broad axe, not a hatchet, I've already aquired a hatchet and an adze. A hand cranked forge blower. Pelenaka and the princess have confiscated my $3.00 hair dryer that was providing air for the forge. I'd rather be non-electric anyways. Other than that I'm pretty set for tools And I won't just be buying this year. I have the metal parts to build 2 wine/cider presses. Hopefully they will get built this year. Also I have decided to thin the herd a bit on the tool collection. There are many things that I have two and three of. And I plan on turning a couple old very worn out loggers saws into knives. I also have a big old spring steel plumbers snake I will be turning into patch knives. All will be sold for cash to add to the land fund, or bartered for other old fashioned stuff. Woods

Sadder news!

2010-02-11T17:58:00.000-05:00

We are out of wood! The furnace has been turned on for three days now. There is one small pile held in reserve against a storm/power failure. Enough to go maybe three days. The cat is ready to disown me. He's beeen sleeping under the stove for the last three months. Time to start cutting for next year. Pray for an early spring! Woods

Sad news.

2010-02-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

Hangmans Cottage is for sale! For several tears I have followed the blog of a Brittish homesteader. After several years of health issues he's selling his homestead. I'm posting a link to his site so others can get some inspiration. I know he's inspired me greatly. www.go-self-sufficient.com/index.html This is his post that got me started following him. www.go-self-sufficient.com/outlaw.htm Enjoy Woods

A just in time barter.

2010-01-12T18:17:00.000-05:00

Brought home a face cord of seasoned apple wood today. Just in time as we are about 1/3 of the way through our last cord of soft maple. Figuring this should last us well into feb. if not till march. Hasn't been as cold lately so we aren't firing the stove so hard. I am going to have to file up the chainsaw, but, the cost was perfect. Two and a half hours of my time. Most of it riding in the truck. It turns out a coworker cleans basements on the side in exchange for whatever he can scrounge out of what he hauls. He's been driving around for a week with over a ton of scrap metal on his truck. Most of it an old steam heating boiler. His normal helper has been sick and it was too heavy for his wife to help. He got a chunk of cash and I got about $75.00 worth of firewood. I also got leads on three dead walnuts that need cutting up for next year. He also promised to send any tree calls he gets my way as he doesn't do trees anymore since he got rid of his wood stove. Gotta do what ya gotta do! Would rather spend $5.00-$10.00 for chainsaw gas and oil than hundreds to the gas company every year! Money not spent equals money that doesn't have to be earned at a job. Which means more time to hunt and fish, which also equals less earned money needed! Woods

Another opening day!

2009-12-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of muzzleloader season here in western NY. I spent the morning in a friends 10 acre woodlot. Timeline went kinda like this. 5:45 am, Roll out give Pelenaka a squeeze and a kiss, load the car. 6:15 am, stop at Tim Hortons for coffee, then spend 15 minutes waiting for the woman in front of me to decide what she wants. 7:01 am, pull into friends driveway half an hour later than I planned. 7:08 am pop caps to clear the nipple and load up. start the quarter mile walk back to the woods. Discover knee deep snow on the lane and ankle deep mud in the corn next to it. Not too bad walking if I stay right on the edge of the lane. 7:20 am, step into edge of the woods, wade a shallow puddle and discover the waterproofing on my right boot need to be redone. Within five minuted discover left boot isn't any better. Decide to stalk the woods up to high ground and hope my woolies keep me going. 7:35-8:00 am, Wander woods following tracks of a single turkey. Big tracks, figure it's a big bachelor tom. 8:00 am, find myself tangled in brambles. Was so intent on turkey sign, I ignored everything else around me. 8:15 am, find a trail being used by a small deer. I'm not a trophy hunter, small deer are better eating. Not saying I wouldn't put a trophy eight pointer in the freezer and his head on the wall. Saying I would rather drag a 100lb forkhorn through the mud back to the car than something huge. 8:25 park my butt on a blowdown maple 30 yards off little deers trail. Sitting up off the ground, big rootball to lean back against, which also breaks up my outline. 8:35 am, light drizzle falling. Take time to be thankful I brought a caplock carbine and not the flinter. Hunch over guns lock trying to keep everything dry. Approx 8:40 am. take brief nap. Not by choice, hunters will understand, it's peaceful, nobody's bothering you, it happens. 9:05 am, Nearby movement wakes me. Not a deer. Consider small batch of squirrel stew for lunch. Realize that at all of about 4 yards, there won't be a whole lot left by a .50 caliber round ball propelled by 80 grains of ffg. Might only have squirrel tail stew. decide to wait for something bigger, or at least farther away. 9:30 am, You know what? My feet didn't feel cold until my ass got cold from sitting on a wet log. 10:00 am, decide to sit tight another half hour. Feet are already wet and cold. 10:30am, West end of this woods has a big swale that cuts into it. Lots of water in there. It's also on the way back to the car. When I entered these woods it was still kind of dark to be bumbling around in there. Turns out also lots of deer in there! All probably figured out I was there and left. They did leave lots of fresh sign behind. Decide to stand still for half an hour overlooking the busiest trail and see if any return. 11:00 am. Feet so cold it's painful. Decide to swing trough the woods and leave in the north east corner. Drier that way. Pass gutpile from doe that's in the freezer. There is a fox in the woods, and he's been treating it as his personal grocery. May come back after deer season with .32 squirrel gun and see if we can get a nice fox pelt. 11:20 am. Turn on car, crank up heat. Dig diet pepsi out of back seat. Wish it were hot coffee. Oh well! A hot woodstove is 20 minutes away. Can get coffee at home. Tomorrow I will return. Earlier, I will enter from the back side of the woods, the dry side that is. I will take a stand watching over that swale. Oh by the way. I will also be wearing my brand new pair of rubber knee high boots from tractor supply. Also, they will have 2 layers of wool socks inside them. The woods are an awesome place to be. But wet cold feet suck no matter where you are! Woods

Venison for dinner!

2009-11-24T16:55:00.000-05:00

Sunday we put meat on the table without firing a shot! Late sunday afternoon we left the club and stopped at a friends on the way home. He offered us a chance at hunting his private woods. Ealier in the day he had shot a big doe, and was done for the day. Earlier in the day his cousin had shot at another small doe. She ran off and he couldn't find her. As we left the woods we found her. I had a doe tag for that zone so we tagged her and put what we could in the freezer. 3/4 of her was still good so we've got about 15lbs of sausage, 3 big roasts, and the backstraps in the freezer. Having the tenderloins for dinner tonight with wild rice and yams. We also have her hide and the hide from my friends doe. As soon as they are tanned they will become a possibles bag to replace my old one. With what's left I will try and get Pelenaka to sew into a pair of mittens for the sidekick. If there is enough left after that we will make some moccasins. From past experience though I know that even though a hide looks big, once you start cutting it's alot smaller than you think. Woods

Where I belong, in the woods

2009-11-21T15:09:00.000-05:00

Today was opening day of firearm deer season here in western NY. My first opener since 1987. Wow didn't realize it had been over 20 years until I typed it. Oh, I've hunted deer. But, due to job and time constraints it just hasn't happened except here and there. This year I just happened to have a weeks vacation coming and the ability to take time off at just the right time. Today wasn't a great day in the woods. But, there is no such thing as a bad day in the woods. It was also my stepdaughters first deer opener. It could have been a real letdown for her. She's a trooper though and made the best of it. Being her first time out I made araingments to hunt one of my gun clubs. I figured it would be a more controlled situation and safer for her. However I didn't know just how many people hunted the clubs lands. I knew they had enough people for some serious drives. I've been on deer drives and don't in particular care for them. I picked us a spot down in the gorge of Oatka creek. I knew the drive would be above us on top and we wouldn't be in the line of fire. I'll tell you this when the shooting up there started I knew what being a dad felt like. Right off the bat I moved DD to the down range side of a big beech tree. While we weren't in the direct line of fire I sure do know what the wrong end of a shooting gallery sounds like. Now the place we were hunting is under management and is antlerless only. If I shot the first doe she was done hunting, due to her status as a junior hunter. So, she was told the first deer was hers and I'd be her backup shot. BTW, we were both shooting traditional sidelock muzzleloaders with cloth patched round balls. Well that drive did send us a doe, a big one. She came down the hill saw us move and froze. Then she did that jump and turn 180 degrees thing that only a deer can do. There she is ears and nose twitching trying to figure out what we were. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. DD didn't shoot. Well that doe did that crouch she was going to jump, as she started to rise I let fly with a .50 cal ball and missed. Then I heard the "what the?" from my daughters tree. It seems she was just getting her sights settled when I shot. I broke my word that the first shot was hers. That pains me to no end. I could only think her gun misfired, not that due to a different angle she couldn't tell whether the deer had antlers or not. She forgave me though. trouble is forgiving myself. As it turns out it was just as well. As we left we stopped at the clubs rifle range to empty the guns. Well hers didn't go off. Several months ago I picked up an old kentucky replica from the 70's. Poorly built from a kit it had ignition problems. With quite a bit of tinkering I thought I had the gun shooting well enough to hunt with. The plan was to hunt with it, then after hunting season rebuild it into something nice. Turns out I got it working good when it was warm and dry. Put it in the misty damp air at 40 degrees and all it's old problems return. Tomorrow the sidekick will be carrying a single shot 20 gauge with slugs. I will be carrying my kentuckian replica that shoots cloverleafs all day long at 50 yards. Tonight we eat spagetti and meatballs from the store. Maybe to morrow we eat liver and onions from the woods. Lets hope at least.

Not blogging much lately.

2009-08-22T12:02:00.000-04:00

As my loyal followers have probably noticed I haven't been around much. It's been a busy summer. Our church started a community garden and I signed up for a plot. Then rather than let weeds take over the unclaimed plot next door, I took a second plot. Before that our computer picked up a virus I couldn't get off of it. So we bought a laptop and cell phones. Then dumped the phone company. Right now we're stuck with a library wireless connection. It's free, but, the libraries summer hours and my work hours don't leave me alot of opportunities to get online. I tried a wireless broadband card from Cricket as it would be the cheapest route without having to have a contract. Well it stank to say the least. Monday, I'm returning it. It made my virus ridden desk top on DSL seem quick. I'd guess the wireless card was somewhere around half as fast as a dial up connection. On top of that we couldn't get the wireless router to work as long as it was on the computer. The whole idea was portable, and the wireless for when we were out of thier service area. Maybe around the time the snow flies I can get Pelenaka to lighten up on her hatred of the cable company. If I can maybe there will be road runner in my future. Until then I'll have to sneak around the libraries hours. Woods

Cutlery for the budget minded backwoodsman

2009-06-17T00:35:00.000-04:00

Not long ago Scoutinlife posted about his idea for the perfect knife. Well here is mine. It wasn't easy to find. Took about 20 years of looking as a matter of fact. A thick, stiff 4" plain carbon steel blade in almost the shape advocated by the great outdoorsman Nessmuck. Stacked leather washer handle that fits the hand perfect. It was aquired as part of the great tool caper last summer. I almost missed it in the bottom of a box of junk. Covered in rust from the basement flood it survived. One afternoon last fall I took to cleaning it up. At the time I was skeptical. I proceeded on faith just because it felt soo good in my hand. Well the rust cleaned up leaving a brown/blue patina behind. It quickly took an edge that would shave the hair off my arm. At this point all it has dressed out is a homestead raised bunny and a steak dinner. Not a makers mark on it anywhere, however the sheath is marked "Made in England". The poor mans tomahawk is a gun show find. Having aquired my flintlock, I felt the need to have a hawk to go with it. At the same gunshow I found this carpenter's hatchet head in a box of junky knives. Priced at $3.00 I saw potential in it. A trip to work got me a handle meant for a big 24oz framing hammer for another $3.00. Less than an hour to fit them together and I had a poor mans hawk. Soon I will grind off the remains of the claws from it's backside. It's already seen plenty of use sharpening home made tomato stakes and splitting kindling. It too took a fine edge and has become a favorite. $6.00 sure beats the cost of a replica. They usually start around $25.00 for cruddy ones and go quite high in price. Lets see your favorites!

The sad state of the American male!

2009-05-28T20:34:00.000-04:00

Time for a rant. I warned you way back in the beginning of this blog I wouldn't always be Mr nice guy. Sorry if some are offended, but, I need to say it! Keep in mind this is partially tongue in cheek. Several days ago I had the opportunity to over hear a conversation between three men. Well two talked and the third just sat there and nodded. It seems guy #1 (using the term guy loosely here) was tired of hearing his wife complain about the cost of their lawn service. Which was just over $100 a month and included snow plowing in winter. Guy #2 said the cost of a mower was too much to justify doing it yourself. The cost of a tractor alone was over $1500. Guy #1 replied that their fathers mowed the same size lots with push mowers and they cost about what one months of the service does. The problem for guy #1 was he couldn't figure out how to mow along the fence. Guy 2 mentioned a string trimmer. Guy 1 replied that string trimmer scared him and just mowing his city lot was getting too complicated. It all scared guy 2, that's why he pays a service. Yes people, scared and complicated were their words, not mine. We wonder why our country is failing. Yet, how can we manufacture products and have a strong economy when most of our population is afraid of basic objects. A task as simple as cutting grass is viewed as complicated? If the crap ever does really hit the fan bad, we are in deep doo doo. I don't have time to be changing these guys diapers for them. My advice for those guys! Turn off the TV idiot box. Get away from your computer. Make your wife do her own pedicure. Get a mower and mow your lawn. Let the grass grow a little next to the fence, the guy next door is too busy giving his wife a pedicure to care. Break the mower, get grease and oil under your pretty nails and fix it. Next you'll want to change the oil in the car, do it! Before you know it, you'll know what those thing hanging there are, reach down and grab them. The only thing I think you're really afraid of is something called testosterone. Stop eating so much soy, go get yourself a proper piece of meat for dinner and you might have some more of it! It's really not that scary of a thing. Sign this one. Woods, the unreformed male!

Thinking and eating outside the box

2009-05-07T20:10:00.001-04:00

Here's a post about one of my favorite things, Eating! Like every red blooded American male I love cooking on the barbeque. Well we just gave away our grill. We found a better way. Actually I should give Pelenaka her due and tell you it was her discovery. Several years ago my darling wife decided the frugal thing to do was to can our food on a wood stove. So, we went shopping and found an old laundry stove in the weeds out behind a antique shop. Spent a bit over $100.00 to get it. We (well mostly she) have used it for three years now for food preservation and it does an excellent job. It also runs for almost free, something that can't be said for our vintage electric stove. A trip around the nieghborhood with a wagon after a wind storm yields plenty of free firewood. Maple mostly, with the occasional piece of walnut, oak or cherry thrown in. Well here is the big discovery. Maple and cherry twigs and sticks beat briquets or lump charcoal all day long. For one thing they are free rather than costing $5.00 for a 10 pound bag. Second they don't require expensive starter either. A strip of brown paper bag or news paper is all it takes. One of those square black grills with the round holes meant for veggies or seafood replaces the wire grill. Pictured above is yours truly roasting hot dogs and goat chops. The goat was the last of a young buck purchased from a friend last spring for $40.00. It lasted so long because I'm the only one that will eat it. The girls had hots and burgers. The jar in the background with the red lid is my home made hot/barbeque sauce. The sauce might just become a source of income. I took a bottle to work and stuck it in the fridge. I had it once. Today one of my coworkers asked when I was bringing in more. The bottle was in the fridge almost empty. The store bought equivilent cost almost four bucks for a ten ounce bottle. It costs me three to make half a gallon of it. Maybe I'll start charging my coworkers for hot sauce. You may recognize that bit of white to my right under the tarp in the picture, as a old fashioned claw foot tub. Yup! You guessed it. In the summer when the girls go to Texas to visit dad, we turn off the hot water heater and bathe behind a screen in the back yard. We just use the old stove for what it was designed to do, heating water. Sure beats having a gas bill! Last month our expensive new fangled front load washing machine broke. I have a strange feeling one of these days, I'm going to come home and find my wife boiling the clothes on top of this stove. Imagine that! Woods

I'm a rocklock man!

2009-05-03T23:43:00.000-04:00

It's now official. A rock makes my gun go bang. Last weeks gun show turned up this Traditions flintlock PA rifle. This wasn't my first choice. I really wanted a .45 caliber to save on lead and powder expenses. This .50 caliber gun came along at a price I couldn't refuse. Actually I missed a 20 yr old unfired Navy Arms KY rifle for half the money by minutes. It was a .45 too. That seller was parting out his brothers estate at bargain basement prices. By the time I got there though all his flintlocks were gone. I am happy with what I have though. I've found a complete set of spare lock parts for less than $30.00. That includes two mainsprings and two frizzens. This gun isn't likely to end up out of action in my lifetime. There is only one problem. This gun is 5 inches longer than my gunsafe is tall! That's OK, I've been looking for an excuse to go safe shopping! If I like this gun at the range, I may just have to scrounge up the smallbore version too. It was pointed out to me today, that I'm not posting often enough for one of my fans. Be patient my friends, a couple minor health issues have been keeping me off line. I should be back in a few weeks.

A tribute to the "hell box"

2009-04-24T20:15:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs a "Hell Box". What's a "Hell Box" you ask? It's the workshop equivilent to the kitchen junk drawer. No, I didn't come up with the name. I got the name from a writer named Granville King. Not sure if that's his real name or a pen name. Ol Granville wrote for a magazine called "pickup, Van, & Four Wheel Drive back in the 70's. GK was a desert rat living in the Mojave and wrote of his travels in his WWII vintage Jeep. Today I was reminded of ol GK and his story about "Hell Boxes".We've got a local gun show tomorrow and I have a pair of CVA percussion rifles I'm taking to trade toward a flintlock if I can find one. I disassembled one of these rifles at one point intending to refinish it. Never got around to that project. I went to put this gun back together last night only to find the screw that holds the tang missing. Taking the screw from the other rifle (above left), I headed out hardware shopping. The place I currently work doesn't have it, so I headed to the place I used to work. All I could find long enough in an M5 thread was a socket head screw(center). I figured if I had to I could grind the proper head onto it, so I bought it and a nut. When I got home I remembered the "Hell Box", and found the flathead M5(above right). Pictured below are my "Hell Boxes" or HB's.Those readers that are mechanicaly inclined already know about HB's. For the rest of you let me explain the HB concept. HB's are a very delecate and magical things. They must be properly fed, housed and treated. Feeding them is easy. Most projects has a few parts left over when you are done. Parts you will probably never need again. When this happens a few of those parts speak magically to you and say "Don't throw me out you'll regret it". These are the parts that give a HB it's magic. Find a suitable container and place it in a dark place. Under a workbench is best. That is where a HB's magic is strongest. Treatment is easy. An occassional stir is all that's required, a tap of your toe is sufficient most of the time. Do all these things and the HB rewards you with it's magic. You see all those magic talking parts have the ability to breed. If you are lucky and follow the magic formula they will breed those odd and unusual parts that you need every now and then. When pulling out your HB to look for that item of your quest, be sure to talk to it in a calm gentle voice, telling it what you need. But, be careful, don't get greedy and push your luck. Your HB might bite if you do. Today after finding my M5 flat head screw, I made the mistake of not showing my gratitude, and continued to dig for a more suitable subject. As I stirred I nearly cut myself on a double edge razor blade. This blade was in like new condition as if schick made it yesterday. Obviously something my HB bred on the spot to tell me it's displeasure for my lack of gratitude. I took the razor blade and put it in the drawer with the others. I then profusely thanked the Hell Box for it's generosity, promissed to feed it soon, and returned it to it's home beneath the workbench. That my friends is how a Hell Box works. Good luck on starting yours. I couldn't imagine not having mine. Just remember to always express your gratitude when your HB pays you back. Woods

Remembering Norris

2009-04-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

Yes remembering Norris. A man I never knew. It all started about ten years ago at a Place called Creekside Gun Shop. I was out for a saturday afternoon with buddies. Creekside had a shooting range and it was free to use. After our shooting session we would always head inside to spend whatever was left after buying ammunition. In the used book section was a copy of "Guns and Gunning" by Captain Curtis. Not a book I was exactly interested in. But, next to it was a copy of Ed McGivern's "Fast and Fancy Shooting". That was a book I wanted, but, being a first edition it wasn't in my price range after buying 30/40 Krag ammo and 44 specials for the S&W TripleLock I was playing with that day. When I returned Fast and Fancy to the shelf, I by accident knocked "Guns and Gunning" off the shelf. It was then that I was introduced to Norris. You see a hand written christmas note and ten pictures fell out of that book. The note said "Norris; Merry christmas, the eleventh one. Hoping there will be eleven more such happy ones. Pet" At that point in my life I hadn't met a woman I considered spending more than a christmas or two with. So, there may have been a little sentiment there, on my part. The first picture really stirred something up in me. In my deepest memories I could remember boat houses just like those. And between the ages of six and fourteen I spent more than a few hours in a wooden skiff just like that one with my grandpa.

Or maybe it was the guy in me that deer hunts with obsolete weapons. I don't know if that'a a Marlin or a Winchester. I do know it's not the usual carbine, that's a full length rifle barrel. Or maybe the vintage car nut in me was spoken to by the 37 ford sedan. Maybe, my first car back in high school was a 38 ford pick up truck.

Maybe it was the picture taken beside the lake. I wouldn't mind having that cooler to add to my vintage gear collection

Nice bass Norris! I can taste that one rolled in my grand aunts blend of spices, cornmeal, and milk now!

I hope Norris had the means to hang this musky on the wall! The one my grand uncle Gerald caught in the 1970's was only half that size. I wonder if that is "Pet's" shadow taking the picture, it does look like a females outline. Another picture of what appears to be the same fish. The only photo in the pile with any information on it. Written on the back is "Crowe Lake July 48".

Well it's obvious, I spent four bucks and bought the book I didn't want. It went home and sat on a desk corner for a month. Then one day I was looking at an old road map of Ontario, that was in my granpa's stuff. Like I said, I spent alot of time with grandpa in an environment that looked an awful lot like these pictures. I spent two weeks every summer at "Harrolds Camp" at Gores Landing, Rice Lake, Ontario. Right next door was the boat works where those cedar skiffs were made. And that day looking at grandpa's old map I saw something I never knew about until that day. Just a few miles over the hills north and east of Rice lake, there is another lake, It's name is Crowe Lake. So, you might say Norris and I shared summer playgrounds. We were just a few miles and a few decades apart from each other.

And you know, for a few years I really envied Norris. I mean a woman that loved him enough to by him a book for christmas. A book about something he really loved to do.

Then Pelenaka and the girls came into my life. I no longer felt envy towards Norris. I felt an even deeper kinship, to this man I never knew.

Woods

Six hour canoes and chamber inserts.

2009-03-26T20:37:00.000-04:00

Recently the book "Building the Six Hour Canoe" arrived at my local library. As promised I checked it out. It seems to be a viable project, however the instructions call for 4x16 sheets of marine plywood, not your average home center stuff. There is instructions on how to use 2 4x8 sheets with a seem in the middle. Also the completed canoe has a strict load limit of 250lbs. The 250lb weight limit rules out this project for me. I'm in the mid 240's on a good day and don't have room for something that can't at least carry one of my daughters with me. I also doubt the six hours in the title. A week of 2-3 hour sessions would probably be more like it. And I consider myself a moderately fast wood worker. The $65.00 project gun is in semi limbo until after either I buy supplies at this weekends gun show, or my Gun Parts Corp order arrives. I have already owned a 2.5" 410 adapter for 12 gage chambers. I have never used it due to 2.5" 410's costing twice what 12 ga shells cost. I may one of these days come accross some cheap 410's. Or I may get around to converting my stash of .444 marlin brass into brass 410's. Until then it will probably remain unfired. I did two weeks ago order a 12 ga to 9mm converter on ebay. It arrived within a few days. Made from aluminum by an outfit called Dina Arms. I was skeptical at first. Reviews I could find on the web weren't promising. Most claimed extreme inaccuracy. Because this project is meant to show that a practical survival gun could be built on a budget I ordered one anyways. Yesterday I grabbed a partial box of cast bullet mystery reloads. The thing functioned as promised, and at first the reviews seemed right about accuracy. First ten rounds were minute of garbage can lid at 25 yards. Shooting at a 3x5 index card with no markings everything went into a 12" area starting about 3" above the target. On the 11th shot I hit the target almost dead center. Carefully I opened the gun and noted that the 9mm stamping on the converters head faced down. This time I carefully reloaded the insert into the gun and made sure it went in exactly in the position it came out. This shot cut the edge of the previous one, the next two shots brought the group up to 2". I should add at this point it was raining a steady drizzle and my glasses were getting foggy. This calls for more tinkering. I am watching wear on the inserts rifling. I have a ton of cast bullet reloads to shoot, I am very skeptical about shooting jacketed ammo. Copper is much harder than aluminum and I suspect the adapter would wear out quite quickly. One other thing, I expected the report to be less due to the length of the shotguns barrel, it was actually quite loud. And, you'd be amazed at the amount of crud that goes out the end of a pistol barrel and stays in the shotgun barrel. In a few weeks I will order an all steel adapter from MCA and see how it shoots. I'm leaning towards a 32 H&R magnum adapter this time. I have a bunch of 32 S&W and 32 Longs kicking around. The other option might be .30 carbine, I have several hundred rounds of those. The other idea I'm toying with is .311 round balls meant for my muzzleloader thumb pressed into any of the above casings over a bunch of black powder. I've also considered and ruled out 30/30 or 45/70 adapters. I am leary of pushing the pressure in my guns frame as I'm pretty sure it's ductile iron like most cheap shotguns. Woods

Lessons on living.

2009-03-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Sidekick and Princess were out of school today due to administrators conferences or some other such bull. I worked all weekend so I get monday and friday off this week. Pelenaka had to take CJ to the Bufallo airport for his flight back to Texas at 4:30 am. This left me time to putter around and start getting the garage/shop ready for work that's been backing up. It's incredible the mess that can pile up in 4 months. Especially in a place that isn't being used for anything. Had several large coffee cans full of rusty nails and bolts, a few cast iron sash weights and a big box of old aluminum. I also had some Stainless, brass, and copper kicking around. But not enough to be in the way. I figure I'll wait to see what happens with the price of the SS,brass and copper. The steel and aluminum were in the way though. Asked if anybody wanter to take a ride out in the country. Pelenaka was napping from her morning at the airport and princess was typically being a princess and staying indoors nice and warm. Sidekick however sensed an adventure having never been to a junkyard and was all for a afternoon jaunt. So off we went, between the scrap metal and some deposit bottles and cans we had, we managed to make a whopping $6.00 and change,. Sidekick was a little disapointed at our meager take, so I decided to make a lesson of it. First it was an honest six bucks. We didn't steal anything, or do anything immoral to get it. We talked about all the places you could scrounge up scrap metal and what kind of money each would pay. The round trip from home to the junk yard and back used less than a bucks worth of gas. We stopped at a friends butcher shop. A pound and a half of lean ground beef was $4.00 and a trip accross the street for a pack of hard rolls was another $2.25. While we wandered the store I pointed out all the different ways six bucks could make a meal, or several for that matter. At the checkout I tossed another buck and a half in and got us a mounds bar and a diet dr. pepper which we shared there in the parking lot. Then we went home and cooked mom and the princess lunch. Hopefully the lesson took. The lesson that hard times are merely a state of mind that is. woods

PUNISHING!!

2009-03-19T22:32:00.000-04:00

We had a big break in the weather this past weekend. Combine that with my stepson CJ visiting from Texas. The family needed to get out and play. A trip to Walmart to get CJ and Pelenaka fishing lisences also brought home a cheap box of 550 .22's and a box of Winchester 1 ounce deer slugs. Still short in the length of pull department. There is only one possible word for shooting the $65.00 project gun. That word is PUNISHING! The current buttplate is just a hair under 1" wide and exactly 4" tall. Recoil with slugs is so severe that the screws holding the fore end iron actually tore out of the wood. Upon arrival home I ordered a 1" thick rubber buttplate from gun parts corp and an accraglass kit from Brownells. When I dug up the lead ingot I'm going to weigh it down with I found a lace on sling from an old TC muzzleloader. On a possitive note. The gun has been dropped twice hitting it's front sight both times. The first time was enough to bend the sight slightly. Cosmetics ruined at this point I merely bent it back with a pair of pliers and touched up the anodizing with some site black. I have no doubt that the loctite black max will keep holding for a long time to come. The 9mm chamber insert has been ordered. I am going to have to find some managed recoil type slugs for this gun. My daughters are tough for girls thier age. But, I can't see at this point handing this gun to a 110lb 14 yr old to deer hunt with. I shot it five times saturday while wearing two shirts and a heavy wool hunting coat. Five days later I'm still bruised. I spent enough time at one point behind the butt of a 45/70 to have considered myself intimate with it's recoil. Also sent a few rounds down range with a friends Ruger #1 in 416 Rigby. Niether of those guns dealt anywhere near the recoil as this little 12 bore. Woods

Some times I think this stuff just finds me!

2009-03-10T17:39:00.000-04:00

So, my day starts like this. It's my day off and I'm laying in bed at 8:30 am. I'm listening to the rain fall and staring at the ceiling. A ceiling with very old dirty paint on it. Wouldn't be so bad, but, I painted the walls last summer and Pelenaka has been stripping and staining the woodwork on her days off. So this ceiling is out of place with everything else so nice and clean. Also there is a 2'x10' section that has been primed where I did some repairs. Pelenaka comes in from work and asks what I'm going to do today. "Maybe you should get around to paintting the ceiling" she suggests. And she's right, I hate painting ceilings and it's time to stop procrastinating. It's three days before payday and I have no pocket cash. I head to the bank and get $20.00 for another gallon of primer. Primed it will at least all be clean and white. On payday I'll grab some bright white and second coat it. Until then I need to prime over the dark paint in the hall too. So, that should keep me busy. So, I get my money from the ATM and head out. Worse than painting ceilings is going into work on your day off. Working for a home center has both it's advantages and disadvantages. So, the thrift store is a block from the bank and on the way to work. I was just there last thursday, but, I'm in procrastination mode. I wander about looking for wool clothes. I'm on a kick lately to replace my hunting clothes that are getting worn out. In the background I hear some snobbish woman make a comment about that homemade wood trunk being nasty and who in thier right mind would pay 10 bucks for it, blah blah blah. Homemade is one of those keywords that set me going. I've had a few wooden boxes on my to build list anyhow. Wanting them for camp gear and bug out kits, I head over to check it out. Needless to say when I saw it I headed for the checkout before anybody could recognize the pricing error. It just happens one of those wooden boxes I've had on my to build list, is a camp kitchen. A camp kitchen just like the one I happily paid $10.00 for!

I raced home and put a bunch of enamelware in it(also thrift store/garage sale finds). Pelenaka loved it when she saw it. Last weekend she found a mint condition very early Coleman cooler. The kind that the handle folds up and keeps the lid closed. Her only request is that I fit it with a piece of metal inside the lid. Her idea is a place to work that will be easy to clean. I have a piece of aluminum flashing that should work perfect. Now I suppose I should get around to building the cupboard to match it. Part of my wifes dowry was a late 1960's mongomery ward tent camper. Maybe this year will be it's restoration year.

If that's the case maybe a 1969 Dodge Power Wagon will find me. A red one, stepside, with a white cab roof. Just like the one dad bought new in the fall of 68.

Projects update.

2009-03-05T01:38:00.000-05:00

Well after another serious cold snap. The weather may be breaking again. Temps should hit the high 40's here tomorrow. I have a serious need to hit the woods. Tomorrow morn I will hit the shooting range for a bit, then go visit a gun dealer in the next town over. A few months ago I picked up some guns from an estate. I had to take all of them or none of them. In the bunch was a Ruger Single Six. It's the third one I've owned and haven't felt affection for any of them. As much as I'm the type that was born 100 years too late, I am partial to modern swing out cylinder S&W revolvers. Well that dealer in the next town has a pair of S&W model 34's and a model 63. Both of the 34's are early flat latch versions. While the 63's stainless steel would be more practical, I will try to trade him out of one the 34's first. I have always wanted a "kit gun" and now might just be the time to do it. Last time I was there, he also had a pair of Savage 99's in the rack. One 50's vintage in 300 Savage and the other a 99A of 70's vintage in 308. Seeing I sold my last real high power rifle to aquire my daughters 22's a couple months ago, I may just try some wheeling and dealing there too. After a quick inventory today, I have decided to part with a total of 5 guns in order to aquire 3 more. The third gun will be a 45 caliber flintlock. A pair of 50 caliber caplocks will be leaving to make room for this one. The decision wasn't too hard. Back in 1988 when I built my first muzzleloader it had interchangable 32 and 45 barrels. I aquired bullet molds, patch cutters and every accessory you could think of. Back then I was buying Quality RWS and CCI percussion caps from a corner drug store for $1.19 a hundred. Now caps are $5.00+ a hundred when I can find them, and they are the cheap crappy ones. Flintlocks don't need percussion caps and 45 caliber balls use alot less lead. In the current political environment, I'm betting lead and powder are going to become scarce commodities. Small bore guns will be returning to the field. When I get back home tomorrow I will dig around and find the big lead sash weight I have hiding somewhere around here. While I'm at it, I will dig out a big piece of parafin that's kicking around too. If my days off next week are fair weather, I will start the buttplate for the project shotgun. Should the weather be not cooperating next week, I have another project I will blog about. I have found instructions for building a slate turkey call. I'm guessing they will only cost a couple bucks apiece to make. If I can find slates that is. If I find all the parts, we will build one, or many depending on how many I can get out of a floor tile. I have also ordered from my local library the book "Building The Six Hour Canoe". Expect a review and if it looks like a practical project, maybe next summer we will set out to turn two pieces of plywood into something to fish and hunt from. Woods

I think we can do it!!!!

2009-02-17T20:27:00.001-05:00

Here we have a bottle of the "accidental wine". I started out as a bushel of concorde grapes meant to become juice for breakfast. However shortly after my DW Pelenaka made the purchase, we both found ourselves working a ton of hours or being stuck on other projects. So, here we are with grapes in the fridge, in the old ice box downstairs, and in a cooler. After several days a few get moldy. After a week alot of them are moldy. Wife is upset we're going to have to make compost out of them. I'm upset we're both working overtime, rather than making extra money, we're throwing money away. Finally I get a day off, the kids are at thier dad's in texas, pelenaka is working and I'm looking at a bunch of grapes. I start to thinking, maybe they'll make wine good enough to cook with. Maybe I should try? If they bomb as wine they'll turn into vinegar. We can use vinegar too. I have some champagne yeast and some flip top beer bottles set aside for a batch of homemade rootbeer that still hasn't been made. I also have some old wine jugs and air locks. What the heck! I start sorting grapes. The bad ones head for the compost bucket. The good ones get pinched between my fingers into a large clean stewpot. When I'm done I have almost two gallons of crushed grapes in the stewpot. I know the inside of red grapes are white, and so is thier juice. To turn the juice red the grapes need to ferment skins and all. I toss a cup of sugar into the grapes along with half the packet of yeast. Everything gets stired up, and a lid is put on the pot and it's stuck in a warm place. Next day I'm back to work. Ten days later I peek into my pot. It's bubbling, man it's really bubbling! Another pot of water on the backyard wood cookstove, an old T shirt in the pots bottom boiling too. Drag out the cider/wine press, soap it up, rinse it off, rinse again with the boiling water. Fit the old T shirt into the presses basket. Put the grapes in and squeeze them. Took longer to clean the press than to press it all out. When all id done we're about a cup short of two gallons. Juice is divided between two gallon jugs and some sugar water is added to bring the level up into the necks. Airlocks on and into the cellar it went. Forgotten for months. Suddenly found and remembered months later, I decide to bottle it up. One flip top quart and a bunch of pints. I save a little less than a pint for an early sample. The sealed bottles go back to the cellar. The sample goes into the fridge minus one glass. The first glass is a bit watery, just like the first and only batch of hard cider. DW never gets around to tasting a sample, the sample oxidizes and finds it's way into a frying pan with some mushrooms. Tonight, again a couple months later, DW needs some wine to cook with and cracks a bottle. The balance goes into glasses. Not bad! Better than I expected! It's quite drinkable. I think this self sufficiency thing might be possible. Tom Good had his "Peapod 75". And Woodsrunner has his "Concorde 08". Lets have a toast to self suffiency! Cheers!

Installing sights on the $65.00 project shotgun

2009-02-14T23:47:00.000-05:00

The first step to making the project shotgun a practical gun we need sights. Here we have a set of TruGlo brand fiber optic sights meant for a Knight brand muzzleloader. I aquired these last summer at a garage sale for $2.00. Also in the photo is a tube of Loctite 380 Black Max cement. This cement is formulated to be used in applications where shock is a factor. I couldn't find this locally, but, was able to special order it from my local Lowes store, which can special order through W.W.Grainger, the industrial supply company. Shipped to my door it was around $7.00. In addition you will need a flat surface to work on, a vice with padded jaws if possible, a square a drill press or a second square,a scriber, some rubber cement, an abrasive of some sort, and alcohol or hot water & detergent to degrease everything.

The weather has turned cold again and my workshop has no heat. Lucky for me an old friend offered me the use of his engineering lab at work. While I suddenly found myself in a high tech setting, the environment we were in was overkill, so don't let it intimidate you. The important thing was having a warm place to work so the cement could bond properlyHere's the gun set in the vice. Careful adjustment was made to make sure the gun was vertical. The fore end had been removed and we clamped on the barrel lump. Had this vice had padded jaws we could have clamped on the reciever itself. After clamping the gun in the vice we moved it around unti it was vertical. To do this we placed a square on our smooth surface and checked it against the sides of the reciever. This gun has an investment cast reciever, the right side of the gun was milled true during manufacture, the left side however was anything but flat. The right side is what we used to put our square against. The next step is to find the very top of the gun barrel. This is done by placing the second square against the first or by placing a piece of rod in your drill press. This is gently brought down on top of the barrel where it touches the top of the radius, which you then mark with your scriber.

Here the barrel has been marked and using the scribe marks to center the sights I have rubber cemented the sights in place. This allowed me to make sure of where I wanted the sights on the barrel. Having decided the permanant location of the sights I'm scribing around thier bases. After this step I removed the sights and used the scribe marks as a guide in removing the bluing and roughing the barrel surface beneath the sights. I didn't try to remove the bluing all the way to my scribe lines, I needed them to use as a reference when finally cementing the sights in place. While I was at it, I used my abrasive to remove the anodizing from the bottom of the sights themselves. I then degreased the barrel with alcohol and applied a bead of black max to the barrel where the bluing was removed.
Here is the finished job. All we have to due is put the fore end back on. I'm going to wait a few days before trying to shoot it. This should give the cement time to fully cure. You may think the sight locations look a little funny. There was a method to my madness. The rear sight was located in front of rather than on top of the chamber. When a gun fires the barrel actually expands slightly in the chamber area. A microscopic and temporary stretch of the metal for sure, but, why risk the cement bond eventually breaking because of it. Also being in the over 40 crowd my eyes are starting to feel thier age. The farther away that rear sight is, the easier it is to see. And yes there is 3/4 of an inch between the end of the barrel and the front sight. I mentioned in the first post about this gun that it might get screw in chokes. There has been another development on that front. A recent talk with a gunsmith friend put me on another track. Back in the days before screw in chokes, add on choke devices were popular. Sold under the names of polychoke, cutts compensator, etc. It was popular to take older shotguns with very tight chokes and convert them to these adjustable systems. When these devices were installed, it destroyed any collector value these guns might have had. Well, now it's popular to take those old often worn out shotguns and make coach style guns for cowboy action shooting. This has left my gunsmith friend with a huge parts box full of old style choke devices. And that box is mine to pick through with whatever I select costing between $5.00 and $15.00 depending on what I pick. These devices mount to the outside of the barrel, so we'll need that 3/4" to mount one.

Next time we'll either pick and install a choke device, or we will make our cast lead butt plate.

Oh! BTW, when we were finished my friend passed along 14 boxes of cast bullet 9mm handgun reloads. Can anybody guess what our first chamber insert will be? THANKS Jeff!

Woods

Another book recomendation.

2009-02-12T19:24:00.000-05:00

As I said in a previous post. One of my new years resolutions was to spend more time reading books. Well, I just finished reading "Unbridled Cowboy" by Joseph B. Fussell. This book is the memoirs of a man who lived from 1879 to 1957. A rebellious texas teenager who set out to make his own life under his own terms. In a time when men were still expected to be men. In fact proud to be men. This book is up there with Elmer Kieth's "Hell, I was There" on my list of must reads. I found "Unbridled Cowboy" in the new release section of my local library. If you like first hand accounts of life in another time, this book won't dissapoint you. Saturday I install the fiber optic sights on the $65.00 project gun. Hopefully I will remember to get someone to take pictures of the process. These sights were purchased last summer at a garage sale for $2.00. We will be using a cement recomended by my gunsmith rather than soldering. The cement adds another $6.00 and change to the project. Not only am I trying to keep the project low budget, I am trying to keep this project at a skill level that just about anyone can do. Woods

Bread, the families staff of life

2009-02-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

In our house bread is a family effort. Last summer my dear bride Pelenaka ordered a bushel of Montana organic wheat from our local health food store. It was one of our rare instances of lack of communication. A week later found us getting ice cream at the county fair and talking to one of our food network friends. When I inquired to our friend about buying wheat from a local grower, Pelenaka said nothing until our friend left. A couple weeks later found us with the Montana wheat home in buckets and our friend knocking on our door with a couple bags containing 100lbs of local grown. The locally grown only cost us a couple loaves of bread to our friend and a couple more to the farmer. The locally grown has proven to be a blessing of sorts.The locally grown wheat came right from the combines auger without further cleaning. Here stepdaughter known as "sidekick" picks chaff from corns of the locally grown wheat. We often find the family sitting around the table doing this. No TV, radio, or video games, just family joking and conversation. Lately we've been cleaning and grinding for our next batch of bread while the current batch bakes. The warmth of the oven allows the thermostat to be turned down in the rest of the house. The warm room and the smell of baking bread soon has everyone relaxed, and the conversation soon flows.

Here the youngest stepdaughter, known from here on as "princess" grinds the grain. The Retsel little Ark mill makes short work of grinding flour. This past december it replaced the Back to Basics mill we had used for two years. The back to basics still works. But, the Retsel greatly increased production rate and quality with it's finer grind. The Retsel mill is well worth the money and a motor can be easily added at a later date should the desire or need arise. The only modification has been the adition of a piece of aluminum flashing cut to fit snugly below the stones of the mill. This helps keep the flour headed toward the catch pan rather than on the mills operator. We are very happy with the Retsel mill and highly recomend it for it's quality alone. The fact that it's american made made it's purchase part of my plan to save the American economy. If you read around on the net you may read of Retsel taking a long time to fill it's orders. That may or may not be Retsels fault. They tell you right up front on the website it takes 2-3 weeks for them to ship. Well it then too UPS a week to get our mill from Idaho to Salt Lake City, then another four days from there to Buffalo, NY. I'm sure you too will find home made bread good for your health. And I hope you'll find the time to grind your own flour. If you do grind your own, may your family find it's health in the family activity. And you know what? I was so busy enjoying myself making bread with the family, I forgot to take a picture of the bread itself. I'll have to post that one later for you. Woods

The $65.00 project shotgun part 1

2009-01-31T23:58:00.000-05:00

Here's the $65.00 project shotgun. That was the dealers price tag. I was out trying to find a new owner for a box full of old gun books when I came accross this gun. After selling the books my out of pocket costs are more like $35.00. It's a 12ga 3" Rossi single shot. Cut down to a youth gun of sorts. 19" barrel, 33" oal, 12.5"lop. Previous owner cut it down for his grandson to shoot. Shortening the barrel left it a cylinder bore, and sightless. The length of pull is so short my short armed teenage daughter even has trouble holding it. Though she did call it "kinda cute" when she first saw it. I shot it with trap loads and it kicks like a minature mule. Though it's bark isn't as bad as I expected. So, I suppose it is "kinda cute", pit bull puppy cute, that is. We're going to make it into a deer/turkey hunting machine. We're also going to play with some chamber inserts allowing it to shoot various rifle and pistol ammo. Future instalments on this project will include.

Installing a set of fiber optic sights purchased last summer for $2.00 (garage sale)

Making a cast lead buttplate to lengthen the stock and add some recoil absorbing weight.

Making a slip on leather recoil pad, to hide the lead buttplate and lessen recoil.

We will test several brands and types of chamber inserts.

We may also try our hand at installing screw in chokes, providing the expense doesn't take us out of the low budget category.

Woods

One mans junk is another mans treasure!

2009-01-31T22:45:00.001-05:00

This is why I love junk shops! For those that don't know, this is a camp oven. It has legs so you can stand it in a pile of campfire coals, and a dished lid so you can put coals on the top. A person that is good can actualy bake in one of these things. It's not to be confused with a dutch oven, which has a domed lid and no legs. This one has never been used, still has the factory wax coating on it. When I aquired it a week ago it had a broken handle. Which is probably what caused the big 3" long chip in it's lid. Last weekend when my wife Pelenaka and I had a rare weekend off together, we went junk shopping. Last time I looked a 10qt deep camp over was bringing $85.00 + shipping in the mail order catalogs. And shipping would be quite steep, this thing weighs nearly 20lbs. It was right next to the door when we walked in. The chip isn't so bad, there is still some lip there to keep the coals from falling off. It was priced at $20.00, I walked it right over to the counter and told the lady to pack it up, I was taking it, but wanted to look around. The lady promptly informed me they were having a 25% off sale. so it ended up costing $15.00. For $70.00 I think I can live with the chip. The broken handle came out of my blacksmiths shop scrap pile. And this is why I love junk shops!

Woods

The weather has me thinking

2009-01-30T19:23:00.000-05:00

It's been bitter cold here for weeks. The cold has finally broke and temps have risen into the 20's. That's a mixed blessing when you live downwind from Lake Erie. Bitter cold air won't hold much moisture. Just below freezing air will hold alot of it. For a little while at least. When that moisture travels a few miles from it's source it begins falling in the form of snow. It reminds me of a winter many years ago. I was old enough to hunt, so we are probably talking the winter of 77. One of the worst on record. Dad and I were out hunting with friends from church. Several hours into our hunt the elder brother Alan came by my stand and asked if I was cold. I sure was and told him so in a most colorful manner! At this point he said we should build a fire. We gathered wood and tinder and Alan pulled a small metal box from his pocket. Well I got a lesson that day. How easy it really is to start a fire with flint and steel. And I've been able to snap them off pretty easy ever since. I have a rare saturday off tomorrow. My stepdaughters age 12&14 both have licenses. Maybe we'll go squirrel hunting. I've got a small metal box over there on the shelf. It's right next to the .22lr cartridges. I'm sure at least one of the girls would like to learn the magic of it's contents.

Tales of my passing have been greatly exagerated.

2009-01-27T23:25:00.000-05:00

Or something to that effect, loosely quoting Mark Twain. Job changes and new years resolutions have kept me away from blogging for four months now. Hopefully this is my return to somewhat regular posting. Back in september I had many plans for posts that never happened. A new job at the end of september took away some of my energy for a bit. The early onset of a unusually severe winter here in western NY put several blacksmithing projects on hold. New years resolutions this year included spending more quiet time with my wife and stepdaughters whenever possible. I've also vowed to read more. The coldest january in years has helped with both of those endevors. I also vowed early to get back to my hunting/fishing/conservationist roots. This vow was made well before new years and has had mixed success. Both my lovely daughters spent a week at camp Rushford this past summer. While there they both competed the hunters safety course required here in NY. Mid october found me at a gun show with my old Krag sporter slung over my shoulder. I managed to make a nearly even trade for a pair of brand new scoped Marlin model 60's. This was my reward to the girls for thier effort. And it required some serious effort on thier part. At the last minute NY changed the hunters safety course to include hours of pre course homework. Of course we were notified about ten days before they were due to leave for camp. This was also at the very time they were cramming for school final exams. We did manage to get in a day of squirrel hunting as soon as deer season closed. Due to the bitter cold we didn't see many and didn't get a shot at all. We still have a month of squirrel and rabbit season to go, should we get enough warm weather to open the trails back up, we'll head out again. We have however managed to get a bunch of range time in. Both girls are becoming deadly shots. My 14yr old Rebecca has also informed me that we are going turkey hunting this spring. And the recent purchase of a project shotgun will probably help that happen. Yesterday I dug up my old call, chalked it up and showed myself just how easy sounding like a turkey isn't. Hopefully by spring the shotgun and the calling will be in good enough shape. I would hate to disapoint the young woman that has turned into my best outdoor sidekick ever. So, now a resolution to my readers. I will try to post more often. Future posts will possibly include: "Making a $65.00 shotgun shoot!" "A modern version of the classic great bellows" "Prepardness on $5.00-$10.00 per payday" "The Woodsrunner plan to save the American economy" "Building an muzzleloading rifle from an intermediate to advanced skill level kit" "Foraging and woodscrafting 101" "Foraging in the urban wilderness" "A kit built traditional english longbow, and learning to shoot it" "Home brewed wine (or vinegar, lol) on a budget" "Making knives from old saw blades, files and chisels" "Equiping the homestead shop on a budget" See you all soon and watch your topknot Woods

The Alexander, NY Steam Show

2008-09-20T20:32:00.000-04:00

For many years I've been a fan of steam shows. This year we attended the show in Alexander, NY for the first time. Great fun and it's right in our back yard. If you're the type like us that "lives in a museum", as my stepdaughter puts it, the flea market alone is worth the admission price. You can find anything in these flea markets. Want a cookstove that burns wood, coal, or has electric, yup it was there. Tools to work on just about anything, sure thing, it's there. How about something different to work up the garden and pull a wagon around? Cute little tractor on the trailer should fit the bill. And if the wife gets upset, buy her the purple hit and miss engine behind it. How many of her friends could have a purple engine? She'll be the talk of the garden club. Plan on spending two days there. You'll need one for just the flea market and another for the displays. Most of which are functional and working. This threshing crew worked in spite of the rain. The wet bundles made that old steamer get down and talk to ya! Smell the smoke, watch how much labor it took to feed your grandparents generation, then remember this was a major step up the technology ladder from what they had less than a hundred years before that.

But, remember to keep an eye on your wife. If you don't you might find yourself in the middle of a big cheese caper! But, I'll let her tell you about that.

http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2008/09/say-cheese.html

Keep the weekend after labor day free, and I'll see you there next year.

http://alexandersteamshow.com/contactus.htm

Woods

What I'd give for some ice in my whiskey

2008-08-29T23:10:00.000-04:00

For three years I've been a patient man. My wife loves her restored 1930's vintage ice box. And she should love it. She did a wonderful job restoring it. However man did invent mechanical refrigeration for some very good reasons. Don't get me wrong, an ice box gets the job done and gets it done well. However it's been a good many years since the ice man drove his wagon down our street. Also for some reason block ice can't be bought at all anymore here. That means nearly 25% of our freezers space was being consumed by ice making. Don't forget to add ice, or you'll be throwing stuff away. Also don't forget the byproduct of ice in iceboxes is cold water coming out a hose in the bottom. Forget to empty that bucket and you get a cold puddle on your floor. Not a pleasant suprise at midnight when wearing just socks. And if you like a good bourbon on the rocks before bed, forget the rocks. You won't have cubes handy with an icebox. Back in 1942 my appliance repair man grandfather, was given a slightly used Norge refrigerator by his emplyer as a wedding gift. An event that was given special note by my grandmother in her wedding book. Not a suprise given such things were rationed and hard to get during that wartime. Shortly after wars end my grandparents aquired a new Westinghouse which did daily duty until the mid 60's when it was replaced by a modern self defrosting Frigidaire. as long as I could remember my grandparents shopped monthly and kept the overflow in the old Westinghouse in the cellar. Just before my meeting Pelenaka, grandpa passed from this world and grandma went to assisted living. I begged for the old Westinghouse. It had been around from my earliest memories. It sat in storage for three years. Then it was saved by a side of beef. Yes a cow saved my beloved antique fridge. You see my wife is about the best bargain hunter I know. And she found a deal on meat, alot of it. Suddenly there was no room to make ice for the ice box. If you count the great grandmothers grandma nursed in thier elder years. Pelenaka and my children will make the fifth generation of the woodsrunner family served by this old timer. Considering grandpa always kept it in top shape and serviced, hopefully it will serve a few more. I don't know what my grandparents paid for it. But, it has to have one of the best depreciation rates ever. BTW, that picture was taken hours after being pulled out of storage. Pelenaka did her thing and it looks almost new now. Here's to having ice in your whiskey. Woods

It's about time! Maybe someday I can make a living at it.

2008-08-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

In my late teens I aquired a blacksmiths outfit cheap at auction. Sold that stuff years ago. It's hard to explain such things being used as living room furniture to girlfriends and landlords. Back in may Pelenaka and I attended a local auction in an attempt to aquire an anvil. I ended up walking out with a bunch of old woodworking planes and a phone number in my pocket. The phone number led to this late 1800's vintage Peter Wright anvil. She weighs in at a near perfect 124lbs. I promptly built a stand from a couple old treated 2x10's I had kicking around. Someday I'll replace the stand with a more stable one built fron a 6x6. I didn't have any 6x6's in the scrap pile though. When I went shopping for a forge and blower, it was serious sticker shock time. Back in 1980 I bought an anvil, leg vise, forge and blower for under $100.00. The blower alone brings that much now. I used my money to buy the best quality anvil I could find. Any real blacksmith should be able to build the rest. I had an old all metal typewriter stand in my shop. A friend had an old GM truck brake rotor in his scrap pile. $3.00 for a hair dryer from the thrift store. $6.00 for a foot switch from Radio Shack. Had some pipe fittings in my supplies as well as the angle irons. Total with the fire cement and fire bricks came to less than $60.00 I've gotten 3/8" square stock to white heat, surely hot enough to weld at. The only real disadvantage is the steep sides of the brake rotor makes taking the fire apart difficult. Not impossible, just difficult. It will do for now. Hopefully what I have here will allow me to earn enough smithing to upgrade as I go. With luck this will eventually turn into a homestead business.

Honest! It followed me home! Can I keep it?

2008-08-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Part of the big tool deal turned out to be this old cider/wine press. Around the fourth of july these two elderly sisters called me and asked if I would be interested in thier late fathers tools. Too bad thier fathers tools went through a basement flood and didn't have much value. Except to me. I'm the guy that has devoted his life to keeping older quality stuff out of the junk pile. I threw a offer at them and told them I'd be interested in the cider press under the junk pile in the garage, and a couple other items for an additional money of course. They took a few weeks to think things over and I'd forgotten all about it. Then one day the phone rang and we met to talk things over. This time I took my photo album with me to show off my handywork. After looking at my other cider presses they decided I should have the cider press included with the tools. I can picture this thing refinished in food grade gray powdercoat with black legs. Unfortunately there isn't room in the workshop to keep it. There is only one wine/cider press allowed to have permanant residency on this homestead. I do know another urban homesteader that's been hounding me for a cider press. And he's an electrician! I can fix anything, but, if I can I hire out electricity. So, A swap has been propsed. My workshop may get electricity yet! Besides that this 100+ year old house needs some things fixed that are beyond my abilities. He gets cider and wine, I get peace of mind knowing my home won't burn down in the middle of the night. Sound like a plan to me! If any of my readers has information on Juicy Fruit brand fruit presses, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to know more about this thing.

Honestly, I only wanted a couple of them.

2008-08-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

Last fall I came accross an old Bailey #4 plane in a thrift store for $4.00. This past winter found me leaving the hardware store job to return to the machine trades. With this job change came the opportunity to aquire rough sawn hard woods used for packing crates. There are several pieces of hickory, basswood, and oak out in the shop now. So, I figured I'd go out and find myself a jointer plane. By the time the summer was over my shop wall looked like this! To aquire the big wood bodied Stanley jointer plane I hade to buy the compass plane, and a millers falls #17 block plane. Then a month ago I picked up all the hand tools in an estate in the next town over. That got me the Stanley 78 plane , a Stanley 9-1/4 block plane and the greenlee drawknife. Then one day I found myself in a antique shop, for $10.00 I couldn't help but buy the Stanley #80 Cabinet scraper hanging vertically at the left of the photo. Another unintended collection I suppose. Just like cider presses and yankee screwdrivers. I'll save the yankee screw driver story for another day. They can be seen to the right of the photo.

A thought or two for our presidential candidates.

2008-05-30T19:08:00.000-04:00

Lady, and gentlemen. Thank you for your interest in running our country. While you all have pretty impressive resume's, I would like your attention on a few matters. I understand running for "change" is a very populist thing to do. Would you please be a little more specific with your ideas. Such ideas may have merit. However I would like to point out that every election year "change" is a major running point. And I agree a few things may need changing. You also must understand something. The only things I don't percieve as broken are the very few things that people in your profession haven't managed to "change". Secondly I think it's about time you thought up a practical energy policy for my country. I don't care about ever being able to buy gasoline for .89 cents a gallon ever again. However I would like to see someone come up with a long term plan. Rather than pandering with talk of dropping the gas tax for the short term how about a practical idea. Chew on this thought. Years ago you caved in to the lobbyists from the auto companies and gave tax breaks for small businesses to buy trucks. Now we have day care owning soccer moms and corner deli owners driving SUV's so big their parking spaces require a zipcode. So it became fashionable to have a four wheel drive monstrocity parked in your driveway. How about you now turn things back around. A major problem is most people are so upside down in thier vehicle getting rid of it will push them even closer to bankruptcy. A new taxation idea. How about if someone were to trade in thier gas guzzler you let them write off the depreciation loss on thier income tax. On top of that should the replacement vehicle be built here in the states and get 35mpg or better, let them write off the interest over the life of the loan. Or if they are one of those rare people that pay cash give them a serious tax incentive. Say a $1000.00 write off for the purchase. Make it so people can't afford not to have an efficient vehicle in thier driveway. Also maybe it's time you stopped paying industries to look for solutions to problems. As long as looking is more profitable than finding there won't be any solutions found. The US government has spent tons of money subsidizing research to industry that would profit from the technology if found. Of course while American companies still scratch thier heads, the Japanese (Honda) has announced they will be leasing Hydrogen fuel cell cars in California next year. Sorry, not not ten years from now, not twenty years from now, next year!! Maybe we instead of pledging money for research we announced there would be a $2,000.00 tax incentive given to purchasers of hydrogen (or biodiesel, electric, or methanol) powered cars, half the new cars sitting on the dealers lots would not be gasoline powered at all. Also, considering that the airline industry has now about priced itself out of reach for most travellers. Isn't it about time we promoted Amtrak? Trains now travelling at 20% of thier capacity won't use much more fuel if they were running at 80% passenger capacity. Also while your at it, get those idiots at the post office to put the mail back on the rails. Shoot rail travel might even become profitable enough to privitize once again. Did you know there was a time when railroads owned things called train stations and paid property taxes on them. They were also the pride and joy of most comunities. You could tell alot about a town by looking at it's train station. OH! did I mention in most cases the railroads paid property taxes on train stations. Unlike airports that are owned and run at a loss by governments. And if you've seen one airport, you've seen them all. Of course I know that I'm holding my hand on my butt hoping that one day I'll be able to ride one of the old premier passenger trains, in all it's glory again. But, if a time existed it could happen, it's now. Just thinking.... Woods

A book recomendation

2008-04-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

I rarely read fiction. So when I pick up a piece of fiction and blast through it in three days it must be good. So I can highly recomend the book "World Made By Hand", by James Howard Kunstler. This novel set not too far in the future tells the tale of a small upstate NY town after the collapse of our modern society. This book is well written and presents a scenario that just might be possible given our current state of affairs. I enjoyed this book and highly recomend it. http://www.worldmadebyhand.com/

Thought for today and every day

2008-03-30T08:40:00.000-04:00

I recently came accross a quote that I felt inspired by. I thought I would share it. From the book "The Seven Lamps of Architecture, The Lamp of Memory", (pub 1849). Authored by the Englishman John Ruskin (1819-1900) "When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them and men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance on them, see this our father did for us." Those word my friends are words to not just build and work by, but to live by as well. Woods

Important lessons from breakfast

2008-02-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

The meal we most often take for granted. Also the one we are most likely to skip. But, even the humble breakfast has lessons in it. Last fall my little information network brought me word of a local potato field being harvested. The good news was the farmer was more than happy to let people into his field to glean what his machinery missed. Now modern machinery misses alot, especially at the ends of the rows. Big machines don't turn around that easily and rows are straight. That means the last 40-50 foot of row is usually left in the field. In my mind the healthiest way to spend a day is in the great outdoors. I gathered up my two stepdaughters and headed out with every bag, box and basket we had. The first round lasted about an hour and we went home to unload. After this the older of the two girls anounced she was tired, but, the youngest begged to go back. Who am I to look a 11 yr old frugal gift horse in the mouth. Of course we went back. Twice! Now a Chevy Aveo doesn't hold alot. And surely there are better vehicles more suited to truck duty. But, my wifes little econobox has never paused at a load. The day netted about 400lbs of potatoes into our cellar and about an equal amount either given to friends, donated, or culled. The next day, I taught the girls to make potato pancakes from scratch.

The following weekend we visited our friends at Harper Hill Farm. The girls got the full tour and even got to go into the henhouse to gather eggs. We came home with several dozen huge eggs. That sunday before church the girls got a lesson in omelette making. They were some of the best omelettes I've ever eaten. As you can see in the photo, we also made home fries from our gleaned potatoes. Not shown is the cider pressed from apples found in abandoned orchards and purchased as culls from local farmers.

My children will never confuse a supermarket as the origin of thier food. They will know where it comes from. And having expended the sweat to aquire it, I doubt they will ever take it for granted. They even giggle at the idea that other kids think food just comes from the store.

Giving thanks

2007-10-12T00:47:00.000-04:00

Reading another blog a few days ago left me in deep thought. Subject was the things a man really needs. On top of the list was "A good woman". I'm lucky in that respect. I was a bachelor for many years. I knew alot of people that needed to be in a relationship. I found myself on occasion the subject of ridicule because of my hard nosed unwillingness to settle for less than the woman I truly wanted to spend my life with. I'm old fashioned, too old fashioned in the eyes of most modern women. My fondest childhood memories were time spent with my grandma. A devout christian woman, A wife, a homemaker, and a moral compass for her family. My hardnosed ideal was, I wouldn't settle for less. My children if there would ever be any deserved the best I could find them. Well it took me until after my fourtieth birthday, but, I found her. The amazing thing. For much of our lives we were only the next town away from each other. At one point we were only blocks from each other. And these were relatively small town, not large metropolitan areas. I know it was god's will we would find each other. But, his plans weren't immediate. We had to learn enough from life to be ready for each other. I know I have come as close as I ever could when it comes to finding my soul mate. She blogs also. Here's our life from her viewpoint. http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/ Thank you my love. I can't recall what life was like without you. Thank you god. My prayers were answered. My bride brought three children with her. Learning to be a dad was alot harder than learning to be a traditional husband. It would have been easier had I been with these kids from the start. Still the experience has been a great one. I know I can be difficult at times. I just hope they keep understanding I'm on a learning curve here. Thank you again god. The other things I don't give thanks for enough. I have a roof over my head, it keeps me dry and warm. I have a soft pillow in a warm bed to rest when I'm tired. I have the fruits of the earth to nourish me. I have work to keep me feeling productive. I have an active productive mind, and the ability to make my hands do my minds will. Thank you god, I have all that I need. Woods

Saving seeds part two.

2007-10-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

A pepper is a bit easier than a tomato. Here we have a pepper that was found hidden in a corner of the countertop behind some other stuff. These things happen when you have kids. As you can see it's way past it's prime and inedible at this point. Good thing is we forgot to save seeds from this variety, so, even though it is half rotten and moldy, it's a perfect candidate for seed saving.
Cut the core out of your pepper. Carefully remove as much of the meat as possible. Set the core on a sunny window sill for a couple days. By then the seeds will be dry enough to rub off with your thumb. If your pepper is of the hot type you may want to wear gloves. Definately do not touch your eyes or any mucus membranes while handling hot pepper seeds. They often hold the most caspation.
Rub your seeds out into a bowl and set in a dry place for a couple weeks. Store in paper envelopes to prevent mold formation. Because this pepper had mold inside it. I will be washing these seeds before redrying them on a piece of screening, then I will put them in a paper envelope for storage.

woods

How to save a seed

2007-10-11T00:41:00.000-04:00

For generations farmers saved their own seeds. Yes, the seed houses have been around almost as long. But, when agriculture was still human sized it made more sense to save your own. First of all you can adapt your crop to your conditions. Have damp clay soil and a wilt or fungus problem to go with it? Hey, that plant over there was barely touched by it. Save the seeds from that one, maybe it will pass on it's resistance to the next generation. Got dry drought conditions? WOW, that plant looks better than the rest! Save the seeds! Hey, this tomato tastes so much better than the rest. Well, save the seeds fool. You get the idea. Tonight I saved some seeds. I took some pics. I'll show them to you, and you can do the same.

First thing you need to know. You need to have an open pollinated plant to begin with. That's a plant whose both parents were the same variety. Why, you may ask. It's in the genes my child, it's in the genes. If your plant in the seed catalog had "hybred", "hybrid", F1, F2, or F anything in it'd description, it had parents of two different varieties. The problem is, when you cross two varieties, you do so in the hopes of getting the best qualities of both in their offspring. You also sometimes get something referred to as "hybrid vigor". But, those genes, they want to do funny things in the third generation. Say for example you crossed a small yellow tomato that grew very fast, with a big tasty red tomato. The second generation you might get a big, fast growing, yellow tomato, that had the most awesome taste ever. The third generation, you might get a tiny, slow growing, low yielding, red tomato, with the flavor of corrugated cardboard. It's all in them silly genes, and some of them can hide for a generation or two.

So start by finding yourself a seed or two from either a commercial seed house or seed savers exchange. Make sure the description says "open pollinated" or "heirloom" in it. Grow those out. Watch everything as it grows the first year. Take notes. Now if you're like us, you picked half a dozen varieties to play with. And hopefully for your first try, you picked a plant that self pollinates like tomatoes. Plants that wind or insect pollinate, are a tad more difficult. Mainly because it's very easy to create a hybrid with wind or insects. Such plants take a little more work. So start with tomatoes. Save the corn and cucumbers for next year.

Ok, You have your 6 seed packets. Plant maybe ten plants of each. Label them well, there is nothing worse than wondering what it's name is later on when telling people about it. Now, when transplanting time comes, pick four of each to keep and give the rest away. Give each plant a number. Makes it easier to keep a log that way. Does one plant set fruit a little earlier than the other three. If you have a short growing season it helps to know that. Maybe one gives you 8lbs of tomatoes and the other three only give you 4lbs. Handy thing to know if you only have a small garden. Does one get sick? Write it in your log. You get the idea. Your giving yourself a reference point. Later you will pick fruit from the plants that best suit your growing requirements. Don't be surprised if at the end of the season, you only have one or two varieties that did well for you. That's fine, you will save seeds from those and next year you will grow those two plus four new ones.

Here we have a tomato called "Yellow Pear". A small salad type tomato, not your typical red cherry type. We grew these this year for the first time. Due to a few family things and a tight work schedule, we didn't get our plants in until just after memorial day this year. We were harvesting these in mid July in spite of the late start. We've had them several times a week since then. Today I picked nearly three gallons of ripe or nearly ripe fruit off two plants. They were still loaded with blossoms and setting fruit. If tonight wasn't going to be our first frost, I wouldn't be surprised if we had gotten another several gallons of fruit from them. On top of that they have excellent flavor. To start with you need fruit and a strainer of some sorts.

Squeeze the fruit until the seeds pop into your strainer. With meatier tomatoes, you will need to slice them and scrape out the seeds.

Rinse away as much of the pulp as you can. Again meatier tomatoes require more effort. With those it helps to push the pulp through with your fingers. You don't have to get it all. And remember if pushing the pulp through, those seeds can be delicate before they are dried.

Add the seeds to a jar filled half way with water. This varieties seeds are very small. So, I actually turned the strainer upside down over the jar, then filled the water through the strainer, washing the seeds into the jar. A tight fitting lid is wise to prevent spillage.

These will stay here for a week to a month. When a layer of white or black nasty stuff starts floating on them. They are ready for the next step.

No photo for this step. Set your jar in the sink. Remove the lid and slowly trickle water in until that layer of scum washes over the side. You don't want to stir the seeds up off the bottom. There may be seeds floating in the scum. Let them wash away, they are dead seeds and won't grow.

After you get the scum off. Drain your seeds through your strainer again. Spread them out so they aren't touching on a piece of wax paper. Put the wax paper in an out of the way place for several weeks until they have a chance to dry out. A fan place well away from the seeds is o.k.. Just keep it on low and as far away as possible. You just want to help evaporate the water. You don't want to blow them away, or blow the paper over, dumping your hard earned seeds. Store the dried seeds in a paper envelope. Paper envelpes breathe and mold won't form on your seeds. As you can see, these are a different variety. This tomato called "Bloody Butcher" is an old favorite of mine. I've been growing it for almost 10 years now.

So, there you have it. Not rocket science. But, for the pre industrial age farmer, a skill that was a necessity

My second favorite time of the year.

2007-10-10T23:31:00.000-04:00

I was born to be a farmer.

Too bad I was born into a family that stopped farming two generations before I was born. I would have gladly taken over one of the family homesteads in Ohio and PA. But, those farms being sold long ago, I make do for now on a 35'x90' city lot. Actually my wife is more the farmer on this plot. My last big garden was just before we married. Still I'm here to help with the bullwork and to be the creative mechanic. That being the creative mechanic is part of what makes you a farmer rather than just an ordinary gardener. Spring planting time is the favorite of all farmers. The smell of fresh turned soil, the chilly air, and the sun warming you. The minute signs of new life. New life created by you. All this can only bring you closer to god and his creation.

But, harvest time is a close second favorite. Knowing that your resting time is right around the corner. The larder is filling fast. All will be well for another year.

Today the final harvest push was on. All hands were brought in . Time to bring in the last of the tomatoes, peppers, Basil, dill, celery, and a small harvest of huckleberries. Pelenaka fired up the wood burner and started on picking the huckleberries, and turning them into juice. I pulled the basil as seen at right. After dinner tonight the leaves were trimmed from the stems and put in a dehydrator. After they dry they will be vacuum sealed in an old mason jar for later use.

Here we have a tray of celery ready to go to the dehydrator. With a heavy harvest of celery this year, we will be spending the next 5 or so days cutting up and dehydrating celery. They trays are lined with screening to keep the pieces from falling through. Celery shrinks quite alot when dehydrated. Two plants can fill seven trays. When they are dry they won't even fill a pint canning jar. The dehydrators are old Ronco units purchased from the thrift store. Cheap, simple, easy to fix and keep going. We have half a dozen of them and they work great. We also have the solar dryer I built last spring. It works great on a hot day with low humidity. The creative mechanic needs to do some even more creative engineering on it.

Here's the result of drying down two decent sized celery plants. Barely two handfulls now. A pinch or two added to a soup or stew goes along way. Tonight I experimented a little. The batch in the bowl at left was dried in a dehydrator without screens added. Thus the pieces were cut fairly large. The pieces shown above are closer to the size you would expect to find in your tuna sandwich. We'll see later on if they will rehydrate in a batch of tuna or chicken salad. When the celery is done the peppers will get thier turn in the dehydrator. I may try and dry a few of the paste tomatoes this year. I'll then grind them up in our grain mill. The powder to be added to bread dough, also to be used for thickening soups.

Maybe a bushel of various types of tomatoes finished my workload for the day. We grow alot of tomatoes. So many it makes an effective crop rotation difficult. If any of my readers knows of a vacant lot that can be rented in or very near Batavia, NY, for the purpose of gardening, please let me know.

Here the editor in chief, Hunter the cat gives me that stern look. I can read his mind. It's saying, "Isn't a vacant lot like a field?" "Isn't a field part of a farm?" "You silly fool, you'll always be a farmer in your heart!"

Either that or he just wants me to feed him!

Woods

The unintended collection

2007-10-03T02:00:00.000-04:00

WOW! It's been almost two months since I last checked in. Summer is our busy time. I should have taken time to post, but, didn't.

Last time I posted I was showing off one of my custom cheese presses. I also make/restore presses of a different flavor. These are rapidly becoming favorites. This summer I tackled two restoration projects between working on our 105 yr old home, gardening, foraging, and working at a job.

That large cider press on the left looked like this when my DW Pelenaka dragged it home from a yard sale last fall. She paid a whopping $20.00 for it. There wasn't a good stick of wood in it. The big acme screw was siezed into the cast iron crossbar. With winter closing in I didn't get much done last year. As soon as it was out of the car I started soaking it liberally with KROIL penetrant. Best stuff ever made as far as I'm concerned. On the second day I started gently playing a propane torch over the area where the screw passed through the casting. Every day I followed the torch with another shot of KROIL as soon as the metal cooled. After about a week the screw would move back and forth maybe 1/8 of an inch. Then the rawhide mallet came out to tap the screw back and forth. After half an hour it would turn just as it was designed to do. It turns out the previous owner greased it with lard before leaving it out in the weather for the next 20 years. The KROIL broke the rust loose and the heat melted the old grease out. Now the screw has some pitting where it was stuck inside the casting. Not enough to affect operation though. With snow and foul weather on the horizon the old press was greased up and tarped until nicer weather could arrive. When july rolled around and I finally got back to it. I laminated a bunch of fir 1x4's to make a new frame. You may ask why I didn't just make it from maple like it was to begin with. The answer, as it sits today this press weighs close to 100lbs. Using the fir gave me strength, but saved many pounds of weight. Three coats of Krylon white make for easy cleanup. The old basket bands were from a different press and were so oversize you had to fight to get them in and out of the press. So, new ones were made from nice no rust aluminum. All the fasteners that might come if contact with juice are stainless steel. Slata sre red oak treated with Boo's Mystery Oil. Good stuff a bit pricey at $16 a pint, but well worth the price. A new press disk was made from a plastic cutting board. All this effort was made in an attempt to simplify cleanup. It's nice being able to just spray it down with a hose when you're done pressing.

The black press looked worse than this when we found it on somebodies lawn 2 years ago. Covered top to bottom with rust at least it was functional. I shot the red paint and cleaned the loose rust away so we could make our first three gallons of home made cider. Pelenaka hated the red, so when I finally got serious about doing the rebuild last year, I scrounged up some food safe black paint. New red oak slats and a bunch of stainless fasteners really made a difference. I did make one concession to technology when it came to the press disk. That was cut out from a heavy duty resaurant cutting board. When we're done pressing we just spray it down with a hose and wipe some oil on the slats to preserve them until next year. Last year we finally aquired a proper fruit grinder to prepare pomace. Prior to this we used a food processor. This brought a doubling of production and we could have done more if the wind hadn't knocked down all the wild apples before we could get to them.

The little green wine press was another of this summers projects. Found burried in a pile of junk next to an antique shop. It had somebodies version of a home made basket, made from galvanized pipe hanging strap and some entirly too small pine slats. A little grinding to smooth out the casting was all it needed before a coat of food grade paint was applied. Some new aluminum basket bands and some maple slats held in place with stainless screws finished the project.

The big white one is available if somebody wants it. The same for the green wine press. The black one isn't for sale. $300.00 takes the white one and $100.00 takes the little green one. I'll consider taking an anvil, forge , or hand cranked drill press in trade. I am also willing to buy more old presses to fix up. I can fix up your press if you have one needing restoration.

Woods

The home dairy part1

2007-07-05T22:42:00.001-04:00

Our first christmas together I made my wife a cheese press. Having seen one in a catalog I figured I could do much better quality for alot less than the $140.00 they wanted. Now I've made several the latest version can be seen at right. Up until this point my dearest had only made ricotta style cheeses. Such cheeses are fairly easy only requiring some milk and an acid such as lemon juice. At one point we had a family member that worked in a convenience store. She had struck up a friendship with the milk truck driver. This friendship netted us many gallons of just out of date milk. Usually in quantities we couldn't consume before spoilage set in. That is when the cheese press came along. Now we can press the whey from the curds and make hard cheeses like cheddar. To date all our batches have come out pretty much like monterey jack. Which is just fine with me. Recently we found a new source of milk. Not quite free like before, but, cheap enough to be making our own butter and cheese again. Right now there is a cheese press sitting in the sink full of curds. I have a gut feeling this will be our best batch yet. My fingers are crossed. My DW loves her cheese press so much she thinks I should start making them to sell. I do occasionally make one to barter for services we can't do ourselves or for things we can't grow.

multi tasking

2007-07-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

Sometimes your life has strange moments when you live the life of a modern homesteader. I sit here today able to surf the net, because I'm multi tasking. I have to wonder how many other people have sat in front of a computer while rocking a jar of cream/butter on thier laps.

Old Friends

2007-06-29T23:25:00.000-04:00

There is nothing like objects that are what I call "old friends". A well worn, but, reliable tool. A bit from the past that makes you wonder where it's been and whose hands have touched it. Maybe it's some thing that reminds you as Henry Ford once said "change is not progress".

All through my youth I and other budding outdoorsmen my age all lusted for a Garcia Mitchell 300 fishing reel. Usually seen in the possession of our elders, almost always attached to the requisite blue fiberglass rod. Alas, Lust is not reality for most money strapped teenagers. I settled for a green open faced Zebco, attached to a blue fiberglass rod of course. The Zebco gave several years of reliable service. Still it wasn't as smooth as the Mitchell 300. Time found the Zebco replaced by a Daiwa ultralight rig. After about 8 years of light duty the Daiwa graphite rod just exploded right at the molded in ferrule. The always reliable Zebco had been passed on to my stepdaughter for her use. This left me without a fishing rig. Or, did it? About 3 years ago my paternal grandfather started giving me stuff. In this stuff was a old gunny sack full of ratty fishing rods and an old tacklebox. I never paid much attention to the sack contents beyond the bamboo flyrod that stuck out of it. The flyrod went into my gunsafe for future restoration, the gunny sack went into a corner of the garage, kept out of respect for grandpa. A year after the gift, grandpa much to our suprize suddenly passed from this world. At that time the gunny sack was checked out a bit closer. An old white with red trim fiberglass rod with an odd french open faced spinning reel. The reel was beyond repair. A pair of old blue fiberglass rods, guides seriously rusted, but, holding the holy grail of our youths. Yup! Garcia Mitchell 300's. Dusty and making a strange noise no longer smooth operators. Two weeks ago I decided to try and clean up one of the old Mitchell's. A bit of windex on a toothbrush, some flitz to polish the chrome bail, a few drops of Balistol for lube. After an hour the old girl was back to her former glory. That white and red rod, well it's guides were still nearly perfect. I took the windex and toothbrush to it too. Before I knew it I held the perfect fishing rig. Took it fishing that weekend. Threw casts much further than that ultralight rig ever did. Put those casts just where I wanted them too. Caught my first fish on it a couple days ago. A little bluegill too little to eat. Coulda swore I heard grandpa's laugh behind me as I threw the fish back. Just the wind, or was it a new old friend trying to tell me it's story?

Another old friend. Back in those same teenage years, I bought myself a good axe and a good bowsaw. A country boy can always make pocket change cutting firewood and selling it roadside. The axe a "Craftsman" purchsed from Sears was a true workhorse for many years. Cut I don't know how many christmas trees and face cords of firewood with it. Cutting firewood is a rough way to make money though. Only got to keep and sell half of what I cut, the other half going to the guy that owned the woodlot. After my lumberjack experience I started hitching rides with a friend and his dad. His dad had a couple ancient dumptrucks, that he would drive down into NY's "southern tier", or when in a bootlegging mood into PA. A trip with them would net me $25.00 and lunch. Stacking wood inside a dump truck is a much easier gig than cutting wood. It took a week to make $25.00 cutting wood. After a few trips riding down I showed up one morning to find a 56 Ford F600 sitting in thier driveway beside the even older Dodges we had been using. Suddenly I found myself being taught how to back one of the old Dodges into tight spots. More lessons on how two speed rear ends work in hilly country and soon I was making $50.00-$75.00 a day driving. Trucks with 26,000lb GVW's aren't exactly compact things when driven in the woods. Sometimes things need to be moved so you can get where you need to be. Soon my trusty axe was riding with me, it's handle bobbed to a convenient if not efficient 24 inches.

Several years later found me moving away and storing a bunch of my tools in dad's garage. When mom and dad moved a few years ago My old trusty friend was found in a corner, missing it's handle. A handle was purchased, but never installed. A little incident with a former girlfriend found my car with a broken window. Seems she thought she'd make a point with an axe handle she found in the backseat. Needless to say, I never again dated a redhead. A few weeks ago found me in a little country hardware store buying bits for my ancient yankee style drill. While there I wandered around and window shopped. Lo and behold one dusty corner held three double bit axe handles. All three dead nutz straight, one fire tempered hickory. I didn't even know you could still get fired hickory handles. Today I went back and dropped a whopping eight bucks, then spent 45 minutes fitting it. Soon I'll sand off the varnish and give it a dose of linseed oil. Then I'll sharpen the old girl up in preparation for the next big snowstorms downed limbs. Hefting her I hear a voice, a husky drawling country girls voice. She say's "What took you so long".

Woods

The bad part about being a stepdad

2007-06-28T22:42:00.000-04:00

For the most part I have found being a stepparent a rewarding experience. Even though they have been in my life a mere 2 years, I consider these three kids my own. They spend summers and holidays with thier dad, half a country away in Texas. This year my stepson's summer visit is going to be a permanant move. For the most part with the exception of an occasional camping trip he isn't much for the great outdoors. His sisters on the other hand will go shooting or fishing every chance they get. Last sunday at his suggestion we took a day for the shooting range. For the past couple years there has been 2 .50 caliber muzzleloaders residing in my gunsafe. They'd never been shot in the time I had them. Ever since we sat and wached the movie "Jeramiah Johnson" he's been wanting to shoot these babies. He has a favorite of the two so he shot that one and I shot the other. First I loaded mine and shot it. Then I loaded his while he watched. He took aim and squeezed off his first shot. At this time I noticed the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face. At that he reloaded while I watched and he was off and shooting. After what was probably the best afternoon we had ever spent together we headed home. He even cleaned the gun with no arguments, he was actually happy to do it. Today I had the day off. DW worked an overnight shift last night, so I figured it best to get the kids away from home so she could sleep. Off we went to a different sporstmans club. This one a little less primitive, and much more family friendly. Also closer to home. This club has a 35 acre lake built back at the turn of the last century built by the late great New York Central railroad. Origionaly built to assure a constant supply of water for a large mainline water tower in the era of steam power. It now just provides a constant supply of recreation for 900 of Genesee counties families. We spent a great day fishing. And in my case getting completely sunburned. Only one fish was caught, we had more fun feeding our left over worms to the fingerling bluegills under the dock than we did fishing for thier parents. Saturday they hop on a plane for Houston. While mom and I could use a short break just for us, the break will be too long in the end. I wonder if these kids realize just how much they mean to me. I wonder if they know just how much I love them. I wonder if they understand the effect they've had on me. They may not call me dad, but, they are my kids. Just as much as they are his kids. I love you kids. And Christopher, I will miss you more than you will ever know. woodss

Happy Birthday darling!

2007-06-16T00:07:00.000-04:00

My wife loves to put up our food. Knowing what is in it is a major factor. Her preferred methods are canning and dehydrating. But, she hates the power company more than she loves putting up food. Thus there is an old wood stove set up in the yard. The kind grandma used to do the laundry on. This is where we do our canning. Her next preferred method is drying. The problem is our 5 Ronco dehydrators all use electricity. So, in her war against the meter reader she often unplugs then and sets them in a sunny window. When this happens we usually lose part of the food we are trying to preserve. With her birthday fast approaching I was at a loss for what to give her. She likes store bought OK, but would much rather have something that wasn't bought. For several weeks I have had a thought running through my head. This started shortly after finding a dehydrator on a window ledge. The food on the sunny side was fine, but, the food on the far side was growing some funky mold. So thursday I grab a dehydrator tray and hide in the depths of my 1920's vintage garage. FYI, most garages from that era don't have electricity. As a vintage tool collector that's just fine with me. In my little treasure trove you will find piles of stuff salvaged from the trash. Don't let me see a pallet made of planed boards in a junk heap. It will soon be a pile of planed boards stacked in my shop. So a few furring strips, a piece of quarter inch plywood, some 5"x30" pieces of plexiglass, and a almost full can of flat black auto primer are soon sitting on my bench. Then I dive into a drawer full of vintage Stanley "Handyman" tools. After two hours I come out for a lunch break and a trip to the hardware emporium for .97 cents worth of white paint. After lunch another hour and a halfs work turns out this. As I set it up in the yard for a test run she walks up and says "now that's neat". I just stick my hand over it and feel the warm stream come off it. Then I turn to her and say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY". In return I get a big hug and kiss. When she asks the question most men dread, I answer "about a buck". Her response is an even bigger hug and a kiss. I guess my 40 yr search for a bride was worth it. She really is a keeper! Woods

2007-05-09T09:29:00.000-04:00

Little did I know how prophetic my last post would be. Within a week we were hearing about tainted pet foods. Since then the list has grown to include pig, chicken and fish feeds. Now we are left to wonder if the human food supply could be indirectly contaminated. It could have been much worse, or as time passes may prove to be much worse. The problem is other countries don't regulate the same way we do. Just remember, the guy next door is alot less likely to poison you, than some magacorporation on the other side of the globe.

Peanut butter, spinach, mad cow and national security

2007-03-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

I find it amazing how ignorant we can be about our food supply. It seems almost daily we hear about a new threat that is going to kill us all. We never stop to consider the problem just may be our way of processing it. Am I the only person alive that can see this fool hardiness ? We gather crops from all over the country or world to one place for processing. We then scatter them back all over the place for consumption. One contaminated batch is spread from one end of the country to the other. In the old days crops were processed near the area they were grown, then for the most part consumed regionally. The local populace was employed. They were employed making food that would likely be consumed by thier friends and family. The growers were local. The managers of the processing plants were local. Crap happens and we all know it. In the old days when crap happened there was a stigmastism attached to it. There was no potential national catastrophy. Big business will tell you the economy of scale makes the current way better. Sure it does.(sarcasm here) They will well you how great it is for the GDP. Yeah right. And it isn't just limited to plant crops either. The USDA branch of big brother will tell you how the current system can be made more secure, and safer than the old system. see http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml Yeah OK sure it is. (still hearing that sarcasm?) Problem, the small producers are expected to come up with a larger financial burden that large ones. Small producers are being expected to microchip thier animals, while large producers can continue with the current system of tattoos and ear tags. All must register thier premises. So, let me get this straight. Large producers cram animals into living quarters too small for health, force feed large quantities of antibiotics and hormones, then distribute thier product from one end of the planet to the other. The small producer usually growing under much healthier conditions, only using medications when really nessasary and marketing to a local clientele is to be considered the same. This doesn't work logically to me. The current system of local inspectors at slaughter houses and processing plants works fine for safety with the small producers product. I can see a real problem making food from the large producers safe under any conditions. I have heard terrorism being one of the justifications for the NAIS being put in place. I can see terrorists using the large scale producers as a target. But, how are they gonna use me producing a steer every year or two, having it butchered by a local processor, and selling it to people in my home town? Get real, this will only force the small producers to lose money in compliance or raise thier prices out of the market place. I think it's more like this. Somebody who invented the microchips for animals figured it would be a real profitable idea if animals were required to have the chips. They Lobbied somebody somewhere and now it's proposed law. Somebody in the USDA figured it would be great job security for them by inventing a non crises, they picked up on the idea of the chips and premises registration. Now they know the USDA will have plenty of work being the food gestapo. Yes I envision this eventually evolving into real farmers being jailed over minor infractions of a do nothing law. If the US government wanted to do something about food safety, they should be looking into food imports . But, that is a discussion for next time.

Introductions

2007-03-04T00:17:00.000-05:00

Hmmm..... What can I say.

Here I am. A 40 something year old white guy. A confirmed bachelor until just under a year ago. Raised in a less than typical 60's/70's family setting. Both parents with gypsy spirit would pack bags and move half way accross the country on a whim. A brother and a sister both younger than me. Spent much of my youth being babysat by mom's 7 brothers and sisters. That bunch consisted of hippies, poets, drug addicts and alcoholics, and very young vets screwed up by tours of duty in asian countries where they didn't want to be, and usually weren't wanted. When I was really lucky I was babysat by my paternal grandmother. She was a blessing. A devout christian and traditional home maker. She filled my childhood with memories of warmth, of lunches being prepared while humming hymns, of safety. The other side of the family filled me with memories also. Only now that I find myself a stepfather, getting drunk a week before my 15th birthday, on a beach in massachusetts, with my uncle isn't held with the same fondness.

As you can imagine such a diverse background as a child led to a just as diverse trip to adulthood. While I was growing up one of those aunts and uncles did the "back to the land" thing. Well sorta at least. Raising a pig and chickens with the garden, reading "The Mother Earth News" and driving a volkswagon bug made them the closest thing I had to homesteaders. Part of a summer spent with them was a catalyst of sorts in my life. Around this same time, dad decided he was getting back into hunting. He also discovered competitve pistol shooting. Now take a young teenage boy. stick a copy of John Shuttleworths "Mother Earth News" in his hand. Next stick a copy of "Guns and Ammo" in his hand. Let him find in that G&A a guy named Mel Tappan. At the same time put him at odds with his left wing mother. Then he discovers a guy named Kurt Saxon and starts reading.

After high school I passed on college. Got a good union job in a glass factory. Nothing like living home and making two bucks an hour more than your dad at 18. Needless to say such causes a little stress between a father and son. That job didn't last long, place went out of business along with many places like it in the early 80's. By then I was 20. Just as well, at that age having that kind of money was a waste. I just bought toys and drank what was left. The event of that plant closing did confirm to me my beliefs in modern homesteading and survivalism were on the right path. The decision then was made to learn as may skills as I could. I've had more jobs than I care to count. Thought it would be cool if I could build a house if I wanted. Did construction enough that I probably could. And with luck in the next few years I plan on doing just that. Worked as a machinist,even built a few prototypes in one place. Spent four years in a plumbing supply house, did side work with many of the plumbers that came in. Also worked part time as a bouncer in a seedy bar during those four years. Learned how to kick a few butts during those four years. Also learned how easy it is to get your butt kicked. Most importantly, learned how to get my butt kicked and still walk away from it. These days I find myself working part time in a small "home center"(We used to call them building supply houses) also doing odd jobs and handyman work.

Last may found me getting married. Having a wife and three stepchildren is an adjustment to say the least. We live on a urban homestead in a small western NY city. We raise, hunt or forage much of our food. Firewood for heat is gathered after storms or from our cities yard waste dump. We make cider both sweet and hard, make cordials, hand crank ice cream, bake bread and garden our entire yard property line to property line.

I use the name woodsrunner online. The term goes back to the era of the fur trade. It has several meanings. Generally it refers to somebody who makes his living and life from the woods or land. Woodsrunner's trail is the journal of my life. If you choose to be a regular visitor here, be prepared to think. Be prepared to be offended. I'm very good at offending people. If you're the person that thinks Al Gore is going to save the world from mankind, we're gonna talk and you're gonna be offended. If you're one of the blind followers of GWB and the war on terror, we're gonna talk and you're gonna be offended. As a matter of fact if you're the type that thinks big government, big business, or big anything is going to save anyone or anything, face it, you're gonna be offended. I'll leave you with a picture taken along my trail of life.

Woods