The Gustavus Thread

[gustavus]

I'm glad all is working out for you. TTYS

Couldn't be better, the only thing I miss is having sold the crane truck - I hate begging the woman for money.

Just after I sold the crane truck the D.O.T. were all over the place pulling trucks over for inspections, talk about good timing. We even had one sitting at the end of our driveway which is next to a major intersection.



With that new motor on the air compressor the hot water boiler is no longer flaming out, it's so nice to walk into a warm shop. Now to tidy it up. I thank you for your assistance in helping me with wiring up the stats.

That boiler is a thirsty mother, it burns about 100 gallons of waste oil a month.

[gustavus]

Good to see you got the molder up and running. I've seen a few guys over the years ruin their planer knives by missing just one hidden nail in old lumber.

Yea I've done that a few times on my 20 inch planer, it's a PITA to have to resharpen it takes forever to set each blade up in the grinder. But then you get what you pay for eh.

[BarrenRealms007]

Couldn't be better, the only thing I miss is having sold the crane truck - I hate begging the woman for money.

Just after I sold the crane truck the D.O.T. were all over the place pulling trucks over for inspections, talk about good timing. We even had one sitting at the end of our driveway which is next to a major intersection.

With that new motor on the air compressor the hot water boiler is no longer flaming out, it's so nice to walk into a warm shop. Now to tidy it up. I thank you for your assistance in helping me with wiring up the stats.

That boiler is a thirsty mother, it burns about 100 gallons of waste oil a month.

You will get use to not having it around after a while. I think the photography is going great and will take it's place.

Glad that boiler is working good. I hope it can stay in ne place for a while. Sounds like a thirsty sucker.

[gustavus]

You will get use to not having it around after a while. I think the photography is going great and will take it's place.

Glad that boiler is working good. I hope it can stay in ne place for a while. Sounds like a thirsty sucker.

I already have a bad back with L-1 and L-2 shot driving the truck aggravated it to the point my right leg would go numb, now that I'm no longer driving the miles over rough Manitoba roads my situation has returned to its normal status quo.

Being able to get an erection at my age means more than money.

[gustavus]

I machined the brass worm gear of the W&H power feed shaft for several reasons, without the gear I can now lay the shaft into a pair if V-blocks to steady it while driving out the roll pin.

Now the pin will be close to the V-block firming it up for the punch blows, also now that the bulk of the brass has been removed this will make it quicker to heat and expand should it be necessary.

The reason I did not machine all the brass off is that the roll pin is hardened steel and I'm to cheap to buy another pin.

[BarrenRealms007]

I already have a bad back with L-1 and L-2 shot driving the truck aggravated it to the point my right leg would go numb, now that I'm no longer driving the miles over rough Manitoba roads my situation has returned to its normal status quo.

Being able to get an erection at my age means more than money.

It will take time but your body will heal some what. It's like riding a bike once the parts start working again you will remember how to use them.

[BarrenRealms007]

I machined the brass worm gear of the W&H power feed shaft for several reasons, without the gear I can now lay the shaft into a pair if V-blocks to steady it while driving out the roll pin.

Now the pin will be close to the V-block firming it up for the punch blows, also now that the bulk of the brass has been removed this will make it quicker to heat and expand should it be necessary.

The reason I did not machine all the brass off is that the roll pin is hardened steel and I'm to cheap to buy another pin.

I've seen you make just about everything else, your going to let a little dinky old roll pin slow you down. This dosen't sound like the man I know.

I don't think I have one around the shop that size but I will look, I think I just remembered a container with some. I'll look and see and if I have one I'll mail it to you.

[gustavus]

I've seen you make just about everything else, your going to let a little dinky old roll pin slow you down. This dosen't sound like the man I know.

I don't think I have one around the shop that size but I will look, I think I just remembered a container with some. I'll look and see and if I have one I'll mail it to you.

Thanks for the offer Barren, the pin is out. I'm going to order a few spares along with the new brass crown gear first thing Monday morning.

[gustavus]

A month or so back I salvaged some moldings and door casings from a 100 year old house, the wood is first growth Fir.

The board in the picture is 3/4" wide, count the rings. It had taken mother nature 30 years to add an 1 1/2 diameter to that huge Fir.

Because of the nature of 1rst growth Fir it's very hard and it stays nice and straight.

Luthiers pay a premium, and archers want it for making arrows, this small lot that I have will be cut into arrow blanks.

I once came across an old Cedar log that was 12 feet across with nice tight grain, that log was worth a fortune. I sought out the owner who was now residing in an old age home, the old guy in his 80's would not sell the log because he was going to cut shacks from it one day. Not much you can do when dementia takes its toll on a person there's no reasoning with them.

I kept my eye on the property if I was passing by just in case a family member inherited from the old guy, eventually there was a new house with Caucasian folks not Japanese as the old man. Anyhow the log was gone along with my dream of ownership.

[gustavus]

Called up Williams and Hussey and ordered a new gear, not bad at $35.00.

The way the gears are pinned onto the shafts it looks like most are off the shelf parts that one could readily find from McMaster Carr McMaster-Carr

[Bear]

A month or so back I salvaged some moldings and door casings from a 100 year old house, the wood is first growth Fir.

The board in the picture is 3/4" wide, count the rings. It had taken mother nature 30 years to add an 1 1/2 diameter to that huge Fir.

Because of the nature of 1rst growth Fir it's very hard and it stays nice and straight.

I have some old Redwood that looks a lot like that, especially in the grain

[gustavus]

Bear if your wood is of substantial size, California Redwood makes excellent tone wood for string instruments. it is one of the highly prized woods used for making guitars.

Oregon Wild Wood: Redwood Luthier Sets and Redwood Soundboards

The guys on that link salvage redwood from large old stumps and timbers, I used to go after the large cedar stumps left behind from the days of spring board and cross cut felling for the shake blocks back then selling around $1200.00 a cord.

The market went all to hell after all those house fires in California, shakes fell out of vogue. It was not until years later that I had learned about luthiers and their choices of wood.

When we moved from B.C. I brought a thousand board feet of broad leaf maple, unfortunately I only have a few planks left.

The pictures below show as an example of the wood I have from B.C.

[Bear]

nice!!

What I got came from a job in Nashville in 02, renovating an old adult learning center. It previously had a major renovation and addition in 1960. One of the major things we did was tear out the old wood framed windows to prep for newer Aluminum double hung ones, and, one of the first things I noticed was them tossing all the old wood(which I recognized as Redwood) into the dumpster. I immediately started hauling what I could get of it to the house. Most of the boards from the outside trim were full 1" x 8"(exact measure, not 3/4x7 1/2), and internals were also redwood, but milled to accommodate the window weights. I cleaned most of the 1x8, and got a planer during a later layoff, and planed most of the old paint off(it was lead based paint). I had a pretty good stack of it still, when I moved the 600 miles to OK, about 6 or 700 running feet of the 1x8s if I recall correctly. They were still the full 1" thick, but I had ripped a 1/4" off each side bringing them to 7 1/2" widths, and removing the nail holes along each side.
It now trims my front porch with an all around lattice, holds up my tomatoes with a large framework, and wraps my compost bins in style As yours, I have a few boards left, not sure what I'll ever do with them

One thing I forgot to mention. When they installed that Redwood in 1960, it was fresh from the California Redwood forest, just prior to being banned from being cut. It was all "old growth" Redwood(the "real" stuff)

[gustavus]

nice!!

What I got came from a job in Nashville in 02, renovating an old adult learning center. It previously had a major renovation and addition in 1960. One of the major things we did was tear out the old wood framed windows to prep for newer Aluminum double hung ones, and, one of the first things I noticed was them tossing all the old wood(which I recognized as Redwood) into the dumpster. I immediately started hauling what I could get of it to the house. Most of the boards from the outside trim were full 1" x 8"(exact measure, not 3/4x7 1/2), and internals were also redwood, but milled to accommodate the window weights. I cleaned most of the 1x8, and got a planer during a later layoff, and planed most of the old paint off(it was lead based paint). I had a pretty good stack of it still, when I moved the 600 miles to OK, about 6 or 700 running feet of the 1x8s if I recall correctly. They were still the full 1" thick, but I had ripped a 1/4" off each side bringing them to 7 1/2" widths, and removing the nail holes along each side.
It now trims my front porch with an all around lattice, holds up my tomatoes with a large framework, and wraps my compost bins in style As yours, I have a few boards left, not sure what I'll ever do with them

One thing I forgot to mention. When they installed that Redwood in 1960, it was fresh from the California Redwood forest, just prior to being banned from being cut. It was all "old growth" Redwood(the "real" stuff)

Two brothers received 40 acres each from their father, the brothers planted exotic trees from around the world on this property. In later years the brothers built a two story tree house in which they lived in.

California Redwoods were one of the species planted hence the parks name - Redwood Park. The park is located in Surrey B.C.. these majestic Redwoods are probably the only ones growing in British Colombia.

Redwood Park Nature Trails :: The City of Surrey, British Columbia

It's not often I run across another person interested in salvaged lumber and timbers.

There is a large barn that was built in Ladner B.C. post and beam no nails, a beautiful bit of work.

[Bear]

I don't have much left, but had some old pine that was floor joists in an old building in Nashville. Built in 1910, I gave the timbers roughly 5 years from being felled to being installed. I was working on that building in the late 90s and we were cutting a new stairway and elevator shaft through 4 floors. I was only there there last two floors, and they had been trashing the timbers, 3"x15" ones!
The hole cut through the 4th floor was 14 foot long, and the boards were mine, and stacked there ready for me to load. The building owner did a walk through that day, and after he left the job superintendent called me over and had this terrible look on his face. The owner wanted the wood! Wasn't much I could say though, it was his building, and I sure couldn't fault him none for liking good wood.
I did ask him later what he planned to do with it. Five boards 15" wide, and 14 ft long, he was having a table made with it!

Those timbers, you could sand it smooth, and count the rings, 5 years prior to 1910, right back to the Civil War, The Alamo, The War of 1812, right back to the American Revolution

[BarrenRealms007]

Nope you are not the only one that likes old wood. I have a 19x46 den on my old house that has 8" knotty pine tongue and groove in a 10' tall room. It was built around 1946 and in nice shape.
I have some old boards that my dad saved from my granddads that are 16" and wider. He had saved them to build a boat with.
If I would have had any say before my dad sold my grandads property I would have had all the Black Walnut trees cut from it.
About 25 years ago I pulled close to 200 8"x8" 16'to24' long oak beams from an old cotton compress they tore down in Hughes,Arkansas. I used them to build a barn with. Man I wish I still has those.
Love old wood.

[landmine]

I like old everything, so thanks for sharing info about old wood!!

Will make me look twice before doing demolition anywhere

[gustavus]

I like old everything, so thanks for sharing info about old wood!!

Will make me look twice before doing demolition anywhere

It's really difficult to tell what is hiding under that tough cut lumber from the saw marks until you take a knife and peel back a shaving or two then spit on it to bring out the grain.

You could have found a nice supply of figured wood worth a fortune, even tight grain has value. You can not get this grade of wood anymore.

The broad leaf figured wood from B.C. is so valuable that poaching has become a big problem from both crown and private lands, one large tree milled into luthier wood could fetch $20,000.00 or more. The figured wood comes from the base of the tree and runs the first 8 to 10 feet of trunk.

The figuration is remarkable, anything from Birdseye, tiger strips, curly and spalted

[gustavus]

Every old farm site had it's own garbage dump, a great source for old bottles, toys and what not.

A farm in Birnie just across the road from us had one such dump from which I found enough cobalt blue bottles to fill several potato sacks one tin truck, then this cool slag glass shifter knob which I kept for my personal collection.


Pictures below are of the same knob showing both sides.

[starbits]

I was at a temple in Japan and saw a plank I just had to measure. It was Cypress, 5 inches thick, 4.5 feet wide at the base, 3 feet wide at the top and 67 feet long. Sawn and planed by hand in the 1800's. Wish I had taken a picture.

Also while in Japan we would offload ammo ships for inspection and then reload them. The previous unload was the Philippines and all the blocking and bracing was Philippine hardwoods. Anything from 6x8s to 2x12s. Anything left over went to the dump. I managed to pull out the better pieces, several thousand board feet, and got them donated and hauled to the wood craft shop at the Marine base a couple hours away. A good time was had by all.

Starbits