Luan

Hello.  If you are following along and would like to get an email notification of new posts from me let me know at dswett@hotmail.com.

My address at Swett Lodge - measuring 24'x 32' same as house on ridge in WI I built in '79 - is:  1793 West 10th Ave.  Eugene OR   97402. 

    Thoughtful reader took time, energy to have this beautiful, handy dandy tool posted to me.  Knife, pliers, wire cutter fold streamlined, pocketable.  However supplier has liberal gift return policy so I'm passing.  Why?  For starters giver should be aware a man in my mental condition should be limited access to sharp objects - especially razor sharp knives.  Already carry plenty in pockets - would rather less - am unlikely to wear.  Probably would reach for only in emergencies - other tools I own like these have larger grips with more leverage and better control.  Plan to exchange for 100' extension cord not yet in arsenal, will use lots - each time thinking of thoughtful giver.  Lovely.  Thanks.
    Another generous benefactor knowing I needed wonder bar, feeling sometime historically I introduced him to said tool (?), sent $10 gift certificate good at national home repair box store.  One dry morning set out on bike with certificate to purchase wonder bar, perhaps another item or two.  Box store offers only name brand bar priced at $9.  Look in vain through every bar offered to find one sharp both ends.  Wonder bar is for getting under things, prying loose - sharp leading edge important.  Knew local tool merchant had Chinese made bars for $2.50 so purchased string level for checking house's foundation - here with couple hundred feet of line from St. Vinnie's, fixed blade utility knife - more reliable to me than retractable blade knives but also more expensive, utility knife blades, key for front door's new deadbolt leaving a dollar on box store certificate and head for local merchant.

Sift through his even larger stack of wonder bars finding few sharp both ends.  Settled on blue bar above as the best offered at either store.  Would have been happy to buy name brand bar - as benefactor hoped, probably US made - but need bar sharp both ends.  A guy can sharpen such a tool with grinder but job has to be done carefully to not ruin temper - rather not.  Recently spent good portion of a day pulling 1-1/4" screws securing underlayment out of fir floor, spent seven hours Sunday - 12/26/10 - scraping old linoleum off original wood floor square inch by square inch first with blade on straight end finishing with hook end.  Bar performed above expectations - no chipping, breaking - keeper.

All bars I looked at were sharp on hook end but few were sharp on straight end like this.  If this bar hadn't been sharp I'd still be wondering how to get old linoleum off floor instead of being halfway done already.  Pays to know one's needs when shopping.
      I have a hairy nose.  Smoked a pack of cigarettes/day/fifteen years nasal cavities were clean as baby's hiney - now jungle.  A number of readers are concerned I take precautions when working - dust mask, eye protection, etc.  Want to remain capable.  Continue wearing specs - avoid lasik surgery - aware putzing constantly endangers eyes.  Protect eyes with body when prying.  Wear gloves when sharps abound, dust mask when dusty though steams up glasses impairing vision,  ventilate well.  Sometimes forget precautions do my best to limit harmful effects irrigating snozz - a practice nurse Kate condoneth not, eyes, gargling, washing well.   General health precautions help too - eat, sleep well; stay limber; especially when in dusty environs drink milk promoting mucous production.  Grace is ever abroad - being spared many times humbles.  Swett Lodge is largely celebration of my ability to do what it takes - hopefully for years to come.  Concern heeded, appreciated.

   Wonder bar at hand begin removing 1/4" luan (mahogany) plywood underlayment.  This spot in hall just outside middle bedroom door lifting on its own makes good start point.

Off to the races.  Shortly into it realize luan is screwed to original wood floor with 1-1/4" drywall screws.  Popping luan up over screw heads, screws stay in floor easiest least destructive to luan removal.  Front bedroom door doesn't close, in the way, fortunately both hinge pins come out easily with hammer, bolt drift.

 

Remove door, shelf above door's hardware - shelf still solid as rock, leave for now.

Up comes south hall luan sheet

revealing 2-1/4" original fir flooring with ancient linoleum permanently adhered in spots.  Ongoing penchant for thoroughness prompts me to remove loose linoleum as I pull screws.

Hammer wonder bar's hook end under screw heads and pull - hard -

or - easier - if screw head is above floor enough fit into keyhole slot on bar's flat straight end, pry.

Resulting pile of hardware.

Initially thought I'd remove only enough luan to install stove in corner below flue opening

but find rhythm sliding bar under luan, popping, pulling up, decide to go for it.  Remove luan sheet, pull screws, peel loose linoleum, repeat.   

Note scrap metal drawer for screws, nice day out west windows, ghetto blaster knob on BOB.

Getting there.  Under luan here 3-1/4" fir strip flooring on west side of house ancient linoleum spottily adhering.

Front room finished, junk linoleum piled under front window.

Luan removed in kitchen next revealing greater percentage of '30's era linoleum adhering.  Took time to remove cardboard wall board from chimney support - at right here pile of junk wall board in front of it.  Released a lot of stench

and tore ancient heat/splatter shield - light switch raised to clear taller stove when shield was new - off south kitchen wall behind old range location for good measure.

Finally remove luan in north hall - more stuck linoleum.  Gargantuan task scraping this crap off floor will be covered another time.  Swett Lodge never had owner with clue about home maintenance.  Luan screwed down over dirt, cat hair balls, coins - didn't even bother to sweep.

 

Gritty, filthy, stinky, luan - successfully removed intact for possible reuse - staged on back porch ready for 'lumber yard' - lumber/materials storage made from bathroom shelves/cabinets - soon to come under carport. 

Next time we'll look at the first journey.

Peace

d

Trash Night

Kate alerted me to lunar eclipse ahead of time but had time wrong - I'm so out of the loop I wouldn't have known it was occurring at all - at 2am.  About 11.45pm Monday evening she called saying 'better check it out'.  Went out to driveway and there between clouds was nearly total eclipse.  Fetched camera, got the shot above - a little thumbnail of moon peeking out from earth's shadow.  Moments later clouds moved in.   I'm guessing I saw refraction causing earth's shadow to glow gold - phenomenal sight - between tufts of cloud.  Then gone.  I'm so fortunate to be connected to these things.
     A couple years ago bought junk violin to make into a prop - background casting often looks for folk owning orchestral instruments.   Back was separating off violin, had no strings, bridge, tuning pegs, or chin rest so the $20 I gave for it was probably too much.  Getting into repairing it decided to go for making it play for real.  Learned lots 'bout violins I hadn't known one thing being they have a sound post friction fit inside body between front and back just in front of bridge's high end to unify instrument sonically, structurally.  Made sound post installer from coat hanger pictured here.

One end sharp to skewer sound post and slip it inside violin body through F hole,  other hand shaped to move post into position through F hole.   There is often a 'sweet spot' for post's best performance - takes patience to get it in and positioned correctly.  Learned I prefer chin rest centered over strings rather than either side of them, flat side of bridge faces tail of instrument, string quality a vital element of instrument's sound.  I'm not getting better quickly - I don't play much - but occasionally like to twist a tune.

It's an older Chinese instrument.  Sounds good.  Nice figuration on back.

Needed tuning pegs for it, had trouble with wood ones staying tuned and breaking, decided to cast lead pegs.

Haven't seen 'em else where but they work great.  Haven't had to retune violin since putting these pegs in.   Banjo's have notoriously bad fifth string pegs - especially less expensive models - mine no exception.  Picking it up to play couple weeks ago couldn't get fifth string to stay tuned - time for lead fifth string peg.   In LA collected lead wheel weights lost on streets to melt for pegs.  Began collecting wheel weights off streets here only to realize they weren't lead but some harder alloy.   Guys at local tire center told me lead wheel weights are banned in OR - time for another source.  When at Kate's lake place last we stopped to fuel boat at marina and found large home cast lead weights for sale.  Big round ball lead sinker weighs at least a pound - $1.

Piece of lead with wires street find, razor for scale, tuning peg to be replaced, and half cut through Tony Cachere's seasoning container from recycling bin I will finish cutting to hold mold for lead peg.

Mold material.   To keep old peg from being stuck in dried water putty coat with lotion.  Putty powder in cut off Cachere's container ready to mix with water.

Pattern peg in wet putty mix.

Once set add more putty to cover peg.

Allow to dry over night, remove pattern peg. 

Later add a little more putty to cover bottom of container.   Ironically though banned found this weight just outside nearby school bus maintenance facility.  This'll be plenty of lead for peg - will save big sphere weight for other applications.

Didn't want to melt lead in garage living space so took hot plate into kitchen.   Note spout formed in end cap.

Waiting for lead to melt decide to put keyed dead bolt Kate donated - 'new' left, old right - in front door.

'New' deadbolt was fit for thicker door.  Rod that functionally connects inner and outer deadbolt parts we can see here is scored to break to size.

Grip.

Snap off to appropriate length with pliers.

Deadbolt fits fine in stock door cut out

but screws holding two sides together once again too long.  Hold with vice grip, cut with hacksaw,

file to thread well, assemble.

Looks, is functional.
    Turns out 120 volt hot plate won't melt lead so take the show to Kate's and melt lead in salvaged end cap on her stove.  Pliers to pour lead from hot 'crucible'.

Want peg to be light so include small socket to make hole in peg.

Lead poured.  Peel off mold container.

Casting one piece this time - don't need to save mold - break cast out of mold.  Remove hole making steel socket with pliers.

Hold cast with vice grip, cut with hacksaw from a few angles, liberate peg blank from cast.

Whittle with new utility knife and file to shape/size.

Finished peg in place,

doing its job well.   In some circles a place is clapped and/or sage smoked in all corners to move negative energy on making room for new good.  Play for first time in the house perhaps appropriately - banjo is one of few truly American instruments.   My place is 'joed.

  
Masonry chimney is built on wood support starting about five feet above floor.  When scraping walls I took four gallons soot from below flue opening to bottom of chimney out wearing particle mask.  Tearing out underlayment yesterday also tore out cardboard wall board used to enclose space under chimney in kitchen.  Good riddance - was rank from moisture entering through chimney.

 A closer look reveals 2x4s laid flat atop 2x4 frame to support masonry.

Besides sound post installer there is a small mirror in this photo.  Kate & I went to MECCA - a grassroots volunteer organization that has space for creating art, promotes recycling through art - near train depot downtown.   Found mirror perfect for inspecting chimney - broke the bank at 5 cents.

Manipulated sound post installer a bit to hold mirror.

Bent post installer so non lead wheel weight would hold mirror assembly in flue for photography - hand held would do for typical inspection.  Looking in flue without mirror a lot of light was coming down chimney - good sign suggesting unobstructed flue.

 We'll check with mirror to be sure.  Lookin' good so far.

Closer.

Just flue.

Spider web clearly evident up chimney a ways - she won't be there long - on left, crenelation on right caused by loose brick at chimney top, but no undue collection of soot, bird nests, or other occlusions - chimney ready for use.  For permanent heavy use chimney's top would need rebuilding and a ceramic liner would be advisable but for a couple seasons of light use this will be fine. 
  
     We all have refuse to manage.  Doing my best to recycle what I can either by reusing or depositing in recycle bin.  Have two drawers getting full of metal items I take out of the place

and a spot in garage for bigger metal items behind ladder. 

Garage door mechanism, old shovel head, discarded mower parts, coax cable, phone cable  - pile keeps getting bigger, ready for editing soon.  Amazing all this extra junk's been hangin' 'round - certainly am not importing much.
    Typically we have disposal services take garbage and recyclables away.  Kate no exception.  Her service comes every other Wednesday morning so everyone on route puts containers out night before - every two weeks Tuesday night is trash night.   In exchange for managing her refuse KT lets me piggyback using left over space in her one receptacle.  Because there's lots of waste in a project like Swett Lodge trash night dictates activities to a certain extent.  For instance:  most trash was disposed at my place this week, wondering what I would put out come next Tuesday.  Started stripping underlayment out of house to find old linoleum underneath.  Voila - next week's contribution.  Intended to hook up wood stove this week but will now put off to get linoleum (with odor) out of house.
     Last trash night had begun scraping floors in front bedroom, middle room, then decided with trash night looming should scrape walls first - all those paint chips should go in garbage - and finish floor later.  Got to chimney, realized soot should be dumped so did that too.
     Having been here six weeks I've now had three trash nights.   Try to keep refuse in manageable sizes mostly plastic bags.  Load up wheel barrow that came with house

and like third world denizen push load over to Kate's place seems generally in rain.  Time before last load was so big I got half block from house but had to return for the pickup - otherwise trash all over road - only to find all wouldn't fit in container.  Now know max is a wheel barrow load.
     Arranging and cramming a lot goes into her one trash container which she and Spud rarely fill.  Much construction stuff has sharp edges hard on plastic bags so gingerly I jockey bags.   Last time had box full of glass shards from fixing windows.  Before that bags of paint/house scrapings, shingles from garage, unwanted water damaged pressboard vanity .  Old linoleum and more shingles from front and back porch roofs will need to go soon.
     If there's too much - will happen - a guy can pay to dispose a truck load at the landfill.  Day after Thanksgiving a couple of clan households had excess garbage - water heater, futons,  garage shingles and orange cat piss soaked indoor/outdoor back porch carpet from my place, carpet imported from Portland - so we mounted a run.  They give credit for recycled part of load.  In time may even pay for a dumpster - perhaps when roof gets replaced.   But 'til then I'll parcel trash out one bag at a time.  And arrange life around trash night.   Peace      d