Sunday 8 February 2015

Stools for schools and other odds and ends

A local school recently asked if I could supply them with various items of wooden seating to use in the small area of woodland they have access to. Of course, I was delighted to supply them with what they needed!

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I took the opportunity to try out a new idea for making the benches. I started with a couple of slabs trimmed from coppice stumps, and used the chainsaw to cut a V-shaped notch into each:
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I then used these to support the log being made into a bench, which gave two immediate advantages - first, it stops it rolling around, and second, it elevates it a bit, so you don't have to bend down so low when working on it:
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The next step was the usual one, as shown in my video on how to make a bench, cutting notches for the feet in what will eventually be the underside of the bench:
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Now for the next new bit - rather than setting the bench on its feet to cut the seating area, I rotated it a quarter turn:
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I then pushed the feet into the notches, just to check they were exactly vertical:
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Then, I was able to walk along with the chainsaw, using it to slice a thin layer off to make the seating area. This is easier to do in a straight line from above than doing it from the side with the saw horizontal, and much more comfortable too!
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The only downside was that having the saw at an angle tended to leave more chain marks on the wood:
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But they quickly disappeared once I put the bench horizontal and did a quick skim over with the trailing edge of the chainsaw bar:
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And I was left with a rather nice bench!
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The school wanted some simple log stools as well, so I selected some suitably-sized logs to cut up and transported the results with my log trolley:
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I even managed to get it all into the trailer and the car in one trip!
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Here's the end results, delivered to the school field:
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In other news from the woods... the Bluebells are growing, having had the first shoots pop out the ground in the second half of January:
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And this hen pheasant has been following me around. She nearly ate some bird feed from my hand! Far too tame for her own good I think...
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Back in Rye, we did get a light covering of snow one day in January, but it only lasted a couple of hours and there was no time to go to the woods and photograph it there...
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I've also been playing around with my Carry Freedom Y-Frame bike trailer, and now have it set up to run on my mountain bike. I tested it out hauling about 25kg up and down a hill, but I'm not convinced I'll be bringing all next winter's firewood back this way...
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Talking of firewood, the insulation I installed in our dormer roof a few months ago has certainly done the trick - it looks like we might be using about 30% less firewood than before!

Till next time...

Mike

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