Go Anywhere Garden

 Recently KREG Tools sent a post with a plan.  We have had a wash tub sitting around in the yard for a couple of years. A contractor had used it to mix mortar for a small job and then left it when he packed up. The KREG plan was designed to make that old tub useful.  My wife plans to fill ours with salad greens.

Go Anywhere Garden Plan

 This is one of my favourite kind of project. There is a use/need for the project and it uses up stuff that is laying around.  I used 2 x 4 lumber to make my planter.  All of the wood was left overs and shorts from previous things.  The only cost was the pocket hole screws and the finish.

 

 The frame complete.  I made separate  feet so that when rot set in I could change the feet and save the frame for another season.

 A word about the finish.  It is from a $.99 can a picked up at The Re-Store.  With some vigorous stirring the stain/poly mix worked fine.  I am a big supporter of The Re-Store, it is a great place to get orphan cans of paint and varnish, also a good place for miscellaneous hardware.  Buying there supports a good cause and keeps usable  stuff out of  land fill sites.

  If you are looking for a quick  container garden project this is it.

cheers, ianw

Making A Box Or Two

   I don't really have any projects ahead of me so I think I will make some boxes.  You can always use another box.  To begin I made some lumber. In my lumber rack are many 18 - 30 inch long bits of left over wood.  Much of it is rough, reclaimed from skids or construction lumber. I decided to make some 3/8 and some 1/2 slabs ahead of need.  The joiner and the planner have to be rolled into the centre of the shop and they are both noisy. I  wanted to get the unpleasant part of the work out of the way first. 

various bits of wood.  some of it is domestic but some 

is recovered  exotic hardwood from skids.  A couple of the 

pieces have amazing grain patterns. 

 

Edge gluing clamps. I don't need them 

often but when I do ...they are great.

 For a change I thought I would use my Incra IBox jig fo make a bunch of finger joint boxes.  The previous time I used this jig I had it set up for use on the router table.  This time I thought I would use it on my table saw.  I had to return to the instructional videos as I couldn't remember the set up.  Frankly it doesn't seem intuitive to me.  As you see below, following the instructions enables you to cut finger joints, and quickly once it is set up.  I will make all the boxes with this width of fingers. 

This box is made from a spruce 2 x 4 cut down to 3/8 inch.  Once it is sanded and stained it will look fine.  I think it will be used as a flower box on a window ledge.

  Box making is a nice diversion and generally the result is useful.  The weather is improving, the motorcycle is on the road as is my electric computer bicycle, shortly the car will be only used for cargo trips.

 

I like  Blue Bikes.

cheers Ianw