Why Wood?

 I have written of my love of wood and its properties.  I suppose if I were a black smith I would make more things from steel, but wood seems more versatile.

  Our garage if filled with bicycles, my motorcycle and now my wife's plug in car. The only available empty space from storage is up.

  Getting Eva's bike up and out of the way was part of a quick little project yesterday.  

  After deciding what to do I went into my shop and selected a nice piece of one inch hard wood. In this case elm. I drew the shape I wanted and cut it out on my band saw. Once I got the general shape formed I used a sanding disk on my 4 1/2" angle grinder to smooth over the edges and roughly sand.  120 grit sanding with my random orbital sander and a coat of Tung Oil for a finish.  It was a 20 minute + 1 cup of coffee task.  I used my drill press to drill the holes and attached the tie down with 2 1/2 inch self tapping screws.  I drilled pilot holes through the tie down and drove the screws through into the 2 x 4 framing. Now it is easy to tie off the rope once the bike is lifted into place. 

  The other job yesterday was a repair. 

  A couple of years ago I made this slider lock for out patio door.  For amusement's sake I carved the wee penguin. Anyway the other day the stick broke off.  Previously the wood that went in the track was just a nasty old cut off.  This time I gave the wood some shape, and stained it and drilled it for the dowel.  I even sanded the board this time.  Wood can be repaired and when the time is right can be shaped, sanded and stained and made into something pleasant to see as well as functional. Most doors are secured with a piece of broom handle....that is functional.

 Now, down to the shop to work on an interesting interpretation of a table.

cheers, ianw