Woodworking For The Rest Of Us
This is written for woodworking "for the
rest of us". This is not The New
Yankee Workshop . I (personally) don't have the 2,000 square feet of
garage space floor space and several thousands of dollars to spend for nice
woodworking equipment.
Not to disparage The New Yankee Workshop
I do love to watch that show.
Norm Abram does Wonderful things
with wood. It just reminds me of the old joke comparing cooking with
recipes to Science Fiction that ends with "Yeah, like that's going to
happen". . This is woodworking for rank amateurs. Those of you that
are more experienced can stop laughing now. I build Computer
Networks for a living, not Gardening Structures :-). I had fun with this
and built solid structures that won't fall apart any time soon.
I have also seen the free construction plans for
gardening structures scattered around the Internet. I am
impressed. But after looking at most of them I won't be doing these
plans any time soon either. Some seem a tad complicated to me, others did
not fit the need I had. None had any helpful hints or instructions on how
to build thier complicated designs. For example almost all the cold frames used
wooden windows and hinges to attach the windows. In the summer those windows
can get in the way or if the frame is metal the hinges can be hard to attach.
The frame plans below do not have hinges, the windows are removable. I also
try very hard to allow some room for slop when putting together the projects.
I am not exactly perfect when cutting everything The boards that I have to
work with are not always flat and straight. I also have included instructions
and helpful hints on how I built the items (as much as I can remember).
It started with an old deck that was 18 feet by 24 feet. I am sure that
the deck (at one time) looked fine, but the person that built the deck
used standard nails instead of decking screws and (as far as I could tell) had
never applied any kind of protection to the surface. The boards did, however,
look possibly like they were originally treated wood. They might have been
treated with Chromated copper arsenate (CCA). If you are using CCA PLEASE be
very careful. Do NOT use CCA treated wood for compost bins or any structure that
will be in contact with food. Use untreated wood for these structures and use
a Treated
Wood Alternative. Recent data has shown that CCA
treated wood is not as safe as previously thought. Whoever built the deck also
used cheap pine boards (lots of knots). The deck was also built as far away from
the house it could be, pretty useless for a deck. The frame on the other hand
was a different story. It was put together well with spiral
nails and solid 2X8 boards. But this is not how to build a deck, this is how to use
the wood from a deck that you don't want (or any other structure that you don't
need).
I tore down the deck, removed the nails, and ended up with a stack of wood
about 3 feet wide, three feet high and 12 feet long. The stack consisted
of different sizes and lengths of wood.
Throw in a window and sliding glass door replacement (keeping the old
windows and the old sliding glass door) and you have the material for a large
and a small cold frame.
I got many ideas and based some of my designs from the wonderful book
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening and Landscaping Techniques
by
Barbara Ellis. I would strongly suggest buying this book.
I do not have any monetary interest in this book, it is just a very good book.
From the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory a most excellent
Wood Handbook
on everything you ever wanted to know about wood. There are
many many more publications available.
When I started building my projects I learned some things about simple
carpentry:
1) Wood Is Not The Size They say it is
2) The right tools are important, and they really
don't cost that much
3) Technique, a few hints and tricks help make the
job go easier.
Now for the projects. I have tried
to list them in level of complexity:
- Bird Platform Feeder
- Cold Frame, Small
- Cold Frame, Large
- Outside Seedling Shelves
- Worm Bin
- Bar-B-Q Table
- Compost Bin
- Potting Bench
- Potting Shed
or for a little more information about me. Rev 20080526