Friday, February 9, 2024

Return To Woodworking

 Due to various issues, I believe I only went kayaking three times last year. I didn't build one this winter, and my boats don't even need varnishing, so I decided to turn my attention to  a fairly challenging furniture project.


As for the title, I mean going back to a time when projects required a learning curve. I have made a few things in the last few years, but they were easy, relying on techniques I already knew well. The above gizmo will be a "foot" for a dresser. I cut the cove by running the board over the table saw blade at an angle, and the fancywork with the scroll saw.


I got a little better at cutting miters, due to the use of a good blade, and a "Digital Cube Angle Finder". 

Gluing up panels was another story. I was disappointed by the quality of the 4/4 Philippine Mahogany at General Woodcraft, so I looked elsewhere and found some at The Wood Rack in Branford, where they called it "Sapele". I got what I thought were some good boards, but they plagued me with warp & twist, despite trying every "heroic" remedy in You Tube videos. I found some better material at the lumberyard, sold as "Mahogany Deck Boards. It was 5-1/2" wide and 5/4" thick, requiring more milling, but at least it "behaves".
My surface planer was also getting tricky in its old age. I made a "sled" to help prevent snipe, but its still a little challenging.


After I managed to make two acceptable side panels, I made this jig for routing dovetail slots out of Melamine. It was difficult. For some reason, these things used to be easier.


While I still had some leftover Melamine, I made this fence arrangement for routing dovetails on the end of boards. The fence has a hole just slightly larger than the bit, and so does the sheet of Lexan it holds down. Trial And Error on scrap pieces for the depth and width of the cut, and a square piece of scrap follows the board to prevent rocking.

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Yoda's House in New Haven (Foam House)

 Historically, this thing was an experimental construction by Yale University dating to 1968.


If you look up a photo of it when it was new, it appears to have been built by spreading expanding plastic foam over a frame of inflated bags. The decayed state makes it look mysterious and slightly creepy-one would wonder WTF type of building it once was. I'd probably have guessed that it was some kind of alternatively-built utility building having to do with the nearby Yale Golf Course.

What I went through to find this thing! For various reasons, I was without a car or P.C. for two months, forcing to use my Slow Android Stupidphone to surf the web. it's a drag to work with 2" maps. I had taken up hiking in Maltby Lakes, and first heard of it because someone had placed a pin on Google Maps that said "Turnoff for foam house". I didn't know what that was (do they remove foam from the reservoir water there?)  but a search piqued my interest. I ended up on https://www.ctmuseumquest.com/, a very fine and interesting site where the guy describes hiking in the Maltby Lakes Recreational Area. He mentions hearing that the Foam House was somewhere near the Orange Trail, but he didn't search for it. 

This coincided roughly with the pin on Google maps, so I hiked the Orange and White trails looking for a side trail, but found none. I bushwhacked to nearby the golf course, but felt uncomfortable when I saw a cart. For all I know, Yale has the perimeter on camera. As it turns out, this area is nowhere near the structure.

Searching also turned up The Yale Nature Preserve, and  this website https://theairlandandsea.com/2020/04/yale-nature-preserve-trail-guide.html that mentions the Foam House. The preserve is a nice find in of itself, occupying the land in between the Golf Course and Merritt Parkway. He correctly states that the House is located near the southwest corner of the golf course, however when I hiked the Preserve, I saw no sign of it, nor any side trails. Nice hike anyway. 

I finally found it by following the White Trail in Maltby Lakes to a northerly bump just south of the golf course, and bushwhacked  toward the southwest corner of the Course, marking the way with sticks and little cairns. Remember, you should have a permit to hike Maltby Lakes 😉!

It sits on a little cliff about 100 yards from the fairway.


Moss covers the foam, making it blend into the landscape.


Porthole-like windows


Scraps of foam. I'm actually surprised at the low  level of vandalism and graffiti. Maltby Lakes was only opened to recreational use a few years ago, The Yale Nature Preserve is fairly obscure, and Yale never bothered to demolish the House.

Once inside, it doesn't really feel like a building any more, the roof having collapsed. As an experiment, it shows just how non-biodegradable foam plastic is.

Once I got back to my PC, I saw that Mapcarta gives an accurate location. 




 

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Building a Shed

After some concern about the "legality" of it, I decided to build a shed. I'm tired of lugging certain tools out of the basement. 


I dug 8" holes for a bed of gravel and two blocks. I leveled the blocks by adding or removing gravel. Leveling is weird: you tweak and tweak, "push-me-pull-you", and when it seems like you'll never get it, voila! its level! Its also weird how things that are measured level never seem to look that way by eye...?


The floor framed. My bubble level "swears" that its all level, but it still looks "funny". These are pressure-treated 2x6"s. I considered building the entire shed of P.T, but I didn't want to deal with the weight and blade-killing properties. The rest will be of water-sealed plain lumber. 


Decked. 


It doesn't look like much from a distance, but man this was heavy! I eschewed the carriage bolts called for in the plans, and attached the top piece with six deck screws each. The assembly had a mind of its own, and I fumbled and bumbled with clamps, scabs, etc. until I got it up there, something like plumb. I'm considering putting the front supports up individually (but I probably won't 😏) 


Ok, I didn't put the front posts up individually 😏. The front posts are shorter and lighter, so the whole assembly was easier to handle. The rear wall is attached with 4" carriage bolts and nuts, but they was really difficult to reach on the ground, so I resorted to 4" lag screws.
Its fun to watch the parts go together after all that measuring. I don't really do many carpentry projects.


Putting the rafters up brought a surprise. I made one "master" rafter, and used it to measure all the cuts on the others. I tried the fit all the way on the left side, and it was good. As I put more rafters up, I noticed that they looked "too short". I measured the distance between the uprights, and they were 1" further apart on the right. The rear/upper support had warped! Ratchet Strap Brute Force brought everything back together.
Once the rafters were up, I could see that this was going to be a building you can't stand up straight in.



The back wall up. The plans call for a 1" space between the boards, but I thought that was excessive and would have made it look too  much like "skid wood", so I went for 1/2" spaces. The plans also called for 8" deck boards, but I went for 6" instead. Their design is very open-air, but I want it to look more "like a building"


Doing the sides was straightforward enough until I got to the angle cuts. I don't get along well with bevels.


The trim boards went up fairly well, with some inaccuracies. I decided to stop stressing it so much- "Its a shed, not a kayak!". Roofing was routine. Looks a little lumpy.


I have to cut 14 pieces to the same length for the doors. After watching videos and considering various arrangements with the table and Skill saws, I made one "master" and used it as a  template to cut the others. They come out remarkably good, without marks from the power saws' blades or high-RPM mistakes. Using hand tools for 14 pieces seems more tedious than it is once you get into it.


Complete! I decided to back off a little on the Precision Measuring, and it looks fine. The doors were surprisingly heavy, and required Finagling Apparatus to get them in. Things may not be aligned ultra-precise, but... "Its a shed, not a kayak! 😁 





Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Signs On The Berlin Turnpike

 Not to get too far into the history of this stretch of Retro-Secondary-Highway, but I thought it would be fun to photograph the signs. 


Still light out, a photo of the tell-it-like-it is Gandhi Plaza.


A very well-traveled building, now an Indian restaurant. I believe it was built as a restaurant, went through various "sketchy" iterations, and now its a restaurant again. As far as sketchiness goes, this strip of road was formerly peppered with Strip Joints (and worse), which are now gone.


 Speaking of which, this was "Centerfolds", the last holdout.



Mini Golf is a "thing". These places are actually nicely maintained. I couldn't get a photo of the competition, "Safari Golf'.

On to the Motels. I have never seen so many seemingly useless motels on one strip. This road runs between New Haven and Hartford, neither of which city lacks lodging. If you wonder how all these little places stay in business, the signs may give you a clue. Many offer weekly rates, and others......


Looking creepy in the twilight.

Some of these show a little owner pride, with cutesy themes, and some do not.



Boring Types:




Cuter Types:



The Summit Lifesaver Motel.


In the midst of it all a gun store with An Opinion.


This sign is huge, visible from far away, but not very well lit.


How could I resist the beautiful symmetry of this sign & awning? One of the best neon on the road. 




It must be a Grounded Place.


Here's a fun "twofer" . The Psychic business is right next door, but the signs look good together.

Actually nice.
 

About at crummy and depressing as it gets:



But to wrap it up, a (years-old) picture of the most famous Photo Op on the Turnpike, the Olympia Diner! 






Thursday, November 3, 2022

Spiderweed Preserve

 With a name like that, who can resist? I read that this property got its name from  the unkempt condition of its garden.

In Middletown, CT, adjacent to The Bear Hill area by unmarked trail, but accessed from "Dripps Road".

Welcome sign. on a steep slope.

From here, it was a steady climb up an old woods road, which I think was access to a homestead.


Ruins, in rather peculiar condition. Some of it seems to be in surprisingly good condition, yet some of it appears to have been removed-no rubble or debris. What fell down must have been removed for safety.

On a fairly steep slope.


I think I see where the floor was. The doorway in the previous picture must have been to a cellar? (no sign of stairs)

What does that say? "The world....?"

The trail (thankfully) levels off after this area, and a spur trail leads to an overlook with this nice view: