Summer Distractions!

Ok, so I constantly get a hard time for not posting enough. (it is, afterall, a blog I suppose...)
So here are some pictures of the stuff that keeps me busy when not in the woodshop.

Spent last night and this morning pulling weeds, thinning out the corn, trimming cilantro, babying tomato plants, checking the soaker hose pressure, watering the lawn, draining the pond and recycling water to the veggies, etc etc.

  

 The raised beds I made on the walkway out to the woodshop. It's been pretty hot the last few days, so I haven't bothered with covering up the veggies at night. 

 I originally seeded the corn in pairs, about 6" apart. I had a hard time thinning them out, since I was so proud I was actually growing  them- but it just got to be too thick. Took the scissors to em last night.

You can see the carnage in the foreground.

 Back corner of the west bed, with lettuce, newly planted peppers and tomatoes, and volunteer tomatoes that came out of nowhere. I think I'll leave them in, just to see what kind they are. This spot doesn't get as much sun because a large shrubbery that blocks out evening sun. Next year, I'll put the corn on this side and the sun lovers up front. And some bug is really loving the tips of my lettuce.

 Tomatoes ma' gave me to bring over from the valley. The Oregon Star on the far end was first to put out a nice tomato, but now it's not looking too happy. I've got a replacement growing in the window box for when it finally gives up. there's a really nice cherry tomato on the closest one- I can't wait to try it!

 In the East Bed, there are new peppers I just planted next to some big ones I planted about a month ago. They have been LOVING this heat! Totally exploding. There are Bell peppers, Jalapenos, and Caribbean Reds (HOT!) all mixed in together.

 

 My absolute favorite, Cilantro. Just started 6 more plants last night. On a friend's recommendation, I think I'll make some into pesto and put it in the freezer to use all winter.

 My other lettuce plant- resisting the bugs so far. Tasted it yesterday and it's pretty good. I'll give it a few more days before I chop it up for dinner.

 My onion horse shoe. Greens and reds mixed together. Started another 6 last night in the window box too.

 Just planted a couple days ago from window starts- 3 more lettuce, 4 more tomatoes. 

 Got a little crazy about planting squash- I tried transplanting one the other day to a different area of the yard- it didn't make it. I think there are still 8 different squash plants crammed in there- I gotta cut some back, it's crazy.

Breakfast from 10 minutes ago- bacon, eggs with Tillamook chez, topped with fresh cilantro right out of the garden. Woop woop!

New tool to speed up Cedar Grilling Planks (and everything else!)

"She's a beaut, Clark!" Check out my new tool for speeding up production in the shop:

"Yeah, that's great. But what is it?" you might ask. Well, I'm glad you did. It's an overhead drum sander. Performax 22-44. It can sand up to 44" wide boards for doing cabinetry and such.

I've been wanting one of these for a looooong time. Bought this one from a really nice lady up near Redmond- she made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Here it is in action- the bottom is a conveyor belt that carries the piece to be sanded at an even speed, while in the overhead arm, there is a big drum with sandpaper wrapped around it, that spins at a constant speed. The conveyor speed adjusts depending on what setting you want it and what you're sanding.

Here is an unsanded plank (top) vs a sanded plank after two passes through the machine. SWEET!

Before this machine, it would take me a pretty decent amount of time with a hand sander and belt sander to get them in this kind of finished shape. Does it make any difference once it goes on the grill? Not really, but it looks better sitting on the shelf in the store, for sure.

 After sanding, the rough edges are taken off on the table saw.. This also cuts the planks to even width. Since I'm only taking off a little bit on each side, it produces these tiny little cutoffs- which can get caught in the saw. Not super sweet. I need to remake my zero clearance insert for the table saw so it's a bit safer. (I'll post a blog update on that when I do it so you know what the heck I'm talking about...)

  

All those tiny little cedar strips make for great kindling, but it feels as if I'm trying to herd kittens picking them all up. I need a bucket next to the saw to put them in when I do the next run.

 

 Here's what happens when you get sloppy- doing all the edges at one time became a bit monotonous. I lost focus picking a piece up and fumbled it right into the spinning blade. Luckily I didn't try to catch it and end up severing my hand off. 

My upgraded plank branding iron jig. Left the last one in the rain and it buckled up. The cedar planks slide in and are automatically centered against the rails. All I need to do is reference the hot branding iron against the bottom and right side, then press down for about 4 seconds, and it's branded. Not too sexy, but totally efficient.