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Well, I suppose Ive got most everything in my shop but am still gonna build me a blacksmith shop. Already got the little building ready. Got horses so that will be nice.
My favorite thing is building traditional boats, mostly from tidewater cypress. It lasts forever. BUT it has to be grown in brackish water or its about the same as pine but not quite as strong. I dont use any modern stuff like fiberglass etc.
Learned a lot over the years, now at a really young 70. Met more people than a goose flyin south. Probably the greatest, woodworking wise that is, was in West Virginia. Yup, a real mountain man. His name was Basil. He was 70 when I met him but also a young 70. Never saw him with a pair of shoes on. Ermm are you thinking, hey man that aint Miami in the winter?
His grandpaw taught him how to build log cabins. He said once the tourists thought that black looking wood on sheds and cabins up there in the hills was due to a rumor they coated them with oil. Not so. They used poplar, exclusively. First time he told me that I told him we had thrown that stuff away for centuries down south. He said grandpaw told him that all wood rot was is microscopic termites. And that termites wont eat it once it is properly dried and if the big bugs wont eat it the little ones wont either. Some of those buildings are almost 250 years old. I know, I saw em.
So, Im buildin my place in the swamp here in the Georgia Piedmont. Back some 30 years ago there just wasnt any milled Poplar. Everybody was makin fun of me when I told em what I was gonna do with it. Will, lemmie tell ya, that stuff aint rotted, warped or pulled loose nor twisted like Pine does. And the Cabinet guy I went to for some advice told me I was crazy as hell. But they are the most beautiful cabinets you ever saw! Leave them be and only put baby oil on em about twice a year, with the sunlight and drying process over the years the green tinted parts turn dark brown and the white parts turn a blonde color. After they get down to the color you want then you can put a clear coat on em to keep em that way. Be sure it has a UV protectorate quality.
I have chickens, and a big doberman, horse, fish in the front yard, house sits on a huge granite hill about 125' above the swamp. Atlanta will be underwater before me.
Got a rifle, Marlin 45/70 cowboy model, lever gun and a .45 Colt original 7.5" barrel. Shoot them Buffalo Bore 500 grain +P cartridges in my rifle. Knock a house off its pilins. Use it to trim tall rotten trees too. But I dont hunt.
Organic gardenin since the late 60's. Maybe that is why I still look 40! Deep well through the granite, wow now that's WATER! Its an underground river actually and flows 203 gallons per minute.
I like to design things that I need, not look at someone else's stuff and copy it. Hell, if you do that you already know what its gonna look like when you get finished.
Wanted to bring up something I guess a lot of you already know about. POR 15..the dangest metal paint I ever saw. About 10 heads in front of rustoleum. A little expensive but seems to turn rust back into metal. Painted the steel top on my big smoker. It was totally rusty. Didnt clean or sand it. Its been on there for over 2 years and looks new. Try it you will like it.
Another great product I can no longer live without is a Tech Advantage saw guide for your table saw. It will save your ass from cuttin off your fingers but it cuts so straight you will be doing no sanding or planeing when you are done. Takes bout 5 minutes to install and comes off in about 2 seconds when you need the whole table.
I guess you can google em. Just dont wait, the fingers you save may be your own!!!
Well, I gotta get back on it. Hope I gave up something that is helpful.
Ahoy from the swamp.
Sam
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