The cabinets are started

The practice face frame is complete.  It is the first of seven I have to make.  There are four more just like this one then two without the drawer slots.

I've decided to use Kreg pocket joinery for the cabinet construction.  This process drills holes at an angle in the back of the pieces then drives self-tapping screws in the making piece.  For my first attempt using them, it didn't go too bad.  I learned a few things that will be helpful making the other six.

After completing this cabinet, the remaining six will all be made at the same time to save set up time and increase consistency,  The practice cabinet will stand alone on one of the shop's side walls.  The others will be side by side, along the back wall, with a continuous top.

Fall Harvest

Image from maps.live.com

One of the things I love about where we live is the way we can use the various resources.  We love walking through our woods.  One of the times we were back there we found some large pieces of wood that had been cut up.  We noted they had also had a tarp placed under them to keep them off the wet ground.  The next summer we went back there thinking we were going to cut them up for firewood.  To our surprise, they were very large pieces of black walnut.  Since they no longer qualified as firewood, we let them be.

I haven't been back down there much since.  The trails through the woods have grown over and a ton of trees have come down in storms.  With the nice weather this weekend, I decided it was time to bring them up the hill.  The pieces were so large I couldn't even roll them so cutting them up was a painful necessity.  Below are the piecess I collected today.



To give you an idea of the size of these things, here is a picture of my size 13 boot on one of the average size pieces.

The best part, there are two pieces down there yet that are larger in diameter than my 20" chain saw,  The one is about 6 feet long but the other is only about 3 feet long.  On the other hand there are 2 or 3 walnut trees that are down in there too.  They are about 12 inches in diameter and 75 feet tall.  These trees are in a dryer area of the woods and are not fully on the ground so they will be good for a while yet.

My plan for this wood is turning blanks.  I may resaw some for use in other projects but not sure of that.  The logs need to dry out some more so there is time to decide.  I"m sure there is opportunity to sell some of it, but I hate to do that too.  I know if I sell it off, I will never get the opportunity to work with walnut like it again because of the price.  Now all I need is a full size lathe to be able to turn it on.

Below is the nostepinne I made from another walnut tree on my property.  I still have several feet of that branch in the shop waiting for the perfect project.