Zen and the Art of Tractor Maintenance

Plan for the blog

2012-05-16T03:35:00.001-07:00

So my plan for the blog reboot is to have this be more behind the scenes type content that did not make it to the youtube channel. So here is some additional content. The arches I have been working on are looking good. I finished up the fingerjoints for the 8 ft arch yesterday and ran off 120 ft of moulding for the Oak st house.

Arts and Crafts Cabinet

2012-05-14T13:55:00.001-07:00

So I decided to make a reproduction of an Arts and Crafts cabinet I found in Popular Woodworking's Arts & Crafts Furniture: 25 Projects For Every Room In Your Home. Valentines day was coming up and I wanted to make something cool for my spouse. So I picked up 55 board ft of quarter sawn white oak and set out to build something cool. So I got it mostly finished when the paying work started picking up. So my gift languished in a corner of the shop till Mothers day rolled around. I did manage to spare a few days to finish it.

Big Stihl Saw

2012-05-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

So when we bought the farm there was a really big fallen tree in the pasture. One day I went out and decided to cut it up for bonfire. I started cutting and realized it was a walnut tree, so I decided to slab as much as I could. The grain is really pretty and it has some cool mineral streaking to it. Fortunately I have a thing for big chainsaws so I was able to just buy a rip chain and go to town. I really like the rip chain I got from baileysonline.com( 63 gauge .375). My saw is a Stihl MS660 with an exhaust/intake and porting, so it is cranking out some power. I have a 4 ft bar on it and it will run it buried in walnut with out a hint of bogging down.

Sweet Zombie Jesus

2012-05-14T13:24:00.003-07:00

So I have been neglecting my blog... a lot. The youtube channel is getting a lot of views and this just kind of fell by the way side. I think I am going to resurrect this blog...

Farm Stands and CSA

2011-08-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

So our farm is really growing (pun intended). Last year we sold bread and what vegges we had left over from our garden. This year we are getting bigger working on having a better display as you can see and more volume of vegges. This week was a really good week for sales. During the Saturday market I sold about 80 lb of tomatoes which is a record for us. One of the market big boys has taken notice and was commenting how good our stand looks. I think we are starting to cut in to his sales. I may set up a small CSA next year but am really on the fence. I just don't like the idea of having to have enough for a market basket each week.

Dodecadeer

2011-08-08T03:54:00.000-07:00

Got this on my game camera in one of my fields. Hope to see it again during deer season.

Technorati Tags: deer buck 12 point buck game camera

Shop Progress

2011-08-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have been working in the shop when ever I get a chance. I think its coming along nicely, about all I need to to now is run the dust collector ducting over to the CNC. Now that its more or less set up I will try to post some project videos and write ups on here.

Technorati Tags: CNC router wood signs table saw wood shop sign shop tools power paint festol sawstop farm stand CSA organic Darlington Indiana rocklers cnc shark cnc shark shark pro plus dust colletor

Routing About

2011-07-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

I have been using my Festool OF 1400 for the last couple weeks. I kinda wish I had gotten an OF 2200 Instead for running 1/2inch bits. I find it a bit heavy for running small round overs and ogee's. I like the lighter weight of my OF 1010. It is pretty much a clone of the 1400 with the ability to use 1/2inch bits. If you only had one router I think it would be a good choice. I really like the edge guide it was well worth the 70 bucks.

More to come

Technorati Tags: Festool OF-1400 OF 1400 Router corbox roundover edge guide metric

Green Beans

2011-07-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well I broke down at started selling green beans this year. I hate picking the bloody things but they just sell so well...this year. Last year they were selling for $1.30 to $1.50 a lb and well I just don't think its worth picking them for that. This year I didn't plant that many rows of beans because the price was so low last year and guess what the price this year is running $2.50 to $3.50 a lb. I still hate picking them but for a 3 bucks a lb I will pick what plants I have. Live and learn I guess, so next year I will plant and if the price sucks just plow them under.

Technorati Tags: CSA organic green bean greenbean garden farm farming peacefield darlington indiana

Produce Boxing

2011-07-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I got tired of having produce in plastic trays and boxes that looked like crap. I think it was cutting into my sales at the farmers market and i have been looking at ways to improve our branding. I really needed a way to set my produce apart from the other venders. I got a banner from vistaprint.com which helped but I still wanted to spiff up my farm stand. So this week I spent a day in the shop building some boxes. They are cheap pine and only cost me about ten bucks each to build. I am really happy with the way they turned out. My CNC router can crank them out really fast, the 3d ones take about an hour the text only ones take about 10 min. I used a half inch 90 degree v bit for the text and a corbox for the chalk board border. I love the chalkboard paint in the foux raised panel, better place for pricing than taping on paper signs that always seem to blow away.

Technorati Tags: CNC router wood signs table saw wood shop sign shop tools power paint festol sawstop farm stand CSA organic Darlington Indiana rocklers cnc shark cnc shark shark pro plus

Band Saws and Burls

2011-06-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

So I love living where I can get good wood cheap. I got a truck load of maple and cherry burls for 120 bucks. What can I say I am a sucker for a nice load of wood. So what am I to do... get a band saw of coarse. Amazon to the rescue, I ordered a Powermatic PM1800. It is one bad ass saw, 5HP motor 18 inch resaw height and 18 inch width of cut. Combine it with a Laguna tools re-saw king (carbide band saw blade) and you have a wicked burl slicing veneer making machine.
Technorati Tags: Deutz Deuts 6275F Deutz-allis Powermatic PM1800 bandsaw band saw Laguna Tools Re-saw king resaw king carbide blade berl maple cherry berls wood veneer wood slabs wood shop

Organic grapes

2011-06-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

So we keep adding more grapes each year, we have a about 300 in the ground now. I had intended to do them no spray but the upkeep is just too much so I broke down and burned down the grass under them with glyphosate this morning. I did not really want to do this but the up keep was just killing me. Mowing between rows is not to bad but running a weed eater around all the grapes is a major pain in the butt. I find I am using more and more 2,4 D ad gluphosate. I just saves so much time that I have less and less of. I love my Kubota B6100 for work around the grapes. It is only about 4.5ft wide so it fits down the 8 foot rows with ease. The 60 gallon sprayer works just fine on it, the front end gets pretty light with the sprayer above about 45 gallons but hey that's what differential brakes are for. Technorati Tags: Kubota B6100 B7100 B6000 Diesel tractor sprayer grapes spray collar glyphosate 2,4D roundup organic no spray farm burndown burn down

Two Days At Festool

2011-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

I just spent two days at Festool in Lebanon, Indiana and had a blast! They have wicked cool tools and the people there are super nice. What really blew me away was the CEO popped in on the class.... let me say that again the CEO of the company popped in to say hi during the class. What other large company would the CEO stop in on an end user class.

The class I took was advanced router techniques but the class should really be called things you can't do with any other router. The routers are top notch but the accessories make them killer tools. This class was my first exposure to the True 32 method for cabinet construction. Quick summery True 32 is a European system where all things are metric and in increments of 32mm. I cannot convey how easy this building method is to use. Enough waxing the virtue of True 32 back on topic. O just a bit more Festool's LR 32 works with True 32 and makes drilling shelf pins and hinges super easy. Its pricy but well worth it, no crappy pin jigs or fumbling with hinge placement. It makes setting the reveal for Blum hinges super easy.

I could go on and on about True 32 but that is for another post. On to the routers, I got to use the MFK 700, OF 1010, OF 1400 and OF 2200. They are listed them in order of wattage and in order we got to play with them. The MFK 700 is in the wattage class of laminate trimmers but calling it a trimmer is an insult. The 700 comes with two bases one is a 1.5 degree base and the other is a 90 degree base. The 1.5 degree base makes trimming edge banding stupid easy. I am not just talking about the iron on banding for plywood. We trimmed 10mm thick cherry banding on a peace of maple plywood. The cherry makes for a really nice contrast effect and gives the ply added strength but also gives you the option for running a round over on the edge for a nice effect. The OF 1010 may be the prefect router. The 1010 is light handles really well and is easy to control. I liked the OF 1400 it is basically an OF 1010 that grew up. If I were forced to only own one router it would be an OF1400. One look at the OF 2200 and you know this is one bad ass tool. It is heavy, almost 20 lbs which put me off at first but it serves to dampen the vibrations caused by a large bit. I love its one handed locking mechanism, it makes for easy plunge cuts and fast clean up cuts. Speaking of clean up cuts, the depth control on all the Festool routers are crazy accurate. The resolution on the adjustment is 0.1mm or 1/256th of an inch, yes 1/256th of an inch. What other router lets you dial in the exact depth to such a precise level. Making repeatable datos and blind dovetails are a peace of cake.

I could go on and on and on waxing the virtues of the Festool products so I will leave you with some pictures of the class.
Technorati Tags: Festool OF 1010 OF 1400 OF 2200 Router Powertools Wood Shop True 32 T32 LR 32 System Blum mfs 700 Lebannon Indiana German tools cabinet making dovetail dovetale router router bit routers mfk 700

Glyphosate and Tomatos

2011-06-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

So.. I found out that glyphosate and tomatoes don't play nice. I was burning down what is now pasture to turn into garden next year with 1.5% glyphosate. It drifted about 150 feet and yellowed the new growth on about 40 tomatoes. I was not happy about this! It hit the Brandywines the worst. I think the plants will survive but will be stunted. One of those deals it had been raining for so long I just wanted to get it out during a day or two of sun shine.

Technorati Tags: glyphosate tractor CSA Kubota b6100 Deutz Indiana farm tomato roundup 2,4 D organic garden farming

The only easy day was yesterday

2011-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

In addition to farming I am working on getting a wood shop going. I am focusing on cabinets and moldings. It's making for really long days but so far things are going well. Makes for a some quiet idiot free time. Trying to keep my sanity with three young kids and my mother in law in the same house is difficult. The work day starts at 6:00-6:30 and usually finishes about 8 that night. To say I am exhausted is an under statement, my mantra is the only easy day was yesterday.

Technorati Tags: Powermatic Festool dust collector dust collector power tool wood shop planer drum sander performax 22-44 ts-75 dust collector power tool tracksaw

Saccharomyces in charge

2011-03-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

Today I am making bread for a catering company here in town. The pace is kinda slow, you are at the mercy of the yeast. It's a mix of molasses rye and pugliese. I do about what ever it takes to make a buck on the farm. We sell bread and vegetables at the market here in town and we are planning on taking produce to the Amish auction in Rockville this year.

It Begins

2011-03-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Farm life never takes a day off, winter at least slows down. Spring time is busy... I mean really busy. Starting seeds, tilling, cleaning out fence lines, you name it it needs to be done. I inherited a house remodel too on top of all the usual jobs that need to be done. This blog is going to be about the crazy goings on in my life.