Bobby, I was watching Irma coverage and all the information is on Florida, but I wondered what would happen in S. Carolina. It sounds like you are headed to safer grounds. Be safe and I hope all is well when you return,
Dwight
Dwight
Model A Ford garage
- Thread starter bolensboneyard
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bolensboneyard
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Dwight thanks. We have decided now that the storm has turned to stay put. We will still get significant wind and rain but should be safe. Will be on the barn roof again today fixing leaks. Got the well up and running yesterday in case the city water goes tainted. Let you all know how we fare out. Bobby
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bolensboneyard
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Made it through the storm lost one huge tree that just happened to land on my just finished just painted fence. Lost one sheet metal panel off of the barn but expect to fix. Still have some that I did not get up. Plenty of flood water in the cottage and the sand bags did nothing. It appears to be coming up out of the ground and seeping in at the sill. The house is on a slab and I have an overhanging roof that goes out six feet from the side that leaks. The ground below it is dry and all of it makes no sense but as the house walls are mostly block if it ever gets bad enough to destroy my laminate flooring I will tile it and be done with it! Anyone know if persimmon is good burning wood? I now have a lot of it. I can't imagine what would have happened if we had gotten hit with this storm at full force. Thanks for the prayers. Bobby
krcoomer
Well-known member
Bobby: So glad to see that you made it okay. You just thought you had just finished and just painted the fence. I had wondered about you.
I burned several persimmon trees in the fireplace at my old house after a storm or two. I know it did burn and it seems it burned hot. I also burned a lot of sweet gum which many people will tell you is a lousy burning wood. I had an old man tell me how to burn it. He said to get your fire hot and burn about 1 gum log to about 2-3 higher quality logs. I burned 3 gum trees up in 2 winters that way. Persimmon is hard to split because of the burls IIRC. That is what makes it so hard and good for golf clubs.
oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Glad you're safe!
I think you'll find persimmon to burn very hot and not a lot of ash.
I think you'll find persimmon to burn very hot and not a lot of ash.
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bolensboneyard
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Great good for cooking. thanks Andy To bad no straight sections to cut lumber from it looks like nice wood.
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bolensboneyard
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Got back on the barn roof over the last three days to repair and shore up. Looks like I can take down the shutters tomorrow. Thought you all might like this story; I was walking to get the garden cart for Ginny yesterday focusing on what to do next. I kicked something that rolled with my heel just before the pasture gate. I took two more full steps as I knew there was no stick there. Turning around immediately there in my full was a three foot plus long copperhead. I had dazed him with my boot and kept moving so he did not strike. Went to get a shovel to take care of him but he was gone by the time I returned. God loves me! 
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Bobby: happy to hear you avoided Irma's wrath. i don't usually watch hurricane coverage, but couldn't keep from recording the coverage on CNN for this one and watching a lot of it hit Florida. i think there might have been more flood damage in northern Florida and South Carolina that when the winds were in the 100+ range. GEESH.
do you kick snakes often? i'm looking for a new quote so wondering if you might have another one for me.
cheers
do you kick snakes often? i'm looking for a new quote so wondering if you might have another one for me.
cheers
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bolensboneyard
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Drives glad to see you surface again. I was beginning to be concerned. I have many of my own but also a significant amount of those others have written which I consider of value. I will give you a quote that is not mine but has been around for a long time. See if you recognize it. " Just as a good tree cannot bear rotten fruit neither can a rotten tree bear good fruit." Now for one of mine; "How can a child who has only been disciplined with 'time out' relate,as an adult, to the electric chair?"
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bolensboneyard
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An update on Sarah. The stretching to enable her to swallow did not produce any results. She will now have to undergo two separate operations. As I understand it one will be a kind of bypass with a smaller stomach being added for a repository to replace her stomach in order to give the doctors more to work with. I do not know the other procedure. What I do know is that the first operation is the most difficult and dangerous. Please continue the prayers as my messages about the outpouring of compassion she has received here is what's keeping her, and me, spirited enough to keep fighting and keep hope. God Bless
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bolensboneyard
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oldironfarmer
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So sad to hear Sarah has more trials to go through.
Bob would tell you you're tempting hurricanes by taking the shutters down.
Dry a bit of that persimmon to make tool handles, like for wood chisels. I bet you'll like the results.
Bob would tell you you're tempting hurricanes by taking the shutters down.
Dry a bit of that persimmon to make tool handles, like for wood chisels. I bet you'll like the results.
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Great thought! I have also found that crape myrtle is strong and hard. I have a friend who has just cut some a few months ago I plan to see if I can find the time to go and get some.
Lyndon
Well-known member
Bobby
I hope everything goes well for Sarah.
I can tell you that having a new stomach made for her should go ok (with a competent surgeon). When they made my new one they also removed 10cm of my Oespohageus, so my stomach is now not only 25% the size of a normal one, but it's also between my lungs above the diaphragm. Just takes a while for it to all settle down again. The first time I sneezed after the op my stomach sneezed as well due to the compression - quite disconcerting let me tell you!
Good luck! And glad to hear Irma didn't cause you any great problems.
Lyndon
Down Here - and at work!
I hope everything goes well for Sarah.
I can tell you that having a new stomach made for her should go ok (with a competent surgeon). When they made my new one they also removed 10cm of my Oespohageus, so my stomach is now not only 25% the size of a normal one, but it's also between my lungs above the diaphragm. Just takes a while for it to all settle down again. The first time I sneezed after the op my stomach sneezed as well due to the compression - quite disconcerting let me tell you!
Good luck! And glad to hear Irma didn't cause you any great problems.
Lyndon
Down Here - and at work!
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Bobby: i agree that you should save the persimmon if you have some with good grain cause it wasn't cheap to buy or use for my golf clubs back when gas only cost $.29 per gallon. might make some great handles like Andy said or maybe something a bit nicer depending on what size pieces you have.
i'm saying my prayers for your bride (Sarah) and i hope her operation is as successful or maybe even more successful than Lyndon's was cause he's still around and doing great.
i think you missed my question on how common is it for you to KICK A COTTONMOUTH snake?
Also keep those quotes coming as you have time.
i'm saying my prayers for your bride (Sarah) and i hope her operation is as successful or maybe even more successful than Lyndon's was cause he's still around and doing great.
i think you missed my question on how common is it for you to KICK A COTTONMOUTH snake?
Also keep those quotes coming as you have time.
oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Bobby! Is Maria coming for a visit?
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Drives thanks for your support. Just to clear things up. Sarah is my daughter not my wife. It is not common to kick a snake. Step on one more common. I was on a mission and caught the snake off guard, or maybe i'm am finally living my life like I should have been when I was younger.
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Bobby
I hope everything goes well for Sarah.
I can tell you that having a new stomach made for her should go ok (with a competent surgeon). When they made my new one they also removed 10cm of my Oespohageus, so my stomach is now not only 25% the size of a normal one, but it's also between my lungs above the diaphragm. Just takes a while for it to all settle down again. The first time I sneezed after the op my stomach sneezed as well due to the compression - quite disconcerting let me tell you!
Good luck! And glad to hear Irma didn't cause you any great problems.
Lyndon
Down Here - and at work!
Lyndon thanks so much. Sarah is despondent but has faith. I am going to tell her to read your post. I'm sure it will mean much more than the 1000 words a father could say as you two can relate by experience as I cannot; and also because what daughter listens much to her dad? I never listened to mine back in the day. Thanks for sharing. Bobby
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Andy I was just about to explain that I do not have a Maria in the family when Ginny reminded me that Maria is the hurricane next in line>
I hope not! I just spent the whole day yesterday climbing ladders with a chain saw cutting up the persimmon tree one section at a time in order to keep it from crushing the rest of my fence. It still needs to be finished and the limbs hauled off. The wood is real nice but very wavy and not straight for very long. Maybe some hammer handles or ax but mostly small stuff. I may get some bowls out of it though. As far as lumber not so much.oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Ginny is one smart cookie, except for that lapse in choice of men. But Sharon has that same fault.
I don't think persimmon would ever actually make lumber, but small pieces it is great.
I don't think persimmon would ever actually make lumber, but small pieces it is great.
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bolensboneyard
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I won't tell if you won't.
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bolensboneyard
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Andy turns out Persimmon is the American Ebony of wood. The fun now is to preserve it without letting in crack. No so easy to do in S.C. where there are no cellars and the moisture is in sweat. I have done considerable reading and have some options IF I can find the time to work it and save it. New adventure.
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bolensboneyard
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krcoomer
Well-known member
All of the twists and turns are what made persimmon so valued in wooden golf clubs back before metal drivers. If you can turn something from it I would love to see pictures (or it didn't happen). I cut it into logs and burned them whole in the fireplace. Now I am missing the persimmon bread my neighbor made with them every year.
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bolensboneyard
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Kenny this is one of the things I did yesterday with the persimmon. The other is a carvers/woodcrafters mallet which came out nice but is locked in a paper bag with shavings to let it dry slowly. The picture is of a mortar in the rough that I am keeping moist to see which way works best. I will make the pestle when I am sure it is dry and not cracking warping etc.
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krcoomer
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That is a beautiful turning Bobby. Learning to turn wood (teaching myself) is on my list of things I want to do along with welding as I get things going. My cousin's husband has done some wonderful bowls out of myrtle wood which is native to Washington where they live.
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bolensboneyard
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Thank you my friends. I was at an art gallery this weekend near where my cousin was getting married. We had arrived early and were just browsing shops in the area and walked in. There were some bowls on display for sale by local artists. One particular bowl looked like a woven basket but upon closer inspection turned out to be a turning that was then detailed on the outside with carving. It was made by a retired surgeon and for sale at $1800. Beautiful piece of work I wish I could have taken pictures of. Got some in my head in case I live long enough to acquire the skill and the patience.
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bolensboneyard
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bolensboneyard
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OK guys so here's the story. I got up yesterday and decided to cut up some more of that American Ebony that came down in the hurricane. Up until this point I have been mostly dealing with branches. I cut one bend off of the large trunk that was left then determined that the next piece would make a nice bowl as it had a large heart (pith). I cut into it with the grain for a stronger, but more unstable, blank to work with. When I was through I determined that the blank was too thick and I cut a piece off. Fast forward to turning the blank on the outside as it was roughly 13 to 14 inches in dia. with eight sides. This beast was so heavy, and hard, that the moment I tried to turn it using my rare right angle tool rest it grabbed my gouge and broke the entire tool rest off of the post. (lucky I can braze but that is today's project.) By the time I dropped my A_ _ into the chair I had a book matched bread board and a bread bowl turned in the rough (still has to be sanded smooth) Top picture is the bowl full of water to keep it moist until I can wrap it in a paper bag full of shavings and store for a few months to slow down the drying.
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drivesitfar
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Bobby: nice work. i'm happy to hear you didn't draw any blood when things were breaking while trying to make that bowl. thanks for the tips on how to slow dry the wood since it was green wood cause i hadn't heard about the water or shavings before. maybe cause last time i turned a bowl it was almost 50 years ago in 8th grade woodshop and it was small pieces of wood glued together that i made the bowl out of.
do you have a piece of persimmon big enough to make a bowl out of or did you have another project in mind?
best of luck with the brazing fix of your RARE TOOL REST.
have a great day!!
do you have a piece of persimmon big enough to make a bowl out of or did you have another project in mind?
best of luck with the brazing fix of your RARE TOOL REST.
have a great day!!
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Drives American Ebony is a nickname for Persimmon. Both the bowl and the board are Persimmon; mostly the heart wood. I will be sawing some up end of Oct. in order to try and get enough lumber to make my kitchen counter. Alternate plan is to use heart wood, if it dries without splitting or warping, to make a grandfather clock cabinet. I also plan to see if the big log heart with the knot can be turned into a ball about the size of a soft ball than used for something carved. Thanks for the complement.
oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Great turnings, Bobby!
Are you painting the ends of the wood to slow checking? I've got a saw log out in the woods my woodcutter left and I need to get out there and paint it.
Are you painting the ends of the wood to slow checking? I've got a saw log out in the woods my woodcutter left and I need to get out there and paint it.
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bolensboneyard
Well-known member
Great turnings, Bobby!
Are you painting the ends of the wood to slow checking? I've got a saw log out in the woods my woodcutter left and I need to get out there and paint it.
I did paint them with spray paint as it was all I had but several coats. I only did the large ones so far as I plan to mill them by the end of Oct. Pictures of the tool rest brazed together again.
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bolensboneyard
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Off to get a small diameter Magnolia log. Hope to mill a few boards from it eventually. It is good and straight but only about 10 inches. Can't let it go to waste. Can always burn it.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Bobby: when you braze cast do you heat up the cast first and then either stick it in the sand or an oven or BBQ heated up so it cools down slowly or do tell? a lot of discussion is on this vise repair 101 thread about brazing and i've yet to do some at all much less on 100 year old vises so just wondering how you are able to do it. nice work
speaking of work i'm building a little (hee hee) mailbox stand that jumped from cedar 6x6's to 8x8's since i have some. since i have already installed the 5.5 inch supports i'm having to cut out some of the cedar so the supports can be inset and i can't recall which box or bucket all my chisels are in since i moved in some new cabinets and bins in my garage. i'm doing it with a router and a skill saw and planer and wondering if you might know of an easier idea cause it's hard to see the line to cut with my router. i've done one and thinking i'll use the skill saw to make the cuts on the edges and then router out the middle and across the top. tips??
cheers and have a great day!!
got another good quote before i think of one or do a search?
speaking of work i'm building a little (hee hee) mailbox stand that jumped from cedar 6x6's to 8x8's since i have some. since i have already installed the 5.5 inch supports i'm having to cut out some of the cedar so the supports can be inset and i can't recall which box or bucket all my chisels are in since i moved in some new cabinets and bins in my garage. i'm doing it with a router and a skill saw and planer and wondering if you might know of an easier idea cause it's hard to see the line to cut with my router. i've done one and thinking i'll use the skill saw to make the cuts on the edges and then router out the middle and across the top. tips??
cheers and have a great day!!
got another good quote before i think of one or do a search?
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oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Nice brazing job!
Why did you not weld it? Just curious. I usually weld cast iron because my brazing stinks.
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bolensboneyard
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Drives thanks. No need to use sand just begin heating with the torch and keep the heat on the area you are going to braze. In order to get a good fusion and get the wire to flow it must get red in the area you will dip your wire. Keep the heat on the metal and allow it to **** the wire in. If you get little beads of wire that want to roll and such keep the torch moving in a circle. If the puddle gets too big you can push it off the base metal or in toward the crack area until the temp. gets up. Once you have fusion move to another spot and put in another tack just like arc welding to keep the piece from moving and the temp. rising within the base. Work the tacks toward each other within one inch spaces so the temp does not get so hot as to undo what you have done. This is on small pieces like the one shown. Large castings may require preheating with a rosebud and maybe even strip heat as the more mass the more sponge effect to **** your heat away.
As for your wood question, I would tack a strip of wood along the line far enough away so that the cutter is in line with the pencil mark and allow my router to follow the wood strip this will keep your bit on the line. You could do a straight line with even sighting it this way; although I would not recommend closing my eyes.
Drives here are my words for quote. Though a word to the wise may be sufficient, a whole book laid before a man who wants to believe otherwise is better used for fire wood!
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