Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[jbmatth]

wow! that saw turned beautifully. nice work man.

jim

Thank you Jim, I really like it too, and it even works which is a bonus. Now what can I cut next...

Its amazing how much texture that old lath has, I guess you don't think of it as anything more than holding the plaster to the walls.
It looks just the right size for the daughter, you will have to brand the date on the bottom so she can keep it to hand down to her kids one day. Too bad you can't find some different nuts , or maybe changed them out for the acorn style?

Bugthug,
It really does have a ton of grain, texture, saw marks on it. Some as you can see were so deep I decided not to sand them out and give it that rustic/re-purposed look. I hadn't thought about branding it, but I'll have to find a way to do that thanks for the great idea. I wanted to use acorn nuts on those bolts but couldn't find any of the correct size locally so I've using those as place holders for now. Oh by the way, they are stainless steel too, woo hoo for upgrading the metallurgy, I should have just used some Alloy 400 AKA Monel. (Inner nerd coming out.)

 

[BUGTHUG]

well you know Ace hardware carries a lot of unusual nuts and bolts. You can probably find an old woodworking tool that looks like a solder iron, or a solder iron might work?

 

[OldSoldier]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

 

[jbmatth]

well you know Ace hardware carries a lot of unusual nuts and bolts. You can probably find an old woodworking tool that looks like a solder iron, or a solder iron might work?

I looked at Ace but they didn't have the nuts in 1/2", I'll try to order them today or pick them up at Fastenal. I didn't think about a soldering iron, I was considering making a brand out of some 12 ga copper wire but the soldering iron would probably be quicker. Thanks for the input.


Sent from my bag phone.

 

[jbmatth]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for checking it out, I should be making slow progress and will keep y'all posted.


Sent from my bag phone.

 

[jbmatth]

So I haven't said much for a few days but I have been working diligently like a little beaver.

First this followed me home from my parents house:

This was also my grandfathers, about all I know is he had it for years before he gave it to my father. I'd forgotten about it until I saw one similar on the "My Little Aussie Shed" thread I believe. That made me want to ask my father if I could borrow it for a while and do a restoration on it. I don't know how deep I'll go into getting it ready to rumble again but should be a good time killer.

This is the ID tag on the press portion: (Note that there is no serial number on the tag.)

The drill is an old Sioux 1/2" drive drill. I haven't had time to do much digging but know the press was made to attach to drills around this vintage so you could just have one drill and use it as a press as well.

I'm taking tomorrow off of work so I can work on some lighting.
I have this:

and this:

I'll need to install so I can wire these:

Into the shop.

I've converted this stack of lights from T12's to T8's already:

But still have this stack to go:

I've gotten a little faster at rewiring them, but can only work so long before I loose feeling in my fingers and need to take a little break. If you never hear from me again you know the workday ended in fireworks. Hopefully that doesn't happen and I'm prepared to take my time and do it right. Have a great weekend, keep moving forward.
JB

P.S. With any luck the added lighting will help make the pictures turn out a little better from here on.

 

[Mike.ASC]

There's no substitute for good bright lights .

 

[BUGTHUG]

Should be as bright as a football stadium. Damn

 

[jbmatth]

I don't know how good my lights are Mike, but I have lights now. I went from 8 bulbs at first to 10 for a short period of time then 16 for a month or so then yesterday's I really got a lot tied together. I had to replace the breaker box because the one in the Warthog Hidey Hole didn't have a main breaker, that involved getting into the meter box and disconnecting all power to the property for a while. I got that replaced and started rewiring all of the lighting in place previously because it was 14 ga and I'm using 12 on a 20 amp breaker. I had to instal the last 3 on the west side as I ran out of time yesterday.
Enough jibber jabber, on to the photos, this is the old breaker box:

Here is the new one:

Closer look at the breaker wiring:

This was this morning in the dark before the last three were installed:

As you can see one of the lights is out, I didn't tighten the wire nut enough to lock in the ballast wire, easy fix though.
Then finely the money shot:

So now I'm 1/2 way done with the lights, it is unreal how bright it is in there, and it'll only get better from here. I'm really excited to get to work in there now that it is easy to see.
If anyone with more knowledge and experience than me sees anything I might have done wrong please let me know, I've never really done wiring to this scale before.

Sent from my bag phone.

 

[Mike.ASC]

I would say that's a major improvement , looks great .

 

[BUGTHUG]

you been sleeping out there? I see your mattres

 

[jbmatth]

you been sleeping out there? I see your mattres

That is part of an old futon, I only kept it so far because Bubba, the black lab, loves to sleep on it when he helps me work out there. But it would make a good crash pad if I ever need a nap, or if I fall off the ladder.

A bit of a clean up was in order now that I could see how dirty everything was. Basically I just moved the big stuff off to the sides and swept everything out. Wow this place just traps dirt and dust! Here are some before pictures:

Then after a quick clean up:

While cleaning I kept thinking the floor had waves in it, I tossed down my 4' (~1.4m) level, sure enough:

Then I ran the wiring from the switch by the door to the lean to bay to start running the lights down that bay. No pictures, but I do have the first one up and running. Now I can see how messy that side really is. I wish I'd have had the time before we moved in to take a leaf blower to this place and clean it out some.

On to H.F. (Harbor Freight) to take advantage of their sale on tool boxes. Yeah no Listas for me, I can't justify the extra cost, but use them at work and know they are amazing!


Sent from my bag phone.

 

[don long]

Hi jbmatth

I have just spent my morning cruising through your shop and enjoyed all of it

You amaze me as to how much you can get done while holding down a full time job and being a young dad as well. My hat goes off to you

You show a ton of talent with the resto projects that you have shared with us.

I am partial to the old hacksaw it turned out way cool and that old drill press is quite a piece. I will be watching for the clean up of that

I'm on board for the ride
Don

 

[BUGTHUG]

Looks a lot brighter, the rats don't like that Looks like you got plenty of space to work on just about anything, including big tractors', waiting to see the lean 2 area.
Are you going to section off a area to insulate so you can work out in the freezing, cold *** weather we've been having?

 

[jbmatth]

Hi jbmatth

I have just spent my morning cruising through your shop and enjoyed all of it

You amaze me as to how much you can get done while holding down a full time job and being a young dad as well. My hat goes off to you

You show a ton of talent with the resto projects that you have shared with us.

I am particle to the old hacksaw it turned out way cool and that old drill press is quite a piece. I will be watching for the clean up of that

I'm on board for the ride
Don

Don, just to have you take the time from your Big Party Garage is an honor. I love everything about your shop and would love to make it out that way sometime. The closest I'll get for a while is Vegas, I am joining my wife there in May for a conference, oh and it is a free trip too. I'm happy with the way the HaSPHS turned out too, soon I'll have it a more permanent place to stay rather than on my dolly. I can only work out there for about 30 minutes after work, and before work. We all go to bed early, ~8:30, and I usually wake up between 3-4 and work until I can't stand the cold, or have to go to work at about 5:30. Slow progress, but any little bit helps. Thank you kindly for the visit, I hope it didn't disappoint.

Looks a lot brighter, the rats don't like that Looks like you got plenty of space to work on just about anything, including big tractors', waiting to see the lean 2 area.
Are you going to section off a area to insulate so you can work out in the freezing, cold *** weather we've been having?

BugThug, it is like night and day in there, such a huge difference in how well I can see everything. The doors are 12' tall and 16 feet wide on the main bay. (3.6576m X 4.8768m) I'll be putting my great grandfathers Model B John Deere in there when I can make it up to the K.C. area to get it. I'm working on the lights in the lean to area now, I have 5 rewired, and 3 hung but only 1 with power. It is nothing special, just full of dirt, lathe, and a trash pile I need to burn. I don't plan to insulate any small section for the time being as I keep thinking winter is just about over, but maybe for next year I will. If I don't suffer for a little while then I won't realize how nice it actually will be.

 

[jbmatth]

I was able to finish up the lighting in the lean to portion this morning. It is now just that much brighter in there. I had one mistake when wiring one of the lights I forgot to give it "the tug" to make sure they were all secured in the wire nut. Well you can see in the pictures it didn't work. I'll let the rest of the bulbs break in today and fix it when I get home.
Looking North:

Looking back to the South:

The south end that has the paneling on the wall is where the previous owner had his horses and you can see all of the dirt and uh well um **** they left behind.

The lean to is 13'6" wide, 76' long, and 6'7" tall on the short side. (4.11m wide, 23.16m long, and 2.01m tall) It has a sliding door on both ends that are about 10' wide and 6' tall. (3.05m wide and 1.83m tall) I haven't cleaned anything out of it yet and you can see another pile of lath and my burn pile at the north end.

Question for ya'll the end table took me about 30 hours to make and I'm sure the next two will take considerably less time now that I have a plan, and about $30 in materials. I'm thinking about taking one and a coffee table I'm planning to make to a craft fair to try to sell some future ones. What do you think the end table would sell for, as in would it be worth my time to do this? I'm partially thinking this will give me some more garage funds, and will help deplete my stockpile of lath.

 

[BUGTHUG]

Man that's a nice building with lots of potential. You have lots of options on how to set it up for different activity's. Always loved the Q huts. Looks like the lights make a huge difference, you can see the floor very well and don't see shadows.
I might have to hire you to do some of my lights, my electrician had knee surgery and can't move around very well.

 

[jbmatth]

Man that's a nice building with lots of potential. You have lots of options on how to set it up for different activity's. Always loved the Q huts. Looks like the lights make a huge difference, you can see the floor very well and don't see shadows.
I might have to hire you to do some of my lights, my electrician had knee surgery and can't move around very well.

Thank you, strange to think I still have 9 more lights I plan to hang in the center of the main bay. However with that being 16' (4.88m) in the air I'm going to have to wait until I have time to rent a man lift. It really wasn't that bad to do, it just took lots of time to get it all together and going.

Sorry to hear about your electrician, but if you need some help with lights I am sure you could talk me into it if I could talk you out of a bug lol. In all seriousness I'd be willing to help but know I'm not a professional and this was my first time doing anything beyond changing out a ceiling fan.

I'm thinking of using the lean to area as mostly wood working with a wash bay at the south end and take advantage of that floor drain. The main bay will have some metal fab stuff, hopefully a 2 post lift one day, and all of my other tools that are boxed up and scattered around the place. I need to wire in my 60 gal air compressor too and will have to figure out something for airlines.

 

[YJ4000]

I've been reading right along but haven't posted yet. Wow the lights make a huge difference. You have a lot of space to figure out what to use it for. That is a good problem to have. Keep up the good work.

Ryan.

 

[jbmatth]

YJ4000, I'm amazed every time I go out into the Warthog Hidey Hole and flip the lights on, it is just so bright in there. Living out in the middle of nowhere I just wonder how long it'll take before there is a knock on the door and gentlemen in suits want to have a look inside at my hydroponics business. LOL

 

[sean Buick 76]

Lol:d

 

[don long]

YJ4000, I'm amazed every time I go out into the Warthog Hidey Hole and flip the lights on, it is just so bright in there. Living out in the middle of nowhere I just wonder how long it'll take before there is a knock on the door and gentlemen in suits want to have a look inside at my hydroponics business. LOL

Now thats funny
My last house was sold to a young Chinese couple but they never moved into it.
I went by a few times and the place looked the same.
One day my buddy calls and said "you got to see your old house"
It had been turned into a grow house with holes through the walls for air flow and water
And my beautiful 5,000 ft garage was being built as a ***** house with 6 bedrooms and 6 baths a presentation room and a wet bar for snacks

 

[BUGTHUG]

Now thats funny
My last house was sold to a young Chinese couple but they never moved into it.
I went by a few times and the place looked the same.
One day my buddy calls and said "you got to see your old house"
It had been turned into a grow house with holes through the walls for air flow and water
And my beautiful 5,000 ft garage was being built as a ***** house with 6 bedrooms and 6 baths a presentation room and a wet bar for snacks

Man you guys know how to live out there on the West coast I bet this same couple runs the Chinese restraint you just put the sign up for.

 

[jbmatth]

That reminds me I need to go take a look at our old house and see if there has been any unwanted activity going on in there. We recently had a couple here in town living in a home that was for sale. Well it wasn't there house and they wanted to cook meth, however, the power had been turned off so they decided they would just run a generator in the house so no one would know they were there. Darwin award winners? We will have to see...

I have been getting a few little things to add to the garage lately, mostly tools but you will have to wait until the last one arrives so I can show you them all together.
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Another semi little update for ya'll. I've been working on the next two end tables for my wife so that is occupying most of my time. I have about 175 two foot long pieces of that lath I've been denailing, wire brushing, cutting, and sanding so it takes a little bit of time. I did sweep out the lean two section and man was there a lot of dirt, it also brightened it up quite a bit in there.
Here it is prior to sweeping:

Then after with those huge piles of dirt, sand, and horse sh... stuff:

Then there are the new additions to the garage, I picked these up because the other adjustable pliers I have are junk, not these bad boys:

I have Jack Olsen to thank for this as I bought them while reading his thread, thanks Jack!

I've loved my other Dewalt 20v tools I've been using for a year now and decided to add to the arsenal. I have a drill, 1/4" impact driver, and circular saw already. I don't have a jigsaw of any kind so figured why not, and have seen the light on having a good reciprocating saw, but when doing demo work it would have been nice to not have one you needed power to use as a lot of times power isn't available. I'm sure there will be more eventually but this will do for now:

I've been having to run back to the house to get some tools from my overloaded small tool chest and decided to get a bigger one.

Yeah I know it is HF, but I believe it'll give me what I need at this point. Who knows maybe one day I'll build a Steevo bench and this is only the beginning...

Lastly when I was headed to Wichita to get the tool chest I found a guy selling these:

I basically know nothing about them other than they are dirty and will need to be rebuilt at least some but it was $65 so I had to go for it.

That is all for now, I'll keep working on those tables and will post up some pictures when I get them done. It'll probably be another week or so before that happens. I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy if I get some down time.
Keep moving forward,
JB

 

[BUGTHUG]

Amazing what a broom job will do? Looking bueno! You will like the General, I have one just like it, wouldn't mind getting another. I seen those hose reels on CL, look good for the money.
Are your walls like 2X8's? can put a lot on insulation in those cavities.

 

[jbmatth]

I forgot to measure them last night but I had assumed they were 2x6's, however the picture sure makes them look like 2x8's. My spidey senses are tinglin' and I feel you are trying to use some sort of Jedi mind trick to get me to insulate this thing and get it heated. lol The more I think about it the more I don't think I will insulate and heat the entire shop, other than maybe that lean to area. I could see a setup similar to this in the future:

My reasoning is no matter what I do, short of putting new tin on the entire building, I'll still have too many small leaks. I might be able to manage the lean to as those are flat walls and I can stand on the roof unlike the curved parts that get a little tricky. I'm sure it could be done, or I could deal with it for a few years and convince my wife I need another building that is better suited for doing work in. Sure yeah that will work, I'm sure she would go for that in a heart beat. I think I need to make her some more tables first.

 

[BUGTHUG]

No I wouldn't insulate the whole thing, I would have an area that is big enough to bring a big vehicle in to work on. I think a 24 X 24, is a good size to have a couple work tables, drill press, welder, dirty area that can stay that way for a long time while you overhaul something. A place you can paint, and keep all your chemicals that you don't want to freeze. The rest of the shop, just try to seal up all the holes and arrange it for what ever projects that come up.

 

[jbmatth]

I looked into building a room about that size and when I did the math the materials alone were going to be $3,000 so I punted that idea. However, you have given me another one. It might even work, and I think I could convince my wife it should be done as well.

What if I built a vertical wall along the lean to like this:

Then I could use the existing roof, and wall along with the two end doors to create a nice long room, insulated of course. I could then build the walls for the future wood working area, office, and wash bay. I could heat just the far end when needed. That way I wouldn't have to build anything temporarily. I could also keep The Warthog in the wash bay on tall jack stands with lots of poison and mouse traps around it when it isn't driving season. This is where my wife will be happy, now that The Warthog is out of the house she can now park in the garage.

BOOM! I think I have it by golly!

Thoughts?

JB

 

[madoc1]

that sounds like a great idea. be sure to provide 1 or 2 doorways into the larger space to get supplies or whatever.

jim

 

[YJ4000]

That looks like a great idea. The doorways also.

Ryan.

 

[BUGTHUG]

I think that would be a good idea. Its nice to have a section to work on something, I think you will get more use out of it than you think.

 

[jbmatth]

that sounds like a great idea. be sure to provide 1 or 2 doorways into the larger space to get supplies or whatever.

jim

That looks like a great idea. The doorways also.

Ryan.

I think that would be a good idea. Its nice to have a section to work on something, I think you will get more use out of it than you think.

Thank you all for the insight, I'll be trying to go down that path in the coming summer months. I would definitely do the doors, probably 3 of them, one on either end and one in the middle. Then if I section it off later for the three work areas I'll already have doors ready. Also Bugthug the boards are all 2x6's, so still plenty of room for lots of insulation.

 

[jbmatth]

Ok, I've not gotten a lot done in or on the Warthog Hidey Hole lately, but here are a few of the highlights. This is also my grandfathers old clamp, I don't know a year, and didn't measure it for size but you can tell by the 3/8" rachet it is pretty big, about 8" (20.32cm) opening:

After a little clean up with the wire wheel:

As you can make out it was made by Cincinnati Tool USA:

Then on the other side you can see:

The H in the circle means it was originally designed by John M. Hargrave. Cincinnati Tool USA was in business from 1877-1925 when they changed their name to Hargrave Co. and moved to Ohio. So this clamp could be 100 years old, WOW! I never knew, I've used it for changing brakes and breaking apart stuck ball joints the entire time I've had it. It is rock solid though that is for sure.

I spent a lot of time this weekend cleaning out dead trees and limbs and promised my oldest daughter I'd build her a bonfire so we could have hotdogs and smores. I pack everything in the truck and she comes out in her Elsa princess dress and says but dad I want to take the blue car not your truck. As you can see she won that one. Now how many other people have taken a car like this out for a bonfire? It is just a car after all.

I'll have to make another post due to the 7 picture limit.

 

[jbmatth]

The other little thing I was able to get done this weekend was work on this little vise I picked up on ebay a few months back. I've never owned a vise and haven't really ever needed one. Yeah I'd love a Wilton, but don't have the desire to fork over the funds for one of those right now. But here is the one I picked up for around $20:

I believe the H3 means it is a 3" (7.62cm) jaw width, and it opens a good amount, probably close to 6" (15.24cm).

It says Hollands Erie, Pa. U.S.A., so I at least had a vise made in the USA, but didn't do any research on it until today. I couldn't find much on Hollands company other than they had a patent in 1892 and the last info I could find on them was from 1905, so this may be even older than the Cincinnati Tool clamp I just talked about. Yeah for old American made tools!

Some more pictures of the the vise after I cleaned it up a little with the wire wheel:

It came out pretty nice, and will eventually get cleaned even more and painted, but that is for another day. If you see in the background there is my old Bolens Handi-Ho I restored last summer I went from this:

To this:

Well it has been on craigslist for months now and someone finely called on it. They collect old garden equipment like this and it caught his eye. Well he bought it for $300 so it was nice to get some extra play money in the bank for little while. That won't last long though because a friend of mine is bringing me my next project/toy as I type this. You will have to wait to see, but it is an older American made piece of art, er uh I mean equipment. It would make Red Leader proud even if I did spend more than his $50 limit. I'll show pictures when I get it unloaded tomorrow.

 

[madoc1]

I will be waiting .! love the pic of your daughter.

jim

 

[jbmatth]

Ok so I didn't get the pictures up yesterday like I was supposed to, but hopefully ya'll can forgive me and stick around. So I was reading Red Leaders thread on his 1950s Craftsman Garage and decided to start a hunt for some older woodworking tools on Craigslist. It seems lots of people have done that while reading his thread, I wonder why? Well I found this little gem:

It is a Craftsman 100 drill press manufactured by King Seeley Corporation in the mid to late 50's I believe:

It doesn't have the easy table height adjustment or the vari-speed pulleys but does have the four step pulleys to allow the drill to rotate at 5000, 2450, 1250, or 625 RPM depending on the pulleys that are used.

Because of the lack of those two features this drill isn't rare or that sought after, but is a solid piece of equipment for sure! I had a heck of a time unloading it from my truck alone and scratched the tailgate on my truck in the process. No pictures of that, but imagine a 150 pound guy swing dancing with a 200 pound great dane and you get a pretty accurate picture of the undertaking. Here is another picture of the drill press:

as you can see the motor is original to the drill press and even has the original paint, the head of the press is kind of a gray green color and the table and base are a darker gray. It has been repainted in the past but I'm not sure when exactly but it was before the previous owner bought it about 25 years ago. Here is the ID tag:

Oh and it even came with the original operating instructions and parts list:

Yep the mice haven't been kind to this, but I do have a PDF of another original one.

It was a trying saga on getting this bad boy, and I may not be talking to one of my "friends" over it for a while. He was supposed to pick it up Thursday but was a no show, then again on Saturday, then again Sunday. Well another good friend I work with was coming back from St. Louis by way of Kansas City and went an hour out of his way just to pick this up for me. Alex if you ever read this I am eternally in your debt. Well maybe just until tomorrow when we do all the work on your Jeep.

Well there you have it, I am now the owner of another fine piece of American iron, and I have a know there will be many more coming to keep this thing company.

 

[jbmatth]

I picked up these three items last week also thanks to Red Leader, they aren't his typical large tools, but some stuff that would be nice to have and can offset some of the other tools I have. First up is this little level, I haven't actually gotten it yet, but it should be here any day:

I don't know what it is about it, but I just like the looks of it and I only have the one long level I'd showed earlier in the thread so this will be a nice compliment to that one.

Then I got these two things in the mail yesterday:

What could they be...

Well I'm not going to hold out on you guys this time, the first is:

A semi-complete Router Bit Kit part number 9 25518, it has been used, but comes with this nice case that should clean up pretty good when I eventually get around to it. The crown logo makes me think 60's but I could be way off on that one. Here is the inside:

The other is this little mouse sander, I didn't think to get the actual name, but it is a cute little guy and only cost about the same as one of the cheap ones from wally world would set you back.

You've got to love the look of these logo's, I just can't get enough of them:

That is all for now, I'm still working on those last two end tables for the wife. Then tonight I'll be helping Alex (The guy who helped me get the Craftsman 100 Drill Press from K.C.) replace the differential oil in his Jeep and some other minor maintenance. Maybe I'll be able to find some nice tools this weekend to add to the collection, but who knows if they will still be available.

 

[jbmatth]

I know I've been a little quiet lately, but I have been working. Spring is officially on us here in Oklahoma so you know what that means, yard work. Or in our case taking back the yard. We own 5 acres and I'm working to take back about one more from the overgrown state they are in. If I had a tractor and a mower I'd be done in an hour, but that isn't the case so I'm doing it the old fashioned way with an ax and machete. No pictures yet because you can't really tell how much I've done.

However, some things pertaining to The Warthog Hidey Hole have taken place. Such as this picture:

What you have there are 7 nails and a screw. I pulled those out of ONE tire on my wife's car. I pulled two out of another and one out of another. So um yeah that was fun!

Something actually fun I'm starting to glue wood together for the last two end tables for my wife. Here is a picture for the latest gluing:

This is the third set to be glued up, now I wish I'd bought more clamps. I also wish I'd have paid more for the clamps because these H.F. ones are starting to break and they've only been in service for 2 months on 2 other projects. But I digress...

The next project I'm tackling is a bit of organization of this dump. I'm working on installing a wall on the east side of the building which is where I'm doing most of the work and where the big compressor currently is. Not a lot done yet, but I'm at least getting started on it. Hopefully the plan will pay out for me in the end.

I've overspent a little lately so I'm on a bit of a hold for a little while from buying anything I don't "need" right away. I'll get as much done as I can on all of this then start another project, but I don't know which one that will be just yet, ideas?

Keep Moving Forward,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I'm sure I've been boring ya'll a little because there hasn't been much actually getting done that is noticeable, but I've been putting in a lot of hours on different things around the house. First of all the end tables, I have the legs all rough sanded and will be starting on the tops and shelves today after work. No pictures as it is just sanding wood similar to what I showed earlier in the thread.

Now for The Berline Wall. The Berline Wall, what in the heck are you talking about? Yeah The Berline Wall, that wall I'm working on building shall henceforth be known as The Berline Wall. Okay, yeah got ya, but why The Berline Wall? Well sit back in your chair and I'll tell ya'll a tale ladies and gentlemen. You've read of many of the tools my grandfather has passed down to me, his name was simply Berline, no middle name, just Berline. Legend has it he was named after Berlin, Germany, he was born in 1922 before any of the Nazi happenings that were a dark time in our worlds history began. Then he was in the Army in WW2, fighting against the country in which his name was derived. Well I was named after both of my grandfathers and because my parents didn't want to show favoritism they simply call me JB. So there you have it, the story behind The Berline Wall.

Now for progress and reasoning. I'm building this so I have a flat spot in this round walled obscenity that will actually be useable. I'll build some cabinets with work bench space in front of The Berline Wall and perhaps some overhead storage down the road as well. I'm simply installing the bottom board with Tapcons and adding OSB on the front of the studs on 16" (40.64cm) centers. This is about where I'm at now:

I have another 4' (1.2192m) complete but no OSB on that section yet, I need to get more material, but as mentioned I need to hold off on buying anything for a few more weeks to let the available funds catch back up with recent expenditures.

Those darn diagonal braces are a major torn in my side that are causing lots of fiddly work, but I'm slowly making progress between other projects. Here is a sampling of what I've had to do to overcome this area:

Now for the past couple of weeks I've been working on clearing the east side of our house. It has become overgrown with small trees, lots of them are less than an inch (2.54cm) in diameter, but others are close to 4" (10.16cm) in diameter. I was offered the use of a chainsaw this past weekend and decided to just get it done. Side note, I hate buying cheap power tools that I know I'll want to use a lot and not have to worry about so I'm not going to buy a Wal-Mart special. Sadly I have bought some lately in my HF shopping sprees, but I digress. Therefore I'm not ready to drop the amount of money on a good chainsaw just yet. Well I probably have 40 hours in clearing this area now that it is done. There were probably over 1,000 trees (metric **** tone) that had to be cut down, piled up and burned. Here is what it looked like before this weekend:

I've already cleared all of them up to where my truck is, and have burned a lot already.

A closer look of how many trees are in this little area:

And what it looks like now:

I'm glad to have that behind me and will have a little more burning to do when the Oklahoma winds decide to cooperate. Then on to smoothing it out and letting the grass grow just in time to start mowing it with my old POS mower. (Another of those I'm just not ready to spend the few thousand dollars to get one that will fit my needs for years to come.)

Keep moving forward,
JB