Furniture of necessity

My back has been hurting from all the sitting I do (I am a computer geek!)  I'm finding that standing doesn't hurt and it gets better until I sit.

So, someone suggested I get a standing desk.  I have some 2x4s...

The monitors should be about 20" higher.  The keyboard should be about 12" higher.  I have 2 monitors and a laptop taking up around 48".

I had some 2x4 that I previously cut in 1/2 and drilled holes in.  They're ~ 24" long.  I have a 2x8 that's longer than 55". 

I didn't take pictures of the process.  Last night I trimmed the 2x8 to be square.  I traced the end of my 2x4s (2x2s?) onto it.  Then I cut square holes into the 2x8 for them.  With bolts through the holes, I now have a platform to put my monitors on.  I can raise or lower it.

The end result

The legs need feet.  During my lunch break, I cut a 17" 2x4 in half and created a mortise in the centers for the legs.  I put a tenon on the end and drawbored a dowel to keep it tight.

Mortise & Tenon with dowel

Not bad for an hour's work!  I'll have to drill out the dowel to disassemble it.  No glue so I could use it right away.

The bolt to make it adjustable.

The square mortise is tight enough not to wiggle.  It's stable enough.  If I need more, I could put a stretcher between the legs.  Or even a rope. 

I had some filing boxes that are 12" high.  I just put the keyboard on it.  I use a trackball so that goes on too.  After 1/2 a day, I might want it shorter.

Eventually, I'll make a stool for it.  Maybe it'll be adjustable.  Maybe I'll just make it shorter & cut bits off it.

1st thing from the log

 The 1st goal is a coffee table.  But 1st, what did I want it to look like?

I wanted to replace the stack of books under my monitors, so  I made mini coffee tables.

My wife saw them & wanted one for herself so I made one with live edges with the bark.  Here you can see 3 tops and the 3 bases stacked underneath.  The tops are about 1/4", maybe a bit less.

You can see a mallet I made from a maple tree that fell on my neighbor's yard.  I made one for him too.

At work.  You can see the 2 different styles.  My wife's one has dowels holding the stretchers and aprons to the outside of the legs.

This is from a pine branch that fell in my backyard 2 years earlier.  The post & the holes it goes through are tapered & staked.

Woodworking: Wood from a tree (green!)

This is recalling a project I started 2 years ago.

I was given 2 8' Red Oak logs by my father-in-law.  I'd been interest in starting something from a tree instead of getting milled lumber. 

I had been reading up about riving, splitting the log so I decided to try it.

Axes, wedges, a small sledge hammer and ear muffs make it easier than sawing.

I did try the chainsaw to slab it.  It definitely takes longer.  Riven wood is much stronger too.

I ended up making a bunch of slabs that are probably too thin.  When you rive, you should always split down the middle.  If you try to get a thin one off the edge the split tends to wander off.

I still have 1/2 a log.  I also have other species and shorter logs.

Next up are things I have made from the wood.

Woodworking: tool tote

 When there is something to do around the house i usually need a drill, lbits, evel, screws, stud finder and pencil.  Some I want screwdrivers, sockets, wrenches, a ruler.

I was using a fabric bag that came with my drill.  It barely fit the drill and all the other items would gather in the bottom and mix.  Changing the contents for different jobs (plumbing, appliance fixing vs hanging things) meant emptying everything out & restarting.

I decided to make a wooden tool tote with an opening in the end for the drill to stick out.

I used pallet wood because it's free and often is good quality wood.  I think the pallets I had included southern yellow pine, spruce, maybe another pine?, walnut and oak.

The shell is spruce or the other pine, glued to make wider.

The ends are rabbeted as you can see.  There is also a dado the bottom fits in.

The sides are grooved and the bottom slides into it.  then the sides are nailed to the ends.  Simple.

The handle is made from a white pine branch that fell in my backyard a few years ago.  It dried out and the bark fell off.  A peg holds it in and can be removed if it ever breaks and I need to replace it.

Inside I have 2 boxes.  They are dovetailed and made from pallet wood also.  The bottom is rabbetted and fits into a groove in the sides.  One is walnut, the other (shown) is southern yellow pine.

 

When they're both on the bottom, the drill can't slide back.

So far it's worked really well.  I can add tools easily. Swapping out tools is easy too.

The boxes let me arrange things when I'm working on the floor or lawn or wherever I work.  I might make more.  If I don't have things sticking up, I can stack them which is very handy.

Starting up again

 I guess i stopped blogging about the garden.  I have kept gardening, modifying my approach.  I stopped with the plastic.  I've too labor intensive.  I switched to lots of straw (not hay).  It only takes an hour with a 3 tine hay fork to get it all off the garden to rototill.

I still get squash bugs and I still haven't gone a year without planting squash.

We put an addition on the house and lost 1/2 our garden too.

photos of the veggies

 I've taken pictures and uploaded, but just haven't been able to blog.

This is another year of squash bugs.  *sigh*  None next year, I'll starve them.

Indigo Rose tomato looks real nice.  I've had one turn color underneath, to red.  It was tasty.  I wish they'd ripen sooner.

There have been 2 lemon boys, and some cherry tomatoes, but I'd really like more by now!  Adding gypsum around them has saved the plum tomatoes from blossom end rot.  One speckeled roman that I didn't get had it, but the rest did not.

The cabbages are not heading, but they are in the inlaws.

We're getting lots of cukes. The cucumber beetles seem down a bit; maybe the DE dusting is helping.

Peas are done.  It's time to turn it in & cover and plant a fall crop.

I

August garden fun!

We just realized that it has been a while since we posted. The garden is in full bloom, although we are definitely being attacked by the squash bugs. Next year, we are not growing the plants that they love. We will do all of our squash at an off site location which doesn't seem to be under attack.

We have lost the zucchini plants, and the trombosino is under attack. There were too many bugs, eggs, and  mites to fight the battle this morning and the very hot and humid conditions made it too hard to wage that war.  Our daughter did all that she could to squash the squash bugs with her shoes, but it just isn't enough. This is the time of year when I question whether being organic is the best choice as it is so frustrating to watch the garden that you have labored over suddenly disappear before your eyes.

We choose "organic" and will change our growing plans for next year.  I believe you should grow what works and try not to fight mother nature. I am surprised we didn't figure this out sooner.

Today, we had a lovely garden breakfast. We picked tomatoes, cucumbers, fairytale eggplant, hot peppers, trombosino (one of the few that we still have left), and radishes....... We ate outside and had a great time!