Monthly Archives: November 2012

Building my tool portfolio

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After my previous post about the axe heads and shaving horse.  I wanted to share the draw knife I purchased off of eBay.  It took a while to find one that was going to be useful as a functional tool, not just a display piece.

I sharpened it using 800 grit and 6000 grit stones then cleaned up the rust with some oil and steel wool.  I think I might give the handles some tung oil to protect them a bit, but we shall see.

Now I have all the stuff I need to make my axe handles.  That should happen in the next couple days.

They’ll kill the old red rooster when she comes: Learning to butcher a chicken.

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Squeamish Beware:  This post consists of where food comes from.  Animals and they have to be killed in order for you to eat them.  In reverence for the animals, they are humanly raised, and killed in as humane a manner as possible.

This afternoon, the wife and I, went over to our friends place to help and learn about butchering chickens.  He had some older birds that needed to be culled, and I was eager to help so I could learn the process for the future when we are managing our own flock.

The process is really rather easy.  The bird is placed in an upside down cone to keep them calm and from flapping around.  Their throat is slit.  Once they are dead, they are placed in a scalding bath of 140 degrees for 40 seconds or so to loosen the feathers.

The bird is then plucked.  Then we start by taking off the feet and head.  Next a cut on the backside and around the butt opens the body cavity.  Gizzard, liver and heart are separated for later processing.  The rest of the insides, esophagus and crop are removed and the bird is ready for a rinse before being put in an ice bath.  Even as a novice, I was able to process a chicken in 10 – 15 minutes.  My friend does in less than half of that.

All said, it took 3 hours to do 5 birds from start to finish, with him teaching and talking through the whole process.  We came home with some organs, and 2 birds for the stew pot.  It was a great day.

Know where it comes from.  Be in touch with it, learn to prepare it yourself if you like.  Do not let other people do the dirty work for you.
-TM

The Ski Fairy Came

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The Ski Fairy came and brought me a lovely pair of vintage Nordic skis.  They were discovered at the thrift store.  I promptly removed the laces from the boots and oiled them up with boot oil.  They have a lovely color now, however, the cat stole the laces and even after looking for 30 minutes in our small house I cannot find them anywhere.

I can’t wait for snow now to try these out.

-TM

Shaving Horse and Axe Heads

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As I start building my tool collection for homesteading, I needed some good axes, they are essential to working with any kind of wood.  As I learn to work with wood, I took the cheap route and traded for some really beat up axe heads, and learned how to sharpen them.  It is a real gift to have that sort of skill.  It sort of became an obsession and now every metal edge in my house is razor-sharp.

Here are some photos of some axe heads I traded for, they were in pretty rough shape and I reconditioned them.  Starting with a wire wheel, then file, and a 3 different sharpening stones.  Well, these guys all need handles.  I have tried to find handles but they all seem to be the wrong size so I am going to make my own.

Making handles requires a draw knife, which I just purchased off of ebay for $10 and it has not arrived yet.  It will need some reconditioning as well, but while I was waiting for it I built the other part of the tools necessary, which is a shaving horse.  I asked some guys on Facebook and they pointed me to Mike Abbott’s Lumber Horse plans.   So for less than $20 and 2 hours time, I have a fully functional shaving horse.

For those of you who do not know what a shaving horse is, it is a soft-headed vice that you sit on.  You use your legs to hold the head down on the work piece.  They are pretty much required for any type of hand forming of handles, spoons, bows, and many other things.  They are very useful.

Enjoy the gallery and keep your axe sharp.
-TM

Mending a Pair of Work Gloves

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I found these work gloves a few years ago and they are really nice.  Thin enough to feel what you are doing but durable enough to stop splinters and keep your hands from getting cut.  They are even comfortable enough that I wear them on the motorcycle or just walking the dog.

They are not expensive, $6 a pair or something but I had a pair that split near the cuff.  I have several pairs of new ones, but the ones that are broken in are so much more comfortable.  I got out the needle, thread, and scissors and fixed them.  All men should new how to sew about as good as I can.  It is really nice to be able to repair things instead of having to buy them new all the time.  These gloves were perfectly fine still just in need of a little care.

Left hand glove has split along the seam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First seam resewn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repair Complete.

Really awesome hand sewing job.

Books

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I have been reading a lot lately, not sure why that is, perhaps it was the slower internet and not being able to stream all the TV that I used to watch but I am really enjoying it.  I am always looking for recommendations so comment away on what you have been reading that you like.  I will give it a shot.  At the current rate, I seem to be reading 100-200 pages a day.  So books are not lasting that long.

Recently Read:

George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. 
All 5 books back to back.  Amazing books.  Some of the best fantasy novels I have ever read.  Graphic descriptive battles, morally ambiguous characters.  Huge worlds and what not.  I really enjoyed all 5 books and look forward to the rest of the series.

 

Seth Gramme-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter. 
This is the same guy that wrote Pride and Prejudice with Zombies.  That was awful, I hated Pride and Prejudice, adding zombies made it about 1% better.  Adding Abraham Lincoln made this one about 5% better.  The writing was ok, but the story was lame.  Lincoln is a mere pawn in this story bending to the will of the vampires as they struggle to manipulate and shift power in the United States.  Too many Vampire rules were bent and changed in the production of this novel leaving me confused and disbelieving.  The one interesting side effect of the book was that it caused me to look up some of the historical facts presented in the novel to see where the author departed from reality.  It still sucked.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

I made it about 15 pages into this in about 2 hours.  Written in Olde English and damn impossible to read.  I already know the story, so I gave up.  I might try a modern adaptation but I cannot handle Shakespeare and I couldn’t handle this.  It felt like school trying to read it and I read for fun.

Currently Reading:

What an amazing story.  A Polish Cavalry officer is captured and interrogated by the Russians and sent to a work camp in Siberia.  He escapes.  That is as far as I have gotten so far.  It is an amazing true story.

 

 

On Deck:

The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

After finishing A Song of Ice and Fire, I went looking for some more high fantasy novels and this one came up.  Interestingly enough the Author is from Madison, WI.  I am looking forward to reading this one as it comes highly recommended by others who really liked Martin’s books.

 

The Thrawn Trilogy – Timothy Zahn

With the news of Lucas selling out to Disney.  The topic of Star Wars came up at work.  The guys have talked highly of some of the books.  After a bit of time on the net these books looked really interesting.

What are you reading?

-TM