The other day I noticed that Evelyn’s Basil plant was a bit low, sitting in a pot on the floor. I decided to make it a little (10″ tall) stool to sit on. Here was the initial design / prototype:

This was my “learning” build. I made it out of super-cheap lumber (1×2 pine furring strips) and a leftover piece of 1×6 pine. I messed up the height of the leg supports, so they are off. And it’s supposed to be tied together with biscuits, but the lumber was too narrow for even a number Zero biscuit. Regardless, it came together as a pretty neat project.

When Evelyn saw it she thought: I could use this for my harp. She needs a little stand to put her harp on, so she can sit on the couch and play it. My initial prototype was too lightweight, so I built her another one today.

I didn’t have any 1×4 pine on hand, so I just cut up some of the 1 x 10 material I had on hand. Here is the result:

You can see that I cut the 1×10 into pieces for the legs and supports. Since they were wider, I was able to use number Zero biscuits to hold the legs to supports. I also got the overlap of the supports right this time.

I went with a square top design, since everything else was squarish. (And we need plenty of top for the harp.) Here is a view from the bottom:

You can see here that it uses two tops. One is made of 1×8, the upper of 1×10. The neat thing about using two tops is that there are no screws visible (except on the underside). As an added touch, I cut a 22 degree bevel into the edges of each top, to give it a slanted look.

Here is the new version next to the original prototype:

You can see that they have different looks, even though they are the same basic design. Next I need to stain the new square version.

Finally, here is what the stool looks like next to the harp. The harp will sit on top while Evelyn is playing it.

it was a neat little project. Something for me to hone my skills on.

I’ve owned this Jigsaw (aka Saber Saw) for about 6 months now, and I continue to be very happy with it. It’s strong, smooth running, and has been used for a number of projects (such as my “Bill Dings” build).

Bosch 1591EVSK 6.4 Amp Barrel Grip Jigsaw

It’s available as either a Barrel Grip (shown) or a more traditional pistol grip. I prefer the barrel, since it gives me some more (perceived) control. It’s heavy, though, so can be a bit tiring after a while. It will also warm up with extended use on hot days. It keeps chugging, but the body does get a bit hot. (Keep in mind that I was cutting in a 105 degree shop during the middle of an Austin Texas summer. So cut it some slack.)

You have the adjustments you’d expect from a high-end tool. Speed control, aggressiveness of cut settings, blade stabilizer, and so on. The blade release is super simple, too. Just slide that black level on the front toward the right and the blade pops right out. Putting the blade in is just as easy, just pop it in until it locks. The connection is rock solid. I’ve never had a blade come loose (or break, for that matter).

The other bonus is that it’s made in Switzerland, which I think means something about the quality of tool you’ll be purchasing. However, the case the tool comes in is awful cheap plastic! It makes a horrible first impression, until you actually take the tool out and feel how well built it is. I don’t know why they went cheap on the case for such an expensive tool.

I pair up this saw with some of the excellent Bosch T308B Xtra-Clean for Wood blades:

Bosch T308B 4-1/2-Inch EC HCS T-Shank JSB, 5-Pack

These are really excellent blades for wood. They cut very fast and clean. Expensive, for sure, at $12 for a pack of 5. However, I’ve been running on the same blade for 4 months, so that’s something. (I’m cutting pine, so I get a lot of life out of the blade. If you do a lot of hardwood work, expect shorter life.)

Another good one for this saw is the T234X Progressor. It’s a pretty fast cutter. Not quite as clean as the Xtra-Clean, but still very very good.

Bosch T234X Progressor Wood Blade (5-Pack)

While we are talking about blade, let me make a point: If you think that your circular, trim, miter, or jigsaw is crappy, I’d recommend doing one thing — Get A Better Blade.

For the Bosch Jigsaw, this means getting a good Xtra-Clean or Progressor blade. For the other saws, get yourself something like a Freud Diablo.

Let me give you an example. Recently I’ve been very frustrated with my little Craftsman 5 1/2″ trim saw. This saw is already underpowered, but I use it for work which is too dangerous with the free-hand 7 1/4″ circular saw. It just wasn’t cutting, and Craftsman wanted to sell me an overpriced and hard to get blade.

As luck would have it, I browsed around at Home Depot the other day and saw that they carried a Freud Diablo blade — and in 5 1/2! Horray! It didn’t cost too much, about $12 if I remember correctly. Well, I got home, put the blade in, and it was like I had a new saw. It was still underpowered and sad sounding, but it cut so much better than before. (No jamming or kicking back.)

Meanwhile, I’d noticed that my 10″ miter saw (a cheap — $110 — Skilsaw) was getting sloppy in it’s cuts. Splintering and whatnot (which is no good for miter joints). So, off to Depot again. This time picking up a 60 tooth Diablo 10″. After some fiddling to get the blade in, I fired it up.

The result? Almost polished cuts. Super smooth. The additional teeth (more=smoother) and the better blade significantly improved the cuts on my wet soft cedar.

Freud D1060X Diablo 10-Inch 60 Tooth ATB Fine Finish Saw Blade with 5/8-Inch Arbor and PermaShield Coating

Now I know it sounds silly spending $40 on a blade for a $110 saw, but it made a huge difference.  The Freud Diablo blades are available from Amazon, or you can pick them up at Home Depot. They are very easy to spot, as they are painted bright red. If you are running a miter saw, I’d recommend the 60 tooth version. I’ve been very happy with it.

Heck, I’m not even recommended that you get the REALLY good blades either. If you want one of the best blades, check out Forrest Saw Blades. A 10″ Chopmaster with 80 teeth will set you back a cool $132 — for one blade. Or, for those with deeper pockets than I, check out their 90 tooth Signature at $167. Hopefully one day the woodworking will pay enough for me to afford one of these US made and serviced blades. For now, the Diablo will do.

Sometimes you need to get away from all the instant bad news. I believe that we, as a nation, are turning into a bunch of pussies because all we hear is a shipload of evilness. Day in and out you have earthquakes, airport scares, child abductions, murders, markets crashing, and on and on. Trouble is, you have no control over any of those things. And, quite frankly, shouldn’t even be worrying about them. You’re more likely to die from a fall in the tub than a terrorist.

I used to travel a bit back and forth between Chicago and Austin for work. After a stressful trip to Chicago (anger capital of the world, IMO), I’d sit at the back of the plane with my glass of wine and my book. It was a ritual I had to follow. Like a decompression chamber. Sloughing off the bad vibes of the North and re-acclimating myself to the laid back groove of Austin. (Austin is changing, even in the few years we’ve been here, but it’s still more copacetic than most places.)

The book of choice was “In the Mountains of Heaven”. It’s a travel book, and an inspiring one at that. It’s one of those books that makes you feel good about humanity. Things aren’t always rosy, but they are real, and you see that there are so many more good people than bad. It makes you think of other cultures. It makes you ponder about others lives. People whom you will never meet, but who love and feel in just the same way that you do.

So, if life is wearing you out, I suggest a glass of wine and a chapter from this book. You can find it remaindered or used, or can get a new copy at Amazon. It made my trips back to Austin a lot more enjoyable and meaningful.

In the Mountains of Heaven: True Tales of Adventure on Six Continents

My parents were nice enough to get me this book for Christmas:

It’s the “Complete Idiot’s Guide” to U.S. History and is written by an old co-worker and friend, Ken Hite.

It breaks U.S. history up into five parts, starting right before the Revolutionary War and goes to current time (the election of Obama). You can easily read through a section an evening and end up with an excellent overview of U.S. history in less than a week.

In 180 pages or so Ken was able to sum up over two hundred years of history, hitting the presidents and major events — many of which you probably never heard of. He also interweaves longer term themes, such as the treatment of African Americans — from slavery to a black president.

The text is only part of the package, as this is a Graphic work — AKA a “comic book”. Each event is illustrated by Shepherd Hendrix. The visuals help to make the enjoyable prose even more fun (and there is plenty of humor thrown in, to prevent things from getting too dry). The wonderful combination means that you can actually give a history book to a child and not hear them groan in agony. Heck, it means that you can give a history book to an adult who “doesn’t like history”.

There should be a copy in every school library. Not because it is the end-all-be-all of history books, but because it will teach people more about their past. And, if we are very lucky, it will get some people interested in history who may not have otherwise.

Highly recommended.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to U.S. History, Graphic Illustrated

Update: Let me add that I learnt quite a lot, and I consider myself reasonably well read in history. I think that Ken should write a book just about 1919. I had forgotten — and didn’t know — how much happened in that year. If any history writers are looking for a U.S. history theme, I suggest 1919.

After the Christmas break I spent a bit of time making scale model versions of our Screech Owl Box, Woodpecker House, and Leopold Bench. These are our showroom display models:

A number of people expressed interest in these 1/3rd scale miniatures, so we decided to make up a batch for sale. Here is our mini assembly line of Owl Boxes & Woodpecker Houses:

They are made of Cedar and will be stained with a Redwood colored toner.

During our road trip out to California for Christmas, Evelyn and I talked a bit about our products. Improvements to existing models, figuring out the solutions to problems, and coming up with new “hair brained” schemes. Road trips in open country are great for this. You’re zipping along with not much to see and not much traffic to worry about. And you are stuck there for 10 hours. Thinking back on it now, most of our best product ideas have come up during trips like these.

One of the items that came out of our discussions was that we needed a starter coop in our product lineup. Something which would compete in price with the imports and be our answer to the “chicken tractor”.  The chicken tractor is an open bottomed lightweight coop. They are often built and not purchased. Inexpensive poultry netting and 2x4s are commonly the materials of choice. And, quite frankly, they look too much like chicken coops.

Now remember our design mantra, taken from the Japanese master Eiko Ishioka: Timeless, Revolutionary, Original.

When we develop a new product, or enhance an existing one, we try very very hard to live up to those three words. Our products should age well (timeless), include features not found elsewhere (revolutionary), and have our own unique take on the solution (original). This is very hard to do. Sometimes we start with traditional designs, then apply our own reasoning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The key is to apply that benchmark. If we meet those three words we know the product will be solid and something to be proud of.

This new coop would have to meet a slew of requirements:

• Lightweight. At least lighter than our other models.
• An all-in-one solution, like the chicken tractors. Meaning an integrated nesting area and run.
• Low profile. We wanted a “stealth” chicken coop.
• Use SUM Framework. These are the core items that can be used across products (ex. Doors, Roofs, Core Frames, etc).
• Integrate with existing products. It should be able to connect to the same Runs and to other SUM Coops.
• Be as inexpensive as possible. It should be competitive with imported kits.

After cleaning up the shop over the New Year, we started the prototype build on Sunday.

By Tuesday we were figuring out full versus half roof:

By Thursday we had the sides, doors, and the interior complete:

By Friday it was sanded and ready for sealing with Linseed Oil:

Not bad for a week of work. From a pile of lumber to a finished product. And we’re talking done-done. Timings complete. Materials priced out. Labor calculated. Final price determined. Store updated.

Some key concepts that allow us to do this:

• Building off of the SUM Framework. While everything for the prototype was scratch built, we used many of our existing building blocks. The doors and door rails used here are the same as found on the Crestview High Rise Chicken Coop and the Brentwood Deluxe Chicken Coop.
• Knowing the best way of attaching tricky components, such as the roof and the Hardware Cloth. (Part of our “secret sauce”.)
• Breaking the problem up into subsystems. Get the core done. We know how to do doors, so don’t worry about that. Figure out the nesting area. The side screens. The roof. Each of these components then gets put together to made a final product. (This also means you spend less time [money] on custom fitting.)
• Keeping the end product in mind and eschewing iterative development.

That last point will likely raise the eyebrows of more than one software developer, where iterative development is a mantra. But I have no use for it in products like this. First, they just aren’t that complicated. Second, I know all of the requirements — or I can make them up as I go. This is mostly a one-man job, so all that stuff is in my head during the design & build. Third, I can’t afford to go down paths, scrap, and rebuild. I hate wasting materials more than I hate wasting my time. This is where making physical things is very different from virtual (software). Scrapping code is cheaper than scrapping tangible items. When you scrap code you lose time and labor. When you scrap a door frame you lose time, labor, and materials.

Now comes the hard part: Marketing & Selling them.