It has been a busy day today, and not we are in the hot part of the day. But among the unloading of the truck from the Farmer’s Market and setting the dehydrator running, I have nearly finished the first bent for the woodshed. I just need to peg it together now, as I have decided that will be required to compensate for messy joints. I am not very good at my joints yet, but as much as I would like to, I also cannot blame the tools. They feel fine in hand. If there were one I could improve, it would be the mallet I made on the lathe some time ago. It has too much mass along the shaft. I could hit lower, but then there would be too much mass beyond the striking point, and that is certainly not good either. In fact, with such a long mallet head, I have found it is better to hit further up the head. The mass is kind of nice, but it hurts the wrist delivering it to the blow. So, I could do with putting a new mallet blank on the lathe and doing that up with a more striking design!
One thing that has surprised me about the mallet is the finish on it. I put boiled linseed oil on it when I made it maybe a little over a year ago, and that has held up. It is distinguished from the wood inside where it has begun to blow apart quite like it was a layer of varnish.
I think the question now is, do I put up a post and connect it to the bent, do I brace the bent stood up, or do I just make a second bent, then put up a whole bay at once? I am so eager to see something on the shed standing, and to get a real idea of the height of it! But to simplify putting it together, I think I should build the next bent at least, maybe even the next two, then put it up by bay(s). Once it is up, it will be joined and difficult to make adjustments. Putting it up all in one day would be a much greater reward! Then I could tune it all at once and start nailing siding on ready for the wood. After that, I could put the rafters on and purlins and roofing. That would give me the pile of wood inside to walk on while doing that roof part! I am putting beams in lower that will hold it together while I fill it.
Oh! There is the flooring to do, too! Ha ha! I almost forgot that! That could be a bit of a challenge! But nothing that cannot be overcome by owning my own sawmill! If need be, I will just cut the flooring an inch and a half or two thick. The real question about flooring then becomes one of spacing. I could do a shiplap or tongue and groove, or I could leave gaps for airflow. Being that the building is for firewood, I think that is the direction I will go. I am thinking the same for the siding. The place really wants airflow for drying wood. Another thing I could do, however, is to really get a year ahead on the wood, then dry it out of the building then load that in the autumn for winter use, and let the building be more waterproof. So the siding would be closed tighter. Keep the gaps in the flooring, and put some ventilation up top under the eaves, and allow any further drying as air moves through the building between the top and the bottom.
Honestly, I will be interested in seeing how long the whole structure lasts as it is sat on cinder blocks for a foundation. The winter should be great, and the summer and autumn, too! It’s that mud season that some anticipate as ‘springtime’ that I worry most about! The whole pace turns into a mud hole then! If there were ever a time a building would sink into the mud, it’s then!
I’d like very much to work out a nice finish on this thing, and some decorative aspects to it. I don’t know how that will go to plan. I am also not sure if I will tear oud some fencing to make the thing accessible or just access it through the existing gates. I think I will move the woodpile into the shed before I work that out once and for all. I don’t really have a plan, no. Just want to build and see how things turn out. Hey, that’s me! Enough for now. I am needed elsewhere at the moment!