4/10

So far, this project has been going steadily but behind schedule due to poor weather conditions. On the first day, Ciro and I attempted to make our own lumber to use for the four main supports of the outdoor structure. We were able to scout a good maple tree that was off of the ground and had only fallen about 6 months prior. Unfortunately, this piece was too rotten. We attempted to make lumber out of another tree, but the grain structure was too warped and had too many knots to produce straight timbers without excessive hewing.

On the second day we began to prepare the work site. We excavated about a 12 foot area with the bucket of a tractor and dug four 2 foot deep holes in a 7’x 10’ rectangle. We knew poor weather was around the bend, so got the holes done and ready to pour concrete in once the weather had passed. The next day there was severe rain, and the work site quickly turned to a muddy puddle. It was frustrating not being able to focus on the most pertinent work, but there were other things that needed to be done. We ended up going to Home Depot and buying all of the necessary lumber and other pieces for the structure. This ended up being a bad idea because a lot of the concrete bags ended up getting wet and difficult to handle without tearing .The next day it was still raining, so we went to Albany Steel and stocked up on mild steel stock from their scrap pile. We got good metal for just about everything we will be making in the first weeks, but still need to order tool steel for cutting edges for knives, axes, etc.

As this project continues, I hope that we will be able to stick more so to our schedule and goals. I feel that we have gotten a lot done and been making steady progress, but I would like to get the big things out of the way first and focus on the smaller stuff.

(I don’t have my phone while I am posting this and cannot transfer photos and videos yet. This will all be in another post.)