Seems it wasn't too long ago that I built this section of shop. However; you see the tree says differently. It's increased in mass, until it's squeezed the fascia board right off the building ... crushed the roof sheathing back, and created a weather/rot magnet which runs right down the wall, ruined the sheathing, entered the wall, soaked the insulation, rotted the studs, rotted the window sill .... and all one night while I was working late ...



What had "appeared to be" a wall until I removed the damaged interior sheathing ...



What had "appeared to be" a roof section, until I removed the damaged covering ... under the leaves and twigs ... which I've removed a hundred times from this section of roof ...



I removed a limb today, that I'm sure weighed a ton. Did it in sections about stove length. Each one all I cared to roll, and end flip out of the way. I had to cut through that monster limb about eight times, and the sections crashed to the ground with solid thuds each.



This weeping cherry tree hugs the shop building. It's most likely from 1894, like the house and origonal shop portions. The base of the tree is 16 feet around now. Quite a little ornamental tree. It's canopy overhangs the whole shop - but it's a tree that produces alot of dirt ... and it keeps the roof sections wet. Early sections (of heavy roll roofing covering) degraded quickly. I've replaced them a time of two ... coated them too inbetween replacements. Now I replace with metal or 50 year rubber membrane ... but it's alot of work. The tree is so close to the shop, so big, and so surrounded (as well as being on a narrow alley) ... it would be extremely expensive and cumbersome to remove. So ... we'll co-exist ... and fight it out to the bitter end.



So ... I'll rebuild this wall about 6" or so inside it's previous line. That should give the tree and me just about enough time.

Hey - don't you wish YOU built airguns too? haha. Boy ... I sure wish "I" did.

Gary



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2009 12:01AM by barnespneumatic.

Gary,

That hammer laying on the tree really puts its size into perspective.

Yeah Lon .... that's the 4 pound hammer I used my entire forging career. That tree stump is an amazing thing. Couple of enormous forks off of it. I have a couple of more of those long horizontal limbs to eventually trim back. They'd collapse the shop roof if they ever gave up.

I just paid a guy a goodly sum last year, to trim up the tree. They did it while I was away. Actually ... I'd have preferred they take alot more of the tree for the money.

Gary

I have a saying: "Any day when you get to use a chainsaw is a good day." I guess that's NOT true at your place.

I can't imagine how you'd get that thing out of the middle of the shop without limbing it first using a 230 ton crane, which wouldn't fit down the alley anyway and would be very expensive.

-- Jim

who says you can't have a Treehouse when you're grown up ?

it would be fun.......except for all the stuff that goes with it!

good luck with the "new version" !

It's the classic "Tree in a Hollow Shop" ... just like all the elves have.



Gary

Hey Jerry, don't you have a heavy-lift helicopter that needs testing? Just zip on over to Garys shop, and pluck his little cherry tree out by the roots.

Hmmmm, cherry no good for rifle stocks?? Many year's supply there otherwise.....
Cheers
Neil

I'd love to see the thing all sawn up and air dried in planks. Bit of work between here and there though. haha.

Off to the lawyer's office this morning. Little task left on behalf of mummy and papa. I'd rather cut up the cherry tree with a hand saw.....

Gary

OK--Gary it's 5:25 pm. It's pitch dark. It's time to come in off of the shop roof!!! Remember "Tomorow's another day, sweetie"!!!! Besides it's dinner time!!!!

Thanks Honey ... dinner was great.

The maintenance project is progressing. Alot of work. Tight quarters. A thousand trips up and down the ladder. Repairing, rebuilding. Figuring how to hold both ends of every board and nail it too. I'll be very pleased when it's complete. As Kelly said ... it's already dark at 5:30. Getting colder. Time to button up for the winter, and get the heat back on.

Gary

Two weeks later:



New walls, insulation, sheathing, rafters, ceiling ..... yeah



Compressor closet/hallway houses shop air - filling station going in. New wiring. New graft into shop air hard lines coming



Once you get into an old building (1894) - you find more than you want to find ....



More of the abrasive room are - the whole thing had to be demolished. That was a 1982 addition - the tree proved too much for the quick construction job and flimsy materials a younger man used (needing to get back to work then, as now).



Count the layers of roofing on this 1894 segment of the building.



Lots of trips to Lowes and Home Depot so far. I found this young man roaming around! haha.



Kelly is putting out some seasonal cheer. Her garden shed is looking festive!



On the other side of the building ... that corrugated roofing job got moved along today ....



Over the last two weeks, we've gathered a few leaves! This windrow was 2-3 feet deep all along the front of our property. The town comes by with a big ole vac. That was a job ...



The dogs have been a huge help. When I come in, they let me pet them. haha.

It's coming along. I'm occupying space now. Replacing shop furnace pipes - heat ducts - air lines - moving thinngs all over the place. Will be a real treat to have things in better shape for the Winter.

That's my report 11-15-09

Gary

Ahhh, that's good . . . no more playing with your life messing with that 220 line every time you need a fill. How, may I ask, is that Bauer compressor sitting on what likes the end of a simple piece of dimensional lumber?

Christmas seems like it gets here earlier every year -- I guess the season "officially" arrives on November 1st now.

I don't remember that gas log stove? You guys will dig that for the winter. Looks like the dogs already do.

-- Jim

Hi Jim,

I see you're back.

Yeah - the footprint of the compressor worked perfect with the 2 by 12 Treated plank. Still has enough space between the wall for good air draw for cooling, and it's shock mounted, and clamped, so it stays in place. Room for the tank up there. Will work great!

Gary

Whew, I'm whooped after all that, tell the dogs to move over.

I'm looking forward to Christmas myself.

Wow, you go to Lowes and catch your little brother sneaking into town for a visit, how cool is that?

Oh, Jim, you didn't really think plugging in a 220 volt plug was life threatening did you?

The work you've accomplished looks great. Hope the rest goes quickly! I know we could all get twice the honey dews done if we just had a Lowe's runner and of course could tell them exactly what we needed by part number. I spend a lot of time just staring at the shelves looking for the right hardware for the job. Always easier when you do a second one the same as the first, if there is such a thing.

Keep up the good work,

Kent

Hi Kent,

You bet. And ... the worst thing is ... the clerks at stores are so "clingy". They won't ALLOW you to stare at anything and think. They just want to help you "shovel" stuff onto a hand truck. Like chucking firewood. They especially want to load you up with all the curled, splintered, warped junk on the tops of the piles.

I usually have to "growl" alittle to get them to leave me alone!!



Gary

Yeah, why is it that when I need a couple minutes to just stare and work through dimensions or alternative designs in my head, there is always a "helpful" rep there but when I need a piece of chain cut or a panel cut, the store is vacant and I'm worried about guard dogs appearing to eat the guy who missed closing time?

Better over-attentive clerks that non-existent ones. The last time I shopped at a Home Despot, I hiked all over the place before I finally found an actual, real, live employee. I felt like I was in one of those after-the-apocolypse movies, where you're the only human being left on earth. Hello? Helloooo? Anybody there, anyone...

At the local small-town hardware/lumber store, we know all the clerks by name, and vice-versa. They all know where everything is, can guide you right to what you want, and most of them can remember what it is you bought last time even when you forget yourself. Of course, everything is usually more than a bit more expensive than the bigbox stores, and there isn't much selection on fixtures and such either. On the whole, I'm willing to special-order my lights and plumbing fixtures in exchange for dealing with someone who actually knows what they're doing.

I'm sure it's a factor of where you live.

Here; the various departments are run by people with enormous time in each trade. The Lowes plumbing department will have a guy who was a plumber for 40 years. Electrical - a 60+ year old guy who knew Edison. Etc., etc. It's a good system. Actually, here ... it's the 20 something guys that won't let you alone, and just read you the box if you ask them a question.

We had a local hardware store in our very, very small micro town when I came here 30 years ago. It's all a mixed blessing. I was there every day for something. Knew them well. I usually had to try to figure out how to do what I needed to do with the very few things they had, And, they were all vastly over priced. I mean $30/gal. of paint 30 years ago. They had to make a living. But they closed ten years or more ago. Squeezed out. Thing was ... they were "retailing". And, that's the key. They had the same product - made in the same factory - as the big box stores. So; in our case here .. they actually had less to offer ... especially once the big stores hired on experienced professionals. That's they key when you are selling to the trades, or to home handymen. They need experienced professionals to know what you don't know.

Funny ... I used to go to five or six small hardware stores. Honestly ... it was more like ten of them. And, for some, I'd travel 25 miles to get to them. Each of them had just a few things I had to have. Now, it's all one place 10 miles away. Or, it's on the net. That's been a hugely welcome change - and a huge time saver. Good thing too, cause there's been alot more time drains added in it's place. haha.

Well, to the shop.

Gary

What a concept, someone that works for BigBoxDepot having actual knowlege of what they're selling. I guess that kind of expertise is probably more available now that housing starts are way down, but you couldn't tell it from the HomeDespot near us. Of course, the term "near" is a relative thing, since the nearest one is a five-hour boat ride away, and the ferry only runs twice a week in the winter. A "quick run" down to the orange apron guys therefore involves hundreds of dollars of ferry tickets, hotel expenses, and half a weeks time.

Which is why the local hardware store looks pretty good by comparison.

hahaha ....

And why SOME of us live here. ;?)

Gary

all of this will be forgotten , when yourself and the elves who work for you and your mate in the red jacket are toasty warm over the winter,,
quality is rememberd long after price is forgotten,,, as my gran used to say.
looks like a better place to work.
so its a plus all round.

Well, sure, it would be more convienent living closer to civilization at times. There are of course compensations. These sockeye are just out of the brine, about ready to put into the smoker. Less than a day from the saltwater to the smokehouse, they come out so delicious that it's hard to get any into the vacuum packer. Right off the rack, still warm, is the best smoked fish you can get.

Gary,

How can you fit all of your stuff back into the shop if the wall is being moved inward six inches? It was pretty tight in there if I remember correctly.

Keith

Hi Keith,

It's been a test. I've managed to do it. You are correct - it's like working in a WWII submarine.

It's been quite a few years since I went to this effort. I've tried to find anything that could be tossed. Not as easy as you might think. There's 36 years of tooling in here. I figured out how to do all of the processes I've displayed, with the minimum of tooling - and without the fancy "badge named" tools I can't afford.

There's no cleaning crew, maintenance crew, materials handling people, etc. So; anything that gets done, I do. Kelly handles the bills and most of the book work. This can only work, if it's your "lifestyle". I am the business - never ends. Nobody considers the costs, possible profits, and then decides to go into this sort of work. They find that they were born with a different skill set than is normal. And, they "pay to work" with that skill set, all of their life.

Yesterday, I restored the second story roof surface, until 5:40 pm ... when it became offically too dark to see. Great job if you can get it. haha. BEFORE you can build anything to sell, you have to learn electrical work, plumbing, carpentery, masonary, mechanical repair, and a few other skills. Buy the tools that go with each trade. That's just so you can keep your shop from falling in on you (unless you have the piggy bank to hire professionals for each of those things - and ... please note ... they won't come do them for you, because the jobs are too small for contractors paying for their F-350 Chrome "Work Trucks") . And, after you've done all these things yourself, you realize that none of that counts. THEN, you can go to work.

Gary

Hey Rotor,

Like to smoke a little myself. Do tell what kind of brine are you soaking them in before the smoker.

Here's my secret recipe. Salmon fillet from, who else, Sams Club, thaw, sprinkle top and bottom with a mixture of 1/3 Lowry's 1/3 Tony Chatcherres Cajun spice 1/3 Rosemary Garlic spice (from Sams) add a couple of Tbs of dry crab boil to the quart size shaker if desired. then smoke over pecan or cherry wood at 180 for about an hour, till it just flakes. Of course, pink in the middle. Eat as entre or try this:


Cream one box cream cheese with 2 Tbs caper juice and 1/2 onion finely minced . Then FOLD in flaked smoked salmon and capers and shape into ball for Smoked Salmon Pate with crackers..Best if in frig for 30 min, if you can wait.

If the rest of you don't get posting Rotor and I will turn this site over to Martha S. and recipes will RULE!!! "It's a good thing"

Kent



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2009 01:00PM by Cajun Justice.

I'm drooling all over my keyboard here .... slurp ....

I've had said Salmon/Cream Cheese Pate .... it's the only thing that got me thru the months of isolation ... in the camo blind ... with NO DEER for thousands of miles around.

THAT is good eatin'

And now ....

Back to our scheduled program of stimulating airgun discussion .....

Gary

Boy that sounds good! I may have to adjust a little as Sams fillets don't have a skin side. Question for you rotor, what's the outside temp when you air dry the fillets? I'll bet its very dry there, here humidity is very high year round but adjustments can be made. Do you know the smoker temp? Is it a cold smoke?

Thanks for the secrets.

The last batch I did was with temps in the 60s to 70s, and it was (for a change) fairly dry out at the time. As I recall I was aiming for an interior temperature in the 120-130 range in the fillets (I'll have to double check the book for that to be sure) but I don't have a thermometer in the smoker itself. The book I have does discuss being able to smoke fish in anything from tropical to arctic conditions, but adjustments have to be made to both the time and how well insulated your smoker has to be.

The key to the best result is starting with the best meat, of course. For salmon, the belly strips and the collar area usually have the highest oil content, which leads to the tastiest fish in the end. I smoke fillets skin-on, and pull the pinbones where I can (either hemostats or needlenose pliers work well). If you're working with farmed Atlantic salmon ( probably the most widely available salmon on the East coast), the end product will never be firm or as rich as working with the better grades of wild-caught Pacific salmon.

We get five species of salmon up here, and just to make things more confusing all five species go by more than one common name. The King (or Chinook) and Sockeye (or red) salmon are by far the preferred food fish, they have the firmest flesh and are considered to be the tastiest choices for most people up here. Silvers( or Coho) are also pretty good, not as rich but almost as firm; they're the most fun to catch with a hook and line. Pinks (or Keta) and Chums(also called dogs) are pretty much considered to be dog food in much of Alaska, though their caviar is commercially harvested and quite good. The Pinks are also called Humpies, due to the pronounced hunchback that the males develop as they near their spawning grounds. Dog salmon (chums) develop large, canine-like teeth as they transition into the fresh water to spawn, hence the name.

Unlike Atlantic salmon, all the Pacific species return only once to their natal waters. It's a one-way trip for them, they spawn and then they die. The thousands of rotting salmon carcasses carry tons of marine-sourced minerals and nutrients into what would othewise be fairly resourse-poor spawning streams, helping ensure that the next generation gets a better shot at surviving to see the ocean. They also provide an amazingly abundant food source for bears, eagles, other fish, and of course us humans. Unfortunately, most Atlantic salmon don't ever get a chance to spawn, as they're raised in "fish farms" off the coastlines of Scotland, Canada, and South America. They're fed tons of factory-made fish pellets, containing grains and byproduct from smaller fish such as menhaden. Their food pellets also contain artificial colorants to make their flesh appear sorta salmon-colored, which is necessary for marketing. The few remaining wild Atlantic salmon are guarded like the crown jewels, since most of their former habitat has been destroyed and their numbers but a tiny fraction of what once was a valuable fishery.

If you can find best-quality flash frozen wild-caught salmon versus the artificially raised farm fish, you'll be surprised at the difference between the two. Fresh wild-caught is even better of course, but by the time they've made it all the way to the East Coast you're far better off with fish that's been kept frozen than any of the sorry, sunken-eyed specimens you see on ice at the grocer.

Now if I can only figure out how to get decent, NY-style pastrami out of my Big Chief smoker I'll be a very happy man.

Well.

I think we have a new record for both vol. and detail of information transmitted. I'm glad that you and Kent finally found a topic to draw out the writer in both.

Since we've completely abandoned airguns at the moment ... I've been having trouble with my "fish sticks". Some are really white and flaky ... I like those the best. However; (and here's the problem) ... some are dark and nasty ... and I don't like those. Now ... when I only get five fish sticks on Thursday nights .... it's a real bummer to find two or more of the dark ones. It really throws me off my meds, and makes me very sad.

I've tried to speak to the caretakers about this ... however; they seemed quite unsympathetic to my plight. That makes me very sad too. I don't like being sad. So; I often put pudding into my ears when this happens. However; I find that I can't hear Wheel of Fortune with pudding in my ears ... so; there's a delay between seeing contestants ask for a vowel, and Vanna actually revealing which vowel was asked for .....

Now Gary, it is entirely possible that they were just about to mention how to harvest salmon with an airgun...

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only salmon fan here! I've got a whole recipie book for smoking the critters, but the one that I've had the best luck with so far is the simplest, a "dry brine". Sprinkle a glass baking pan with a thin layer of brown sugar and kosher salt (about a 60/40 mix). Lay the sectioned fillets in skin side down, and cover with another layer of the sugar/salt mix. Drizzle mollasses liberally over top, it doesn't need to be stirred in. If you have more fish than pans, make the top sugar/salt/mollasses layer thicker and lay the next batch of fish in flesh-side down. Cover the back of those fillets with another layer of the mix. If it's a deep enough pan, you can keep going, alternating skin to skin, flesh to flesh, so you don't have the skins directly against a layer of meat. Let it sit in the fridge at least five or six hours, overnight works better.

When they're done with the brining, the flesh is notably firmer, and some of the mollasses color will have soaked in to the meat. Rinse the brine off with fresh water and air-dry on racks (protected from the bugs) till a pellicle forms. This is a critical step, and the fillets should be shiney and almost dry to the touch at the surface. It takes a couple hours up here to form the pellicle in relatively cool weather, even assisted with a fan. It shouldn't smell fishy at all if you've started with quality fillets.

The next step is into the smoker, I use an electric Big Chief that I plug in out on the deck. Yes, it's against the recommendations in the owners manual, but I use a fireproof mat of drywall below the smoker and I don't leave it unattended while it's running. The last batch came out pretty tasty, and it took three pans of alder chips and about six hours in fairly warm weather. The hardest part of the whole process is saving some for later. It's so tasty when it's still hot off the racks that you have to make extra if you want any left over.

Now Gary, Rotor and I are not going to discuss any fish that's not smoked! You may think that's not very PC but we just don't get the opportunity to talk a good smokin' story.

And Rotor thanks for some new ideas for the next time I fire up the smoker. I'll be sure to take some pics with a Barnes propped against the smoker door, for Garys sake.

Kent

Gee .... ... ah .... Thanks.

fishsticks, eh?
My guess is that the 'dark and nasty' ones are actually fried zucchini. All that breaded and frozen stuff looks exactly alike on the outside, who's to know until you actually bite into one? The nice lady in the hairnet is just trying to get you to eat your vegetables.

And while we're on this veggie theme, a quick joke: You know what the difference is between broccoli and boogers?

They're both green and smell funny, but kids will actually eat boogers.

boy, has this one gone off topic!!!!!

even though it is (bizarrely) 60 degrees here in CT today, and probably warmer where Gary is, if'n you don't let him get back to finishing his shop, it'll be a MIGHTY cold winter with old those metal tools....and barrels....and receivers...

I mean, it's turning into the Food Network around here...and with all due respect, none of ya look like Giada DiLaurentis!!!!!

Oh, I don't know about that! Here I am brineing my fresh Sockeye fillets



Kent

Kent, I coulda sworn you had a mustache, but I guess you got a good wax job.....and implants!

Yes, and I shaved my mustache too.

Kent

It makes me wonder WHY I try so hard, to get folks to comment ....

The compressed air room came out really nice!

Gary, I hope your close to buttoning up. The rumor is we may see snow flurries here on Fri night or Sat am. If that's true you'll need to throw a few more logs on that fire. Even with both those little dogs in the bed, you'll be two dogs short on a "three dog night"

The work thus far looks great!!

Kent

HI Kent,

Yeah ... it's nearly complete. I used up the last of the decent weather buttoning up the roof. It was badly deterioated in various sections. We had some good weather that I couldn't waste. I have one more ... two more ... small sections to complete.

Yeah - we're supposed to get 2 plus inches tomorrow here.

The shop has been a huge project. However; it had to be done. I've done just "one more gun" and "one more gun" for year after year ... while having water on the floor. ;?) And, I've survived the work ... so I'm ready to hole up for the winter and work.

Best,
Gary

I'd let her squeeze MY tomatoes anyday, what a saucy looking gal.

I just looked up the name on Wikipedia, and I suddenly feel a need to learn more about Italian cooking.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2009 01:25AM by rotorhead.