WHY I LOVE WOODWORKING
By: Sam Rametta
Why I love woodworking: It’s clean.
The End.
This is one of the “Sundry Other Avocations” you’ve heard tell about.
This has been an ongoing project for awhile. Actually, it was an ongoing project, then, like so many other things in life, it got pushed to the back of the shed.
I blew ‘er up a couple years ago, fixed it (not very well), and then blew ‘er up again. Don’t get me wrong; I knew how to fix it right the first time, I just didn’t. So we got one good day of riding out of it, and back to the shed it went.
Anyway, I was elbow-deep in dirt and kerosene when I realized- I hate this. I used to enjoy working on cars, bikes, quads, you name it. But I seem to have grown out of it.
O.k., I don’t hate it, I just would prefer doing anything else. Something cleaner. More refined. Something at which I cuss less, and away from which I walk with fewer bloody knuckles. Something like, I don’t know, dovetails? Hand planing? Surfacing rough stock? Sniffing wood glue? Anything?
Resurrecting a dinosaur
Here’s a closeup of the motor. The head, jug, and piston are removed, along with the carburetor, gas tank, side panels, seat, etc.,etc., etc.
I just got the bottom end cleaned out (the kerosene), and am already ready for reassembly.
It really isn’t that bad of a job, I just have better things to do.
The new parts: piston, rings, gaskets, along with the old parts: the jug and the head. The cylinder in the jug was oval’d enough that I needed some machine work done. I had it bored out .010″ over stock, so it came back to me honed and ready to go. Thank goodness.
Isn’t that my shave horse?
I have parts everywhere. The only thing really holding me up is my son. I want him around to learn this stuff, but he usually has something better to do. That’s o.k.; he can run, but he can’t hide.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the shop; what I’d rather be doing.
This is a rabbeted and nailed utility box much like the maple one I finished a little while ago. I just couldn’t bear to use the dovetailed one for my chainsaw tools, and I couldn’t justify cutting dovetails on this box for the same reason. There’s no shame in rabbeted joinery, it’s just a quicker and simpler means to an end.
I won’t be updating you on this. I just got a laugh out of the myriad things that go on at The Bronze Oak Leaf, and thought I’d share. Hopefully I’ll soon be able to wash off the grease and get back to something cleaner.
