The morning was busy helping Missus out with arranging some things in the house. When she was done with me, I went out to the tractor and took it around to the mill and parked it. There was a log already on it that I had put up there a couple of weeks ago. It was a short log that has some limited uses, but it was dry and a bit experimental for me. Most of the wood I have cut on the mill so far has been green wood. The one on it yesterday was effectively seasoned. So, I tightened the blade on the mill and started it up. A warmup run cleared the oxidization off the blade and confirmed it was running true.
There was a large crotch in the log, and I started it off by cutting the remaining branch stump off. Then I turned it and flattened it on two more sides, leaving one lived edge, which I could have cut off too, but decided to worry about that at the table saw instead. That allows me to maximize the size of any boards cut from the middle of the remaining log rather than forcing all of them to a single standard from a square cant. I then cut each live edged board to one inch thick. All of my scraps and boards went into the tractor bucket ready to take around to the house and shop. The scraps will be used as firewood in the house.
I cut a straight edge on the boards, then cut the size 1/32nd over five inches in order to allow for a little bit of edge jointing on my final width. At last I ran all through the planer and surfaced the faces. Then I did the same on the posts I made a few weeks back, on all four sides. The final step on the boards was to cut one straight end, ready for their final measurements. The final step on the posts was to do the same, then but a 3/16ths-ish bevel on that end in order to serve as the bottoms of the legs for the hutches I intend to build out of all this wood. Now each board and post is sized in every dimension except for final length which will be finalized when I put them in their places and cut them to fit.
I need to mill a longer log or find some one-inch-thick boards already done to make the longest pieces for the hutches. The pieces I am describing will run the span of the hutch. The hutch is going to be made from wire cages suspended in a wooden frame. The idea is to prevent access to any of the wood by the rabbits, so they cannot chew it. But there is also another important feature. No wood bracing can be allowed under the wire cages, so they cannot pile up droppings anywhere. If it can fall through, the chickens in the run in which the hutches will be kept can pick through the droppings and effectively clean it up. Lastly, I will be building a roof on top to keep the rabbits dry and give them a bit of shade. Walls can be added to a couple of the sides in order to give them a wind break, too.
It’s a challenge. It’s interesting and enjoyable. Taking the boards from a tree in the manner I am able to now is absolutely wonderful! There is something that feels very self-reliant about taking a log from a tree and cutting it to the dimensions required for a specific task.
I could be suing the lumber rough, but I decided on planing it all smooth because it will be in the weather, and I want it to expose a smooth surface that will not trap water in any way other than its normal adhesion to help reduce rot. Another step I will take it to stand the final hutches on cinder blocks to get them off the earth and reduce the time water can stand at the base of the posts. No post can be sealed at the bottom unless its top is capped or sheltered to prevent water running down the wood grain and trapping in the sealed bottom, causing it to rot. I don’t know of you have ever seen a fence whose posts have had some sort of metal nailed to the top, old timers would sometimes use the disk from a bean can, but that actually does serve a purpose. And my intent is to build this hutch to last! Well, I should say these hutches. When I finish the big one, there will be at least one little one and maybe two left to do.
Anyway, as for suspending the cages into the wood frames, I am fixing to build a set of wire brackets that can be screwed to the boards that span the posts, and then hold the wire in a way that does not create any flat surface under the cages. That will require some 1/2-inch-wide metal strips and the vice and hammer for shaping, and a drill for screw holes. Any braces under the cages to help hold up the weight of the rabbits will be fashioned out of the same kind of wire the gages are made of, creating a deep beam but again, no flat surfaces to catch mess on. There is also an interior wall that provides a door that can be close to split the big cage up into apartments when needed, but also will provide a strong support at the center to suspend the floor at that location. Missus’ idea to put that wall in! That was a stroke of brilliance!
I imagine after putting all this explainer in, when I get the hutch set up in situ, I will shoot a photo and post it. Watch this space.
Dylan has promised to come over today and begin a regimen of helping to sort out the final mass of firewood for this winter. We have pieces to cut and split, and if need be we can go get a lot more where we source it from. I really appreciate his help with it. There is a lot left to do!
Time for me to get moving and get ready to take the girls to the bis stop for school. Then there is a long day of work ahead after that!