Building Birdhouses in a Small Shop (2)

Make my day. Show me scruffy lumber

"No one else seems to be buying lumber from 'The Mouse
Pile', so I now consider it my personal stock of fine lumber.
That's Gold Mine Number 3." Gord H., December, 2013

["Sure, you'll find better designs but not better lumber"] 

My name came up the day my son's neighbour learned the cost of trucking old deck boards to the landfill site outside Fenelon Falls was going to break the bank. $130 per pickup truck load. Yipes.

"We should talk to my dad," said my son David. "He likes old lumber."

Next time I travelled to Fenelon Falls I was shown the lumber, cut some in half and took it home to use in a couple of birdhouses. Shortly thereafter I called my son to give Joe the message that I'd take it all. I now refer to Joe Flagler's well-aged western cedar deck boards as Gold Mine Number 1.

[Pictures of the lumber, in rough and birdhouse condition, and accompanying stories can be seen at the links in the above paragraph. If you like old lumber that's worth the recycling effort, your time will be well spent viewing the photos. I'll just sit here and wait.]

Those who have read Building Birdhouses in a Small Shop (1) also have heard about Gold Mine Number 2, the clearest western cedar money can buy just down the road (from London) in St. Marys. The same story refers briefly to Gold Mine Number 3, also referred to as The Mouse Pile.

I didn't stumble upon Number 3 accidentally. A friend I call Big Steve put me on to it. You may have heard of him. He stands 6 feet, 14 inches tall and though he has to stoop to escape bumping into the light fixtures in my workshop he really likes to visit, often with scrap cedar for me under his arm. "I just love this shop," he'll say with a wide grin. "It smells delicious." Sometimes he'll have an old tool or knick knack under his arm too, like a worn out hand drill or broken thermometer, and he'll say the item would look good in a shadow box, something I like to make on a regular basis now. So I'll agree and find a place for the thing on one of my shelves, adding it to a supply of oddities that will keep me busy well into the 2030s. I can see myself now: I'll be eighty-five, standing in the shop in my dusty jeans and work hat and wondering, what the heck is this broken hammer all about? Then I'll grab some fine western cedar fence slats from my stock from The Mouse Pile. And I'll start another bird house or feeder or shadow box.

["I cut and assemble the base and supports according to my recipe"]

["Roof slats overlap and are sloped at 22.5 degrees"]

My first adventure related to The Mouse Pile happened not too long ago, after Big Steve told me about the quality of the western cedar at a lumber yard on Hyde Park Road, London. I was told to talk to a woman with stylish blonde hair ("cut really short, you'll find her") and tell her I wanted five- and six-foot fence slats from a particular shed. They were covered with an old tarp and were scruffy and picked over, but some old dark lumber could still be found. Messy but worth the effort is what I recall. And at half-price if I spoke to the blonde-haired lady.

On a free afternoon off I went armed with a winning smile and enough details to totally confuse the average salesperson. That being said I found the woman, she told me to go out back and take a look, I found the right shed, and I found a raggedy tarp over a neglected pile. I pulled back a corner of the tarp and didn't initially like what I saw. Dirt, dust, scruffiness and signs that it was home to critters. I let go the tarp and gave the pile several kicks. Nothing. I didn't hear a sound. I pulled back the tarp more fully and gave the pile a few more solid boots. Nothing but dust flew out or off of the pile. So, I gave the lumber a closer look. Many boards were so scruffy and dirty I knew any rescue operation would be more than a bit of work, but it was work I knew I could handle with a pail full of warm, soapy water, work gloves and a sponge. So I selected a handful of good dark boards, christened the stock 'The Mouse Pile' and negotiated a deal for half price.

["Roof slats are well-supported at edges and centre"]

["Can you find finer lumber than western red cedar?"]

Since that day I've learned how to scrub cedar fence slats without getting slivers. And as long as I still have access to Gold Mine Number 3 I'll continue to make bird feeders that are solid, made from some of the best lumber in Canada and are, in my opinion, pretty good looking.

* * * * * 

I may start making my feeders a bit taller, like the one above (standing outside my study window and beside my workshop door), because the extra height allows for clearer photographs of birds.

Big Steve dropped off some old cedar two days ago, so more feeders and log cabin birdhouses are now on my to-do list. In the background one can see a banana box filled with western cedar birdhouses, made from Joe's deck boards, some of the finest lumber I've seen this side of the Rocky Mountains!

Photos by GH

***

Do you spend time working in a backyard shop? How big is it?

What projects are progressing well?

Please click here to read Building Birdhouses in a Small Shop (1)