Frosty starts
It might look lovely, but without heating, I’m glad I have some physical work to help keep me warm right now.
Big shock to the system for someone more used to sitting at a desk for work!
Not exactly the kind of weather that makes you want to get out of your sleeping bag first thing in the morning that’s for sure!
Sorting space
Slowly but surely, the pile of old framing timber and broken down pews is finally reducing in size. I’ve been removing the rusty nails and then sorting the wood into rough-size categories.
Trying to make some kind of sense of the random chaos I’m currently surrounding myself with.
The longer lengths of framing timber, I’m putting to one side for my scrapwood challenge door project. I just need to ensure I have enough lengths to try and make the door and sufficient clear space to work on it first.
Slow grow
Once the de-nailed timber is size sorted, it gets bagged and stored in my bus shelter for the time being. Nice sense of completion when a pile is done, plus it gives me back some precious floor space in the Small Mission Hall itself.
Interesting to see the noticeable difference when cutting through new and older timber. On older timber, the growth rings are much closer together.
Normally this is a sign of slower growth. Slower growth often results in denser wood because the cells are smaller and more tightly packed. This denser wood is generally stronger and more durable.
Cold challenge
Not saying it was cold, but there were some beautiful ice patterns on the inside of the building windows in the early mornings.
With the off-cuts of timber that couldn’t realistically get repurposed, there was still one last job to perform…
A whole day of actually being warm, even if it was outside the building. It seemed a fitting end to this phase of the work.
At some point, it will be great to get a proper wood or multi-fuel stove working in the building. It’s high on the wish list that’s for sure!
Playtime
Having got the seemingly endless task of wood repurposing sorted, it was my playtime. Good to have something fun to do.
Even off-cuts allowed exploring structural ideas on how to try and make my door, or even a possible bed?
Sometimes, you just need to follow an idea and see where you end up…
Creative constraints
Apart from the limitations of my own skill set, there were also some technical challenges and limitations that I had to find solutions for. All part of the self-imposed brief I had set myself.
With no challenge, there’s no fun.
The main one for me was about different methods of joining rough, random lengths of timber together. How hard could that be?
After some experimentation, I soon found out it was not as easy as I first thought.
Responsive design
This is a term that’s normally applied to website design.
Responsive web design responds to user needs by adapting to different screen sizes, orientations, layouts, and platforms.
No reason why this principle cannot also be applied to a physical design problem?
A design that responds to the materials and skills available, to produce a location-appropriate solution.
This was my challenge and after a fair amount of playing around with different materials, approaches and techniques, I think I have a possible idea…
