We are plugged in

It was a big week for our urban logging operation. We finished moving OUT of our old building and began reassembling our stuff in the new one. The satisfaction of having total control over every aspect of our location is especially sweet since we had to tolerate a number of things in the old place that we are glad to be rid of. First and foremost was security; the truckers who shared our old lot never locked the gate and since they arrived there five years ago, we have had recurring problems with theft. We left very few valuables in that building but even a Craftsman handsaw has metal and thieves apparently love recycling.

Anyone who has visited probably noticed that the building was dilapidated (understatement). Joe had made a big effort to reinforce and repair that structure over the years and literally two days after we moved everything out the big wind we had blew apart two wall sections. It really is a wreck. Not to mention it leaked and deep puddles formed after every rain. Dry will be better.

Here is where the move now stands: Ameren installed a pole and hooked us up with juice just as the electrician finished installing everything. We have electricity. We are placing lumber rack sections along one wall so we can load it with the lumber now in the building. Once that is done, we will reassemble the other sections along the other wall and build out a few more bins for dry wood. We are going to have a more extensive display for shorts, crotch boards, turning and carving blanks plus other special pieces. We are making an effort to cut more natural edge planks, mantle pieces, and other large and unique items so the tilt we already have away from commodity wood and towards unique stuff will become even more pronounced. That's always been the fun side of wandering around Lumber Logs anyway, right?

Once again, the view as you drive up:

Standing at the overhead door entrance and looking left is the one row of racks, not completely reassembled here:

Walking on in and turning back towards the entrance you see Joe's work area on the right and the big bandsaw just to the left of the overhead door:

That place on the left is where the radial arm saw and vertical displays will be. We still have a lot of work ahead, but we are over the hump and it tastes pretty good. The bandsaw has even been tweaked and is fully functional. With the blade guide in operation for the first time, we can actually make straight cuts. We expect to be trimming any board needing it before reloading the bins, so the board quality ought to rise a bit.

It will take a few weeks to sort all of this out, so the shopping experience will be a bit adventurous for a while, but everyone who visited this past Saturday found what they were looking for, and it should only get easier.