cleaning and cleaning

[bird]

Well, I thought I'd start this project for my moms birthday today. ... But, I can't work in a shop that isn't "clean."  I can't work in a kitchen that isn't clean, either. Thank goodness I cook for myself.... otherwise you wouldn't be able to see the kitchen over the dirty pile of pots and dishes!  So, I spent a while cleaning in the shop. I spent around four hours cutting, jointing, and planing random boards (not necessarily in that order).... probably more then I need to save... but, I can't let a good hunk of cherry/ walnut, ect.  go by the wayside.
    I have to "sort out" my sawdust to some degree (no walnut, metal, cigarette butts (I'm sorry to say), ect.).  Then, I pack my scraps that I cannot salvage into boxes. I give the boxes of scraps to anyone that heats their house via wood stove.  The sawdust I give to farmers or folks that have hunting dogs that live outside and need a nice pile of sawdust to sleep in.
     It's starting to shape up down there. My main workbench is clear and free of anything on it. I made another shelf for my bench/ jointer planes (22" - 50" planes).  My lumber is fairly well organized. There's shelving for 15-22" lumber.  Shelving for 22-34" lumber. Shelving for 35- 60" lumber. And then my main lumber racks house the rest of my lumber (5-20').  Believe it or not, I have sixteen racks for those boards. Anyone could walk in my house and look hard to find a place on the floor to "step."  But, when persons go in my shop, they're pretty amazed that I have everything from 7 inches up to twenty feet organized by species and in their appropriate location. My mother's asked me many times, "Honey, obviously you CAN clean and organize things. Why can't you do that with your house?"
        I guess I live in my shop and not in my house. ... what can I say?!........  thank goodness most of my wrenches, random planes, braces, and odd ball tools live in an entirely different room .... my office/ library..... or... tool room.
       Well, I've "straightened some random pieces of 2x2x10 (inch) pieces of Walnut.  I can't let any decent piece of lumber go unnoticed. It would have been bad enough if I stuck with my actual occupation obsessions.... but, I just had to start collecting wrenches.
      I'm glad I did. After all, I wouldn't know any of you folks if I hadn't become so interested in wrenches.
cheers,
I hope everyone is doing well.
bird

[Branson]

You're making me jealous!  But why no walnut? 

[bonneyman]

I, too, like a clean and organized work area. Might have 3 or 4 different projects going at once, but all the "piles" are separated and neat.
Probably about twice a year I go through and move everything on their shelves, dust/clean, remember what all I have, and front face things. Makes it a whole lot easier to find the little widget when you need it!

[rusty]

>But why no walnut?

Sawdust from some species of walnut contains a natural herbicide, it will kill all your tomato plants ; P

[bird]

You're making me jealous!  But why no walnut?

My mom loves to get bags of sawdust that contain walnut .  She puts the sawdust down on her "paths" through the woods... helps keep the weeds down.
    The chemical in Walnut is called "Juglone"  (I think). As far back as Roman times, walnut was considered a poison to all plants.  I'm pretty sure that the most "poisonous" parts of the tree are the roots, buds and nut shells.  Obviously , I've spent awhile researching this in hopes of finding  a good use for walnut sawdust.
    Some vegetables are tolerant... lima beans, snap peas, beets, onions, corn , parsnips.....   I thought that all root vegetables would react the same to a chemical. But, that's not the case. I need to find out if the previous vegies are "tolerant" or actually can benefit from walnut. I think the former is true.
    The more popular flowers that I know of (tolerant of walnut)  are daffodils, bluebells, phlox....
Anyhow, that's probably more then you ever wanted to know about Walnut!!!!!
      I think it's a beautiful wood. Out of most "hardwoods" I find it fairly easy to work with, finishes well, and I love the way it looks!!!!!!
Well, there's your plant/ wood lesson for the day.
cheers, bird

[BruceS]

>But why no walnut?

Sawdust from some species of walnut contains a natural herbicide, it will kill all your tomato plants ; P

Walnut is also a NO NO for stable bedding,  Tough on horses hoofs.