Well it’s pi day, 3.14. We met at Safeway Starbucks as usual. A trip to Garrett’s for a water timer, little chickens for sale, cute. A stop at Salvation army, nothing special. Home.
A simple lunch of pan fried chicken breast, rice and green beans with maple syrup, rice vinegar and mustard powder. I liked it though Raven thought it a bit sweet. A good lunch all in all.
Time for work, Raven prepares the paper work to register the rig. I break out the saw horses and 2x4s, drawing the 26″ wheel fellows pattern on the last stud, enough for both wheels and a spare with the other stud drawn before. I start cutting them out on the band saw. This size is nice as I don’t need to use the jig saw, just cut them to size on the band saw, a much nicer tool for shorter stock less than a foot. I get one eight set done and laid out round on the floor, these will be nice for the smaller front wheel.
Raven has decided to use a stain on the cart wheels, tries a couple on a scrap piece and picks the walnut color. She proceeds to stain the one wheel with the tire attached. It looks good.
I received the wire clips in the mail last week, time I secured the running lights wiring to the frame. Using the old boat pad I climb under and secure the wires using pliers and a hammer, six clips on each side to the steel frame, they won’t move or chafe, good to go for the inspection.
Back to the wheel fellows, that’s what you call the outer wooden round semi circles, I’m using eight, with two spokes each fitting into the center hub. I’m cheating, drilling round holes in the hub, should be rectangle mortises but these are just for looks. I cut the next set of eight fellows on the band saw. Putting on a dust mask I use the lapidary drum sander to smooth out a set, takes a long time.
Part way through we decide to take a hike to the river. It’s down and somebody has cleared the path to get to it. The wild grapes are in bloom and smell wonderful. The river has changed it’s path in the winter floods, the main channel is out with a couple small rapids between. The old deep fishing hole upstream appears to still be there from a distance, I’ll need to look closer. Back up the bank we check on the wild asparagus, one is up and splitting out already, we nibble on the soft fronds, tasty. There will be a few more. Raven picks some mugwort, a strong smelling bitter herb. Around the corner the poison oak is flourishing. and near the bay tree. I’ll be careful. Heading home with a stop at the garden just sprouting above the truckload of organic compost I put in last week.
More work on the wheel fellows I get one set sanded ready and dust off. Raven lays the hitch chain on newspaper and sprays it black.
I open the new 2″ ball hitch and check the fit. We’re good to go for registration as long as her friend’s truck electric mates to the 4 in line wiring harness or the adapter we have. We’re still waiting on his response with a two week buffer before our appointment. I stack up the wheels for a picture before putting things away.
Two big ones mostly done and two small ones begun. These little ones are a good size for a spinning wheel, another potential future project. Next I’ll need to sand, mark, 1/2″ drill the 16 holes in the hubs, center mark, 3/4″ drill the fellows, cut spokes to 10″ size and turn to 1/2″ to fit the hubs. I’ll cut and weld the steel tires for all three wheels another same day hopefully with torch black smithing set up. All good fun. Raven finished the first wheel stain this evening, beautiful. A fine day.
8shotoflove8 