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February 4, 2009
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Dusty Trail and I had a great time at the range last night- it was a very enjoyable evening. Around 10:15 last night, I was enjoying DWF, as usual, right before bedtime. As I was sitting here, I heard a very strange but loud noise. The wife was in another part of the house and I assumed something happened with her. I went to investigate and she asked me what I did that caused that loud noise. Niether of us made the noise so I went outside to investigate. It was pretty dark but it was obvious what made the noise when I tripped over a tree branch walking out the back door. (There are no trees close to my back door)
I new that nothing could be done last night and it was too dark to see.
Here is what I found this morning-
[Image Can Not Be Found]
I really don't need this kind of problems right now. I guess the good news is that my wife and my dogs weren't outside when this thing came down. Had it happened15 minutes earlier, that would have been a much bigger problem since the wife and dogs were outside. What a terrible ending to an otherwise great evening.
Well... gotta go fire up the chainsaw now.
February 20, 2008
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Sooo....wo did this, Mother Nature?... hope ther is not damage.
If you're going to drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
December 17, 2008
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Gad - what a lousy way to cap a fun night at the range.
Y'all would've appreciated me and CDF comparing the two W12's out in the parking lot.
We came to the conclusion that neither one of us particularly cared for the pork chops and wouldn't have made any effort to buy one - but once we saw 'em up close, well, the story changed.
-->CDF has the entire package, brand new. Including the protective wrapper for the box!! You would shed a tear to see the pricelist. W12 Pistol Pac = $190. It's as if there was a stack of 'em at the gun shop and he just walked in and said "yeah, I'll take one of those new W12's."
"Here you go, sir." That is how perfect that whole package is.
Mine's not bad either, but CDF's is a museum piece.
Too bad on that tree - insurance company might want to give you a big chunk of change though...
January 22, 2008
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Guys glad you had fun at the range and I for one would love the see the W12's up close!
So CDF what kind of tree is that? You might have to save some of that one for custom grips!
December 17, 2008
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Now that is a GREAT idea!!
I can hear the story now:
"Yep, this zebra grip here I bought at a gun show...
and this one here a buddy of mine made from his pile of old walnut...
and then this grip is from the tree that wrecked my danged house..."
February 4, 2009
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Time for the union tobacco break.
Two and a half hours with a chainsaw, and while comparing the pic from this morning, I have accomplished quite a bit. The problem is, I'm only about 20% of the way to getting this finished. This is gonna take a while.
If that isn't bad enough, I've run out of room at the curb for the other 80% of the waste.
So far, so good though- I haven't uncovered any significant damage yet.
Yes, Mother Nature played a cruel joke on me. It wasn't too windy last night but this tree was probably 50-60ft tall, and with the rains we got last week, I guess the weight just stressed it to the point of starting to crack, and then the wind finished it off.
I will probably hang on to a little wood since I have a lathe in the garage. As for what kind of tree, I haven't a clue- I would say a disposable, junk tree. Lot's of those nasty Arizona Ashs' around my neighborhood, but this definitely isn't an Arizona Ash.
Anyway, here's what 2.5 hours with a chainsaw and a cup of coffee will get you.
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Time to get busy again.
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January 24, 2009
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The upside is that it didn't smash your roof in, but it's still a bummer. I'm glad nobody was hurt.
I would love to be able to check out the W12's too!
Wish I was a few miles closer. As it is, I'll just have to save up & buy my own. 😛
April 25, 2008
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Bad luck there.
Is that a ficus tree?
The Savantist
February 4, 2009
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IHMSA80×80 said:
Is that a ficus tree?
LOL- I don't think so.
I believe it was a Hackberry.
After working all day, I finally got the tree off my house. I still have about 20ft. of trunk to deal with and need to cut the huge branches smaller so I can get them out of the back yard, so I know what I am doing this weekend. At least I know there won't be any further damage to the house. It appears that my wife and I were VERY lucky, considering the amount of damage that could have occured.
The only damage we suffered was a half dollar sized hole in the siding, about 10 shingles were damaged, one window screen fatality, and some minor paint damage. I have shingles, paint, and wood putty…I just need to go get some window screen. As soon as I am no longer paralyzed from the neck down, a Home Depot run is in order. Whew, what a day!
I hope everyone had a better day than I had.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Jody Baldwin said:
So CDF what kind of tree is that? You might have to save some of that one for custom grips!
Some Hackberry grip blanks may be in order. Maybe if we contact Hogue and send them some lumber we could get a special runof grips, sell them on DWF and fix your house. WTH is a Hackberry?
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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February 9, 2009
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Steve, thanks I was wondering what a Hackberry is to? Heard of lots of berry's before but not Hack. Maybe it looks like Zebra Wood?
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
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February 28, 2009
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Just another trash tree like Blackthorn. They grow wherever they can get a foot-hold.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Like a yeast infection?
I'm a little goofy tonite, it could be a fun ride, might as well stage a pre-emptive assault on 600
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
February 4, 2009
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Zoom is correct- it's a junk tree. I can't believe people intentionally plant these or Arizona Ash. Fast growing and good for shade but short life span. I imagine the people who initially lived in this house planted that tree. They also planted Golden Bamboo....WTF were they thinking? I've been trying to kill the bamboo off for several years now, without success- that stuff laughs at Round-Up like fire ants laugh at Amdro. Those of you up North, be glad you don't know about fire ants- hostile little buggers.
Hackberry has no interesting grain and pretty much has no redeeming factors except one- if you want a long burning fire, such as a bonfire, this wood is great. It's heavy and burns well.
Spalted Hackberry can occasionally look pretty interesting though.
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November 17, 2008
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A little off subject but I couldn't resist. All this talk about tree types and we all love Zebra wood for grips so I researched Zebra wood and found out the reason it's called Zebra wood is not the stripes in the grain but it smells like a wet Zebra when working with it. Just a little useless trivia. Glad no one was hurt in the storm by the way.
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
January 22, 2008
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Hey lbruce that's interesting about the Zebrawood... I was thinking about ordering me a piece or two to play around with so guess I'll find out what a wet Zebra smells like.
CDF good luck on finishing up the cleanup!
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February 28, 2009
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Watch out for the environmentalists. Did you know that Zebrawood is an endangered species?
February 4, 2009
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Thanks guys.
I feel blessed that nothing happened that another 12 hours and $100 can't solve.
On the note of Zebra wood, that is definitely one of the more foul smelling woods to work with. I play around with lots of exotic woods on the lathe, but the Zebra wood smell will definitely stick with you for a day or 2. At least, unlike Cocobolo, it's not as likely to give you skin/respiritory problems while working with it. If any of you guys decide to test the Zebra wood waters, use at a minimum one of those cheap filters to cover your mouth and nose. It is a pretty easy wood to work with, unlike Shedua, which is super heavy and dense. Shedua is so dense that it won't even float in water and destroys 80 grit sandpaper. I have about 4-5 board foot of Shedua and haven't done much with it since it is extremely hard on power tools and will dull cutting blades in no time flat. That reminds me, I need to sharpen my lathe tools.
I think after I get this tree incident behind me, I will try to make a few sets of exotic grips for the STI. I just don't seem to have the time or patience to fabricate grips for the revolvers. Maybe Dusty Trail will loan me his DW 10mm grips and I will try and produce some exotics for you guys- those should be pretty easy to produce in a timely manner. Checkering won't be happening- again, a patience thing, but smoothies shouldn't take more than an hour to produce.
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February 9, 2009
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I know where there is some good walnut for blanks
SMF
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
February 4, 2009
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Supermagfan said:
I know where there is some good walnut for blanks
SMF
Wouldn't mind working some walnut eventually, but I am more into the exotic/figured stuff right now.
I picked up a really nice piece of flamed maple, some slightly flamed bubinga, and of course, some Zebra wood to start a few easy 1911 grip projects. I will be too physically exhausted to do much of anything else on Sunday after chainsaw duty all day again tomorrow.
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