A New Beginning

Here is a photo of my new white oak log being loaded onto my trailer. Having the log lowered by a chain can really save wear and tear on the trailer. Looking at the photo reminded me of my first foray into working green wood. My wife and I had to leave Manhattan and drive to a tree service guy about and hour north. He was curious about what I was going to do with the wood, so was I. The hickory and soft maple pieces that he gave me fit in the trunk of my Honda and we headed home. After making my first chair with this wood, I knew that I wanted to pursue green woodworking. As luck would have it, the landlord decided to double the rent of my little 5th street shop and I realized that I could either rent a shop in Brooklyn (still not many trees to be had) or get a place in the country for the same cost. The rest as they say...



I am very happy with my 14ft trailer. For the first years of my chairmaking, I simply had the log put directly into my truck. I quickly learned that loading was the easy part. A few years ago after much abuse to my body and truck, I finally got the trailer. To get the log out of the trailer, I use a long lever to raise one end high enough to slip a plank across the sides of the trailer and under the middle of the log. Then I clamp the plank to one side and use a peavy to roll the log off the other. I work very slowly and cautiously. I may be messing around but the log sure isn't. This is just the beginning of my respect for the log. I know that in every situation, one of us is going to give, I just try to make sure that it's the log, and not me.