Homebodies - Puttering with projects

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Published on Sunday, June 19, 2016

By Rita Friesen

The Neepawa Banner

Some time ago, the young men in my life  (son and grandson, in case you’re wondering!) came to help clean out the shop. Ed’s shed. I made it clear that I wanted the table saw, the mitre saw, the hand saws, the drills, the sander, the side grinder, oh, and leave all the drill bits and chain saw. There was a moment of silence, and my son quietly asked, “how often do you think you will use them?”

“Not the point,” the voice in my head shouted, “I want them.” My outside voice explained that puttering with these tools, refinishing furniture, doing minor repairs and small projects bring me peace–and exercise.

This week, one of my goals was to transform the half barrel with the mounted non-working pump into a water feature. Needed the drill to remove said pump from it’s moorings. That actually involved two trips to the shed, the first drill I grabbed didn’t have a reverse, that I could find, and I knew how to make the other one work. Here I gladly admit, I did not know how to get the sleeve out of the pump shaft to insert the water hose. But I knew somebody that did. Thanks Alex. Now to drill a hole in the top of the cover to thread the hose through. No drill was capable of holding the large drill bit I wanted to use. So I drilled a series of holes and punched through. So far so good. If I left the lid on the ‘well’, lifted up, the spout was blocked; left down, the water simply runs off the lid and not back into the bucket. So –let’s cut a hole into the lid cover, place a rusted antique kettle on that and even more character to the feature. Found the jig saw, drew the pattern, cut the hole, re-attached the cover. Simple sentence – four trips from project to shed. I could/should have moved the barrel to the shop, but it was heavy, and for now, I can’t find the dolly. Good exercise. Then the rusted holes in the kettle were not large enough to accommodate the flow of water. Back to the shop. Could not find the punches that used to hang on the wall. To be fair, I didn’t ask for them to be left. And to be even more fair, they may be there, but I couldn’t see them. So, with heavy hammer and flat screw driver, I perforated the kettle bottom until I could punch through a large enough opening. I quite like the finished project.

I have puttered with other projects as well. But there are two that I am awaiting either for inspiration or a more skilled carpenter. There are two four panel doors that I want transformed into a head board for a double bed. The other project is an ancient parlor table I want cut down to a coffee table. Any ideas? Even better, any volunteers?