The January Blues

It's that time of year in Pendleton when either the sky is so gray and cloudy you get a case of the blues, or it is so bright and sunny and the sky is a vivid blue. Today is a case of the later, although my weather alert claims it is now 30-degrees and foggy. Hah! What do computers know anyway?

I have two items of interest to report about. First is the resumption of the Blue Mountain Community College Jazz Band, in which I play tenor and bass trombone. (JXTbone - get it?) Dr. Margaret Mayer is the leader of the group; she is a real hoot! The theme this term is pop rock style music which should attract younger players and hopefully help build the band program. Previous terms were mostly 1940's style big band; which I like to hear and to play, but it doesn't do much for today's younger musicians. Some of the tunes the band is working on are Superstition, Hey Jude, and Stray Cat Strut. I didn't recognize Stray Cat Strut until we were about 16 measures into the piece when I suddenly realized that bass bone had the melodic lead much of the time. Time to let it all hang out! I think this will be a fun term; the younger members of the group are a lot of fun to play with. A lot of musician-type humor in the room.

My second accomplishment since I last wrote is that I finished all six of the wooden monster trucks that I've been working on since last spring. I learned a lot about working with wood in the process and if I do say so myself, they didn't turn out too badly. As soon as they were done, I took them outside for some photos, then started distributing them. The first was given over to UPS to deliver to grandson Ander Stills, who turns 3 years old in just a few days. The second goes to Ander's cousin, my grandson Solomon Willis, on this coming weekend. The third went to the Gilliland kids who live three houses down the street from us, and who have often helped Linda and I with things around the house. They were delighted with their truck! That leaves three to give away; I'm working on who that should be.


This photo shows the start of the project. I had roughed out the bodies, chassis, and the wood blocks in front will become front and rear fenders. The wood mostly came from shipping pallets from a tile store here in town. Imported tile come on pallets made of commonly available cheap wood, be it from Mexico, the Phillipines, Italy, Spain or wherever. But to us, these are exotic hardwoods, so I remove all nails and metal, then run the boards through my surface planer until they are smooth and clean.

The most difficult part of the project, especially on the prototype, was making the wheels and cutting the tread. After consulting with numerous books, magazines, and my brother-in-law Bruce Galloway, I came up with two simple jigs that let me cut the treads, right side and left side, using my table saw. The results were, as we say in band, close enough for jazz. I made some of the wheels out of two 3/4" boards glued together with each side being cut seperately before being joined. Others, like in the photo, were thick enough to start with so I ran the same disk through the saw with the resultant diamond tread pattern seen in this photo. Of course there are also the problems of accuracy, joint matching, centering, and other details I won't bore you with. But do let me point out that no two trucks are identical, and I don't mean just their wood!

So here is the fleet exploring the backyard in the sunshine, thanks to the blue sky I mentioned earlier. Did I mention that these things are heavy? They probably weigh about 3 pounds each. I added extra pins and dowel joints to make them stronger and more resistant to little boys.

What will I build next? I'm thinking of trying my hand at some 25-move puzzle boxes. That should be a lot of fun and teach me a lot about finishing hardwoods.