Easter Weekend

What a busy weekend.  Nice weather plus minimal kid commitments made for a good weekend.  I made my 4th batch of Ken Forkish artisan bread.  Instead of making 2 big loaves, I made 1 big loaf and 3 pizzas later in the day (Saturday evening).  It turned out just great.  That crust was amazing.

Sunday morning was great, too.  Easter at our church is always a good service.  This year, the orchestra had a new member - Kiddo #1 and her Tuba.  She was nervous, but she did wonderful.  No pictures, but we're all proud of her.  Our church did, however, have a photo-booth between services, and we were able to squeeze in a picture.

Canoe Trailer - Springtime Progress

My project canoe trailer is coming along nicely.  I have the wood box 98% complete, and the crossbar system that holds the 2 canoes is fully finished.

The crossbars are simply held by a metal bracket - machined, bent, and welded by me.  There are saddles on the crossbar to keep the canoes from sliding side to side.

I made doors that swing open on the front and rear.  It should be noted that nearly all this wood is repurposed from shipping crates.  A few pieces have been repurposed from the remains of our rustic cedar built-in shelves in the old TV room.  I believe I only bought 2 new 8 foot long 2x6s.

The front and rear doors latch closed with these shipping crate fasteners.  These are called butterfly latches, and work quite nicely.  Again, repurposed from old shipping crates.

There are no handles for the doors - rather I just put in a little triangle piece that allows you to dig your fingertips into to pull.  But there really is no need - they open very freely.

Having doors that open from both ends allow us to easily load and unload gear.

Perhaps if the bears are bad, two people could sleep in there.

A long piano hinge gives good, smooth action for the doors.

The interior roof is somewhat like a house.  Those trusses are simple 2x4s ripped down at a 3.5 degree angle.

Since all these panels are reused shipping containers, nothing was of the right size to span the entire length or width.  So, I have a seem, and added a nice strip of cedar to hide the seem (again, cedar from our old splintery built-in shelves).

Next steps:

1.  Figure out trailer lights.

2.  Paint the entire box for a little waterproofing.

3.  Get a license plate