RichardA

That looks a lot like a guy I know that moves logs for Spanky.

I was pretty sure you saw that when you were up here. That's been in the shop for about 3 or 4 years. I just did it to see how it would work. I bought the blade in Iowa when you were eyeballing that redhead.

Fixed it for you.

I'd PM bmac, he's done some beautiful sculpting, he may have a valuable source for you, as well as plenty of his own experience to aid you. I think "nut" is mostly right, rift or quarter sawn will give you more strength.

Lime is an excellent neutrilizer for soil. It brings most soils back to around a 7.0 Ph, and there's not much in plants that don't thrive in a 7.0 Ph. On a space like that, I'd top dress it completely just before a rain, That way you don't need to used treated water. Mama Nature does know how to do the job.

Oop's, you're stuttering again. And your right about the cost of red oak. I can get it from Spanky at $2 or less.

You can get one that way or you could just make one, like this one

I hit those three dots, what came up were two words ...Report and Share. Edit was nowhere to be found.

No edit option here either.

Tom, I'm surprised at you. You seem like such a nice guy, but you stole $552. from John Deere, you should be dancing!

The finishing touch, well done. Thank you for the ride and float.

Pine sucks in a couple of ways. One it absorbs moisture quicker than a hardwood, two: it's soft and anything that hits it will leave a dent . If you are going to use it to build furniture, you will beat the hell out of it, and it'll eventually wind up in a corner as an assembly table. Because you'll build one out of hardwood. Pine doesn't like having things drop on it or bump into it, or spill on it, and it stains horribly from anything you might accidently drip on it. I'm not trying to talk you out of using pine, but I want you to know, not to expect a long lived bench. However, i

Top "V" notch.

The thing your gonna deal with when using pine. Dog holes. They are going to loosen as you use them. Remember, your holdfast's work by being wedged. That's why they have an angle. When they go in a straight hole they wedge in the hole, then you tap the fast to tighten it. When you do that tap it crushes the part of the hole it's leaning against. And over time the top of the doghole enlarges. If you could layer a 4/4 layer of hard maple or something as hard, it would solve the top problem, but that holdfast is also wedged on the bottom as well. Six of one, half a dozen of another. That'

I know how you feel, most of my life I've been a one legged man at an ass kicking contest. There was no suggestion that you didn't like power tools, I was merely offering a short cut. Noisy but shorter. I to like hand work more than machine work.