Day 787 Handicraft

4th October 2019

Today I got to see what a cubic metre of logs looked like.

My school friend Rob asked me if I would help him collect them from a place along the Warminster road.

We drove to Bassett Farm, up a steep track to a collection of industrial buildings that housed an oak frame manufacturing business.

We drove into one building, and in front of us was a steel cage filled with logs.

“It’s quite big, and bloody heavy” I said, as we started loading the back of the truck.

Very quickly I realised that we wouldn’t get it all in one trip, so we headed back to Rob’s place to unload.

He had been prepared, and bought a wheelbarrow to transport to logs to his back garden. Unfortunately the tyre was flat, and we had no means to inflate it. “Shame it’s not flat at the top” I said flippantly.

We had no option but to use it, but it all felt wrong. I made about five trips with the tyre making a disgusting squelching sound.

We then drove back to the farm to collect the remaining logs.

I was shown round the place. The guy was making the oak dowels for the joining of the oak frames together. The method he used was very crude. I thought there would be a machine to churn the things out, instead he forced the wood pieces through a steel tube to ream the required diameter. He then had to taper them using a double handled rip plane.

I can’t imagine what these dowels cost.

They also make lathes for old plaster in the same labour intensive way. Everything starts with the timber being split, rather than cut.

The place was an example of the old fashioned methods of crafting wood, using minimal investment, and no wonder renovating listed buildings cost so much.

After a lunch of Masala Dosa at Indian Temptation we headed back to off-load the remaining logs.

We had been planning to go to Ikea as Rob wanted to buy a new floor standing lamp.

His old one has broken, and he wanted a replacement. I looked at the damaged part and said I could repair it.

Now Kelli, the EBay Queen had asked me the previous evening how far Bristol was from Bath. This was ominous, I could feel I was being drawn into a quicksand.

She explained that she had bought some Free People jeans (her favourite brand) from a girl in Bristol. They had been texting each other to agree a method of delivery. To send them direct to the USA would have cost over £20. Option 2 was to send them to me which would have only cost £2, but if I could collected them, it would be free (apart from the cost of fuel)

I had agreed because the seller lived close to Ikea so it was convenient.

However as I was going to repair Robs lamp we had no need to go, but as everything had been set up, I had to go.

Rob came along for the ride, and the buyers address was really easy to find, but I was shocked how much she knew about my situation ( is there anyone that doesn’t?)

She wished me luck at getting my visa, and we headed back home.