Keeping the current diversion of the Mik/Southen Summer Build because I over estimated my Mik build time we could discuss Paraguayan Fun Facts with Korm (specifically #4)
True or False?
Well I could be remembering incorrectly after all it was 70 years ago
paraguay often gets confunded with panama. they have mining industries.
well, i live here nearly half a century and i know, that #4 is a traditional custom.
but i ignored 1) that it is alowed 2) what the blooddonor card really is meant for. (i have one of these in my wallet since 1978)
but there are problems. in the rural areas (where most of these activities happen) we have very few certified medics - and frequently guys arrive with knives or machetes just to learn, that they went to a gunfight…
thinking twice, i’m not so sure, that #4 is really legal. because i must renovate the permit for concealed carrying every two years (including background and headshrink test)
…so I assume they know nothing about your large scale addiction? 
oh, i don’t think that the test is about craziness in general - more about being short-tempered or commie, or so.
they didn’t ask about hobbies. people down here simply don’t know, that there exist more hobbies than hunting, fishing, horseracing, rally and biking.
Rule #2 The second rule of Mik-Club, is always talk about Mik-Club.
Just turned around and…
…the clamps have returned to Capistrano
Making progress, Bill. I know I probably missed it in an earlier post, but what wood are you using?
Dan,
I’m mostly using scrap cedar much of which a local skirting board manufacturer provided as it is generally milled off shore.
Our equivalent to Home Depot only carries fast growth pine that you can easily dent with a thumbnail and mouldings made from Tasmanian oak and has a moderate density and easy to machine. That’s usually my second easy choice, but it comes in small widths.
There are a lot of native wood with beautiful grain or colours but they cost $$$ and I have not made any railway stuff with that yet.
Sheoak
Jarrah
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BUT
WAIT
THERE’S
MORE!
The Mik has shown me I am certainly under equipped for serious garden railroading. Before the Mik my debate was table saw vs. band saw. A lathe wasn’t anywhere near the list until I saw Dave’s turned lamp shade and Rick turning PVC pipe! Of course then I would need a new shed like Cliffs.
UPDATE: …and now I’m actively looking for a pin nailer, who’d have thought?
So far minimal luck with getting a pin nailer (I’m not going back to Dewalt as they dropped supporting my old battery set-up, and unfortunately if I want Milwaukee (that will work with my battery and charger), I’ll need to import it but won’t be able to service it here.
Then there’s pneumatic option, but I will need a karma sutro pneumo loco to power it)
So far
-RYOBI,
-Milwaukee,
-Metabo,
-Festool
-Grex
- Makita does one, so I’m debating the investment in yet another battery system as I can’t find a corded version. Vs. do I get a Milwaukee without any repair/warrantee… stay tuned!
Bill,
This is a family friendly site. Please no pornography. Showing a nice pairs of boards like that is wrong. 
That Sheoak is beautiful. Would love to play with that.
Not knowing what your old DeWalt voltage was, But DeWalt and third party others, make a adaptor to run there older tools on there 20V system batteries… Look into it… I have a adaptor to run a Ryiobi weed eater with my 20V DeWalt batteries also…
Yeah I thought it was a little too busy b but the Jarrah board below it is awesome color and grain, and I’m guessing very spendy
Thanks for the info on the lumber you’re using. I actually have a whole box of the jarrah, but it’s just small pieces used for pen blanks and casting. Would love to get my hands on some of the sheoak, gorgeous timber.
Pete and Dan,
I love beautiful wood. Sue and I recently returned from the Otway forest in Victoria where we walked through a grove of California redwoods planted in the 1920’s.
Surprisingly Australia has the second tallest trees in the world and it is a hardwood. The tallest, the Mountain Ash may grow average to 80 meters in under 200 years, but the Jarrah and Karri are often the woodworkers choice, growing to 50 meters.
Jarrah’s and Karri’s have a high resistance to fire, weather, rot, termites and marine borers, making it valuable outdoor and in. Ironically it has been taken for granted so often, that when people pull up carpet in their old houses, they find beautiful Jarrah floorboards in perfect condition. Karri is more dense and straighter than Jarrah.
In the 90’s Jarrah and Karri were felled for paper making and shipped to Japan. In W.A. in the 90’s it was not unusual to see piles similar to this.
The last time we were in W.A. we were informed only fallen jarrah could be procurred as it was now on an endangered list. So it’s really expensive. Incidentally jarra and Karri forests can be found on relatively flat ground and forest rangers had tree houses to monitor the forest for fires as the trees were too tall to build a tower.
Driving through one of your California Redwoods really gave us an idea of just how much wood is in those trees, but if you want to get a feeling for just how tall a tree is, I think climbing gives you a real appreciation. I’ve climbed the Glouster Tree in Pemberton
and this link has some stunning views…
Dan, the sheoak is quite a small tree and generally only found in galleries. However, if you come to Australia, it’s well worth wandering through small towns as many locals have small operations and planks can be obtained at a reasonable price.
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Devon,
Near Canberra, there is a gallery with a sheoak rocking chair that patterned on the curves of a kangaroo. As it’s a small tree it is usually reserved for making bowls or jewellery boxes. It is like heroin though. …and clearly just a board that’s been sanded and oiled can sell by itself to those addicted to the grain.
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Dave, I haven’t given up… yet.
My Dewalt was 10.8 volts, and I keep it alive with a 3rd party battery.
An adapter to attach a 12 volt Milwaukee battery to a 12 volt Makita pin nailer so far has been unsuccessful.
I like the lacy grain. I might have to see if I can procure a small piece of it. I have a good supplier of exotic woods locally. I’ll have to see if I can get a small piece to make a cheese board or something.
that’s gorgeous. I was reading and it sounds like its very hard wood.