Before and During

Now that Naomi can move on her own, we need a new baby gate at the entrance to the school room.  Otherwise, she would add fiber to her diet in the form of pencil shavings and she would get her greens by gnawing on crayons.  We have wasted enough money on store-bought baby gates, so I am going to make one out of a single board, one pair of hinges and one gate bolt:

It is done in three easy steps:
1) Cut the wood this way and that.
2) Glue it together.
3) Attach the hardware and hang.

Here is step one:

What?  You've never seen one of these saws before?

I have gotten bit by the make-your-own-tools bug that is contagious among woodworkers.  Here is a frame saw getting its first real use.  It is very functional, but I will make some improvements.  The handles are a bit too thick and the sides pieces will be pared down for aesthetic reasons.  (I did buy the blade, but the other hardware is modified from normal bolts and such.)  I counted that it takes 21 strokes to cut 6 inches of wood.  (This is a rip cut, where the cut is made in the same direction as the grain.)

I used to have a table saw,* but I got rid of it for safety reasons.  Some recent things I read about table saw saftey emphasized the need to use the saw only in a place where one could not be surprised by pets or children  . . .

*I never bought a table saw, but I borrowed one from my neighbor and did not give it back for years.  In California that makes the table saw common property, so I was at least co-owner.  I have now given the saw back, but I get to see it two weekends a month.

The video above was shot by Isabel shortly after 7:00 in the morning and no neighbors lost any sleep over it.  Nor did I need eye or ear protection.  And while it may not be as sweet as the sound of a baseball hitting a bat, there is something pleasant in the sound of wood being sawn by hand.