Creative Entrepreneur

I did an interview with Sheri Joi recently.  It can now be accessed on the web at this website.  I talk about my business and some the pros and cons of being a creative entrepreneur.  Give it a listen.

There and Back Again

Well, I made it back to Portland with no problems with the border crossing.  So, I would like to thank everyone that made this trip possible-my family, my friends, two of my clients-waxahatchie and Mrs. J., and the conference staff-  I couldn't have done it without your support.
I have put up the last set of pictures from my Saturday field session.  Most of the pictures of the naval yard are for my parents.  They do love their ships.  Enjoy!

Soon I will be posting about the two large projects that I will be tackling in the next 12 months.

Victoria Pictures

I have added a slideshow to the side bar so you can look at some of the sites.  I will try and add to it daily.  Enjoy!

APT Conference-Victoria

So back in July I was invited to present at the APT Conference in Victoria, B.C.  At the time I thought it was impossible to attend.  The cost alone was very daunting, not to mention finding someone to watch my kids.   But after much discussion we decided it was too good to pass up.  So here I go-off to Victoria.

On my way to Port Angeles.

Port Angeles-it has a lot of murals and Twilight fans.

Goodbye United States

The ferry ride was really something else.  In general I avoid boats, but since Victoria is on an island I had no choice.  I think that the wind was causing the boat to rock around since the water wasn't too rough.  I don't think sitting in the bow helped any either.

On Saturday I will be riding on an even smaller boat.  That should be interesting.

Hello Victoria!

My hotel and conference location.

The side of the hotel my room actually is on.

Victoria Parliament Buildings.

Full Circle

An interesting project came my way this past year.  I was asked to bid on making 3 casement windows for Fort Yamhill.  I had completed work at Fort Dalles the previous year (here is a link to the post about that project) so I thought that working on this fort would be a great addition to my knowledge about Pacific Northwest military outposts.  Little did I know how providential that decision would be.

Original frames for the new casements

Once I was on the project I realized that there was a great deal of research that had been done previously.  I asked the project manager for copies of this material.  Once I received it I noticed that the researcher had labeled some of the documents with the name "Harrington Era".  My "maiden" name is Harrington and I did know that some of my relations did settle and live in the area that Fort Yamhill resides in.  I was more than a bit intrigued.

After searching through my genealogy records and looking at census records on ancestry.com I found out that my great, great uncle Edward Harrington purchased the remaining Fort Yamhill officer's quarters building in the early 1900s.  He was responsible for the drastic remodel that altered the gable roof to the gambrel one you see below (Edward is seen along side his new modern marvel).

Let me tell you it was strange being in the house knowing that my ancestors once inhabited it.

Edward Harrington's house

The bay that I was working in can be seen behind his right shoulder.  The two photos below show how the replicated sash look in the bay.

Interior

Exterior

 This project has a lot of controversy surrounding it and the project has taught me a lot about different historic preservation theory and methodology.

Yaquina Done

After 4 weeks of waiting for material, and 8 weeks of assembly Yaquina Head Lighthouse had itself a new door and jamb.  Now to install it.  

Completed door

Exterior of new door

Installation was fairly basic.  After the door was installed I got to work on the arched transom above the entry.  

Interior of new door

Some interesting pictures of the interior staircase up to the lens.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Here is one of my projects from earlier in the year.  

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, 

South Elevation

I was contracted by the BLM to provide a new front door for Yaquina Head Lighthouse, not to be confused with Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.  The BLM wanted a new door to match the original that had long since disappeared.  They had one drawing of what the door looked like and I had some old photos provided to me by one of my Preservation Field School students.  Her family was one of the Lighthouse Keepers back in the late 1800s.  The Lighthouse was built in 1872.

From the original drawings the size of the door was 7' x 3' at 2 1/4" thick.  The BLM wanted the species to be Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC); the species of the original could not be determined.  Alaskan Yellow-Cedar (C. nootkatensis) is a fine grained softwood actually related to the cypress family .  It is very expensive but a dream to work.  Because of this fine, tight grain planing and sawing this wood is a wonderful experience.  It does have an odor and some people are allergic to it but it is very durable in wet environments.

Planing AYC

Applying decorative chamfer

The assembly process for the door was intense due to the massive size of all the elements. The photo below is of the D-8 rip saw cutting the tenons in the bottom rail.  That bottom rail is 1' in height.  Since the drawing I had did not give any construction details I used Fred T. Hodgson's book Modern Carpentry, published in 1906 as a guide.

Ripping tenons

Assembling bottom rail and side stile

One of the biggest things that I fretted about was making the drip edge for the bottom of the door.  This piece was very clear in the original drawing, I just had to figure out how to do it.  It turned out to only take about 15 minutes to plane and fairly easy to install.

Start of planing drip edge

End result-ready to install

The dado for the drip edge

Seems like a great detail.  I'll see how it holds up down on the coast.