Dualsprings Website

Updated 19Mar07

Here is the Solar Kiln

Here is my 1966 Mustang

Here is the Bed made from Hickory

Here is the Small project page

Here is the Pasture Poultry page

I guess you could say this website started out as a testimony on how one thing leads to another and another.  I have always liked to make things from wood, and nothing was different the time my wife asked me to make her a small shelf to hold her cd's.  This time I thought I would try to make something from a plan out of one of the various woodworking magazines I get.  I have never done that before, so I thought what the heck?  So I sit down in the easy chair looking over the material list for this fancy cd shelf she saw in one of those magazines.  It looked easy enough, two oak boards a few dowel rods and a little router work for the edges and wallah a shelf.  The next day, I go to my local big box and priced the two oak boards and just about passed out.  They wanted $50 dollars a piece!  I then started to price the other pieces and quickly I figured this thing was going to cost $150!  Well, I am not one to just give up, but I am not going to sell the farm either.

I spied that huge log pile I had made out back after building the house and thought to myself, "You know, you could do something with that.....".  I had a chainsaw and about 20 24" diameter oak logs that I was waiting on something to do with.  Maybe firewood, maybe, maybe hire someone to come and cut them up.  After a few phone calls to sawmills, I learned that my logs were useless because they were not end sealed and could have beetles in them.  Not one to be discouraged, I grabbed my old Husky 77 and went to work.  Just for laughs and giggles, I took one log after cutting two up into firewood, and cut a 6' log lengthwise (ripped it).  I looked at that and a light bulb come into my head and thought,"There ought to be some kind of jig or something that would cut this smoother than freehanding it".   So I went to the internet and searched for a chainsaw mill.  I thought those were too expensive, so I and a buddy made one.  It is showcased on the  Solar Kiln page.

After perfecting that rig (about a month) and learning the ends and outs of power heads and chains I cut up about 20 boards from the oak, a walnut log I had, and a poplar log.  They were looking nice, then I quickly learned that you need to dry wood to use it, and you really need some sort of kiln to do it with.  Here we go again, looking, researching and hitting that learning curve about drying wood.  Well, me being resourceful again, I chose a solar kiln.  I wasn't rushed hard to dry the wood and it was cheap enough to build, since I still had scraps from the house we just built.  Remember, I still haven't finished that CD shelf (which started this whole chain of events) for my wife and she is beginning to wonder how much this thing was going to eventually cost.

I reassured her that all this would eventually lead to more things for the house and I wouldn't have to spend anymore money on saws, tractors, kilns, a bigger shop, etc.  She is telling me the whole time that the $50 dollar board still seems like a cheap venture.  So, to finish the long dialogue, I have a pot rack, hat rack, bed, various small wooden things in house, made several signs for others to help fund this venture and 40 boards of various species stacked in the living room. She still asks about the CD shelf in a humourous manner, but I remind her she has a bed instead. I now have a kiln that is empty.  So, if anyone needs some wood dried in the Raleigh NC area, just shoot me an email and we can try to work out a trade or something.

This is only a part of the story.  I will expand later.  If you have any questions or comments, email me at dualspringsatyahoodotcom.  *Update 05-17-06*  I am relocating to a new sunnier location!  I have been blessed by God (the one of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to have land (12 acres) with room to work.  I will keep posting on updates. We are working on the house and grading the lot now.  For some pics go to the pasture poultry page for a snapshot.