Please note that as of Jan 1, 2018 we are now "Galloway Artisans" to better incorporate all the different things that we make and do into our page. Rock Rabbit Enterprises came about as a continuation of Rock Rabbit Photo that I started way back in the early 90s and it morphed to cover all the work I did beyond just photography.
With Galloway Artisans we are now covering all that, and the wonderful work that Lynn does as well. All under one business name rather than trying to juggle 2-3 different businesses to cover the same products.
You can find our new page here: https://gallowayartisans.wordpress.com/ and look for Galloway Artisans on Facebook as well.
Welcome to our new site and to 2018, the year that we turn all of this into something really great!
Rock Rabbit's Blog
Things happening in our lives, important and not so important. A way to connect with family and friends near and far.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Found Materials
Several people have asked me lately where I find all the materials
I use in my projects. This will answer some of those questions, but not all, as
there always seems to be a new lead come up that I had not heard of before.
For logs or trees, there are several sources: family and
friends that need trees taken down, or friends of theirs. Some already have the
trees down or they fell down in a storm, etc… Some of these are great sources,
others not so much, but you have to follow up on every one of them because you
never know when a lead will be a gold mine!
We have also had great luck with city workers in various
places letting us know when the city is taking down trees and where those trees
can be found. It seems that most cities would rather have the wood go to a good
use just as heating homes or being turned into useful items rather than just
rotting in a back lot or being burned up in a big pile.
Arborists or tree trimming companies have been good, if
somewhat inconsistent in supplying trees or logs. If we can catch them in the
process of cutting trees, they will often help us load the logs so they don’t
have to haul them away. For all the business cards I have given out to those
same companies however, I have yet to receive a call when they are at a job
where they have more logs to be hauled away. Not sure why, but just now it has
not happened.
When it comes to barn or old building lumber, that has
always been word of mouth or simply driving by a building and seeing someone
nearby to ask if they own it or know the owner so we can get permission to take
the building down.
The same goes with old farm equipment, implement wheels,
disk cutters, etc… we see them along a road or in someone’s field and work on
tracking down an owner to see if they wish to part with them.
Of course, the more people we have looking the better our
chances, so if you know of any of the above items, or any other items you think
might be of use to us, please contact us and we will follow up on your information.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Wood Worker versus Doing Wood work
I have been thinking a lot lately about how there is a
difference between making something with wood work and doing wood working.
At least in my way of thinking I am a wood worker, or I do
wood working. That is different than making something from wood. A lot of
people can make things with wood, but that is different than being a wood
worker.
How, well that’s a difficult difference to quantify. To me a
doing wood work implies the person has a love for the material he is using, he
(or She) may not have the highest quality tools, but he always strives to do
the best possible work with those tools. The layout is the best they can do,
the elements complement each other and they strive for the “wow” factor when
they are done.
Where as someone that makes something from wood generally
(there are Always exceptions to everything) is just using wood because it is
either the cheapest material, or the easiest to obtain, etc… it’s not because
they love the medium.
Someone who does woodworking does so because they love the
way the grain of the wood looks, they can’t wait to see what the wood reveals
as they carve away whatever is not part of the end project. They understand how
the wood will move and change with the changes in humidity, they know that
quarter sawn board will react different then flat sawn, and plan the project
accordingly.
A person making something out of wood goes to the local
lumber yard, takes whatever boards the yard man loads in their rig and goes
about making the project. Little thought is given to the species of wood, the
type of joints, or fasteners, and they often paint over the wood. Something a
wood worker would find appalling in most circumstances.
With a wood worker it’s all about showcasing the grain and
color of the wood as much as the item being made out of the wood.
I know, it’s all a point of view, but at least in my current
state of mind, there is a difference and it’s important. To others it may just
seem like a minor issue, and perhaps it is, but isn’t that what really makes
the difference in most cases, the little things?
Monday, June 26, 2017
Found wood
I was recently given a very nice burl by a friend of mine
and it got me to wondering. Is it still “found wood” if I’m not the one that
found it?
I know it’s still being recycled or reused and that is one
of the things I promote in my work as much as possible. While some jobs do
require me to purchase new material, I try to use old wood or items in my work
when possible.
To that end, we cut down trees for family and friends, we
cut up and or haul away logs that are left by tree services, cut down by the
city, etc. as well as take down barns or other buildings we find that are about
to fall down or otherwise need removed.
By the way, if you know of any such items, please let me
know, we are always looking for more materials.
While it’s not going to happen soon, we are working on
purchasing our own mini sawmill to turn some of the logs we find in to lumber
for use in making some of our items. Not only are the various hardwoods hard to
find locally, the choices are limited. No one we know of sells Russian Olive
boards, but we have some now. You can get Juniper boards, but the price per
board foot is outlandish! (Again, if you know of someone wanting Juniper trees
cut down on their property, let us know).
We have old farm equipment wheels, parts of old wagon
wheels, stove lids, plow/ disk blades, springs, etc., that we have (and are)
gathered(ing) that will be “up cycled” into new products for sale or gifts.
While all of these were “found” on various ranches around the area and obtained
with permission, can we really say we found them when the owners knew perfectly
well they were there?
If you know of more of these items that are available, please
let us know… notice a theme here? We can only find stuff if someone lets us
know it’s there somewhere… or rather, it is a lot easier to find things if more
people are looking!
Monday, May 29, 2017
Memorial Day
The
tradition in the US is to make a special effort on Memorial Day to remember
those that have served our country and gave their lives to maintain our
freedom. It’s also a day to remember those that have passed away before
ourselves.
While there
are several members of our family that have served in the armed forces, none of
them that I knew directly have perished during that service. For that I am very
thankful and I am grateful to them for their service to our country.
My parents
and Lynn’s mom have been gone long enough for the sharp pain of their loss to
be muted somewhat and the loss of our son Joe is mostly down to a dull ache
that will likely last for many more years.
What has
helped me get through the rough times when remembering my passed loved ones is
to dwell on the fun times we had with them, the memories of them doing things
that made them happy and created smiles on those around them. I could write a
book or more on some of the great stories based on those memories if I only had
the time. Or perhaps better stated is if I made the time to do so.
For now I’ll
leave you with this: When out and about today and in the days that follow,
bring up those great memories and push the others to a back shelf. Don’t
discard them, just regulate them to a less important station.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Friends
It has been said that old and dear friends take years to
develop. While it may be true that friendships do deepen over time, some
friendships are nearly instant and it seems that you have known each other your
whole lives after only a short time.
One of those friendships for me started in 2010 when Lynn
and I moved to Kalispell MT. After joining the local wood turning group I had
the pleasure of meeting Bill Nickel. Bill was one of those people mentioned
above. We hit it off right from the start and were soon great friends. Our love
for wood working was deep as were many of the conversations we had over the 4
years we lived in the area.
Our ideas for projects ran the gauntlet from practical to
sublime and all reaches between. We turned, or tried to turn many projects,
made our own tools when the ones we had failed to meet our needs. We helped
teach many teen agers at the local schools with demonstrations given by the
local turning club. Found old lathes from some of Bill’s many friends and gave
them out to the kids (both young of age and young of heart) so others could
enjoy our love of turning, working with wood.
We used each other’s strengths to push our own limitations
and create things that neither of us would have done otherwise. Most of those
succeeded, some did not, but that’s how you learn, but not succeeding the first
time.
Bill was devoted to
the community, doing volunteer firefighting for years, helping local library
districts near his mountain home, heck, helping anyone that he thought needed
help and would be thankful for the help.
It is also said that a dog is a great judge of character. If
that is the case, Bill was of Great character. JJ loved that man! He could hear
Bill’s pickup pull up outside our house and would start whining and wiggling at
mach II. The only issue was that JJ is also a jumper, and due to his size,
tends to jump on a person at precisely the Wrong height! It was a constant
source of amusement to those of us watching, if not to Bill, when JJ would time
Bill’s entry into our house perfectly to nearly bring him to his knees!
As you can probably tell from the tense of this story, Bill
has been taken from us at far too young an age. A dear and great friend is no
longer around. He is missed by all that knew him.
Good bye Bill, may we meet in another life, and be friends
for many many more years the next time around.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Happy JJ!
Everyone has funny stories in their life. One of our recent
ones comes from our inability to leave our house arranged in any given way for
longer than 6 months at a time. We always say we move more times in our house
than we ever have from house to house.
The latest move, rearrangement, call it what you want, has
us changing our living room around once again. What was the living room will
now be the sewing/ silversmithing room and the dining room will become the
living room. (We always eat in the living room anyway, so this seems appropriate.)
Here is where the funny part comes in: We have an old trunk
that we padded and covered last year for JJ to be on and look out the window. At
that time it was at the window facing the driveway, we moved it last year to
the front window, figuring it was a bay window with three windows actually and
he would be happier to be able to see more. Nope, he would get on there but
never really seemed to like it. We moved it back today. He is SO happy about
that! He gets up there and just wags his tail while looking out the window! Not
sure why he likes that window, but it shows that he does... He has spent most
of the afternoon looking out that window and then running outside to bark at
birds, greet other dogs walking by, etc... All things he could have done from
the other windows, but didn’t seem to.
It’s So nice to do things that make others happy, even when
that “someone” is a dog.
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