Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Skill Saw

To Saw Or Not To Saw?

By 3 Comments

by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Ever started a simple home improvement project that turns into a monster? I had this great idea about using the leftover boards from my replaced fence for firewood. Sounded like an easy thing, right?

The pile of fence wood stacked in my garage. I think it's growing. Like wire coat hangers in the dark.....
The pile of fence wood stacked in my garage. I think it’s growing. Like wire coat hangers in the dark…..

Now with 60-feet of fence replaced, first I had to break down each panel and then stack the wood on the patio to dry out. Had nice sunny weather for the weekend and decided to use Dad’s skill saw and cut those boards up no problem. Tried the first skill saw and I couldn’t get it to work. Not sure if it was a button thing or a power issue.

Not deterred, I’d brought another skill saw from Dad’s shop and that one started right up. Sucker was heavy. And noisy. Started in on the boards and the going was a bit rough. Seems 15-year-old cedar boards are a tad tough and I must be a tad weak. It appears you actually have to push the darn skill saw to make it work. Who knew?

I even called my brother-in-law to make sure I was using it correctly. It looked SO EASY when I watched Dad use it. Mom’s comment to me about the whole thing was, “He was strong!”  No kidding. I need three men and a boy to help me with this pile of wood.

Decisions. After about an hour of pushing, shoving and some interesting language, I had one bin filled with wood cut for my fireplace. Egad. With an aching back and kinda frozen fingers, I decided the better part of valor was to put the wood in the garage and work on it over time. Like probably the entire next year.

One bin of firewood cut to size, 5,864 to go. Give or take a few.
One bin of firewood cut to size, About 5,864 to go. Give or take a few.

I will get it done! Maybe by Fall. Maybe not. There must be videos on YouTube on how to use these power tools. Of course at the day job this week one of my co-workers had to rush to the emergency room because her hubby cut off the tip of his finger with a skill saw. I didn’t do that!

Maybe I should hire woodworking elves. Or a herd of woodchucks…..

Got monster home projects? Or skill saw tips?