Totems

I’m putting in two six by six posts as an entrance to our side garden. I went to our local mega hardware store and bought a twelve foot treated six by six and they were kind enough to cut it in half for me. I wrestled them into my truck bed, drove home, and wrestled them onto the sawhorses.

As per the boss wife’s instructions, the posts will have decorative molding and end caps on the post tops. The caps I bought were your basic generic pyramid shaped caps which said “for 6 x 6 posts” Of course they didn’t fit so I chiseled the post ends to make them fit.

I have an antique Stanley Tool miter box & saw which I inherited from my late father-in-law. I’m guessing it was made in 1914 and sold at the time for sixteen dollars. It’s now worth around 350 dollars and is a collector’s item. I’ve thought of selling it and buying a compound miter saw, but I just can’t part with the antique and I love using it.

I cut eight pieces of baseboard for the post bases and eight pieces of chair rail stops, a total of thirty-two, forty-five degree cuts on the miter saw. It’s slow going but I could do this all day. I use six penny finish nails to nail in the caps, the chair rail stops, and the baseboard pieces.

They look like midget contemporary representations of ancient totem poles in rehab resting on the saw horses.

All that’s left is to paint and plant. Pictures to follow.
And after this I’ll start the anti-mean, nasty, old lady privacy fence.