Not the green wood of a freshly cut tree, but the green of freshly pressure treated, the stuff that warns “do not touch, eat, or sit upon.”
The first picture shows what happens when you buy a home center mailbox and post. After not very long, it slowly “degrades.”
We’re replacing ours because of that new wall in front of the house. The new mail box and post will be strategically placed to keep people from driving into the steps. While making one, I decided to make two. The other is for the neighbor with the ragged exemplar.
There’s no woodworking magic in these, other than being severely over built. The cross piece is joined to the post with a half-lap joint and zinc coated lag bolts. The lower pieces are also lag bolted in place. Hand sawn, hand planed, hand bored with brace and bit. The work was straightforward and since the wood is very wet, it was easy to work … even if the saw slobbered dripping moisture as it cut.
Every tool that touched the stuff accumulated “gunk” and got a good cleaning and oiling. Lots of hand washing too. And no, I didn’t sit on it.
Dragging the assemblies down to where they need to be planted will take three men and a little boy, but maybe they’ll dry some and get lighter while we wait for construction in the neighborhood to calm down. Every street around is being torn up to bring this pre-American Revolution village up to late 19th century sanitary standards; sewers are being installed.
When I read this: “There’s no woodworking magic in these, other than being severely over built” — must be a common thread between us woodworkers, why not cut a tenon and a haunch, and a mortise when just a simple nail would do!!
Well, I considered a sliding dovetail. That would then require a notch to get the slide started. Then, the notch would need to be filled. A dovetailed wedge would do that job well. Then, a pin of contrasting color could hold the wedge in place. All of that would then warrant some carving. Egg and Dart is a bit much, but maybe some running ball and sausage.
Here all this time I thought I was the only nutter who severely overbuilds everything. It’s good to know there are others with the affliction. You did a great job!
My wife bugs me all the time for how much I over build things! Great to see that it’s not just me!