Pecan Muddler

Dave Hoskins

Member
Messages
5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
A while back someone posted a muddler. So, seeing they appeared to be easy and quick to do I did some and they slowly sold. This one is 9 1/4" long and has a general diameter of about 1". Sealed and finished with walnut oil, 2 coats. Today a lady ordered 20 of them for her eatery, bar, and store. Such a simple thing but you never know. Now when the snow melts of my logs and I can get started. I can cut the logs now, but I just have a thing about cutting snow with the saw to get to the log. Seems silly to me to do that. :D

 
I like the shape, it seems like a nice balance between fancy and functional. I have an exceedingly rough one whittled out of a white oak stick that needs upgrading ;)

Now when the snow melts of my logs and I can get started. I can cut the logs now, but I just have a thing about cutting snow with the saw to get to the log. Seems silly to me to do that. :D

Brooms! Its what they're good for :D
 
Nice-looking work, Dave. :thumb: I think "muddler" is just a hipster name for "bonker". :D

...Brooms! Its what they're good for :D

That is until you've had a enough warm weather to slightly melt the snow, followed by enough cold weather to freeze it into a solid block. At that point, the chainsaw makes pretty good sense, lol.
 
I hope it don't get so cold as to do that! But, if it does I think I will bang them good with the loader bucket first to get things stirred up. Then cut with the chain saw, and I suppose it needs to be the big Magnum. Funny how it works. Before the snow hits, we have high winds, rain and tornadoes. Then we freeze our buns off. All in the course of 2 days. Wild weather. AWK!!!
 
I always figgered that if all else failed, I could convince bartenders to buy them so they had a nice tool to rap unruly patrons on the knuckles with. Especially one turned from bodark! :doh:
 
I always figgered that if all else failed, I could convince bartenders to buy them so they had a nice tool to rap unruly patrons on the knuckles with. Especially one turned from bodark! :doh:

:rofl: That works... although most of the folks I know of who are really effective at that are just intimidating enough that they don't actually have to DO anything.
 
I hope it don't get so cold as to do that! But, if it does I think I will bang them good with the loader bucket first to get things stirred up. Then cut with the chain saw, and I suppose it needs to be the big Magnum. Funny how it works. Before the snow hits, we have high winds, rain and tornadoes. Then we freeze our buns off. All in the course of 2 days. Wild weather. AWK!!!

You do live in Texas... my grandmother always said "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait a few minutes... it'll change."

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I use an electric chain saw around the shop... not sure I want to be cutting through ice, snow or rain with one. May be just me, but my hair is too short to curl much.
 
I like your muddler... I had a lady ask if I made them a couple of years back... I had to look up what a muddler was, but told her I could... I made half a dozen, she never came back and it took me nearly a year to sell them all.... glad yours are moving faster.
 
Thanks, Chuck. I think you folks in Tennessee got some of that storm that passed through us, didn't you? On the muddlers selling, I normally only sell one or two here and there. Just enough to keep them in stock but not in real quantity. This order for 20 of them amazed me. Who'd a thunk it? I don't have an electric chain saw. Sometimes wish I did. For inside the shop, which is open in front and I can't cut it safely on the band saw, I'll use my reciprocating saw. For outside I have some larger Stihl's I use. For most cutting I use my Magnum 440 with a 20" bar or a 30" bar. If that won't get it, I use the 880. If that can't cut it, it don't need cutting and I leave it alone. Those Magnum's cut through that bodark like a hot knife through butter.
 
When I grow up, I'm going to own a Stihl... I've gone through 2 or 3 Sears and Lowe's chain saws... seems like I have a knack for killing them. My current gas saw is a Craftsman that my mechanic said had a scored cylinder.. I've also gone through 3 or 4 of the electrics from Lowes... first couple started smoking after I'd used them for a day or two... the last one was a Worx that I tried to use last week... it was arcing in the motor housing, then yesterday when I checked it, it won't even start... no idea what I did to it.... my go to now is a little 14" Poulon that my lawn tractor mechanic was about to throw away because he didn't need it... so he gave it to me... works pretty good for what I need to do.

We got some of the rain earlier this week... enough that on Christmas day we had a couple of inches of water in the road out front and the ditches were road level... Yesterday and the day before it was nearly 70 degrees out... worked in the shop all day in shorts and t-shirt. Today we're a little cooler, only about 50 degrees.

I grew up in Texas not too far from where you are... in Freestone county.... started school there, but after 2 weeks, my dad pulled me out and we moved to Wilbarger county where I started over... through the 4th grade there, then to the Panhandle for a year before we moved back to the bi-stone area... we were share croppers, so moved with the crops.
 
I imagine that was an interesting life, Chuck. Before I bought my first Stihl I ran some others; Poulan, Homelite, etc. They just don't hold up. Not even as a trim saw. So, I ate beans and tortillas for a bit and bought the 440. What a workhorse! When I was daunted with some 4'-5' diameter trees people wanted me to take down I got the 880. Had more money in the shop then so didn't have to eat beans and tortillas to pay for it. That 880 is a monster! Git er done!!! Got a 4' bar on it. I have a friend who spent a fair amount on a Husqvarna and regretted it. It just doesn't want to stay running. Oh, well. Stilh's cost a fair amount but you get your money's worth in my opinion. I still have water standing on my dirt road. It's about 3/8 of a mile from my house and shop to the gate at the road. So, I get a 3/4 of mile walk everyday just to get my mail. Not a bad exercise program.
 
Very interesting. Glad they are selling. I have a major (non-woodworking) project I need to get out of the way, when that is done I'll get back to my shop and lathe. I have a muddler that is about 100 years old made from lignum vitae. I have long planned to make it into something else but never found that special project. The art gallery that once sold my stuff is asking me to send more. So, it will be duck calls, pens and maybe a few muddlers. Good luck on more sales. BTW: snow in Texas? ;)
 
Yep. Snow and ice. This is North Central Texas. We get it all. And, even though I am a native Texan I still say that when it gets icy, Texas drive like a bunch of drunken wild Indians! Roger, most of my logs until they are cut down some you ain't gonna pick up and throw down on a hard surface. To me you are talking about small branches. Though quite useful for smaller projects, they not be logs! :D One can't get 15" to 18" bowls out of branches. One must have logs.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention the occasional earthquake now. Seems to be the going thing this past year. Bunch of them between 2.0 and 3.5. Nothing earthshattering (excuse the pun) but noticeable. Some of them messed up some water wells, too.
 
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