I needed to move some of my free pallet timber as I heard some movements on a few evenings and upon investigation I found a possum mother taking up residence above my dust collector.
I attempted to lure them out with a piece of Rasin toast but she just snatched it off the stick and they devoured it without moving.
Normally they would just get noosed and relocated to trees nearby but I didn't have the heart to evict them. So the next move was remove the timber giving them access.
Being Sunday I decided to compete with the annoying barking dogs and did some wood work
It consisted of giving the most laziest tool I have, a HCM a good workout and my tenoning Jig. The tenoning Jig protested by claiming injury but I was not sympathetic and we gathered momentum
I decided to make some curved High Society Victorian Era (Wank) legs as a small table and set to work
they would have the corners joined at 90 deg and have some curved profile . Firstly l knocked up a jig to do the curved profiles. I realised I need to do the processes in sequence so started with mortices I should have the done the 45 deg cuts but forgot and band sawed the profiles. This meant I need to make a Jig to cut the 45 Degs on each piece paying more attention to the position in the jig before cutting sanded them and then glued them together. Once the glue is set I intend to router profile them to Zing them up a bit Next was the rail tenons. Making tenons with a table saw and a Tenoning jig is a fairly straigh forward activity so I skipped the images. Let me know if you are interested in a sequence and I will do a blog on the process. I didn't have any real Idea of length dimensions so made them from leftovers.
dry assembled them and admired my work. Wondering just what I would do with them apart from introducing them to the Otto bin, the dry Assembly aspect is complete
Life is great when you can just chill out and enjoy "fooling" around with wood. not forgetting some liquid rewards after cleaning and packing up.
Wait until spring when there is a big litter of little possums and possum crap all over. I would move them to a new home if nothing else.
As I recall from a visit to New Zealand the possums in Australia are a protected species and are not related to the North American Opossum. They are more like a raccoon. Where as in NZ where they were imported as fur-bearers they are a destructive nuisance and farmers often pay hunters to remove them from their orchards...at night. Their eyes glow red when you spot them with a flash light.
Getting old and soft, those are really cute.. I can see you being friendly to them. I really do not like gray squirrels, the only squirrels in our area. I use to dispose of them with my pellet rifle, but can no longer do it I may trap them and take the somewhere else to release them. That is kinda fun.
if the beagle was there she'd help you out rob. she took care of a baby one a few months ago. probably fell off the mother when she was moving em. i guess if one falls off the mother they just keep on going not realizing one of the kids is missing !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Sorry Rob, possum’s have become an over populated domestic pest in the cities. As a Kiwi the ones that were introduced to New Zealand! They make them into good hats similar to the hats made in Australia from rabbits. Hoping you enjoyed your Sunday tablesaw adventures.
Ugh. You big softie. Only thing my saw would have done is to cut a sharp point on a long stick to skewer them nasty bastards. But the table is coming along nicely! 😎
Possums are protected in Aussieland, GW. Charge them rent and the govermin will label you a slumlord and have you arrested, letting the little bastards take over the house..
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
