Firewood, Chainsaws, and the Bookcase

It seems like every year I've got to think and worry about getting firewood. What a pain, and this year it's no different. As I may have mentioned, our usual firewood source has raised his prices, understandably so, but has now pushed the cost into the realm of inspiring me to be more of real man and cut my own wood. I.e., it may very well be time to get a chainsaw. Mind you, I'm not about to start downing trees myself, not that we had any to spare, but you can save a lot of money, not to mention find more regular sources of wood, if you buy the stuff in log-lengths. Our biggest issue is with transportation. I know a few friends and places that would sell me wood, it's just getting it home that's the problem. If you buy cut and split, you're easily looking at $170/cord, and that's on the lower end.

It always brings me back to the chainsaw dilemma, the time may have come in my real-man training to get one. The question is, which one? I'm leaning towards Husquavarna, don't ask me why. Everyone I know has a Stihl, and I've been told the Japanese make a decent one, though it seems like no self-respecting lumberjack would be caught dead with one. I've been told to cut that amount of wood I'm looking at, I'd need about 50-60cc saw with a 16 inch bar, minimum.

It's all Greek to me, though I'm guessing I'm looking at about a $400-500 investment. Ouch. I'll also invest in all the safety equipment, which includes the chaps, helmet, and boots. Real man gear, that's for sure.

On the domestic front, since our little discussion about finishing the bookcase, I've actually finished the bookcase. It was a lot less painful than I'd anticipated, and though it needs a few minor adjustments here and there, it's basically ready to roll. I feel so empowered about the whole thing that I'm inspired to build another one, which hopefully won't take another six months to finish. I will say this-it was nice using the Ecoprocote stain and finish because it being Winter and all, I couldn't open the windows and the stain was very minimal in terms of fumes.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.