Today I began construction on the toolbox for the Willits Energy Farm. I was able to meet the owner of a property where a house was being remodeled. I introduced myself and explained that I was attempting to gather scrap wood to transform into a toolbox for the farm at Brookside Elementary. As you might expect, the owner was willing to let me dig through scrap piles of wood in search of suitable material. In no time I had gathered enough wood to begin processing.

Since the wood had been torn from a house there were nails and uneven, broken ends on the boards. I therefore needed to use a T-Square to draw a line and make an even cut. Once one end of the board had been processed and “squared-off” I was able to measure out the exact length that I would need. Again, I used the T-Square to draw a straight line and got to sawing. Viola!-A perfectly usable 6ft piece of wood for the box frame!

I kept working, repeating the same process outlined above. Sometimes I would have to stop to remove nails, or switch to my left hand because using the saw with only the right hand is eventually quite tiring. Before long I had each part needed for the frame. I have to admit I really took pride in using a hand tool to do this job.

In a post petroleum situation the use of power tools may not be an option. Lucky for us, intermediate tools like a hand saw or scythe are quite user friendly and give one the added energy of knowing that we don’t need to rely solely on petrol or electricity to get some work done. Many of us are finding that if we roll up our sleeves and get to it we can achieve all sorts of wonderful things. I believe that working in this manner and sharing our knowledge will no doubt lead to the discovery of a multitude of “empower” tools.

Scrap wood that needs to be processed

Finshed 6ft board ready for use

Making cuts with a hand saw

Processed wood to build toolbox frame