Monty Ivy

[Monty Ivy]

Howdy from Texas! As I'm sure that you have deduced, I'm a new AAW member from Brenham, Texas. For the last 30 years or so, I've been employed as an IT Professional in the realm of IT Operations. Duties include datacenter infrastructure, virtualized storage, virtualized machines, and disaster recovery.

Woodworking has been one of my many interests outside of work since grade school. I was about 10 years old when I got my first instruction at the lathe. As life went on, a marriage, two kids, and maintaining our home took most of my time but woodworking in general was never too far away. Now that the kids are grown and graduated from college, I'm a couple of years from retirement and able to spend some quality time with my tools.

I try to practice urban forestry and repurpose wood to obtain stock for my turnings, but also use some exotic woods.

Here is my shop:



Monty

 

[Monty Ivy]

....and some of my recent work

WWWWWW

 

[Monty Ivy]

...More

 

[David Wrate]

Welcome, lovely work!

 

[Monty Ivy]

...Even more

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

Welcome! Your shop looks great!

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome to the AAW forum, Monty. You forget to mention that Brenham is the home of Blue Bell, the national ice cream of Texas. Brenham is close to my birthplace, Caldwell. I did have relative all over that area including Somerville, Snook, Dime Box, Deanville, and all the other big cities in that area. I still own property in Caldwell. I like your really nice shop.

Do you know what kind of tree that is next to the roll-up door in your shop? The leaves look the same as a tiny sapling that I dug up at my parents home in Caldwell. It was only knee high when I got it and now 35 years later the trunk is about 18 inches in diameter.

 

[Monty Ivy]

Welcome to the AAW forum, Monty. You forget to mention that Brenham is the home of Blue Bell, the national ice cream of Texas. Brenham is close to my birthplace, Caldwell. I did have relative all over that area including Somerville, Snook, Dime Box, Deanville, and all the other big cities in that area. I still own property in Caldwell. I like your really nice shop.

Do you know what kind of tree that is next to the roll-up door in your shop? The leaves look the same as a tiny sapling that I dug up at my parents home in Caldwell. It was only knee high when I got it and now 35 years later the trunk is about 18 inches in diameter.

I'm originally from West Texas up on the Llano Estacado west of Amarillo. Even though I'm a transplant to Brenham (long story) Blue Bell is a long-standing family favorite.

We built the shop building shortly after we moved here about 8 years ago. I had to sell several of my floor standing tools to be able to fit into the new tiny shop. After that it was organize or drown. It took quite a while to get to the state it's in now. Now that you mention it....when does a shop become a studio? The best thing about it that there isn't an ethernet connection in sight. That's where I go to get away from the servers and unplug.

I think that's either a Live Oak or a Post Oak but I'm not really certain.

Monty

 

[Michael Anderson]

I think that's either a Live Oak or a Post Oak but I'm not really certain.

Hey Monty! Nice looking shop—good use of space. I was looking at that tree too and I ran your photo through this app I have on my phone. Comes up as a Water Oak. Pretty distinct leaves—look like a water droplet on the end of them.

 

[Russ Braun]

Your wife sure keeps that shop clean Monty! Just kidding, nice set up for sure!

 

[Monty Ivy]

Your wife sure keeps that shop clean Monty! Just kidding, nice set up for sure!

I found that flooring on clearance at Home Depot. It's a Pergo type product but not that brand. I think I paid 6 or 7 dollars a box. It looks great and has been very durable but a layer of sawdust and chips make it a little slick. I keep it clean out of self preservation. Good thing I have a giant vacuum cleaner...er um dust collection system

Monty

 

[Bill Boehme]

... I think that's either a Live Oak or a Post Oak but I'm not really certain.

Monty

.... I was looking at that tree too and I ran your photo through this app I have on my phone. Comes up as a Water Oak. Pretty distinct leaves—look like a water droplet on the end of them.

I had a couple of arborists look at it and they scratched their heads. I know that it isn't a post oak.

It keeps its leaves through the winter (sheds its leaves in the spring) and its leaves are similar to coastal live oak leaves but this tree looks a bit different than the coastal live oak we have in our front yard. It could be water oak according to the PlantSnap website. This tree had a pyramidal shape when young and much more vertical growth than coastal live oak trees, but it does have large branches like other live oaks. Oak trees cross-pollinate so readily that there are over 500 extant species within the genus Quercus.

What is the app that you have? I was searching for an app earlier, but it’s hard to pick one with me limited amount of information they provide.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Bill, that is interesting about your tree. It could certainly be a hybrid variety. Have you looked at its acorn?

The app is called PictureThis. There is a free and a paid version—the free version is pretty robust. I can’t say enough good things about the app. The only thing it really falters with is identifying ornamental plants, which is expected.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome to the forum I was thinking way too clean shop till you gave the explanation. I am doing some flat work in my shop and m floor looks like the barn all over, even when I sweep over it with the DC hose. See you back at the PWW.