The Challenge
the second story shutters of the water powered sawmill were a problem. As expected, over time these shutters expand and contract with the weather and loosen with opening, closing and banging in the wind. I spent a fair amount of time adjusting these shutters so that they would open and close smoothly. I completely removed a few of them to remount their hinges. That was a sight. I had to straddle the window sill, one leg wrapped around a post on the inside, the other leg swinging freely in the breeze on the outside while trying to use both hands to remove the pin from each hinge as the shutter tried to fall away into the creek about 100 feet below – doesn’t that look like about 100 feet? Back in the corporate world I got in trouble for leaning back in my office chair. When one of my fellow volunteers drove by and saw me hanging out of the second story window above menacing rocks below he slowed down, rolled down his window, waived, smiled and kept driving (This is my kind of place).
Washers were used to re-space the hinges and new latches were added to the inside to lock the shutters up for the night. But when the shutters were open during they day several would invariably close with just the slightest breeze. When visitors would walk through I’d try to run in and open the shutters to let sunlight in, but they would close, on their own, as soon as I left.
The volunteers threw around a few ideas to keep the shutters open during the day. Latches on the outside (too hard to reach from the second story). Magnets. Again a little too difficult to install and maintain in a location easily accessible from inside on the second floor. Also, this solution needed to be something that a 19th century logger would have done. It needed to be period appropriate and elegant. What could be done? It was left to me…
The Process
Something I strive for (I’m sure my loyal readers have noticed this about me and my awesome blog posts) is that I try not to talk about myself too much. Well, this time I just can’t help promoting “me” a little because the impact of my new invention was pioneering, groundbreaking and revolutionary in its simplicity, utility and ingenuity.
As I considered the problem at hand I knew what I had to do. I had to become a logging pioneer of the 1890’s. As I focused my mind on the task I began to “see” like a 19th century logging pioneer. I began to “think” like a 19th century logging pioneer. I began to “smell” like a 19th century logging pioneer (well… I mean… my olfactory senses became enhanced, not that… nevermind). I became a 19th century logging pioneer!
It was during this moment of higher consciousness that it happened. A new invention was born! The Wardlaw Wedgy 5000 (WW5K)!
Once I realized what had to be done I went to work, just like a 19th century logging pioneer in every way. I gathered some scraps of wood (preferably precut 1X2’s) drove the Wrangler to the RV to get my Dewalt cordless, 5″ circular saw and immediately began the arduous task of creating the first in history, Wardlaw Wedgys!
The Result
That carefully crafted T-shaped Wedge you see above the hinge of the shutter is the clever design I spawned. It “wedges” (get it) between the wall and the shutter creating a tension that prevents the shutter from easily closing. At the end of the day (no, I mean literally at the end of the day when it’s time to close up) we simply remove the wedge and close the shutters for the night.
Such a simple, yet brilliant solution to a 19th century problem.
As luck would have it the shutters and hinges were not all of uniform size, therefore, the wedges had to be individually sized to each window. Since I didn’t have time to properly size them all, some of the Wardlaw Wedgys were too loose, fell out of the windows to the creek below and floated away. Some others fell on the floor of the sawmill and were thrown away by people who did not recognize their clear function! Wardlaw Wedgys were one of my final creations during our time at Maine Forest and Logging Museum so I did not have time to perfect and replace the lost Wardlaw Wedgys. Of the 10 or so I created, I believe there were two still hard at work when we had to leave.
I fear future historians may find the famous “Lost Wardlaw Wedgys” in the creek downstream and be unable to discern that these are modern creations fashioned by the intellect of one fully immersed in the mind of the 19th century logging pioneer.
That’s a really great idea and it does indeed look like it would have been used back when the barn was built. And your invention names are pretty creative. You guys had such great little adventures up there in Maine! Thank you for sharing them with us!
Wardlaw Wedgys (patent pending)