Jan 16
projects coffin, Coffin table, table No Comments
As an update to the coffin table, I wanted to show you all its final resting place. This is the living room of the couple that commissioned it. I’m pretty happy how it came out. It also fits right in with their decor.
Jan 16
projects dog, dog proof, proof, simplehuman, trash can No Comments
We recently got a couple of dogs. They’re 3 years old rescues. Overall the experience has been really great, but dogs also have a tendency to cause mischief here and there. One source of frustration for us was them getting in the trash. Fair enough, I’ll go out and buy a “dog proof” trashcan and be done with it. I picked one up by Simple Human, and it had a simple latch on the top. It was 40 bucks. Pretty expensive for a injection molded trash can with a latch, but whatever, if it works it will be worth it. It lasted 3 days before they broke through its defenses. The problem was they could knock it over, and then put pressure on the barrel and the top will open. I have to wonder if it was a plot by both, where one would lay across the top, while the other would pull the lid off. Suffice to say I was ticked I wasted 40 bucks, but I was determined to make it work. I had some left over hooks and eyes in my misc. parts box so I came up with this design. I screwed the piece of wood into the wall, and attached the eyes to the back of the trash can. I drilled a pilot hole and just screwed them in. I then attached the hooks to the wood on the wall, and voila, they haven’t been able to pull it over. Of course if you don’t latch the top, they can still get in and pull stuff out, but other than human error, my solution has worked pretty well. The only bad part is that the bag hangs over the edge, and they tend to chew at it and rip it apart. I’m content with that, as cleaning up a few small pieces of plastic is much better than coming home to trash spread through out the kitchen.
I also know I haven’t posted in 6 months. It’s been a wild ride, and the budget has been tight, but the ideas are still there. I just made some modifications to my workspace in the basement. I have a ton of projects on deck, I just need to get my time and finances in order. I plan on being productive this year, but maybe a little less intense than last year. I don’t want to burn myself out in 6 months again.
Jun 05
projects Coffin table No Comments
There she is with her final coat of paint.
Now I can finally move on to the next project.
Mar 22
projects frankenproject, table No Comments
Remember ages ago when I made that random table top out of scrap wood? Well, I finally got around to using it.
Mar 21
I like shelves. I have a ton of crap, and that crap needs to be organized and displayed, and what better way to do so than with shelves. I’ve made a ton of shelving units in the last year, from small shelves, to more ornate shelves, to shelves for DVD’s, and little shelves for my monitors. It’s an easy project, yet satisfying because they are instantly functional and something that’s typically always out on display for everyone. I guess the easiest way to explain this one is a before and after shot of where these went.
On the left, the before. The little shelf box in there was actually something I made in woodshop in high school in the mid 90′s. I didn’t have any place else for it when I moved in here, so I put them up there. I think the most interesting thing between the shots is that the second one has the same amount of stuff in it, but since its better spread out, it looks like I have a ton more room. Originally I wanted them to be snug fit into the cubby, but the walls are really uneven and I couldn’t get it right, so I eventually cut them down to settle into it like they do. I also have a whole lot more comic books that can go up there to fill up some of that space. They’re not the most complex things in the world, but a good example of how something simple can make a big organizational difference.
Mar 20
home improvement, projects dresser No Comments
I’ve had this dresser my entire life. My earliest childhood memories revolve around it, and I don’t know if I ever had anything else. I’m not sure where my parents got it for me. I figured I probably inherited from someone, as even when I was little it already seemed like it was kinda old.
The big issue as of late are the drawer pulls. After 30+ years of me tugging on them, the two big ones in the large drawer snapped in half. It looked crappy, and I couldn’t find a way to fix them. They were made out of a relatively cheap metal, and were thin in some parts, and that thin part is where they snapped. I tried to glue them, I tried to even solder them, and nothing worked. For the last month and a half or so after the second one on the big drawer snapped off, I was using my pocket knife to pry open the drawer. I searched extensively on the Internet for something similar to what I already have. I came to two conclusions, one, that those drawer pulls were long gone, and two, the length between the holes was way outside of any current standard. The length between them was 5 and a half inches. Googling for drawer pulls, I never found anything big enough. Correction, I did find one, but they were expensive and ugly.
I figured the easiest thing to do would be to just drill new holes and put modern pulls on. I went out and bout 4 handles, and the knob to match. I also bought a drawer pull drill jig that helped me mark and line up the holes appropriately. It wasn’t rocket science by any means, but the new pulls cover up the old holes for the most part and look pretty nice too. And no more pocket knife to open my drawer. I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of the thing, and the more I can do to keep it in good shape, maybe if I ever have any wiener kids I can pass it down to them.
Mar 20
home improvement bathroom, light fixture No Comments
I’m a week late, I know, but the work week is super busy since I got my new job. Last weekend I was able to get a lot done around the house. So I thought I’d share some of that.
The first thing I decided to tackle was replacing the fan/light combo in the upstairs bathroom. As you can see from the pic, it looks like it sucked up a rat. Years of dust and moisture coated the entire inside with fuzzy dust. I’ve tried cleaning it before, but it still rattles and really has no power.
The first challenge was getting it out of there. I didn’t know it was connected to and I couldn’t see any screws in the side securing it to anything. I pried around the edge trying to see in there, but I was afraid of screwing up the surrounding drywall. After removing the fan assembly and disconnecting the wires, I still couldn’t see how the damn thing was hanging in there. With that, I did the only logical thing I could thing of: beat the ever loving crap out of it. I started by punching it upwards, hoping to kick it back into the roof. I had some progress, but eventually it started taking a toll on my fist. I then used a hammer and after a half hour battle I knocked it up in there and could see how it was supported. It had expandable supports coming out of it and attached to a joist on one side. This thing had to be installed before they closed up the ceiling, because there was no way it could have been done from below.
Eventually I got it out of there. 
and was able to pull it down through. I got the wires fully disconnected and started figuring out how I’d get the new one in. Interestingly enough the new one is pretty much exactly the same as the old one. I googled the model number of the original and the website for the current manufacturer kept coming up. I wonder if there was a buy out at some point. Anyway, getting the new one in didn’t take any major effort. I used a scrap board and nailed it to the closest joist to have something immediate for the fixture to connect to. I connected the wiring, shoved it up there, screwed it in to the joist and boom, done. I attached the light element to it, and ran downstairs to flick the power back on, and it worked.
The biggest challenge for this fixture was the unknown of how it was connected. That’s actually been the biggest challenge of most of my light fixture replacements. I’m never quite sure what I’m going to find when I take something apart. Especially since my house is 130 years old. The only thing kinda interesting that I found in that section of the ceiling was a random piece of PVC pipe that they cut off and left up there. Probably when they were running the fan exhaust line. Overall this was a fairly easy job, and hopefully I won’t have to worry about replacing it again for great long while.
Mar 11
projects, woodworking coffine, table 2 Comments
Well, there she is. Had some free time tonight for once and I put it to good use. She still needs some light sanding, but the top is mounted and the hinges are in there. A couple more shots are after the cut. Tomorrow I’ll do the last bits sanding, and then it’s just a matter of time till Ken picks it up to paint. I’ll get them to take pics when its all final.
What’s next? I think I’m going to get a chunk of maple to do my hat rack. Also going to get some more white pine for my bedroom cubby shelves.
It’s 10:05 on a Friday night. I’m gonna go change and head out to the bar.
Feb 26
design, projects, woodworking desk, mod, risers No Comments
I’ve talked (way too much) about my desk and plans for a new one. I just started thinking about if its really worth it. Sure, a nice hardwood desk would be great, but what about my old desk, that’s still semi-decent for what I paid for it (20 bucks on clearance when Circuit City was getting out of the furniture game).
Basically, why go to the expense and trouble to throw out a perfect usable desk because it’s not as fancy as I’d like, especially when making it what I want is simple enough.
I’ve been modifying it for years already. Drilling holes in it, adding hooks, etc. One of my older prototype designs featured some risers on the desk for added storage, and to bring my other monitors to the same height as my iMacs. I decided it’d be easy enough to just create the risers, so that’s what I did.
I also eliminated the keyboard tray and got a new chair. Now I have a lot of desk space, and my monitors are all at a proper height.
I used a white pine board I bought at Home Depot yesterday. Made a few simple cuts, and just glued the pieces together. I used a light stain and then a single coat of shellac to seal it. Voila, it’s like having a whole new desk, but with a fraction of the cost, and a lot less waste. It also looks pretty damn good if I do say so myself.
Feb 18
projects coffin, table No Comments
I had a rough time with the project last week. I somehow miscalculated a whole bunch of angles. I wasn’t in the right mood to work, and I totally boffed the project. After taking some time off, I came back to it today, recut everything, and did a test fitting. It’s coming along again, and I’m excited about the project. I also decided for aesthetics and simplicity’s sake, I’d be going back to the flip top, which is more “traditional” for such a thing.
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