Do It Yourself

Unlike most people these days (at least that’s what it seems like) I don’t own a 3D printer. But a soldering iron is a little like a 3D printer, I assume: as soon as you have it, you find all kinds of uses for it. And while the project I got it for has long been abandoned, I find myself using it quite a bit. My latest addition were a few helping hands inspired by Matthias Wandel, which beats “fixturing” with pliers and random heavy objects. Which led to even more soldering. And while all soldering guides (of the 1 I actually watched) tell you to take care of ventilation, sitting in your freezing cold room, windows open, and holding your breath makes you really think about all those funny-looking fumes.

I had a productive morning and some great help. I pulled the trim, built the upper frame, assembled the cabinets and got them all installed. I expect that I will have a light week at work so may be able to get the drywall done at lunch. Now if I can find the right trim.

It took me a while to get back to it due to shipping delays, a funeral, a work trip, and needing to protest, but I had some time today to get more done on the library.

Today I started the install of the base and uprights. I only had a couple hours to spend on it today, but am quite happy with what I got done.

Today’s progress on the library. I got most all of the cutting done, and assembled the pedestal base and the rail. Next up is assembling the lower uprights and running the Ethernet. Then pulling the trim, installing the actual shelves, trim and paint.

I haven’t found all of my tools yet, but my home shop is pretty much ready at this point. I hung the pegboard, built the bench and sorted a bunch of stuff into bins. I’m going to build a small table to the right of the workbench for storage from some leftover 2x4s and the boards I pulled down from someone’s else’s half assed closet.

I sketched up plans for the library I’m going to build this week. It’s floor to ceiling, almost wall to wall and will have a rolling library ladder mounted to the center rail.

And there it stands. Still a lot of work to do, but there will be grilling this weekend!

Help scheduled for wednesday to lift in the kamado. I left the front beam and breads out for now so we don’t have to lift it that high.

So I’ve got this chipmunk onesie that I really love - great for parties, festivals and chilling at home. Unfortunately the other year I managed to burn it in several spots when holding a sparkler a bit too close (wearing this around fireworks was a dumb idea - I was slightly drunk at the time).

I’m in an apt. and the power has been shutting off lately. It doesn’t trip any of the breakers in the breaker box inside the apt. but it does trip the master breaker on the box outside. Thought it was an oven issue but it still happens with the oven breaker off.

There are many different methods for making coffee, some more energy-efficient than others. However, there are no coffee makers that you can power with a small solar PV panel. For example, a commercially available 12V DC drip coffee maker requires a solar panel of 300 watts to brew coffee and keep it warm.

Or: How I made the single most flammable object in my flat.

I was burning a cone incense and left it on the sink, and this stain won’t come off. I tried baking soda, water, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide. I tried letting them sit for multiple interations, and it made no difference.

This is not a post about a build of some kind, but more of a research/question. So no build photos right now, but if you have some input I would be happy to read it :)

Take an old metal 5-gallon pail. a few dollars worth of fire- clay, some sand. a hair drier or vacuum cleaner and grocery store charcoal to melt aluminum. Learn how to pour it into sand molds to produce all the castings you'll need for Dave's other machines. Simple. Inexpensive, but so powerful a tool Highest recommendation!

All recommendations are welcome. In particular how to vibrate a two part mold without it breaking apart. I did not weigh the mix and water, but i suspect i used too much water. Also added about 2% plasticizer.

Who doesn't love opening a loot crate? Not the gambling stuff (well it's still kind of gambling), but the ones in game. The ones that give shitty loot and guns you don't know how to play. The ones that make you end up with a bullet in your head 50% of the time because you drive into the middle of nowhere to get them.

It's a bolt on the hinge of a folding chair. No idea what the actual proper name for it is, though.

This year I did my first bike packing trip. For starting out I had rented some equipment, but with the goal of doing more trips in the future, getting some bags of my own was clearly on the list. With the idea of using panniers for my main storage, I wanted to add some fork bags to balance out the weight a little. Also they are the least obstructive (other than frame bag maybe) from my POV. Somewhat enjoying DIY, the idea of designing the cages myself grew on me.

Dear friends,

I'm looking to replace a panel of my computer mouse with a 3D printed part. I don't want to create a permanent bond (such that it can be changed out in the future), so I was considering something like rubber cement or silicone caulking to affix it. Thought I would check with those more knowledgeable as to the suitability of those options/suggestions for others.

Glued acrylic plates together with Acrifix and fixed them to a retractable shelf for our trash. The plates are attached with two screws and silicone caulk.

Hello,

I have an absolutely incredible set of moose hide trigger mits by Hides In Hand - a traditional leather crafter in Canada who use locally sourced hides.

Pieces required. Three books from a thrift store ($6) pretty books are everywhere it seems! Australian lamp fitting with switch from AliExpress ($11), 3w LED bulb from AliExpress ($14).

So I had a taillight bulb go out on me this week, and changing that bulb was simple enough, but also not particularly obvious. Had to look it up and could only find a overly long winded youtube video on it. In the interest of saving some one else the headache of scrubbing through a 20 min video to get answer that could have been explained in 2 minute short, I figured I would write it out.