Category: Projects

June 13, 2023 – Pennywise and Pound Foolish?

June 13, 2023 /

The last thing that I wanted to finish last year was staining the deck. If you recall, I spent the majority of the summer fixing the siding and facia. We paid for a new fence and a hand railing on the deck to replace the ailing, plastic deck railing. When it was first completed, we were in Spain. I wanted to give it some time to dry out and then I got involved in my siding project.

I built this deck in 2007. The lattice frames I cut out of the old cedar deck. Other than replacing a panel here or there, that is about all I have done. I saved the larger offcuts of the lattice for future work. So, when I did some maintenance, I found a suitable scrap to fit the hole and away I went.

I an effort to get everything spic and span for staining, it was time to fix some of the panels that need repair. I am now at a place that I have run out of spares. So, I thought that I would run out and pick up a new panel for replacement. Talk about sticker shock. I know that it has been a while, but I am pretty sure that I paid $15 a panel for lattice the last time I purchased 3/4″ cedar lattice. I am seeing $80 a panel.

Then, it came to me, I have a stapler, planer and cedar. Why don’t I just mill some pieces to replace what is broken? After all, lattice is nothing more than strips of cedar stapled together. And so that is what I set out to do.

I spent a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon making some replacement strips. Of course, I made more than I needed. I don’t want to have to do this again too soon. They really do stand out like a sore thumb, but then again, so would a whole new panel. In my view, this is probably the lesser of two evils.

Another added advantage is that now I had the stapler out, I could re attach other loose strips as well. At least potentially, that will prevent other strips from breaking loose from the grid. All told, I probably had four hours into the operation. Granted, some of it was reorganizing the firewood pile and tiding up unrelated messes in the shop to work.

Economically, this move doesn’t really make sense. At least the only way it does is if I do not value my time. I was already at the store looking at lattice, with the intent to buy. So, I had already sunk that time. The only part of it that really does is environmentally. I took wood from the burn pile and reused it in a place that I needed it. That also means that I didn’t throw away the old lattice, I didn’t have waste cuts from the new lattice either.

This would have been a poor decision as a contractor. But, since I am not I can justify it by saying to myself that I didn’t spend $80. I didn’t have to handle an unwieldly 4×8′ sheet. I could repair everything in place and I put to work all of these high dollar tools I own. I built some spare strips for the future.

The decision to build or repair is a simple equation. You put together a simple pros / cons list. The winner is the one that favors one side or the other. But, it is way more complicated than that because you have to include want. And want is not governed by pros and cons. So, in my case here the pros would have been to buy the panel but I wanted to fix the strips rather than the whole thing. To me, it justified my capability to do so.

End Your Programming Routine: There is a time when repair is more economical than replacement. That is a time when what is being worked with is not replicable. The other situation is that the preponderance of the scope of work is small in compared to the overall scale. That is a little cryptic but assume that one dining room chair needs work and a replacement is not available. It wouldn’t make sense to replace the whole set, just the chair that needs repair. If the cost of the repair is high but cheaper than replacing all the chairs, then it is certainly worth it.

May 31, 2021 – It’s Now or Never

May 31, 2023 /

I know that I have a lot going on. But, I am running out of time with my son to get his 1969 Mercury Cougar going. With thoughts of moving and kids moving on, I want to make a decision on worth continuing or not. I am not opposed to making this my project and giving it to my son but I am surely not going to move an anchor around. I need to show some interest so that he will develop some.

My son has invested in some new parts. There is a new fuel tank, carburetor and starter solenoid. The oil has been changed and that is about all I know. The story that we heard was that the jealous ex-boyfriend ripped the ignition switch out so we are left with a bunch of wires to trace to get that put back together. But the first step would be to hotwire and see if it will turn over.

Looking at this car, it needs a lot of work and my son’s efforts over the last couple of years hasn’t helped. He has removed a lot of things an I am pretty sure that there are lost items now. I am not an expert or even a good mechanic. I am mechanically oriented with a potentially never give up attitude. I have the factory shop manuals and the internet so how hard can it be?

My claim to fame for big mechanical projects was repairing a warped head gasket in a 1980 Datsun 210. Of course, I caused the problem in the first place. It was my wife’s car. I thought that I would be helpful by changing the oil and checking the coolant. Low and behold, I didn’t put the radiator cap back on correctly and all of the antifreeze boiled out on a short trip to country and western bar.

It was after midnight and instead of letting the car cool off, I poured a gallon of water into the radiator. That of course caused the cylinder head to warp. So the car sat for a couple of months until I had enough money to buy some tools and time to work on it. After I graduated from college, I spent a couple of days taking the cylinder head off, getting it machined and putting everything back together.

I had a book on how to do things, but it left a lot to be imagined and there was no internet. I was resorted to begging for tidbits from people that I thought knew what they were doing with cars and mechanics, like a professor that I knew worked on his car or a classmate that was a tow truck driver. One of the things I read was that with the cylinder head height changed, I needed to check the valve clearance. I tried to adjust that and I got it all screwed up. The car ran, but rough.

I drove it for a couple of weeks to my new job and then the battery died. I gave up and sold it to a co-worker for $200. He got everything straightened out in a couple of days and drove it for a couple of years. He then sold it to another co-worker and I lost track of it.

End Your Programming Routine: While all of those problems were self inflicted, I learned a lot and most of all I got confidence that I could do more and obviously better. That being said, I know that I don’t know what I really need to know. So, call this project blissful ignorance. The good news here is that I have the option to pay for some of the work if I want to. I don’t really want to, yet.

May 3, 2023 – Unclog Your Sink Like a Pro

May 3, 2023 /

Another day in the life… Since I barely go upstairs anymore, I don’t happen to peak in on this bathroom much. This is my kid’s primary bathroom so I don’t know how long the drain has been slow. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that it has been a while. My wife told me it wasn’t working and wanted it fixed, so here it goes.

End Your Programming: It’s hard for me to believe that people don’t know how to do things around the house anymore. But then again, some people probably find it strange that I struggle with the emotional side of things. Yes, plumbing can be an unsavory past-time but clearing the drain yourself not only saves money but it could be weeks before you get a scheduled appointment. You can do it.

April 26, 2023 – HP Pavillion Battery Replacement

April 26, 2023 /

Nothing fancy here. There are very few videos on how to do this, and none with my specific vintage of HP. So, while those other videos might be all you need, this may be exactly what you need. The hardest part in my opinion is prying off the back.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t remember what this repair costs, but I know it wasn’t expensive the last time I paid for it. There is a reason, because it is not difficult. It takes about 10 minutes to do the replacement if you are practiced.

April 19, 2023 – Makita 6303H Repair

April 19, 2023 /

Good tools are good tools. I have a certain affinity for the Makita brand that goes all the way back to the early 1990s. Both my uncle and my grandfather were users of the Makita brand dating back to the 1980s after the decline of the Craftsman brand as the tool standard of Americans. My uncle told me a story that when he started as a contractor in 1985, he went through two new Craftsman sanders in a week before switching to Makita and never looking back.

When going through my father-in-law’s shed, I donated a lot of items to Habitat for Humanity. I saved a couple of the Makita tools that I thought were not ‘use off the shelf’ ready, like this drill. Sure, ultimately I think it probably cost more to repair than to purchase used. I suspect that they were ‘gifts’ from a friend as he was a retired cabinet maker that had a habit of giving tools away that he no longer saw a use. And my father-in-law was always gracious.

The amazing thing is that I think you can purchase every single part for this drill still. This includes all the plastic cowlings. My original plan was to just replace the cord, but looking at it more closely, I figured I could get away with shortening the cord. That is what freed my mind to replace the missing auxiliary handle which was the most expensive part of the whole project.

End Your Programming Routine: I now have three, corded electric 1/2″ drills, only one that I actually purchased. My ultimate thought was to repair this drill and give it to someone that might feel more of an emotional connection to it, like my son rather than risking it getting thrown away. For that reason, I didn’t mind spending some money on it as long as it was a quality item. It probably won’t ever get a lot of use now that cordless tools are so convenient. But, what would you pay to do a project with Grandpa again?

April 13, 2023 – Storing Fuel: Accessing Electricity

April 13, 2023 /

Whether you have a generator or are running an inverter from your car, the power needs to get from the point of generation to the device that needs the power. It is imperative for safety and proper operation that you have a collection of appropriate extension cords.

Imagine for a minute that you were smart enough to have a generator and you needed it because of an expected, days long power outage. Because you were so smart, you also know that your refrigerator is probably good for a day or so if you do not open the doors. But what isn’t smart is running the generator inside. You need to get the power from the point of generation to the device safely.

To get further into the nuance, you not only need to get the power safely but also appropriately. Some number of years ago, we hired some painters. They were trying to run the paint sprayer on a household extension cord (these are the two wire, flat cords meant to plug in Christmas lights or something like that). Because there was so much power draw, it was tripping the circuit every ten minutes until I gave them an appropriate diameter extension cord.

The farther you need to go or the more power you need, the thicker the extension cord you need to have. The very common orange outdoor power cords are typically 16gauge wire. These are great for running drills or work lights but when it comes to heavy draw, not so much. They might work, but if something is running on a dedicated circuit, you might want to do more of a calculation to see if this is going to be adequate.

In the old days when I had more time than money, I used to read instruction manuals for power tools. It was pretty common for them to recommend different sized cords depending on the distance you are running. If you know anything about electricity, then you will know that it is code to have a minimum 14 gauge wire for a 15 amp circuit and 12 gauge wire for 20 amp circuit. So, this should be your rough guide on extension cords. And this is why you should be OK with a 16 gauge cord with devices pulling less than 10 amps of continuous use.

If you start getting tricky and adding surge protectors or other devices, they are good for some things like tripping an internal breakers to protect the device. I have some extension cords with built in breakers. They will trip if the tool load gets too high so be aware of the set and forget mentality. I use them when I want to have multiple things plugged in but not necessarily running at the same time. The more frequently a circuit breaker trips, the weaker that breaker becomes and trips much easier.

If your cord is ever hot, it is not sized for the load. It might be OK in an emergency situation or monitored use, but leaving it as a semi-permanent installation is a recipe for a potential fire. Fortunately, most devices that the home user is going to use with a generator will likely be lower draw items. But watch out for power tools and appliances for this problem.

I think that everyone knows that electricity and water do no mix. There are specific cords made for this use but they are expensive. I think a better strategy would be to not have any connections made in a wet environment (have a long enough cord). But if you have to, it is probably much more cost effective to build an enclosure. Drill some holes in a Rubbermaid style container to keep connections dry.

The cable of the extension cord is part of the system. If your cords have damage, repair or do not use. What I do if I have cords that have nicks in the insulation, I will shorten them with repair ends. If the nick is in the middle make two short ones if you can find a use for these. Electrical tape is a field repair. It will probably keep you from getting shocked, but if the conductor is damaged, it is effectively reducing the overall wire gauge and therefore decreasing the overall wattage capacity.

There is also the theory that sometimes it is better to have tool extensions rather than have longer power cords. The common adage in air compressors is add more air lines rather than extension cords. That is a high draw tool at 13-15 amps. If you had a 12 gauge cord, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. But, most people haven’t invested $100 into an extension cord and more air hoses are always useful. For ultimate longevity, consider other options that just extension cords.

End Your Programming Routine: I didn’t realize that I was going to have so much to say about extension cords so easily. But, if we are going to generate power, it makes no sense not to be able to use it. Having sufficient lengths and quantities available when we need them so that we can do so safely and effectively is really the only thing that makes sense. Not only that, we can use them for the same reasons when the power is not off. It’s a no brainer.

March 29, 2023 – What is With 220V?

March 29, 2023 /

I’m going to keep this short (it think). When my son borrowed my dad’s welder, we had to power it. What had been extremely variable as long as I have known is the electrical connection. Researching ranges and clothes dryers, I know that the male end of the connector is very variable (can I say ‘male end’ anymore). As far as I know, you pick the male plug to match the female end of the plug in.

Getting back to the welder, I bought a new plug-in to match my dad’s welder. But, now my son bought a welder and it did not match what my dad’s was. He wanted me to change it to work, I had a different idea.

What I choose to do was make an adapter. In this case, it was an adapter and an extension cord. Because the welder had a ten foot cord and my outlet had another ten feet, it was beneficial to add another 10 feet in between. I happened to have ten feet of 10/4 cable from one of my annual apartment remodels.

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I guess my point is that if you have a 220V appliance and you have a connector that doesn’t match, maybe the solution is to make the appliance match the female end rather than make the equipment match. Using this approach, then I think that you will have several adapters to make your equipment work.

If you don’t know as well… and four conductor cable contains two hots, one neutral and a ground. When this protocol was established, it was two hots and a neutral, no ground. In these days, a ground and a neutral are the same place. But, when there is no officially termination of the ground, it gets deleted or cut from contact and ignored.

End Your Programming Routine: I suppose what I am saying is that if you are wiring 220V, you have to figure it out. Don’t make a concrete commitment, make it something that you can roll with. That means, make an adapter, not just change the plug-in but change the adapter. From a safety point of view, ground is better but don’t worry if you have proper wiring, especially at the panel.

March 28, 2023 – I Never Thought of That

March 28, 2023 /

As the title says…. Back when I was putting the major pieces of my office together, I had a problem and an idea. I also had some options. I have a cabinet that I removed from the apartment that I wasn’t sure whether I was going to paint and install it back in the apartment or what. The thought crossed my mind to put it back into my office.

Ultimately, I chose to do something different. I was going to build a sliding drawer that fit between the legs of the couch and under it. This drawer was on casters. I made measurements and did the quick woodwork to build this,

As I was taking out all of the items to install my sofa table, my son was preparing for a correspondence math course test. I left the drawer out while I took a break and he continued to work. As I was making breakfast, my wife said “Did you build that, it is amazing”, Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about because it was out of context.

At first. I thought it was my sofa table. I had been talking it up to her and I was proud of my work. But, she said no it was my drawer. I was a bit dumbfounded. I built this on a whim and it had been installed in office for months.

She said that I could sell these things. People would buy them for under the bed storage as an example. I had no idea. This was a solution to my problem, not necessarily a market problem. She said that I could have a booth at a flea market or something like that. And, her friends would like things like this.

I had no idea nor was this my intent. I suppose that is the way of the world. Entrepreneurs that are successful channel this accident into something successful. I myself haven’t done anything with this, nor do I know if I will. That being said, it doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize opportunity,

End Your Programming Routine: I would love to be my own boss, I just don’t know if this is the right place. Knowing what I want, riskier people might jump on this idea. I just know if this is the way to go. I suppose that keeping it slow, I can see where it goes. Let me know if you want one.

March 22, 2023 – Finally, After Several Years…

March 22, 2023 /

I have been professionally employed now since February 2021.  It took about one day to realize that working at the dining table wasn’t going to be adequate for a forever location.  After setting up a temporary table in the basement, It only took me about two or three days to realize that I was going to have to build something more permanent.  It was cold in with the temperatures in the mid-forties and that was with a heater running under the table.  

Quickly I added a propane heater that my wife had won at a local high school auction.  Those two were not enough.  I had to build an office.  Once I realized that this was a blank canvas and this space could be my own, I wanted to move my long orphaned stereo system in there.  

In fact, the stereo was the first thing that I moved in.  I had it setting on an old night stand.  If you look at some of my first pictures inside my office, you will see it.  Soon after I moved my desk in, my wife wanted to jettison a small couch that the cat had adopted as a scratching post and I actually wanted another seat in my office.  So, the stereo system only lasted a couple of weeks before it was moved back out of the office.

But, I had plans.  I was going to build a table that fit the space and the stereo would have a home behind the couch.  The trick was, I needed to spend the time to build it.  The wood I had.  In fact, a leftover slab of wood from my cabinets I built in January 2020 was in my way in the shop since I finished that project.  The slab was originally slated to be made into another pantry shelf at my wife’s insistence.  I persuaded her to try out the pantry first so there it sat.

My first efforts to get started on this table began in the spring of 2022.  Yet, I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t have a deadline.  Two of the rough cut legs sat for six more months still in my way.  It was my realization that I was getting up three or four hours before everyone on the weekends that got me motivated in December 2022.  That is when I got serious about measurements and a design.

I wanted to practice my skills at fine woodworking.  That means a piece that is built without fasteners.  There is mortise and tenon joinery and all made from solid wood.  Fine woodworking also means staying away from engineered materials like plywood as well.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not a purist I don’t care if people use those mechanisms but this was for me.  I want to be confident that I could build anything, anytime any way.

It is definitely not perfect. I don’t know if Douglas Fir is the best choice for wood and it is not as defect free as I would like.  But it was the wood I had and I still have a pile of it in the basement.  Free is a pretty good motivator.  All that to say, I think it looks pretty good and I am proud of the work that I did.  My wife wanted it too when I started to put the dry assembly together.  This one however was custom sized for the height, width and length to fit my space.  Looks like I might be building another one soon.

Now with the stereo in place, I can finally say that I am done, kind of.  My experiment with the AM antenna was done to ultimately also connect to the receiver.  You all know that I am an audiophile.  Maybe not so much about quality, but consistently consuming it.  I wanted the ability to listen to the local college games through the receiver and this was all done well after I built my office unfortunately.  So, I still need to run the AM antenna wire.

While I was building my office, I had visions of bringing the surround sound back to life as well.  I ran all the wires and did all the terminations for that.  But at this point, I can’t justify the space.  My speakers are from the 1990s and too bulky. My wife and I have talked about building an ‘adult space’ in the basement to go along with the keezer and wine cellar.  Maybe those speakers will find their way to that someday.

End Your Programming Routine: Any similar version I make, I assume will be quicker.  I stalled out a little on this project because I was going to build tapered legs but I had to figure out how to do that.  I kind of waffled at that point, and it was close to Christmas too.  I want to say that the builder is always the harshest critic.  I know where my flaws are and I see them.  The good news is that you won’t unless you are really giving it the third degree.   

March 21, 2023 – Cleaning the Cleaner

March 21, 2023 /

Given that I am away from home for a number of weeks, it is difficult to keep up with writing everyday. Things have been super busy lately, getting ready to go and buttoning everything up. Hopefully, these next couple of days do not come off as week or phoning it in. But I won’t deny that I am pushing to keep up with my schedule.

One of the requirements to earn the Eagle Scout rank is to perform what is called an Eagle Project. This is a service project that the scout plans, leads and executes. Maybe I will talk about mine another day but today I am going to talk about another peer of mine’s project.

If you remember this post from last year then you will know how this story begins.

May 17, 2022 – Does Preserving History Matter?

My friend’s project was to vacuum out the attic of this church as well as paint. In the course of the project, we burned out six different vacuums. I didn’t get the chance to go up there, but I heard that the dust was inches thick.

My point with this is vacuums don’t run well when the matter vacuumed coats the filter. It is the airflow through the device that provides the suction. I use my shop vacuum for a dust collector. It does a much better job than nothing but it also leaves a lot to be desired.

Over the years, dust collection has become a much larger topic in woodworking. Like all things safety bike helmets or seat belts as an example, there is no denying that using those things do raise the odds of surviving something catastrophic. On the other side, there are no guarantees. I have heard that there are some that wont even enter the shop without turning on dust collection.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love the space and equipment to have a proper and professional setup. And it is not like I am in there all day, everyday. My dust collection is aimed at reducing the amount of cleanup later and less about a dust phobia but I am not denying that dust is a risk. For better or worse, this is my setup. It always requires a thorough cleaning afterward to get all of the escaped dust.

When I was building my pantry cabinets, I had my old 13″ TV on. At one point, the picture actually went black. I thought maybe it was ruined due to dust building up on the electronic components so I vacuumed it off and it worked again. I do know if it was dust on the inside or the outside of the TV but that seems to have some kind of effect its function. And this is using the vacuum with dust collection, hence it leaves some to be desired.

The filter in the picture is the original filter I bought with the vacuum. When I start to notice a significant reduction of suction, I take it outside and bang all the dust out of the folds. Looking at this filter, I could stand to replace it because it is pretty caked in a lot of the folds. I have spares on hand, so I will probably do it soon.

End Your Programming Routine: I am a strong believer in maintaining things you own. The sweatshirt I am wearing as I write this I bought in college, twenty-five years ago. I have a lot of items that are old as I am getting there too. Even if you ‘buy once, cry once’ it doesn’t mean that you can use things beyond their capability. So if you have a shop vacuum, take a look at the filter. It might need replacing.