Restore Fire Pit

We went over to the local Habitat for Humanity Restore today where they sell donated building supplies.  There we found some leftover block for 25 cents a piece.  So for $4 we got enough block to build a small fire pit big enough to roast a few hot dogs and marshmallows.  Veronica and Sarah dug out the grass and assembled it.  Tomorrow night the girls are going to try it out.

WOW!! How Big a Two-Car Garage Is

Today after almost 8 months at the new place with extensive help from my daughterlings, we finished the first complete sort of the garage.  Not all the shelves are up yet and I am still storing the mower and snowblower in there until we get a shed, but already there is room now to work or park a car. The prep was somewhat rushed because I need a place to park a couple of motorcycles for a few days, but it still felt good to get it done.

The work areas are divided into a large bench for hand tools and finishing where there is no power, a power tool area for woodworking, and a general area for assembly or doing repair work (lawnmowers, cars, etc).  Unfortunately bicycle storage takes up a lot of space, though I suspect that will be reduced as the girls start driving.

I have two 4x8 sheets of plywood sheets ready to go for my next couple of projects.  I plan on revamping my table saw with a bigger plywood top and a new fence.  I'm also planning to build a cabinet for my compound miter saw.  Both will be waiting for me to heal from my current back problem.  Hopefully I can get them done before winter.  I am also working on a solar heater for the garage window, which would make the shop easier to keep going in the winter.

Reused Lumber Cart

Storing lumber takes a lot of space.  Moving lumber can be a pain, especially full sheets of plywood.  For a small investment in four casters and some screws, my daughter's built a wood storage cart under my direction out of reused lumber.  Some old wooden swingset pieces make up most of the cart.  The build used some extra wooden braces and toe screws to sturdy it.  One side is 6 feet long and open for large pieces.  The other side has bracing on the ends so it is suitable for smaller length pieces which can be sturdied with a couple of bungee cords.

Sarah's Heater Shield Project

Sarah has been studying Great Britain in social studies.  As a class project, she had to make a shield with a coat of arms on it.  She chose to make a heater shield with our family crest on it.

STEP 1:  Sarah made a ton of drawings for her shield design.

STEP 2:  She made a poster board template of the shield and taped it to the 1/4 plywood and traced out the shape.

STEP 3:  She cut out the shape on the bandsaw very carefully.

STEP 4:  She hand sanded the edges.

STEP 5:  She smoothed out the shape using a drum sander on the drill press.

STEP 6:  She made a temple for the snowflakes that represent her as the third daughter of the family.

STEP 7:  She drew out and painted the coat of arms on the board.

Here is Sarah proudly displaying her final product.

Dice Popper Prototype

Here's my first prototype for a dice popper:

Eventually I am planning a 7 module version with a full set of polygonal dice for Pathfinder.

Bandsaw Reindeer: Rough Cut

My first attempt at a bandsaw reindeer.  This is an old 2x4 I cut down, so the quality isn't great, but it let me work on my form.

Dollar Store Birdhouse Condo

Here's a cool project.  My daughters and I painted up some dollar store birdhouses in bright colors.  Then we mounted them to some 1/4" plywood squares (painted black) with small holes in each corner.  By choosing the right hole size, we could use twine tied with knots to hold each birdhouse in place.  We tied a rock on the bottom to keep it from tumbling in the wind.

Tying them all together was a bit of a chore, but Sarah helped me with that.

And here's the finished product:

Band Saw Project Number 1

Yeah, I've been away from this blog for a while, but I recently got a bandsaw and now projects are underway again.

This was the project I saw on a Lowes Creative Ideas email:

And this was my version:

Tillandsia Pot

Tillandsia is an air plant that takes no soil.  It needs a place to sit but no soil.  They have to be watered like normal plants, but pull all the nutrients they needs from the water.

We keep forgetting to water them.

To get them watered I made a regular pot with a plant in the top with a drain hole that runs down by holes for the tillandsia plants.  When we water the plant on top, the tillandsia plants get watered too.

Hen and chick on top with tillandsia plants in holes in the side.

Hen and chick has rock mulch around it.

Tillandsia plants are hot glued into place in holes on the side.

New Woodworking Jig for Making Chessboards

I am wanting to make some chessboards.  The boards will have slots cut with a table saw between the squares.  To do this, I needed to make a jig that can set the distance between the edge or another slot to exactly 1 1/2 inches.

The new jig fits right on my table saw.  Feet underneath fit in the miter gauge slots and a stop on the front rests up against the front edge of the table.

A thin strip of wood is inlaid into the top 1/2 inches from the blade and sticking up about 1/4 inch.

Recessed bolts hold the jig in place.

A miter gauge slot was routed in.

The slot fits tight with the miter gauge.

Thanks to my helper...

... we were able to get some nice parallel cuts with our new jig in a test piece of wood.

First Wood Carving

I started with an excellent tutorial here.

I have a lot to learn and it will be fun learning along the way.

Desktop Terrarium Project

This was a really inexpensive project for dressing up my desk through the dreary winter.

Collected materials:

• Colored stones from dollar store
• Air tight glass jar for $5 on clearance at local hobby store
• Potting soil
• Plants (These were perennial hen and chicks that I had to dig out from under a snow bank)

1. Washed out the jar with water.
2. Washed the plants with a little water since they were bare root. Left them damp.
3. Placed stones around the outside of the jar in a colored pattern.
4. Added a layer of potting mix.
5. Placed more stones around the outside of the jar.
6. Added more potting mix.
7. Wet the potting mix until water was visible around the stones.
8. Added plants, patted them into place.
9. Placed the jar in a sunny spot.

Surprisingly these pictures taken a couple of weeks after planting show that the hen and chicks established nicely even though they were frozen under a snow bank. I also planned to add some irish moss, but I couldn't find it. Maybe I'll add it in spring.

Pepper Sauce

So, with many peppers around, we decided to try a new recipe. The recipe for pepper sauce, found here, only takes a few minutes. Put a handful of peppers, some peppercorns, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a jar, and cover in warm apple cider vinegar. Allow to cool, stopper, and keep in the fridge. In a few days the vinegar absorbs all the flavors and is ready for use.

We'll let you know how it turns out.