Friday, December 20, 2013

Make a Kayak Paddle!

Materials
(2) 14.5-18 Gallon Storage Container Lids: $4.50 - Free (W)                                                                        
(7') 1/8" Nylon Rope $0.11 per foot = $0.77 total (H)
Duct Tape: $2.49 (H)
(1) 3/4” OD, 10’ long Galvanized Conduit: $6.99 (H)

Total Cost = $10.25 – 14.75

*From Hardware Store = H, Walmart =W

Other Tools
Pocket Knife
Flat Head Screwdriver
Medium Duty Scissors

The Storage Container Lids were actually given to me for free. I had the intention of buying just the lids without the containers ($4.50), but the clerk didn’t know how to ring it up. She told me when people buy the containers they forget to grab the lids all the time. She gave me a wink and had some free lids!


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Replace And Repair Tent Poles

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How to Get Reduced Prices and Save Money When Shopping on Amazon

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IPhone Scanner

I take lots of notes and I had the need to scan them quickly so you can consult online. Any scanner was too slow to digitize many hundreds of pages of my moleskine. Taking a good photo was a good solution. I thought I'd use my iPhone for this purpose. They needed a support that does not give problems of shadows and it was simple and stable.
This is the final result.

To create this scanner for iPhone I used:

1 sheet of 10mm FOREX feather or similar material on the size 60x40cm
1 cutter
1 iPhone cover
hot glue


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Waxed Canvas Tangle Bag for Bicycle

A tangle bag makes use of the unused space in the main triangle of your bike frame. It's a great place to keep a flat repair kit, sunglasses or your wallet and keys. I will show you how to make one like the one I made for a friend.

Materials

I used a medium weight cotton canvas, it's about $11 per yard and I used less than half a yard.

A zipper, the one I used was water resistant and 30" long.

2" wide Velcro, about 18" of it.

White micro-crystalline wax similar to this, purchased at local art supply store. Beeswax or Paraffin would also probably work fine.

Tools

Sewing tools(sewing machine, scissors, etc.)

Heat gun, for melting the wax. $15 at Harbor Freight.

Disposable bristle brush, for applying wax.

A heat resistant bowl you won't mind ruining, for melting the wax.

A putty knife or butter knife, for working with the wax.


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Quit Smoking Emergency Box

boxlight.JPGI seem to have inheirited one of my wife's coworker friends.  You know, the old coot retired kind. He is like family though and somehow I'm supposed to keep an eye on him. Of course, you know you are on speed dial for tech support when they figure out you know something about computers. Like a bad habit, you just can't say No. Which brings us to this.  Let's say "Grandpa", used in a most reverent way, had his computer crash last week.  You get some urgent calls and voicemails.  You return the calls and try to troubleshoot over the phone.  No picture on screen and no sounds from the computer. Luckily he has a spare computer given to him by a relative when they cleaned out their office. He manages to get that one plugged in and fired up.  All kinds of messages start popping up and he starts deleting things. Computer is getting slower and hangs. (This is a true story, by the way)   Well, I am forced to make a housecall since Caitlin said he sounded so sad without his computer.  Caitlin suggested, why doesn't he just get an ipad?  Well, grandpa did just learn to skype and videochat with his grandkids.

Anyway, we meet for lunch and go grab the two computers to fix.  He's gonna need to go cold turkey on the penny stocks for a few days. I just finished fixing the original machine by replacing the power supply and wiped the other one to rebuild a Windows machine. The original machine was all caked with dust and a brown nicotine coating which I surmised had siezed the cooling fans and overheated the machine into submission.(didn't take pictures, but the horror, someone should put up a forum topic with the dirtiest computer)  Sorry but I had to do a total decon on the machine before I could work on it.  So yeah, a smoke-filled environment is not good for the user nor the machine nor for the guy that has to open the machine up.  And so after lunch he made a bee-line to the corner store for a $12 pack of cigarettes and a lotto ticket.  He's has all the stuff to quit smoking but admits to not breaking open any of the aid packages.  Addiction is tough to beat.

But on a happier note, that was the inspiration of this ible.  If you can't beat 'em, make something to help. I knocked this together today so I can give it to him when I bring the machines back. My "Tuesdays with Morrie".

So this is how my "Tuesdays with Morrie" will go. I  will ask to see the pack of cigarettes that he bought after our lunch.  I will then seal it in my Quit Smoking Emergency Box because I will bring along my portable drill/driver and use my square drive screws(he'll have to find the right bit if he wants to attempt to open the box)  It's not mean, it's an intervention.  We do "love grandpa".  And it will sit next to the repaired computer as a reminder to get out and do better things.

DISCLAIMER: I am a non-smoker. It's your choice if you smoke but don't do it near me. I have seen the effects of chain smoking catch up with some people, it ain't pretty.  The illustration prop inside the Emergency Box is not intended as an advertisement nor endorsement of smoking.  It is hazardous to everyone's health around the smoker and it's nasty.

DSCF0047.JPGI put this together with stuff I found laying around leftover from other projects.

OK, the only thing I had to "borrow" was a bottle of Caitlin's "glow in the dark" fabric paint.  It is the 3-D kind which is gelled and applied with the bottle needle tip applicator.

The Emergency Box is just a simple wooden box with a plexiglas front panel.

I had a piece of leftover plexiglas (acrylic plastic - the cheap one, the LEXAN bulletproof grade polycarbonate is $$$)

Some lumber strips of 1 x 2 and trim 1 x 1 strips.

I also had a block of 1 x 3 to use as the base.

You need some red paint so it will look like a real emergency box.

CAUTION: This is a simple woodworking project so be able to safely cut and fasten your pieces together.


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