#like how hard can it be to cut/sand/add varnish to some wood and screw some hinges on and call it a day

[voiddemon]

Voiddemon thoughts because 20 million things kept me from sleeping an hour ago like I wanted.

Why is there no like. Bed frame that u can pull a foldable things of wood up on the sides so you are fully enclosed. I wanna be enclosed by my silly plushes when I sleep and spend 20 minutes moving them back so they won’t fall. I wanna feel like a baby in a crib because maybe then I will sleep like one >:(

[kidchickpea]

Clear Shell Football Helmet Restoration

 Vintage clear shell helmets are by far my favorite type of collectible helmet. Like most old helmets, however, most of the ones we find are in bad shape. Restoration is much more difficult because you can’t just sand and paint - you have to remove the paint while trying to maintain the transparency of the shell.

Once the paint has been removed, dealing with replacement decals and painting can be just as challenging:

What to use for decals? They have to be applied to the inside of the helmet, before the paint, securely to avoid paint bleeding, and colorful enough to adequately show through the plastic shell.

How to prep the inner surface for paint considering you want the shell to be as clear as possible?

What paint to use?

How to avoid paint bleeding into the decals?

If you mess up any of this once you start painting, the only way to recover is to go back to step one and re-remove the paint and decals...yikes.

Over the last several months I've worked (and reworked) a few 1970s MacGregor helmets. I thought I'd share my experience. Some of this information may be obvious but is included for someone starting with no experience. This is by no means a complete guide, just some of what I have learned.

This work is not for the faint of heart and this information is presented without any guarantee of success. If you don’t want to deal with the heartache and disappointment that can come from trial and error (and almost certainly screwing something up bigtime) then I would recommend sticking with refurbishing regular plastic shell helmets. Those can be challenging enough just getting the paint to look right. But if you really want a reproduction of that sweet helmet worn by the likes of Joe Washington or Hollywood Henderson, without doling out hundreds or thousands of dollars, refurbishing an old clear shell might be worth it.

Paint removal

Always test a small inconspicuous area before trying to do the whole helmet. 

I found that Motsenbocker's Lift Off Paint & Varnish Remover works very well and does not damage the clear plastic shell. I applied it to a 1974 MacGregor that was painted silver and after a few minutes the paint literally peeled right off with no damage to the plastic. The helmet had red horseshoe logos under the paint and that material was actually harder to completely remove. See sanding and polishing info below for the solution.

I also used Motsenbocker's on a helmet that I had repainted with Krylon spray paint. After applying the remover and letting it sit for an hour the paint came off cleanly using a plastic scraper. Again, no damage to the plastic.

I have only done this on a few vintage MacGregor helmets so results may vary if different paints were used originally, if the plastic is in poor condition, etc. I have not tried this on Kelley, Maxpro or any other older clear shells.

If you're going to try Motsenbocker's, the only place I could find it was ordering online from Home Depot. $25 for 64oz. A reseller on Walmart.com has it listed for $100 which shows how hard it is to find. As stated earlier, test it in a small area first.

I also tried CitriStrip Paint & Varnish Stripping Gel and it was more harsh, melting the clear plastic if left on more than a few minutes (similar to nail polish remover). I would not recommend it.

Cleaning up the plastic shell after stripping paint

There will be some residual paint after the Motsenbocker's. I have had success wet sanding with 400 grit to get rid of the residuals. Follow that with wet sanding with 600 grit, then 800, then 1000. Go to 1500 if you like. A spray bottle filled with water is very handy. Also, if you have stubborn paint you can use 100 grit dry to start, followed by 220-320 wet, then 400, etc., and it will clean up OK.

After wet sanding, the shell will be hazy but should be scratch free and smooth. To restore the clear shell I use Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit with a cordless drill with foam polishing head. #3 (heavy scratch remover) followed by #2 (fine scratch remover). Polish each step until the material dries up or wears off. Wipe out the residual after each step.

The Novus does a good job but the residue left behind, while invisible, adds to the challenge of painting. You can wash the helmet with Dawn dish soap to remove the residue; however, you will consequently lose some clarity and get some haziness (which is when I redo #2 polishing). Balancing the transparency of the shell vs. having the best surface for painting is challenging. I have applied decals (see below for details) then wiped the exposed inside with rubbing alcohol to prep for paint. I've had mixed results.

Logos and stripes

This step is probably the hardest. One option is to not use decals or vinyl at all - mask off the inside of the helmet and paint logos, stripes and then the shell. This is a viable option but painting scares me enough that I try to only have to do one color, that of the shell, and use decals for logos and stripes.

I purchased Sunnyscopa Waterslide Decal Paper from Amazon. They offer white and clear. White is only useful for white stripes or simple white logos (like Oklahoma). Anything bigger and it's very hard to work with. And of course you can't print on the white because the sticky side has to face outwards.

The clear labels are good for small things printed in black (reversed of course), like the MacGregor or Kelley logo for the back of the helmet. I have not had luck with colors on the clear decal paper, as they do not print with full opacity (washed out). That is not to say it’s impossible - maybe I don’t have the right printer. Also, the larger the decal, the more stretching needed to fit the curve of a helmet. When stretched, the ink widens with the label and you’ll eventually get gaps in the colored areas.

I have heard there are companies that print custom waterslide decals but I have not found been able to find any in my limited Google searches. Sounds expensive (relatively) and it might be hard to find anyone that will print what may be considered copyrighted material.

I have a Silhouette Cameo 4 vinyl cutter and have had some success with Oracal 651 vinyl. However, I have also had some problems with paint bleeding inside the label. I have tried applying vinyl decals with strips of clear waterslide decal paper along the edges to act as a seal against bleeding. This does a good job of preventing bleeding but:

Applying the material along all the edges can be challenging. Depending on the decals there might be a lot of edge to cover. Also, working with larger pieces of the waterslide decal paper is difficult. The edges fold over and it’s very hard to undo that, often forcing you to start with a new piece.

The decal paper keeps the paint from adhering to the plastic because, obviously, it is a layer of material between the paint and the shell. If the waterslide material lifts or is removed, the paint goes with it.

I have also purchased 8 mil white Convex GearWrap (SKU C8155W), which is thicker than Oracal and also seems more adhesive. It is possible to place decals cut in Oracal on the sticky side of the GearWrap, thus using the GearWrap adhesive to hold the decal in place on the helmet. This is an acquired skill however.

Painting

Painting clear, smooth, glossy plastic is definitely a challenge. You want to keep the plastic as clear and smooth as possible so the decals, stripes and paint show through as clearly as possible. But that goes against the normal process of prepping a surface for paint by sanding it.

That said, I have had good success with Krylon Colormaxx paints (labeled for metal, wood, plastic...). Make sure you inside surface is a clean as possible. Try wiping a small area with alcohol. As mentioned, however, you’ll probably get some haziness in the plastic when cleaning it with alcohol. Keep in mind, though, when the paint is applied it seems to “moisten” the surface, thus removing the haze.

Spray several light coats, waiting the recommended minute or two, or even longer, between coats. After several coats, hold the helmet up to a light source and examine the entirety of the inside. If you can see any light showing through the paint, focus subsequent coats on those areas. Interestingly, even if you end up with some light spots, they are not often noticeable in the finished product.

One of the advantages of painting the inside of a helmet is that if you end up with drips they won’t be visible from the outside (unless it’s metallic paint - see below).

If there are spots inside the helmet that are not properly prepped, you might see some patches where the paint “beads”. Like drips, however, this is not as big of an issue as it might seem. Try letting the coat dry for a few minutes and reapply paint. Eventually the patches will be covered. How well the paint has adhered is another story, though. Try to ensure the inner surface is as clean as possible before painting.

Metallic paints present additional challenges and I would recommend avoiding them. If you run into drips or beading, you will most likely see these defects in the finished product. Because of the metal flecks in the paint, if it is not applied evenly the finish will be uneven, and drips will be obvious. Also, if the paint is not mixed (shaken) consistently it will come out of the can in different mixtures, further hosing up the finished product. I don’t know anything about the makeup of different spray paints but I would not be surprised if metallic paints have additional ingredients that don’t mesh will with smooth plastic.

[parsleybabe]

Home Made Simple S01E03 - Chicken Party

We’re starting off with the exact same team as on episode 2: Host Lady, Chef Guy, Deco Guy and Wood guy. The episode centers around Caprisha, who just bought a house and is turning forty and wants to invite her friends to the party at her new place. Her bff is also there to help. Basically, they’re going to focus on the woman’s garden and turn it into a party location. I’m really bad with names, but I’ll keep referring to Caprisha by her name, because they say that name soooooo often in this episode and make songs and puns about it that I actually managed to remember.

My personal highlights:

We’re starting out with Deco Guy introducing a yellow color theme and Chef Guy deciding to make the party lemon themed, as there is a lemon tree in the backyard. I’m genuinely worried that Host Lady is going to lose her shit over the yellowness again, based on what we’ve seen from her previously, but she remains surprisingly calm.

Wood Guy suggests they could build a pergola and explains to the audience what that is with pictures and descriptions. I don’t know, maybe they just aren’t as common in the US? But for a brief moment I’m worried they might start explaining other basic building structures like garages or front doors or whatnot as well. Fortunately they don’t. But they do explain the pergola twice in the episode, because Caprisha and her bff also don’t know what it is, and the renovators have to fill them in as well. Anyway. Everybody is totally into the idea of building such a thing, except for Host Lady. Because, “A pergola is an enormous project.” No, no no no. No! “That’s too much!” So they say they’re scratching the idea, although it looks super fake.

I don’t really get what the big deal is, in the first place, because pergolas are very easy to build and it won’t take up a lot of time either, you just need to screw some wood pieces together and anchor them in the ground, for example by using iron bars. Definitely not more of a hassle than the storage benches from episode 2, but what do I know?

Chef Guy is extraordinarily camp in this episode, which, don’t get me wrong, is totally fine. It just takes me by surprise because I had to actually check if he’s the same Chef Guy as in the previous episodes, that’s how differently his personality comes across. Maybe it’s just the girl party theme of the episode that he’s feeling, though.

Anyway, they’re emptying lemons to use them as party food containers for granita later. Ooooh, I spot a Dawn Power Clean cameo while Caprisha is rinsing out the lemons. It’s like spotting the Stan Lee of home renovation. It’s a bit funny tbh, because Caprisha’s at the sink but her hands and the lemons are out of frame, instead you get the soap dead center and placed strategically right under her arm, so you can read the brand name without obstructions. I don’t even care anymore, I’m just glad they didn’t use the soap to rinse out the lemons.

Next, they’re standing in the dog run of Caprisha’s garden and it’s surrounded by high, smooth grey walls with barbwire on top. To be honest, it looks like a mix of a prison and a chicken coop. If I were doing anything to that backyard, I’d take the barbed wire down and paint the walls a different color. Instead, they’re talking about building a lounge inside it. Alright, you could do that too, I guess.

Deco Guy and the bff are now working on party invitations. The plan is to put the invitation inside a music CD, then put that in a fancy orange gift box, wrap it as a present and hand it out as an invitation. It’s actually a neat little gimmick, but quite expensive and time consuming just for an invitation, if you ask me, depending on how many friends you have. You could say, it’d be easier to build a pergola, but maybe that’s just me.

So, Deco Guy shows a simple invitation that he printed out from the show’s homepage, and… yeah, simple indeed. It’s literally a square with the most basic party info written inside. Like, in the most basic font, Arial or something, just black print on yellow paper. You could type that up in word quicker than searching for it on their website, but okay… Then he shows her how to cut out the paper, how to put it into the CD case and that into the box and how to wrap a ribbon around the box and make “a nice little bow”. All very important steps that you don’t wanna miss, or you’re not gonna be able to do this on your own. Hmm, he states that the invitation costs “literally pennies” and I am left to wonder how they managed to get the ten to twenty gift boxes and CDs for free.

Okay, now Wood Guy and the bff stand inside the “prison” part of the garden and are gonna build the lounge seating area. Cool, cool, cool. They got a lot of same sized wooden bars and are screwing them together to form squares. They stand the squares up and place them side by side in a row to later put a large sheet of wood on top to form a bench. Easy, simple concept. I actually do like it, but I can already tell that that base is going to be too high to sit on the lounge comfortably. Your feet won’t be able to reach the floor. Should have made rectangles to keep the benches lower, but maybe that was too complicated? They’re using an electric screw driver to put in the screws and you can totally see the wood break all the way through to the end of the bar, both when the bff and Wood Guy are doing it. It’s neither addressed nor fixed though. I guess the whole thing isn’t meant to last anyway, because they also don’t put any varnish on the construction, even though it’s meant for outside, so.

Meanwhile, Chef Guy shows Caprisha how to make some mousse for the party, and it’s an alright recipe too. It just cracks me up a little how Caprisha tries some and expresses, “It’s nice and light!” And Chef Guy totally jumps on the “light” aspect, even though the mousse is made of basically sugar, cornstarch and whipped cream.

We’re back in the garden and the benches are coming together.  The seats are now at the hight of Wood Guy’s upper thigh without any cushions or padding yet. But I assume you could work around that. As I mentioned, it looks like a chicken scoop, so why not add some chicken ladders going up to the roost, right? They briefly show that they’re going to use more wood to make a backrest at an angle, and then we see the finished result, but we don’t get to see how they work around sharp edges or cracks. They also don’t mention that you should probably sand the wood so you won’t get any splinters. But I’m not an expert, so don’t listen to my layman’s opinion.

As a filling for the empty lemon cups, Chef Guy and Caprisha are preparing some the granita, which is basically frozen lemonade with sugar. I’m sensing a theme and it’s not the lemons. I wonder if there’s gonna be any non-sweet food at the party at all. Doesn’t look like it though. But it doesn’t matter, Chef Guy and Caprishado a little sexy victory dance in the kitchen, because freezing lemonade is hard and they deserve that. And then he gives her “the gift of cleaning”, which translates to filling up the dishwasher in front of a smartly placed bag of Cascade dishwater tabs, then gently taking a tab out and placing it into the slot before turning the machine on. Cameo #2. The gift that keeps on giving.

Back in the garden, Wood Guy and Deco guy are having a talk while sitting on the half-finished lounge and letting their feet dangle. I don’t wanna say that they look small on the too high bench, let’s say… youthful. But the truth is, they’re having a really deep conversation and heart to heart, because Wood Guy opens up about his love for pergolas and confesses that he can’t let go of the idea. Deco Guy is super supportive and they decide to tackle the obstacles. Have some respect for these men, for real though. Wood Guy admits, “I’ve never seen it done before.” And Deco Guy understands the pressure, “We’re going where no man has ever gone before.” And then they talk briefly about having to draw up the steps to build it because “it’s really simple.”

Now they gotta convince Host Lady. Instead of anchoring the wooden build in the ground they want to use deck pair footing inside plastic flower pots as floor weights. My idea would have been simpler, safer, cheaper and longer lasting, but I guess you could do that too. I still don’t know why they need the flower pots at all, but, on the plus side, Wood Guy drew little stick figures on his sketches so that Host Lady can understand what he’s talking about, and who cares about the flower pots anyway. She has to let them do it now, right? She does and Wood Guy gets “a gold star today.”

He actually deserves one, btw, because – for the first time ever on this show – we do actually see footage of him and the girls building the whole thing including all the steps he talked about before.

We’re back with Deco Guy, Caprisha and her bff inside the house. He’s teaching them how to sew straight lines to make a pillow. And that’s as complicated as it gets. He also shows them how to fix the fabric with pins and does it wrong (puts them in line with the sewing direction, which will get them stuck in either the sewing machine or your fingers, instead of pinning them sideways to the direction, so you can easily pull them out as you’re sewing). Fortunately, the two ladies don’t know how to sew and won’t even notice. And since they’re now “master sewers”, they get to sew a whole bunch of pillow cases overnight. Right before the party. Because why would the birthday girl need any sleep, am I right?

So, it’s the next day, and the pillows are done. Deco Guy is excited but criticizes the “fresh, out-of-the-fabric-store smell.“ Now, I don’t know where he bought the fabric, but all the fabric stores that I’ve ever been to smelled lovely. And new fabric usually doesn’t have any smell at all. Maybe that’s different where they are though, I assume. But, fear not, Deco Guy is a true hero because he brought some Febreze Fabric Refresher which will both freshen up the pillows and add to the ever growing family of product placements on this show. And, man, does it smell good. They all agree on that and we’re getting lots of footage of them spraying the pillows very elegantly with their new super weapon.

We’re now back in the kitchen with Chef Guy and Caprisha and he’s gonna show her how to make whipped cream out of cream and syrup, because clearly the other food they got doesn’t have enough sugar. They put it onto the previously made mousse and it looks like… chicken poop. Which started out as a joke on my end, but genuinely must be the unspoken theme of their party. I didn’t even plan this when I began writing this review. I genuinely edited the title just now.

Back out in the yard, Host Lady and Wood Guy are talking about building a fire pit in the center, and that sounds like a really cool idea, I have to admit. This is something that’s gonna last and will come in handy later whenever you wanna have a garden party. It’s great. However, instead of building a fire pit, they just drop sand and big pieces of gravel onto the floor and put an empty grill bowl on it, like a random makeshift beach bonfire. This is the most disappointed I have been so far on this show.

Host Lady then steps inside and suggests that she and Caprisha will decorate the inside of the house with lemons in case any guests come in and need to use the bathroom. The instructions are, “Make sure to have enough toilet paper, light some candles and hang out fresh hand towels.” I have no idea where the lemons actually come into play and they don’t show it either, we just see them step into another room and that’s it.

The final results of the “renovation” are now prepared and shown. Suddenly there are several big pink, yellow and orange tables and étageres standing around which serve as displays for the food. They are the biggest eye catcher in the whole garden. But all we got to see about how those came into play was in a brief overall work process montage (where amongst many other things Deco Guy was shown for about half a second, painting them). No idea if they built them themselves or bought them. It’s never addressed and they’re just there.

Host Lady goes to get the girls and loses her shit “bright yellow” style when she sees them. The pitch of her voice is higher than ever and she throws her hands up and screams, “You look gooooood , guuuurrrrlll!!!” and then puts her hands to her hips and screeches, “Woooooooooooooow!!!” , except it sounds more like a police siren. I mean, it’s a nice compliment. A bit super over the top and super loud, but… nice, I guess. Maybe they couldn’t take the barbed wire down because it belongs to the neighbors who put it up in fear of the weird Host Lady.

Anyway, back to the final look of the garden. The lounge benches are now painted, no idea when that happened, and they now have padding and cushions and pillows and are even higher than before. Sadly, no chicken ladders though. But Caprisha and her bff won’t have to use the bench anyway, because they get a couple of swinging chairs as a gift for under the pergola (which they need to remove for the party, but can keep afterwards). Yaaaaay!

[christinaengela]

Shutters seem like a very old-fashioned concept don’t they? There are of course a variety of reasons why the idea of having shutters on a window – perhaps even your bedroom window – might appeal to you. I’ll tell you about mine.

A few years ago, the owner of the house next door to me went against the wishes of all the rest of the residents in the area – and also the municipal bylaws – and turned his garage into one of those nasty little illegal shops. Oh yes, it was convenient to be able to walk right next door at virtually all hours of the day or night to buy a quick sweet, chippie, coldrink or pack of smokes for the wiffle, but the negatives were far more numerous and weighty. Noise at all hours was one of them – and it came from the back door of the shop, which was situated in the alleyway between the two houses, right outside our bedroom window!

Think of it – all through the night we would hear the hum of refrigerator motors, and late at night one of the managers would move in or out of the door noisily chatting on their phones, slamming doors, or move fresh coldrink bottles in to repack fridges… Early in the morning while we’d still be asleep, they’d move around there, opening the door and prepping for opening time!

Regardless of the drama relating to the illegal shop issue and how it was eventually closed down last December after a five year wait for our municipality to get things sorted out, this was the reason why my other half suggested I make some shutters for the bedroom window. The idea was added to further when we visited the Nr 7 Castle Hill museum in 2018 and saw the interior wooden window shutters they had there. I wanted to make shutters for our bedroom window – the only issue was how I was going to do it!

What did I do? I’m D.I.Y.ing to tell you!

We have tall windows, and so I knew whatever design I settled on in the end, it would require a fair amount of material. I started working on ideas on my sketch pad, and then had a look around the wood-store in the garage, and my spare parts bin, and came up with the groundwork for this concept!

If you want to, you could pop down to the wood shop and buy pine planks to make your own version of this. At the time I didn’t have enough pine plank or similar to make plain wooden shutter doors, so I used what I had at hand – melamine, or veneered chipboard – and decided I would paint it afterwards.

Neither of us minds the rustic look – in fact, we’re quite partial to it, so it not looking like it was popped out of a mold or template at a machine-shop didn’t bother us in the least.

I measured carefully – and it’s important to do this, because if you’ve measured wrong and then cut based on those wrong measurments, it could be hard to recover from that mistake!

I made two doors, each of them the full length of the inside of the window opening from top to sill, and half as wide. I usually work with what I have available – in this case, I had several broad and tall lengths of melamine, one perfectly sized to make a whole door, and several smaller ones which I would use together to make the second. This implied joining three smaller pieces to make the second door – but never mind that, there are ways to secure, brace and make joins look good. I used a few lengths of 2×4 pine to brace the join in the second door – two horizontally across the joins on the inside or window side, and one vertically on the outside spanning all three pieces.

Of course the ideal would be to make the door out of one piece of wood, but as I said, I work with what I have – that’s how you end up with unique items firstly, and secondly, how your hobby remains affordable!

Making the doors was not as simple as it could’ve been, because I didn’t just want to make solid opaque doors, which would’ve been easier. We wanted to shut out noise as well as light, but we still wanted to retain some airflow. The solution was to cut a rectangular window in each door, which I did with a jig-saw. I could’ve made the window opening any shape, say a circle for instance, but I picked a rounded rectangle. Then, from another piece of melamine, I cut two rectangular pieces about 2cm larger than the window hole. These are to cover the hole from the outside, mounted on spacers which will leave a gap for air to pass through.

I then covered the hole with fine nylon mosquito netting, securing it all the way round with a staple gun. For this exercise, I made sure the netting went on the window side of the doors. (In hindsight, I’d prefer to use the more durable plastic mosquito screen available from hardware stores instead.) After that, I cut eight small pieces of melamine from offcuts, and arranged them one at each corner of the windows, and secured them with glue to keep them in place while I lined the two rectangular planks up with them, and then drilled and screwed them to the door.

In the case of melamine (or in fact any brittle type of real wood) when securing two or more planks to another, I find it’s better to first drill a hole through the top planks and then putting the screw through the hole into the back one. This avoids splitting and bulging and breakage, which saves a lot of frustration.

With the small windows blanked off, this will block most of the light entering through the window, as well as noise, while allowing airflow to continue. The netting would also keep out annoying bugs like mosquitos.

Next, the hinges.

Once I was satisfied both fitted together inside the opening, I knew it was time to fit the hinges.

I had two pairs of long steel hinges available, which I’d recovered from two old doors we’d replaced on our outbuildings years ago. Both were about a century old, and the hinges were covered in paint and surface rust, and it took some sanding and wirebrushing to get them nice and shiny again! Afterwards, I clear-coated them with spray-on aerosol clear lacquer. You could use new hinges, and you can still get this sort of hinge at hardware stores for a premium price of course. I opted for longer hinges because of the weight of the doors and the extra support these give.

I secured the hinges to the doors in a nice even spacing – top hinges close to the top and bottom hinges close to the bottom of the doors.

Then I placed the doors in the window opening to measure for the placement of the hinges on the wall beside the window opening, marked the placement of the screw holes, and drilled them. I opted to use two small 10mm rawl bolts per hinge, and there are four hinges, so there are sixteen rawl bolts.

I secured the hinges to the wall. Once it was all tightened, the doors opened and closed perfectly – but it was still far from finished. There were gaps through which light shone, and made the imperfections in the edges glaringly obvious! Can’t have that, can we?

I solved that by applying some thin pine dressing along the edges of each door. This material comes in lengths of 2m, and is about 6mm thick and 2 to 3 cm wide. I needed three to finish this job, and still had a little left to put away for another project.

I secured the dressing to the edges of the doors with short screws while they were closed, all the way round, leaving gaps only for the hinges and the bolt that closes the doors.

The dressing along the opening edge in this case was attached to the edge of the left door, which I chose to be the one that opens first, so it overlaps over the right door edge and closes the gap. The edging around the outside edges of the door also overlaps neatly over the gaps between the door and the window opening or sill, all the way round.

Because the melamine was mostly white and had been recycled from old cupboards, it needed a coat of paint – and because we were planning to repaint that wall of the bedroom a dusty pink or something like it, we picked a dark off-red paint to coat the shutters insides and out!

In the middle of it, we decided the pine edging looked really nice as is, and so I had a bit of a time keeping the paint off it! Nevertheless, I still need to add some varnish to the pine edging, which I’ll probably get around to whenever I get around to repainting that wall!

A pair of opening and closing shutters isn’t the end of the job yet – I still have to tell you how we keep it closed!

At the bottom that was simple – the right door is secured to the window sill by a small barrel bolt which slides into a hole drilled into the sill. At the top – which is out of reach, I employed the same system, but as you can see in the photo, I employed a spring to keep the bolt in the extended position, and a cord tied to the bolt which is long enough to operate from a normal standing height.

The left door is secured to the right door by means of an old-fashioned lift-latch which came off the old outside toilet door, is made of iron, and dates from about 1901 when the house was first built. It took some work to clean and recover this item, and I’m quite proud of that 😉 .

That’s the long and short of it – our bedroom shutter doors. They cut out noise from the neighborhood to an acceptable, tolerable level for a good nights’ sleep, and daylight in case one of us has a migraine or want to have a peaceful afternoon nap! Plus, they add to the overall visual effect of our rustic little hideaway!

I hope this gives you some good ideas and inspiration for D.I.Y.’ing around the house!

Pictures included – enjoy!

Have a DIY day!

Cheers!

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Easy DIY Window Shutters Shutters seem like a very old-fashioned concept don't they? There are of course a variety of reasons why the idea of having shutters on a window - perhaps even your bedroom window - might appeal to you.

[ollybenson]

Creating My Chair: The Frame

Now that I have decided the design of my chair and the material I plan to use is plywood, it is time to start construction of the frame of my chair.

Following my test that put plywood up against MDF, I have concluded that plywood is the best material I can use. Not only is it very strong and the college have an abundance of it, I actually think it doesn't look to bad; especially when I go on to sand it down and add some kind of finishing oil I think it has a lot of potential to look very good.

To cut out the strips of plywood, I used the same tools to measure the angles against my plan drawing below.

Instead of using the electrical band saw, I instead decided to use a compound saw to cut out all of the strips. The compound is slightly more time consuming than the band saw as you have to clamp down each bit of wood to the table. Whilst doing this you have to ensure the piece of wood is at the right angle. However, the compound saw produces much straighter and smoother results. 

This is important as I don't want any gaps between the connections of the panels of wood as this would not only ruin the appearance of the chair but also jeopardise the strength of the connections.

While the compound saw took longer, it was a lot easier to use than the band saw as I wasn't hesitant to cut the pieces.

I had to cut out 3 pieces of wood for each side of the chair, with some parts being longer than others so that the sides can overlap, allowing me to insert dowels through them to double up on the strength of the joints.

For each panel, I had to use a Marking Gauge to show me the centre of the strips so that I could then measure out where I will drill holes to insert each dowel so that when I laminate the plywood it wont slide out of position.

The marking gague took me a while to get the hand of as when I was running it along the panels sometimes the lines would be wonky where I wasn't pushing it down hard enough.

Now that I had marked where each dowel will go, I used the pillar drill to drill holes into the panels.

I have used the pillar drill before. It is a very effective tool to use when you want to drill straight down into something.

To ensure that I didnt drill straight through all the pieces of wood, I had to adjust the height of the table so that the lowest I could go down with the drill wouldn't pierce all the way through the bottom bit of wood. Adjusting the height of the table took quite a lot of time as people would use the drill whilst I was using it so I had to do it multiple times.

While using the pillar drill was very effective, it was also very time consuming as I had to clamp down the bits of wood together as well as clamp down the wood to the table. Then for each hole I had to unclamp the wood then slide it along to the next hole and then clamp it back down again. As I laminated the plywood with 3 layers, I had to flip the centre piece and drill holes for each outside layer.

Overall I had to drill holes in about 24 bits of wood, so roughly 100 holes.

This was necassary, however, cause it ensured that my laminated plywood was all straight and smooth.\

As you can see in the image below, the laminated wood looks very straight and smooth. So whilst the processes up to this point were very time consuming, it was all very necassary to create a high quality outcome.

In the image below you can also see how the 2 outside pieces of plywood are longer than the centre one. That gap is where I would insert another side of the chair. I would add glue to the connection as well as dowels that would go through the corner to ensure my chair is a strong as possible.

When inserting the dowels, I noticed that some of the holes were not deep enough to ensure the panels were as tight as possible. To fix this, I used a hand drill to quickly dig out more of the holes.

The hand drill was very effective as it was a lot quicker than having to set up the pillar drill again, however I would not want to use this over the pillar drill when starting from scratch as it would not only take longer to drill the holes, but it would require more man power and there is a chance I wouldn't drill the holes straight.

Now that I had drilled all the holes for the dowels to go into, it was time to laminatew my wood and piece the sides together, like in the image below.

To do this, I needed to use wood adhesive as this specialises in glueing pieces of wood together and is widely used in furniture making. To ensure that the connections and the laminating was all tight, I had to create a rig that I could clamp the frame to.

Creating The Rig

To create the rig, I got the largest bit of scrap wood I could find, then places the side of the frame on the wood for me to draw around with a pencil.

From here I cut  the shape of the frame from the scrap wood. I drilled a 4x4 bit of wood ontop of the rig that would act as a support for the frame when I clamp it to the rig.

I have used battery drills loads of times before both at college and in my every day life. It is very effective if you are simply drilling screws into something. As I didnt care about the appearance of my rig as it isn't part of my final piece, I didnt take much consideration into its appearance, allowing me to create the rig very quickly.

As you can see in the image below, I have taped up all the insides of the rig so that when I glue the frame of the chair down, it wont stick to the rig as I can easly peel the tape off.

Here in the images below you can see how I clamped the frame down to the rig. As you can see, I have used small bits of MDF inserted in between the clamps and the frame. My reasoning behind this is that the clamps usually make an indentation into the wood that they clamp down onto, so by placing the MDF there it protects my plywood.

I had to do this whole process 2 times to create either side of my frame, so I had to do it over 2 days as I only created one rig and I had to allow the glue enough time to dry so that It wouldn't fall apart. 

Along with doing each side of the frame, I also had to do it to the supporting beams that would connect either side of the frame together. 

Outcome

Below are the images of the final frame. 

Unfortunately, as I have stated in another blog post I have lost some images of my developments due to my iPhone breaking and not being backed up. I wasn’t able to capture how I attached the supporting panels to either side of the frame. Basically I used the battery drill to dig out large holes in either side of the supporting panels and the area of the side of the frames that the panels tough. From here I got large dowels and inserted them into the holes connecting the pieces together. I added wood adhesive to ensure the connections were strong enough to endure a humans body weight.

Overall, I am very happy with how my frame has turned out. The process took me about 5-6 days of working to complete which is quite a long time. But considering I have never made furniture before I am very happy with my outcome so far. 

Along with this, I have learnt a variety of new tools and processes that will undoubtedly benefit me in my future, whether it be college work, Uni work or working as an architect/furniture maker.

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Now that I have created the general shape of my chair, it is time to refine and develop it so that it is safe and viable for someone to sit on.

To do this It will require quite a lot of sanding down, whether it be with sand paper using hand or an electrical sander I will find out. Along with this I must ensure there are no splinters of little bits of wood hanging off it that could harm someone.

Along with this, to add a finishing touch I would like to add something like a varnish or a finishing oil to give it that clean look. At the moment you can kind of tell it was made in a workshop my a student. However with some kind of finishing oil I think it could very realistically look like a piece of furniture you could find in a shop.

[casadei79]

Learn All About Woodworking With This Article.

Learn All About Woodworking With This Article.

If you've always desired working with wood, you aren't alone. A lot of people wish to get into working with wood, but they're not sure of where to begin. Today is the day to learn. The following article will teach you about woodworking. Keep reading to find out more.

Before you get started on any woodworking project, do some research on the type of wood you will be using. Different types of wood absorb paint and stain differently, some too much, and some not enough. If you aren't certain about what kind of wood you will need, just ask for help.

Clean your saw's teeth before cutting lumber. To thoroughly clean your saw blade dip a shop rag into a little acetone and wipe the blade thoroughly. Additionally, using a piece of sandpaper that has a fine grit will remove any sap or gumminess from your skill saw's cutting blades.

When trying woodworking for the first time, opt for cheaper woods or even scrap woods. You are going to make mistakes along the way when you are first starting. Make sure you make those mistakes on wood that's easily replaceable. There's nothing worse than making a rookie mistake on a very expensive piece.

Make sure your workbench is the proper height. It really can make a big difference. It needs to fit you and how you work. Usually if you are around 5'6" to 5'9" you probably need one that is between 33" and 36" high. If you are 5'10" or taller, you may need one that is between 35" and 37" high. Use your bench at its current height to determine if you need to change it to work better for you.

When staining woods, always test in a hard to see area before moving forward. In fact, if you've got a piece of scrap wood, that's even better. You never know how a type of wood will take to stain, so it's best to find out in a place that won't be an issue later on.

Plan out your project and go over it a few times before you start. This will help prevent you from making mistakes that will ruin your project. You do not want to start it all over again, so plan it out well before you cut, screw or nail anything together.

Before even beginning a woodworking project, make sure you have an adequate and proper place to work in. You definitely don't want your living space filled with sawdust. Some woodworking supplies, such as stains, varnish and paint strippers, have noxious fumes. Ideally, you will have a detached garage or a shed to work in since an outside space is an ideal location.

Do you hate those bubbles that form when applying joint compound to your drywall? There is a simple trick that professional drywallers use to avoid this annoying problem. Add two or three drops of dish detergent to your joint compound and you will be rewarded with bubble free joint compound.

Only cut using sharp tools. Older and dull tools result in tear-outs and even chipping, which is frustrating and a waste of time. Sharp tools means you get clean cuts quickly. You'll also spend a lot less time sanding things to get just the right look and fit that you need.

Build the best that you can. What this means is to not get lost in chasing perfectionism or analysis paralysis. Be honest with yourself about how good you are and cater to your strengths. Be proud of what you are able to do with woodworking, and do what you can to learn specific skills that improve on what you already have mastered.

Join a woodworking forum to get tips and suggestions on your work. You may know a lot about woodworking, but joining a group of people who are working on similar projects will motivate you. Not only that, but others can answer any questions you have. You can also answer questions for others.

If you are in the market to add to your woodworking tools you should try to save money by looking for used tools. It can be rather easy to find these tools on various resale websites, or you may even be able to find a site that caters to woodworkers specifically in your area.

When driving larger nails into panels like a two by four, do you often inadvertently split the wood. You can often avoid this annoyance by using a simple trick. Turn the nail over and give the sharp end a quick rap with the hammer, dulling the tip a bit. The nail is then less likely to split the wood.

Think about the inevitable contracting and expanding that the wood will endure when you are working on a woodworking project. Keeping this factor in mind can ensure that you make joints that can handle any pressure that may be applied as weather changes, especially if your completed project will be left outdoors.

It is important to make room for future alterations when building a big project. If you are building a shed now, will it need electricity later? If that is the case, make sure that you have enough room for switches and wires, in addition to room for good lighting.

Woodworking is something you can learn to do. Creating an item yourself is something you can be very proud of. No matter what you choose to make, you've got the know-how to help you through this process. Make what you've dreamed about. So what if you don't have a bird?

[ebthblog]

8 Things You Need to Refinish Wood Furniture

Wood furniture isn't always in peak condition when it's sold at an estate auction, but that doesn’t mean it has to exist as a shadow of its former self. With a little refinishing, you can restore antique and vintage wood furniture to their former glory. All you need is time, a little know-how and the right supplies.

Basic Tool Box

Non-wood parts of your wood furniture could get damaged through certain steps in their refinishing, such as scraping, sanding, and staining, so you should protect these areas before you do anything else. Upholstered sections, removable knobs or pulls, loose screws or nails, glass parts, and tile accents should all be carefully covered up or removed. It's not always possible to remove the non-wood parts of furniture, but those that are detachable can usually be removed  with a screwdriver. If it doesn't come off easily, don't force it — you may end up damaging the furniture.

Prepped Workspace 

Refinishing is  a messy process. You'll be scraping and sanding the old surface so you can paint or stain what’s underneath. This all results in the potential to build up a lot of dust or pigmented spills. Keep plenty of rags on hand to wipe up any spills from the furniture and keep your hands as clean as possible. Laying down drop cloths will protect your work area.

Strip the Wood

Once you have your wood furniture prepped and the surrounding areas protected, it's time to remove the old finish. Start with paint stripper so you can remove old stain or paint efficiently. Paint stripper comes in liquid and aerosol forms. Whichever you choose, apply it with an even hand, and the job of removing old paint or stain will be a quick one. Even if your wood furniture looks unfinished, it's still a good idea to use a solvent-based stripper to clean off hard-to-see residue. After the chemical stripper has done its work, you can use a scraper to gently remove the old, stubborn layers of finish. Take care to avoid gouging. Once you're done scraping, use a rag to wipe the surface clean and rub the wood with mineral spirits to remove any residue.

Sand Everything Down

Next, use sanding tools to smooth out the surface of your furniture so the new finish will apply evenly. You can  gently buff out any minor imperfections, but a single pack of sandpaper likely won't cut it. You'll need both coarse- and fine-grit sandpaper for different imperfections, but if you're working with a large or intricately detailed piece of furniture, you'll probably want more advanced tools. 

If you can get your hands on an electric sander, you'll be able to smooth out large, flat surfaces like tabletops much faster and than you would sanding by hand alone. A rotary tool with sanding tips in multiple different shapes and sizes will also come in handy for getting in nooks and crevices on detailed pieces.

Decide on Wood Stain or Paint

Paint or stain is the first layer of your new finish, and you can essentially choose any shade you'd like. If you intend to keep the furniture for years and want to focus on timeless style, opt for a stain shade that complements the color of the wood, pairing light with light and dark with dark. If you want to use opaque paint, choose a neutral color from a high-quality brand for longevity.

Staining and Painting Techniques

Using the proper tools and techniques for applying your chosen paint or stain is essential for creating a smooth finish. You can use either a rag or a brush to apply stain ―  just be sure you're applying and wiping off your stain in the direction of the wood grain rather than across it. Brushes are best for applying paint, and you'll want to build up multiple thin coats rather than one thick coat so you have even coverage without bubbles or drips. Whether you use paint or stain, use the highest-quality brushes possible, and work slowly.

Add a Protective Coating

This isn't a strict necessity, but if your furniture will see heavy use, you may want to use a protective seal finishing spray or a brush-on varnish to keep your new finish smooth and even for years to come. Everything from rivets on jeans scraping against a dining chair to a computer monitor shifting on a desk can cause scrapes, nicks, and gradual wear on a wooden surface. A protective varnish will help your new finish looking newer, longer.

Drawer Pulls and Hardware

In some cases, you'll need to replace missing or broken hinges, drawer pulls, knobs, and other hardware. If you can’t find replacements that match the original hardware, you may want to replace everything so it all matches.. Even if the piece has all its original hardware, you can replace it to introduce a whole new look. Whether you're replacing or reusing the old hardware, don't attach your knobs, pulls, and hinges until your newly refinished furniture is completely dry.

If you're interested in refinishing sturdy vintage furniture, you'll find plenty of great options on Everything But The House. Our online estate sale auctions feature wood furniture from big names like Kittinger, Herman Miller or Drexel Heritage, giving you the opportunity to bring home a high-quality piece for a great price.