Category Archives: OUTDOORS

Catamaran Wooden Gooseneck Plug Repair

Posted by on April 2, 2013 No comments

prindle-wooden-gooseneck-plug-pinnedI have a small Prindle 16 foot catamaran (similar to a Hobie-Cat) that was built a year before I was born.  Naturally it needs repair from time to time, and after hooking the mast up improperly (resulting in a pretty spectacular failure), the boom’s gooseneck plug was broken.

I’m not sure if these are sold without the boom (possibly part of the “U” bracket on this catalog), but I wasn’t really thrilled about the riveted design anyway.  Instead of purchasing a new boom, I decided to make a boom plug myself.  Out of wood.  From a tree that I cut down in my backyard.  Check out the video and more pictures after the “read more” to see exactly how this was done. Read more »

Plant Pots Made from Found Wood

Posted by on January 4, 2013 1 comment

raw-wood-potted-plantsAs much as I like my other tools, I’ve been incredibly happy with how easy it is to make interesting stuff for little to no raw material cost with my lathe.  The raw material for these tiny “pots” was free, costing a trip to the backyard where I had these trimmings* stored.  This is the result of an idea I had to plant Jade and Elephant bush in this very natural pot, vase, or whatever you would call it.  A chopped up piece of wood in the back yard was cleaned up with my lathe, then drilled on my milling machine.

Although I don’t think the results would be quite as good, Read more »

Trick or Treat? My DIY Props for 2012

Posted by on November 1, 2012 No comments

So this Halloween, I decided to put out several “scary” devices that I’ve made, including PVC Man, Boxie the Creepster, and the glowing foam cube.  Here’s a video of the setup:

Unfortunately, it seems that it was so scary that no trick-or-treaters decided to come by.  They were probably intimidated by the glowing cube.  Click on the “Read more” for some pictures of the setup:

Read more »

Worn out Velcro Biking Shoes? Convert to Laces!

Posted by on October 7, 2012 No comments

finished-shoes2I have a pair of shoes for mountain biking that are about to fall apart.  I’ve replaced the cleats, so they still grip well, but the Velcro straps were about to fall off.  These shoes are around 5 years old, so I may buy another pair anyway, but before purchasing new ones, I decided to see if they could be converted to use laces.

I’d never worked grommets before, but Amazon has a Grommet Kit for around $10 that has everything you need besides a hammer to get started.  The idea was to put holes into the side without the Velcro loops and use grommets to reinforce them when laces were attached.  The original loops would then be used to loop laces through on that side.  I could (and may eventually) do both sides, but that would be more work.  We’ll see how this works.

As seen in the pictures below, all you really have to do is Read more »

Cheapest Mountain Bike Stand Ever?

Posted by on September 27, 2012 1 comment

stand-vise-rotateSo maybe you have a decently well-equipped shop for some things, but your bike-repair tools are a little lacking?  Also, lets assume that you’re either very cheap, or just really like to see if something can be done.  If so, this “bike stand” could be for you.  Made out of only a 2×4 and meant to attach to a shop vise, it can be made for less than $1 worth of materials if you have the tools available.

On the other hand, in it’s current iteration it may scuff your paint job.  I can think of a few solutions to the scuffing problem, like stretching an old tube and modifying the clamping system, but as of now I haven’t tried it.  Additionally, the bike can possily slide around some, but the solution may be the same as for the scuffing problem.  Because of this, I’d call the 2×4 stand only a marginal success so far.  Maybe it’ll give someone inspiration to make a proper stand in a similar manner (see the pictures after the “read more”).

As for the tools/materials that you’ll need to make this stand: Read more »