Make it with muscle

This is my first instructable...but since there are fewer instructions than there are suggestions...perhaps this is more of a Suggestible. In the spirit of Earth Day, my suggestion is to 'Make it with Muscle'. Use muscle energy instead of power tools when working on some of your projects. Power tools are nice, but you don't always need them. You can do wonderous things with your own two hands (and some hand tools).

My girlfriend and I found a small shelf/cabinet on the curb and decided to give it a new home. After a few days of standing in a corner blocking our shower door from opening all the way, we figured it would make better sense to shorten it a bit. This instructable documents the cabinet's conversion from 'wide' to 'less wide', using only hand tools and a little elbow grease.

Step 1 Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle

Recycle:
Here, we're going to give someone else's trash a new lease on life. I suppose this can also be considered 'Reuse'.

Reuse:
The cabinet was made from particle board (chip board) and screws. I removed (by hand) and later reused all the screws... and even had some left over for other projects.
Disclaimer: No new hardware or materials were harmed during the modding of this cabinet.

Reduce:
I don't think this is what they mean by Reduce...but I want to shrink the cabinet from 3ft wide to 2ft wide.


Two R's out of three isn't bad right?

Comments

[The Metal One]

Did you know that the amount of carbon put in the atmosphere from using hand tools (accounting not only for respiration but also the carbon from producing the food you ate to make the energy to operate the thing) is actually greater than the amount from generating electricity? also many people misunderstand power generation. the electricity is generated at a continuous rate, putting power into the grid. the same amount of carbon is put into the atmosphere whether or not you use it, so you might as well not let that energy be wasted.

[Mike McGill]

Well done for using hand tools.  I use them all the time.  One comment;  the picture shows you cutting the shelf with the underside uppermost.  When you cut chipboard with a handsaw there is a tendancy for the clean edge to be lost on the underside of the cut.  Therefore it might have been better to cut froj the top side, leaving the ragged edge underneath where it can't be seen.  All the best, Mike (UK)

[dlbadeaux]

Recently saw a PBS special "alone in the wilderness" about a guy who went up to Alaska. He built a log cabin and everything he needed, even cutting fire wood, with hand ( as in not powered ) tools. If a sixty year old man can do that, why are we so fascinated with powered tools.

[theRIAA]

"put a brick in your toilet's tank" or just bend the plunger down, lol but low-flow toilets are bad for your plumbing, without all the extra water to push the poo through, it just sits, 1/2 way through your pipes, and hardens. when you take a #2, always hold the handle down to release all the water. "remove this tubing from the overflow tube and direct its water into the tank" if your plumbing is vented properly, then this wont be a problem, if not (or if you just get unlucky) , the hydrostatic pressure will pull all the water down the drain, emptying the P-trap and thus venting sewer gas into your bathroom (bad) and put TP in the bowl before you take a #2 to prevent splashback! ...so much for the earth... like the hand tool idea though ooooh snap, i just realized why saws are shaped like that :P

[Derin]

we have badly designed lo-flo toilets with two buttons,the smaller is for your number 1 and the other is for number 2,but somehow it just dumps the same both ways

[JamesW]

Not a bad overall suggestible. I just never really liked power tools...except the cordless drill now and then. I might do that toilet trick...with a 24 oz bottle. I don't think saving a gallon of water is worth wading through my own poo. Just not my idea of a...weekend project.

[pappyld04]

I always use a 1liter soda bottle filled with water which fits right inside with no worry about scratching the porcelain or one of those dreaded OOPS if you drop a brick. 2liter works also but not much left for flushing!

[Derin]

and if its filled with water...SPARE WATER FOR FLUSHING THE TOILET!

[mothflavour2]

great tip with the saw handle, I didn't notice it before. Nice instructable, too.