CrLz

I'm using my Orangeboard as a journal space and bulletin board. Hear you will see some simple ideas, things I've made and some initial project work.

Most of these posts I dont prioritize to write up for a full-fledged ible. Some I may post after further refinement.

Feel free to comment, etc. I'm happy to discuss more anything here. Maybe I'll write up something that seems very useful to others.

Anyways, below are some of my day-to-day amusements... ;)

Been trapping feral pig that are coming into my orchard. Caught 12 so far this (fruiting) season.

This trap is a pen trap that catches the hogs without hurting them. Unlucky #4 shown here...

Made model hands from plaster for the kids to paint.

Pretty easy, just used a latex glove as a mold, poring plaster into and tying shut like a water balloon.

The next day I smoothed with a rasp and lightly sanded to smooth. I also cut the wrist and back flat to allow standing or resting flat.

Started cutting ironwood (Casuarina equisetifolia) with my new radial arm.

Really grabby- really wanted to ind up in the blade. Suspect that a higher tooth count is in order.

Samples have a nice density and clean cut. Letting them dry in air while remainder of my stock starts curing.

Couple ukuleles I made for the kids.

One has a banjo-like resonator: the drum head from an old tambourine. The second is sort of a Dobro: the resonator is a holiday cookie tin.

Not really tuned well, but fun to pick at.

I make these handy boxes from the lid-mechanism of diaper wipe packs. Two lids pressed together become a durable box.

The boxes are small, useful for things like fishing hooks, or sewing needles. I like them for fishing leaders, one per box so no tangles when I am fishing.

The lid are easy to remove after heating the glue, either with hot water or a hair dryer. While hot, the glue will grab the opposing lid and cool into a strong attachment.

Also a great reduction in the amount of trash from the packs.

Made these easels for gifts.

Used whiteboard veneer on plywood for main surface. Whiteboard can be drawn on with crayon, wax pencil and markers; it also is easy to tape paper onto.

My daughter "put to bed" these playdough figures. When it was time to clean up, she made blankets for each one and tucked away in the storage box.

:)

I add little neodymium magnets to the lock-out keys from my power tools. Then I can keep keys on magnet-bulletin board in my workshop and keep track of better.

The magnets are salvaged from old disk drives and such. Attached with silicone sealant.

Salvaged this stack of Koa wood flooring from a local demolition!

About 20 boards, 0.75" soild thickness, 6" widths in 5' lengths!

Can't wait to make some heirlooms from this.

The radial arm saw I am rehabbing has a great CPU attached that reports the position of the saw. Rip length, elevation height, miter angle and bevel angle- all to hundreths precision!

The old owner just let the stand alone battery go dead. One J-cell later, all good!

If I can make an automated feed deck, I'll have te makings of a 5-axis CNC machine- by utilizing the CPU output!

Bought a used Radial Arm saw for $40 and have been overhauling it and setting it up. The saw came with no table, and the rear clamps needed to be replaced.

Rather than sourcing the clamps from the maker, I hacked two 2" c-clamps as replacements. Cut the front off, flush with bottom of mount area, put a notch in back of clamp to hook in the mount hole.

Done! Only $4 for the replacements, which work better than the original.

Carved wooden Santas from driftwood sticks for Christmas tree. Each was easy to make, with only a rough/country aspect.

To help my children paint them, a quick dip in watered-down Gesso made a nice white base coat.

Pretty good, thick, clear plastic sheets can be salvaged from lots of packaging. In the photo, I was reclaiming the display window from a Christmas present.

This plastic makes good cut-out stencils, a good non-stick glue surface for the workshop, psuedo-glass for kids crafts, ...

Always looking for different activities at the beach. At this one, the sand was wet and coarse, perfect for drawings!