WELCOME

Little bit of everything

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 22:00:53 -0700

Sometimes the perfect solution is
to use pieces of things in ways
they were never intended. I was
struggling with an idea for a way
to make a pen holder for a white
board for the MultiCam board
room. The pens needed to be
handy but the holder had to fit
into the theme of the room.

I did up a few designs before coming up with one I liked. I’m not quite sure what the contraption is, but I don’t think that really matters too much. The design was sort of worked out on paper, but mostly by cutting and gluing up the pieces. It’s made from a wide variety of materials including MDF, HDU, ABS, PVC, steel pipe, glue and paint. The pens will sit in the fatter section of pipe with the side cut out of it.

I’ll fabricate a ‘pressure gage’ yet and it will sport some LED lights for good measure. It will be painted with a special iron paint that will develop a rust patina when we spray it with acid. It will look instantly old and weathered and fit right in with the rest of the room.

I’ll bet it’s one of the most elaborate pen holders around these parts.

-grampa dan

barking up the right tree

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 20:30:22 -0700

When Phoebe showed up at the door
this morning I knew she was here to
help. She had her work boots on as
well as her paint clothes. I always
welcome talented and willing help.
Little Phoebe also had a apple
turnover from the deli in a little bag
(grampa’s favorite) which meant it
was coffee time.

After our break it was time to get to
work. Phoebe started by cleaning her
playhouse. Grampa had somehow
messed things up in there and got
everything dusty. Stuff happens in a
workshop. She took her toys to the sink
and proceeded to wash everything. The
cement floor could easily handle the
water that got splashed about. I was busy
working on the tree for the entrance
monument we have underway. When it
came time to do some carving Phoebe
jumped in to help. I was a little reluctant at
first but decided the bark texture I was
carving could use a little randomness.
Phoebe did a great job at it too. She carved
for a long while and enjoyed every minute of the task.
When we were done she declared it perfect. I agreed.

-grampa dan

Rock stars...

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 20:29:57 -0700

Any day we transport a major piece is
always an exciting day. Today we moved
TWO large pieces making
it doubly so. My son-
in-law Phoenix piloted
the second truck and
trailer making it a convoy
of sorts. We gathered lots
of curious looks as we
traveled. The loads were
large but not especially
heavy.

Once onsite we man-
handled the welded frames off the trailers
and on to the foundations. Phoenix will
now apply a heavy coat of concrete and
then sculpt realistic rocks. We’ll add the
tree to the top and lastly the signs naming
the development. They are being worked
on in our shop during the next week or so.

Today’s move went smoothly and without
incident. It was a prefect day!

-grampa dan

Day two and three...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:00:32 -0700

With the heavy lifting done I could concentrate
on small details on the project. I wanted to do
one test section to make sure I was liking the
scale of things and how they worked together.
Each time I looked at the whole project and
imagined it finished it made me grin. This is
cool. As I worked my mind raced for pulling
off this project has inspire a hundred new ideas
and ways to put this knowledge into future use.

After a brief consultation with the building
contractor about some minor issues it was full
blast again on the second side. With the
experience gained on the first side progress
was rapid. By quitting time it was
complete as well as the base board the
whole way around the room. Day two
my time was spent seismically stabilizing
the beams with five steel braces and
three cable anchors per beam - all
drilled and anchored into the concrete
ceiling above as per the engineer’s
detailed instructions. There’s no worry
about these beams falling in an
earthquake. I’ll sleep good at night.

Tomorrow they will spray everything
above with a fireproof flocking to give
fire protection to those above. The floor
is due to be patched the day after and
then we will be back at it on Friday. No
worries here though for the shop is full
of exciting projects - all waiting their turn.

-grampa dan

Day one on the site

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:11:33 -0700

Day one on a new work site is always
exciting. After many weeks of planning
and fabricating everything is loaded in the
trailer. The trick is not to forget anything we
might need on the site. It’s a long way to
come home again and I don’t need any
more caulking guns (my most often
forgotten tool). As is usual on a new
build we had to operate on a long
extension cord. Lighting is provided by
work lights - not ideal.

We laid out the room first, planning the
order we would do things as we went. While it takes
time to plan we could save far more time by being organized. We made great progress on our first day. All the heavy lifting was done and the room changed dramatically. Tomorrow I’ll start in on the wainscoting and other details. Here’s hoping every day on this job goes as smooth.

-grampa dan