house

Project Pantry : Freedom Cleat

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 1 Comment

I live in an odd house that is slowly becoming less odd. It was originally a small residence, then it was a slightly larger residence, then it was a business, and now it is reverting back towards a residence (or possibly compound). Needless to say it still has some quirks.

One of the areas I’ve been slowly addressing is the pantry / laundry room. It originally had a place for a washing machine, but the dryer was in a shop space about 50 yards away. KIMG0203I have moved some things around for the pantry to include a dryer with the washer, but there has always been a large gap behind the appliances (shown to the right).

I wanted to fill in the gap for quite some time, but I didn’t have a solution I liked. Initially, I planned just to mount a shelf to the wall to at least provide some storage. I planned to build an enclosure under the shelf since there would be a large open space, but I was worried about access to plumbing and electrical connections.

My basic design requirements were:

  • Easily access (to plumbing and electrical connections)
  • Sturdy (able to support a load)
  • Inexpensive

I was going to use hinges and complicated fasteners for access, but I thought about it some more and found a simple solution. I am posting it because someone with a similar issue might find it useful. It involves a French (or preferably Freedom) Cleat.

A French Cleat is basically a mounting system in which a matching pair of 45 degree pieces of molding are used to hang objects on a wall, such as cabinets or televisions. They can easily be made by ripping a 1×4 in its long direction with a table saw set at 45 degrees and mounting one piece to the wall and the other to the item to be hung. They can hold quite a bit of weight and the 45 degree ramp holds the object firmly against the wall. A google search will provide numerous examples. In the past, I have found French (Freedom) Cleats to be an excellent, simple, inexpensive, quick way to mount flat screen televisions.

The gap between the appliances and the wall behind them is shown above. It is hard to tell from this view, but the gap is about a foot wide. The picture also shows the half of the cleat that is attached to the wall behind the washer/dryer.

KIMG0204The picture to the left shows the underside of the shelf/enclosure. The back of the shelf has the portion of the cleat that mates to the cleat on the wall. The lower portion of the front of the shelf/enclosure has foam weather stripping to minimize the gap between to the washer/dryer and reduce wear as the washer/dryer vibrates during operation.

The installed shelf/enclosure is shown to the right.

KIMG0205

There are several features to this solution:

  • There is virtually no gap between the shelf/enclosure and washer/dryer
  • No fasteners are used for attachment, so the shelf/enclosure can be removed and replaced in a matter of seconds
  • The French (Freedom) Cleat can hold a significant amount of weight
  • A nice feature of the Cleat is that adding weight to the shelf has a tendency to suck it towards the wall rather then bending it away from the wall like a typical shelf might.

I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or use a French Cleat for anything interesting.

 

Tuna of the Yard: A Chicken Update

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 2 Comments

It has been quite a while since I’ve posted as I’ve had some career changes and gotten married. Things are getting caught up, so I wanted to post some anxiously awaited updates. I will start with chickens.

I read that once a chicken habit started, it was hard to keep control of the addiction. My initial plan was to “try” only one chicken, but that immediately segued into three:

  • 1 Chicken would be lonely
  • 2 Chickens minimum would be required (one to keep the 1st chicken company)
  • 3 Chickens would be ideal  (an extra chicken as a backup)

My thought process was that 3 chickens would yield about 2 eggs per day, and a “flock” of 3 chickens shouldn’t be too hard to maintain. What I didn’t include in my thought process was:

  • The stupidity of chickens
  • Chickens should be isolated before being introduced to a flock
  • A new isolated chicken by itself would be lonely (hence a need to buy two at a time)

One of my first 3 chickens had to be dispatched due to stupidity (I think she ate several feet of twine), so I needed a new backup chicken. Since I needed to buy new chickens in pairs and keep them isolated.KIMG0004 it lead me to build a new coop (on which I will post more details later).

Now I had a secondary coop. I bought 2 new chickens, got them acclimated with the old chickens, and things were going well with 4 hens… for a while. I eventually realized that I had extra capacity that was not being utilized, mentioned it to a friend, and we agreed that I would take 2 of his chickens. He brought 4.

Things get kind of squirrelly after that. One of the hens turned out to be a rooster and was given away, a friend gave us a couple “prettier” hens, another hen died of stupidity, a hen was potentially hawked, one decided to provide her services elsewhere, we acquired some chickens wandered to our flock from a neighbor…

Chicken Summary to date:

  • The flock peaked at 9 chickens
  • It currently consists of 6 hens and 1 rooster
  • We’ve acquired a total of 14 chickens
  • 7 chickens have left the flock

Summary of lost chickens:

  • Stupidity – potentially ate a bunch of twine, pendulous crop
  • Stupidity – went through cat door, couldn’t find way back out of shop
  • Maleness – turned out to be a rooster and was given away
  • Possum – potentially attacked by a possum
  • Hawk – was found injured in the middle of the day, there was a hawk lurking about
  • Sickness – the hen was never quite right and was attacked by the other hens
  • Stupidity– naively set out to make it on her own somewhere else

I KIMG0207have included an example of chicken stupidity just to prove my point. It was one of the coldest days of the year, so I heated their coops and provided in-coop food and water. This bird brain decided she’d rather spend the afternoon standing in cold water. It should also be noted that 3 of the chickens opt to stay in a tree during subfreezing temperatures rather than their heated coop.

Lessons Learnt:

  • It is impossible to have just one chicken
  • Like gasses, chicken populations grow to match their contained volume
  • Chickens are stupid
  • Eggs taste great

 

TURNING the Interior Decorating World Upside Down

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 1 Comment

IMG_0030A metal working lathe is a machine which spins (“turns” in machining parlance) a work piece and allows the operator to cut that work piece with extreme precision. It is an incredibly versatile machine with gearing and attachments to allow for cutting threads, tapers, radii, and just about any profile that a mechanical part might require. I have a fairly modern lathe in the shop for years, and I probably found it to be one of the most exciting acquisitions I’ve ever made.

What does this have to do with interior decorating? If you haven’t guessed by the title and the brief background, this post is about a metal working lathe and how it relates to my version of interior decorating.

I’ve always been fascinated by gears, wheels, motors, machinery, and just about anything requiring electricity or gasoline. Several months ago, a good friend who knew about my interests mentioned that his neighbor had an antique lathe and needed some money. I really didn’t need another lathe and had just been laid off, but I really like machines. I like them even more when the are antiques.

This presented two hurdles:

  • How to mentally justify my need for another lathe
  • How to get it working

KIMG0101My first hurdle didn’t take that much to get over. Firstly, I have more house than furnishings. Secondly, I’ve seen classy looking households that highlighted antique Singer sewing machines as sculptures. Why not a lathe?  Sewing machines and lathes are both industrial machines with belts and gears. In fact, a lathe is a much better machine as it has more gears, more belts, more power, more speed, and can even be used to make a sewing machine!

Bringing the lathe back to functionality wasn’t that much of a hurdle either. Disassembly wasn’t bad, and the motor worked fine after a bit of rewiring and repairing some shorts.IMG_0042

After getting everything working, an unforeseen hurdle popped up: how to display it so people wouldn’t find it offensive.

The first step required hours with rags, tooth brushes, and solvents. It still isn’t perfect, but it no longer slings grease. It can even be handled without leaving one’s hands and clothing dirty.

The next step was presentation. I thought a metal cabinet like most lathes rest on would be harsh, so I decided to go with wood.  I just happened to find a guy on Craigslist who makes benches from scrap pine, and he had a smaller one that nobody seemed to want.  I bought it, stained it, added a directional switch with a linkage to a forward/reverse handle, and voila.

KIMG0103The lathe can be seen on the edge of this picture of my dining room.

I’d like to finish by mentioning my reason for this post. I’ve mentioned putting a lathe in my dining room from time to time, and some people have responded with confusion or even downright anger. I hope this post will act as a tool to explain my reasoning so that we can all just get along.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Thread Gauge Ever or Reunited After All of These Years

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 2 Comments

KIMG0090I haven’t posted in a while for several reasons:

  • I’ve been working on a super secret project
  • I’m waiting to see results on several other projects
  • All else has been mundane (lawn mower repair, flat tires, swapping alternators, fixing hydraulics….)

However, I am very excited to present these thread gauges (sorry about the poor picture quality).

I purchased a set like this about 18 years ago and was amazed at how simple, accurate, and useful they are. They each have a hole to determine the bolt diameter and serrations around the outside to determine pitch. Two are Imperial threads, one is metric threads, and one is a combination of NPT and spark plug threads. If you want a set, look up Thexton part number THE432.

You are probably wondering why this isn’t in the “mundane” category that I mentioned above. You probably think that thread gauges are pretty boring to write about, even for an unemployed guy. BUT, there is a story behind them.

7 years into my ownership of my first set, I brought them to the Tavern to measure some threaded parts from a friend’s gun (yes, this is Texas) but mostly to show them off. It was a fun night, and I went home after finishing my beer ration. Several days later, I needed to measure a part and my gauges were missing.

“No bid deal,” I thought, “I must have left them at the Tavern.” I went to retrieve them from the lost and found.  No suck luck.

“No bid deal,” I thought, “They weren’t that expensive. I’ll just buy a new set.”  I went online, and I found nothing. I drove to my favorite stores: Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, Grainger, Wholesale Tool, Tractor Supply… nothing. I think the lady at Tractor Supply almost laughed when she saw a tear forming in the corner of my eye. I was at the end of my rope.

About a week later, I was back at the Tavern drowning my sorrows over the loss. The bartender from that fateful night had been on vacation, but before leaving she had noticed my thread gauges sitting on the bar at closing. She stuck them them in her purse because she realized they were far too important for the lost and found. We were reunited at last!!!

8 years later, I moved from my house near downtown to one with decent shop space and plenty of parking. During the move, I put my treasured thread gauges somewhere safe so they wouldn’t be lost. Unfortunately, the place I chose was too safe. They have not been seen since. I’ve searched and searched, but they are still safely tucked away somewhere.

Out of desperation, I finally decided that it was time to move on with my life and settle for an inferior style of thread gauge. A week ago, I searched to the deepest depths of the internet for the best thread gauge. To my surprise, these are available again!!! Now I just need to find somewhere safe to put them so they don’t get lost. Once I figure out that place, I’ll probably find my other set!

 

On a side note, I’m glad nobody reads this drivel. They’d think I’m crazy.