Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

14 Dec 2015

Dated for tomorrow. :)
I'm oncall for the day job and I've worked almost every single day and every single night this entire week. I'm tired and I'm past ready for this to be over. Nothing for me to post except I've been working the day job and trying to sleep between pages.

Get your Christmas stuff done.!!! So what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Andrew Howe]

well, I managed to cut one piece of wood with my portable bosch table saw so I could fix my garage door (epoxy and fiberglass repair), fixed windows Friday, and sunday in the house and went looking for a new house with my realtor. I also took my 81 yr old mom to see Spectre. I am exhausted.

[Jon McElwain]

Oil pan gasket has been leaking so bad I have had to park in the street the last few weeks to keep from staining the driveway. Decided that this was the weekend to change it. Broke two bolts on the exhaust which had to be removed to get at the oil pan - pain in the rear getting the broken studs out. In the end, I won - $600 repair (shop quote) done for about $50 in parts and the better part of a Saturday afternoon.

Still on the list:
- Finish the lego table for my little girls before Christmas;
- Build a snake shelter (also for the girls before Christmas);
- Put the engine back together and into the Dodge Stealth;
- Finish turn a bowl that has been on the lathe for two weeks;
- Christmas lights on the house (waiting for the snow to melt off the roof);
- Hang the lathe tool rack that has been sitting on the floor for two months;

I've got the girls (I have three - 7, 9, and 11) drawing plans for anything they want me to build. Plan and profile views, cross sections if needed, dimensions, materials lists, details as needed, etc.. We've got a great collection of drawings for projects that we have built over the years - Lego table, doll houses, pinewood derby cars (loads of trophies for those designs), pull toys, storage boxes, sewing kit box, etc., etc. Great way to get them involved and thinking about how things go together!

[Mike Ontko]

Jon, that $550 in savings has got to feel pretty good, especially at this time of the year. The only time I do auto maintenance any more is when I can't bear to pay someone to do the work for me (or in cases where I don't have the tools or knowledge to do the job right). Mostly then I just do brakes or any other component replacements that I can reach relatively easily (starters, alternators, water pumps), without having to make use of my old golf or navy words :)

This week, I've been finishing a simple house address sign for my mother. It's just a rectangular plank made from a glue-up of two poplar boards, measuring 22" x 10" with a simple 1/2" radius cove routed into the edges, and 1/4" x 3/16" trim as a border to highlight the numbers (6" brass). I've finished it with an exterior black latex (Rustoleum) and painted the border detail with a white enamel (also Rustoleum). I'll get a photo when it's all dried and assembled, though it's nothing spectacular compared to what some of the sign makers on this board turn out.

327178
Lots of brush marks left, unfortunately, though you have to get real close to see them. I either should have thinned the paint down considerably so it could be sprayed (didn't want to fire up the Earlex just for this) or used a different top coat altogether.

[Wayne Jolly]

I managed to take a one or two hour project and stretch it into a day and a half project. Installing a new dishwasher. When removing the old one it caught on the edge of the linoleum flooring and I had to fix that. Then there was a problem with the opening. With the new dishwasher, the attachment was all different so I had to modify one side of the opening to have some wood to screw the attachments into. Then, of course, none of the installation parts from the old one fit except the power cord, and I even managed to connect it backwards. At least I caught it before plugging it in. A couple of trips to Lowes to get the correct parts for the drain hose and water supply. Sheez!



Still on the list:
- Put the engine back together and into the Dodge Stealth;


What year and model Stealth?? I have a 94 Stealth RT (the model just below the turbo) that I need to start taking the engine apart. My idiot son never checked his fluids in the thing. One day he drove it over and asked what that funny noise was. Sorry dude, your mains are gone. I checked the dip stick and it was bone dry.

[Tom Deutsch]

Replaced a dry-rotted beam and two posts in my old barn. Sure beats going to the gym. My brother was helping and suggested insurance fraud instead of all this dirty, back-breaking labor. "Got a match? You need a nice, new pole barn," he said.

[David Tolsky]

Went to Sam Maloof's house in Alta Loma, CA, took a guided tour of the house and got inspired!

[Jim Becker]

I spent some time in the shop this weekend getting started on a headboard project for my older daughter. It's a retrofit for the platform bed she uses that was my wife's prior to my knowing her...in fact, it dates back to 1986.

Oh, and I spent money on holiday gifts...and for some things for myself because "Santa" likes me. :D

[John Goodin]

Built a mold from melamine and poured a small countertop for a copper sink. It is most likely just a test run and will make a second copy with some design tweaks. This will sit atop a wormy chestnut cabinet if the wood ever arrives.

[John Sanford]

Saturday, I took advantage of a break in the weather and the street in front of my townhouse being ice free to scamper over Home Depot on my motorcycle for a clamp meter so I can test the oven. It isn't igniting, likely the "thermoglow" igniter. I got a Klein, then headed over to Woodcraft in order to pick up one of the Kreg screw assortments. Sadly, they were out. But I heard the siren song of turning accompanied by the drumbeat of some pens promised for Christmas, so almost $200 later, I managed to escape. One problem with having to turn some pens is that if the last time one did so was 5+ years ago, all of one's finishes and CA's are kaputzen. Add some Micro-Mesh abrasives, acrylic pen blanks and an Easy Wood Tool finisher and all the sudden two C-notes go to the wall in service to the cause.

On Sunday, I made and installed the deadman runner on my bench, as well as making the deadman, got everything done except for drilling the holes, which I accomplished Monday. I also mostly made 6+ benchdogs, starting with a 3' long dowel. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete the process, because I misplaced my bullet catches that I bought for the task last week, so Monday morning I picked up some new bullet catches. Tonite I'll be drilling and installing the bullet catches.