PEP Badge: Oddball

Here is my submission for Oddball Points.

While visiting my sister in January, I decided to replace the screen door pneumatic closure mechanism.  The old unit had been bent and the screen door drags on the porch so does not close well.  The new unit closes much better.

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
 -  photos before, during, and after

Here is my submission for Oddball Points.

Grey and Caleb spent Friday afternoon putting the finishing touches on the foundation of the Solarium.  While they worked on the south side, I worked on both the east and west entry areas.  I set several steps into the gravel and filled in with small crushed rock.  I also placed stones on the ledge (against the building) to cover the plastic.  I completed about 4' in front of each door.

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
 -  photos before, during, and after

There isn’t a dimensional lumber badge for build a saw horse. There is one in the greenwood section which will have to wait for another day . . . When I have a couple of acres of woodland.

I need a couple of saw horses for my renovation project. They are incredibly useful and will help when I need to paint the 10 ft high walls. I’ll also use them outside for supporting the dozen or so doors I need to strip.

I didn’t want to buy plastic or metal ones and the wooden ones in the box store were a joke. They claim to hold 1000lbs . . . I reckon they could, once. They also had a ply panels and held together with staples. So I looked up and found a quick and easy plan that used 2 by 4’s. The cost of 9 8ft studs was almost exactly the same cost as pair of the premade horses.



I thought I had done my homework. I knew that 2 x 4’s are actually 1.5 x 3.5. I checked for warp, bow, twist, damage, etc. rejecting about 75% of the ones I checked. In fairness, this stuff is normally used for stud walls and never on show. Alas I was later to discover, 8ft no longer means 8ft and rather than having 96 inches to work with, I only had 92.5 inches. . . Pfffttt.



So I adapted my plans.

I took three studs, measured to the middle and then cut one inch to the side. I was going to make saw horses that stacked, so one was going to be 2 inches shorter than the other. I took the six pieces and made I beams using 2 1/2 decking screws I had left over from a previous project. The plan I was working to suggested decking screws as they are quick, not requiring pre-drilling. I think this is a scam. The wood still splits and it means after ten years you’ll have to rip up your decking and buy more screws . . . So I predrilled all my holes using a bit with a countersinker.


I beam clamped in place and ready for drill / screws.


I beams finished

Next up, I cut eight 31 inch legs, and then drilled four holes in each to attach to the I beams.


Legs cut


Holes drilled.


Legs attached.

This is not fine carpentry! It’s functional construction grade chippy work.

The shorter horse bracing was fixed to the inside and the longer horse bracing fixed to the outside, so they could stack.


This is the shorter horse


This is the longer horse

Job done


Two horses just under 4ft wide and the same height as my workmate


Stacked

So the only cost difference was my time and the decking screws. I used more wood than the shop bought ones, however I think these will last a lot longer and I’ll feel far happier using them as they’re very sturdy. They’re not too heavy and I can easily move the pair around. The plan I started working from thought this should take an hour. It took me roughly four including going out and buying the materials. I also used four predrilled and countersunk screws for every joint rather than two.

I believe I've got enought points for my sand badge

Railroad Spike Sign
Timber Tool Repair

Here is my submission for Oddball Points.

Since BB20 is a Free Event offered by Wheaton Labs, materials and supplies can be limited.  One of the Boots wanted a firewood rack near the Bun Warmer so I needed some lumber.  The suggestion was for it to be salvaged from the back deck of Allerton Abbey that had been removed last summer.  I gathered some tools and several driver bits for the battery-operated hand drills and went to the Lab.  I extracted 10 boards from the deck - 2x6x10"s - for use in building the new Firewood Rack.

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
 -  photos before, during, and after

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Jay, I used sisal (that's sold as twine or rope) for crocheting such scrubbies. Did you try that (with the melted cheese)? It's a plant fiber, made of a tropical plant, some kind of Agave.

I never considered using twine instead of yarn. That's a brilliant idea!

My project to submit is the tear down and replacement of my wooden fence. As you can see from the pictures, a major section was blown down during a windstorm and the rest of the fence was soon to follow. I tore down and disposed of the fence, 64 feet in total. I put in a metal, chain link fence. My reasoning behind this is that the devastating Colorado winds wouldn't have the surface area to blow on, therefore eliminating wind damage (unless a tree limb breaks and crushes the fence) to the fence. The construction went in 2 phases: 1) tearing down the fence and digging up the existing concrete in the ground, this took around 8 hours, the ground here is incredibly hard and I was not prepared for how tiring this was going to be, I am an in shape person but wow 2) Pouring new concrete and installing the new fence . This took around 10 hours. Working by myself and never actually installing one before, there were lots of re-dos and corrections in order to get it looking decent.

Side note, please forgive the picture quality, my girlfriend took some of the pics not knowing I needed them for SKIP, so I tried to edit them as best as possible.

I believe I earned my sand badge in oddball!

https://permies.com/wiki/270/97787/pep-oddball/PEP-Badge-Oddball#1423765

We bought an old standard/floor lamp from a sale recently. The lamp was turned from a few pieces of oak and is probably close to 80 years old. Sadly, the wiring was rather unsafe as there was no earth on the brass lampholder (the bit which holds the bulb) which was also the on-off switch. This meant that any short would give you a nasty shock if you tried to switch the lamp. The existing wiring was an ugly, two-core twisted pair with brittle insulation.

I stripped out the old wiring and have recycled the copper. I then removed the lampholder and replaced it with a modern equivalent, one that includes an earth terminal. I replaced the wiring with some antique-style three-core which is much prettier (I think) and safer, plus it fits the aesthetic of the lamp. I re-used the existing plug as it felt better quality than a modern one I had lying around. Everything was secured using insulating heat-shrink tubing and tested with a meter before plugging it in.

Finally, I added a foot switch. This is less in-keeping with the age of the lamp but it is very convenient.

Whilst I was doing this, my partner had stripped off the old lampshade (which was shedding plasticky material and was a disgusting nicotine-yellow) and begun to sew a replacement using some unbleached cotton we had lying around. This job took *forever* and I'm thankful that she has the skill and patience to do it.

I've attached an after shot showing the completed shade and re-wired lamp.

All in all, the rewiring took about 45 minutes. It's not the first one that I've done - but standard lamps are fiddlier than table lamps! The only real snag is that I forgot to replace the fuse in the plug. Do'h!

Video of testing, before the shade was installed.