I'm long ago tired of putting the bikes on the roof rack. Today I built an inside-the-canopy rack for two bikes.

I think those fork clamps were ten bucks each. The plank was a free-pile find, the wheel forks are from my Yakima, assorted hardware from the junk stash, an old can of ebony stain for handsome good looks. Twenty bucks and a few hours in the shed and I'm in business.

Like a puppy, waiting for an adventure:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627428738.jpg

Cargo stored, everything ship-shape and battened down:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627428738.jpg

Self-storing. Out of the way and instant set up. Eazy-peezy. Lemon-squeezy.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627428738.jpg

Now, when I'm on the road, the bikes are out of the weather, out of the slipstream, away from prying eyes and under lock and key.

Job Done.

We just got the main floor and upstairs painted in one day by Wow 1 day painting. They moved all the furniture, threw 7 guys at it and we have two areas of 20 ft high rooms. Yes I didn’t do it but I am sure impressed with the whole process and results. They even brought a bouquet of flowers for my wife! 8 hours total.

Very nice, Bugs! That little unit really does a great job! SmileWavy

Nice work, Mike! SmileWavy

Husband and wife friends of mine took their RV on tour and reached California last week and while staying overnight in Eureka had one of their electric bikes stolen from the back of their RV. They had their jeep pulled right up to the rack too trying to obscure them, but the thieves extracted the bike anyway. They would have gotten hers but looked like they were scared off. Dropped their tools too.....freaking scum......:rolleyes:

Grrr. Siht like that takes the sweetspot right out of a vacation. I'm sure insurance will help make them whole again, but that doesn't help out on the road, during a bike shortage.

Yeah....theft always sucks but even more so while on vacation.

December 2003.....last day in Tahiti waiting for my early morning flight out of Papeete was hanging out with an Australian and a South African doing the same thing. We rented a car to do some sightseeing, putting our boards on top, and then had dinner at a sidewalk cafe. Checked our boards every 15 minutes or so. Last time we checked they were gone. He filled out some insurance forms and I just said eff it. Karma always evens things out in the end......

Pix don't show results worth a good gol-dang, but today I discovered that the Porter Cable polisher and the various compounds and pads can do a terrific job on bicycle frame paint, too! I was able to remove most of the microscratches on the clear coat of my gravel bike. The whole frame shines like a new penny! I can't wait to take it out and get it dirty again!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627608886.jpg

Super good.
Black out the windows and add a back-up camera.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627664008.jpg


Finished the project for our friend. There's a matching roller chest for her new fridge to sit on.
24 hours give or take.

Best
Les

Looks like it came out of the New Yankee Workshop! Nice work!

Sweet! I hadn't thought about using a polisher on a bike frame - but boy howdy - mine could really use some of that. Thanks, Mike! SmileWavy

Very nice, Les! Inspiring as well! Thanks for the followup.....SmileWavy

BTW...how are those drawers fitted? Some kind of roller/sliders or do they just slide on top of wooden trim?

Thanks, I had to take our friend's wish list and break it down into panels, transfer those onto representations of 4x8 plywood. That gave me the raw materials list: a single sheet of 3/4 knotty pine ply and 3 sheets of 1/2 " spruce. a single 1x8 x8' pine board and 8' of edge trim, five sets of drawer tracks and a few simple knobs completed the shopping list.

Forty smaller pieces later and it was time to start making it all go together again (and yes, I labeled all the pieces) Tomorrow it gets delivered and set up. Hope she likes it.

I'm not a fast carpenter, I'm not a slow carpenter. I'm sort of a half-fast carpenter.:D

Best
Les

The drawers travel on roller tracks. There are four pieces to a set, two screw to the bottom edges of the drawers, two mount to the walls of the cabinet. They are labelled "Drawer" and "Cabinet" , L & R so it is harder than usual to screw it up. The fussy part was carefully measuring so the drawers were spaced evenly. The tracks are rated for about 50# . They move quite easily.

Best
Les

Well Les, FWIW, I consider myself a complete hack, when it comes to carpentry! :D

Is this how you did them?

https://cdn.popularwoodworking.com/w...5F00_lead1.jpg

OK you said the bottom edge so maybe more like this?

https://im-7.eefa.co/kv-8400e-s7.jpg

That set is more like the ones I used for the drawers in my filing cabinet I built three or four years ago. My friend was on a budget, so the ones I used were about half the price of the ones you had pictured.
No ball bearings just nylon rollers.
Also, if you did the dovetails in the second image, you can drop the "hack" label.
Best
Les

OK thanks - so more like these:
https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/...slides_2_1.jpg

These are all just pics I found on the Internet.

When I build my drawers they will just be glued together like this guy did his:

<iframe width="937" height="527" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ChF_MlarPvI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Those are almost exactly the ones I used.
He used butt joints on his drawers. I rabbetted the perimeter of the drawer bottoms and the ends of the drawer sides, then did matching grooves in the fronts, backs and drawer sides. The drawers when assembled can hold together without glue, but final assembly is with white glue. A rachet strap clamps while the glue dries.
I think setting up the table saw to cut the rabbetts and grooves was my favorite part of the build.

Best
Les

I don't have a table saw nor a miter saw so the "butted" drawers looked attractive for my needs. I will be doing the same type of project as depicted in the video.

I really like the idea of a ratchet strap as I also don't have any of those larger clamps, but do have plenty of ratchet straps. Great idea - thanks, Les!

I told you I'm a hacker! :)

I'm about 87% sure Baz will 'find' what he needs 'curbside'. Eventually.

I have never seen a table saw curbside, but once picked up a router table with a missing leg. I cut it down a bit to fit into the extension of my table saw.
Having done that, I can't remember the last time I used my router. :rolleyes:

Best
Les

Not really fixing, but it fits in this thread.
My parents had a safe, and I ended up with it from my mom's estate about 8 years ago. Luckily, it was unlocked when I moved it out of my mom's condo. But, with a granddaughter rapidly growing up, I can see that dial getting spun one day, and I'd be screwed. I was able to take the back cover off the door, and disassemble the lock, it was a Sargent & Greenleaf with aluminum wheels, seems to be pretty common. I struggled for about an hour with turning the dial and getting all the slots to line up, and I just couldn't get it to work. I finally went on S&G's website, and figured out the first dial turn is to the left, not the right. Once I started the right way I got the numbers pretty quick, and had that "Oh, yeah, that's the combination" moment. I wrote it down, but I'm sure I'll forget where I put the piece of paper.

Lock it up in a safe place.:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627696671.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627742475.jpg

Delivered the project today. I had to tear out some rough plywood shelves and repair mouse holes behind. I took along some ramps to get the fridge onto the small cabinet.
Friend was very happy. Her next project is to get some paint on that wall.

Best
Les

The wife came in from the barn this afternoon and said one of the planks in the stall floor by the outside door was rotting. The floor is double planked so it was a matter of cutting out the rotten part with the reciprocating saw, cutting a repair piece and wedging it into place. I'll have to go out again in the morning with an electric plane and cut it down flush, as it is a bit proud of the older planks around it.
Sometimes I dream of a world without horses.

Best
Les

Had a misfire yesterday Morning when I started up the car. After revving the engine up, it cleared up. During the first session it came back. Made a run to Advanced Auto Parts, swapped out plugs and cops and everything was good. Got another hour and a half on the track.

More fun with horse stuff.
This morning the wife and grand daughter came in from the barn and announced the fence post closest to the barn had broken off. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, as the post was set there over 25 years ago. However it carried the lead wire for the electric fence and being the first post in that section of fence, had a bracing system. The good news was I had an unused 4x4x8 pressure treated post ready for sharpening and was able to re-use almost all of the hardware.
Bonus: I was packing up my tools as the rain started.

Best
Les

More scraping and prepping the exterior of the cottage walls for new paint . . .

"Scrape, scrape, scrape, shake your booty".

Picked up this fountain yesterday from CraigsList. Came home and built a base and installed. I still have to plant around the base and shim to make perfectly level.

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Slapped some new hubs and wheel bearings in my Xterra. Not a bad job at all. The bearing and hub are non serviceable part.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1627940374.jpg

Put a load of laundry in the washer. Come up stairs to surf Pelican. 15 minutes or so and there comes a hell of a racket....sounded like someone drove a truck into the side of the house.
Run down stairs and the washer is jumping up and down. Shut it off, pull the cover off and discover one of the suspension springs has broken ( front loader). Ordered 2 new springs. Be here Thurs.

These washing machines....it's a miracle they don't break more often! I use mine every day. Sometimes twice a day, depending on time of year. I get a lot of clothes dirty.....and then there's the sweat towels!

I don't like leaving all the sweat and dirt on my stuff very long!

This used glass top Kenmore I bought a couple years ago has been a champ. $200 out the door!

Good luck with the repairs, Pete! Keep us posted, please.....;)

Nice work, Vern....looks like a good place for it!

Thanks for all the pics! SmileWavy

Been trying to squeeze in some gardening stuff here and there. Yesterday I replaced a bromeliad that wasn't doing so great with one of my prized Crotons...a fairly large 'Stoplight". Then today I trimmed off 15 of the lower fronds on my Livistona sarbus.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628034561.JPG

Suckers right out front! Will look awesome when it fills out more.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628034681.JPG

The saribus.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628034750.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628034750.JPG

I have a golf course in my back yard. I'm on the 17th fairway and get golf balls in my yard about once a week. There's a fence so the guys can't come get the balls. I have a pretty good collection and wanted to show them off. I few trips to Goodwill and I was able to find a basket and a few old clubs. I made this.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628037237.jpg

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1069563-yard-art-wind-spinners-outdoor-fun-entertainment-2.html


https://media.giphy.com/media/un1u5E...ized-large.gif

Just changed out the angle stop valve in the guest bath. I hate plumbing, but gotta say, these shark bites are the cat's pajamas!

I always feel a bit lucky when they got on and there's no leaks....lol.

Next up are the two under the kitchen sink, but there's not enough exposed stub out to use a shark bite, so I'm going to see if I can just get the same size valves and just swap out the internals.

Did I say I hate plumbing? ;)

Ah, plumbing. I see it as some sort of a black art.

The game plan is to not make it worse than when you started LOL

Truth be told; I rather enjoy plumbing and have a load of spare parts, pipes and tools. Armed with a little bit of know how I can be devastating.

A trick I have is when I don't know something such as the correct hot water cylinder pressure relief valve and the cold water expansion valve that goes it it, I hang around at the plumbing supply shop and ask someone who looks like a real plumber. Every time they have been very happy to talk plumbing :)

Did one of the cylinders on the Bobcat today. 600 ft-lbs:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628302330.jpg

This narrow landscape island between my two driveways had 3 double trunk Piccabeen Palms I planted when I removed the 2 big Queen Palms.

I've had some problems with the Piccabeens. Replaced a couple & even added shade cloth overhead but two of the three just refused to grow. So this morning I decided to replace them with 2 Solitaire Palms I had in my inventory. One is a single trunk and the other a double trunk. The double trunk is gorgeous, so I put it in front.

I left the middle Piccabeen Palm since it was doing well and growing as it should.

Will make for a more interesting bed now with two different palm species.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628436605.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1628436605.JPG

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