Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[herr_oberst]

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:


Cargo stored, everything ship-shape and battened down:


Self-storing. Out of the way and instant set up. Eazy-peezy. Lemon-squeezy.


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.

[stealthn]

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.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by bugstrider

This............

Used my new lil Harbor Freight 2 gal compressor to texture some repair patches before work. Ran the mud through the hopper just fine for what I needed. Had it been a room, I would have used my big compressor.

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

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

-snip- away from prying eyes and under lock and key.

Nice work, Mike!

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......

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Baz

had one of their electric bikes stolen from the back of their RV.

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.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

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......

[herr_oberst]

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!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

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.

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

[oldE]

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

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by oldE

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

[Baz]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I discovered that the Porter Cable polisher and the various compounds and pads can do a terrific job on bicycle frame paint, too!

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!

Originally Posted by oldE

Finished the project for our friend.

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

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

[oldE]

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.

Best
Les

[oldE]

Originally Posted by Baz

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

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

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

[Baz]

Originally Posted by oldE

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!

Is this how you did them?

[Baz]

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

[oldE]

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

[Baz]

Originally Posted by oldE

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:


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:

[oldE]

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

[Baz]

Originally Posted by oldE

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!

[1990C4S]

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