Upcoming Projects

Hey Makers,

Just wanted to check in to let up all know what I'm working on and ideas that I have swirling around in my head.

Recently when I went home to Tennessee ( I claim Tennessee and Ky because I am a child of divorce <aren't we all> and one lives in one and one lives in the other), where my Mother had inadvertently created a hole in the wall.  I showed her how to patch that right up and that will be our next episode.  She saved $40 by not hiring a handyman to do this.  This will be the next episode.  In the future when "Let's just make that!" blows up, this project will fall under "Let's just fix that!" Ohhhh dang, a brand.  

Right now Marcus (that's my boyfriend) needs an extra cutting surface in the kitchen because of lack of counterspace.  I am thinking of a design with semiperminance so that it is there when we need it and out of the way when we don't. I reckon that I will go with a piece of wood hinged to the wall with folding legs.  Think behind the door ironing board.  This should be cool.


He (marcus) also has a pretty bad shoe habit.  Some people snort cocaine, mine buys shoes-mostly on sale, so it could be a lot worse.  This said, we need to find creative storage solutions for this so that we can get them out of the box and vertical. 
 
And lastly, I need a chandelier for my dining room.  I have a bandmate named Millie that needs one too, but as I'm am experimenting and learning, lighting fixtures can be tricky (at least the one's that hang).

If anyone has any suggestions on any of these objects of something that you would like to build, write in.  Dang, Let's just make that!

Episode 003. 8 track Key Holder

For ep. 3, we made a key holder using an old (but still working) 8 track.  I must say that this is by far the easiest & shortest project that we've done to date, being that it is a level 1 Wrench & the full episode is only 8 minutes short.

Now for the Quick Project Rundown (QPR).

• PROJECT: Key Holder
• STEPS: 4
• EPISODE LENGTH: 8 min
• DIFFICULTLY LEVEL: Level 1 Wrench 
• MATERIALS: (1) 8 track, (3) tea cup hooks, (1) picture hanger, (1) screw
• TOOLS: Drill, tape measure, hot glue, pencil

STEP 1: GET MATERIALS.  Pick out an 8 track that has an amazing artist on the cover.  Who do you want greeting you as you walk in the door.  Your other materials are listed above in the QPR.

STEP 2: MEASURE & DRILL HOLES.  With the tape measure, measure across the bottom width of the 8 track.  Ours is      3 3/4" wide.  Find the center & make a mark. This will be at 1 7/8"  That's for the center hook.  Then, measure 1/2" from the outside of each edge and make your marks.  That's for the other 2 hooks.  And lastly, with a small drill bit, drill a hole on each mark.  You don't need to go all the way through the tape, just enough to break the surface.

STEP 3: ASSEMBLE.  Screw in the teacup hooks. 

Now, we flip the 8 track over & hot glue our picture hanger  toward the top.  On this particular 8 track, I am placing the hardware over the groove.  FYI- you can screw in the picture hanger hardware if you want, but 1) the hot glue is easier, I think and 2) it gives you the option of reusing the 8 track later if you want (as long as you didn't drill into the magnetic tape from earlier).

STEP 4: HANG.  With your drill, screw you screw into the wall, next to your door, or wherever you want to dangle & display your keys.

And finally,  place your 8 track over the screw & align with your back hardware. Slip the 8 track over said screw & press down to engage. VOILA! MAGNIFICO!  You have your fabulous 8 track key holder. If you find that there is too much play with the cartridge once you hang your keys, simply pull it back off of the wall & tighten the screw so that it is closer to the wall.

This project cost us $4.75 compared to the average $17 ones that I found online.  By making this ourselves, we saved $12.25.  Why buy it? Let's Just Make That!

Look at how sexy these keyholders are.  I guareantee you that none of your friends are greeted daily by such handsome specimens of male pulchritude.

 

Episode 002 Pot Rack

 

Introducing the quick project rundown.  I'll start including this at the beginning of each entry.

• PROJECT: Pot Rack   
• STEPS: 5
• EPISODE LENGTH: 20 min (in 2 parts) 
• DIFFICULTLY LEVEL: Level 2 Wrench 
• MATERIALS: window frame, copper piping, Milford brackets, pot hooks, lag hooks, chain

Hey, hey, hey!  Here's ep. #2, Potrack that we built for newly weds Mike & Jess Gore.  They have very little cabinet space at their house and keeping the pots on the floor wasn't an option anymore since the mice took up resisdence.

STEP 1: GET MATERIALS.  We used a window frame,  (2 pieces) copper piping,  (4) steel 6" Milford hangers, (4) hanging hooks for the frame, (4) lag hooks for the ceiling, (4 pieces) of 2' chain, and (12) hooks to hang the pots and pans. The pot rack was built using a window frames that we found in Mike's basement.  The copper piping & hooks came from the hardware store.  We built this for $31.25 compared to the average $150.00 that are in stores.

STEP 2: LOCATE CEILING JOISTS & MEASURE FOR THE HOOKS.  The ceiling joists are the horizontal beams that run parallel across the room from wall to wall. They are what hold up the ceiling.  Using a stud finder, we dragged it across the ceiling to find our beams. They are usually 16" apart, sometimes 20".  Ours we 16".

Once we found the beams, we were ready to measure for our lag hooks that we would hang the pot rack from. Continuing to use the stud finder, we measured an imaginary 33" x 16" rectangle.  On each of those corners (see the pink dots) we made a mark because that's where we will screw in our lag hooks.  Notice that we are hanging are the hooks 1" from the edge of the actual window frame.  That's so that our chains will hang at a slight angle.

Next, screw the lag hooks into the ceiling.

STEP 3: MEASURE & SCREW HOOKS INTO THE WINDOW FRAME. Measure 3/4" from the edge on every corner to screw in your hooks for hanging from the ceiling.

Turn the frame upside down.  On the short sides, measure 3/4" from the top and 4" from each edge.  Screw in the Milford brackets.  These will hold our copper piping.

STEP 4: CUT PIPE.  Cut the copper piping into (2) 32" pieces.  The window frame is 31" across. The brackets are 1/2" wide.  Since there is one bracket on each side, it's a total of 1" extra that we should add to the piping for a total length of 32" per piece.  NOTE: Some hardware store will cut it for you, but if not, you can buy a pipe cutter for $16, our do like we did and use a hacksaw to cut the pipe.  This took for-ev-er...just so ya know.

STEP 5: ASSEMBLE RACK & HANG.  Once cut, loosen the screws on the bracket & slide your piping into the slot.  Before we did this, we went ahead and slid the pot hooks onto the piping. If you look hard enough, you can see Mike being suggestive with the piece of pipe on the right.

Coming into the home stretch, we then hung our chains from the lag hooks that were previously attached to the ceiling.  Once the chains were hung, we connected the window frame by the hooks we previously attached, to the chains.  It's super easy to adjust the height that you need.  Just count the chain links evenly on each side and let the access chain sit on top of the frame- out of sight, our of mind.

Look at this hotness!  Not too shabby. And since the pane of glass is still intact, Mike and Jess use that to store the pot lids.

One more glamour shot from the underside.

Kitchen Island-episode 001

For our first project, I built a kitchen island in my apartment. I had about 2 feet of counter space and needed more.  To go and buy one would have cost $400 easy, so I built this one for $90.  

 

Please remember that this is my 1st episode, so they will only get better.  I will be putting out a shorter, more comprehensive version of this episode soon.  If I have left any thing out (which I know I have) that would help you better understand the project so that you too can do, don't hesitate to write and ask me.  The following pictures show the progression of the island being built.

After getting our materials at the Home Depot, where they cut everything to size, I laid out all of my piece in preparation for assembly.  Each piece has a corresponding letter to make it easier to follow along which the diagrams shown below.  Just a note. I got a pre-made table top from Ikea for $60 bucks that was the size I needed.  Your table top can be any flat surface you want to use like wood or stainless steel or Formica (yeah). You can also get pre-made surfaces at places like Lowe's and Home Depot.  Make sure to check in with your local hardware store. They might have something or could steer you in the right direction.

This is our "cut list" for the hardware store.  A "cut list" is a chart that you create listing the amount of pieces that you need and their measurements.  You start by creating columns.  In the far left, you write your individual pieces (A,B,C,D,E,F).  Across the top, you put length (L), width (w), and thickness (t).  From there you fill out the "in between" with the correct measurements you want. (see above). Once you have every measurement written out, and you find out the selection of lumber that you will be working with, you can see how many of your pieces you can get from a single piece of stock lumber.  This is a great organizing and communication tool so that by the time you get ready to cut your materials, everything has been thought out and understood.

This is the layout for the sides and bottom of the island.

Here, Mike and I (my pal and production assistant) are assembling the sides of the island (A,B,C, & D).

 Propping up the 1st side, getting ready to screw in the top & bottom runners (E).

 Screwing in one of the bottom runners (E).

 Screwing in the top runners (E).

Now we are screwing in the 2nd bottom runner.  This one didn't go to the edge like the others.  I will be using this island as a dinner table as well, so I need to include 9 inches of foot space on one side to accommodate the stools that I will eventually build for seating.

On those bottom rails, I laid two 7.5"wide  x 55" long planks across to use as storage for food or appliances.

 Viola! Here is the finished product. I added a pot rack rail on the bottom of the table top to hang my pots and pans, thus allowing for more storage.  The island turned out great. It's a good height (which is important for food prep) and it's nice and sturdy.  Before my kitchen was whack, but now I'm in paradise with my kitchen island.

 As I said before, in a store this would have easily been $400.  For us to build it, all materials including lumber and hardware cost us $90.  By building it ourselves, we saved $310.  For me, that's well worth the 45 minutes it took to build this.