What ELSE did you build? Non auto related.

[Scott Colmer]

Superdan (AKA Dan Clark) inspired me to create this thread when he posted his masterful pergala he just finished.

So this summer I vowed to finish at least three major projects around the house.

First up, the driveway lights. It took a few iterations (and a deal with my wife that she gets absolute pick on the next car we buy) to come up with the design. The posts were here when we bought the house. They were wired but we had them all checked out to make sure they worked. The brick caps were ordered and then almost not used because of a design disagreement. The aforementioned agreement solved that. (Compromise : ) ) The lights are inverted under deck lamps that have been sealed. The first pic is a test run before the cap was cemented to the post. It took over a year from start to finish.

 

And at night...

 

Next up the loooong planter. Actually 6 planters. The design was based on the pool equipment enclosure in the background of the second pick. My youngest son and I built the enclosure about two years ago. The enclosure was based on another planter my two other sons built for father's day 8 years ago.

The hard part of the long planter was the beveled edge with the channeled board and then curving the wood to follow the wall. I built the straight ones first then went for the curved ones. They are sealed with Flex Seal and heavy plastic. They are also plumbed to the irrigation system. When I was staining them I thought "Hmmm this stuff smells like chocolate. That's weird." Well, It really must have smelled yummy because in two weeks I came home from work to find the dogs had chewed on some. Grrrr. Anyhow, I finished them this morning. I still have to shimming to do underneath for a cleaner look. 

 

Because they were already growing the yard and they are very hard to kill, I planted them with geraniums.

 

Next up is a fire pit.

Let's see your building projects!

Scott

 

 

[iamsuperdan]

The new deck was a big project, and definitely a new thing for me. I am no carpenter or woodworker. On any other wood project, my dad was always the lead, as he actually had skills and training as a carpenter. But with dad no longer here, I had to take this on myself. It turned out well, but you'll notice it is very simple, with basic joins and no fancy corners or anything.

The only other thing I build was my workbench in the garage. Pretty simple design, and it hasn't collapsed yet, so that's good.

 

Wifey wants be to build some raised planters in the yard, so I'll be tackling that...as soon as we get a weekend where it isn't pouring with rain. This past weekend was the third rainy weekend in a row.

I have a couple of guitars on the bench that I'm finishing up. Paint is done, working on the neck now, putting in the inlays and side markers.

 

 

 

[Tom Geiger]

I’ve done a lot of major home renovations including complete gut jobs and a two story addition to our old house in New Jersey. 

Below are photos I had handy of a rental house we recently sold. It was originally our first home 35 years ago. We lived there for 5 years, then rented to same tenant for 25. When she moved on, I gutted the whole place and added a second floor master suite so my daughters could live there.  

Living room gutted

Living room finished

Bedroom gutted

Bedroom finished

[Scott Colmer]

Wow, Dan that guitar is stunning. Post pics when you are done. What paint are you using?

 

Tom - I am in awe. That room looks great. I've never had the guts to try such a renovation. Sheet rock scares me. 

[Joe Handley]

Been working on these two, basically down to just needing receivers to be drivers, but there are some goodies coming in so I can’t finish the bodywork just yet. The blue XJ may be getting converted back to a monster truck it started life as with that set of rolling stock getting put on a different trail truck.

[Snake45]

I built a Walther P.38 from a cigar box full of random WWII parts and a .22 conversion set I found on eBay. Shoots pretty well, too! 

[440 Dakota]

5 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

 

I have a couple of guitars on the bench that I'm finishing up. Paint is done, working on the neck now, putting in the inlays and side markers.

 

 

 

the finish looks super, wondering if you started with one of those diy kits, or just a body and neck ?? been kinda thinking about building one and was thinking kit but sorta know I'd have to throw out most of the electrics and hardware cause its probably the cheapest stuff made correct ?? so maybe just a better quality body and neck to start with is the way to go but don't really want to get into installing frets, any ideas ??

[iamsuperdan]

3 hours ago, 440 Dakota said:

the finish looks super, wondering if you started with one of those diy kits, or just a body and neck ?? been kinda thinking about building one and was thinking kit but sorta know I'd have to throw out most of the electrics and hardware cause its probably the cheapest stuff made correct ?? so maybe just a better quality body and neck to start with is the way to go but don't really want to get into installing frets, any ideas ??

This one is a kit from Pitbull Guitars out of Australia. Excellent quality! But I still did some modifications. I shaved the neck down to get a contour that suits me better, trimmed the headstock a little. I also picked up new Dunlop pots, and got a new set of pickups up for it. Seymour Duncan Nazgul & Sentient set.  The paint is all automotive. I sealed the grain with a shellac from Zinsser. Then many, many coats of primer and paint, with lots of sanding between each coat. I have a friend that has a body shop, so I've been able to use his paint booth and paint guns, which helps. This is actually Ford's Oxford White.

 

If you're looking to do one yourself, definitely start with a kit. As I said, this is from Pitbull Guitars. I've finished one of their kits (Jazz Bass kit for my son) and have another to start. High quality components, really good fit and finish. Their electronics are actually quite good, but I replace those in almost everything I have so it's not really a reflection of the kit itself. 

When they have it in stock, it takes about a week to ship from Australia to Canada, which is pretty fantastic.

 

 

4 hours ago, Scott Colmer said:

Wow, Dan that guitar is stunning. Post pics when you are done. What paint are you using?

 

Will be doing so for sure. Hopefully soon.

 

[Scott Colmer]

Mr. Snake - A gun from parts! That's pretty cool.

My Pop was very into guns. We used to go to the range once in a while. He passed away about two years ago, We are still going through his stuff. When we opened up the cedar chest where my mom had her wedding dress and some antique dolls we found a lot of shotgun ammo materials from his cowboy shooting phase. The dress was there, but the dolls were gone. I also found several boxes of ammo. They went to the gun safe. 

Billy, I remember seeing that Lunch Box RC recently. They look like the are a blast to run around. Let's see them when they are finished!

[Snake45]

34 minutes ago, Scott Colmer said:

Mr. Snake - A gun from parts! That's pretty cool.

I've actually built several, including a number of M1911 .45 automatics, but that's not too difficult, as parts are readily available. 

A P.38 is MUCH harder to do, as the parts are harder to find. And to do it as a .22 is rarer yet. It's the only one I've ever seen. I've never shown it to anyone who's ever seen another one, either. Great Balls of Fun to shoot! 

[440 Dakota]

Thanks Dan they do have some interesting stuff guess I'll have to decide what I'd really like to build, sorta told my wife a while ago a Rhoads would be my last guitar but just don't think I could do the neck and headstock justice cause really love the real Jackson neck, the Jem is also interesting but not really wanting to deal with another Floyd setup, a hardtail Jem could be cool

[mchook]

I've bee working on this garden for my wife & rebuilding the old stone wall.

[espo]

That's a great looking project. This is what our forefathers did just to clear the rocks out of the fields so they could plant crops. 

[Scott Colmer]

That wall looks great. My neighbor just did one. What is the green circle with the square hole?

[espo]

Looks like an old grinding wheel of some sort. 

[Tom Geiger]

Lots of rock walls around me! You cannot put a shovel in the ground without hitting one!

[blunc]

A stargate, for a party decoration, folds up so it can be put inside a station wagon.

and a more dynamic view:

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by blunc
added content

[mchook]

On 6/14/2020 at 3:47 PM, Scott Colmer said:

That wall looks great. My neighbor just did one. What is the green circle with the square hole?

Thanks, I found the grinding wheel on a farm. I added it to the wall to take up space and I thought it would look good. I built this for my wife to put her flowers on too.

Edited June 19, 2020 by mchook

[Scott Colmer]

Mike, That star gate is too cool. Your parties must be pretty fun. 

 

Jay, I would never find a grinding wheel around here in SoCal. That cart is very nice. I have one more planter on the to-do list that is meant to be an herb garden for my wife. The irrigation will be a trick.

[89AKurt]

Lost momentum on model building, Honey Do project #89:

Yesterday I demolished the roof of this shed, that was about the same age as my pickup.

Wanted to make sure no nails dropped on the ground.

Always wanted to crash into a building. ?

[Russell C]

3 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

.....Always wanted to crash into a building.  ...

Knew you were officially involved in building construction in some manner .... didn't know you also did deconstruction. =)

[stinkybritches]

On 6/8/2020 at 3:01 PM, Snake45 said:

I built a Walther P.38 from a cigar box full of random WWII parts and a .22 conversion set I found on eBay. Shoots pretty well, too! 

I don't have the skills to do anything like that but I did assemble an AR 15 chambered in 300 AAC. Of course, an AR kit is basically like a snap kit in the model car world. 

 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, stinkybritches said:

I don't have the skills to do anything like that but I did assemble an AR 15 chambered in 300 AAC. Of course, an AR kit is basically like a snap kit in the model car world. 

 

Very cool! Yah, ARs are pretty much the Legos of the gun world. I've built three, a dedicated .22, a 5.56 HBAR midlength, and a retro old-school one that usually has a .22 LR conversion set in it but can go back to 5.56 in about 20 seconds. 

[Russell C]

3 hours ago, Snake45 said:

...ARs are pretty much the Legos of the gun world.....

Wow! Clueless about such things, it looks like a pistol with every extra option on it like those old AMT 3-in-one kits.

[Snake45]

6 hours ago, Russell C said:

Wow! Clueless about such things, it looks like a pistol with every extra option on it like those old AMT 3-in-one kits.

That's a CLEAN one. You wouldn't believe the amount of junk you can bolt onto a rifle like that. And some people do.