What is the last thing you made? (pics pls)

Those wooden ramps are a bit scary… Why not just stack layers of ply in different lengths, shortest on top, and screw together? Will never collapse as it’s effectively solid 

Medal box looks mint WCA 👏

Those wooden ramps are a bit scary… Why not just stack layers of ply in different lengths, shortest on top, and screw together? Will never collapse as it’s effectively solid

Because I am me and I have a reputation to maintain.

Plus, they only take about 400KG each – at the rear where it is heaviest – and they are more than capable of taking that for the short time between driving up them and putting the main ramp jacks under that raise the car. Why waste loads of ply and make something heavy and award to move and store. Design with thought and trust your calculations. 🙂

One of the things the internet tells you to do when you first get a 911 is pay someone to clean the front radiators. Why pay?

Well to get to the radiators you first remove the headlights, the boot trim, the wheel arch liners, the side repeaters, the front bumper and loosen the air conditioning radiators and then brush down the radiator. Reinstallation is the reverse of removal.

I did this myself and it is as much fun as it sounds. A quick google revealed that lots of people fix grilles over the gaps in the bumpers to stop leaves and crap getting in there in the first place and there are plenty of kits to choose from. I wanted silver instead of black as my car is silver which reduced the choices but not the prices – I bought some aluminium mesh and made my own.

Because I am me and I have a reputation to maintain.

Fair point. I hadn’t appreciated they were only to raise it for more secure support. It wouldn’t necessarily use that much material… It just reminded me of some I made years ago out of skip-find hardwood worktop – even ¾” ply you’d still need a few layers I suppose.

Anyway, in boring-but-satisfying making news… I was fixing a leaking tap and the fixing plate had more or less disintegrated. For some reason Screwfix and Toolstation don’t sell them, despite being a pretty standard part, and though I could buy one on Amazon for £3, I’d have to wait for it to arrive. And it would work as well as the old one (not very well because it’s not quite big or strong enough) and eventually disintegrate too. I had some scrap 3mm stainless so with some very rough angle grinder work made a new one in less time than it would take me to pick one up from Screwfix/put the whole thing back together while I await a new one.

I rescued a pile of galvanised 5mm fencing wire from our local trails. Among other things, I made this bit of garden wall art from it. I found a picture on the internet, printed it on A4 and copied onto a cardboard template at 5x size. After much cutting, shaping, welding and grinding here it is:

Not as impressive as the above, but I built some stairs for my new garage/workshop.
Certainly a lot to think about to get it spot on, but I mostly nailed it with only a few tweaks needed.

 I mostly nailed it…

They’re very nice, but I’d have used glue and screws. 

Not as impressive as the above, but I built some stairs for my new garage/workshop.

A flight of fancy. Very nice. Not easy to do but attainable if you take one step at a time. 👏

Very nice but I would have just put a trampoline under the drop

Not as impressive as the above, but I built some stairs for my new garage/workshop.

Nice job, will they get slippy?, if so then a few strips of skateboard grip tape will avoid you smacking your spine off the sharp edge profile.

I built some stairs for my new garage/workshop.

If you attach it at the top with hinges, it makes for a safe/secure place for keeping things.

That would be an idea, but the gap is bloody tight. I can lift them out but haven’t tried yet.
Will look at grip tape after i finish it.

I made a set of Boxwood dice (for playing Farkle), and a little dovetailled box to keep them in.

Some shelving around the old Joanna and an alcove cabinet with floating shelves (not literally floating you understand)

Clean kitbag for the back of the van. Works a treat. 

V2 is in the works with a shoe slip. 

not literally floating you understand

Disappointing.

Thanks for the reminder to put some IKEA bags on the order I’m about to make!

The bobbin holder on my sewing machine looks like this:

It doesn’t play nicely with big reels of thread which are much more economical, or the big reels of bonded nylon I use to make things bombproof even with my minimal sewing machine skills.
Fortunately I have access to some decent 3D printers now, so about 5 mins in Inventor, and this appeared:

Problem solved.

Evolution of my paint holders – I may have a paint ‘habit’
1) Left on the table

2) Table top paint rack

3) Hung on hooks

4) Hooks into wood to stop them pulling out

5) Enlarged wooden rack to cope with my worsening habit

Using the overhanging slope is good as it is otherwise dead space and it allows me to see and select the different tubes without using masses of space.

And from the paint I spill I create these pendants. It is the last few weekends before Christmas and these sell really well for £10 each at the market so I have been busy making more.

Christmas Tree decorations out of bike chain.

Shimano IG9 to be precise.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923426509

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923448566

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923452107

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923453272

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923454435

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155923455436

👆👏😊

Shouldn’t they be in classifieds?

A mid century Ercol settee, that I made new covers for (also all the scatter cushions).

Wot, no 12 speed oil slick Christmas decorations?

I’ve made a couple of chain stars, but Rudolph is particularly inspired 👏

Another bit of garden wall art from my haul of rescued 5mm galvanised fencing wire:

(sister-in-law’s wall is in a bit of a state 😊)

Have pulled the chain decorations from eBay as Binners has offered me a some space on his stall at Ramsbottom Christmas Market, and it sounds like it should be a laugh!

Sick of getting fleeced 😉 by companies charging through the nose for Greyhound jumpers, so bought a pattern, some stretchy fleece from the local haberdashery, and Bobs your uncle.

Much cheaper, £20 opposed to £40. And from here on in it’ll just be fabric that costs.

That’ll keep her toasty for a while as this snow falls.

Very smart 👆😊

You can see the dog loves it 👏

TBF that’s a long nose to be charged through.

@Merak, love that. Had a dear uncle who was always making Tamiya race cars. Proper pangs of nostalgia when I see them, reminds me of when he used to let me ‘help’ as a wee one. 

Typed some words and lost them. CBA so here’s the pictures 😤

That’s a banger little setup @thenorthwind.

@thenorthwind looks great! 😊👏
The finish turned out well.

Now, if any of you would like to make me some new garage doors…

😂

I do have a soft spot for a 131 Fiat as I had a Mirafiori Sport away back in ’83, had to treat it to new doors from the Exchange and Mart less than 5 years old due to the wafer thin skins and rust

Now seeing Paulo Diana with his current on albeit I think it has a Toyota engine but what a car and driver, just type his name in and see what he can do

@relapsed_mandalorian thanks! New garage doors (for mine, sorry) have been on my list for a few years now, so don’t hold your breath.

@kayak23 ta, and thanks for the finish advice. Rustins water-based varnish from Toolstation worked well, though coverage wasn’t great. One heavily thinned coat and one neat coat on the more important bits, and I still had to buy a second litre tin.

I was trying to keep the whole thing as quick as possible, hence using spruce ply instead of MDF to cut down finishing time (dunno whether that worked) and also because I don’t really like MDF, 18mm all over to eliminate the need for framing, and invested in a pocket hole jig. The base is slotted into the sides too. Still took me about a day and a half of work to put together, plus (not insignificant) finishing time.

I was trying to keep the whole thing as quick as possible…..Still took me about a day and a half of work to put together, plus (not insignificant) finishing time.

Yup.

If you want to make something fast, take your time. 😊

If you want to make something fast, take your time. 

Wise words indeed.