I'm all stuck up...

...Ah, ha, ah ha! <--looks nothing like how I said it!

Okay, shoppers, I've been away from frugal, cyber space for a while so thought I would get back into the swing of things by sharing some of those useless tips that change your outlook on life forever!

I use tubes of those 'liquid nails'(TM)-type stuff.

You find them at your local hardware shop in convenient sizes like more than enough to stick a 20 tonne truck back together or nearly enough to reattach false eyelashes.

Invariably, this means you buy the size to do the job and hope you don't have too much left over.

Well, for those of us who do have too much left over, here are a couple of things you may want to try using the glue for.

For those who have never used liquid nail/no more nails or whatever TM names it goes under, it is a special glue in a cartridge and it dries as hard as, erm, nails!

So. When you have finished glue nailing your plasterboard to the bathroom ceiling or whatever, what sort of things can you do with the leftovers?

How about making Doc's knobs of all sizes to suit your knob requirement (sounds rude)?

Waddleyaneed:
Big tube/cartridge of leftover Liquid Nails (TM)
Clicky thing to squish said leftover glue -you know what I mean - you have to buy a new one each time because you never remember where you put the old one. I have six at the moment!
Bottle lids of many sizes
Bolts of many sizes to suit your needs
Wooden clothes pegs

Step 1
Get all the stuff together so you can take a neat photo and give people a better idea of what the hell you are on about.

Note the blue clicky thing with the glue cartridge in it.


Step 2
Grab a lid and fill it with the liquid nails glue stuff from your clicky thingy and whack in a bolt.

Step 3
Repeat step 2 as required and whack in another bolt, held securely(ish) with a wooden peg if it won't stand up by itself.



Step 4
When completed, allow to dry (a few days to get hard - fwaar!) then stand back and reflect the important question of life...Why did I do this?


I have arthritic hands (seriously!) and have used these knobs as an aid to help me unscrew bolts from some of my woodwork machines - lathe, drill press, scroll saw and the like.

They dry hard (the glue not my hands) and I find they are easier to grip.

You may think of a multiple of uses for these knobs eg drawers knobs.

If you can think of more than five uses, you probable need to get out more!

Okay.

We still have not used up all our glue (who'd have thunk it). So what else can we do?

How about a great, easy-to-make, Doc's storage container for all those nice, easy-to-handle knobs you made.

Waddleyaneed:
A DVD/CD pack thingy
Hacksaw/sharp knife/good teeth
Some more of that hard as nails glue stuff
The clicky thing that squirts the glue out
Room under a shelf

Step 1
Grab your CD/DVD pack and take apart thusly:



Step 2
Cut the sticking out bit off with the implement of your choice.


Step 3
Under the shelf where you are going to attach the container, apply a couple of dobs of the glue from the clicky thing and stick the base to the underneath of the shelf.


Step 4
Allow to dry - the glue not you -(it wasn't that much hard work) and when dry attach the other part of the CD/DVD pack and fill with useful items such as the knobs we made previously.

Note how the dust already in situ under the shelf remains in place.

Obviously the cleaner had not been into my workshop immediately prior to me taking the photo.


Step 5
Ponder the logic of now having a single container permanently stuck to an area under a shelf that you can not actually get to with ease!

Oh well, somebody might find it a useful tip.

Anyhoo, got to get back to making more toys before I run out of the hard-as-nails stuff.

Doc ;-)

Hold on to your nuts...

...with this handy hint.

Another quick and handy tip for those who need a small wrench to access a tight place that your normal adjustable wench, erm, wrench will not get to.

Watjaneed
A bolt
A pair of nuts to fit the bolt
Keeping up with me so far?


Check out the pix for detailed instruction.


I recently had to use a bolt set up like this to undo a nut that was on the car that was so accessible - not.

I could not get the adjustable wrench in the small space.


Where do car makers get people with such small hands? Child labour?

Anyhoo, just a quiccie for you.

Regards

Doc

Mouldy old dough...

...no, not a baking hint.

G'day everybody.

Let's make a soap mould (mold, for my US friends).

These are great sellers at craft markets.

I even use one myself.

Watchaneed
Some timber (lumber) cut to size (base, two sides and two end bits plus a spare end bit as a spacer when you glue up) I use certified plantation grown pine - coz I am a tree hugger dude
Four bolts and wing nuts
Glue
Ethical Chocolate - no reason, but you can not have too much chocolate

Get ya stuff together.


Do not ask me about sizes, the length was determined by what I could cut on my bandsaw - about 345mm.

The sides are about 100mm high coz, well, that was the size of the scrap wood I had available.

Do not fret coz I am sure if you make a soap up, it will fit, otherwise have some plastic gloves handy.

I find that any leftover soapmix can be poured into the gloves and be sold as...
...you guessed it, hand soap.

Mark up the ends for where the bolt holes need to be.


Drill out using a drill (duhh, who would have thunkit?)

Use these ends as templates to locate the holes for the bolts later.

Whilst you are at it, glue up and clamp the assembly.


Drill out the bolt holes.


If you have a tap set, you can create a threaded hole otherwise just screw the bolt into the ends.


Put some super glue into the holes.


Screw the bolt into the end of the sides.


Cut the bolt to size. BEWARE - you need to know how far in your bolt is into the wood.


Hey, check out the offcuts for some other future project


Unscrew the wingnuts - this will clean the threads.


With a saw (or bandsaw) create a kerf thingy to allow you to cut the soap to size.


This is where you need to know how far the bolt is into the wood - a bandsaw blade is waaaay too expensive to waste on breaking when you locate the bolt with it.



The end result can be coated with Danish oil - or anything else, but since I use Danish oil to finish most of my toys, gourd stuff and spinning wheels, I tend to have some of this around.


Now, do not forget that you have to use something like baking paper or some other barrier to pour the soap mixture in so it does not destroy thr mould (mold).

On ya

Doc

Core..

...check this out

There I was in my toy/workshop looking busy (otherwise Scarecrow finds me things to do) when in walked a beautiful, long legged brunette (with a hint of grey) and sided up to me and whispered those three magic words...



...soil core sampler.

Well, it did it for me.

Yep, Scarecrow wanted me to make her an auger for taking soil samples.

Bear in mind that this is made from stuff I have at hand, so do not get hung up on precise sizes.

Wadjaneed
Galvanised pipe (any length) mine was 550mm long (as per request), 25mm diameter threaded at one end to allow for the fitting of a...
Metal cap to fit
PVC pipe (I used electrical conduit) for inserting to act as a plunger
Wooden dowel to fit into the pvc pipe at one end
Long bolt and nut - acts as a handle when it comes to pulling the auger out.

Whatdja do
Cut the galv pipe to size leaving the thread on one end.





Cut the PVC pipe about 50mm longer.



Cut a 20-30mm length of dowel and stick it in one end of the pvc pipe.



Grind the end of the pipe to form a 'sharp' end. This makes it easier to enter the soil.



Drill a hole near the top, under the cap.

The end result:



To use, hold the pipe pointy end down and hit it with a mallet until you reach the required depth.

Using the bolt as a handle, twist the auger a little to allow ease of extracting it.

Undo the cap and push (carefully) the pvc plunger through the hole to put your sample on to your sample sheet - this can be a plastic sheet, a bivalved pvc pipe or whatever.

I gave this to Scarecrow and she said those other three magic words.

A real babe magnet, that auger.

Doc

Get stuffed...

...Teddy Bear Stuffers

Was with friends at a craft group recently and I noted that they were making stuffed teddy bears and seemed to be having trouble stuffing the stuff (?wadding) into the body/limbs.

It seemed to be easier if they used a pencil.

I saw this and said to myself "Self, you should make these people some teddy bear stuffing tools"

Using dowel shaped to a simple unsharp point (?) sand smooth and the rest is history.

Wadjaneed
Dowel for handles
Dowel for pointy bits as long as needed
Saw
Drill
Glue

Click on the piccy to get a
bigger piccy and see how easy they are to make

Some small stuffers had a handle on whilst the long ones did not. Did not seem to need it.

Happy stuffing.

Doc