Archive for the ‘Fun’ Category

XBMC Awesomeness!

March 29th, 2012 by joey | 1 Comment | Filed in Fun

I wash the dishes in our house most of the time, and I get bored.  Usually I’ll setup my iPhone, or Kindle in the cabinet above the sink and put on a talk, or music or something.  But it’s quiet…  I have a laptop in the kitchen that runs ZoneMinder already so I thought I would see if there was some web controllable music player thing I could put on it, so when I do the dishes I could use my iPhone to tell the laptop to play something.

After searching for a few minutes I found XBMC.  I installed it, and it is AWESOME!  It has surprised me more then once already with cool neato features.  And today was the best yet.

My friend was over showing me a youtube video on his iPad and the airplay icon came up (which neither of us had ever seen before…). He pushed it, and my xbmc computer came up in the list.  I told him to push it, and VIOLA!  The YouTube video was playing on the projector and speakers connected to the xbmc computer.  Too cool!

 

Come enjoy 8 minutes with me and my favorite hobby: Building Air Cannons!

March 2nd, 2012 by joey | No Comments | Filed in Fun

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Lottery??? How we drove a 2012 328i for a weekend.

December 16th, 2011 by joey | 2 Comments | Filed in Fun

You know how rental car prices seem random?  One week you can get a car for next to nothing, the next it’s $80 for one day…  There are lots of known factors, but sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense.

Well, this weekend, we totally scored at Enterprise.  Somehow, we reserved an economy car for $9 / day over the weekend from the Portland Airport (which is a SMOKING deal).  When we got there, they offered upgrades, and they quoted some prices, I wasn’t interested.  I said “Maybe on my birthday I’ll rent a beemer for a day.”  He said “Would you pay $25 / day to rent a 328i now?”  I worked hard to rein in my twicth response of “Yes” and pretended to think about it for a few seconds, asked Katrina, and then said “Yes”.

It was awesome!  I was not a huge fan of BMW based on my very limited experience.  But after driving one for a few days, my wife and I both agreed that it would be nice to have one.  Amazing Seat Controls, customization of everything almost it seems.  Like the ability to tell the computer that when I just tap the blinkers I want 3 flashes instead of one.  The digital Cruise Control with the cool little spinner on the outside edge…  I drove more with the cruise control lever then I did the gas pedal.  The power, wow!  What a breath of fresh air after driving a Prius.  The climate control was pretty awesome.  And OH!  The automatic windshield wipers…  Just push a button and they automatically wipe the windshield when it needs to be wiped.  Even stopping for hours at a time if you drive out of the rain.  Don’t know how it works, but it’s great!

The Nav system sucked though…  Blech…  It has some nice features but it’s ability to find where you want to go by address or name search was really really really lame…

 

 

Our first Finds while Metal Detecting (Beverly Park)

October 28th, 2011 by joey | No Comments | Filed in Fun

My wife and I bought a metal detector recently to help find a pipe.  Since we had a metal detector we decided to set out and see what we could find at the local park.   What we found surprised us a little.  Buried in the mulch around the slides and swings we found the following:

  • Old Nail
  • 2 Screws
  • 6 Old Rusty Pieces of wire
  • One metal bracket thing (it was buried quite deep)
  • 48 cents
  • A Chromy
  • 2 Stainless Steel Washers
  • A Hair Clip
  • A Bobby Pin
  • A few candy wrappers.
  • A Nut
  • A Pencil end with Eraser

What surprised us were the dangerous things.  The nail, screws, rusty wires, etc…  We decided we would continue to look for ferrous things instead of setting the metal detector to ignore them when we sweep parks in the future.  And perhaps we should ask the city to sweep the parks with a large magnetic tool for picking up nails and such close to the surface when they visit them.

The top 10 Essential Harbor Freight Tools no Shop should be without.

October 13th, 2011 by joey | 1 Comment | Filed in Fun, Happy Living

Why Harbor Freight?  Because it’s CHEAP and most of us amateur builders won’t wear out what they sell.  One downside is precision, cheap tools just aren’t as precise as quality ones, but for most jobs they are good enough.  Also, I believe Harbor Freight has been slowly improving the quality of their tools.  To top it off with, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Make Magazine have two full pages of coupons one of which has always been (for the past year atleast) a 20% off one single item coupon.  Every month when my popular science comes I rip out those two pages fold them up and stick them in my wallet.

On to the list!

#1 A Cheap Circular Saw with a Metal Cutting Blade

Armed with a circular saw with an abrasive blade, there isn’t very much that you can’t cut.  I’ve cut cars, doors, made tools, etc…  Next up to this tool is a cheap angle grinder with a thin blade.  Good for slightly more precise freehand cuts without as much lost material, sparks, and noise.

#2 A Set of these giant 15″ crescent wrenches (or the 24″ if you can afford them).

These are some of my favorite tools for a few reasons.  One, you can straighten (or bend) anything with them…  Have a piece of angle iron you need to make a slightly larger angle?  Just tighten the wrences over the edges, and give them a little push.  Have a 2×4 That is warped that you want to straighten,  just secure one end, and attach one of these to the other.  A rash of robberies on your street?  Just tuck one of these under each side of your bed.  Oh, and btw…  They are good for large bolts too.

#3 All In One Screw Driver(s)

You know, you can just NEVER find a screw driver when you need one…  So, I started buying these any time they were on sale or I had some extra change.  We now have 6 of them, and we can always find one when we need one now (although it can take a little looking sometimes).

#4 Reciprocating Saw

These go on sale for about $19.99 frequently, and they are just awesome to have around…  Like the circular saw, you can cut almost anything with one of these.  Putting in a dog door?  Some pipe?  Need to trim a stud?  Cut off a nail?  Severe a rusted bolt?  Cut through a piece of wood without worrying about nails?  Turn your car into a convertible? This is your tool.  A skilled user could destroy an entire house in a few hours with one of these.

#5 1/2″ Chuck Drill

Sometimes you really really need a drill with a larger chuck.  Some drill bits just won’t go into a smaller drill.  This drill also has a gear box, slowing the speed of the drill bit while still applying full torque.  Great for hole saws, wire brushes, Big drill bits, etc…

#6 Pull Stroke Saw

A finish carpenter I knew in Salt Lake let me borrow one of these once, and I was sold.  Miter saw?  Blech…  A sharp one of these guys will cut through small wood like nothing, and larger pieces like a 2×4 without breaking a sweat.

#7 Multimeters!

Multimeters…  If you do much electronics work, you know how valuable a multi meter is.  Usually you don’t even need a good one, just an “Is there electricity here?”, “Are these two wires connected?” capable meter.  Which these are more than qualified for.  Sometimes you can find these on sale for $0.99 each.  I bought 10 of them once, and gave them away, put one in each car, one in the shop, two in the house, and one in my tool bag, and still have a few left over to put with my electronics gear.  A really good value when they are on sale.

#8 Digital Calipers

These are way cool.  This is one of those tools you think you can do without until you have a set…  After that, there is no going back.  These are plastic, but they work great, and are still very accurate, I would say good to the hundredth of an inch.  Building a potato gun and need to find a piece of pipe that fits perfectly?  Need a hole the perfect size? Want to find a piece of flat material that is the perfect size to go under that coffee table leg?  This is the tool for you.

#9 These Carpet Covered Moving Dollies

These things are so useful and versatile.  I think we’ve gone through 4 or 5.  Not because they break, but because they are the cheapest way to get 4 good caster wheels…  You can grab these on sale for about $8 a piece almost any time.  I put one on the bottom of a big scroll saw we have, one under the wire-feed welder, I used one to put wheels on my air compressor, and another to put wheels under a cheap cabinet we got from Ikea that we roll around the porch and garage as a work station and we have another one that we use for moving heavy objects.  So buy two, and set one aside for when you permanently mount the other one.

#10 Canvas Tool Bag

This bag is the perfect tool box.  It has enough pockets around the outside to fit a set of both SAE and Metric wrenches (you just have to double up the smaller wrenches on the ends.  It also has pockets between the outside set and the canvas the handles are attached to, these are perfect for pliers and one of those multi screw drivers and it has enough room inside to drop a smaller bag that contains your 3/8″ socket and ratchet set, a roll of electrical tape, some Teflon tape, a multi meter, and other odds and ends you find useful.  It is also EXTREMELY well put together.  Pictured below is my bag minus the screw driver and pliers we are using inside right now.  When fully equipped this bag alone contains what is required for almost any job (seriously, not just saying that).  Including the wrenches, a crescent wrench in case you need two of one size, or a slightly larger wrench than you have, a 4 in one screw driver, a set of deepwell SAE and Metric 3/8 sockets, a set of spark plug sockets, a few extensions, a 3/8″ drive ratches, linemans pliers, dykes, wires strippers, channel locks, needle nose pliers, multimeter, electrical tape, teflon tape, a set of both sae and metric allen wrenches, and random odds and ends in the bottom collected from other recent projects.

 

If I could afford it I would buy each of my brothers and my dad one of these bags fully stocked.  Another great thing is that because it is canvas and not plastic you can throw it into the trunk of a car, behind the seat, squish it behind a truck bench seat, hold it in your lap, drop it on a tile floor, etc…  And you never have to worry about breaking or scratching anything.  I’ve had mine for about 5? years now and it has held up amazingly well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list.  Now go out and build/fix something!

Fireballs!

October 13th, 2011 by joey | No Comments | Filed in Entertainment, Fun, Hacks, Ingenuity

So,  have you ever had one of those “weird” hobbies, only to discover there are others like you?  It’s a great feeling.  Well if you are a pyro, here is a group for you.

One of my favorite newsletters is sent out by Skylighter.  Skylighter is a company in Virginia who goes toe to toe with state and federal regulators to provide amateur firework makers with the things they need to enjoy their hobby.

Their latest newsletter was cool because it showed how to make pyrotechnic fireballs for use in firework displays with household stuff.  It’s pretty cool.

Here is the web page the newsletter points to: http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to-make/cremora-fireballs.asp

More Redneck Fun With Excavators!

September 25th, 2011 by joey | No Comments | Filed in Fun, Ingenuity

While crusing around on You Tube I found even more videos of rednecks using excavators for entertainment and other more practical things.

Diving Platform and Wave Maker

Amusment Park Ride

Sledding

The original Water Skiing

Water Swing / Sling

Excavator Circus!

Delicate Car Wash

Car Wash the wrong way…  Um…  I hope that wasn’t your car…

Heavy Equipment Challenge!

Cleaning the Gutters

The coolest Birthday Card Ever!

September 25th, 2011 by joey | No Comments | Filed in Fun

My Cool sister inlaw Kirsten Quiner and her Mom bought me this card for my Birthday yesterday…  Check it out.

 

Share your Google Logo Masterpiece…

June 9th, 2011 by joey | 1 Comment | Filed in Fun

Today, Google has an interactive logo!!!  An electric Guitar you can play by strumming the mouse pointer over the strings!!  (How cool is that!!)  And, you can record your work!

So, play away today, and for fun, record your work and post it here.

Check out my masterpiece…  http://goo.gl/doodle/HEHe (Oh yeah…  The next Jimmie Hendrix, right here!)

DIY Spot Welder

May 4th, 2011 by joey | 2 Comments | Filed in DIY, Fun, Ingenuity

Ok, so go ahead, make fun of me…  But I’ve wanted a spot welder for a long time…  Seriously, since I was, oh, say 15 or so?  They are just COOL!

I tried to make one about 4 years ago, but the cables I bought weren’t big enough so they would melt before the metal I was trying to spot weld would.

But!  While I was cleaning up our shop yesterday, I came across the parts from my previous attempt and the desire to complete the project was renewed within me!

And here is the result….

It works great!  A few improvements are needed though…  Less surface area on the contacts, it needs a controlled way to start and stop the current so that it can have “pinch” time.  (Time where the metal is being pressed together, but the current is off), and It needs to be re-configured so that you can spot weld tight spaces.

Or, I could just buy one…

Here is a quick video that shows the parts of the welder in more detail.

And if you want to see a real spot welder, in a skilled body shop technicians hands, watch this…