Free Rust (May Contain Some Old Tools)

 Painting, Refurbishing Stuff  No Responses »
Dec 202017
 

Lately, I’ve been working on my spare time refurbishing some old garden tools I got from a friend. The majority of them are nothing special, but they are mostly American steel with years of character and they deserve to be used as intended. It’s always sad to watch old tools rust away.

FREE RUST (MAY CONTAIN SOME OLD TOOLS)

A friend of mine and ex-boss moved out of his old house of 20 years. He decided it was time to downsize and get rid of some of the collections of stuff that not only he no longer uses, but that he was tired of stepping over, moving and trying to find a cubbyhole for. Among the collections–which there where many–was some old gardening tools from when he had a brief interest in gardening 20 years back. He mentioned that many of the tools were from his mothers’ house and were used by his father or mothers father before being gifted to him.

The tools were stored in an open, dirt-floored barn that was filled with leaves, wet soil and in some areas exposed to afternoon sun. The tools were all in poor condition. Handles, resting on the soil, buried in years of decaying leaves left to rot away.

THE FIND OF THE DAY

After digging out some of the many layers of tools in one corner deep below the leaves I strut metal. Under the pile was an axe head (Merit Jersey pattern pre 1927) and an old grub hoe (unknown age or maker). Both of their handles had long since been lost or rotted away. They were the prized finds of this archaeological dig.

PROGRESS SO FAR

It’s been cold lately so working on there has been slow. A little work here and there. I tried removing rust with vinegar but it turns out it doesn’t work well when it freezes solid. Navel jelly also is pretty ineffective at temps below 40f. A good old wire brush and sandpaper seem to work just fine in these conditions so I worked my magic the old way.

I’ve so far removed the rust from most of the items found and have painted all of the rusty metal with a coat of primer. I’m now working on sanding and rejuvenating the handles that are salvageable, replacing the rest. I was not able to find a grub hoe handle locally so I’ll be reshaping a railroad pick handle to fit. If it ever warms up again I’ll be painting the primed surfaces and even though the paint will wear off rather quickly on cutting surfaces it will serve to keep them in fine condition through the winter months.

WHAT WAS IN THE HAUL

I haven’t identified makers for most of the tools. It’s actually unlikely I’ll ever know on most of them. Paint, stickers even makers marks have long since been lost to the elements. Some items have clues I just need to track down.

Among the oddities was a JC Penny spade one that I cannot find any record of ever existing. I’d love to find out who was contracted to make them, but that may not happen for a while.

WHAT WE FOUND:

 

Notes:

Digging Shovel (long handle)
Markings: USA / Tempered / O

Garden Spade (D-Handle) – Blue Paint
Markings:
On the socket (neck) it is marked: Heat Treated / USA / 2
On the sides of handle it is marked: U-D” / 2075277
Brand: Probably Belknap Bluegrass (based on research)

Utility Shovel & Drain Spade (Plastic D-handles)
Brand: Ames
Markings: Made In China 🙁

Spade (D-Handle)
Markings: 2 / Heat / Treated / Made / In / USA

3-Tine Garden Cultivator – Blue Paint
Markings: USA / A32
Brand: Blue Grass

Pick Mattock – Red Paint
Markings: 5 / Forged / [Japan?]

Cutter Mattock
Markings: EASTCO B-H / Drop Forged / Heat Treated

Pick Axe – Black Paint
Brand: Ludell
Markings: 6

Railroad Pick
Markings: N&W / 7 / [makers mark]
Makers Mark: H in center of route crest
Brand: [[Maybe: Charles E. Hall Company / Probably: Hubbard and Company]]
Notes: Could N&W stand for Norfolk & Western Railroad?

Logo as it appears on the tool.

 

 

Reference from: http://alloy-artifacts.org/trademarks-and-logos.html

H-Shield - Charles E. Hall Company - "H" in a shield

Dog Beds From Old Bedspread and Pillows

 Making Stuff, Personal Updates  No Responses »
Dec 102017
 

Simple DIY ultra-plush dog bed from old bedspread and pillows.

Jess and I cleaned out one of the closets and found that we had a couple of pillows and a bedspread that we were no longer using. I really don’t like throwing away usable items so I thought perhaps some dog begs would be the order of the day. After measuring everything out I found I had just enough to do three beds with 3 neck pillows. One for each dog in the office, and one for downstairs near my sewing machine (the floor gets cold down there).

Considering that all of the materials were heading for a landfill, I’d say the project was a huge success.

The fabric is medium weight duck cloth in the Next Geologic Camouflage Pattern. I did a similar set of dog beds using this pattern for their crates about a year back and they have performed and laundered well.

The bed is pretty simple, a padded bottom is attached to a heavily padded ring (for structure). Then a full-width pillow top is inserted into the ring. This makes the bed easy to clean, just pop off the pillow and wash. In the event of an accident, the entire bed can be laundered since it’s cotton with polyfill. Both the pillow top and padded bottom are semi-quilted in 6 places so the fill will not shift even in machine washing.

Size-wise our dogs are medium sized. They weigh around 60 lbs. each and the beds are about 38 x 24 providing more than enough room for them to curl up and get cozy. They are still a little small for stretching out. That being said, Jess proved that there is even enough room for a Jess plus a Muffin with room to spare!

If anyone wants to make one, let me know, I’ll post plans below.

More “Muscle Rack” Shelves

 Making Stuff, Painting, Personal Updates  No Responses »
Nov 262017
 

The new Muscle Rack Shelves are looking amazing but the color was not what I wanted and the paint used, while about as durable as anything you’re gonna’ find at a big box store, is not up to the task of industrial shelving so its time to paint again.

Originally we decided on a bright, almost fluorescent green called Sherwin Williams Parakeet [SW 6711]. It is a soft tennis ball green color that reflects LED light very well, and somehow is not an eyesore (but be careful looking at it outside in direct sunlight! Total blindness). I got a few cans of Solo made up in this color and proceeded to prime the particle board shelves.

Solo goes on pretty thick and needed to be thinned about 30% before I could get an even light spray. It was applied in 3 thin coats to get good coverage but also because it just did not want to feed in my siphon gun. I love this old siphon gun, but its finicky and will fight you if you don’t get the paint and airflow just right.

 

Did you ever wonder what $1,120 in industrial enamel coatings looks like?

Well today is your lucky day because here is 3 gallons of Sherman Williams Sher-Cryl HPA, 3 gallons of Water-Based Industrial Enamel and 4 gallons of Solo (their home grade paint-plus-primer in an enamel base). That’s right 10 gallons of paint with the multi-gallon discount it still averages $110 per can.

But you know I’m a cheap bastard, so no way I paid that, not a chance.

Would you believe $11 dollars for all of it after tax? Well that’s what it cost.

This was definitely my lucky day.

 

Spraying took almost all day but I got them all coated and looking pretty good. They could actually use a sanding and second coat on the wear side just to make sure they hold up.

I’m really happy about the color, it’s a little bit lighter then the sample chip but it looks good in the LED lighting in the sweat-shop and garage.

 

If you interested in this project, and want to see the shelves in use, the first post about it can be found here: New “Muscle Rack” Shelving.

New “Muscle Rack” Shelving

 Making Stuff, Painting, Personal Updates  No Responses »
Oct 282017
 

My sewing projects require a very diverse assortment of narrow fabrics from Webbing to Velcro to Elastic and Binding tape. Since every pattern and color I add, increases the footprint by a significant margin, it was becoming a huge unwieldy mess.

The shelves already in the basement were mostly a hodgepodge of narrow plastic shelving and book shelves. None of which was cut out for the job. Not only was the narrow width cutting into usable space, but the weight of this fabric was taking a toll on the shelves. An upgrade was long over due. I was able to acquire 13 heavy duty “Muscle Racks” from the warehouse and set out to make them usable for my sewing supplies.

 

The first and most important thing to do was give everything a thorough cleaning. Then paint and seal the particle board shelf’s so they would hold up better in a slightly damp basement.

Jess and I spent way to much time looking at paint chips and trying to find a color that would be bright enough for the basement but wasn’t an eye sore. The color not only had to be bright, but hide dirt and scuffs, it must also blend in with the fabrics. Kind of a tall order, but we selected a color (Sherwin Williams Parakeet) and settled in their high end enamel paint.

Well long story short, it got cold, painting was delayed. The weather broke one weekend and I grabbed what paint I had on hand (Bahr Premium Plus ULTRA Exterior Enamel) and set off to paint.

The color on hand was a dull olive gray. A paint color that’s intentionally boring. I purchased it for painting structural items in the Hosta Prison and the intent was that would blend in regardless of season. Not exactly the color I wanted. Not exactly the toughest paint either, but it would have to do. All in all the color looks great. Sadly it doesn’t reflect the amount of light I hoped for, but its not bad either. The most important thing is they are sealed and ready for business.

 

Indian summer struck again and I was able to finally spray Parakeet.
Check out the update here: More “Muscle Rack” Shelves

Plant Racks Part Two.

 Personal Updates  No Responses »
Oct 012017
 

Last year we made some racks for the Hosta prison (and for the porch) to keep the pots off the ground. Last weekend I replanted a hundred trees and with in 2 days squirrel had already made a freaking mess digging in the pots.

So it was time to assemble some more racks.

I love making projects like this using scrap lumber. I picked up a ton of scrap wood from a friends shop a few months ago and got the 2x4s from the scrap cutoffs pile at a local construction site.

Day one – Cut

Day two – Assemble

Day three – Stain

Plans:

Adaptable Messenger Bag Design – The Brown Bags Project

 Making Stuff, Personal Updates, Sewing  No Responses »
Sep 242017
 

Over the last few weeks stress has been high and I’ve gone looking for some of my old outlets for all that excess mental energy. Woodworking is probably my favorite, but sadly right now there is simply no space for that. Next would be sewing.

 

Brown bags project is now “mostly” complete!

(may add Pencott Badlands and some more Realtree options)
The bags are my standard Adaptable Messenger Bag design. In this case with the “office” internal design. And a removable carry lid (lid adds a grab-n-go handle, something the original design is missing).

The bag itself is pretty large, designed to carry my 17″ laptop. The front zippered pocket holds a file folder, pens, paper, flashlight, multi-tool, razor knife, spare mag and misc hygiene kit. The main pocket has a laptop \ file folder pocket. And two large divider pockets on the rear (holds a portable drive, battery backup, and a pair of gloves). The opposite side has three large pleated pockets with drawstring closures (holds glasses, body-spray, 2 pairs of flex-cuffs, first aid / boo-boo-kit, misc chargers, tools, and thumb drives). The lid has three zippered pockets and mainly holds small items (spare batteries, etc).

These bags are built like tanks! They are overbuilt in everyway possible. Yet, they are quite clean design-wise.

Color \ Pattern options in this build.

The brown part of this project includes 6 coyote brown, 2 Multicam (one with coyote accents, one with Multicam accents), 1 in Realtree Advantage Timber, 1 in Realtree Advantage Classic, 1 in Atacs (classic). The green part of the project is still on hold.

The Multicam bags are amazing looking, but honestly a little useless in the forest around here. Since they are intended to carry work home and back that shouldn’t be to much of a problem.

Why so many bags?

Originally the project started as a set of car kits. A grab and go bag I could keep in the car\Tahoe containing seasonally appropriate supplies. I like having a change of clothing, emergency supplies, gloves, etc. Coyote bag for fall\winter, camo green for spring/summer. 3 cars x 2 seasons, then I decided to expand the project to include a few EDC bags, then it continued to grow and suddenly it got out of control.

Out of control or not, I’m really happy with how it is coming along. A new pattern for every day of the week, hah.

Well onto the pictures, here ya go!

Trees, lots-o-trees

 Personal Updates  No Responses »
Sep 172017
 

When I moved into this house there were some wonderful trees growing around the property. Trees may be an overstatement, more like large bushes. They are a type of Euonymus, though I’m not sure of the exact species. Very similar to Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), but without winged bark. They are a great privacy bush and mature plant’s leaves turn bright red in the fall.

They produce copious berries in the fall and seed well. We have hundreds of them popping up all over the woods around the existing bushes. Sadly they never get more than a few inches tall and are easily choked out by other plants or become feed for the assorted animals that forage in our yard.

Last year we dug up about 130 seedlings from around the yard and potted them up in small pots.

As its getting to fall again they were replanted in bigger pots this year (not really necessary yet, but they will have a better chance of overwintering in bigger pots). While they are extremely slow growers they have done a lot better in pots then they would have in the woodland. Our goal is to plant a privacy hedge in the front. I suspect they will be plantable sized in perhaps another 2-3 years.

Re-potted Plants

Adult Euonymus Trees

Driveway Madness! 60 Tons of Parking.

 Making Stuff, Personal Updates, Yard Work  No Responses »
Sep 172016
 

One problem in this old house is we have had a lack of parking, particularly in the winter months.

Plus, year round I have a Tahoe that gets parked on the lawn killing the grass (well weeds really). When the grass dies it turns into mud, when it rains the mud washes away and the cycle begins again. This is one of the many fun things you learn about when you live on the side of a mountain. Or as the locals say “in them there hills.”

What’s more, my secondary access driveway has started overgrowing with weeds again. And the 5 truckloads of shredded tree we used to keep it driveable has broken down enough that heavy rains are now washing it away yard by yard. Clearly, something needs to be done.

So one morning while leaving for work and thinking about the fact that they are grinding up the local Rt. 340 I gots me an idear. A few phone calls later I had scheduled 20 tons of asphalt millings on the way. 20 tons seems like enough to cover a little driveway and cover a landing for parking. Heck, if anything I may have too much. Well if you’re not on the side of a mountain that’s probably correct! But I wanted to level the landing and suddenly it needs to be 20 inches deep on one side. And that access driveway could be wider, so we leveled a slightly larger area and before you know it 40 tons is not nearly enough. As a matter of fact, as I type this another shipment is trucking its way to me!

Incomplete Asphalt Millings Parking Area: Before and After
Asphalt Millings Parking Area

Incomplete Asphalt Millings Driveway: Before and After
Asphalt Millings Drive Way

More Pictures from the Job:

Porch \ Yard Plant Racks

 Making Stuff, Wood Working, Yard Work  No Responses »
Jul 062016
 
Racks Stacked and Waiting for Paint.

While driving home a week ago I saw that my buddies work was throwing out a bunch of wood scraps. Mostly bits of plywood that are too small for them to use, but still big enough for a project so I loaded up the old Tahoe with what I could.

I always have woodworking projects waiting for me at home, so I figured it would be used up quickly. Turns out I was right.

We always have a lot of plants on the porch, hostas, peppers, etc. The problem is the pots ruin the deck and stain the wood. Plus its best to have the pots raised for better air flow and drainage so I have often built racks to keep the plants off the deck.

We have some racks I made a few years ago but they are looking ratty and are in need of replacement. Also, in the hosta prison the ground is not completely level and the pots occasionally fall with the help of squirrels looking for places to hide food.

PlantShelf

Seems like a good project for all this free wood. I drew out a plan to make the best use of the wood I had on hand and got to cutting. In the unlikely event that anyone wants to make a few the plans (drawings) are included below.

Jess helped me staple them all together and it took two weekends to get them painted (2 days of drying between coats).

I was going for a “moss” colored paint, but I’m pretty new to tinting paint so it came out a bit lighter then I had hoped.

We ended up making seven racks, and perhaps if I see more scrap wood I’ll make another seven.

I think they came out pretty good, don’t you?

-Brian

4th of July, 2016

 Everything Else, Making Stuff  No Responses »
Jul 042016
 
Bottle Rocket Racks

Another 4th of July has come and passed. This one brought with it a lot of fun little projects and new accomplishments.

This was also the first year that I have ever been able to legally buy flying fireworks in a state that I live in. Woohoo! About time.

I may be the worlds only bottle rocket enthusiast!

…A connoisseur of fine Chinese gunpowder.

So now that bottle rockets are finally legal I ordered up a few cases and we went a little crazy. For the last few weeks, we have been flying bottle rockets whenever time permits (even when time doesn’t permit, lol). This weekend we made up some nice little racks to fuse up a few hundred at a time and let them rip. I even dug out the old Crackerjacks tested bottle rocket racks (angry hornets nests. …because the rockets… oh never mind).

Jess and her firecrackers

Jess and Fwub with a big Firecracker

As you probably already know Jess is a fan of firecrackers so I ordered up a case of 28,000 crackers, and at the fireworks stand they had this really cool pack of 8,000 firecrackers so we had to pick that up also. Jess made a few impressive celebration strings that had the neighbors hooting and hollering for more.

Holly crap did we make a big mess.

The big finale this year was one of Jess’s cracker piles with 20 or so fountains fast fuses all around the fire pit. Somehow none of the fountains lit (Doh!) but the crackers went off with a bang (sorry.. how about they were a blast? .. wait where’s everyone going..)

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good fourth!

Hope yours was a huge success also!

-Brian

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