Home projects thread

[bcrdukes]

I wish I had one of these when I built my table. Be prepared to be in shock/horror when I post the photos later on.

[EvoFire]

Legit we are becoming a bunch of boomers

[hud 91gt]

Closest thing to furniture I ever made. One bad ass welding table. Two precision tops which align with each other. Moveable Center table section on screw jack for different saws (which line up with table tops). Vice is on a receiver hitch for ease of changing to a bead roller or whatever else I may purchase. Table weighed 700lb, and is jacked onto casters with the use of a hydraulic jack on each side. Also added the swing out bandsaw from underneath. It was awesome. Then I sold it when we sold our place. lol.

I was doing upholstery during covid, so I really should start making furniture lol.

[snowball]

whoops

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by 68style

You can't tell us about this and not put up any photos bro

Originally Posted by unit

wow seriously dukes? would love to see any pics of the process too

Okay, guys. Here you go. Nothing particularly epic. I think the most interesting part was hauling this thing in the Corolla back home.

This was a very long journey. From picking this up in 2021, to getting engaged, to getting married, finalizing renovations, and then finishing this in 2023, this was it. I bought every piece of raw material, including the walnut slab, which was quite the journey in itself, the sander, the legs, the drill bits, sand paper, epoxy, Rubio monocoat, and what have you. I really had zero clue on what to do.

The hardest part was getting the epoxy right, and letting it settle correctly, and praying that it dried properly and there are no bubbles. Some people really like filling that stuff in, but I wanted a solid piece of wood with as little as filling as possible. As you can tell, I'm not a professional, but I am happy with the outcome.

Not a proper work table. Walnut slab as-is.



Sander


Somewhat sanded



Look at this mess. The entire place was freakin' covered in dust. Lesson learned - Don't do this inside what is to be your future home office.


Oil applied


Ta da!

[snowball]

Made this desk 4 years ago from scratch. Back then thick tops, grey stain, and thick legs were in. Instantly regretted it after I put it in my office. Now it just sits in the corner of my gym.

[unit]

did another little project yesterday, making a custom casement window baffle.
first time using the new table saw, and first time cutting acrylic with a jigsaw... learned quite a few things, like how i never want to have to do that again. slightly fucked up a corner and cracked it but it's seems to hold up fine.

[bcrdukes]

I just found my new handyman.

Nice work!

[unit]

i would not hire me for really anything lol

[68style]

If I need a Patagonia model I'm hiring you asap

[Badhobz]

Wowowoow. Come work on my cha lo house plz !!! There’s lots of garbage to fix.

[sonick]

Showing our workbenches you say? Repost from the other home improvement thread

[jing]

I made one too but don't have a jigsaw. Chisel, drill, and file. Kind of ghetto but it was less than $20.

[Hondaracer]

An oldie but a goodie.. cutting the main beam support in my home built in 1911 to install a flush beam to facilitate a suite

















For those that don’t know, a “flush” beam is just that it sits flush with your joists as you can see in the picture, this is to create that head room instead of ducking under a beam

So it’s 5 2x8 laminated together and then every joist on the beam is sistered

In theory, and according to the “BC span book” this beam can essentially hold the weight of a 4 storey building, there are no point loads on this beam however and it mainly just supports the floor above and the chimney framing

[Badhobz]

I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. But you’re a white guy and your per hour is greater than other races due to social inequality so it must be quality workmanship. Yup. That’s fact.

Ps that old timey bicycle in the corner of a dark basement got “saw” like vibes. I’m not coming over to your house anymore.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by sonick

Showing our workbenches you say? Repost from the other home improvement thread

Spoiler!

How come with unfinished spaces, there's always a long splotch of white paint along the wall?

[SSM_DC5]

What's holding the 5 2x8 together to make a solid beam? Hopes and dreams?

[Badhobz]

Do you work in construction or some shit SSM ? How do you know this crap.

Having met you in person I wouldn’t think you work in construction cuz you’re like 110lbs soaking wet. Maybe you micromanage buddy guys

[unit]

Prob adhesive and screws? When you glue boards together along the grain the bond becomes stronger than the wood itself

[hud 91gt]

Maybe I’m talking out of my ass with my lack of any physics/engineering degree. As long as they are a single piece spanning the distance, attaching them to each other won’t be adding much to structural rigidity in a verticle bending scenario?

[RabidRat]

I have no background in mech/civil/structural, but it looks like the corner braces only attach to the outer surface layers of the laminate beam?

And even if the bracing attach did go all the way through, I'm guessing gluing it together helps the individual layers resist deformation in the horizontal axis under strain?

This is super interesting shit!!

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

What's holding the 5 2x8 together to make a solid beam? Hopes and dreams?

So in terms of material science glue does almost nothing in this case

There are heavy structural screws throughout and you laminate each one to each other and then the saddles which hold the new and old joists have 3” screws which penetrate into about 2.5 of the 2x8 on either side

What’s also missing in the pictures that was installed after are the strapping installed to the posts which support either side etc. similar to the earth quake straps you see on the outside of multi family buildings etc.

Part of the whole build of this is really that there’s also nowhere for the beam to really go if the house was to shift etc. the beam is supported both vertically and horizontally and is only picking up the load of the floor above

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Maybe I’m talking out of my ass with my lack of any physics/engineering degree. As long as they are a single piece spanning the distance, attaching them to each other won’t be adding much to structural rigidity in a verticle bending scenario?

In “vertical bending” you’re meaning like top down pressure, in terms of the engineering data, I believe 2 2x8 laminated together it almost 4 times as strong as a single peice

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

A bunch of you seem pretty handy; figured we could trade experience and advice here.

What's the best way to have a whole bunch of acrylic cut?

Need 15 pieces of 46" x 5-5/8". I heard Home Depot might do cutting services: are the cuts usually of reasonable quality or is it pretty rough and you have to sand it down yourself after?

We have one of those see-through staircases that leave all the gap between the steps unfilled, which doesn't work for our kid. I'm thinking I'll get all this plexiglass cut and just friggin hot-melt glue them in . Probably 1/4" thick ought to do it.

Thanks everyone for the advice to source the cut material straight from the acrylic supplier! Didn't think of that. Anyway got a couple quotes and it turned out pretty reasonable, like $250 altogether.

Here we go!



Ok right away, it didn't all fit . The pieces I left covered in paper, were the ones I couldn't get all the way in because they were just a little too tall on one side or the other.



Shieet.

Lesson #1: Turns out houses aren't built to within 1/16" tolerances. At least, not by this builder. I had been measuring the width and height of the stair step gaps right in the middle. Measured 3 times per step. But it turns out the left and right sides were sometimes off by an entire 1/8".

Of course, now I had to ("had to") get myself an orbital sander (pretty sweet tool: I'm never going back to manual sanding again!). 2 hours, lots of test fitting, and 10 pieces of 40-grit sanding pads later, I got everything nearly perfectly to size.

Lesson #2: General purpose hot melt glue is no good for shit like this. At least, not for finished wood surfaces: it broke apart just breathing on it. Oh well. Moved on to hot melt wood glue, which worked great. Blended in with the color of the wood a bit better too.

Anyway here's the finished product. Weekend project complete: now my kid can walk himself up the stairs for his nap .



Can hardly tell it's there, except for the random globs of hot melt at the sides!

[Badhobz]

What a gorgeous staircase !!! Me likey.

In before these construction fags says it’s cheap and this is no good. That’s no good etc etc.