# Creativity and Projects



## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

So, in my experience, that urge to build, to fix, to create is very much a part of being a man. Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, sometimes the results aren't perfect, or don't work quite right - but still, the project itself is often all the reward I need. 

Right now, I found an old upright piano, gutted the sound board out of it, and am rebuilding it into a computer desk/tv stand that also has room for my keyboard (which will be super awesome when I have it hooked up to my computer.)

What projects do you guys have underway?

(And I am rediscovering this joy after years of "Don't do that/it'll make a mess/we can't afford it/you'll cut your fingers off" Being separate ain't all doom and gloom!)


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## Caribbean Man (Jun 3, 2012)

Building a house which my wife designed and I drew the plans for. 

Another pet project is our home garden.
We eat what we grow.


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## ocotillo (Oct 17, 2011)

BaxJanson said:


> What projects do you guys have underway?


I recently learned how to do concrete work and am going crazy with walkways and a patio project.


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## Fozzy (Jul 20, 2013)

Never been good at building stuff. Wrecking stuff is a different matter. Nothing more satisfying than sledge hammering something into toothpicks.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

In the last year:

Rebuilt the patio, replacing a busted up concrete pad with concrete pavers and building a low wall next to it to separate the patio from the flower bed. Before that, all if the garden debris and mulch would end up on the patio. 

Replaced the bathroom vanity and toilet. 

Replaced the kitchen faucet. 

Added a new 20 amp circuit to the garage. 

Welded and installed steel brackets to prevent the joists in my garage from sagging any more. The house is 60 years old and there was three inches of sag in the 2x8s over a 22 foot span. Now there's zero sag. 

Seal coated the driveway with latex sealer. 

Coming up:

Replacing twelve old single pane double hung windows with energy efficient replacements. 

Things I won't do:

Walking around on a steeply pitched roof to repoint the chimney. 

I've always loved carpentry. Took my first shop class in fourth grade. When we redid the kitchen in our last house the contractor wanted to sub out the painting and finish carpentry but I wanted to do it. He rolled his eyes, probably thinking that I would produce some hideous results. When he came back to finish his part after I finished mine, he gave my stuff the once over and told me that his guys weren't as good me. 

This wasn't simple molding either. It was chair rails, baseboard and crown molding that I had specially milled for me at a local wood shop so that it would match the rest of the house. There was no way I was letting another carpenter touch that stuff. Too many of them think that wood putty is acceptable to cover mistakes.


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## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

I'll tell you what's on my dream list (once I get out of apartments) is a forge. I'm currently researching welding classes, and have no idea what I would make with one, but the idea sounds super appealing to me. I do envy you guys who can set to and work on your own house, though. Someday...


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## cons (Aug 13, 2013)

Sorry to intrude....just wanted to say how much I like this thread. I love that my husband has both creative projects and constructive projects... I know it has always been a good outlet for him!!!

We can't wait til spring to continue working in our ever-expanding gardens


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## Racer (Sep 24, 2009)

Not so much 'creative', but my plumbing is failing as well as our flat roof. So, most weekends I've got my torch out and new copper. It's required retiling, drywall, demo, etc. The roof I can't do much about other than smear more gunk around. 

I used to refinish furniture; Wife turned it into a chore though where it was no longer fun and more of a source for her to complain (dust, how long, it smells, etc.). 

Another 'creative' one is building gaming computers with my sons. Water cooled systems, customized, overclocked...


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

BaxJanson said:


> I'll tell you what's on my dream list (once I get out of apartments) is a forge. I'm currently researching welding classes, and have no idea what I would make with one, but the idea sounds super appealing to me. I do envy you guys who can set to and work on your own house, though. Someday...


My brother in law repairs his farm equipment and tools with a welder. I probably threw away a few tools that that I could have kept if I had known how to weld back then. 

I'm not sure if you mean forge or foundry? A forge forms metal under pressure and a foundry melts metal and pours it in a mold. I've seen videos of some cool backyard aluminum foundries.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

cons said:


> Sorry to intrude....just wanted to say how much I like this thread. I love that my husband has both creative projects and constructive projects... I know it has always been a good outlet for him!!!
> 
> We can't wait til spring to continue working in our ever-expanding gardens


I think constructive projects often have a creative component to them. There are many ways to build a thing and you get to design how you're going to do it. You also run into problems during construction and it takes creative problem solving to resolve them. 

I say this because people often look down on building activities as if you just have to get a kit and follow the directions. There are no directions. You often have to get creative.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

NotTooSure said:


> Currently...
> 
> Huge cutting table (like Home Depot and Lowes have) that folds up into the ceiling of the Garage.
> 
> ...


I googled those last two and nearly sprayed my coffee all over the keyboard!


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## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

I'm actually talking about a workshop which is both - I'm partial to the "Heat it up and hammer it out" school more than working with molds, but no skill is ever wasted knowledge in my book.

I remember a family reunion up at my great grandfather's when I was about 15 or so. All the male cousins were kind of wandering around bored, so he took us all out to the barn, wrapped a length of wire in a circle, spot-welded it to a piece of angle iron, popped a couple of holes in it, and screwed it to the side of the barn. In less than five minutes, he'd whipped up a basketball hoop for them to all entertain themselves - I let them enjoy themselves and spent the rest of the trip digging through his workshop


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## Malpheous (May 3, 2013)

Here you go Bax

::: Forge Making Tutorial by Nathan Creel :::

Get some 5160 or 1095 stock and make some custom knives.


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## Cloaked (Sep 15, 2013)

My wife and I like to dress up. I am working on some medieval chainmail and some leather greaves, bracers, helmet, and shoulder plates. She is finishing her noble woman dress. I will be her bodyguard/champion.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Racer (Sep 24, 2009)

NotTooSure said:


> I have done that too Bax.
> 
> I have an arc welder and learned to use it as a hobby. I love using it and it really opens up what you can build. I have a full workshop for both wood and metal. Even done some plastics molding.


That's cool. I've always wanted to work with metals and have seriously contemplated trying my luck on my project car to go for a rat-rod off-roader look... English wheel, presses and tube benders looks really fun. My Mom did a lot of weld art growing up so I got to play with tig/mig and oxy torches as a kid. Sort of funny that my memories are my mom and her female friends with welding helmets and lots of wine or margaritias going to town on a sculpture or two... So I learned this 'manly stuff' from my mom. 

My Dad did car stuff and built furniture (woods with metal/terrazzo inlay sorts of things). So he wasn't without it either. My Uncle still does all sorts of intricate wood furnishings though he is inclined toward the carving side of wood working.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

Malpheous said:


> Here you go Bax
> 
> ::: Forge Making Tutorial by Nathan Creel :::
> 
> Get some 5160 or 1095 stock and make some custom knives.


That's cool! So you need a hammer, anvil, and grinding and sharpening tools and you are making knives?

That design has a lot of the same elements of a DIY aluminum foundry that I saw.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

Racer said:


> That's cool. I've always wanted to work with metals and have seriously contemplated trying my luck on my project car to go for a rat-rod off-roader look... English wheel, presses and tube benders looks really fun. My Mom did a lot of weld art growing up so I got to play with tig/mig and oxy torches as a kid. Sort of funny that my memories are my mom and her female friends with welding helmets and lots of wine or margaritias going to town on a sculpture or two... So I learned this 'manly stuff' from my mom.
> 
> My Dad did car stuff and built furniture (woods with metal/terrazzo inlay sorts of things). So he wasn't without it either. My Uncle still does all sorts of intricate wood furnishings though he is inclined toward the carving side of wood working.


Margaritas and welding. A perfect combination!


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

NotTooSure said:


> Make sure you get a good anvil, don't cheap out on it. My first one was cheap although I didn't think so and it deformed faster then my work did. You get what you pay for!


It wasn't from Harbor Freight was it? I look at those tools at disposable.


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## joe kidd (Feb 8, 2011)

VermisciousKnid said:


> It wasn't from Harbor Freight was it? I look at those tools at disposable.


At best. Most things disposable will at least last until the job is done. Lol


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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

Build my own bass guitars, included, winding my own pickups.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

That's cool. So you buy all of the components and build it exactly the way you want It?


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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

VermisciousKnid said:


> That's cool. So you buy all of the components and build it exactly the way you want It?



I do. 

I have done the entire spectrum from buying kits to cutting out the body and neck from wood blocks. Some turned out well, others not so good.


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## ocotillo (Oct 17, 2011)

VermisciousKnid said:


> It wasn't from Harbor Freight was it? I look at those tools at disposable.


Once in a great while, I've been surprised with Harbor Freight. But yeah; mostly disposable.


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## John Lee (Mar 16, 2013)

Unfortunately I just wasn't raised very handy -- always wish I had been. My creativity is pretty much limited to playing music and writing. Would love to be more DIY but it's tough to learn living in a city apartment. Some day I'll get my house and my garage and start tinkering around I guess.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

drerio said:


> I do.
> 
> I have done the entire spectrum from buying kits to cutting out the body and neck from wood blocks. Some turned out well, others not so good.


You know you're hard core when you decide to build something that you could also buy. 

Sometimes it's a money issue. Sometimes it's due to curiosity.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

ocotillo said:


> Once in a great while, I've been surprised with Harbor Freight. But yeah; mostly disposable.


I've learned that 'hardened steel' from China is much softer than 'hardened steel' from the USA. Nothing worse than a screwdriver tip or adjustable wrench bending under moderate pressure.


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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

VermisciousKnid said:


> You know you're hard core when you decide to build something that you could also buy.
> 
> Sometimes it's a money issue. Sometimes it's due to curiosity.



With most major brands selling models made in Indonesia for a fraction of what it takes to make your own in labor and raw supplies, it is a hobby of love. Although the last bass I made was about a year ago. I still enjoy playing the bass more than I do making them. The two main basses I play are German made Warwicks, better than anything I could make myself.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

John Lee said:


> Unfortunately I just wasn't raised very handy -- always wish I had been. My creativity is pretty much limited to playing music and writing. Would love to be more DIY but it's tough to learn living in a city apartment. Some day I'll get my house and my garage and start tinkering around I guess.


My father wasn't handy at all. I just picked it up on my own and in a shop class in grade school. The house my parents bought when I was a kid was built by a carpenter in the 1920s. It came with a 15 foot workbench in the basement and all kinds of hand tools. The carpenter had passed away and his wife wasn't interested in keeping them. There were also two large wooden toolboxes, the kind that it takes two men to move, that were filled with tools. Things like jointer planes, awls, braces and auger bits (you've probably seen those if you've seen any Three Stooges episodes where they do construction), and tooth setters. Not a power tool in the bunch. 

I played with that stuff growing up so I felt pretty comfortable with hand tools from the get go. I bought a table saw for myself after college. That thing scared the crap out of me at first!

I had a teacher in grade school who was missing half of his pinkie finger. He lost it when he was holding a board steady for his dad who was cutting it with an old fashioned crosscut saw which bucked in the cut and popped out and landed on his hand, taking the pinkie clean off! I've always had a healthy respect for tools!

I read an article on apartment workshops a long time ago. You can do it but there are definitely 
obstacles.


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## Malpheous (May 3, 2013)

VermisciousKnid said:


> That's cool! So you need a hammer, anvil, and grinding and sharpening tools and you are making knives?
> 
> That design has a lot of the same elements of a DIY aluminum foundry that I saw.


Pretty much. God set of files. Maybe a nice belt grinder.


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## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

Yeah, I'm in an apartment, and I get by with almost entirely hand tools. I've got a drill, and I"m planning on grabbing a sander soon - and wouldn't I LOVE some kind of saw - even just a reciprocating saw. I get tired of handsaws, and they just aren't very accurate.

And that forge looks awesome! Never built something that might melt or eplode if I made a mistake, though


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## ocotillo (Oct 17, 2011)

VermisciousKnid said:


> I bought a table saw for myself after college. That thing scared the crap out of me at first!


Table saw!


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

BaxJanson said:


> Yeah, I'm in an apartment, and I get by with almost entirely hand tools. I've got a drill, and I"m planning on grabbing a sander soon - and wouldn't I LOVE some kind of saw - even just a reciprocating saw. I get tired of handsaws, and they just aren't very accurate.
> 
> And that forge looks awesome! Never built something that might melt or eplode if I made a mistake, though


My table saw is the single most useful tool I have, followed by the cordless drill, I guess. I can't imagine being good enough with hand tools to replicate the accuracy that I get on the table saw, however it is possible, and there are John Goddard block front chests made in the late 1700s that prove it. 

I saw several of them in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and they just blew me away. The key to accuracy with saws is sharpness, technique, and selecting the right saw. Then you need a set of hand planes appropriate to the purpose. A cabinet maker from the 1800s probably had dozens of planes and he probably had the irons for them made by a smith in a small forge. 

http://rifa.art.yale.edu/detail.htm?id=94864&type=0

One thing I have learned over the years is that no hand tool for cutting that you can buy in a big box or hardware store comes sharp enough to make a decent cut. I guess power tools are so ubiquitous that the hand tool manufacturer doesn't even bother making a fine edge because it figures the users won't be experienced enough to know the difference. 

If you want a decent edge, read up on the Scary Sharp system, invest a few bucks in a small piece of plate glass and various grades of wet or dry sandpaper and sharpen the tools before the first use!


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

ocotillo said:


> Table saw!


No nerve damage?


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## ocotillo (Oct 17, 2011)

VermisciousKnid said:


> No nerve damage?


Zero feeling in most everything past the scar. I'm just happy they sewed it back together and saved the nail.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

ocotillo said:


> Zero feeling in most everything past the scar. I'm just happy they sewed it back together and saved the nail.


Ouch. I couldn't tell from the picture how deep it went. 

I'm a wuss when it comes to the table saw in that I make all kinds of jigs and push sticks to help me keep my hand away from the blade.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Don't confuse the two. I'm very handy DIY wise but too lazy / tired / busy to embark in anything major....

Creativity is another issue. I love photography and spend a lot of my free time there...


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

NotTooSure said:


> My band saw is probably the most used saw I have. I will use it unless the work is too large, then I will go to the table saw. I like the cut on the band saw better. Plus I leave my dado blade on my table saw most of the time. Next most used would be the drill press.


Is it one of the big floor standing models?


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## Wiltshireman (Jan 23, 2013)

My father was good at DIY and as the eldest son I was normally the one detailed to help him, at the time I did feel a bit "put upon" but the skills I learned working with him have served me well / saved me thousands.

I do now try and involve my children when I am doing projects (when safe to do so) my now 17 year old daughter enjoys it so much she has decided to train as a civil engineer (she started her apprenticeship last year).

There are some jobs I am not allowed to do even on my own home (mains gas) and some that I just can’t do (plastering) but other than that I will turn my hand to most things around the house, garden, garage. I get a great sense of well being from completing projects either at home or for friends, with community groups. It makes a nice change from the sitting at a desk I now do for a living.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

NotTooSure said:


> My band saw, table saw, and drill press are all floor stand models. Although I have a bench top drill press as well for when I need one in the garage or yard.


I'd love to have a full size bandsaw. There's no room for it though. I do have a full size table saw which is awesome. I have a bench top drill press. 

The ability to make straight and perpendicular cuts and bore perpendicular holes opens up so many possibilities project wise.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

Wiltshireman said:


> My father was good at DIY and as the eldest son I was normally the one detailed to help him, at the time I did feel a bit "put upon" but the skills I learned working with him have served me well / saved me thousands.
> 
> I do now try and involve my children when I am doing projects (when safe to do so) my now 17 year old daughter enjoys it so much she has decided to train as a civil engineer (she started her apprenticeship last year).
> 
> There are some jobs I am not allowed to do even on my own home (mains gas) and some that I just can’t do (plastering) but other than that I will turn my hand to most things around the house, garden, garage. I get a great sense of well being from completing projects either at home or for friends, with community groups. It makes a nice change from the sitting at a desk I now do for a living.


My two oldest kids liked helping out with projects. The youngest isn't interested at all. 

I get a feeling of satisfaction as well and the money savings can be substantial. The patio I built was quoted as a $9,000 job and I did it for the cost of materials which was $2,200. I've had similar savings with other projects. 

I have no desire to go near the gas or electric mains. I know my limits and will leave that to the licensed professionals.


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## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

I do a lot of props work for the theatres, pllus puppetry, so my tool collection ranges from my hammer and saw, to my jewelers' vise and files to my sewing machine and paints. Plus a bazillion glues, strings, twines, beads and baubles. This desk is the biggest scale project I've worked in quite some time. I made a lions' head puppet once that was about 3' x 4', plus a 4' x 5' rabbit - body and all. Cevered the whole thing in the best fur I could get, and after the show, all the kids lined up to pet 'Bunnicula'  Someday, I'm going to build that plant from Little Shop of Horrors, but it takes a lot of space. I've got such cool blueprints for it, though!


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

I get a kick out of making and buying Halloween props. I made a "flying crank ghost" a couple of years ago. I googled the plans. It came out pretty well after some fiddling. I set it up in a second floor window and it got a few oohs and aahhs from the trick or treaters. The best comment was from one wide-eyed little girl who said, "Do you know there's a ghost in your house?" She followed that up with, "Is it real?"

Little kids are so awesome!


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## BaxJanson (Apr 4, 2013)

Just think of it as leading the pack Not all of us were granted the same opportunities to... indulge, even if we've the inclination!


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

NotTooSure said:


> HA! I did the exact same thing! After Halloween I recalled the drive system and used it in a f'n machine.
> 
> Is it just me or I am coming across as seriously kinky compare to everyone else here :scratchhead:


LOL. Nah. Just more skilled and creative. 

BTW, the motor on my ghost is about 5-6 rpm so I doubt it would make a good f'n machine. Too slow.


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## Nucking Futs (Apr 8, 2013)

VermisciousKnid said:


> LOL. Nah. Just more skilled and creative.
> 
> BTW, the motor on my ghost is about 5-6 rpm so I doubt it would make a good f'n machine. Too slow.


So gear it up. How much torque does a f'n machine need, anyways?


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## Nucking Futs (Apr 8, 2013)

Anyway, what could be more sexy than a collection of belts and pulleys connected to a f'n machine? Besides everything, that is.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

Nucking Futs said:


> So gear it up. How much torque does a f'n machine need, anyways?


LOL. It's a small motor but it probably does have enough torque. 

I suppose it would make a fun project if I had someone who was interested in that kind of thing.


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## VermisciousKnid (Dec 27, 2011)

Interesting... What's your budget?


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