I know a lot of you are computer modders but fixing computers isn't everything. I though it would be fun to hear what people "mod" beside their computers. My most recent DIY project was a new shelf for the washing room. The old window sill were at a 15 degree angle so I came up with a new shelf for it - which means all the stuff previously on the desk can now be stored in the sill. I also just reworked the lighting in my workshop to install a new 6 socket powerstrip to accomodate my powertools. So, what have you guys been working on lately?
I love DIY, got a list of projects I want/ need to do really. Latest 'mod' was to replace the faulty pull cord power switch in the bathroom for the electric shower. Once I have the funds to replace my bedroom carpet & furniture ( most is in excess of 10 years old and very worn / ropey ), I plan to run some trunking along the skirting boards to properly hide all the power wires & ethernet cables that are currently tucked under the edge of the carpet ( which causes a nice ridge along the side of the room ). I also need to move & swap some bedroom shelves around- floating shelves look great, but the novelty wears off and they start to sag or tilt downwards after a while..
Not mine, but my best mate has recently bought a dump "renovation project" for his first house. Today I was helping insulate and plasterboard the bathroom. Most recent DIY at home was moving an IKEA wardrobe as the drawers wouldn't open with the new bed being slightly longer than the old one, and removing a cupboard door as it wouldn't open with the new wardrobe placement. Either we need a bigger flat, or my wife needs less clothes!
I am almost complete with my bathroom remodel. I stripped the bathroom down to the studs. I hired a plumber to install the new tub and shower valve, but that's only because I'm weak and couldn't physically manipulate the tub into place. I put up new walls, put down a travertine floor and ceramic tile for the tub/shower area, installed the shower head and the rest of the faucet/valve assembly,installed a new toilet, painted, installed new lights, and replaced the old outlet and wall switches. The condensate drain for the air conditioning unit ties into the drain in that bathroom, but I have a problem with excessive condensation forming on the drain line. The condensation ends up dripping behind the wall. Until I get that fixed,the bathroom will have a small hole where the sink should be. One it's fixed, I'll build the vanity and install the counter top, sinks, and faucets. My house will eventually meet building codes, one room at a time.
Re-fitting all the downstairs skirting boards, ive still got a little flooring to lay in the downstairs toilet aswell. But the list of jobs still to do is huge: tile kitchen floor/walls, underfloor heating and tiling of upstairs bathroom, fitted wardrobes for our bedroom, fitting benches/shelving in the garage. Very very slowly working my way through them.
Nice! Beats my current project line-up. I am trying to grow some of my own veg (again) this year. I have a frame to build to hold some netting (an ex trampoline safety net) up to cover the plants so they get less grief from the numerous aphids etc. It's only a 6' square patch, so am struggling for space already, when beasties eat the green stuff I get nothing. I have some old fence boards that are going to become some window box type planters. The remaining boards will become a crappy lean-to-table type thing attached to my shed. I have some planks that are to become benches to go round a 'rustic' table I made. My sons RedLine BMX needs new bearings for the headset, as soon as I can ransack donor parts. My mower engine (Briggs 'n' Scrapem) is in dire need of a service, as are the electrics (and pc) in the shed. Once the contents of said shed have been sorted I will then start to brew some beer.
I've been working on a blutooth controlled, pedal assist, electric bike for the last few months. I nearly completed it 2 weeks ago and easily reached 20mph (35kmh) during a short ride. But I had rushed it and left off the power regulation circuits. While I was only drawing a few amps of current at the high speed test, when I was riding back with a friend, I had gone slower and this resulted in a higher current draw. This fried the motor and all that remained was a bundle of copper and smelly plastic slag. Assuming my replacement motor comes in next week, I'll be able to get it fully functional next weekend and post a completed log.
I'm converting a closet into a small pantry, and then there's the ever on-going project of getting my workshed into usable condition.
Gah, where to start. I'm always working on something. Small or large, I always have several projects going at once. - Toyota Valve cover refurb - Still some electrical work to finish in the workshop - Still some networking to finish in the house - Refurbishing my old compressor - Building two CF framed RC heli's - Building a CF chassis RC car - Building a plastic monocoque RC car - Arduino "stuff" - Rack mounted F@H farm (on hold) - kinda PC related - GT4 project - Planning only at the moment and saving £££ During the summer, I'm going to take into restoring Dads old car trailer for him - it needs taken apart right down to the bare chassis, shot blasted and powdercoated, then bolted and welded back together. It needs new boards on the sides and a new floor with metal sheeting bolted over the top. I'll give the electrics some attention whilst it's apart as well, and make sure the running gear is all ok. I think it'll need a new set of wheels or at least the old ones shot blasted and painted. It's pretty old and has seen thousands of miles of road use and done some pretty heavy hauling over the years, but it's a brilliant little trailer and there's life in it yet. Just like the old compressor, I don't want to see it rust away to the point of no return when all it needs is some TLC to give it a new lease of life Also on the cards for the next week is a full service for my car. I'm going to buy oil, brake pads and filters for it today. I already had the tires done on Saturday morning. Now rolling on brand new Michelin rubber... Should do me another 25K
Latest Project is the downstairs cloakroom. Had to knock down and rebuild the external wall (a filled-in doorway), as the brickwork looked like it was done by a 5-year-old. While doing that, I had to take the fanlight window, and turn it from being horizontal to vertical, as I wanted the bolier moved from the kitchen into the cloakroom, and apprently you need 300mm between the flue output and any opening window. I plasterboarded the sides of the room as they were not flat by any stretch of the imagination, then tiled it with white wibbly-surface tiles, a 4" coloured glass mosaic border and black slate tiles for the floor (the ones that have had the surface smoothed) White grout on the walls, charcoal for the floor. I then put in a tiny sink, and loo. Remaining to do: Architrave and a ceiling, with 12v downlighters.
I really really want to make a sound dampening box for my projector, its annoyingly loud. I'd like to use a central metal interior, then a foam dampening layer, followed by an acrylic shell. Also, it would have to be adjustable. Hmm, gotta put some thought into this.
DIY list at the moment stands at 4 balconies to build, resurface one completely (concrete), finish 2 attic rooms, one storage room, shelving for the living room (custom fit), shelving for the office/study (custom), then the living space in the shed, the shed itself (electrics, machines, lighting, insulation, waterproofing), two new woodsheds needed, the sauna needs to be re-treated and the grillhouse..... It's going to be a busy summer. Hoping that I can get a few of my mates from Dublin down as a work crew for a week and be able to get most of these things done in a week and have a celebratory BBQ at the end of it all
1. Finish my FM transmitter circuit (so we can play tunes on the kitchen radio which has no aux input) 2. Get my room sorted out and cover up a few holes in the wall i made this weekend in my drunken rage. There are holes in the wooden garden fence too 3. Fix up some of the old wiring in the house and make it safe for my b**ch ex girlfriend
Been doing DIY at my girlfriends house. Currently need to plaster a door i boarded up with plasterboard. And then strip out her conservatory. Removing the kitchen surface/cupboard and paint the panels and fit some shelving. Then to lay laminate flooring and refit the surface and cupboard. Then i have skirting to fit in the kitchen. Paneling to fit and also strip wallpaper too. Paint it all and then fit more laminate flooring.
Rebuild a fence its a silly slanted one so from scratch by hand. Plant the beg I've started the seedlings off so just the last of the soil keep to do Rebuild the push bike Complete engine overhaul timing chain water pump gaskets re honing valves etc Finish the car audio I've more sound proofing to do then rebuild my amp rack, braid and secure all the cables, fibreglass pods in the a pillars for the tweeters and build a custom crossover for them. All This bar the engine before may :S
I'm currently in the process of getting components to build my own Fan/Led controller. I like "beastly" fans very much, "normal" fans just don't cut it for me... I prefer fans in the 200+ CFM range and my favorites are the metal framed ones... Just so that you get an idea... I run one the fans below on my daily driver. And I run one of these on my "testing" bench... As far as I know the highest rated fan controller out there now is at 50W per channel and even one of those would not be able to handle either of them fans (Top one is 48W nominal and 60W+ statrup... Bottom one is 60W nominal and 70W+ startup). The good thing is that these fans are PWM capable so I don't have to use normal "resistive" controllers to handle them. My project started as "Let's make a PWM controller for these fans".... I've done that as you can see in the videos. And then I got to thinking and decided that I wanted a PWM version of the Lamptron FC5V2. I suggested that to Lamptron and after a few months it became obvious to me that if I want something like that I'm going to have to make it myself. So my new DYI project is a PWM Fan controller with 4 channels for fans, to that I wanted to add an LCD display to show RPM/Duty Cycle/Temps/Etc and that immediately brought Arduino into the project, but once Arduino is part of the project; why not add more stuff to it? A friend from another board has started a very similar project; he plans on controlling his fans and pump with it. Here's a video of his progress so far. My plan is to do something quite similar, but with a larger LCD (possibly RGB or OLED if I can find one that works with Serial interface at an affordable price).
