Tinkerer's Thoughts

My first attempt at cutting the body template was a bust. I used a forstner bit to remove material about half an inch to the body outline. Then I thought I could could use a sanding drum for a Dremel in a drill press to shape the template. The dremel drum could only remove very little material at a time, so I gave up on that idea. I do not have a bandsaw nor a scroll saw. I also do not have the funds right now to get one. I found an old coping saw in my wife's grandpa's tool shed. Unfortunately, its rusted beyond belief and the blade needs replacing. I used the saw anyway but cutting through 1/2" MDF with an old rusted and dull saw just was not happening. I will have to get a new saw. Luckily, there is a 1/4" MDF board laying around that I can use to make a template out of. Cutting through the 1/4" board should be much easier than the original 1/2" board. Then maybe I can use this template to cut out the 1/2" board with a router. With the body o...

Why build one? Why not? My quest to build my own solid body ukulele was inspired by How to Build a Stratocaster Style Guitar "The Hard Way" and the many awesome DIY quilted maple guitars. I eventually want to build a quilted maple top Les Paul and figured why not start with something cheap and small, hence a ukulele. My plan is to make an 18" tenor sized Les Paul solid body ukulele.  I actually started this project before building the Stewart MacDonald Tenor Ukulele Kit . I put the solid body project on hold to build the kit. I have come to a point where I can't do much on the kit since the finish needs to cure so why not pick up where I left off on the solid body. For wood, I didn't feel like forking over $$$ for wood blanks. I like the look of guitars that have the stringer look so I thought why not just glue up 1x2's of mahogany and douglas fir. I know this is not the best method or even the best wood but these woods were readily available from th...

Shishi Toilet?!? Shishi Toilet? Shishi doo doo? OMG! Potty training is tough. Shishi is the Japanese American word for urine. We asked our daughter that every 15minutes when we first really started potty training. That didn't work out so great, we realized we just had to take her and let her sit. Over the course of several weeks, she could finally tell us when she needed to go. My wife got tired of lifting her onto the toilet and asked me to make a stepping stool. I was more than happy to oblige. I had old 1"x12"x4" pine boards laying around. I wanted the stool to be as simple as possible with just those boards. So here is an easy stool with just two 1"x12"x4" pine boards. My boards weren't nice looking so I covered the stool with wallpaper. Table of Contents Summary Materials Tools Plans Assembly Summary Simple, quick, cheap and easy stepping stool. The stool can be built in just a few hours. I'm not sure of the cost becaus...

My wife is back to attempting to complete the Insanity Workout to get back into shape after giving birth. I'll occasionally join her if I haven't already exercised during my lunch break. Her friend mentioned that there is also an Insanity Asylum workout . I looked that up and saw that an agility ladder is used. I occasionally play ultimate frisbee, but I suck. I'm not fast and need to work on speed. The agility ladder would be a great help to increase speed. I like to make things and need to sprint faster so a DIY agility ladder just makes sense. Cost wise, I think its cheaper to make one depending on the materials you use. There are many tutorials out there that use a variety of materials ( duct tape , pvc pipes , and rope just to name a few). Here is my take on a DIY agility ladder. Table of Contents Summary Getting Ready Materials Tools Lattice Cutting Hole Drilling Assembly Extra Summary Project: Agility Ladders (His & Hers) Project ...

When my wife got her canoe, there were only a few instructions on the net for building stands. There were many pictures of PVC canoe stands but not much, if any, detailed instructions on making them. Here is my shot at a detailed tutorial (this was also on a site that is no more that I had awhile back). Table of Contents Summary Getting Ready Materials Tools Pipe Cutting Hole Drilling Assembly Finishing Touches Summary Project: Canoe stands x 2 Project Time: About 3 hours Material Cost: Around $45 Easy to make canoe stands made out of PVC pipes. These stands have rope padding in place of the standard foam padding I have seen. Personally, I think the rope looks better than foam. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if your stand fails to do its job or if you get hurt making the stands. I am writing this because seems like every project has a disclaimer because someone somehow screws up. Getting Ready Materials The following items were purchased ...