The Do-it-Yourself Thread: A Home for Handymen and Artisans - General

[QUOTE=woolio1;38876581]Well, if it isn't the G-man himself, pardon the cheap attempt at a lame joke. Anyway, why not build one anyway? Worst case scenario, you've got a huge stone table you can sell for quite a bit.[/QUOTE] Surely the worst case is you end up with a concretey mess and a waste of time?

[QUOTE=metallics;38876810]Surely the worst case is you end up with a concretey mess and a waste of time?[/QUOTE] True...

[QUOTE=garry;38876562]I kind of want to make a polished concrete worktop. But I don't need one.[/QUOTE] Wouldn't be out much but time if you tried, beautiful thing is the stuff is cheap. That cast concrete table of mine cost me around $30 in materials besides the plywood I used to create the mold. I've got a design in the works that uses a polished concrete slab, looking forward to working with concrete again.

God fucking DAMN, you're so cool! I want to be you.

My god, stop sucking Ajacks dick.

I can't help it, he's too fucking cool. [editline]18th December 2012[/editline] I'll suck yours if you're getting jealous though <3

Anyone here familiar with Polycarbonate? I'm trying to form a visor with some 1/8" thick leftover polycarbonate I have laying around in my workshop. I know the glass transistion temperature is 147 Celsius (According to Wikipedia), however I had reformed friend's visor (He's going as MGS Raiden for a con) and we were able to form it at ~121 Celsius (250 F). Any tips for thermoforming? Temperatures?

[QUOTE=garry;38876562]I kind of want to make a polished concrete worktop. But I don't need one.[/QUOTE] Then again you didn't need an ant farm, but you should do it anyways.

[QUOTE=metallics;38876518]Yeah, it's MDF with a wood-effect vynl over the top for the frame, but the slats which actually support the mattress are usually a cheap pine. I've found generally they're rather easy to break though (I've broken/seen broken 3 in the past few years). As long as you load the MDF correctly it'll make a fine frame, like in your example make sure the downward force is going to be through the thickest MDF and make sure if you're going for the slat approach you use good thick timber or it'll just snap.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the tips, man. Cleared some things up for me!

I superglued a rubber duck to the wall after getting drunk last night. Best. Improvement. [B]EVER[/B]

[QUOTE=garry;38876562]I kind of want to make a polished concrete worktop. But I don't need one.[/QUOTE] Everyone needs a polished concrete worktop! [editline]19th December 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Ajacks;38878144]Wouldn't be out much but time if you tried, beautiful thing is the stuff is cheap. That cast concrete table of mine cost me around $30 in materials besides the plywood I used to create the mold. I've got a design in the works that uses a polished concrete slab, looking forward to working with concrete again.[/QUOTE] When you did yours, did you color the concrete? Polished concrete is [I]very[/I] popular out here in the Southwest, and they always color it when they put it down but I'm still not sure whether I like it colored or not.

[QUOTE=~ZOMG;3887943I]'ll suck yours if you're getting jealous though <3[/QUOTE] Now we're talking.

I want to mount my monitors on a horizontal pole across my desk.. [img]http://puu.sh/1CM4Q[/img] Are these poles just every day poles from anywhere? I'm looking online and can't really find anything to order.

Any reason you want them straight like that? Doesn't that make it harder to work compared to if you had a focal point to focus on?

My parents need a new counter-top and I have always wanted to try and make one out of polished concrete for them. There is a bit of counter in between our stove and the wall about 20" wide that I want to start with just to see how it looks, what is the best way to go about doing that?

[QUOTE=garry;38892347]I want to mount my monitors on a horizontal pole across my desk.. [IMG]http://puu.sh/1CM4Q[/IMG] Are these poles just every day poles from anywhere? I'm looking online and can't really find anything to order.[/QUOTE] You could go two routes if you wanted to make it yourself, use normal threaded steel pipe and pipe brackets brackets but from personal experience that would be a poor choice and you would have a hard time preventing the pipe from torquing with the monitors attached and it they might just cause the pipe to rotate in its threaded wall brackets. If it were me, and I wanted to do this, I would simple use normal steel pipe (from any hardware store) and drill a hole through each end and run a bolt through a an anchored wall bracket, this would support the pipe and prevent it from being able to rotate with the displays attached. I through together a model to illustrate what I would do. [IMG]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/pipe.png?t=1355946670[/IMG] Also I would just make the wall bracket out of 2" thick wood, something simple and easy to work with, and you could simply make a perfect square of 2" thick wood, drill a hole the diameter of the pipe through the center, drill your mounting holes on each corner, lob off the corners like in the render and then cut the whole square in half, leaving you two identical brackets.

What is the point of a washer? In general, I mean, not for that specific design.

As far as I know it's mostly there to make the area of the force caused by the bolt to be increased.

[QUOTE=~ZOMG;38894377]What is the point of a washer? In general, I mean, not for that specific design.[/QUOTE] To allow the pressure of the bolt to be more evenly spread across the surface, on a round pipe it's not really needed, but on the bottom bracket, being made out of wood if you tightened the nut to much without a washer it would start embedding in the wood, the washer prevents that.

What I do know is you should always use them if possible. [editline]asd[/editline] My merge :( Oh, they're not needed if the bolt has a "skirt"

A skirt?

Restoring an old 1940's Goodform office chair today as a christmas present for my girl, I can never understand why I always end up racing to get my first few coats of paint on before the sun goes down, I never seem to have enough time. I need a spray booth... On the chair, I'll have pictures soon, I dissasembled the chair, sandblasted all the steel metal bits (seat mechanism and 'core' of the chair), sewed a new cushion for the seat pan and reupholstered the backrest and set about polishing the brushed aluminum base to a full mirror shine. Here is a picture of the same model chair in the same condition as the one I got for her, somehow I managed not to take any pictures of it pre-breakdown. [IMG]http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5883868/il_570xN.292445602.jpg[/IMG] I got it for $2 at a thrift shop, they are worth in raw condition around $100 easy, and restored much much more. It's got the coolest and most heavy duty mechanism for adjustments that I've ever seen on a chair, the 'core' weighs about 15 pounds easily, also on my chair I've got really nice polished period ball casters to replace the cheap little casters. [img]http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/5883868/il_570xN.292310835.jpg[/img] I'll have pictures of my chair finished in the next day or so.

I love old chairs like those, they're built so much more solidly than those they make today.

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;38901695]I love old chairs like those, they're built so much more solidly than those they make today.[/QUOTE] Indeed. I'm using a standard office chair now because my adjustable chairs would deflate themselves when anyone over a hundred would sit on them.

Installed my first CF piece. You can tell the difference between the real stuff and fake CF vinyl (around the switches). Next is to finish the carbonification, and replace all the blue/red with that. [IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/serj22/PS3/CAM00070.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;38901695]I love old chairs like those, they're built so much more solidly than those they make today.[/QUOTE] Unfortunate thing is that they are small, meant for small people at low desks. I'd love to see the mechanisms taken from a chair like that and crafted into a taller more conventional chair today.

[QUOTE=Serj22;38902214]Installed my first CF piece. You can tell the difference between the real stuff and fake CF vinyl (around the switches). Next is to finish the carbonification, and replace all the blue/red with that. [t]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/serj22/PS3/CAM00070.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] It's really not my kind of look but I gotta give you respect for the work, well done. Your piece looks better than the original.

[QUOTE=Killuah;38916280]It's really not my kind of look but I gotta give you respect for the work, well done. Your piece looks better than the original.[/QUOTE] Appreciated. Originally the pieces were silver (from the factory) then I changed all the silver to red, now I think CF is a nice (not so visually-loud) option. Plus, I intend to sell the car in next February. So I want to make it appealing (since it is not) visually. Once I master it on these pieces I plan to start fresh on the next car. I tend to only keep them for about 2 years then I get bored of modifying them.

What kind of car is it?

[QUOTE=Ajacks;38917030]What kind of car is it?[/QUOTE] 2004 Pontiac Vibe 5 speed manual Raked down front end (looks like it's leaning forward) Cold air intake, custom subwoofer setup, hidden amp, racing wheel, Hurst short throw shifter, Celica "hot 4" engine swap. And some other stuff, don't remember, like I said - bored. [IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/serj22/Newest%20stuff/IMG_20120214_131908.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/serj22/P1000112.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/serj22/P1000115.jpg[/IMG] and like I said, I'm changing all the red to carbon fiber to be a bit more broadly appealing. My cars are always DIY as well...