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

Yeah, I wouldn't trust black gas pipe either.

[QUOTE=nox;46606043]That threaded black plumbing stuff you get at hardware stores is some pretty mild steel, I've sawn through it with hacksaws. I'd be extremely careful.[/QUOTE] Being hack-sawable is only a measure of hardness, not of tensile strength. You can't draw any meaningful conclusions about it's durability based only on that.

Pipe gun update... I took it to my local outdoor gun club. I was pleasantly surprised that they allowed me to shoot something so questionable as far as structural integrity goes. Anyway, I have fired over 100 shells through it and have not noticed anything that requires attention. The barrel looks good and so does the receiver and firing pin. I found these shells lying around yesterday and I am curious to see how much recoil and power they will produce. My goal is to find something that has a good balance of power and not that much recoil. The target loads that I was firing at the range were very mild in recoil and had decent power. [IMG]http://i60.tinypic.com/105r145.jpg[/IMG]

Just some advise that you most likely already know, target shotgun loads are very weak compared to magnum or slugs. I'd be weary. All black pipe steel home made shotguns say to only use target loads from what I've seen. Just for your reference a standard 12 gauge shell is around 11,500 PSI MAP pressure in the barrel, where as a 3 1/2" 12 gauge shell produces 14,000 PSI MAP pressure, or a 22% increase.

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46614908]Just some advise that you most likely already know, target shotgun loads are very weak compared to magnum or slugs. I'd be weary. All black pipe steel home made shotguns say to only use target loads from what I've seen. Just for your reference a standard 12 gauge shell is around 11,500 PSI MAP pressure in the barrel, where as a 3 1/2" 12 gauge shell produces 14,000 PSI MAP pressure, or a 22% increase.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the info, I didn't know that. The shell next to the left of the slug in the picture was a target load and there was almost no recoil at all but it was equally as loud. I have fired one of the green shells before and they produce some pretty good recoil because they are magnums. The 3 on the left are magnum turkey loads, of which I am a little bit nervous to try... But I agree, the bigger the payload, the more pressure present in the barrel.

Just for those interested. I was watching Tested with Adam savage and they were talking tools and the best brands in their experience and things that you shouldn't cheap out on as well as simply useful tools. Here's a list of some of the items they talked about. I've got some serious tool envy now. Klien Wire Strippers Bondhus Allen Wrenches Knipex Pliers and Dykes Fluke Multimeter Stanley Powerlock Tape Measures Incra Miterguide Eneloop batteries Starrett Automatic Center Punch Offset screw drivers Tweezerman Tweezers

My Dad had a set of Knipex pliers and cutters when he worked for BT about 20 odd years ago. They're still as sharp and accurate as the day he used them. Now they belong to me ;) Speaking of tools, one thing I personally couldn't live without is a combination square. Especially if you're doing a lot of wood working such as finger joints or if you're marking out a lot of mortise and tenon joints.

My experience with knipex wire cutters is not entirely positive. I bought the [url="http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&parentID=1367&groupID=1483&artID=2780"]78 61 125 model electronics side cutter[/url] for about €30. They're still sharp and the alignment is still near perfect but some use on mild steel wire has caused slight wear and a noticeable reduction in sharpness. This is quite dissapointing as the specific model I bought is supposed to be a higher grade steel than otherwise and should hold up better to wear. All in all I've grown to dislike the knipex style of stamped sheet metal construction ever since I bought a [url="http://extranet.snaeurope.com/picture.aspx?filename=sba_4130_wo_c"]Bahco 4131 side cutter[/url]. The Bahco is made with a milled casting construction which gives much greater rigidity, even though the hardness of the steel is no better than the knipex it's still a generally a better tool in my opinion. Either way you can't really go wrong, but I would prefer a bahco or lindström side cutter over a knipex any day.

As far as screwdrivers/allen keys go, [URL="http://www.pbswisstools.com/en/quality-hand-tools-qht.html"]PB Swiss [/URL]is my brand of choice. Lifetime warranty and great quality. Knipex tools aren't what they used to be. I've been really happy with a pair of Stanley cutters I got about a year ago.

I've never really put much stock in getting expensive screwdrivers, I've used good quality screwdrivers in the past and I've never felt that the price difference is quite worth it. A comfortable grip is really the most important in my opinion and there are enough wera rip-offs on the market to accommodate that at a comfortable price. The only hand tools so far that I've put real money into have moving parts and/or sharp edges. With side cutters or pliers there's a world of difference between cheap and not cheap, mostly either due to how well they hold their sharpness or due to the mechanical alignment/tolerance between the moving parts. I would easily drop €30/$40 for a good pair of needle nose pliers whereas I would hesitate to spend more than a few dollars for a screwdriver.

Did a little soldering something [t]http://i.imgur.com/FWQUU5i.jpg[/t]

[QUOTE=Squerl101;46621388]Thanks for the info, I didn't know that. The shell next to the left of the slug in the picture was a target load and there was almost no recoil at all but it was equally as loud. I have fired one of the green shells before and they produce some pretty good recoil because they are magnums. The 3 on the left are magnum turkey loads, of which I am a little bit nervous to try... But I agree, the bigger the payload, the more pressure present in the barrel.[/QUOTE] It's equally loud because loudness is logarithmic and thus 22% is not a lot for noise but still quite a bit for energy.

[IMG]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/wootz_zps8ce4c52f.jpg[/IMG] That wonderful moment when you bring a dead TV back to life. This one had to have inverterboard repairs. Now I'm swimming in Samsung 32's, I've got three now. Ignore the dirt, they've been in storage for a year. Now I'm tempted to make a janky ass triple screen setup with that $5 racing seat I built. [editline]7th December 2014[/editline] Kept the winning streak going and just opened up a Polaroid from Goodwill that didn't turn on, replaced some caps and got it running! Despite being an old early gen LCD, it's very pretty and extremely clean. No idea what to do with it though. [img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/polar_zps8d09c873.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46661066] Kept the winning streak going and just opened up a Polaroid from Goodwill that didn't turn on, replaced some caps and got it running! Despite being an old early gen LCD, it's very pretty and extremely clean. No idea what to do with it though. [img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/polar_zps8d09c873.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I have brought back about 4 that had this same issue - the two smoothing caps in the power supply. The unfortunate side is radioshack doesn't sell the appliance quality ones so i always have to order them. I got a 47" this way out of the dumpster. Then after two years it broke and had some other issues that i didn't want to bother with so I put it back in the same dumpster. The TV in my bedroom is currecntly a reanimation that I also got out of a electronics recycling bin.

I'm not sure if this is the right section, but I need some advice. My bedroom's an open space, as in there's stairs leading up to it, but the wall right next to the stairs doesn't completely run up to the ceiling, it stops in the middle, so when standing on the stairs you can easily look into my room. I haven't got a door either. Now, I enjoy playing with my friends late at night and apparently when I talk, the sound travels down to my parents' room. My computer and television are right in front of the half-wall and there isn't a lot of space to put anything up. What would be my best bet to possibly block or at least reduce the sound from travelling downstairs? Would acoustic foam work? Sorry for the rubbish description by the way, if needed I could take pictures.

[QUOTE=Flumbooze;46669035]I'm not sure if this is the right section, but I need some advice. My bedroom's an open space, as in there's stairs leading up to it, but the wall right next to the stairs doesn't completely run up to the ceiling, it stops in the middle, so when standing on the stairs you can easily look into my room. I haven't got a door either. Now, I enjoy playing with my friends late at night and apparently when I talk, the sound travels down to my parents' room. My computer and television are right in front of the half-wall and there isn't a lot of space to put anything up. What would be my best bet to possibly block or at least reduce the sound from travelling downstairs? Would acoustic foam work? Sorry for the rubbish description by the way, if needed I could take pictures.[/QUOTE] The only easy solution I could think about would be some kind of heavy drapes that you could use to cover the space.

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46669106]The only easy solution I could think about would be some kind of heavy drapes that you could use to cover the space.[/QUOTE] I'm going to second this. Heavy curtains really do help block sound.

I'm going to try that then, hopefulyl I'll find some cheap ones somewhere.

Heavy curtains could work, but in my experience when I had room-mates they didn't work well. The next room over two of the people living with me (6 guys in a 6 bedroom house) would lay on the couches in the downstairs living room, do mushrooms or extacy and then listen to dubstep on a really expensive sound system from 8pm till they fell asleep, and they'd just leave it dark. I'd wait till they were asleep and walk out and turn it off. But let me tell you, I had curtains, and a door - did no good, it was just as loud. What you're dealing with is a pony wall, and stairs, and no matter how you cover it, the sound will still travel through the empty space by the stair entry. Your best bet is to make some traps, by putting a thick throw rug under anywhere where there's a speaker, and build yourself a bass trap for the ceiling - that should muffle your voices a bit from outside rooms. Remember also that bass travels downwards, and corners make it stronger - so pull any sound making device away from a corner for best results. Then do the "crawl" for bass. Turn a subwoofer on, or music with deep bass on regular speakers. Crawl around on the floor till you hear that the music sounds better. Put an object in that spot that is dense - like a coffee table. You can go backwards with this and put a subwoofer in the spot, but that will make it the loudest it can possibly be. After you make a bass trap, consider making some frames for the room with foam in them, then wrap with fabric. [IMG]https://static.gearslutz.com/board/imgext.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.primecutstudio.com%2Fphotos%2Fbasstraps6.jpg&h=873393c3e0c8f9056eecb1372fdcea35[/IMG] I built bass traps into the room where they played music and it dropped the reverberation through the wall substantially - enough that I could sleep. Look into it. Putting one above the staircase and behind anything that makes sound will be a good idea.

It is (mostly) just my own voice that is too loud though, would bass traps still work then? And foam doesn't sound too bad!

[QUOTE=Flumbooze;46675092]It is (mostly) just my own voice that is too loud though, would bass traps still work then? And foam doesn't sound too bad![/QUOTE] Yup, it's the bass when you speak that transfers through walls mostly. Higher pitched sounds tend to move through the empty space. Besides getting a door and wall built on top of the stairs, I'd say it's your best option, besides putting another layer of sheetrock over your parents' wall.

[img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/mr_plinth_2_zps2042839e.jpg[/img] Mr.Plinth, that's my name, that name again is Mr.Plinth! It's not done, It needs feet, glued together and all the internal pieces that the turntable floats on. But I'm happy with how it's looking. It will look geogeous with a coat of poly. On a related note, I hate my table saw with a passion. It doesn't have the power to cut through this Cherry very well and I'm having burning problems with a good blade. Not much longer till I get a nice Grizzly cabinet saw. Also this Cherry was salvaged from a failed sculpture that I had gathering dust in my attic, putting it to good use finally.

[img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/ajackss/glued_zps3c2c6567.jpg[/img] Getting there, haven't glued it up yet, just working on all the internal supports. My 1" drill bit needs replaced or sharpened (better yet I need forstner bits) but it'll do the job since they are going to be hidden anyways.

Speaking of turntables, I've been looking for one lately. [URL="https://knoxville.craigslist.org/ele/4799270617.html"]What do you think about this[/URL], and how far should I try to talk him down if it's worth buying?

If you don't have a good turntable that's a perfectly good choice. It's a nice table, the arm could be more sophisticated and you should find out what needle it has, and if it's running well. I'd say see if he'd take $60, but $75 is a good price, I've seen that model sell upwards of $120 before, but averaging in the 90's plus shipping. Is it local to you?

[QUOTE=woolio1;46687515]Speaking of turntables, I've been looking for one lately. [URL="https://knoxville.craigslist.org/ele/4799270617.html"]What do you think about this[/URL], and how far should I try to talk him down if it's worth buying?[/QUOTE] I have one of them. Pretty nice system for just general use but I didn't pay anything for mine so I don't know how price sits with it.

Ordered some beakers, glass stirrers, and 2.5L of Nitric Acid. Sitting next to me is a small box with a moderate number of certain pieces removed from certain high-current HVAC relays. What could I possibly be planning?

[QUOTE=Ajacks;46688129]If you don't have a good turntable that's a perfectly good choice. It's a nice table, the arm could be more sophisticated and you should find out what needle it has, and if it's running well. I'd say see if he'd take $60, but $75 is a good price, I've seen that model sell upwards of $120 before, but averaging in the 90's plus shipping. Is it local to you?[/QUOTE] Yeah, that's uptown, about half an hour away. I guess I'll figure out how it runs. [editline]11th December 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Zero-Point;46688642]Ordered some beakers, glass stirrers, and 2.5L of Nitric Acid. Sitting next to me is a small box with a moderate number of certain pieces removed from certain high-current HVAC relays. What could I possibly be planning?[/QUOTE] Oh my God JC, it's a bomb!

I've been spraypainting a guitar and I get a bit of the "orange peel" effect where the surface isn't massively smooth. It feels ok to the touch and looks fine, but when it catches the light you can see it. I'm going to be doing clear coats over the top so I'm wondering if it needs to be perfectly smoothed or not - if it's just the reflections of light that make it obvious, will a decently smooth clear coat over the top fix the issue without further sanding?

[QUOTE=chaz13;46690816]I've been spraypainting a guitar and I get a bit of the "orange peel" effect where the surface isn't massively smooth. It feels ok to the touch and looks fine, but when it catches the light you can see it. I'm going to be doing clear coats over the top so I'm wondering if it needs to be perfectly smoothed or not - if it's just the reflections of light that make it obvious, will a decently smooth clear coat over the top fix the issue without further sanding?[/QUOTE] Most orange peel with spray paint is the result coats that are to heavy or holding the can too far away from the surface. Clear coat won't hide the orange peel. If I were you and it was critical that it was smooth I'd just sand it down a bit and try recoating it, and seeing if you can get rid of the orange peel. [editline]11th December 2014[/editline] [video=youtube;QWiqr-lwYA0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWiqr-lwYA0&list=UUiDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOA[/video] For anyone interested, Tested just put out a video today, 'Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Barbarella's Space Rifle' which I'm about 10 minutes into and it's definitely entertaining. A look inside Adam's workshop is always a good watch. Also, damn that awesome dude for wearing his Omega while working, my watch comes off at the first sign of danger.