EZ Kitchen Cabinets

If you really need kitchen cabinets but cannot afford them or do not know how to make them , here is a simple, cheap and effective way to accomplish that goal. 

When I removed the original cabinets in the kitchen I was shocked. It was nothing more then a bunch of supports nailed into the walls that supported the drawers and shelves attached to the walls then a facer board put over it . Simple yet served purpose for many years. Here is what we did to duplicate this simple , cheap and effective  cabinet making. 

As you can see form the photos it is basically stained and polyed board fastened to the studs with metal brackets.  Then a facer board and doors put in place. It works well 

Tyhe upright s support the top. This side is til in process of being completed.. 

                               This side we already have facer board and doors on 

Food: Homemade yogurt from powder milk Part 2

Checked on the yogurt at about 12: 30 PM.. Poured it out into a bowl and its kind of thin.  That of course cooled it off, so I had to heat a bit of it up and pour it back in and stirred it up to mix. Checked the temp. Everything is back on track.

It  taste like yogurt and would be fine. I just want it a bit thicker. Right now its about the same consistency as canned tomato soup after you add water only with thicker chunks. Speaking of temperature control When I was mixing it all together it seemed like a lot of bother to do the add some hot then add some cold water to get it the right temperature so I just heated the water up to the 110- 120 degree range and poured it in. Once it got just short of being at  the point of not adding more I checked the temp. It was a bit hot so I added a bit of cool water until it was right, then added the yogurt. 

Saw Dust Factory : Rudder page 4 The Fiberglass Jig Continued

Last pic was  one side of the rudder boards being in place in the jig for the first dry fit.   I need to mention that I used two pieces of paper on this to intentionally have a lot of over lap between the jig and the adhesive, as well as over lap on top.  Also note, I put the shiny side up.

  If you are using most types of polyester you HAVE TO BLOCK AIR  OR IT WILL NOT CURE!!!!!       

MAKE  ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU RESEARCH , READ AND UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH ANY PRODUCT YOU PURCHASE  BEFORE YOU START YOUR PROJECT.  Online tutorials, youtube how to videos,  any other how to video I could find online and calling the manufacturer of the product are how I learned what I needed to know.  Look at as many sources as you can find. You will get differing opinions and methods. That is  good thing. It will help you figure out  what will work best for you and what your comfortable with.  What one video don't cover many times is covered in a different one. 

When you can visualize  the steps involved of what your going to do and how you are going to do it, and don't have any worries of doing it the way you have in mind because you have done your  home work,  you are probably ready to make your materials list and start collecting what you need.

 
I have been doing my own honey do's for over 20 years. Even those of us who have experience can make mistakes that, if not corrected in time, can  waste materials.   Now I did not intentionally mess this up,  but its probably a good thing I did. It gives me a real good way to show how incredibly important dry fitting EVERY THING is. 

Ladies, I don't care what it is your working on. If  you are trying to put two or more pieces of ANY THING together permanently whether or not you think you may want the option to reuse those materials for something else later voluntarily DRY FIT IT before you add the adhesive!!!

This applies to any thing from wood, metal,  pipe, stone  etc.  Had I not dry fitted this gig to the rudder, the entire project would have become land fill material.

 I had to put a piece of the freezer paper, shiny side up,  under it to show the gap we had at the first fit.

As you can see, it was a significant gap that had the potential to  throw the alignment of the entire project off .

That one  gap spread several inches down the rudder.

  
Moral of this? NEVER , EVER,  NEGLECT THE DRY FIT STEP OF ANY PROJECT!!!!!!!





Now back to progress.



This is a dry run but the instructions are for what I will do after I apply the  polyester to the boards.  The reason for the paper is so it will NOT stick to the jig.  When I do it for real with the polyester in place I will use some cheap tape to tape the seams close.


 

Put a piece of your per SHINY SIDE DOWN on the area not already covered. Over lap is a GOOD THING!

 

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Take the  freezer paper or what ever you are using  from under neath and fold it  around the ends and  over  the top side of the boards.  Remember to use something that will NOT stick to the adhesive. Plain old fashioned wax paper is good.   Ladies this is one of those things where skills you know you have come in real handy.  Just do not waste time trying to get it picture perfect. You cannot reasonably expect it to look as nice as a regular box that you wrap. Your paper will have wrinkles from the jig you normally would not have to deal with.  Sloppy is not going to hurt it one bit, as long as you have the air blocked when using polyester. 

Make sure it covers the ends if you have any joints so air does not get in and prevent cure.

Finish it up like a present

I added another layer of paper on top  for extra security.  I don't want the paper under neath to slip.

Add the end piece to the jig and repeat on other end.

All boards ready to be screwed into place to let it cure. Remember if you use Polyester, it  needs to not have air on it to cure properly. 

In The Back of My Mind

In the back of my mind, I keep thinking a person can use this same technic to make a blue water worthy cat.   I'm planning on doing hull number 2 from the out side in. This plan is doable for a smaller boats. In Oklahoma any thing HAS to be licensed. In other states such as Texas if you run a 14 foot or less  boat it does not have to be registered.  My original idea was a cloth or fiber glass hull covering and it would work.

For the second hull, since I have decided to go with the wood hull and since I will have the dimensions figured out for that from covering this hull, I am going to simply build the hull and fill it in with the recycled  bottles and Styrofoam, then fill in the  small voids between bottle and foam  with the canned foam to hold it all together.  It also eliminates the original 3/4 " PVC frame used in hull #1.

In a blue water boat, my thought is find a basic wood or fiber glass hull design that accommodates this much flotation and fill the portion you want to fill as float with the same materials. An alternate idea is simply line the hulls with a layer of the recycled materials and cover it with perhaps wood or fiberglass.
If a person did not want to go that route, making this same pattern thicker in circumference should work although I have no idea of what to suggest as far as measurements go. For that information I would look to see what other proven designs do and emulate that.
Happy Sailing

ATTENTION ALL LADIES!!!!!!! and other news about The Toy

While cruising the sporting good section I came across something that had me smiling so hard I thought my face would crack and it is JUST for girls!!!!!!

ALL I am going to say is click on the link and look for your self and remember, out of all the male recovered man over board victims many of the men had their fly open so DO NOT use this at the stern!!!!!!!!

The Toy is progressing. I am making final decisions on the wood covering of hull 1. After I figure out exactly how deep I want to make this and how I am going to adjust things, I'll post an update.

A Puzzle

Wow, I just noticed  it has been almost two weeks since I posted any thing. It has been that busy around here. In between BOOTS last month and going to Lake Eufaula this month, there has not been a lot of time to work on The Toy lately. The good news is progress has been slow but sure and we are ready to do a float test. Now what with her being made of foam and bottles, I am not the least bit worried that she won't float. I want to know where the water line is going to be for sure with  the  comparatively light load of only two or three adults on her before I say the bare boned first hull is finished and ready for the temporary  "final" cover of being fitted with the heavy duty tarp I broke down and got this month.
She is not as light as I had hoped , but she can be moved by two people as the guys and I can all three attest to. Taking her to get the weight of this first hull is definitely on the agenda. It has been getting a lot cooler so I moved her into the house to work on her again, It like like moving a 18 ft long and very skinny couch,. but it is doable. I was hoping one 10 ' x 20 ' heavy duty tarp would do but the circumference is just a bit to wide so, in between the left overs from the new tarp and the other I had purchased,  we will have plenty of tarp left over to make sails while we are experimenting with what we like before we spend the money on "real" sails.
Oh, before I forget, Eufaula was a bust as far as me getting any sailing done, but I did learn a lot. about Puddle ducks, sail size etc.
 
The junq rig sail that I was given is about 5x 16 so I am thinking that it is about right for The Toy but plan on keeping it reefed to about 50 square foot as a normal thing  for general practice while I am learning.
For the purpose of experimenting I  am using 1 1/2 inch PVC for a temporary mast and 1 1/4 inch for booms while I figure out how to get this sail rigged.  Needless to say it is going to be a FLAT WATER ONLY boat until I get different materials or am satisfied that the PVC can handle the stress. . (The guys are talking about building PD racers so I'm  thinking about letting them have the wood I bought a while back for mast. Two end to end with lap joints make just about the right size for a short mast to get them started with a lateen sail.) I'm thinking if the PVC is not strong enough and yes I have my questions about that, the local building supply store sales 1 5/16" round stock that fits inside the 1- 1/2 PVC quite nicely for reinforcement. I have a 20' joint of pipe.  I'm thinking  butt end two sticks of round with epoxy and water proof the wood by putting caps on the end. For convenience sake I'm thinking a screw on cap at  mast top. Yes, I am planing on using wood inserts to reinforce the PVC where hardware is attached. Found out the polyurethane idea is a complete bust but that's OK,  you live and learn.
 For the float test I have wrapped the hull up in a heavy duty tarp with duck tape. I thought about using the gorilla tape but since this is just an extremely temporary  set up just  to test water line, wasting the extra 7.00 a roll did not seem like a smart move. As soon as we get her back home all that tape is going in the trash so we can go onto the next step.

Yes it's as ugly as it can be and has more wrinkles then my great grandmothers brow.  Until I find out where the water line is I do not want to cut a brand new tarp. Once I find out if I am going to have to increase the height of the hulls and get it done on this first hull, then I'll cut the tarp to fit. Right now it is folded up on one side and looks pretty sad.
 I am planning on increasing the hulls depth  some to accommodate placing a strip of 2 x 4 length wise on top of  each hull to have something solid to fasten cleats and other items to as it becomes needed.
 
 I had the strangest thing happen at Eufaula. Someone commented that what I am doing scares them. I can't imagine why. It truly puzzles me.  The basic design is already tested on what I would imagine are millions of pontoons all over the world.  Seriously, if you look at a pontoon boat and this one, the similarities are astounding.  A pontoon usually has 2  large long rectangular pieces of square bottom foam  that are fastened to a deck with aluminum frames that go around or through the foam. This design has two long  triangular pieces of foam with the structural support going through the foam and coming up from that 4 inch PVC base to attach to the deck. 

While a pontoon is one large piece that you would not be disassembling to move,  The Toy is designed to be modular. Although the original goal of fitting on top of my car may or may not work out due to my car being a small Lumina, as it sits right now, I have been researching that issue and THINK I MAY have found the solution on instructables. It is as simple as extending the usable length of the car with a hitch extender which will work, some tie downs and a roof rack. I need to drive to Harbor freight get some parts, but that's not a problem. Until I get the parts all I have to do is take it slow the few miles out to the local lake and I'm good to go.

We finally got the hitch I bought checked. It will work I just need to get the bolts etc to install it.  I have been keeping my eye open for a light weight trailer I can modify to use but so far have not managed to get that part accomplished . Not having the hitch on puts a real cork in bringing a trailer home. LOL
The long term plan is get an extended van. The hulls will fit on top and I can set it up for long term camping. With a winch and the right rooftop rack, the hulls will go on top as slick as grease. Put a cargo extender on the hitch for the decks and other items that might not fit inside and I'll be all set up  for going where ever the sailing looks good.
 My son, who owns the digital camera, has promised he will get me the pics from BOOTS tomorrow. Here is hoping he does not get busy and  forget. I would like to see them myself.  Considering we are taking the camcorder to document the waterline test I think it will happen.


Went shopping for boat stuff. Bought a fluke anchor although I'm thinking I may want a mud anchor as well before things progress to far. Need to find out what the local lakes bottoms are for sure. Will be carrying 20 ft of 1/4 inch chain and have 75 ft of  1/4" anchor line. Yes, they are both over sized for this boat but I live in a small  town and you take what you can get. This should be more then enough for local area lakes since I am only planning on anchoring close to shore.  Got the hard ware to get the rudder(s) attached once I get it / them built. I found dock line and sheets at a really decent price at Lowe's, I think it was. Got at least part of the hardware for halyards etc. Still need to get or make cleats and more hardware. All in all, we are pretty close to being good to go on those areas.

One of the big questions is how to rig this Junk sail.  I am really leaning in favor of Junq rigs as a permanent fixture based on what I have read for ease of single handing. This particular sail was originally designed as a flat sail with curved battens.
Realizing there is this HUGE learning curve for me,  I did some searching online. It appears  the original Chinese junq sails were flat with flat battens, so I'm thinking  to go with that and see how I do at least for now.  For the purpose of learning how to rig this sail as well as play on flat water for a while. I'm thinking use some 3/4 inch PVC just to get out on the water and see if I can rig it right to actually sail. YES I plan to HUG THE SHORE LINE IN VERY LIGHT WINDS. If needed I'll insert wood doweling into the PVC for strength.

Why am I using so much PVC ? It's a LOT cheaper then wood for this stage of things and it does not need protecting from water. This means I get on the water faster.  To quote something I read online, It is about sailing not sawdust.  Once I get the experimental parts figured out  ( read that as figure out how I want to do parts of this,) I'll go to wood if the PVC does not work.. If I stick with the PVC I'm not out any money. If I go to just wood and can't find a buyer for the "used" PVC, I can always donate it to the Habitat for Humanity. resale store. Either way it is a win- win situation. Those do not happen very often.
All things considered and duly noted, life is good.

May your winds all be fair and your anchors firmly fastened.