July 13, 2010
renovations, tools building a shed 1 Comment
Here are a few more pictures of the shed project. It was soooo hot last week, but Rob just kept working on it.
Rob had to set up a scaffold to do some of the work.
It’s looking pretty good, now! Rob will continue to work on the shed over weekends during the summer. I’ll continue to post more photos as the work goes along.
July 10, 2010
outdoor stuff, renovations, tools building a shed, DeWalt tools 3 Comments
This is the question I keep asking myself lately. Handy Man has been talking about this darned shed for over a year now. He took this week off from work so he could do a lot of work on it. He doesn’t expect to finish it, but he wanted to get the framing up.
We have a garage and a basement, so why he also feels the need for a shed is beyond me. Here is how the conversation has been going lately:
Crafty Woman: Do we really need a shed, too?
Handy Man: Yes, I need more room for my lawnmower, my generator, my snowblower, blah blah blah…
Crafty Woman: Is it possible that you just have too much stuff?
Handy Man: *Sighhhhh*
Rob planned out the expense of all the wood and extra gear by making a few trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot. He made a list of materials and wrote down prices. He bought just enough to do the framing and the plywood this week. In order to spread out the expense (and work!), he’ll buy more materials and work on it more over the summer and possibly into September.
Normally, we are “git-r-done” people when it comes to renovations…I can’t stand letting projects drag out for too long. However, this doesn’t involve any kind of construction mess inside the house (yaaay!), so we’ll complete it gradually and spread out the expenses a bit.
Of course, it was HOT and HUMID this week in New England, so there’s been a lot of sweating and drinking of water and lemonade.
Here’s Handy Man with his ginormous DeWalt nail gun. That thing scares me.
I’ve been helping him a bit, but I stay far away from the nail gun. And we make sure that Handy Boy stays away from it, too. Handy Boy has been entertained by using bits of leftover wood, and his own small tools, to build a chair and a table (pictures to follow).
Looking good so far! So, I’ve been supervising, 
and making sure that the Boys drink plenty of water.
We’ve been WICKED busy this week. In between shed construction, we’ve also been squeezing in some fun with Handy Boy. Also, I’ve been working on organizing my scrapbook paper. Stay tuned for more info on both projects.
April 20, 2010
organizing, tools organizing the basement 1 Comment
Over the last few weekends, Handy Man and I have been working on cleaning out the garage, basement, and house. We worked on it a little at a time. The first thing we did was re-organize the garage.
After we first moved in, Rob had put up peg boards to organize his his yard tools, etc. That part wasn’t bad, as he was good about putting tools back on the pegs. But, some of the stuff on the shelves, and the floor needed to be rearranged. He also swept out some leaves, and lots of sand from our tires over the winter. Rob threw a few things away, but put most of the things he wanted to get rid of into a pile to take to the recycling center.
More photos to come of the basement, and a few other spots in the house.
Have any of you started (or thought about starting) any house or basement clean outs? Thinking of having a yard sale? Are you making a donation pile? We have a LARGE donation pile going right now. We have been taking lots of things to Goodwill over the past few years, and just when I think we’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff, we find more! I think it multiplies in the dark!
February 7, 2010
By Rob
Here’s the newest addition to my tool collection: A Walker Turner L540 wood lathe.
I picked it up about 5 months ago from a Craigslist ad for a whopping $125.00. It was introduced in a 1936 product catalog. Although the L540 was introduced in the mid-1930′s, I can’t be sure when this particular machine was made.
When I first brought it home, it was a bit grimy. I took it apart and cleaned it up a bit. After reassembling it, I adjusted and oiled it up. In addition, I added a safety switch so that I could stop the machine without having to unplug it. To my surprise, the machine was in fine working order!
I figure, now that I have a little time on my hands, I’ll start turning little wooden bowls and other items to sell at craft fairs.
(A Note from Crafty Woman: A little time on your hands…Honey, have you SEEN your to-do list lately?!?!) 
Taken from an ad in Popular Science Magazine, Dec. 1937:
L540 Gap Bed Lathe $18.50
This low-priced tool will handle the bulk of wood and plastic turning and metal turning jobs in the home workshop and do them well. It has sturdy cast iron gap bed 44” long and 3 ½” high. Morse Taper centers, bronze bearings, ball thrust bearing in head. Capacity: work 30 ½” long, discs 10” in diameter.
October 29, 2009
kid stuff, seasonal decorations, tools Leave a comment
Every year, Handy Man and Handy Boy carve a pumpkin to put out on the steps for Trick-or-Treaters to see. This year, my photos came out terrible…(I’m usually pretty good with the camera, but I blew it this time!), so I looked back to October 2007…when we had a pumpkin massacre!
The pumpkin that we picked out that year was very, VERY hard. Rob couldn’t cut into it with a regular knife, no matter how hard he tried. Handy Boy was getting a bit upset about it, thinking that we wouldn’t be able to get into it.
So Rob did the typical Handy Man thing.
He got out his reciprocating saw, and cut into it that way:
Problem solved! Handy Man 1, bizarrely dense pumpkin, 0.
Actually, I found the only decent photo I took of this year’s pumpkin carving, it happens to be the pumpkin itself!
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