Author Archives: Mike And Lauren

Mike Makes a CUSTOM Apple Watch Charging Stand

Ryan Parker just bought an Apple Watch and wanted to make a charging station to hold it next to his iPhone. We designed this stand together and made it from layered wood (black walnut) and UMHW plastic.

It uses the magnet from the Watch charger to hold it horizontally next to his phone and will be able to display the time ( Watch OS 2). Next week we plan on adding LED lights to the base so that the white plastic illuminates when it’s plugged in!

Overall this project came out WAY more professional than my expectations. The finished product looks and feels solid.

Link to the accident video – https://goo.gl/v2vC7L
Who is Ryan Parker? – https://goo.gl/EoLfJD

Wood Apple Watch Charging StationApple Watch iPhone 6 Charging Dock

Accident in the Shop (Tablesaw Kickback)

Well…Mike had an accident in the shop. A good one. He was cutting a piece of walnut way smaller than he should have been and it kicked back and sliced his nose open.

There is only footage of the wound at the end of the video (if you’re squeamish). It took 11 stitches at the urgent care center. I was lucky it didn’t hit my eye or remove any of the skin. The doctor said it should heal just fine.

Overall it wasn’t too painful, I’m just happy to have 2 eyes and 10 fingers! Stitches come out next week.

Link to the build video: https://goo.gl/kLrwv3

How Much Is Your Free Time Worth?

Is it easy or hard for you to turn down overtime at work? Do you value your free time the same as your hourly wage? We don’t think it’s that simple. In this video we go over the 3 questions we ask ourselves before spending a lot of time on something:

1. Is the time spent pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant?
2. Will the time spent make you a better person?
3. Will the time spent contribute to learning to skills or physical activity?

If the answer is “yes” to any of those three questions, then we feel it doesn’t necessarily need to yield a positive financial gain. What do you think?

Mike Makes a Dovetail Desk (Steel into Wood)

I’m waiting for the solenoid valves for the whiskey chiller to come in, so I decided to “take a break” this week and make a desk for our house. It ended up being something unique and used “dovetails” to join the wood to the metal frame.

I couldn’t find anyone else online who has done this, so I didn’t know how it would turn out. It actually looks pretty cool. The only thing I would change is somehow leaving the top 2″ instead of rabbeting the edges. It looks a little wimpy now.

PS. Yes, I know I should be wearing safety goggles when cutting and grinding.

Creating Is More Rewarding than Consuming

I think it’s healthy for a person to practice introspection from time to time. If nothing else, so they can answer for themselves…why? What makes you get up every morning, why do you act the way that you do? We’re asked “why?” all the time, and in this video we attempt to answer that question.

Why do we want to retire early?
Why do we make YouTube videos?
Why do you build complex solutions to simple problems?

After thinking through everything, we realized the reason is because?creating is more rewarding than consuming. In fact, a study published by the American Journal of Public Health, found that making art/things is actually a benefit to your physical and mental health.

Links:
Make More Art: https://goo.gl/1hcwEn
Study: https://goo.gl/b7bppA
Be A Producer: https://goo.gl/opLV18

Pinch Pennies or Focus on Big Wins?

Everybody loves to take sides. In the personal finance world, you?re either for frugality or focusing on big wins. We think to build wealth, you need both. If it takes money to make money, then where does that money come from? And once you make money, how are you supposed to keep any of it if you can?t control your spending?

Further Reading:
https://goo.gl/hPSy82
https://goo.gl/i9qhdz
https://goo.gl/CuVNd4

Does Homesteading Save Money? feat. BABY GOATS!!!

The results are in. We no longer have any backyard animals, but we do have some hard numbers to share with you about raising goats and chickens. In this video we answer the question: does homesteading save money?

In the past month, we lost 2 chickens to a mysterious predator, and gave our last one away. Blanche had 2 babies, Arthur and Stanley. And we failed to try our hand at gardening this spring. We have plans to fix our mistakes in the fall. But until then…

Micarta Love Letters with Thrift Store Fabric (Layered Cloth and Wood)

Lauren wanted to make wooden letters that spelled “love” for the living room. I thought it would be a good chance to try a micarta style layering of fabric and wood.

All was going well until the epoxy set up too fast half-way through. We changed gears and didn’t use the maple veneer I made, but ended up with a unique decoration and a memorable time together in the shop.