We’ve decided we’re going to vlog our transition into full time RV living for the next 30 days. In this episode we finish our first project, Lauren get’s a sewing lesson, and our hosts arrange massages!
Follow along as we drive our 1999 Monaco Dynasty towing a 24 foot enclosed trailer (Ultimate Mobile Workshop) around the country helping viewers with their DIY projects!
QUIKRETE is having a contest for the best project using one bag of concrete. (Not a sponsor.) I decided to make a “toilet tank top sink.” I first saw the idea on toilets in Japan.
When you flush the toilet, the fill water is re-routed to a faucet (don’t worry, it’s perfectly clean). You wash your hands like normal, then watch the water drain directly into the toilet tank. Next time you use the bathroom, the recycled water flushes the toilet and clean water is dispensed from the faucet. The design saves an estimated 1 gallon of water per person, per day! No modifications are made to the toilet except for routing the fill water tube into the bottom of the faucet.
Hopefully it’s good enough to win the $2500 dollar prize 🙂
We needed a better way to mount Hudson’s baby monitor when visiting other people’s houses. The curve in the wood was just decorative. I wanted to experiment with alternatives to steam bending wood. Versions 1 through 3 were not my proudest moments, but the final product actually clamps extremely well.
Jay Bates Knob:
https://goo.gl/2cIM6A
Our baby monitor (amazon affiliate):
https://amzn.to/291rBt5They work pretty good, we haven’t had any problems.
We’re gathering and organizing all of our stuff to start selling before our big adventure, so I didn’t have time for a full project. However, I did help my friend Chase clean up his VW Bug project.
Without the body, the suspension of the VW Super Beetle just kind of hangs there making it look like it’s in rough shape. I figured if we could make a steering linkage support system out of wood, not only would it look better but it would also be easier for the potential buyer to load it on a trailer.
We only had an hour and a half to build this so I forgot to film a few steps. Hopefully if you’re restoring a bug yourself you can get the gist of what we did.
Ever since receiving my X-Carve, a “Luxo Style” desk lamp has been on the top of my priority list. Unfortunately, every time I tried to design it, I would get frustrated. Last weekend I finally took the time to learn Google Sketchup using Jay Bate’s tutorials.
Jay’s Tutorials – https://goo.gl/zpSHPv
I made a prototype of my lamp, and I’m very happy with the results. I want to make sure I take my time building the real thing, so here is a quick teaser of my progress this weekend.
X-Carve: https://www.inventables.com/
Shane needed a better system for organizing the tools in his truck. We decided to build a DIY bed slide for his pickup (Ford Ranger) out of plywood, 2x4s and casters.
So far it’s working great. It’s not nearly as strong as the commercial versions (you could break it if you wanted to) but it’s still holding several hundred pounds of tools without a problem. We could have made it stronger by framing all four sides of the slide out, but Shane didn’t want to loose the space.
Our church’s high school group needed some benches for their meeting area. I decided to copy Louis Lim’s ’round and round’ contemporary bench design, somewhat successfully.
I had trouble figuring out how to measure the “skin” that goes around the base of the triangle. I think I was trying to make a “truncated cylinder” but I couldn’t quite get the dimensions right. Ultimately trial and error prevailed.
Louis Lim (Original Design) – https://www.makingworks.com/
UPDATE: One of our viewers Joseph Malovich figured out the math for us in Solidworks. ?Here is his design. ?Thanks Joseph!
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.
I built shelves to organize my power tools last week, but I needed a way to organize my extension cords. I was inspired by a Pinterest pin and the 5 in 1 coat hangers that you’ve “seen on TV.”
In this video I design my own space saving extension cord organizer that folds down flat against the wall when not in use. Overall I was very happy with the design and it’s working great!
I don’t have plans for this build, but if there’s enough interest I might put together a sketch or two.
We have strange shelves in the walls of our living room that end up collecting junk. We wanted to experiment making a 3D wood photo cutout using Steve Ramsey’s inkjet photo transfer method.
The project turned out great! How we divided the photo into layers worked out perfect, and the scroll saw made quick work of the cuts.
When we do it again, we’ll make sure to have plenty of ink the printer, do a lot more sanding, and use an image with more contrast.
The search for a scroll saw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAWpSGg2UFc
Steve Ramsey Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNEctCPmPbk
Our amazing photographer friend:
https://naomichokr.com/