Time to call in the pest control guy/gal?
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That’s always ongoing. So many critters hereabouts. The other day we had a baby anole crawl across the bed. Ugh
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In the 90s my friend and I made some videos with these rubber panda and gorilla puppets we found. The originals decayed because they were exposed to UV light. I’ve had a saved search on ebay forever to find replacements. Several years ago I found the gorilla. A couple weeks ago I finally found the panda. I got him in the mail and first thing went about molding and replicating him. I actually learned this process in an evening class when I was a kid in iowa by a guy who worked for Jim henson making the dinosaurs TV show! In that case the original sculpt was plasticine. But the rest is the same. Plaster mold. Pour in and pour out liquid latex. You could make Halloween masks with this same process.
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Seasoning cast iron with…
MOLTEN ZINC
j/k It’s molten zinc, but it’s for another project. That’s my meltin’ pan.
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Dock repair update: This has turned into a full-on project. The heavy-duty hot-dip-galvanized hardware had some corrosion, so I’m de-rusting and then re-galvanizing.
Power-washed all the algae and crud off the float tanks. One of the six tanks was full of water and will have to be replaced.
All that’s left at the lake is the anchor and a stack of deck boards.
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Well, I’ve not really been good at doing updates, but here is the current status of the bathroom vanity: sufficiently done to be at risk of never being finished!
Frame and top fully finished and assembled. Plumbing will be hooked up in the next couple of days. And then i still need to make the shelves and doors… gonna have to stay motivated 
The last photo is the blocks i made to connect the top to the legs /aprons.
All parts are stained with two colors to get the desired shade. The base is clear coated with spar urethane and the top is flood coated with epoxy. Ask me more about epoxy flood coating red oak without a sealer applied first…
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working vacation: we made these custom bunk beds in a fantastic vacation home on lake Nantahala, NC. you can barely see the circular cutout for the light fixtures and the cubbies at either end also have electrical and usb plugs on the sides. these clients are millionaires; just wiring all that and two junctions for ceiling fans cost them $900 and me as the carpenter’s helper made more than that. unreal.
½” plywood was maple iirc and the shiplap, ladder, rails, and trim is just pine. all built stain grade i.e. no painting over any screwups.
our office:
got to do a little swimming and paddle boarding, too.
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Our neighboring state to the north is just such a beautiful place…
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I feel that.
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A question…
I’ve been image gathering for a couple of customers, and have found a couple of things I would love to turn into wall-sized murals in my apartment in the future when I have the time. Does anyone here have any good recommendations for a portable digital overhead projector that can produce crisp images? I don’t trust many of the reviews I find online, and thought someone here might have some hands-on experience with one of the latest models.
I’m not in any real hurry, just thinking about what I’ll be doing down the road.
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I got one of these back in, I wanna say 2009:
I was put off by the cost of replacement bulbs, but I’m this many years in and haven’t yet needed one, so 
I use it to watch “big screen worthy” shows and movies, and to project images for murals (I do chalk pastels on a big chalkboard wall, and occasionally smaller works on paper taped to the wall).
Really crisp images.
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There are lots of sub 100 dollar projectors on Amazon that could easily project still images.
The cheaper ones require more darkness though.
We have one that I paid just about 100 bucks for that we’ve been using for drive in movies on the side of the garage. Don’t even need a special screen, it’s bright enough to look crystal clear on the light blue siding.
It easily projects 20 feet wide.
I keep kicking around a much more expensive one but I can’t come up with a good reason
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I would love to know the brand, etc. I’d like a cheap one for a mural too
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The brand is DB Power. The model I have is no longer made but they have others.
Honestly, at the 100 - 150 price point they’re all about the same and are probably all made at the same factory. About the only thing that changes as the price goes up is the brightness. It’s the only reason I keep considering an 800 to 1000 dollar one so I can start movie night right at dusk instead of waiting until the sun completely drops.
Many years ago I borrowed a projector worth around 10 grand for a high school musical I was recording. My god that thing was bright. I filled the the entire curtain of a large theater from the balcony. It overcame a dark, rust colored pleated curtain. I’ve always wanted one that bright. Fortunately the prices have come way down.
Whatever you get this table is worth having to hold the projector. I added a power strip so I can plug in the projector and mini amp that drives the speakers.
I would love to see the things you guys paint, I’m jealous of anyone that can draw or paint.
PylePro PLPTS2 https://a.co/d/dkNVA9u
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Thanks for the information, folks! As things stand right now, the wall I have available to use in the studio is roughly 8 feet wide by 8 feet high. If business continues on steadily enough, I think I might branch out into doing murals once in a great while, for a little brand recognition.
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Bored again so I made these scarecrows and the picket fences behind the hay bales. I made the scarecrows from rough sawn cedar fence pickets.
Paint prices are through the roof so I colored my own with some left over white paint and Dollar Store acrylic we had around.
I first tried vinyl for the faces but it didn’t like whatever the boards were treated with so I made stencils with the Cricut, that worked really well.
The other decorations are from the Dollar Store.
Pumpkin and gourds are pretty pricey right now as well.
Next up fence picket snowmen.
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You guys seriously are giving ABC a run for the money!
(For folks who don’t know, ABC is one of the nation’s biggest purveyors of knick-knacks, like the cutouts of a woman bent over in the garden, but it looks like a mushroom from afar.)
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I Remember those, I always found them amusing but could never bring myself to put one on our lawn.
A friend wants to make a Bambi cutout for his daughter and grand daughter for their outside Christmas display.
Two options are a giant sheet of carbon paper or the projector to trace it. I can get it transfered and cut but he’s gonna have to do the hand painting, I can do straight painting and stencils but I suck at actual painting.
When we retire in a couple years I think we’ll hit the craft show circuit, won’t get rich but we’ll have some fun meeting people.
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