August 2009
Monthly Archive
Yesterday i put in the three drawers on the right side of the desk. The bottom one is on tracks the top two are just friction fit. I also spent the first money on the project. I had to buy longer machine screws to fit the salvaged drawer handles. I spent $0.96.
The top drawer on the right is for Prunes. A previous owner apparently stored brass fittings in it. The other side (the one opposite the one with the handle on it) does not have writing on it. This was the first drawer that i drilled holes in and i wanted to test it out on a “bad” side first. Click on these thumbnails for a larger view.
![P260809_07.53_[01]](http://www.zieak.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/P260809_07.53_01-225x300.jpg "P260809_07.53_[01]")
The handles are aluminum and were removed from a filing cabinet and a desk at the landfill. They are beat up and really work well with the dirty old crates. I kind of wish the Chevron crate was a bit dirtier.
I think i might enter this project in this back to school contest on Instructables.
I have had a few big traffic spikes to zieak.com. It looks like the Nintendo Mouse is going through Stumble Upon again. I get a bit of daily traffic from the site but not usually 4,000 hits in one day. And usually the heavy traffic comes and goes – there is an aftershock from the first spike.
Check out my traffic history by month for the last 15 months or so…
The big spike last fall was from after Sarah Palin was named as the VP candidate for John McCain.
Things like this are the right motivation… just when i was starting to consider quitting blogging…
Today i took apart much of what i built yesterday. I replaced the desk top boards with new ones that were smoother. I replaced the top shelf – what i had in yesterday was just a place holder. Everything is made of red cedar.
You can see the shelves are done and on the left side the drawers and printer shelf have been installed. On the right side will be three more drawers (if i can make them work) in this photo they are just stacked in place.
Here is a close up of the two left side drawers – Bartlett Pears and a Pepsi crate. the pear drawer is on tracks. the Pepsi will just be a friction drawer. I need to put some nylon or other rails on the bottom so it slides a little better. I need to buy some longer screws for the drawer handles that earl helped me salvage at the dump on Sunday.
In about a week this playground should be ready for the local kids to play on… we have a few pieces of equipment to modify and then install and then shredded rubber to put on the site along with a treated containment system for it.
A bit of time with a sawzall and a grinder and i made a tool out of a useless stripped bicycle crank arm.
My long overdue desk…
I spent a few hours working on making a desk out of red cedar that i have alvaged from around the house. Under the desk are boxes and crates that i have been collecting for years with the idea of using them for drawers. On the left there is a Pepsi crate, a pear box, a prune box and an egg box for salmon roe. On the right is a Chevron Blazo fuel box and an unmarked square box that really doesn’t match the others well.
I’m sitting at the desk now. I need to now determine the height of the shelves that i will add and how the drawers and space below the desk will work out. I might leave room for the printer/scanner/fax under on the left side. I have some great cable management things that i salvaged at the dump a few months back.
Finally, i’ll run the phone and cable (for the internet service) to the spot under the stairs. there are connections for both all over the house – just not right there!
The desk is 5 feet wide and 6 and a half feet tall.
I took my paper and cardboard recycling to the baler Sunday. While dropping off my cardboard i saw a big pile of Coke boxes and grabbed them. Last week i redeemed part of the collection of points that i have accumulated (with the help of some friends, family, and other people’s trash) for two magazine subscriptions (they have Readymade!) and a set of Skullcandy earphones. This pile will give me 690 more points.
I need a desk.
I came home for lunch and there’s a young porcupine snacking on the salmonberry shoots in my front yard. It let me get real close.
This is the Tiger Takeuchi excavator that crushed my cell phone. But i still like it. You know, speaking of tigers, my birth year makes me a Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac. Tigers love Pepper.
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![P260809_07.53_[01]](http://www.zieak.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/P260809_07.53_01.jpg "P260809_07.53_[01]")
