A couple of years ago, while we were finishing the attic, I took a weekend off from the constant house work and built a cherry and ash laminated canoe paddle at the Cama Beach Center For Wooden Boats wood shop – as my own shop was in full use for the attic remodel and storage. It was a little bit of a rush build and after paddling with it once, I decided it just wasn’t right: Too big, too heavy, and way too angular. After a 1/2 day of paddling and with a bag of frozen peas on my shoulder that night, I felt that it needed to be rebuilt and reformed into a better performing paddle. That process took a couple WAY too long as an orthopedic surgery and house projects took precedence.

I made a video of that original build and part of the rebuild, so this is both a part 2 and a stand alone video of the process. I picked the paddle back up this summer and finally both finished it and took the newly reshaped stick out on the water for a day of canoeing with my wife. This video will take you through all the steps of the initial build and the refit. The last bit is some on-water testing.

The ramps for my 4’X6’ utility trailer have just thrown in and jumbled around in the back of the trailer for the last 5 years and there have been times when I have needed them, but left them at home when as I pulled away in the trailer. Dirty words were said…

I was in the shop welding up another 4X4/off-road related project and the thought crossed my mind to do something about the ramps – I worked out a quick/simple/secure storage solution with some scrap flat metal I had and started welding away. The ramps now have a secure and permanent home on the side of the trailer that is quickly accessible.

While I was at it, I welded up a small angled bracket to hold my wheel chocks as well. I made the chocks a few years ago from some 8/12 pitch roof rafter tail cut offs that were scrap on a job site. Glued two together, drilled a hole through, painted Hi-Vis orange, added the rope, and they have worked great ever since.

I just finished a project for a local record shop and used my siphon paint sprayer instead of my HVLP sprayer and I am never going back! This has been my go-to for ploy finish on doors for a while, but now I am going to use it on all my cabinet and furniture paint/stain/finish projects and save the HVLP rig for auto paint.

As per the usual, I am 100% unsponsored. I bought it retail at Woodcraft like 4 years ago after seeing a demo. I just love how it sprays, the ease of clean up, and the fantastic finish. I would not use it to paint a house or to build layers of candy apple over the fender of a classic car, but for small to medium wood and metal fabrication projects, I am sold.

I have an older Critter 118 model, but the new ones are exactly the same as far as I can tell. There are other manufactures that make a similar sprayer as well. You can get them from Amazon now and the links are below. It is not my Amazon Marketspace (I don’t have one) and I don’t get any kickback/discount or make any cash if you buy this tool from Amazon or direct from the manufacturer.

I recently built a huge 10’ wide oak library book case for my favorite record shop @atomicgeniusrecords . I have known the shop owner for 18+ years and this was my contribution to her space and dream.

It is 8’-6” tall with trim. Made in three sections with a sliding ladder and all the shelves are fully adjustable with inset brass shelf standards. The stain is a General Finishes black and India Ink blend and was specifically requested by the shop owner. Her colors and the shop esthetic are great and it is a place that you would expect to find Ozzy holding court in the back room.

I had a recent diatribe on/in my Instagram reels about granite and dealing with suppliers. This 7’ oak cash wrap is the end product of all that work for the correct granite. 

Like the library shelf, the stain is a custom GF black and India Ink blend. The flat panels are free floating and the rails and stiles are mortised & tenoned together – just because I can.

I had not posted any build pics because I didn’t want to steal any thunder from the shop’s grand opening, which was last night (8/4/21). Let’s just say that this was a HUGE project for my tiny shop.

I had to resort to using the outdoor painting booth – my back yard 🙂

If you are in Puyallup (just south of Seattle) stop in and get you vinyl fix and buy some original art prints as well!

I am a VW van nut and own one of the Infinity Stones of Van Life: a watercooled 4WD Volkswagon Syncro Vanagon. When we drive the thing to the grocery store or hardware store old hippies, hipsters, and white girls with dreads materialize out of thin air to talk about camper vans, VWs, our van, reminisce over a van they want or used to have, drool about a mods they want to do to their own VW, etc…

Over the years, I have designed and made a few tools, parts, and jigs that make VW and Syncro life better. All of those have been for my own use, but I recently decided to do a little something that I plan to sale:

Any Volkswagen owner worth their salt wants a German license plate for their ride. I have one and while looking for the perfect place to mount it up front (my state does not require a front tag on a classic vehicle) I had a Wile E. Coyote flash of brilliance: I would utilize the 2′ receiver hitch on my front bumper and make a super tough combination brush guard/Europlate holder. Almost like a Stinger on the front of a Jeep, but classier!

I did some measuring of the plate, drew up a flat model of what I wanted, measured again, fixed a MAJOR screwup in the design/drawing, and then sent the file off to SendCutSend to have my parts cut out of 1.88″ steel. Bing Bang Bong 5 days later, the parts showed up at my door.

After a LITTLE tiny bit of file work, everything fits perfectly! Will have to wait until I get a time-sensitive cabinet project finished before welding up the prototype. I think that this bad boy may have limited customer base, but there will be Syncro, Van, Sprinter, and overland folks that will love to have one of these.

I will update the build as I go and may make a YouTube video of it.

Got a little steel in and finished the stand this past weekend. I did have to get the torch out to cut the holes in the feet for the anchors. While getting ready for making the holes, I overheard “OH SHIT THE NEIGHBOR HAS A TORCH OUT!” My first thought was “I want to see!!”, but then I realized he was talking about me and it was not with a tone of curiosity… it was one of annoyance. WELL, I looked for other crap to cut and tried my hardest to run through two bottles of gas to assert my dominance in the neighborhood pecking order.

I mostly make crosses as gifts for friends and family and I documented a recent build as I was doing it, mostly for Instagram because of some the challenges I ran into and how I figured it all out.

All of the video was shot on an iPhone 7s, which doesn’t have a spectacular camera and some of the segments are in the vertical view – sorry. It wasn’t supposed to be a you tube video, but somehow morphed into one.

The shirts that I wear in the shop are mechanic shirts and I adorn them with patches that make me LOOK like a professional mechanic – I am not. I am doing a large remodel and modification of our VW Syncro Van and thought it was a fine opportunity to add a few more shirts to the garage/shop wardrobe.

Some of the the new patches came in:

I also designed a VW Syncro-specific shift pattern patch that I just got the proofs for. They will go on the VW shirt sleeves or I will swap them for the blue VW patch on some shirts. I had to order 50 of them, but am selling the extra through a local VW shop and on the Samba Forum for what they cost me – sharing is caring!

I also have shirts made up for our other vehicles – just to mix it up. . Whenever I wear one o my Scooby shirts, random folks stop me in the store or at coffee shop to ask me about a noise or a mod they want to make. I have to explain that I’m not actually an official Subaru mechanic. About 1/3 of the time they keep asking me the question though.

My Jeep shirts probably see the most wear/use and my CJ-7 is a daily driver

The steel stand for the Fly Press is coming along. Not done, but in work.

The SendCutSend parts are perfect and I used the hydraulic bending press to ass a small lip to the bottom tray. I ran out of MiG gas AND I can’t count good. A stand that has 4 legs requires 4 feet normally. I cut three out… doh!!

When I do get some gas and cut another foot, I will pack the 2” square tube legs with oiled sand for added weight, drill holes in the feet for anchors, and finish the welding.

The Bee and Fluer di lis fence post tealight lanterns are in-work. Really like how they are turning out.