Memory Chest Prototype

Memory Chest Prototype

Our oldest son will be graduating highschool this summer, so my wife and I wanted to make him a nice chest to hold all the things we’ve been collecting for him since he was a baby.  I thought I would make a prototype first, before making a bunch of mistakes with more expensive hardwood, and I sured “learned” quite a few lessons in the process.  I decided to use lock-rabbit joints  for simplicity with the tools I had.  Overall, I think this one came out a little rough around the edges but nice.  We are going to tweak the dimensions and the design a bit and then carefully create the real thing.

 

Chest Pieces

Scrollsaw Work

Lock Rabbit Joint

Chest Glue-up

Feet Glue-up

Memory Chest Prototype

LEGO Saturn V

LEGO Saturn V

For Father’s day this year, my family got me the LEGO Ideas Saturn V rocket.  It’s huge!  I have no idea where I’m going to display it.  I actually ran to the LEGO store here in town a few weeks prior once I saw they had sold out online and was lucky that they still had two left when I got there.  A couple shots from the build are below.

Saturn V Build

Multi-Monitor Array

Monitor Array Sketch

array plans

monitor frame

monitor brackets

A few weeks ago I posted a map of the projection system we’re building for our new church auditorium and this last weekend I got to make a mounting frame for the array of small monitors.  It started with a sketch during service, then I meticulously planned out the build (later laid out on our booth blueprints), created a frame the disassembles easily, and built some brackets to mount the monitors to.  It’s actually completed, stained, and installed since we did our first successful service in the building today; I just forgot to take a final photo.

One interesting hiccup is that I tried to build this before I had the monitors in hand, and the initial plans were all off the product dimensions on Amazon.  After cutting the main spine of the frame to my measurements, it became readily apparent that those dimensions were not even close for 16″ monitors.  Luckily buried in the customer question someone had provided the true size and I re-did my plans to those.

product dimensions

Scout Chuck Box

Scout Chuck Box

Today we had a work day at our local Boy Scout hut so I worked on some chuck boxes with a couple of the boys.  Still needs hinges and some other hardware, but they came out pretty good.

My oldest had also been perfecting his mini-figure scaled Lego ballistas.  The little suckers shoot over ten feet!

Lego Ballista

Workbench Complete

bench stowed

Last night I sealed the top of the bench and today I sanded the pillars.  This is a picture of it’s stowed away form, which it will sadly spend most of it’s time in.  The pillars have added some extra shelf space in the garage though…

Jack and Jill Pallet Bench

jack and jill pallet bench

Yesterday, I got to have an playdate at my buddies house.  We went and saw a movie, and then occupied the rest of the day ripping apart pallets and building this Jack and Jill bench.  We ran out of time, but it just needs to be sanded, the seats and table planked out, and then painted.

bench progress

Pinewood Derby Car

pinewood derby car

This weekend I finally wrangled my youngest to get working on his pinewood derby car.  I’ve been asking him for a few weeks what he wants to make, colors, shape, and number.  So we finally got it done in the last two days.  His original sketch was very space shipish, but when we drew a rectangle and said what do you want to do with that, he had some different ideas.

We tucked some of grandpa’s lead type under the belly, and we shave off whatever we’re over on the day of the race.  He wasn’t interested in all the tomfoolery of axle polishing, keeping one wheel up, and exacting weight distribution; so we ended with a clean simple car.  Not too shabby for his first one.

derby design

derby paint

ready to race