Playing With Power Tools


I'm the type of person that needs to keep busy. Down time such as in Winter causes me to be in a sad and depressive deposition. I've been thinking that picking up a hobby such as carpentry would help me break the monotony and make me use that time to be more productive. In April I went to Home Depot and got myself a whole whack of tools. Miter saws are the bizzneesssss. They're amazing to use (Compound Miter saw that is).


Drills, sanders, circular and jig saws, brad nailer: I went kinda nuts. Got the rest of what I needed and pushed on.

Rough sketching

First things I wanted to do is to maximize the use of my brother's side yard. The area is small, but with a few strategically places planters, we could make use of the empty space. They were my first projects so I didn't really want to spend some dough on material (besides the power tools) if I would somehow have the tendency to f@#$ up. So by using wood from wood pallets, I would be recycling wood and repurposing it for other more practical things, such as planters and raised gardens.

Recycled wood from pallets

First thing on the list was a 3' x 6' raised bed to go along the South/West facing fence. This would be used to plant cucumbers, carrots, and a whole bunch of goodies. The second, smaller planter would be 2' x 2' and would accommodate my tomatoes and some onions.

Side walls for the 3x6 planter

Added the other sides

When I built the first planter, I designed it so that 3 1/2 inches would stick out and anchor down in the ground. That way the weight of the dirt inside the box wouldn't shift the whole thing.


Mom supervising. No pressure!

Stapled the weed barrier and tipped the planter on top of the prepped area. Fitted and aligned the box to the holes and tapped the corners with my hammer to get them leveled.



The second, smaller planter took me less to build. It got easier after the first one. Both were finished sometime last week.



Yesterday was a rainy day and I usually struggle with rainy weather, especially when the barometric pressure is super high. I wanted to keep busy so I went to the shed and spent the day building this little fella.


This 3 tier planter is 30 inches wide and each planter is a little over 6 inches in height (each). I built the whole thing yesterday from scratch. Precut, predrilled, good set of plans. Boom, awesomeness made of recycled wood. I drilled some holes in each planter for drainage and set all three on a frame. Miter saw made angle cuts kids play. So far everything measured up and were perfectly leveled. I found building and constructing things therapeutic.

Brace in the back for added strength


I have a whole lot of things to cross off my to-do list. I'll keep you posted on my new project(s).

Cheers!

- Keenan

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Martin Head (Southern New Brunswick)

Image
There's a place, called Martin Head, located just West of Fundy Park that people having been going to for a very long time. I've been talking to people and every time I mention camping sites, people would ask me: "Have you gone to Martin Head yet?". As it turned out I hadn't, so thus became an item that went up in my 'To do' list. Martin Head is a mash up of very old and not as old rocks. The 'island' which goes by the name Martin Head is made up mostly of Cambrian rocks, or even older. The basalts are mixed with some sedimentary rocks of about the same age, and some mineral deposits (I couldn't find which type of minerals occurred). The section between the island and the beach which includes some sections of the cliffs are of younger age, dating close to the Late Triassic. Click here for information about the fossilized Sand Dunes of Martin Head. These are mostly buff or reddish sandstones. There is a small section that juts out fr...
Read more

Amethyst Cove (Blomidon, Nova Scotia)

Image
This past Summer I talked to people about collecting local minerals to add to my collection, and several people mentionned Amethyst Cove. Amethyst Cove is a section of Blomidon Provincial Park, near Canning, Nova Scotia. This location is quite difficult to get at as the options to get there are slim. You can access Amethyst Cove either by boat (preferably from Parrsboro at high tide), by walking around Cape Split or from White Water (which could take half a day or more, making it quite fucking impossible), or by repelling down a cliff 300 to 400 feet high, by shaky ropes. I talked to Matt about going to Amethyst Cove someday and didn't think that I would have made it this year. Matt offered to take me there. He was very familiar with the area as he has gone there several time. We picked September 24th to go down. I left Moncton at around 6:30AM and made my way to Halifax to pick up Matt and his buddy Chris. From there we proceeded to drive North towards Wolfville on the 101. (1...
Read more

Rock Hunting in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Image
Me and my buddy Matt went for a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia this past Saturday (November 26th, 2011) to snoop around the city and try to collect rocks and minerals. Why snoop around a big city for minerals? Halifax lies on top of a granitic pluton, a mass of magma located under the surface which has slowly cooled. The batholith intrusion was exposed over a long period of time, over several million years. The granite that you see on most road cuts leading in and out of the city was part of that feature. With igneous rock comes the chance to find interesting crystals. The area is known for its quartz (smoky), feldspar (K-feldspar), tourmaline, pyrite (fool's gold), and gold among other things. When we arrived in Halifax, we had driven by some road cuts that had yielded several minerals. We parked the car close-by so that we could go take a look before going for a bite to eat. We took some of our gear and headed out to check the outcrops. The granite contained fine to bigg...
Read more