Often people ask "So what do you do now?"
I tell them of the plants I grow and the things I make.. You see often the things I need or want cannot be bought or are hilariously expensive. Many of my materiels I get at the local metal recyclers- Where aluminum plate can be had by the pound- Recently I purchased a piece of 0.25" plate which was about 3' by 4'.. It was 15 pounds & they wanted $15 for it. 1 corner was bent a little & there was some writing on it.. Otherwise it was spankin' new. Had I purchased it in "New" condition it would have been about $250. Quite a difference huh?
My desk & welding table are made from 1" square thin wall steel tube ($11 for a 20' length) and a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate for the top. I picked up the plate in Reno- 2 pieces 2' by 4' each were $50. They're absolutely bomber..

Pretty much I come up with an idea of what I want- Then try to figure out how I'm going to make it. Usually it takes several tries to get it right & functioning like I want- But that's how we learn right?
I have a welder & plasma cutter- Two chop saws- One for metal & one for wood.. Two band saws- Again one for metal & one for wood.. A drill press & a little mini-mill. I built my own air compressor from a motor, air pump & some discarded propane tanks.. Plis I have various hand power-tools. I'm to the point that when I go to the hardware store I rarely drool over a machine.. WHile I'd like to have a table-saw, I don't really need one. So mostly I just need replacement blades & that sort of thing now.

Sometimes replacement tools are needed.. The disadvantage to having (tested) 200# of grip in my right hand.. I guess. The left is only 150# or so.. All that nerve damage can be blamed for that. How the hell are my hands so strong? (Average Guy has 50# of grip) What do I do all day? Grab a little thin wheel & push myself around...

So anyway- Here's some of the stuff I've made or am working on.

Some lights I made and sold on ebay for like ... $450 I think.

My bed:

This was once a tree in my parent's yard. Being as tall as I am, I have a problem fitting into a normal bed.. If I don't want my feet hanging off I have to sleep crosswise.. Which can be a bit annoying. So I decided to build my own.
This is the 8th bed I've made- and so far the final one. Took me 3 months to make it- There's no metal holding it together. It's all japanese joinery.. The weight of itself holds it together. I did everything from cutting the tree to milling the lumber to cutting & shaping the joints to .. Well, everything. It's 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 32" tall.
I have plans for the next one.. It will be of metal I think, in the tradition of blacksmithing.. You know, metal shaped with a hammer & anvil.. and will be 8' long but 6 to 8 feet wide. But I'm only in the "image in my head" stage- Prolly be a few years untill it's made as I have to finish building my forge first & start OWCP on the mattress purchase road. You see because of my busted back I need a tempur-pedic mattress.. It keeps the pressure sores away. And with the glacial speed they move.. It'll be years before I see the new mattress if I start right now.

The Stove:

I have a fireplace... Had a fire burning in it- Was sitting close enough to burn my hand if I wished & I was still cold. Realized a stove would work much better... And after looking around in the want ads & not finding much.. I decided to build one.

So I went to the local metal recycler's lookin' for a tank of some sort.. Thought of making one from a barrel, but the walls on those things are just too thin. Even went as far as getting one but as I tried to weld it I kept burning through and making huge holes.. Pissed me off so I rolled it over to the trash pile & made it go away.
Anyway, I'm at the recyclers.. They had one of those Huge hospital sized O2 tanks that I really wanted- Stainless.. But it's a good thing I didn't get it as the tank itself was hilariously expensive & welding stainless is kind of a bitch. Then I saw this dented old pressure tank from someone's well sticking 1/2 out of this big pile of trash.. Asked the guy if he could get it for me & he had the the magnet-crane dude pull it down. $10 later and some wrestling I had it in the van and was out the door.

It was about 5' tall so I had to cut a couple feet out of the length.. Easy if you have a plasma cutter. Reminds me I need some replacement tips for that bad boy.. There goes another $100 or so. Mebbe I can find them online somewhere. Anyway.. So I cut it down to 24" or so- then sliced a big circle out of the top for the door. First hinges & 'hold it closed' mechanism I made sucked, so after burning it for a few days I had to haul it back out to the garage to fix that.. It was one of those "Oh yeah this is gonna weork Great" ideas that didn't make it past the 3rd use before it broke.

So anyway, that's the stove I built. The silver slinky-tube is a piece of drier vent, hooked to a bathroom exhause fan (bought at Lowe's, $10) that's on a variable fan control switch.. It blows the hot out into the room. The whole thing works pretty good- I can heat most of the house with it, and haven't turned on the house heater once this winter. (that thing's about $300 to keep the house at 68 for a month..) It's just not very air-tight so it's got 2 speeds- Nuke and Out. My fault for not making a good door for it- The metal's too thin so it warps in the heat.. But it's WAY better than the 'ol fireplace.

The Trike:

I went to the gas station a couple weeks ago- The sniper-van was almost outta gas, so I had to put s'more in it. Didn't want to (I hate the damn thing) but I really have no choice. When I use the ATM card, it kicks off at $50 right? And at the recent prices that's about 18 gallons so.. I had to redo the card.. Enter the billing zip.. Do all the crap again.. So I let it pump while I tried to clean the windshield. (Ya right..) So it kicked off again, now I've spent $100. The damn thing STILL wasn't full.

I'd had the idea for a motorized something for a while... Bought a 49cc "pocket-bike" engine a while ago for the project... That gas bill was the kick that finally got be building. Obviously it's not done yet- The pneumatics will lift it so I can drive around & act as shocks along the way- And set it down when it's idle. So I have a little air pump for it- 2 6 volt "on the tire" generators to reload the battery.. And a pressure switch to keep the whole system full of air when it's on. The back ramp is also pneumaticly actuated- Up when I'm rollin'.. Holding me in. It's got a Shimano 7 speed hub in the ront wheel- I dunno what the top speed will be, or frankly if the rams will even have enough power to lift it's weight plus mine. Hope so with all the work I've put in huh?

WHile workin' on the pneumatics today I found I had guessed correctly.. More like "built & prayed".. I installed the back wheel rams, sat in the frame and hit the switch. The thing HOPPED off the ground. So I Easily have enough push to lift the thing & myself. But... FOund a problem when I went to work on the front.. One of my 6 rams is 1/2" shorter than all the others. Since I need equal push from all... I have to think of a new solution. I knew I had 2 bigger rams left over from another project- I grabbed them, and it looks like with some frame modification I can use the smaller one to lift the front of the trike when it's time. So tomorrow I'm planning to make that mount & get everything bolted together I hope.. So I can test the lift of the whole thing. Coz if it doesn't lift.. MOngo no go anywhere.

Remember that "problem" I had with one ram being shorter than the other? Fixed it. Took one of my bigger ones & made a mount for it.. WHat's with the pipe & fittings? It's a hinge. Sure I could have used a big 'ol barn door type hinge, but try to find one as wide as I need for under $20... Those 3 pieces of pipe cost me $2.50 I think. Had to JB Weld that rod end on.. The threads in the end of the ram are 7/16-20 and the threads in the rod end are 1/2-20 .. Obviously incompatible. So glue it is.

I've painted the forks & all the little pieces I'll use to attach the generators & derailure to them.. Plus the fender. Spent all damn day today trying to get the sprockets to line up with each other.. Had to machine some pipe to make spacers on an axle.. And some washers to make spacers between the engine-chain sprocket & bike-chain sprocket. Kind of a bitch. As I said, it took me all damn day to get that thing straightened out.. But it needed to be done else the chains would prolly come flyin' off at high speed sometime... And that would have been Really Bad... I can just imagine gettin' whacked across the forehead with one while the other cuts the supply line to the pneumatics.. So as I grab my now bleeding profusely head the rams fail dropping the frame to the ground at 30 miles an hour... The whole machine flips ass over teakettle and I die. *S* Well, at least I'll go out with a bang huh? But I'm not terribly excited about that, so I've tried to keep stuff like that from happening. Because with my luck I won't die.. Just get screwed up worse. And that would suck.

So yesterday I finished up the frame I think.. At least so far. Primered it all.. Dunno where I'm gonna put the dashboard or anything- Where I'm gonna mount the guages & switched & such, I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get there. But there it is, structurally complete. Like I said, So far. Still not sure where i'm gonna mount the gas tank, nor am I sure how I'm gonna route all the cables & wires & air tubes- Another thing I'll figure out when I get there.

Finished the forks & drive-train.. I think. Everything's mounted and clears everything else, but I still may build a shroud for the chains. Dunno. Hate to get something hung up in there while I'm riding, but if I'm envisioning the end "thing" right, if that happens I've got way bigger problems than something wrapping itself in the chain. Like I'm gonna crash & die type problems. BUt we'll see, a shroud of somesort might look cool. I want to build a ram scoop for the intake as well, although I'm sure it will be more asthetic than anything else. BUt I might, if I get bored someday. I dunno.
Anyway, you can see the chain routing in the pics, finally. How it comes from the engine & I use the rim from the scooter to "neck down" the rotational speed to something closer to (I hope at least) what the 7 speed hub expects. But.. It's a total guess since I don't know the rotational speed of the engine drive- Nor do I know the ratio of the sprockets on the rim.. And I sure as hell don't know the gear ratio in the hub. All I *do* know is I hope it has enough power to get going in first gear, and isn't a total dog in 7th. And I hope the hub is strong enough to take engine type" power input instead of "human type". Would sure suck to spend a couple months building the thing to have the hub blow up in the driveway. Wouldn't be as spectacular as having a *really* important weld fail at 40 mph causing myself & the machine to go into what's known in snowboarding lingo as a "Starfish", followed shortly by the "Yard Sale".. BUt it would still suck.
I've tried to build the thing so there aren't any 'one critical weld' type spots, as I'm still not sure of my welding ability.. It's hard to tell (at least for me) what's a really good weld, and what's a POS that will fail at the smallest provication.. And really the only way to tell for sure is t otry to break the weld, and that would be a bit counterproductive when I'm trying to stick a bunch of metal together into something. Someday I'll either get some formal training past "Hold the gun like this and pull the trigger" or I'll just have been doing it for long enough that I'll just be good at it. We'll see what comes first.
I often dream of getting on Monster Garage so I can watch those better than I and learn from them.. But I'll have to apply first. Hard to do when you have nobody to hold the camera for your video application, and no way to edit the tape after so you don't look like a complete idiot- BUt maybe I'll get to doing that someday. We;ll see. BUt don't hold your breath.

I've painted the frame black, and I hope to weld the forks to it tomorrow or the next day- Then I can get to routing air hoses & all that jazz. Or maybe I'll do the air first, I don't know. But it will be all one piece in the next few days I think. (hope)

Here they are together for the first time- The forks & the frame.. Pneumatics & all the "guts" aren't in, but you can get the idea.

There are times when I'm not laying in bed cold & lonelythat I wish the Ex was still here.. Today was one of those times. Getting that Bitch-Bastard heavy assed awkward front end out to the garage sure was a damn nitemare. Too heavy to lift.. Cannot carry it, what would I do when I need my hands to walk? Can't balance it on my lap (like I do most things) as then I won't fit through the door. So I had to like drag / push the damn thing, but of cource I could only hold it with one hand while I did, as I needed the other to propell the goddamn chair. It took me nearly 1/2 an hour to move the thing about 50 feet. Think I was cussin' the whole way? Naaah... At least the kids weren't awake and running hither-tither..

So then I get it to the garage finally.. And spent about 45 minutes getting it into it's current position so I can start puttin' the wires & hoses & such on. Talk about an exercise in frustration management. BUt.. What can I do? I'm the only one here. I have no help- So if I can't figure out something.. Well then it doesn't happen. So I have to exercise my creativity daily- Or just smash a lot of things.

Anyway, now both places are in the same place & I can start putting all the "stuff" on. The battery, air pump, air tank, switches & guages.. Dunno where they're gonna go yet.. I still have to figure out a dashboard or something.. I have an old brass "taxi" horn from the 1920's.. You know, the cartoon "HONK HONK"? It makes that. I also have a "bigrig" air horn I was gonna put on the van.. BUt I might put it on the trike instead. Lifhts? Ya it needs those prolly.. As I bet someday I'll get caught out in the dark. So while there's still alot to do (don't forget the accelerator & brake cable- It only has brakes on the front at the moment..) at least the heavy frame design & welding is all done. And the drive-train is straight, I think. Haven't tested it, but it looks good. BUt we'll see, wouldn't suprise me if it blows up when I start it running. And the gas tank? I'm not even sure what I'm gonna use, let alone where it's gonna go. Plan is to hit the recyclers Tuesday for a pipe of some sort- 4 to 6" diameter and a foot long or so, I think. Might put it right on top of the forks.. I dunno yet.

Prolly shouldn't have painted it all just yet, because there's still alot of stuff to weld on, but I can sand a hole in the paint where I have to weld stuff.. And once it's all together it would be *impossible* to paint it all.
So there it is so far.

Oh yeah, that's not the exhaust that will be on there in the end- I have a tuned pipe on the way, which I'll cut & weld so it directs the exhause away from me.

So I put the front ram in & tried it out yesterday... Not strong enuf to lift the trike frame. Crap. So last night I grabbed the biggest ram I have & made a mount for it. Had to take the sawzall & cut off the old mount.. It's circled:

Ya that was easy.. Coz I made sure I put it on there *really* well.

SO then I had to figure out how to get the new bigger ram on there..

But instead of welding the thing on there & then testing it, I decided to see if it was strong enuf first.. So I just clamped it. Hooked it up to the air... Not strong enuf either. So... WHat to do? What to do?

Here's a couple of pics of the mount I made, btw:

Instead of rebuilding the mount all over again.. And adding the smaller big ram for a little extra lift.. I decided to see if I could get some springs to help with the lift. So I went to the store in search of some small ones... Got some that'll work I think. But.. In order to use them I have to engineer that mount for the big ram a little..

Did that. Hooked it up.. With clamps- (I should get s'more of those..) to test the ram with the springs attached to see if it could lift what I needed it to. I *think*... With some fiddilin'.. It will.

The Sink:

So I wanted a place to fill weasel water-bottles & such in the bathroom- easier than carrying them to the kitchen & back, but they didn't fit under the spigot. So I made one.

The Footplate:

So.. WHen wheelchairs come from the factory, they have this leeeeedle tiny aluminum plate to put your feet on. NOw realize your feet are out there 'tip of the spear' flappin' in the wind.. First thing to hit the door? Your feet. THings that get torn up in the toespace of the kitchen? Your feet. Things that leave a blood trail after a while? Your feet. So I decided to build myself a footplate that would at least make an attempt at protecting my feet. The first one was a laminated oak bow & a plate of 1/4" steel. It worked really well, but didn't hinge & weighed about 45 pounds. Why's it need a hinge? because with it on there, now I'm 6" further away from the bathtub.. Toilet.. all those things. A hinge to flip it up fixes that. So it's all aluminum, the final one I wear now.. And weighs about a pound.

The Propane filler:

Big bottle of propane: 10 bucks. Little bottle of propane? 3 bucks. Refilling your little propane bottle from your big propane bottle? Easy, if you have an adapter. 'Cource by now if you don't know I make almost everything rather than buy it, you haven't been paying attention.
If you flip over the big bottle when you fill the little one, you get mostly liquid.. Lasts alot longer.
I use the same device to fill the little bottles with pressurized air from my air compressor- Then I can carry said compressed air to distant places.

The Shopvac:

I bought this shop-vac at the thrift store- $10. It didn't have a hose... But I didn't care. I know how to make one. So I made the hose- Only one problem. The port where the hose connects really restricts the flow.. And when dumping the 'vac it's possible to get a little "special suprise" regurgitating itself out that port. Not fun when it falls in your lap. So I modified the thing with some 2" ABS pipe- Now the intake is straighter w/o restrictions.. And there's no hole in the side of the nachine when dumping.