misc hacks

Author: Dave
Date: 12.15.12 - 9:05am

Going to use this post as a running log for small misc hacks.

A strip of clear vinyl is a great way to keep your shower hooks from getting out of place and jamming up on you.

The second is a quick vine holder thats easy to make and screw into the wall so you can let plants grow around the room (in this case the window in front of my sink) The wood disk is just the center piece from using a hole saw on a piece of luan. The stem is a piece of dowel rod with a hole drilled down the center. A dry wall screw secures the whole assembly to the wall.

Next up is a really efficient way to make a cable clamp. I needed to keep the wire up off of the ways so it didnt get pinched, but didnt want to drill and tap any holes in the machine. I remembered I had some small magnets with a hole in the center, add one small zip tie and voila !

As part of the same project, I needed to space a mounting plate away from teh machine. The usual solution is to stack washers, but..it would be an impossible place to get a washer back into. I was going to weld a couple washers together and then weld on a piece of coat hanger as a arm to position it, then thought just turn a piece in the lathe and weld an arm on..then i finally realized..hey moron just drill a hole in a piece of flat stock to make your own washer and leave a long arm of extra material on it for the handle. Its so simple its stupid..but somehow it still took me like 3 leaps of thought to reach it!

How about a quick and dirty window height air conditioner dolly? They are pretty heavy, and I hate lugging them around for season storage. And worse I hate bending over to pick them up off the floor or put them back down on it. Window height rolling AC dolly is the perfect solution.

Another quick addition. I have a small compressor that is just heavy, and bulky enough that it is a pain to carry around. The answer was to weld on a lifting eye to the handle. There wasnt anywhere you could really attach a chain quickly that wouldnt be at risk for slipping off. so I found a spot I suspect would be a close to center of gravity and ground a piece of metal to fit. Worked out perfect.