Happy New Year!
Usually, the week between the Christmas and New Year holidays is for pigging out and sleeping in. But there's only so much eating and sleeping one can do. Yah, I know. Can't believe what I'm typing either.
As warm-up, I installed a small desk for Jia Nin in the master bedroom (check out the pictures on her flikr site) late November. The standard tables that they sell in stores were too big for her purposes and we wanted something off the floor. We found a really nice cabinet door in Ikea's as-is section for $5 and a pair of shelving support brackets at the local home-improvement store.
Project 1: Swift
Jia Nin does alot of knitting. One of the things to do is to wind yarn from a loop into a tight ball. Something about not stretching the yarn until just before it's needed. So instead of buying a "swift" online for over a hundred dollars, I figured that this is the perfect excuse to make her happy while letting me buy lots of tools at the same time.
The cost of raw materials (wood, nuts and bolts, etc) is about $35. Buying the tools... is a one time thing that'll spread itself among future projects. Setting up a basement workshop will be a post for later in the year. Total time spent was around 20 hours. Finished product wasn't too bad. I may do a bit of rounding-off of the corners.
Usually, the week between the Christmas and New Year holidays is for pigging out and sleeping in. But there's only so much eating and sleeping one can do. Yah, I know. Can't believe what I'm typing either.
As warm-up, I installed a small desk for Jia Nin in the master bedroom (check out the pictures on her flikr site) late November. The standard tables that they sell in stores were too big for her purposes and we wanted something off the floor. We found a really nice cabinet door in Ikea's as-is section for $5 and a pair of shelving support brackets at the local home-improvement store.
Project 1: Swift
Jia Nin does alot of knitting. One of the things to do is to wind yarn from a loop into a tight ball. Something about not stretching the yarn until just before it's needed. So instead of buying a "swift" online for over a hundred dollars, I figured that this is the perfect excuse to make her happy while letting me buy lots of tools at the same time.
The cost of raw materials (wood, nuts and bolts, etc) is about $35. Buying the tools... is a one time thing that'll spread itself among future projects. Setting up a basement workshop will be a post for later in the year. Total time spent was around 20 hours. Finished product wasn't too bad. I may do a bit of rounding-off of the corners.
Project 2: Add lighting for the living room
Actually, the lighting was added in November. A few pieces of Ikea's Ribba picture ledge and Grundtal halogen spot lights added soft illumination for the living room. Perfect for watching movies, playing Nintendo Wii, etc.
However, we didn't want the lighting wires hanging down the wall, and especially not in ugly plastic channels. So the solution was to run the wires in the wall. U.S. homes are framed in wood supports and then clad in drywall (a kind of plaster panel). After drilling a few small holes to check what's behind the drywall, figuring out which circuit breaker shuts off electricity to the living room, and buying the parts, time to get it done.
Actually, the lighting was added in November. A few pieces of Ikea's Ribba picture ledge and Grundtal halogen spot lights added soft illumination for the living room. Perfect for watching movies, playing Nintendo Wii, etc.
However, we didn't want the lighting wires hanging down the wall, and especially not in ugly plastic channels. So the solution was to run the wires in the wall. U.S. homes are framed in wood supports and then clad in drywall (a kind of plaster panel). After drilling a few small holes to check what's behind the drywall, figuring out which circuit breaker shuts off electricity to the living room, and buying the parts, time to get it done.
Replaced the single switches in the original living room switch panel (above left) with doubles (above right).
Ran wires behind the walls up to where the lights are, terminating in a power socket (left). Each socket is controlled by a switch which gives me the option of adding more lighting in the future.
Finally, screw all the parts in place with the covers and we're left with the cleanup.
Time elapsed: 4 hours.
(Note: using a flashlight to for the photos because the breakers are still off, and phone's camera's flash is really weak.)
Ran wires behind the walls up to where the lights are, terminating in a power socket (left). Each socket is controlled by a switch which gives me the option of adding more lighting in the future.
Finally, screw all the parts in place with the covers and we're left with the cleanup.
Time elapsed: 4 hours.
(Note: using a flashlight to for the photos because the breakers are still off, and phone's camera's flash is really weak.)
