De-Construction of Pellets

With Valley Rovers as a fundraiser we decided to split wood and sell it on. While the wood dried it sat on a bunch of pellets which I got for free by asking nicely at the Dominion Post. As we have started to sell our wood and the pellets have freed up I have been able to take the pellets and make use of them.

I brought them back to our flat and tried a bunch of ways to deconstruct them. The videos below showed a couple of ingenious ways to take pellets apart without destroying the timber. I tried a couple of these methods but they were a bit  hit and miss.
I eventually told a mate of mine who in turn lent me his Stanley Wonder Bar Crowbar. This paired with a hammer did the trick. (Ear muffs were a must for deconstruction).

Stanley Wonderbar - as seen on Amazon.

I deconstructed pellets so as to make new stuff. I have a variety of projects in the line that require a large amount cheap timber, pellets are ideal for this, in my case they are free (apart from transport costs) it just require some time to deconstruct them and make them pretty.

Heres some videos I watched.

This video is a striaght up deconstruction video done with a hammer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtPmUZ-k3aI

This video shows an inventive method using the weight of bricks to seperate the timber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7oWaRPpdKU

This video offers a range of methods that didn't apply to me, and is very safety conscious. But still a good watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thAsa9jE2QQ

Heres the tools I used.
Hammer - any old hammer will do
Stanley Wonder Bar Crowbar - as seen above
Brush - mine is a wooden handled brush that came paired with a steel shovel, perfect for cleaning the dust and wood shavings off the timber and the floor.

A pile old pellets - yet to be turned into beautiful fresh timber.

Once the timber was separated out I used my claw hammer to remove any nails left in the timber. Sometimes the old rusty nails would snap off in the timber so for safety and the integrity of the timber I had to punch them deeper into the timber using another nail as a nail punch.

http://www.justagirlblog.com/how-to-install-a-pallet-wall-part-1/
The timber needs to have nails removed carefully to ensure its integrity.

The next step is to sand the timber. This strips the surface layer from the wood, revitalizing it and making it seem new again. I borrowed two electric sanders for this job. The first is the belt sander that rips off the old and used top layer of timber. I try not to rip too much off so the timber to give the timber the desired rustic look so people can see that the wood has already lived and served a purpose.

The timber is clamped down while I strip it using the belt sander.

http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=810
Some timber given a rough sand.

Now that the timber is fresh, revitalized, ready to use I have to come up with a few projects with which I can use the timber. The first thing I wish to make is a wardrobe, as our current room in the flat doesn't have one. Other projects I wish to do with recycled timber include a guitar rack, and a book shelf.

4X2 planks salvaged from pallets and sanded down

A plank salvaged from a pallet. Nails removed and sanded down.

Now to make something, check out next weeks upcoming post to see what project I do first.

The Alleyway

One of my flatmates is brilliant at talking, he spins tales like intricate little webs with such a poker face that the truth is indistinguishable from a lie. One of these stories has earned him an association with the name 'The Alleyway'.

Adin-Jenks http://adin-jenks.deviantart.com/art/Alleyway-Stock-164030882

An Alleyway is a place that summons up all sorts of dark images of grime and criminal activity. Dodgy trade deals, violence, and drunken antics.

When we moved into the flat we jokingly said that we would get him a sign on his bedroom door that said 'The Alleyway' we teased him for a while about it before leaving it to rest a while. In the back of my mind I've been meaning to get on with making the sign and surprising him with it. Last week I finally got on with making the sign.

I sketched out a few diferent layouts on paper. I then grabbed a skinny piece of ply and sketched out the shape of the letters on the ply with Pencil. When the blocked shapes were perfect I drew over them in vivid marker to make it easy to see when I got to cutting the shape.

My workspace filled with tools

I readied the jigsaw, for such a small and intricate shape as a word I needed to turn the reciprocation speed down and ensure that I was using it on the correct setting that allows for curved cutting on wood. I then set to cutting out all of the negative spaces around the letters this was difficult at times. I struggled to clamp the ply in ways that would hold it firmly but allow my intricate maneuvers with the jigsaw. At times small pieces of ply would chip of and I would have to slow down, this tests ones nerves, any further damage would result in the shape being unusable.

First paint job

When the shape was finished I sanded it with my new toy, a 1/3 sheet sized electric finishing sander; this smoothed both main surfaces. I sanded the edges with scraps of sandpaper allowing my fingers to get in and sand the small grooves.

After the first paint job.

When the shape was done I imagined how it would look on the door. I decided to mount it on a larger piece of wood and also to paint it. I painted it black completely on both sides and the edges and then mounted it on the block of wood.

Initially I had planned to screw it to or hang it on the door but I decided instead to save the door and just duct tape it to the top of the door frame, this meant that no lasting damage would come to the door. Another project was achieved with a scrap of ply and a few hours of work.

The doorway

When my flatmate arrived home and noticed the sign above his door he was both impressed and pissed off at me. The sign is a reminder of his ability to spin believable tales from lies and also how some tales will stick and refuse to come off.

The Alleyway.

Christmas Presents - Animal cut outs.

So you've seen my jigsaw, an awesome tool that I love doing projects with. I've got a small collection of recycled and new plywood now that I can easily use to cut out any shape; there are so many shapes that I need to get around to trying out.

For Christmas 2015 I thought I'd stick to the tried and true native birds and animals that I am used to cutting out; these were to be presents for both mine and my partner Shellie's mums. These would go on to decorate our parents garden spaces. Christmas is a time when everyone is stretched for cash, these homemade ply animals show that there is always an alternative to the tacky crap that fills stockings and brings debt.

After drawing, cutting and sanding the animals you get the a finished shaped animal that is safe to touch with no sharp edges.

A couple of kiwis ready for Christmas

A Smooth edged kiwi ready for a new home

Part of the beauty of a project like this is that they can do what they want with them; my mum thought of emphasizing the shape of the kiwi, owl, and tuatara by simply outlining it in black before tacking them to the otherwise boring fence at the back of the property.

Ply Animals on the fence

The ply animals add some shape to the veggie garden

When it came time for Christmas gift giving both of our mothers were pleasantly surprised that we had provided them with something decorative that hadn't cost much money but had required a few hours of work put into them to create.

I'm always looking for a reason to use my Jigsaw so if you have any requests for me to cut out any sort of shape don't hesitate to ask.

Our New Flat and the Dungeon.

Shellie and I and three other friends got together and decided we need to get a place to ourselves. We began the flat hunt. After a few good flat viewings, being disappointed when we missed out; and a few terrible flat viewings and counting our lucky stars that we can afford not to have to put up with that level of filth; we found a place in Wadestown on Weld St.
We spent an exhausting Saturday moving in and then over some celebratory beers we fittingly came up with a name for our house “The Forge”.

The forge is the perfect residence for us at this stage of our lives. Each of us has a large enough bedroom. There is enough parking space for our cars and the scooter. There is a space out the front of the house ideal for BBQ’s and sun bathing. The location in Wadestown is close enough to everything, plenty of fast food eateries, a dairy, a bus stop, a taxi stand, and only a five minute drive to the city. There are plenty of green spaces nearby including the Ahumairangi hill, perfect for weekend runs, and Trellisick Park, which has plenty of walking tracks and picnic spots.

The property also includes a space beneath the lounge which had been neglected and deemed a spot for rubbish storage. When I first saw this area of the house I was excited, I could make excellent use of such a space.

Halfway through sorting the junk and adding my own belongings

I spent the night of Wednesday cleaning out the space which has the flat has dubbed “the dungeon”. There were all sorts of lost treasures and junk buried in there. Old benchtops, doors, a bed base, pieces of a couch, a mirror, timber, shelves, a sink, a playstation, a creepy music box, gardening tools, a watering can, storage bins, the list goes on.

A creepy music box

A big mirror

The first thing I did was using a scrap of GIB clear away the masses of spider webs throughout the space. I stacked all of the wood in a corner, out of the way. I didn’t bother to remove the rubbish and other junk, but I did stack it neatly out of my way.

Accumulated cobwebs

Next I gave the place a good sweep. There was years of dust piled up across the floor, hidden within every nook and cranny, and throughout all of the shelves. I just swept it under the floorboards, as underneath is the ground; dust is dirt so to the dirt with the dust.

As the tidy up continued

All along the front wall of the dungeon is a huge display of shelves, these provide the perfect space to put all of my D.I.Y. bits and bobs, and things I usually put in the garage.

Storage and Workbench

The dungeon provides a space for my belongings which I don't mind getting dusty, this includes things like Outdoors equipment, ropes, tents etc.

The mountain of rubbish which previous tenants left behind.

As it is a long room it is ideal for small target practice. I have a toy BB gun and the space is ideal for shooting cans with the gun.

One of the flat mates  has a dart board which he has allowed to be setup in the dungeon. I measured up the hooks and then put a couple of nails into the wall studs. I hung it on the wall and it provides an excellent environment to practice accuracy with darts.

A beautiful piece of artwork.

A couple of things that I haven't gotten around to are fixing the air ventilation system which has been poorly attached and even more poorly duct taped. So with a friends help I'll do a better job of taping it.

Fantastic Ventilation; Yeah Right!

There are also a few wires that hang down from above my head that lead to the lights and other electrical outlets, I want these well away from my head space so that I don't pull them down, removing the light source in there or electrocuting me.

It's my space and I'll put what I want in it

Ultimately the dungeon is a space for me to play with my tools. I am always looking for projects to do with which I can use my tools, I stapled some pieces of cardboard to the wall so I could write up my upcoming projects and have them in front of me as a reminder. I have a few projects planned, so watch this space updates.