Custom Kitchen Sink Base Cabinet

The Story

This is a cabinet I built for my parents. They had and old aluminum base cabinet their kitchen sink sat on. I had already built them a pantry base cabinet in the same color so I wanted to add to the current furnishing with something nicer.

The Framing

Framed with no bottom

















Framed with bottom
















The Drawer supports offset to accommodate the sink.
















Stained and drawer fronts mounted (both false face and real).
















Closer Look at Drawer during stain.
















Drawer hardware on and to the left, the framing of the hidden kick plate drawer.
















The Kick plate drawer in and the doors being hung and stained
















Doors hung and last stain coat about to go on doors and sides.
















Kick Plate Drawer hardware going on.
















In its new home with the sink mounted.

















Hidden Kick Plate open

















The inside of the cabinet floor was lined with rubber matting to protect from water damage and the left drawer (The real drawer) was lined with black felt to match the previously built cabinet.

LED Fish Tank Light

The Story

I set out to build a blue fish tank light and painting regular bulbs was not as cool as using LED lights so i when to this website to get the information I needed as far as wiring and circuitry. I then went to Ebay and ordered 30 Blue High Output LEDs and went to Radio Shack for the 30 Resistors. They guy at Radio Shack said there was a way to wire the LEDs through 1 resistor but I couldn't find anything that supported or showed me how so I stuck with the 30. All in all, I spent about $20.00.

Parts List

30 Blue LEDs $6.00 (Ebay)
25 150ohm Resistors (Radio Shack) .99 per 5pk
5 330ohm Resistors (Radio Shack) .99 per 5pk
Roll of Foil Tape (already had some)

Instructions

• I opened the existing light cover and removed the old wiring and bulbs
• I cut a piece of thin wood the size of the covers opening
• I drilled holes big enough to fit the LEDs but not so big they came through the holes
• I bent the LED leads to follow the instructions but altered them to accomodate 5 LEDs by themselves.( the pattern was 3 LEDs, 1 LED. 2 LEDs, 1LED then back to 3)
• After the wiring was done, I lined the light side of the panel with reflective foil tape then glued the panel to the cover.
• I re-used the on of button on the old light so i can cut it of when i wanted to.

Tips

• Solder a rail on each side of the leads, one for positive and one for negative.
• Pay close attention to how you wire them, negative and positive or it will not light
• test it before gluing shut and insure that no water will seep in.

The pictures


From Far

Up Close


LED Panel

Cool Fish


The Wiring Diagram


Thats it.. The next project is a new wood base for the tank, maybe even a bigger tank.

Gut and Rebuild Kitchen

The Story

I charged a friend of a friend 1600.00 to Gut and rebuild her kitchen. These are just pictures of the process.


This is the old archway.

Water Damage to archway



New Archway re-walled and skim coated.


Old walls and Archway before new ones went up.


New walls and archway after first skim coat.


Old window and cabinet area.


New walls and base cabinets.


Custom Cut and cornered base cabinets in the process of trimming.



Top cabinets going up.



New Sink no fixtures.



New sink with fixtures.


Old Flooring


New Flooring


New Stove and Fridge. Counters trimmed.



There was also custom tiled breakfast bar and tiled corner nooks that i cant find pictures of. Also the painting of the kitchen ended up a beige color.

Build an insane router table

The Story

I love wood working and wanted to build something that would not only be useful but useful in wood working as well. I decided that if I wanted to own a router table, I wanted it to be on that made using it as easy and clean as possible this is what I came up with.

The pictures below are progressive from the table top to the base to the electronic router raiser made from an 18 volt drill.

The table top has 18 inch quiet drawer slides for smooth fence movement and a two size track system for accessory anchoring.


Below is a close-up of the track system and the ruled edges for fence alignment.


The below is the track systems in and the router hole cut and ringed. Also the router plate screw holes are drilled and couter sinked.


This is a shot of the router fence mounted and notched for the vacuum hole.


This is a shot of the vacuum port behind the fence base. There will be a smooth surface fence face going on in the next picture that has an adjustable opening.



This is the face and top completed with the exception of the fence stops. Notice there is also an track system on the fence face for feather boards and block stops.


Below is a picture of the base doors on and stained. The router has also been mounted and the raised is next.



Below is a video if the router raiser Framed wired and operating.




Below is the button controls to raise and lower the router.


This is the second door system that has drilled holes to hold router bits and enclosed the router compartment.


This is both door systems open.




This is the final product. It has the panels on the door fronts and a drawer at the bottom for larger accessories.

Brick Cement Walkway for under $100.00

The Story

I had an ugly grass(dead grass) walkway leading from the side of my house to the back yard. I wanted to make a walkway that was sturdy yet inexpensive. After seeing cement brick molds on TV, i went to HSN and ordered a double pack of 24x24 molds in a Belgian Brick Pattern. See Here. The molds cost me $37.00 with shipping. I also purchased edging bricks at 38 cents a piece.

Supplies

Each mold needs 1 60 pound bag of cement. I purchased about 8 80 pound bags and borrowed a friends wheel barrel. The total cost of about $90.00.

The Cost

8 bags of cement = $36.00
Molds = $37.00
Edging bricks = $22.00

This saved me a ton because if you were to buy pavers it would cost $2 to $3 dollars a brick. That would easily cost $200 to $300 bucks not including sand and gravel.

Below are some pictures of the walkway.




The trick is to mix the cement wet enough to smooth out but thick enough that you can shimmy the mold off before its too hard. Also the mix needs to be consistently at every batch to maintain the color, otherwise you will end up with different shades of gray.

Building a shed for under 150.00

I recently moved to a very nice home that did not have a shed. I have a lot of outdoor stuff that needs to go somewhere safe and dry. Rather than buy a $300-$400 shed at Lowes or Home Depot, I decided to see how cheap I could go and still produce a decent shed. So here we go.


Framed and the beginnings of the siding and roof drip edges. (also notice the cement walkway built of poured cement into brick framed molds.)



The below is the shingles up and the beginning of the trim work. At this stage, I have spent about 75.00. Notice the inside of the shed is bare. This will be the last of the work to be done. I will be constructing the doors and solar lighting first.

Walk around video



The Trim still needs sanding and the entire shed needs to be painted to match the house color. It also needs the inside walls and shelves as well so there will be updated pix once that is done.

I am no expert, but I do like how it is coming along so far. Once it is done, all my crap can go in there and free up the small back yard I have.

Just to clear up some possible confusion, here is the break down of cost so far.

Already Purchased

• 2x4 = 14 at $1.75 each
• 4x8 sheathing = $8.00 each
• 3 inch screws = $5.00
• 3 Shingles =$2.60 (The rest was given to me by a friend who had leftovers.
• Siding = Free (I drove around looking for currently renovated houses with siding on the curb for trash.)
• Drip edges = $6.99 for 3 10ft pieces
• Roofing nails = $4.00 a box

To be purchased

• 3 Sheets of 4x8 Sheathing = $21.00
• 1 1/2 inch screws = $5.00
• 5 2x4 = $1.75 each
• Solar Light = $15.00
• Exterior Paint = $16.00
  

Estimated Total: $124.65


There will be another $25.00 or so in shelving supplies.

I will post more pictures as I progress


Project to come

• Brick Grill base
• Fenced Garden Area
• Under Garden Rain Water Irrigation System
• Cement Bi-Level Table for Back Yard.

Projects Completed ready to blog

• Blue Led Fish Tank Lighting
• First Time Gardener Tips and No Nos
• Building a Kitchen Base Cabinet
• Building a Router Table and Storage Base
• Kitchen Gut and Rebuild