@Shamburglar even easier if you acquire them already built like I did although you have less control over the product that way. Mine came to me at nearly 10 and as @The_Baron says, the maintenance is pretty intensive.
A couple friends and I built four sets of Ariel transmission line speakers. This is what they look like. Ours don't have the black junk at the bottom. It took us a year of weekends.
@belowi@mehjohnson@ianimal Wow. I wasn't really expecting any replies. I'll post a picture this weekend. I won't have time tomorrow. It's not only better without the black junk, but ours are rounded over all around the top. And no CNC assist. Hand-routed with guides.
@capguncowboy Follow the link in the first sentence for the plans. Here's a copy of the original article that made us decide to build them 15 years ago. We built the 5b. http://www.nutshellhifi.com/Arieltxt1.html. To be completely honest, I dont know that I'd recommend it. they were an awful lot of work.
@SSteve I was wondering from the previous pic, looks like you went with the MDF body instead or the ply in the plans for shaping? Those came out great, I bet they were a bunch of work, wish I had the floor space.
@belowi We followed the plans as closely as we could. High-density MDF for the case with the front being two pieces laminated together. 3/4" baltic birch plywood for all the pieces inside. Getting the second side on, with all the pieces having to fit into the grooves was challenging. And we had to do it eight times for the four pairs. The sad thing is that my pair is the only one that's currently in use. One other pair got finished but then that guy went further off the HiFi deep end and built some crazier speakers. The third guy never put drivers in his. We were going to sell the fourth pair but it's still sitting in someone's shop thirteen years later.
I built a projector from online instructions using a dismantled 15" LCD screen, a 400watt bulb, fresnel lenses and a few other parts. It put out a decent 10' diagonal image. Alas now it sits on a shelf having been replaced by a real projector years ago.
I redid a couple of kitchens. Once at our old house, where I built the cabinets from scratch. It was a total redo. Then, at our current home, I ordered flat-packed cabinets and set them in place. It was also a total remodel, with much nicer finishing work (I must have learned something the first time around).
Made from scratch:
Old:
Mid-Project: New and MOSTLY done:
I've done about everything there is to do in construction now. Honestly, the thing I hate the most is roofing. Someone else can do that the next time it needs to be done. That is well worth hiring someone else for.
@capguncowboy roofing is the thing you hate? It's sheetrock for me. You could offer me my immortal soul for a twenty minute mudding/taping job and I'd have to think
@capguncowboy I'm with you on the remodeling/rebuilding. Isn't much I can't do these days which is awesome, but finding the time to do everythjng is near impossible. I basically trade sleep to do work I need to get done.
@ianimal Weird. I love mudding & taping. Mind you, I don't like doing it on ceilings, but patching up drywall perfectly is kinda my zen-construction-thing.
@capguncowboy Awesome. My grandpa was a cabinetmaker before he went to general contracting. I didn't absorb enough from him to tackle a job like that- in under a year or two anyway...
@mehjohnson I really enjoy carpentry work. I've built all sorts of stuff and accumulated more tools than Lowe's in the process. I wouldn't mind doing cabinetry for a living, or even just something for fun on the side. The problem is customer cabinetry costs more to make than it does to buy off-the-shelf cabinets at Lowe's. Most people don't want to pay that much, much less enough to cover the labor invested in it. Cabinet makers are a dying breed, and it is sad in a way
@capguncowboy Ya it is too bad. I admire the skills involved in cabinetry and furniture, etc. Too many of the "finer" skills in alot of trades are dying out for similar reasons. I'm partial to stonework and even looked into a career change in that direction years ago, but it's shrinking/dying out, too.
@capguncowboy The main structural part (the part behind the calf that wraps around under the foot) is fiberglass and like, a quarter inch of solid wood glue and cardstock paper mache... it's not very flexible. I can handle a vertical distance of about eight inches in these guys, lol.
@ianimal Oh yeah, true dat. All those hours and never a penny of compensation. Truly a labor of love. Haven't done it in years and I miss it. I love the smell of a theater.
@ianimal Nah' I knew when I changed my major from business to theater I would never make any money in it. It's a passion, not a job. It was a lot of fun even if I didn't eat often.
@edlada@ianimal I always felt I learned more in my 14 years working in theatre than I did in all of my formal education. Unfortunately, I developed that annoying habit of wanting to eat every day & my degree sometimes takes some explanation in a job interview
@Kleineleh don't get me wrong, I really love my job. It a pretty good deal to have something different to do everyday, but every once in a while is like to order steak.
I know some guys that built a city. They did it on Rock and Roll. Oddly enough, the song they wrote about it wasn't rock and roll. The video evidence is about as awesome as it gets
@trudymae I loved striking the set. Once I put a 6d nail through the palm of my hand though. I was pushing and another guy was pulling. He pulled harder than I pushed and the nail was sticking through a piece of plywood. It hurt going in but it was worse pulling my hand off of the nail!
@Kleineleh Heh, heh. I was stone cold sober. I really can't tell any stories about the parties after strike, I'm not sure the statute of limitations has expired on some of the crazy shit we did. BTW, maybe you and I are twins from differnt mothers, I spent some time in social services as well. I am one of those crazy people that values job satisfaction over compensation. I've managed to do some cool stuff and live in interesting places even if I never did get paid much. Now I am semi-retired and teaching in English and living in Poland and life is good. We subsist on the typical Polish diet; chicken, pork and kielbasa. No steak here!
@edlada I definitely value satisfaction over compensation as well. I think a good working environment and knowing you're doing something of quality can easily make up for some missing digits on a paycheck. Unfortunately, no one in this area seems interested in providing quality services as much as they are just saying they do. It sounds like you've been able to travel more than I have. Hopefully we really are twins and I'll get to do more of that soon!
@chaseadventure Cool!! I used to work for Outward Bound. Too bad I didn't know about you when I lived in northern Idaho. We used to have to trundle over to OR for stupid kid soccer games (soccer games stupid, not kid). Did a bunch of kayaking and some rafting while I lived up there
@JerseyFrank Oh, lets see. For my daughter, a set of bookshelves, and I built a set of coffee stands for my daughter and her suite-mates; I built my youngest son a small chair, and a wooden sword toy (dull edges). other items.
@Josephus I meant older vs. oldest. Comparative vs. superlative. When comparing from a set of two, you can only have good and better. Best is saved for sets of 3 or more (or sets of unknown quantities).
@JerseyFrank fair enough. Though I do think of my children as a group of children, not as two boys and girl; the fact is my oldest is a son. oh damn. the fact is my oldest is a daughter, not a son. I'm wrong. //hangs head.
I build a lot of things...biggest single project was a media room for my brothers family. Currently I am building 4 dressers and a lego/train table for my kids, hopefully for Christmas. I have also built a mini-sandrail from scratch (welding class project), reroofed a house (that sucks), remodeled rooms, etc. All of this to say I wouldn't buy these tools...I have too many of these type, my tool buying expenses is now limited to bigger items unfortunately.
Way back when (1964), I was working as an apprentice carpenter. We built an apartment house. 12 apartments along a street, with garages underneath. Did everything except the plumbing and electrical, which required licensed people. Couldn't do it today, it wouldn't be up to hurricane code.
I've built a self-hating neurosis and obsessive cheapness. It took 31 years. Although I did have plenty of help from a Jewish mother and family, so I guess I can't take all the credit.
For a parade here in town, I built a Captain America POV shield. It had 40 static lights, and 20 that would alternate between blue and white to form the points of the star. Worked pretty well.
Built an A frame chicken coop with ventilation and roosts for a varying quantity of chickens. Presently contains 23 hens and 2 roosters who freerange during the daylight hours. Freeranging is one reason the quantity varies along with incursions by the local coyote population who are bored of consuming the local wildlife.
A fantastic cardboard box house (made from a doctor exam room table box - best box ever with thick cardboard such that when you made a peaked roof two kids could sit on the roof - access via a window in the roof - without it collapsing) with my 4th grader that was so cool that a university architecture faculty member (dad of one of my kid's friends) took a bunch of photos of to show his students what coolness could be made from a box. He said it was the most innovative box house he had ever seen. Landlord made us throw it out because it was going to "collect rats". Yeah right. Dumb ass landlord.
A new human being.
@Teripie hope you followed the instructions.
@Teripie but that was all unskilled labor.
@JonT might explain why the arms on my children are coming from the tops of their heads
@Teripie baby arms
@Teripie Same here. It was easy to build, but maintenence is ongoing.
@Shamburglar even easier if you acquire them already built like I did although you have less control over the product that way. Mine came to me at nearly 10 and as @The_Baron says, the maintenance is pretty intensive.
It would have to be a fancy pergola I built onto the back of my house. Took me months, but it's pretty awesome.
Bunches of fish tank related things...stands and canopies and such. :D
I built a smoker this past winter.
@jwilloughby I guess that's better than smoking a builder.
A couple friends and I built four sets of Ariel transmission line speakers. This is what they look like. Ours don't have the black junk at the bottom.
It took us a year of weekends.
@SSteve holy crap, you are a routering god. No pics of the ones you built fully assembled?
@SSteve Nice. Bet it looks better without the black junk.
@SSteve did you have CNC help with those?
@belowi @mehjohnson @ianimal Wow. I wasn't really expecting any replies. I'll post a picture this weekend. I won't have time tomorrow. It's not only better without the black junk, but ours are rounded over all around the top. And no CNC assist. Hand-routed with guides.
@SSteve very nice. So much of my knowledge has become obsolete with those pesky machines and their numeric controls.
@SSteve I bet they sound great. I wouldn't mind having the plans for those if you have them. I'd love to have a set of those in my den or office
@mehjohnson I appreciate your intolerance of crappy plastic.
@capguncowboy Follow the link in the first sentence for the plans. Here's a copy of the original article that made us decide to build them 15 years ago. We built the 5b. http://www.nutshellhifi.com/Arieltxt1.html. To be completely honest, I dont know that I'd recommend it. they were an awful lot of work.
@belowi @mehjohnson @ianimal Here's a photo of the finished product. Next to it is a subwoofer I built.
@ianimal Yeah, SSteve's look much better.
@SSteve Those are great. Sub looks serious, too.
@SSteve Whoa! Nice
@SSteve I was wondering from the previous pic, looks like you went with the MDF body instead or the ply in the plans for shaping? Those came out great, I bet they were a bunch of work, wish I had the floor space.
@belowi We followed the plans as closely as we could. High-density MDF for the case with the front being two pieces laminated together. 3/4" baltic birch plywood for all the pieces inside. Getting the second side on, with all the pieces having to fit into the grooves was challenging. And we had to do it eight times for the four pairs. The sad thing is that my pair is the only one that's currently in use. One other pair got finished but then that guy went further off the HiFi deep end and built some crazier speakers. The third guy never put drivers in his. We were going to sell the fourth pair but it's still sitting in someone's shop thirteen years later.
I dunno, some Ikea furniture is pretty elaborate...
An alibi.
@lisaviolet not going to help you as the goat… just sayin'
A golf simulator: https://mediocre.com/forum/topics/home-golf-simulator-buildout
Robots.
@Sabre99 Battlebot.
A neon sculpture.
I built a projector from online instructions using a dismantled 15" LCD screen, a 400watt bulb, fresnel lenses and a few other parts. It put out a decent 10' diagonal image. Alas now it sits on a shelf having been replaced by a real projector years ago.
One angle of the back end of the projector.
I redid a couple of kitchens. Once at our old house, where I built the cabinets from scratch. It was a total redo. Then, at our current home, I ordered flat-packed cabinets and set them in place. It was also a total remodel, with much nicer finishing work (I must have learned something the first time around).
Made from scratch:
Old:
Mid-Project:
New and MOSTLY done:
I've done about everything there is to do in construction now. Honestly, the thing I hate the most is roofing. Someone else can do that the next time it needs to be done. That is well worth hiring someone else for.
@capguncowboy Nicely done.
@capguncowboy roofing is the thing you hate? It's sheetrock for me. You could offer me my immortal soul for a twenty minute mudding/taping job and I'd have to think
@capguncowboy I'm with you on the remodeling/rebuilding. Isn't much I can't do these days which is awesome, but finding the time to do everythjng is near impossible. I basically trade sleep to do work I need to get done.
@ianimal Weird. I love mudding & taping. Mind you, I don't like doing it on ceilings, but patching up drywall perfectly is kinda my zen-construction-thing.
@JerseyFrank I've got some drywall work I've been putting off if you need a zen experience in Texas
@capguncowboy Awesome. My grandpa was a cabinetmaker before he went to general contracting. I didn't absorb enough from him to tackle a job like that- in under a year or two anyway...
@mehjohnson I really enjoy carpentry work. I've built all sorts of stuff and accumulated more tools than Lowe's in the process. I wouldn't mind doing cabinetry for a living, or even just something for fun on the side. The problem is customer cabinetry costs more to make than it does to buy off-the-shelf cabinets at Lowe's. Most people don't want to pay that much, much less enough to cover the labor invested in it. Cabinet makers are a dying breed, and it is sad in a way
@capguncowboy Ya it is too bad. I admire the skills involved in cabinetry and furniture, etc. Too many of the "finer" skills in alot of trades are dying out for similar reasons. I'm partial to stonework and even looked into a career change in that direction years ago, but it's shrinking/dying out, too.
I reroofed my house. I'm a girl. Now working on a cottage rebuild....
@meow57 Great. After you get done reroofing my house, you can cook dinner for me too. (VERY much kidding)
Robots in high school, or these: http://imgur.com/1DzZDhq , which have stood up to at least 6 straight days of convention wear so far.
@teacups Rocket boots? OMG Please tell me those are rocket boots!
@capguncowboy They look like Portal boots to me. Am I right, @teacups?
@SSteve yes
I had forgotten about these. My son and I were even playing Portal 2 last weekend. He's 6, but really getting into it
@SSteve Yup :) Lots of fun! It was for a crossover outfit, though, I've not actually played through Portal myself yet.......
@teacups Have you tested them out? Jumped off any tall buildings, etc?
@capguncowboy The main structural part (the part behind the calf that wraps around under the foot) is fiberglass and like, a quarter inch of solid wood glue and cardstock paper mache... it's not very flexible. I can handle a vertical distance of about eight inches in these guys, lol.
A moonroof-style trapdoor hiding a 400lb fake horse dressed in armor riding a hydraulic actuated elevator.
It almost never caught fire.
@ianimal Please never explain this in more detail. It might drive me totally insane wondering why you built it
@capguncowboy ........
@capguncowboy theatre's a helluva drug
@ianimal Oh yeah, true dat. All those hours and never a penny of compensation. Truly a labor of love. Haven't done it in years and I miss it. I love the smell of a theater.
@edlada even when the compensation runs into the tens of dollars it still smells like a wasted BA and regret
@ianimal Nah' I knew when I changed my major from business to theater I would never make any money in it. It's a passion, not a job. It was a lot of fun even if I didn't eat often.
@edlada @ianimal I always felt I learned more in my 14 years working in theatre than I did in all of my formal education. Unfortunately, I developed that annoying habit of wanting to eat every day & my degree sometimes takes some explanation in a job interview
@Kleineleh don't get me wrong, I really love my job. It a pretty good deal to have something different to do everyday, but every once in a while is like to order steak.
@ianimal I've worked in theatre & social service. Tell me more about this thing you call "steak."
I built a chair from a single 2x4.
Seriously.
@haydesigner 12'?
@ianimal, heh… no, it was a fully functional chair that was designed to hold over 250 pounds.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154892946680268&set=pb.692090267.-2207520000.1418372980.
@haydesigner That's cool.
@haydesigner I agree, very slick
I know some guys that built a city. They did it on Rock and Roll. Oddly enough, the song they wrote about it wasn't rock and roll. The video evidence is about as awesome as it gets
@capguncowboy They didn't build any old city. They built this city.
@capguncowboy Also, my biological father slept with Grace Slick.
@SSteve lol that's the last random fact I would ever expect to read -- even here at Meh
@capguncowboy - No, they built a city: Jump to 1:35
@KDemo Candygram for Mongo!
@SSteve - Mongo like candy,
I think a lot of people are lying about building houses.
@Tightcabouse I have built several… small detail minor detail though - I did it in 1 inch scale and 1/144 scale and the later were scratch built.
I built a bunch of theatre sets in college. then got to tear them down!
@trudymae I loved striking the set. Once I put a 6d nail through the palm of my hand though. I was pushing and another guy was pulling. He pulled harder than I pushed and the nail was sticking through a piece of plywood. It hurt going in but it was worse pulling my hand off of the nail!
@edlada OH JEEZ! thankfully I've only stepped on a few nails and screws.
@edlada One of many reasons why the liberal consumption of alcohol traditionally takes place after strike ;)
@Kleineleh Heh, heh. I was stone cold sober. I really can't tell any stories about the parties after strike, I'm not sure the statute of limitations has expired on some of the crazy shit we did. BTW, maybe you and I are twins from differnt mothers, I spent some time in social services as well. I am one of those crazy people that values job satisfaction over compensation. I've managed to do some cool stuff and live in interesting places even if I never did get paid much. Now I am semi-retired and teaching in English and living in Poland and life is good. We subsist on the typical Polish diet; chicken, pork and kielbasa. No steak here!
@edlada I definitely value satisfaction over compensation as well. I think a good working environment and knowing you're doing something of quality can easily make up for some missing digits on a paycheck. Unfortunately, no one in this area seems interested in providing quality services as much as they are just saying they do. It sounds like you've been able to travel more than I have. Hopefully we really are twins and I'll get to do more of that soon!
@edlada just for clarification, I meant there are no quality social services here. Dallas does have a lot of great independent theatre, though :)
An empire of whitewater rafting bliss. Chase Adventure Outfitters
@chaseadventure Cool!! I used to work for Outward Bound. Too bad I didn't know about you when I lived in northern Idaho. We used to have to trundle over to OR for stupid kid soccer games (soccer games stupid, not kid). Did a bunch of kayaking and some rafting while I lived up there
A desktop computer.
@money123451 a working laptop from 2 broken ones. Only had 3 screws leftover when I was done.
I built race cars in college. It was so much fun I nearly failed out.
Built this desk for my oldest son.
@Josephus What did you build for your other 2 or more sons?
@JerseyFrank Oh, lets see. For my daughter, a set of bookshelves, and I built a set of coffee stands for my daughter and her suite-mates; I built my youngest son a small chair, and a wooden sword toy (dull edges). other items.
@Josephus I was being a pedant over oldest vs. oldest just to write something. I think the woodwork is great.
@JerseyFrank ah. I guess you meant 'eldest' vs. oldest, eh? Still, technically, isn't my eldest son also the oldest of my sons?
@Josephus and thanks.
@Josephus I meant older vs. oldest. Comparative vs. superlative. When comparing from a set of two, you can only have good and better. Best is saved for sets of 3 or more (or sets of unknown quantities).
@JerseyFrank fair enough. Though I do think of my children as a group of children, not as two boys and girl; the fact is my oldest is a son. oh damn. the fact is my oldest is a daughter, not a son. I'm wrong. //hangs head.
Solar electric car.
I build a lot of things...biggest single project was a media room for my brothers family. Currently I am building 4 dressers and a lego/train table for my kids, hopefully for Christmas. I have also built a mini-sandrail from scratch (welding class project), reroofed a house (that sucks), remodeled rooms, etc. All of this to say I wouldn't buy these tools...I have too many of these type, my tool buying expenses is now limited to bigger items unfortunately.
Way back when (1964), I was working as an apprentice carpenter. We built an apartment house. 12 apartments along a street, with garages underneath. Did everything except the plumbing and electrical, which required licensed people. Couldn't do it today, it wouldn't be up to hurricane code.
A stronghold to defend against the Galaxians. It was made of sofa pillows.
@gregormehndel Yes - we built those two and also added sheets and blankets and attack cats
An empire of adoring Mehtizens.
@MEHcus Adoring? I thought we were annoying...
I built a deck once. IT came out awesome, and has since been destroyed by the homeowner.
The thing I'm most proud of was a box fort I built as a child. There was a papier mache Calvin head on top that acted as a portal to view out.
A three tap keezer: chest freezer turned into a kegerator.
Four kids. 13,8,6,and 6.
I've built a self-hating neurosis and obsessive cheapness. It took 31 years. Although I did have plenty of help from a Jewish mother and family, so I guess I can't take all the credit.
In high school I wirewrapped a 8032 microcontroller and programmed it in hex.
Here is one half of a TR9C1710 video capture "thing" http://imgur.com/a/GoNm2
For a parade here in town, I built a Captain America POV shield. It had 40 static lights, and 20 that would alternate between blue and white to form the points of the star. Worked pretty well.
Built an A frame chicken coop with ventilation and roosts for a varying quantity of chickens. Presently contains 23 hens and 2 roosters who freerange during the daylight hours. Freeranging is one reason the quantity varies along with incursions by the local coyote population who are bored of consuming the local wildlife.
A fantastic cardboard box house (made from a doctor exam room table box - best box ever with thick cardboard such that when you made a peaked roof two kids could sit on the roof - access via a window in the roof - without it collapsing) with my 4th grader that was so cool that a university architecture faculty member (dad of one of my kid's friends) took a bunch of photos of to show his students what coolness could be made from a box. He said it was the most innovative box house he had ever seen. Landlord made us throw it out because it was going to "collect rats". Yeah right. Dumb ass landlord.
A marble run that went from the kitchen counter to kitchen table to the floor. Also a gerbil run from kid wood blocks that was huge.
I want to learn how to built these things
http://www.rollingballsculpture.com.au/rolling_ball_sculpture_interactive.cfm
(there are several pages of these - play some of the videos)