Below 265 SQ/FT TwoBytes Stuff

[drivesitfar]

TB: while my 3 kids and 2 step sons don't always smile here's the youngest 3 at Christmas a few years ago. even though some days are tough just PAY ATTENTION and try to keep your kids with like minded kids whose parents actually care and you'll have a good ride. your kids are who they hang out with and if they are hanging with you and your wife and call that fun all the better.

best of luck with that and hope your weather and time allow for more PLAYHOUSE time before winter settles in.

my 5 kids are 42, 40, 28, 26 & 26 now and i think that picture was about 8 years ago. here's another one i like equally as well where they were a bit younger than yours are now.

looking forward to seeing the next round of pictures by your Supervisor!!

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks for the pics Drives, sounds like a great family you've got there.

In other news...

I had the final inspection on the pergola and got the Certificate of Occupancy from the local government, so I can call that project done!

On the cubby house... I got the fiddly jigsaw puzzle bits cut to fit around the posts and the angled fence at the back of the deck. Put some stain on the fresh cuts after the kids went to bed a few nights ago...

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Got them screwed down the following day...
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and tried out my latest purchase... a Makita Bluetooth radio! Having music in the backyard has helped keep the kids from getting bored for a little longer, so it's been worth the investment so far.

After getting the stringline untangled, the kid's latest fun toy is my box of occy straps, so they are getting wrapped around everything. I don't mind so much, because they are easy to tidy up and it keeps them busy (until somebody loses an eye anyway, but so far so good)

I trimmed the edge of the boards to even them up, and hit them with some stain too (after the kids were in bed again)... so here it is in all it's glory...
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Next step was to pull the walls out of storage. I screwed them together on the pavers temporarily to see what I need to do to clean them up ready to move them up on to the deck.

They are a bit rough, and I need to do a few modifications to make them fit right with the size of the new deck (it's a bit smaller than where it came from), but they don't look too bad.
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And of course, it wasn't long before they got wrapped in occy straps!
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It's been a big hit, and both kids are loving playing in it just like that. I might have a battle when I try to move it up on to the deck!

 

[TwoBytes]

We had a short diversion from the cubby house over the weekend to take care of an emergency repair (it was raining and we needed something to do).

It turns out that the plastic hook on the truck crane is just not cut out for the heavy lifting needs of a 4 year old.

One 3mm aluminium diamond plate offcut, a bit of cutting, filing and drilling (and lots of sanding and polishing by the 4yo crane driver), problem solved!
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Test fit was a great success...
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I don't think that will break any time soon, but I'm a bit worried about the boom going next!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Mat, done well..

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: your playhouse floor looks better than my kitchen's oak hardwood floor. WELL DONE!!

nice fix on your supervisor's crane and nice to hear he was in charge of getting it sanded. how about some heavy duty tape and call it pin striping for the crane to give it a little more support before it breaks and it's really needed?

congrats on the permit approval and i had no doubts. hard to believe how fast it went up isn't it after the long wait for approval?

cheers

 

[ajohno]

Well done Mat.

 

[Terrick down Under]

SO, will the boom get a 2.0 revision?

 

[oldironfarmer]

Don't worry about the boom too much. The big boys break theirs occasionally too. The Supervisor will guide you through any necessary repairs. He is gaining a wealth of knowledge and self confidence helping fix his heavy equipment. I never did like an operator who couldn't even check the hydraulic fluid level.

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks Steve and Aaron!

Andy, Terrick and Drives, thanks, and thanks for the advice! I will call the crane done for now, and look at options for improvements when the boom inevitably succumbs to increasing workloads!

 

[bj383ss]

Deck is looking great. I built a very similar house for my two boys and the used it until they were to tall to walk in it.

Nice fix on the toy. Cheap plastic stuff never makes with it kids.

Bret

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks Bret. I'm hoping the cubby house will be finished before they're too tall to use it!

 

[TwoBytes]

We stripped the cladding off the walls on the weekend.

I needed to reduce them in size a bit so they are in proportion to the size of the new deck.

Also needed to make a few repairs as there was a bit of rot around the place and a bit of damage from the disassembly and the trip on the trailer to their new home...

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The frame is pretty solid now, and it's ready to move up to it's new home, then the cladding goes back on.

I saved a lot of money by buying this thing second hand, but it has been a huge investment in time! Second hand building materials might be cheap, but man they are a lot more work!

Here's some more shots of the finished deck in the daylight...
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[1/2 Cup]

Mat, I like your style, clocked screws..

You are right in saying that a project like yours is a huge investment in time and not something you would knock up in a weekend..

Well done..

 

[ajohno]

When the kids are older and have had enough off the cubby house you will have a nice deck area.

 

[Grumblebum]

I'd forgotten you got that second hand. Was waiting for you to say you had one of those 100mm errors when I read the cladding had to come off lol.

Looking good so far.

GB

 

[bj383ss]

Deck came out fantastic. Secondhand materials do sometimes take more time but worth it in my opinion.

Bret

 

[TwoBytes]

Mat, I like your style, clocked screws..

You are right in saying that a project like yours is a huge investment in time and not something you would knock up in a weekend..

Well done..

Thanks Steve. Clocked screws all the way... even square drive!

When the kids are older and have had enough off the cubby house you will have a nice deck area.

Thanks Aaron, that thought had occurred to me too, and it was a convenient excuse for taking so long to get it looking nice.

I'd forgotten you got that second hand. Was waiting for you to say you had one of those 100mm errors when I read the cladding had to come off lol.
Looking good so far.

Haha, thanks GB, I hate those 100mm errors! I've had a few, but not this time thankfully

Deck came out fantastic. Secondhand materials do sometimes take more time but worth it in my opinion.
Bret

Thanks Bret. I agree, 2nd hand building materials are a lot more effort (especially when it involves pulling out millions of nails), but it does feel nice to save it from the dump.

 

[TwoBytes]

Anzac day here today. Lest we forget.

Too rainy to do anything on the cubby house, but I did get some time in the garage.

The Woodworking 101 thread got me motivated to get Dad's old plane out.

It's a bit rough looking, and the blade was blunt and worse, it had a big gap in the middle when I put a straightedge across the end.

I didn't think to get any "before" pics of the blade, but here's the "during"...
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And the after...
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Dad couldn't remember when he bought it, but it's still in the original box, and it was $13.23, so I'm guessing it was a long time ago!

Next thing is to do something about the rust. What's the best thing for that? I don't have an electrolysis bath, although that would be nice. Soak in vinegar?

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: Clocking square drives you say and why? Because it's the GJ way. WELL DONE!!

as far as removing rust if you use vinegar or anything (WD 40, Simple Green, Evaporust and so on) you will most likely dull the finish. since you can take it apart pretty easily i might just get a sanding block with 180 grit and work up to 500 grit to make it disappear. or a wire wheel on a bench or hand grinder or scotch pads might do the job.

since you know the Woodworking 101 thread talks a lot about planes it might be a great question to post over there and see what Jim and the guys say.

my kids probably could have used a nicely built playhouse, but i swear a cardboard appliance box would keep them occupied for days. i also have crawl space what has cement floor and if i had to go under the house for plumbing or electrical work they'd bring their blankets and toys and i'd set up a light and they'd set up camp.

take care and always nice to see what you've been up to.

cheers

 

[oldironfarmer]

In my opinion, by far the most value received from buying the cubby house second hand is your supervisor. He is extremely attentive for that age, and he is learning the components of a house and how they are put together. Lessons being soaked up which will last him a lifetime. He will build on this experience when he is old enough to help even more. All of the extra effort and time is a tremendous learning experience for him.

 

[Lyndon]

Mat

I don't know if you've seen the one I'm doing over on my thread, but it was caked in something horrible, so when I used citric acid it didn't do a very good job. But I changed to a mix of 50% vinegar and 50% water, and left it for 3 or 4 days, and that did the trick. But don't forget to rinse it with a bicarb soda rinse after pulling it out, to neutralise the vinegar acids.

And how far did you measure up the blade to lock it in to the hone guide? (My hone guide should be in the mail this week I hope.....)

I think there's a formula for that but I can't remember what it is a the mo!

Lyndon
Work day nearly done, and it's bucketing down!

 

[TwoBytes]

TB: Clocking square drives you say and why? Because it's the GJ way. WELL DONE!!

as far as removing rust if you use vinegar or anything (WD 40, Simple Green, Evaporust and so on) you will most likely dull the finish. since you can take it apart pretty easily i might just get a sanding block with 180 grit and work up to 500 grit to make it disappear. or a wire wheel on a bench or hand grinder or scotch pads might do the job.

since you know the Woodworking 101 thread talks a lot about planes it might be a great question to post over there and see what Jim and the guys say.

my kids probably could have used a nicely built playhouse, but i swear a cardboard appliance box would keep them occupied for days. i also have crawl space what has cement floor and if i had to go under the house for plumbing or electrical work they'd bring their blankets and toys and i'd set up a light and they'd set up camp.

take care and always nice to see what you've been up to.

cheers

Thanks Drives, I've posted the plane pics on the 101 thread, but I might give 50/50 vinegar water a go first, thanks Lyndon

I'm not too worried about dulling the finish (I assume you're talking about the black painted bits (Japanning?), but I'd rather not remove too much material, so I'll try the vinegar before the wire brush or sandpaper

My kids don't mind a makeshift play space either (they like crawling into the trailer)... good thing too, because their cubby house is taking ages

In my opinion, by far the most value received from buying the cubby house second hand is your supervisor. He is extremely attentive for that age, and he is learning the components of a house and how they are put together. Lessons being soaked up which will last him a lifetime. He will build on this experience when he is old enough to help even more. All of the extra effort and time is a tremendous learning experience for him.

Andy, that is really fantastic mate, I hadn't looked at it like that! Thank you.



The supervisor is certainly getting a lot out of this process. Now that I think about it, he is getting a LOT more out of the process than if we'd bought a kit and put it up in a few hours. The time it's taken has been a bit frustrating, but doing it this way has meant the project has (and will continue to have) a bit of everything. Nearly every morning he will get his hardhat and safety vest on and say "can we work on the cubby house". I doubt he'll have the same amount of enthusiasm for playing in the cubby house after 7 months (yep, that's how long we've been working on it!)

Mat

I don't know if you've seen the one I'm doing over on my thread, but it was caked in something horrible, so when I used citric acid it didn't do a very good job. But I changed to a mix of 50% vinegar and 50% water, and left it for 3 or 4 days, and that did the trick. But don't forget to rinse it with a bicarb soda rinse after pulling it out, to neutralise the vinegar acids.

And how far did you measure up the blade to lock it in to the hone guide? (My hone guide should be in the mail this week I hope.....)

I think there's a formula for that but I can't remember what it is a the mo!

Lyndon
Work day nearly done, and it's bucketing down!

Lyndon, I do remember reading about your plane, I haven't missed a post on your thread, but I couldn't find it quickly when I looked last night.

With the hone guide, I just lined it up by eye and did a couple of passes and looked to see where it was making an impression on the blade. Then I kept wiggling it around (up and down and left to right) until it seemed to be taking an even cut over the whole surface of the bevel. Not sure if that's the "right" way to do it, but it seemed to work OK

Pythagoras' theorem would work (the square of the hippopotamus and all that), but trial and error was easier!

 

[dlcwent]

Just stopped by to catch up Mat. Nice job on the cubby. Love the crane repair also. I love seeing your time spent with the little ones. It reminds me that I actually did things like that when I was younger. Keep up the good work.

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks Dan!

I thought the crane hook came out pretty well. It was a big step up from the garbage truck repair!

Did a little upgrade to the mountain bike on the weekend.

Press this little lever next to my shiny new XT brake lever...
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And it makes this go up and down like an office chair...
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Being able to drop the seat down makes the steep downhills easier to handle. It also makes it a lot easier to jump on and off with a kid on the front seat.

Here's where the bike lives. Garage needs a tidy up, but at least I can see some bench space at the moment...
View media item 70372

 

[Kenfab]

That looks the business does it feel as sturdy as a regular seat post?

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Ken, yeah, it's great mate.

Haven't ridden too far on it yet, but so far it feels really solid. I can't notice any difference from the normal post when it's in it's highest position.

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: i don't ride a bike much or at all anymore, but that seat raising and lowering is just too cool. i wonder if the Tour De France bike riders have that option?

also i agree with Andy and the others that even though it's slow going and sometimes tests your patience your son and daughter are learning a lot from their Dad and you should be proud of them cause i think they are listening with the few pictures and write ups i've seen of them.

any more pictures from the SUPERVISOR?

cheers and have a great day.

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Drives,

I don't think Tour De France riders would want it, that seatpost would weigh as much as their whole frame! It is pretty cool though.

Thanks for the nice words. I've come to terms with the fact that the cubby house is going to take a long (long, long) time, and I'm just enjoying the process, as are my helpers. I've also stopped getting annoyed when people tell me that they put up a cubby house for their kids in a weekend.





No more pics from the supervisor, he's lost interest in the camera for now, but he tells me all the time now that he wants to be a builder when he grows up.

We've had some very long discussions about whether he should get a ute or a van, and he's reluctantly agreed to wait until he learns to drive.

He's looking more and more like a real builder every day...
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He actually got all those bolts in (I held the drill while he pulled the trigger), put the washers and nuts on and did them up on his own. I was pretty impressed.

 

[TwoBytes]

There's also been a fair bit of fiddly annoying stuff that comes with using 2nd hand building materials, patching up holes like this...

View media item 70885
and this...

View media item 70884
But I do feel good about saving it from the dump.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Fantastic work on the Cubby House.

As they say, the trip may be better than the destination.

Those skills he is learning at such a young age will stay wiht him and serve him well regardless of his chosen field.

I'm impressed!!

P.S. It might be nice to get him a brace and bit so he could safely drill some of his own holes.

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: great post and pictures of the SUPERVISOR. to expand on Andy's idea my gramps used to hand me a drill with a 1/2 inch wood bit in it and tell me to go drill holds in a stump so he could put killer in it. i didn't graduate to the larger bits until he knew I understand the part where you need to PAY ATTENTION if the bit catches so you don't break a wrist or arm.

with the new bits they make today some of them I think would drill through a tree without catching, binding or stopping if the extension is long enough.

great work on the PLAYHOUSE and i know your kids will love it a LOT MORE than the ones that others put up in a day. those are more like APPLIANCES BOXES and don't have the memories.

i bet the ANT situation has stopped now that your weather is cooling down?

cheers

 

[TwoBytes]

Hi Andy and Drives,

I love the idea of getting him a brace and bit, that should keep him busy and tire him out!

I let him use a little electric screwdriver with 1/4" hex drill bits in it..
View media item 71665
https://www.bunnings.com.au/p-n-6-piece-quickbit-metric-drill-bit-set_p6350075

There's probably enough torque in it to twist his wrist if it grabbed, but he's been OK so far.

Progress has been pretty slow here, with the cold affecting motivation, and life getting in the way.

Super Boss turned 5 a couple of weeks ago, and he ended up having two parties (one for family and one for his friends), so that got a bit out of hand!

Oh, and Andy, I've been steadily working through your thread (only slightly faster than the rate at which it's growing though, so it's going to take some time to catchup!). I've obviously noticed your issues with PhotoBucket, which seems to be affecting lots of people.

If $400/yr is really what they're asking, that is insanely ridiculous. A full featured web hosting package with custom domain can be had for a fraction of that. I've had websites hosted with HostMonster before, and found them to be good, but there's a lot of options in that very competitive space.

50GB for $9.49/month, or unlimited storage for $14.99/month.
https://www.hostmonster.com/web-hosting/signup

(No affiliation, and not necessarily recommending them, just a happy customer)

 

[TwoBytes]

Oh, and thanks Andy, I agree, I think the trip is better than the destination.

My son's favourite present that he got for his 5th birthday was a tool belt!

No more ants so far Drives, we'll see what happens when it gets warmer again I guess.

And he's been using the camera a bit again, but mostly just taking pictures of the shows he likes on television, haha

 

[TwoBytes]

The cubby house deck is getting a bit of use, despite the lack of progress in the wall and roof department. Impromptu tea party...

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And some progress on the roof trusses...
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[oldironfarmer]

Trusses are looking good!!

That will make it look more like a building. And give the supervisor a clear understanding of the bones of the structure. He is only now 5, wow! You've got a treasure there, you know.

PB simply demands $400 per year to ransom you postings. I have the pictures but reposting them is not only a big job, I don't know how to do it without having third party storage: uploading directly to GJ is limited to having a new message open which makes editing old ones problematic.

However, we are looking forward!!

 

[Lyndon]

Mat

Sorry to hijack here, but Andy, I did see some of the photo problems PB was causing, and would like to mention here that I use Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/login?cont=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fhome) for a very low rate for unlimited storage. They did give me a scare a while ago when the withdrew support for their public folder, but I can still use the method below.

Once the photo is in a folder of your naming, it's just a matter of right clicking on the photo and choosing the "public link" line. Then in GJ just click the insert image button, right click and add the "public link" line, then change the last number in the link from a 0 (zero) to a 1, and Bob's your Aunty! You just need to resize any photos so they aren't too big when posted into GJ. I use MS Paint to re-size them very quickly after uploading off the camera.

I was going to post this on your thread, but it moved off topic too quick for me!

Back to regular programming, sorry Mat.

Lyndon
Yes - still here.

 

[TwoBytes]

No worries about the hijack Lyndon (but you didn't even comment on my trusses!)



Yep, Dropbox works too! And it is a bit easier than using a dedicated web host. No need to learn about DNS, FTP, etc. etc.

 

[TwoBytes]

Trusses are looking good!!

That will make it look more like a building. And give the supervisor a clear understanding of the bones of the structure. He is only now 5, wow! You've got a treasure there, you know.

Thanks Andy,

I am happy with how it's coming together, despite the slow pace, and the 5 year old is really enjoying the process.

PB simply demands $400 per year to ransom you postings. I have the pictures but reposting them is not only a big job, I don't know how to do it without having third party storage: uploading directly to GJ is limited to having a new message open which makes editing old ones problematic.

However, we are looking forward!!

Yeah, it really does seem like PB is holding people to ransom. I can't see that business model working for them long term.

There's plenty of good options, but I don't think any of them have a nice easy way to go back and fix the old posts unfortunately.

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: good to see you are still among the land of the living and making some progress on the playhouse. didn't it come with a roof or are you maybe more using the old playhouse you bought for it's materials and making your own version of one per the SUPERVISOR'S plans?

either that deck is very shiny or the kids (or you) threw down a blanket on it while it was wet. looks like good times already in the PLAYHOUSE.

Trusses look great and i might have to copy that idea when i build a shed or shop some day.

cheers and hope you are prepared for winter cause i guess as it's getting to be 90's up here it's maybe heading to freezing in your part of the world.

take care

 

[Terrick down Under]

TB, if I had of known that your young fella was so good, I would have suggested he come out back when we did the second last lot of trusses, he would have loved climbing around with the guys!