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Mr. 360

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All the Chryslers used to be the same way, left handed thread on the right side, right handed thread on the left side. They were that way well into the seventies.

My RV is like this on the driver's side. I believe all 18-wheelers are that way too.

After a bit of research, I did in fact discover that the passenger side is clockwise while the drivers side is counter. Seems to fit what you guys were saying.


just read through his build of that unit. Nice looking little stove, probably not that hard to source the parts either.
 

mavz

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NY
This is my first post on this forum after lurking for a bit to learn and get ideas. Great thread and inspiration so far. I am in the process of closing on my first home and will definitely be taking cues from your experience and detail when I get started on my garage project... hopefully this spring.

It took me 3 days to read through everything in my free time, but well worth it!

Great job Eric.

-Matt
 
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Mr. 360

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This is my first post on this forum after lurking for a bit to learn and get ideas. Great thread and inspiration so far. I am in the process of closing on my first home and will definitely be taking cues from your experience and detail when I get started on my garage project... hopefully this spring.

It took me 3 days to read through everything in my free time, but well worth it!

Great job Eric.

-Matt

Thanks very much for the compliment, welcome to GJ! Make sure when you do start your garage work, to start a thread on here :thumbup:
 
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Mr. 360

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View media item 45191
With proper sledgehammering, it's easy to fit an entire workbench into the trunk of an echo. Love this car

Interesting note, I used my new compression tester on the weekend and tried it out on the echo, to see what the last 380,000+km have done to it. Cylinders 1-4 registered 185, 185, 185, 185 respectively (rounded within 1-2 psi). I believe stock compression ratings are supposed to be around 200psi, which means this is a pretty remarkable little engine. I cold tested too, so it's probably a little higher than what I read. Each cylinder received the same test of 5 cycles to get the reading, with all the plugs out and the throttle wide open.
 

amkluttz

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Concord, NC
Eric,

I wanted to say what an amazing read this has been. I have really enjoyed going through all of the pictures and seeing what has taken place in your garage. I was also really excited to see that your last post was 3 days ago which hopefully means I get to continue to keep up with what's going on.

What initially led me to your post was searching for what others have done with 12x22 garages. My wife and I were looking to build a 30x40 dream garage behind our house but with her being pregnant the finances aren't there. My current garage is 12x22 with a cathedral style ceiling and my walls are only a little over 7' where the roof joists meet them. It was my grandparents house and my grandfathers garage, who happened to be 5'3".

Anyway, sorry to ramble on I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed your garage build.

-Andy

P.S. Sorry if this has been covered as I skimmed some of the pages but did I see a motorcycle in your garage early on?
 
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Mr. 360

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Thanks very much, and welcome to GJ! While I have been a little side-tracked with other project lately, rest assured the garage will soon be receiving some more work.

I'd love a larger dream garage too, but for now this is what I've got to work with so I'm making the most of it. Actually I find it to be a great little shop, it handles all sorts of projects. My general mentality that helps fight the square footage woes, is that just because this isn't dream garage size, doesn't mean I can't treat it as if it were my dream garage. One perk of a small "dream" garage is its dirt cheap to build up. I've invested almost nothing on things like cupboards, wainscoting, and pegboard, so I was able to step up a little on things like the roof and electrical. Even with those things, I doubt I've hit $1000 into the place yet. Really, you can take your small shop, and do whatever you want to it on a budget. My list of critical stuff is as follows. Organization such as cupboards, a decent electrical setup, nice lighting, and heat/insulation if you're in a colder climate. After that, the rest is fluff (this assumes the structure has a good roof, foundation, etc)

Well, I've said enough. As a side note, that virago was the PO's son's bike I think, so it was gone when we moved in.
 
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Mr. 360

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Im sure by now it's no secret that I have a bit of a thing for picking up, um, junk, from the trash. Well, yesterday was no different, and perhaps one of my better scores. I happened to be passing a guy hucking these 3 compressors into a dumpster, so I pulled em out and tossed em in the car. I'm told they were bought about 4 years ago and never used, and that now they "don't work."

View media item 45638
Well, from what I could tell, the guy was right that these have never been used. The Kawasaki has the plastic plugs in the manifold still, and the campbell hausfeld has the gauge protectors still on. I took them home, plugged them all in, hit the power switch, and every one of them ran and built pressure.

Details:

View media item 45642
The Kawi; 3HP, 20 Gal Oilless with a triple manifold. This one Im keeping, since it has a bigger tank than my current 10Gal unit. The guy told me this one doesn't build pressure. Guessing nobody there realized the male fitting on the manifold just gushes air out, so I'll put a proper fitting on.

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The Campbell Hausfeld is an 8 Gal I think. A nice package overall, this one I'll stick on kijiji

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The GMC Syclone 6310 is a little 6.3 Gal unit, and is actually quite quiet. This one was the first into the dumpster and was the cushion for the CH, so it has a broken plastic guard and one gauge is mashed. However, this does have a built in water seperator which I will pillage for the green unit and then sell the rest on Kijiji as well.

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My current compressor is a 10 Gal "MaxAir" unit. It's nothing special, was a Crappy tire sale (you can see it in the back in the pic). Perhaps once I test the Kawi for a while I'll unload it, but for now it'll remain as a backup. I noticed that the motor is the same as the CH.
 

rmalkow2

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Wow!!! What a find. I would definitely "pass by that guy" a few times a week from now on. If this is the mindset for throwing things in their dumpster you may have a gold mine there.
Great score.
 
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Mr. 360

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Wow!!! What a find. I would definitely "pass by that guy" a few times a week from now on. If this is the mindset for throwing things in their dumpster you may have a gold mine there.
Great score.

Also picked up a Milwaukee drill bit case half full of bits (the rest must have flown out when chucked, and I wasnt digging to the bottom for em). I might make this a regular stop for sure. I have a few spots I keep an eye on and sometimes they pay out, so to speak.
 

JustinS

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That gmc compressor kind of looks like the California air tools compressor I have in my amazon cart right now.
 

Alexbn921

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Killer score. I love finding stuff like that. Its hard to believe someone would buy expensive tools and never use them, then throw them away. What a waste. Good thing you where around to help them out.
 
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Mr. 360

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That gmc compressor kind of looks like the California air tools compressor I have in my amazon cart right now.

Does look like the exact same unit, rebadged. Pretty common though I guess for a lot of China tools.

Killer score. I love finding stuff like that. Its hard to believe someone would buy expensive tools and never use them, then throw them away. What a waste. Good thing you where around to help them out.

I cringe when I think of how many good serviceable tools like these end up in landfills due to lack of use or a $5 part going bad. With all the tools i've found in the trash over the years, I could actually set up a fairly decent shop. I've found planers, circ saws, tool carts, screwdrivers, hammers, vises, wrenches, table saws, grinders, drills, these compressors, the list goes on and on. I always keep an eye open and a few basic tear down tools in the car.
 

dubber

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Hahaha, thats awesome. You basically just found $1000! I'm looking to get a compressor the same size as the KAWA unit.
 
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Mr. 360

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Hahaha, thats awesome. You basically just found $1000! I'm looking to get a compressor the same size as the KAWA unit.

That's true, I actually did the math and it was like nine hundred something dollars for these units all new. My wife even high-fived me for the score, which doesnt always happen when I drag junk home ;) . Actually, shes really good about my picking up free stuff, since I usually sell it on kijiji and make a bit off it.
 

Prokiller

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just read through this whole thing. definitely worth the read. very cool garage with the space you have. was really shocked you actually milled your own lumber. very impressive. looking forward to what you come up with in the future.
 
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Honest Bob

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Just a fyi. You can combine compressors to add cfm and tank capability. I have a craftsman 20gal and a little 10 gal hooked up to each other. I run both for the initial fill then run the quiet one to keep things topped off while I work. The kawi already has the manifold to do it! You got real lucky on your find!
 
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Mr. 360

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You have got to have a win sometimes but that's hitting the jackpot big time.:thumbup:

Well done Eric.:thumbup:

Thanks! I must admit I had the trunk open and the seats down pretty quick.

just read through this whole thing. definitely worth the read. very cool garage with the space you have. was really shocked you actually milled your own lumber. very impressive. looking forward to what you come up with in the future.

Thanks very much! The milling is really enjoyable, though finding the time to use it can be tough. Hopefully soon I can put together the butcher block workbench from what I milled in the summer.

Nice score! I never find anything like that in the trash here.

Honestly, it's just a matter of patience and keeping an eye out I find. I suppose there's some luck involved too, but there's people everywhere throwing out all kinds of serviceable 'junk.' Sometimes I've actually bought stuff out of the back of scrappers' trucks. They'll sell it to you for more than they'd get for scrap, but it's still dirt cheap. I bought a rolling tool chest off the truck for $10 once.

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Just a fyi. You can combine compressors to add cfm and tank capability. I have a craftsman 20gal and a little 10 gal hooked up to each other. I run both for the initial fill then run the quiet one to keep things topped off while I work. The kawi already has the manifold to do it! You got real lucky on your find!

That's an interesting approach. Before finding these units I had thought of adding a remote tank for my 10 gal unit and sticking it all in the attic. I may still do something like that but paired with the 20 gal unit. I'd also like to put them in the shed to save room and keep the noise down.

Wow it's crazy how clueless some people are. Wish I found a bunch of free compressors lol.

One man's trash I guess. I've already given the CH a service and cleaning and tossed it up for sale online, not sure why they never thought of doing that. All I did was take the improper fittings off and replace with the correct ones, nicely teflon'd, cleaned the filter, charged and bled the tank, and gave it a wipe down. This one had a male coupler fitting on the output, which would just allow the tank to shoot air straight out... no wonder it didn't build pressure. This unit had a 25' hose on it when I pulled it out so i cleaned that up, put the right fittings on, and will sell both together.

View media item 45715
 

captain14

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Good score on the three compressors. Amazing what people trash. Let us know how they perform in your shop under your testing conditions.

Maybe next that guy will throw out his pneumatic tools since the compressors are gone.
 

longlivepunk

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Edmonton, AB, Canada
Wow. It really is weird how little understanding some people have of machinery. At my work (machine shop) recently I wound up "fixing" a gas-powered snow-blower and a gas-powered pressure washer that "haven't worked for about 3 years". Pulled the carbs apart, they were perfect. Both had good spark. Put new gas in them, started them with a bit of starter fluid sprayed into the carb, and they both ran great. The snowblower needed the carb adjusted, but that's because someone tried to "fix" it before and just started playing with the mixture screws. :p

I recently brought home a 60 gal. Ingersol Rand air compressor they gave me that supposedly doesn't work either. :p We'll see about that. Congrats on the compressors!
 

Olinrj

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Greenfield, WI
Excellent garage and improvements! I just went through the entire thread and am impressed with what you've been able to do with your space. Subscribed.
I have a 14x22 that has me constantly playing garage tetris. I finally found the layout that should work, but I have shelved any further changes as we are looking to sell in the spring. My new task is to get everything sorted, toss out anything that can be pared down, and boxed for the move. I'm definitely going to use some of your ideas in the next garage.
Keep up the good work and updates!
Bob
 

GregsRetroGarage

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Denton, Tx
Nice score on the compressors!!! Good to see you are still finding treasure kicked to the curb. I search every weekend and it amazes me what I find!!! :)
 
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Mr. 360

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Thanks guys, I'm definitely going to be watching this place in the future for more freebies (I actually scored a dead B&S lawnmower there on Friday, took the block only for a few parts, then i'll scrap the rest). I tuned up the Kawi 20Gal unit a few days back and that thing is mint! I've gotta say it was maybe used once, maybe. I doubt I'll get around to putting it in the shed until next year once the ground thaws out some, so for now it's tucked away in the shop. I need to offload some of these other compressors soon too, they're taking up room!
 

OJ Bartley

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I had an "inspired by Mr. 360" moment over the weekend. My dad lent me one of his old corded drills to mix the thinset for my tile project, and let's just say it's seen better days. I don't have the skill or knowledge for a full teardown and recondition, but I knew I could fix the power cord that was starting to fray (just the jacket and insulation) at the base of the strain relief. While the baby was asleep and my wife wasn't looking I decided to rip it open on the dining room table (this is why I need to finish the garage) and get that tidied up. I do wish I was capable of doing a little more, but it was very satisfying to breathe at least a little more life into a good old tool.

YpJM8xG.jpg


Maybe next time I'll do some reading and see if I can take it a step farther.
 

Dan in Pasadena

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Eric,
On the compressors what KIND of place do you go dumpster diving? I'm not in your area so I won't be competition but I'm wondering if it's a light manufacturing place with rows of tilt up buildings of somewhere else? Please educate us a little.

I've had a few good finds: full sheets of plywood, an intact, running but lightweight shop vac. But of course I'm hoping for better stuff.
 
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Mr. 360

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I had an "inspired by Mr. 360" moment over the weekend. My dad lent me one of his old corded drills to mix the thinset for my tile project, and let's just say it's seen better days. I don't have the skill or knowledge for a full teardown and recondition, but I knew I could fix the power cord that was starting to fray (just the jacket and insulation) at the base of the strain relief. While the baby was asleep and my wife wasn't looking I decided to rip it open on the dining room table (this is why I need to finish the garage) and get that tidied up. I do wish I was capable of doing a little more, but it was very satisfying to breathe at least a little more life into a good old tool.

YpJM8xG.jpg


Maybe next time I'll do some reading and see if I can take it a step farther.

Wow, i'm very happy to have inspired, and good on ya for gettin into it for the fix :thumbup:. It's always good to take something apart and try to fix it, I learn something every time.

Eric,
On the compressors what KIND of place do you go dumpster diving? I'm not in your area so I won't be competition but I'm wondering if it's a light manufacturing place with rows of tilt up buildings of somewhere else? Please educate us a little.

I've had a few good finds: full sheets of plywood, an intact, running but lightweight shop vac. But of course I'm hoping for better stuff.

That's a good question Dan.

I guess most of the time i'm not actually out with the sole purpose of junk-rescue, I tend to just keep my eyes peeled on day to day driving routes. My lumber usually comes from a place out in the country on my drive to work that makes custom signs for businesses, and they put all their crating material out at the end of the driveway.

Tools can come from a variety of places; ends of driveways on garbage day (my sole source so far for old bedrails), back dumpsters in industrial strips, even a dump. There is an old school dump near my parents farm that has a huge steel pile where people dump scrap. I've hauled out lots of tools from there (my little orange cabinet came from that pile). I've left behind countless lawnmowers, tillers, etc because i had nowhere to carry them.

Try to look for places that you pass every day, there's always something. My drive to work is only 30km through mostly country roads but i can think of about 4-5 places that I glance at on my way by. If you find a place that regularly 'pays out' so to speak, might be a good idea to check it out on the regular or even talk to the guys there. The guys in the unit behind where I work throw stuff out (think my big ol pedestal grinder) here and there, so I've chatted with them and sometimes they'll pop over if they're gonna chuck something and see if I want it first.

Heck, even try family members. I've gotten a lot of free tools that way when they're throwing stuff out or simply dont care about what they have. Get in early though, I have to live with the knowledge that one of my relatives threw out a bunch of old Stewart Warner gauges because they assumed they were junk and nobody could possibly want old gauges. I'd rather have not known that.

The hit list: (always best to talk to someone at these places)
- small industrial strips (look for tool and die, repair shops, etc.)
- back country dumps (these are getting rare)
- garbage day in your - or other - neighbourhood

Avoid:
- big box stores. these guys have some legal policies about taking stuff. their garbage units are usually pretty sealed anyways. I wont tell you about the time I saw into the dumpster at Princess auto and they told me i couldn't take anything. it was full...FULL of tools.
 
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n2ocamaro

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Nice work on the garage. You are a talented artist. I used to sketch throughout my childhood until college. I am a graphic designer and do all of my renderings in Adobe Illustrator now. Keep the updates and sketches coming!
 
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Mr. 360

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With it being Christmas and all, I had decided to try and tackle another custom gift for my wife. However, this year I haven't had quite the same amount of time to devote to it, so I had to scale back the options a little.

One of my wife's great passions is baking. Pastries, cakes, cookies, breads, fudges, you name it, she'll make it. I suppose, much like a guy has a thing for good shop tools, she has a thing for good kitchen tools. I figured I would set about making her a kitchen tool that would last her the rest of her baking 'career'.

Though she has just about everything a serious baker needs, I've always found her rolling pin to be a bit... under engineered (I think it was a gift). It's small and plastic-y, and I thought to myself "hey, I could do something way better!" And that's where things started to go a little sideways.

Anyways, on to the pics. I can only claim a partial success on this one, as you'll see.

15856120928_fb131eebc9_c.jpg


I started with a big hunk of Sugar Maple from a 100+ year old tree that blew down a few years back on my parents farm. I actually sliced up a number of big chunks for projects like this. This chunk however, was the only one I had at home, and really not the best candidate for a heavy duty pin.

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I sliced it into a more rolling pin size with the chainsaw and axe, trying to cut my workload down a bit. In hindsight I could have taken off a lot more than that. This is when I noticed that the wood, although it had been down for about 3 years, was soaking wet inside still (I bet some of you can see where this is going). The other issue was that this piece was going to end up mostly in the heartwood, where I should have been turning a chunk from the sapwood of a larger chunk of the tree (all I had on hand, remember?).

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Anyways, I figured I'd see it through and at least get some practice out of it, I have maybe used a wood lathe a half dozen times in university, though never with wood. I pulled my $50 Hobby-Craft wood lathe out and bolted it to my old workbench top, then rigged a motor mount to hold my great grandfathers old 1/4HP motor (this is the setup from about a year ago that I never used). I rigged up a totally safe and CSA approved switch system by using a power bar to turn it on and off.

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I was able to chuck the blank into the lathe and spin it in 1st gear, taking the high points off to try and balance it a bit. I should note that I only have a smattering of old lathe chisels from my great grandfather. I have about 6 sizes of square nose scrapers, and 2 bowl gouges. I look for more at antique stores but they either aren't very common, or wickedly overpriced.

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Once I had turned the whole thing down into a drum about 5" in diameter, I started carving in the first handle. This posed a problem in that my tool rest was too long to fit into the gap. Luckily I had a 4' scrap of solid round stock that was the exact size of the receiver, so I made up a quick compact tool rest with scraps.

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Once I was happy with the one handle I made a template of it with hardboard to use as a guide for the second, and turned that one down as well. The final turning step was to take the barrel down to it's final diameter. The pin has a 4" diameter barrel that is 14" long, with 5" handles. It may sound huge, and believe me, it is, but a hefty pin makes it easier for rolling out dough, as the tool does the bulk of the work.

15421297594_7644fa0eec_c.jpg


After I parted off the ends I re-mounted it and worked it down with multiple grits of sandpaper so it was silky smooth. I then flipped it around and sanded in reverse rotation, then wet sanded it in both directions to raise the grain.

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With the unit all sanded I brought it inside and gave it a nice coat of food-grade walnut oil. It actually looks good from afar, the trouble is I don't think she'll ever be able to use it.

Back when I realized the wood was wet, I knew that it had a huge likelihood of splitting, especially since the pith runs almost right down the axis. The barrel has 2 bad splits that run the full 14", and have opened up about 3/32". It's also full of knots, and the pith-wood took a hunk out of one of the handles.

In all, no, she can't use it, and the gift is a bit of a flop, but I learned a ton of stuff and am confident I can make one that actually stays in one piece and is useable. The splits should close up in time, and it may be a good display piece. The oiling certainly brought out a beautifully rich grain. On the plus side, my wife absolutely loves it, in all it's handmade split glory, so I guess it's still a win (I ended up showing it to her when I figured it wasn't going to work out, in case it went totally south).
 
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Mr. 360

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Nice work on the garage. You are a talented artist. I used to sketch throughout my childhood until college. I am a graphic designer and do all of my renderings in Adobe Illustrator now. Keep the updates and sketches coming!

Thanks very much, sketching's a great way to pass the time. I always liked illustrator for layouts and such, though I haven't had a chance to use it in a little while.

and just for fun, I did this sketch the other day on the back of a church bulletin while waiting for my wife to finish a piano practice. I think the angle of the camera skews it a bit, but you get the picture.

15857967737_8e3b384aca_c.jpg
 

GDPossehl

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Atlanta, GA
I bet you have some pretty cool sketches laying around. Do you ever frame your work to put around the house?

If I were you I'd frame up some of those sketches and sell them.
 

captain14

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Near College Park Maryland 20740
Ask your wife for some design tips on the rolling pin. The big thing is can she pick it up and work comfortably with it. Do the handles fit in her hands? You know like a good hand or power tool fits in yours?

The other one can be displayed someplace in the kitchen. I am sure she has some other items For display only?

Keep us abreast of the design and build.
 
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