In my past few posts I mentioned a few times that I had done some remodeling the past few months on an apartment. In the process I collected a few tools to help me do the work. One of them being my neighbor. (Little joke there)
So one day, my neighbor and I were at the Home Depot. There was a crowed around a table with a tool that buzzed. The moment I saw the tool, I knew exactly what it was. My neighbor asked me "What is that?"
I told him I know exactly what it is and told him a short story about when I was little.
I told him that when I was a kid and had to have a cast removed from my arm. The Dr. pulled out this tool that buzzed and scared the hell out of me. I told him I remember how he showed me how it cut material but not skin.
Long story short you can now buy that same tool at Home Depot under the name of Dremel Multi-Max
Now I'm not looking to give a plug, but I have to say....This tool saved my butt quite a few times.
If your ever gonna get a single tool, I would have to say this is the tool to get. Check out some of the videos on the site, or check out the review below. I bet you'll be saying "That is awesome!"
This tool has payed for its self (for me) in a very short time! This would make an excellent X-Mas gift for all the Dads out there!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
I Need Power...Well More like Light.
I have a shed (As lots of folks do) and my shed lacks light and power. This has been a big pain for me for quite some time now. So I have been looking for cheap and easy ways to get a bit of light and power in there for obvious reasons. (You know....like light is good when its dark out....and power is good to listen to tunes while you work.)
So as I briefly mention in my last post I was re-modeling an apartment (Oh how I love to get new tools!) I had some extra light switches, romex and extra copper pipe. I thought...hey what a good start to get a little juice in the shed.
So....one of the first things I did was ask around for some batteries. I was lucky enough to land 4 AGM UPS batteries. (BIG!!!)
Note: There are many different ways of getting batteries for free.
If you live near a golf course, you can ask whoever does maintenance on the carts to give you a call, when they replace the batteries.
If you work near an industrial area, you could contact someone who does maintenance on the backup power system.
Do you live near a school??? Ask about the Bus maintenance.
Most places will replace the batteries before they fail...especially critical backup power supplies, so in theory the batteries should still have some life in them.
So at this point I was thinking...ok...now what. The answer...Ebay!
I bought a 12 V 18" florescent light with surface mount. I'm sure I could have done something else, but with what little research I did...it works!
My next step was figuring out how I wanted to use the 4 batteries.
What I decided on was to take two of the batteries and tie them in parallel.
All I did for that was take a little bit of left over copper and cut it to the length I needed. Once I had the correct length, I flatten the ends by beating it with a hammer. (It may not look pretty, but it works.) Once I had the copper pipes flattened, I bent the ends 90 degrees using pliers. From there I just marked the copper where I would need to drill holes to line up with the battery terminals.
Test Tie
Once the ties were made I connect the two batteries in parallel using the ties keeping it a 12V system. Once the batteries were connected I put it on a car charger to charge them up. (I Placed the chargers connectors in the middle of the copper (where I placed the screws) to charge both batteries at the same time.
Next I had to find a way to connect all this to a switch. (I know nothing about electricity, so this was fun. Maybe someone out there can give me a better idea on how to go about this.) I ran some romex from where I wanted the switch to be, to the light. I then ran romex from the length of where the switch would be, to the batteries. I then mounted my light fixture and connected the romex to the wires to the light fixture using wire nuts.
Once I had that all set up, I quickly learned how not to connect a light switch and battery.
So as I quickly learned from my melt down, I did a quick google and replaced the switch following this page here.
So basically what I did was connected the two black wires to the light switch and tied the two white wires together using a wire nut. I went with white being + and black being -
To connect the romex to the bank, I placed one little screw in the center of each copper tie. I then looped the copper from the romex around the screw and tightened it down.
For safety I placed some insulation over the copper terminals. Hey what do ya know...I know have a light in my shed. (As you can see in the first photo)
I know this post is nothing compared to the other things I have posted. This one is a bit on the easy side of things...perhaps a little lame. Well stay tuned...If you thought this was lame, wait until my next post...its a step up from this, but along the same lines.
My next post I will tell you what I did with the other two batteries, and how I obtained power in my shed. Once again...A fairly cheap solution.
BTW: This project cost me about $40 for everything including copper, light, switch, and romex. The batteries were free. :)
So as I briefly mention in my last post I was re-modeling an apartment (Oh how I love to get new tools!) I had some extra light switches, romex and extra copper pipe. I thought...hey what a good start to get a little juice in the shed.
So....one of the first things I did was ask around for some batteries. I was lucky enough to land 4 AGM UPS batteries. (BIG!!!)
Note: There are many different ways of getting batteries for free.
If you live near a golf course, you can ask whoever does maintenance on the carts to give you a call, when they replace the batteries.
If you work near an industrial area, you could contact someone who does maintenance on the backup power system.
Do you live near a school??? Ask about the Bus maintenance.
Most places will replace the batteries before they fail...especially critical backup power supplies, so in theory the batteries should still have some life in them.
So at this point I was thinking...ok...now what. The answer...Ebay!
I bought a 12 V 18" florescent light with surface mount. I'm sure I could have done something else, but with what little research I did...it works!
My next step was figuring out how I wanted to use the 4 batteries.
What I decided on was to take two of the batteries and tie them in parallel.
All I did for that was take a little bit of left over copper and cut it to the length I needed. Once I had the correct length, I flatten the ends by beating it with a hammer. (It may not look pretty, but it works.) Once I had the copper pipes flattened, I bent the ends 90 degrees using pliers. From there I just marked the copper where I would need to drill holes to line up with the battery terminals.
Test Tie
Once the ties were made I connect the two batteries in parallel using the ties keeping it a 12V system. Once the batteries were connected I put it on a car charger to charge them up. (I Placed the chargers connectors in the middle of the copper (where I placed the screws) to charge both batteries at the same time.
Next I had to find a way to connect all this to a switch. (I know nothing about electricity, so this was fun. Maybe someone out there can give me a better idea on how to go about this.) I ran some romex from where I wanted the switch to be, to the light. I then ran romex from the length of where the switch would be, to the batteries. I then mounted my light fixture and connected the romex to the wires to the light fixture using wire nuts.
Once I had that all set up, I quickly learned how not to connect a light switch and battery.
So as I quickly learned from my melt down, I did a quick google and replaced the switch following this page here.
So basically what I did was connected the two black wires to the light switch and tied the two white wires together using a wire nut. I went with white being + and black being -
To connect the romex to the bank, I placed one little screw in the center of each copper tie. I then looped the copper from the romex around the screw and tightened it down.
For safety I placed some insulation over the copper terminals. Hey what do ya know...I know have a light in my shed. (As you can see in the first photo)
I know this post is nothing compared to the other things I have posted. This one is a bit on the easy side of things...perhaps a little lame. Well stay tuned...If you thought this was lame, wait until my next post...its a step up from this, but along the same lines.
My next post I will tell you what I did with the other two batteries, and how I obtained power in my shed. Once again...A fairly cheap solution.
BTW: This project cost me about $40 for everything including copper, light, switch, and romex. The batteries were free. :)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I'm still around! (Just have a lack of Time)
Well its been a long, long, while since my last post.
I just thought I'd make a quick post letting everyone know my ventures are still alive, and I still have a few projects going on.
I'm sure everyone has noticed my lack of posting!
Well I had a lot of stuff going on at the home front. (re-modeling an apartment is a long and painful job.) But hey...now I'm back, and trying to get a few things going.
As I get a bit more time I'll start posting a thing here and there.
One of the things I will be posting about shortly is my shed. Yes you read that right....my shed!
I hacked up a few things that some may get a kick out of and might find somewhat useful.
Well until then.....enjoy this little smiley face :)
I just thought I'd make a quick post letting everyone know my ventures are still alive, and I still have a few projects going on.
I'm sure everyone has noticed my lack of posting!
Well I had a lot of stuff going on at the home front. (re-modeling an apartment is a long and painful job.) But hey...now I'm back, and trying to get a few things going.
As I get a bit more time I'll start posting a thing here and there.
One of the things I will be posting about shortly is my shed. Yes you read that right....my shed!
I hacked up a few things that some may get a kick out of and might find somewhat useful.
Well until then.....enjoy this little smiley face :)
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