New Kitchen Counter Tops

Replacing the kitchen counter tops, took me awhile. I ended up with hives or shingles, Maybe from particle board dust, who knows. Anyway I'm better now & the project is done. I joined The Villages Woodworkers Club so I could have access to there table saw & end up with square edges. Tricky but we got it done, my friend Leo helped me. Thank the good Lord for his help. Had to cut down the width of the marble sill, so the splash board would fit. Did that with a masonry blade on a skill saw. Had to extend the bottom of the peninsula to accommodate for a longer top. Had some leftover pieces from an old screen door. Thats where the ornates came from. Not to pleased with some of the seams. Some long reach clamps might of helped. Need to get some. Lot of dry wall patching to adjust for the splash board. I extended the corner cabinet, got rid of useless partion for more space. Well Happy Counter Top Replacing to all ~!

Water Damage Behide Vinyl Siding

It all started when I saw a corner of the canopy rotted. The more I probed the more I found, termite damage also. Well I had to take down the siding & replace a 4X8 sheet of flake board. Had to tear out the side of the canopy & replace all the 2X4's , New flake board & drywall. I,m finishing the drywall now. Then all I have left to do is paint & I will be done. Woopy !










































Finished painting today 3/29/08

Garden Outside Kitchen Window

Everything was scrubbed with clorox & repainted. Newspaper layed down under lava rocks, to hold the weeds done. Works better then garden cloth. In the center it's mulched with paper from the shredder . Finished it today. Happy with it !

OLD PARK BENCH

This was a curbside pickup. The wood was all rotten & needed replacing. Hardest part of this project was removing the paint from the cast iron. White coat came off fairly easy, but there was a black rubberized paint under the white that was really tough to take off. Paint remover barely dented it, used a heat gun & blow torch to no avail, had to wire brush & scrape to get then rest off. they used that heavy black rubber coat for rust proofing. Mostly used to hide the imperfections of the casting, I think. I sprayed a primer on it, then a finish coat. I'm happy with it. Wish I could put these pictures in the order I want them, without uploading again.
The wood is Douglas Fir, it has two coats of stain & four coats of Minwax Poly. Then Armor All. Hardware soaked in grease & WD 40. Hope it out survives me.

Blackened Salmon

Ethel plays Bingo on Friday nights so I play Chef, HA ! Not Bad but to salty. In the rub recipe I would cut the salt from 5 to 2 tablespoons. Click on pictures for detail, the drink is a Dark Rum Margarita, Yummy ! Recipes : Blackened Salmon with Spinach and Soy Black Beans (Five-minute meal in a pan!) : Food Network

Flower Pots

My wife Ethel came up with this idea, which I think is super. She took some old golf club sleeves cut them to size, put them in the center of the pots & filled with cement around them. Then placed artificial flowers in them. When they get weathered, simply replace. In this case the pansies are new, the rest I air brushed them to revitalize the colors, came out fine. You can use any P.V.C. pipe for the centers. We had some pretty strong winds & they did not move. HAPPY FLOWER POT MAKING.

A Memoriam for BOB LEWIS

A Memoriam for BOB LEWIS

This is a sad Greeting. But to honer Bob I will do it. Bob passed away Jan. 4, 2008
He was 83 years old. The organ he is sitting at, is an Allen TO-5Q, 5 manual, 55 rank
Digital Theatre Organ.
Bob grew up in Ottawa, Illinois. Graduated from North Western, served in the Navy.
His greatest passion was music, mainly the Pipe Organ. He volunteered his services at
the Chicago Stadium to restore the pipe organ there, which was really in bad shape.
I met Bob at Hi Fi Unlimited, where he was the manager. They were getting into the
sound business & needed help. I had just finished a job at Automatic Electric, in North Lake, working for Rich Sound. I applied for the job & got it. I became manager of the repair shop & Sound Installations. I hired many Electronic Techs but my best one was Jim Annes. We had something in common, we were both De Vry graduates. This was
in 1956. In 1958 Maynard Larkin the owner of Hi Fi Unlimited decide to sell the repair & sound part of Hi Fi, so Jim & I bought it. We called our place Sound Contractors. In 1962 I got a job at the Naval Ordinance Station in Forrest Park, Il. I
told Jim I would work in the shop at night. The business was going no where. Maynard Larkin decided to sell Hi Fi & Bob wanted to buy in Sound Contractors.
Jim asked me if it was O.K. to buy me out & Bob buy in. I agreed & thats what saved
Sound Contractors. Bob had moved to Villa Park & thats were the 3rd Ave. Theater
began. Bob's first organ there, he used to play along with Silent movies & did a fabulous job. We all will miss him. On Nov. 26,2007 I made a special trip to hear my
first live Concert at the 3rd Avenue Theater & Bob's house was hit by a tornado. He could not get in touch with us, to tell us not to come. I'm sure glad we went. We spent
several hours together hashing over old times. No electricity, we went around with flash lights & I managed to get some good photos as I will post.
GOD BLESS YOU BOB LEWIS-----------YOU WILL BE MISSED

Final Result, Using Simple Labeler

Light Scribe

Light Scribe Disc is a grey scale & It Sucks. Generated from Disc below made with Nero. If anyone knows of a Label burner that prints true color, please let me know. THANKS !

Ravioli Form

This project was jenks for me, don't even know if it's going to work. It was my on stupidty, using the wrong kind of push stick on my radial arm saw with a dado. I got a kick back & the push stick ended up in my wrist very close to tendons. I did not have a guide which really was the cause of the problem. Going on 3 days now & my wrist is healing, it bled like a stuck pig. For all of you out there, work with care.

D.I.Y SOLAR TUBE INSTALLATION

The hardest part was working on my belly in the attic. First step locate on the ceiling where you want the light, drill a small hole, run a wire through the hole. I used a coat hangar & straightened it. In the attic locate the wire & pull it to the roof & make a mark. Drill another small hole. run wire through it. Up on the roof locate wire, slip the template marker on the wire & draw a circle, marked roof on the template. Cut along the line. The Kit gives you detailed instructions. Back down to the ceiling, use the template again, this time use the hole marked ceiling, slightly smaller then roof hole. Cut out. Assemble bottom tube to trim ring & insert in ceiling hole, lock 3 tabs to drywall. Flashing installed at roof hole, bring top tube up on roof, line up with bottom tube & slip down to top of flashing till it's flush. Install Dome line up for North & screw it in. Back in the attic, tape the tubes. YOU ARE DONE ! THIS JOB IS NOT FOR 80 YEAR OLDS---HA HA Ha ha !

Wood Turnings

This is not my handy work but my cousin's Bob. Beautiful work !

Click on picture to enlarge it.