Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

2 Oct 2017

Good Morning Everyone,
Been a very busy week at the day job and oncall wasn't too bad. Got a little shop time this weekend and that meant a bit more progress on the king size bed frame construction. I also found out last week that I have very severe sleep apnea. They said I have an average of 64 events every hour of sleep as well as my blood oxygen level getting below 68% while sleeping. I told them that I was exhausted every morning when I woke up and they said that it wasn't hard to see why I was tired all the time. CPAP appears to be in my very near future to see if that will help improve my sleep and my general health.

If you have experiencing any rain? Please send some my way. We truly need some rain!!

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past weekend?

Best of weeks to you all!

[Joey Stephenson]

Wow, glad to hear you got the sleep apnea diagnosed. That is srs bzns. One way ticket to stroke city. I have a mild version of it, so hopefully it doesn't get worse.

[Bill Adamsen]

Built and painted (interior) the lower cabinets for a mudroom cabinet system. Before installing I wanted to make sure my drawers would fit (plus I find attaching drawer slides much easier in the shop versus on-site). So I cut out the drawer parts, milled box joints and glued a few up. I only cut a bottom track in the wrong location on one drawer side and it amazing how quickly one can think up a fix when they don't want to recut an entire piece.

The drawers are sizeable ... 20" wide, 24" deep and 12" high. I had no TB extend and it isn't stocked by my local hardware store so the glue-up gave me fits with TB1 (I don't trust thinning). The drawers fit perfectly and as they say, "all is well that ends well."

[Brian Henderson]

Partially wired the back yard for outdoor outlets again, which we had to remove when we tore down the pergola when we re-roofed over the summer. Just have to dig a trench to bury conduit in to run wiring out to the koi pond. Also got an outlet in place in front, dedicated for Christmas lights and swapped a few components around to give us an extra outlet in the front yard. Just need to get more conduit to finish that one up.

[John K Jordan]

Just have to dig a trench to bury conduit in to run wiring out to the koi pond.

I've always wanted a koi pond! A friend had one and I almost made one but just never found a Round TUIT. I did dig a little pond behind the barn with my tractor and bobcat and stocked it with bluegill. I big turtle soon moved in - I wonder if there are any little bluegill left now!

I am celebrating!! After weeks of effort I finally finished rebuilding the fence around the horse pasture!

A girl who works with the horses here has been teaching the big gelding Cole and the mare Sienna to jump.

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Then Cole decided he should practice on the pasture fence. I moved the horses to a dry lot by the barn while I ripped out the fence and built a taller one. The fence is now done! If you have never experienced the joy of fencing even a simple fence is a lot of work - this one is nearly 2000 ft of electric fence, wooden posts at key points, 175 metal posts pounded into the ground by hand, three gates, a trench dug to span each gate with undergound cable, three strands on the fence: conductive rope and tape and solid wire in some places for strength.

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I like to use the white tape since one horse is blind and MAYBE he can see light/dark - and if he runs into it maybe he won't get hurt too much. (If the tape looks twisted in the view from the deck it's because it is - the twist keeps it from fluttering in the wind and wearing out prematurely.)

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So nice to get it done. Now I have no excuse for slacking and can get back to work!

JKJ

[mark mcfarlane]

2 Oct 2017

...They said I have an average of 64 events every hour of sleep as well as my blood oxygen level getting below 68% while sleeping. I told them that I was exhausted every morning when I woke up and they said that it wasn't hard to see why I was tired all the time. CPAP appears to be in my very near future to see if that will help improve my sleep and my general health....

Dennis, FWIW I had about half as many events per hour as you, got a CPAP about 2 months ago, and feel a LOT better in the mornings. In fact, my daily afternoon nap has almost disappeared from my regimen. I miss the nap, it was a good excuse to chill out for a couple hours.

One of the side benefits, my wife doesn't miss my snoring (which is one good indication of apnea). I hope you have as great an experience as I did. I got the nose-breather-only headset. It is very comfortable, I don't really notice it is in place, maybe a slight irritation under the nose the first few nights, but really not a big deal. The only PITA is cleaning the rig every week, which I haven't been very good about.

[Mike Ontko]

Bill,

Nice box joints. I'm in the process of finishing construction of a relatively simple adjustable box joint jig, and am waiting on the arrival of a new Freud finger joint blade set that will help me with some upcoming holiday projects. Did you cut yours on a homemade or production engineered jig (like Leigh)?

No decent shop time this weekend. I spent most of my time chasing down a plumbing problem with a pressure compensating shower valve. After removing, disassembling, inspecting, cleaning and reassembling the valve three separate times I discovered that the inlet pressures for the hot and cold supply lines differed enough to cause the hot side to shut down whenever the valve setting was all or mostly set to hot.

[Jay Larson]

No shop time this weekend for me either.

We put in a fire pit along with a sitting area about 16' in diameter. So that meant digging out all the sod in the area and replacing with some rotten granite. All in all, I think we moved about 3 yards of dirt/stone.

We did get out to see some bands at the local Octoberfest celebration on late Saturday, though. (Yes, we partook of some beverages...)

[Bruce Wrenn]

Been on a CPAP for over 14 years now. Wife and I both sleep better. I can actually see the second half of a 30 minute TV show. I have the oxygen mask style. I've learned to bring hose over pillow down to mask. As for weekend, Friday night fan relay puked on Chrysler Town and Country van. It was less than a year old. Because we were going out of town early this morning, I replaced it myself. Lack of cooling fan caused an "O" ring in AC to pop, spraying freon and oil all over engine compartment. Cleaned up mess, replaced "O" ring, added oil, vacuumed system down, and then charged it. Dropped relay by garage who installed it for credit, as it was "lifetime part." Got laundry loaded (building, washer and dryer) and delivered to state fair grounds, then worked on loading other building and stuff for State Fair Ministry. Went to Dixie Classic Fair today.
"

[Bill Adamsen]

Bill, Did you cut your (box joint) on a homemade or production engineered jig (like Leigh)?

A simple box joint jig on the tablesaw with a Freud SB08X set. The jig is set for 1/4" so that is what I cut. The 12" wide drawer is about as wide as you would want to cut. It is hard to complete the full width with your head on one side, and if you shift, the pressure on the table shifts just enough to impact alignment. They worked out ok.

[Chris Hachet]

Turned pens in a pen turning event for our troops

Completed a small side job so I could buy a new grinder with aluminum oxide wheels to sharpen my lathe tools.

Bought a new roughing gouge and spent several hours practicing on my lathe.

Progress on another side job.

Scored some more kitchen cabinet repair side work.

Cleaned up the shop, also waxed and cleaned all of the cast iron tops. Tuned up the smaller (Walker Turner) band saw also.

Delivered a type H fence for an Oliver 270 D to my friend Dustin who is doing a full nut and bolt restore. I had picked this up from another woodworker at Arnfest the previous weekend.

Am dealing with major HVAC repairs needed at my wife's church, getting quotes, and dealing with other building issues.

Dinner with my daughter Sunday night and my wife Friday night killed the rest of the time I had last weekend.

[Jim Becker]

Well, I had a "half weekend" to get stuff done...mowed the lawn on Saturday and spent the rest of the day finishing up the "shorts" storage for the shop before cooking a nice pork roast for dinner. Sunday morning, my older daughter and I left for central Florida to visit my "octogenarian" kids (my parents for whom I manage their affairs) as it's my first week post-retirement from full time work. When we get back, I get to start on my "list" of many things to do, although I may have a consulting gig that will require some attention...the only reason I'm willing is because of just how much it will pay. Otherwise, my plan was to chill out for a few months. Oh, well...