DIY philosophy

I see a lot of DIY projects online and there's not doubt there a lot of really creative people out there, but I want to share my criteria for a really awesome DIY project.

In my opinion, the main reason to do it yourself is to save money and/or time. If it takes a lot of time and money, it defeats the whole purpose. You could have just paid someone else to do it for you.

Many DIY projects I see start off with purchasing a bunch of materials and tools, again, in my opinion, defeating the purpose.

I would say a truly great DIY project meets these criteria;

It is cheaper than paying someone to do it for you.

It does not require a lot of materials or tools. Ideally it can be completed with stuff you already have laying around the house, saving money and time spent running to the store.

It comes off as good OR BETTER than if you would have paid someone else to do it.

Maybe I'll start a category for judging my own and other DIY projects based on this criteria.

Categories/tags: DIY philoshopy 99829 99843

DIY mobile / standing desktop

This project arose when my laptop screen died and I didn't want to pay to replace it. Also I wanted to see if I could make a standing desk. I took a tall rolling chair and replaced the back with a screen and it worked out well. I could adjust it to be a standing desk or lower it for sitting. Unfortunately the screen had to be plugged in so it wasn't that mobile but I thought it worked pretty well.

Categories/tags: DIY desk 99829 99830

DIY planter boxes

had a bunch of wood i wasn't using for anything so I thought I'm make some planter boxes. Used minwax to treat the wood. Old rope to hold them up. Notice how the rope goes under the boxes for good support, the soil and water will be heavy and I didn't want the bottom dropping out. This took a couple hours all told, a bit of hand sawing, drilling, nailing, etc... will try and post better pics when I actually get something planted.

Categories/Tags: 99829 99830 DIY Gardening

whirligig blazers fan art attempt #3

Categories/Tags: 99829 99830 99827 99826 99836 Sports Trailblazers Blazers 99824

water cooler DIY hack

cut up an old water cooler and mounted it next to my microwave. Filtered water on tap!

Categories/Tags: 99829 99830 99850 

DIY upcycled messenger bag

Used darning needles and nylon thread to upcycle an old leather jacket into an awesome messenger bag.

The leather jacket was pretty useless because it had a huge hole/tear in one elbow and one pocket had a bad zipper. Still, most of it was in good shape so I decided to tear it all down and sew  it into a bag.

I got the seat belt from a pick-n-pull scrap yard, probably spent about 10 dollars on that. The darning needles and nylon thread cost maybe 5 bucks.

I cut an old pillowcase up to make pockets, sewing them into the inside of the bag so you can access those without unzipping the whole bag, which is cool to quickly stow your iphone or whatever. 

This took a ton of work maybe like 8 hours total, it was basically done without any kind of template, just eyeballing and guess work, I was very happy with how it turned out. I put a flap on top to cover the zipper and make the bag water resistant. The flap even snaps down.

Also I sewed rings into the bag for the strap to hook onto so the strap could be swapped out for whatever strap you want. Could hold a few textbooks pretty easily, a decent size for a kind of all purpose bag.

Categories/Tags: DIY cycling Maker 99824 99825 99827 99829 99830 

DIY bike light anti-theft cheap PVC

Problem: Bike lights are expensive and they can easily break or be stolen.

Solution: make a PVC holder for cheap flashlights. You can take the light out easily. If the thief really wants your piece of plastic, you can easily replace.

So I got some PVC and cut out a notch on the bottom so it would fit my handlebars nicely. I drilled small holes in the front and stuck a paper clip across so the light would not fall out. You can buy flashlights to fit it really cheap. This one is about 3 inches long and about 1.25 inches diameter. If you use this idea or improve on it please let me know.

Categories: Cycling DIY Maker transport sports 99829 99830 99825 99824 99827

DIY homebrew drum stand from basketball hoops

Problem: Big old djembe drums are heavy. Even if you have a harness or strap to carry they get heavy and you get tired. You might put it on the ground and sit on it and play but acoustically that sucks.

Solution: Take a couple of old Basketball hoops and some spare parts and make a stand.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I took some old junk laying around and made a drum stand. I would like to mount a cowbell and a wood block to it also to get some different sounds. On the bottom you could put pillows to muffle it if you wanted, or you could easily mount a mic down there. It's so much fun to play when you don't have to lug it around! Bonus: it still works as a basketball hoop for toddlers, or maybe even for adults if you hung it up high somewhere.

Categories: Djembe music drums DIY drumstand drumming 99829 99830 99842

DIY bike rack look ma no straps!

Problem: Bike racks suck. They are big and ugly and hard to strap to your car and there is usually a lot of strap left flapping around. They could come loose and your bike could go bye bye. You could get a nice bike rack but that is expensive.

Solution: Drill two holes in your trunk and mount bars on your car.

This may not work for everyone but it's one of my favorite hacks. I used an 'iron gym' such that you see on TV sometimes they have them at box stores by the checkout like at Best Buy. This one you can order online from Ontel it's about 30 bucks.

This will probably only work if you have a sedan and you are willing to drill two holes in your car. Still I think it's worth posting. If you try it or improve on it please let me know.

Be careful drilling holes in your car! Measure twice drill once. I drilled through in places where metal framing/support was and sometimes there is wiring that runs through there. I was very lucky I didn't mangle the wires! I used wingnuts so I could take the rack on and off easily without tools. When the rack is off I tape over the holes to prevent water leaking into my trunk. The crossbar from the 'Iron Gym' I didn't use. I have only tried one regular sized bike on it so far it works great. I think I could fit two bikes on it or a tandem in a pinch. If I did I would probably remove the wheels to decrease weight and maybe add extra hooks for the second bike.

Categories: Transport Cycling Bikes Bike racks DIY 99829 99830 99825 99827 99824