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Everything in regards to your home and property. Covering areas such as construction and household repairs.

DIY Powder Coating

Source: Hackaday – DIY Powder Coating

This is so cool. I did not know powder coating could be done so easily at home. Powder coating is similar to paint, but is much harder and more durable, since it’s baked on.

Powder coating can only be done on metal objects and involves these simple steps:

  1. Throughly clean the part – sandblasting if necessary
  2. Hook ground clamp from the powder coating gun to the part and spray on the powder
  3. Place part in toaster oven at 450Β° F until the powder liquifies

You can mask any parts not to be coated with a high temperature tape such as <a href="http://www.amazon click now.com/gp/product/B00DVBLKZE?tag=provideyourown1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DVBLKZE” onclick=”__gaTracker(‘send’, ‘event’, ‘outbound-article’, ‘http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DVBLKZE/?tag=provideyourown1-20 ‘Kapton tape’);”>Kapton tape. Also to be noted is you should use a dedicated toaster oven that won’t be used for cooking food, and the baking should be done outside due to the fumes released.

You can buy an old Crafstman powder coating gun used on e-bay or a newer one here on Amazon.

Here is a video showing the entire process:

I want to try this sometime. Any ideas for applications?

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Neat low cost storage idea

Having a place for everything is key to a productive workbench.We want to make stuff, not look for stuff! :-)While we could make the cabinet out of wood, as long as your the parts are not too heavy, foam core is strong enough, inexpensive, and quicker to make than a wooden cabinet. Plus, no one has ever gotten splinters from foam core! πŸ™‚

Source: Instructables.com

What a great idea for storing small parts like electronics, screws, buttons, etc. I like the idea of using foam core and hot glue. There are a lot of storage needs that can be met with foam core or cardboard instead of wood. Also, hot glue works great for these materials as well as wood. I made a silverware drawer divider from Luan plywood and hot glue years ago, that is still going strong.

 

Please add your own ideas in the comments.

 

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Nanotechnology at Work – A Wonder Waterproof Coating Now Available

There is a new two-part coating that will make anything waterproof. Called Ultra-Ever Dry, it is nano-technology based and works wonders. Watch the video below and be amazed:

The only problem with this product is it is far too expensive to be practical and only comes in large industrial quantities.

There is now good news. Rust-oleum has brought out a similar product called NeverWet. You can buy it at Home Depot for only $20 for 18 oz. It is still pricey, but practical for many things. Imagine boots that cannot get wet or even muddy. This product is definitely not your father’s Scotch-guard. I just hope there isn’t a patent war, putting this technology out of reach for us regular folks.

For more materials that have great uses for the maker, see Materials for the Maker/Provider.

If you use this product, please share the applications you find for it in the comments.

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DIY Desklamp – from a Pizza Box!

Here at Provide Your Own, we love LED lighting. We also believe the best use of LED lighting is by making your own custom fixtures rather than going out to buy a manufactured light bulb.

An Italian company has the same idea. They have a product where you make your own LED desklamp from a pizza box. In the great spirit of open source, they even provide downloadable plans for cutting and folding your own.

Their version of the lamp uses only a 4″ LED strip for illumination. That comes out to about 60 lumens or the output of a 4 watt bulb. We recommend using at least a 12″ strip (cut into two 6″ pieces), which would provide about 180 lumens or 12 watts equivalent.

Here’s what you need to build your own:

For your convenience, we offer a complete kit (no soldering required) for only $24.95 (over 30% saving over buying the parts separately).

You don’t have to be limited to cardboard either. It is simple to repurpose an … Read the rest

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No, Your Dishwasher is Not Broken

My sister in-law has taken to washing her dishes by hand because her dishwasher no longer gets them clean. Millions of other Americans have had the same problem. Many have vainly replaced their dishwashers with new ones only to face the same problem. The problem is not your dishwasher. It is your dish-washing detergent. It has changed. It is not the same product it used to be. A vital ingredient is missing.

While you may have noticed the effects of this missing ingredient in your dishes, you may not be aware of the same problem with your clothes. That is because this vital ingredient was taken out of laundry detergents over twenty years ago. That is so long ago, that most of us just think clothes are supposed to be grungy after a few washings. I am old enough to remember clothes staying clean, but didn’t understand why they didn’t any more until recently.

The Missing Ingredient

The magical ingredient that is no longer present in commercial detergents is tri-sodium phosphate or TSP as it is commonly known. This natural ingredient is made from phosphate deposits primarily found in Florida.

In general, it acts as a detergent, but in the … Read the rest

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Killing Saplings & Woody Plants

Sometimes you have a sapling or other type of woody perennial coming up where it is not wanted. Getting rid of them presents a problem because if you cut them down, they will just grow back again.

I have a few areas on my place where I haven’t been able to mow for a few years, and I haven’t known what to do because of this very problem. Short of tethering goats on the spot all summer, I found another means to getting rid of these perennial weeds.

This video demonstrates the solution:

  • Cut the plant down as low as you can/want
  • Immediately (within a minute) paint the cut with full strength (concentrated, not diluted) Round-Up.

I have considered trying this technique for some time, but haven’t. In the video, Greg asserts that it never fails him, whether the tree is large or small.

While I am not a big fan of using herbicides, a judicious application as indicated in the process seems both environmentally sound and safe.

A quick word about Round-Up. This is the brand name of the original product made by Monsanto. The patent recently expired, so now you can get a generic version from another company. … Read the rest

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Interesting Way to Repair Plastic Parts

Are you tired of having to throw away a perfectly good item just because some cheap plastic connector or other part broke? Like most of us, Matthias Wandel was just as frustrated, so he devised a novel way to repair these broken fittings.

The problem often faced when merely gluing the plastic piece back together, is that when under stress, any repair made will be weaker than the original one that broke in the first place. Matthias’s technique is to wrap the repair joint with nichrome wire that he melts into the plastic. His video shows how he does it.

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DIY Lotion Bits – melt in your hands

I thought this idea was really clever. Have you ever needed to keep some lotion on hand while you are out? Instead of dealing with a messy liquid container, these easy to make lotion bits are great to have on hand when you need them. They just melt in your hand.

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DIY Docking Station for Cell Phone

Here’s a simple how-to for making your own cell phone charging station. The author takes a flat plastic bottle and hacks it so that it hangs from a wall outlet. It has a nice appearance and is tidy.

I have been thinking about DIY charging docks for awhile now, and I think this one can be improved by fashioning an actual docking base from Sculpy. Then glue the charging plug into it, and you can then just drop your phone into the holder.

Any other ideas out there?

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Materials for the Maker/Provider

If we are are going to break free from total dependency on manufactured goods, we will need to make uncommon use of materials – materials we don’t normally think of using or materials that are new to us. Materials that will permit us to make a lot of different things ourselves, and in using them, we can craft our stuff to suit us better – whether we are hacking existing items or making something from scratch.

There is a great sci-fi book by Jerry Pournelle called . This book describes a race of people which are differentiated into specialized breeds. While such a concept (eugenics) is abhorrent to us here at ProvideYourOwn, the book is fascinating nonetheless. One of the breeds among this race is an engineering class. Not only are they brilliant tinkerers, but they have an array of materials and skills with which they are constantly making, rebuilding and/or hacking things to suit their needs. No rummaging through catalogs or wandering the store aisle; ending by buying something that only partly meets your need. No, these folks would cobble together exactly what they needed from a combination of miscellaneous parts and some very versatile materials. I think that … Read the rest

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