I’m not often impressed with new gadgets, but I find the iPad to be the most interesting thing I’ve seen in a long time.

This may seem odd, given the amazing amount of negativity that seemed to surround the product release. Such as:

• “It’s just a big iPod Touch.”
• “I’d never get it, I have an iPhone.”
• “I have a netbook that’s a ton cheaper.”
• “You can get good laptops at this price.”
• “It won’t sync with Linux.”
• “It’s proprietary.”
• “It doesn’t play Flash [this often coming from the Linux people--LOL]“.
• “It’s something my grandma would use.”

and so on. Maybe I’m the one out of touch, but I can see a ton of uses for the device.

I don’t know about you, but it’s 2010 and I’m tired of complicated installations, .NET framework upgrades, and compiling C source code — just to get a silly little application running. An app store where I can download applications which have been certified and tested? A single place to get that stuff? Sign me up. This will be a huge boon for people who are sick of dicking around with computers (me) and people who need a reliable, safe, environment to work in (my parents).

I can really see this as the perfect bedtime & relaxation device. How many times have I been in bed wanting to add something to my Netflix queue? Lots. So I lean over, grab the X61, open it up, wait for it to wake up, re-connect to the network, open a browser, go to Netflix. Not the end of the world, to be sure, but an unnecessary hassle.

And what about when I just want to browse though some old woodworking magazines on Google Books? I don’t need a keyboard, I just need a slate that gets me to the magazine so I can page through it, bookmark interesting parts, and then put it down. There are a lot of times I just want to browse information without dealing with a full blown laptop/netbook.

Am I going to write blog posts on it? Nope. Why would I? I’d sit at my desk to do that. Do I need it to take photos? Well, do I normally take photos with a netbook? Nope. I’d use a real camera, or a camera phone (if I had one).

Take a moment to think about your REAL interaction with your computer. For me, 90% of it is reading/viewing content. I skim though 100 or so blogs in Reader. Check e-mail, rarely responding (unless it’s work). Check FaceBook. Read some back issues of magazines on Books. Check on my business sites (seeing what traffic is going where, checking on ads, checking on the store). Skimming Netflix and updating queues. Reading the news. It’s all checking and reading and viewing. The iPad would do all of that brilliantly.

If Douglas Adams were alive he would instantly recognize the iPad as THE Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

Today we went out and got the parts needed to fasten the wheels to the axles. The setup is pretty straightforward: Evelyn drilled holes into the end of each axle. This hole is where the cotter pin will go (the pin prevents the wheel from coming off the axle). A number of large (5/8″) washers are added between the frame and the wheel and between the wheel and the pin. Here is what the final result looks like:

The wheels themselves have integrated bearings, so the axle doesn’t need to rotate.

Here is a closer view of the front axle assembly. It gives you a complete picture of how it works:

You can see the “sandwich” of material. On the top is a 30″ piece of 2×4. Below are two 13″ pieces of 2×4 which have the dados / grooves cut into them. The 5/8″ steel rod which makes up the axle sits in that groove. To keep the axle in place, a 1×4 is screwed into place. This “traps” the axle — it can only get out from the ends, where the wheels are attached.

The front end is broken up into two 13″ pieces because we need to leave space for the big bolt which connects the front wheel assembly to the frame. We used a 5″ long 5/8″ bolt for this.

There are a number of washers to keep things smoothly moving (two at bottom, two at middle, two at top). Then two big 5/8″ #11 nuts are used to tighten everything together. Two nuts are used because I wanted to “jam” them together (making it more difficult to come loose). Once we have the frame done, I’ll probably come back and add some Loctite or similar to the threads.

For the frame we went with a triangular shape. A center 2×4 is the primary support, as the front axle assembly gets fixed to it (using the bolt shown above). The two side 2x4s were notched toward the front. You can see that they are held together with a short piece of 2×4 in the front (see above photo).

At the back the three 2×4 span is fastened directly to the rear axle assembly (which is also a “sandwich” of 2×4, slotted 2×4, and 1×4). that piece of gray 1×12 you see in the photo is our test seat.

Here is a view of the Kart from the side. We have about 4″ of ground clearance at the axles; about 8 at the center frame.

That’s a five foot ruler sitting on the cart. The wheels are about 38″ edge to edge (using 36″ axles, plus the overhand of the tires themselves).

Next up, putting stop blocks on the front axle assembly (to prevent jack-knifing) and probably some eyes and rope for steering. And, with the frame pretty much complete, we’re now able to brainstorm a seat and body for the kart.

I’m not usually one to post links, but this one is worth it for the IT people out there:

AddedBytes Cheat Sheets

He has single page cheat sheets for a ton of useful stuff. HTML, Subversion, Python, Regular Expressions, CSS, HTML, ASP, even WoW!

Worth a look if you are an IT person who needs a handy one-page document of common commands.

I’m a sloppy painter, usually ending up with more paint on me than the piece I’m working on. Add to that a new sprayer system and we’re looking at paint everywhere.

So I decided to make a portable spray booth (actually more of a backdrop) to prevent spray from hitting the walls, the sides of the house (when spraying outside), and so on.

I dug up my 25 year old knowledge of making stage flats to come up with a simple folding design:

Each panel is about 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide and made out of cedar we have on hand. This keeps it light and a manageable size. Normally something like muslin would be used, but I didn’t want to try and source that, or cut up canvas drop cloths. Instead, I got a roll of this:

It’s called “One Tuff” and is used as floor protectors for painters. It comes in a 2′ x 50′ roll for about $15. It’s not as strong as Tyvek, but far stronger than paper. Kinda like a reinforced disposable shop towel (those blue ones). The fabric itself is called Sontara. (Being a Doctor Who fan, I think that’s a great name.)

Since the flats are about 36″ wide and the material is 24″, I needed to overlap. This was fine, as all of this was just going to be stapled into place on the back. Here is the view from behind. Not as pretty, but it gets the job done:

It was stapled because (a) that is easy and (b) I want to be able to replace the material once it gets too saturated. (If it absorbs too much stain it becomes a fire hazard.)

The two flats are tied together with a couple of hinges, so the unit folds flat. I folded over a strip of the Tuff material and stapled it in place along the edge, preventing leakage from that slot. (The “One Tuff” material is very easy to work with. I thought it would be a struggle, but it’s really nice to fold and move around.)

In the first photo you can see my three legged stool. This is the one I just made for painting and for WorkMate bench use. I decided to give it a proper top (a 1×12) and painted the whole thing white. I went with white because it’s visible and what I had on hand. The paint should also protect the stool from absorbing much over spray.

A note about safety here: Don’t spray oil based material in an enclosed environment. It can be dangerous if the vapors build up — you could get a flash fire. I haven’t been able to determine how often this actually happens (versus wives tales), but it’s better to be safe. For my purposes I’ll be doing my spraying near an open garage door, with this unit toward the opening and a fan behind me. I’d put an exhaust fan closer to the unit, but I want to avoid having spark sources too close the the spray.

Since Evelyn never knew about Go Karts as a kid, we decided to make her one as an adult. This is our initial version. It’s also a great way for Evelyn to get to know all of the shop power tools. Everything you see in this series will be cut by her. I’m just the mean boss (a role I’m good at).

We started working on the design of the adult-sized Go Kart (non-motorized) yesterday. We’d purchased the wheels a couple of weeks ago, but just got the rods for the axles recently.

We were going back and forth with the design. Use full length axles? Use Pillow Block bearings? In the end we went with full length axles fitting into a dado (slot) cut into 2×4 supports. The primary reason is that lumber is cheaper than bearings.

Here are some of the pieces on the bench:

In the back you see one of the 10″ pneumatic wheels. Got these at Harbor Freight for about $8 each. They take a 5/8″ axle, which we got at Lowe’s. (The axles are probably one of the most expensive parts — $10 for each 3′ piece.)

The rods are 36″ long, and each wheel assembly requires about 3″ of clearance, leaving 30″ of space in between.

For the rear axle we cut two pieces of 2×4 30″ long. In one piece we used a router to cut a dado (slot) along the entire length. I used a 3/4″ straight bit (didn’t have a 5/8″ on hand) and gradually made it to a depth of 5/8″. Do NOT try and cut this slot in one pass! We put the lumber through a couple of times, each time adjusting the bit to cut about 1/4″ more. You’re less likely to bog down to router that way.

The result is the piece second from the front. You can see the 30″ span with the 36″ rod slipped in.

For the front, we need clearance for the center pivot point (for steering — the whole length will tilt — this is unlike the way a car works). In this case, we cut two 13″ pieces of 2×4 and slotted them. This means 26″ for those two blocks + 4″ clear in the center for the pivot + 3″ left tire + 3″ right tire = 36″.

A 1×4 cut to length (30″ for rear, two 13″ for front) will be placed over the axle and screwed into place. This will encapsulate the axle rod. The whole thing will then be screwed into another 30″ 2×4 (for front and back) making the complete assembly. (We don’t have the 1x4s yet — they aren’t in the photo.)

We’re making a 2×4 sandwich: 2×4, 2×4 with slot, axle placed in slot, 1×4 to keep axle from coming out. The 2x4s are on the top. The 1×4 provides no structural support — it’s only there to keep the axle in the slot. I’ll take a photo when it’s put together, it will make more sense then.

There is a rule in kitchen gadgets: “one hit wonders” are bad. If all the thing does is slice onions for rings then you probably shouldn’t have it cluttering your kitchen. That is, unless it does that one thing very well and very often (ex. a garlic press). The same thing holds true in the shop. Those single-use gadgets are often more trouble then they are worth.

So when I build (or buy) something for shop-use I make sure that I can get more than one type of use out of it. Often this process is serendipitous. For example, I built a storage stand for my hardware cloth / poultry netting. Once it was built I realized that it was the perfect size for a router table stand. (That was a very lucky happenstance, as I have very little free floor space.)

In the current case I needed a table / stool for the portable spray booth I’m building. Basically, something I can stick in the booth that will hold the piece I’m spraying. Pretty simple. At the same time I realized that I really needed a cutoff stand for my WorkMate portable bench. Something that would “catch” the lumber I’m cutting (to keep it from falling on the floor — which is both dangerous and risks damage to the lumber).

So, I sized my spray booth table / stool to work as a cutoff stand / support. I had a 1×6 12″ box on hand (taken from a re-work of my Bucket Cart), and some 2x4s, so this is what I knocked together:

It’s a three legged stool of sorts. The two slanted legs are cut at 10 degrees. The third leg is straight. There are 1×4 and 2×4 braces to keep the legs from spreading.

Why three legs? Well, I didn’t want to use too much lumber — I only had enough for three. The other reason is that a three legged stool won’t wobble like its four legged cousin.

The unit is about 12″ square and 31″ high (the right height for the WorkMate bench see to its left). Its small size means that I can tuck it out of the way when I don’t need it. And, it’s probably strong enough to sit on (though a bit high).

I’m still messing with the top a big. I was going to use a solid top, but then wasn’t sure. The two slats you see are leftover from the box’s original purpose (base for Tool Bucket Cart — I streamline that cart). I might put some pipe foam insulation on top, to provide some protection for the cutoff lumber. We’ll see.

A friend of ours wanted a Leopold Bench, but does not currently have the space to put it outside. She’s @ UT so has a lot of books to deal with and requested that we make the bench into a temporary shelf. Here are the results:

You can see that I used a piece of 1×10, cut to about 42 inches, to act as an upper shelf. It is mounted to two scraps of 2x8s, cut at 22 degrees. This means that the shelf leans at the same angle as the Leopold. The 1×10 touches the back, so it has support along that entire edge.

Some books on the top:

This is a nice way to retrofit a Leopold Bench for indoor use. Once school is over, she can remove the shelf and use the bench as originally intended. Since the shelf is not fastened to the bench, this is easy to do — and the bench doesn’t get altered in any way (ex. no dados [slots]  in the sides).

I’m bemused by the community of hard-core home coffee roasters. Here, for example, is a roaster using an air-type popcorn maker.

This is a pretty common technique, and the folks over at Evil Mad Scientist (great kits!) developed some sort of bean cooler. Being engineers, they went pretty hard-core. Check it out here: EMS Bean Cooler.

I started saying I was bemused, because this is the coffee roaster I used in Puerto Rico:

That’s right.: A wood fire. Cans with rocks. A pot. And a stick.

Sometimes you have to take off that over-engineering hat and just start a fire.

Here is the little Harp Stool, stained and sitting next to Evelyn’s Celtic harp:

Here is a shot with the harp on top. Evelyn will sit on the futon and practice. Having the harp at a better height makes this easier.

Would you believe that the whole thing was made with only 26″ of 1×10 pine? I sliced a ~9 1/2″ piece for the top, four 2 1/2″ for the legs, and two 3″ for the stays. I would have used 1x4s or 1x3s for the legs, but didn’t have any on hand, and wanted to make it the nicest scrap-only piece I could.

Sometimes it’s a good challenge to build something out of inferior or inappropriate materials. It makes you work harder and learn more. I guess that’s what I get from all those years of IT work, where you had to run an infrastructure on rubber bands and prayer.

Learn how to build your own Eastern / Western Screech Owl House. We’ve put together a series of videos which will walk you through the process. Enjoy!