DIY Renos

A real woody, all the time?!?!

I do like the old Hudson interiors and the Buick woodies. When cars were artwork. Although this is extreme:
http://greenupgrader.com/5321/rethinking-design-the-splinter-wooden-supercar/2/

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/buick/49buick/bilder/8.jpg



The real old stuff:
http://www.fordwood.com/

 

When I was young and in my prime I redid the wood dash and inner window trim on my 1939 Ford to appear factory original in woodgrain. Also did my first car 1949 Dodge later after I ruined it by painting everything inside white. Then did few dashes for others. Can't remember just how but a lot of different steps to do it. That's why it ain't cheap!
There's a guy about an hour away with around a 49 Pontiac wagon that does paint work and pin stripping. His entire Pontiac wagon is a detailed woody.

 

There's a couple good sites on wood dashes and fake-wood refinishing, like this one:
http://www.flatheadv8.org/dashgrain.htm

which comes from this site's index, LOADED with old-tech ways to do stuff on cars (mostly Fords) but applicable to any pre-1980s cars:
http://www.btc-bci.com/~billben/flathead.htm

Think of all you could do with those fine trees of yours. Steam bending the wood slabs for your own Walnut wood car frame or a fishing boat:

http://www.primitiveways.com/bending.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-steambox-for-bending-wood/

or this one:
http://www.instructables.com/id/PVC-Steambox-to-Steam-Wood/

And staining Walnut with a Rust-based Stain (any old 55 Chevy wagon is a good rust donor ). They actually sell rust-based stain!
http://www.joewoodworker.com/ruststain.htm

 

any old 55 Chevy wagon is a good rust donor ). They actually sell rust-based stain!
My car came from the midwest. I didn't need any stinkin fake rust !

 

So you can make your own walnut stain... :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

I can remember as kid shelling walnuts and getting green stain on my hands and clothes.

 

Wonder what a 1990 Volvo 240 would look like with wood grain. Just from the side moldings down, I guess. Gives me ideas for Arthur. Anybody know how to do this on the computer? Arthur is the light blue metallic if anyone wants to give it a go.

 

Our public Hydro company built a new headoffice here a few years ago. I think its about 15 stories high. What's unique about it, is that it is all run and heated and Air-condtioned on Solar and Geothermal energy.

But the really neat thing I noticed were the nice stairs going up the payment counter. Obviously made of concrete but really comfortable to climb and descend.

Well, I'll put mine up against theirs! Each of the straight steps are 12" deep. The angle is 32 degrees, and the rise is 6 27/32". The winder stairs at the top are up to 25" deep. 42" wide!

Comfortable doesn't begin to describe these stairs! Honest to goodness, I can't believe I built them. Its like God was over my shoulder. Not a squeak, no flexing, not even one step out of level, front to back or side to side. I can't use them without giving thanks. Not kidding!:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

We found a local liquidator who had both vinyl and carpet stair runners for a great price. I used double-sided tape for the vinyl (3/16" thick X 36" wide). The 2 side stringers were routed out with my router and a custom jig that I built, and because the Building Code dictates that any stairs over 36" need a center stringer underneath, I added that too. And then, from an old 1876 book on stairbuilding, I blocked the risers and steps, and made wedges to anchor them into the routed grooves, AND, I used construction adhesive on each of the over 120 cant-strip blocks (2X4 cut at 45 degrees.

I used the vinyl runner to protect the 3 coats of polyurethane varnish until all the contruction is done. Here's some key pics:











Its a feeling between pride and humility. I know I'm good, and I did make them, but I'm not THAT good, by myself.

 

Those look first class Norm!

 

Can't believe you covered them up! Way too nice for that runner.

 

Very nice stairsmanship, Norm!

Now that is cold out, I think I'll paint the inside this winter.

Been cold but nice and sunny here so I'm puttering in the garage also.

Good seeing ya again Norm

 

Home built Drywall Lift

Back in 2000, when we bought the house, I knew I'd be doing major renos. The entire first floor was Lathe and Plaster. In our city's Northend, these old houses were built by Poles and Ukrainians with a love for old home styling. The trouble was that the space was wasted. The arches were huge space grabbers. The stairs were steep and too narrow and turned 180 degrees, so you could only take a double bed up with two guys pulling at the top and two pushing from the bottom. And the upstairs was cold, poor R-5 sawdust insulation. No bathroom upstairs, and one end of the upstairs blocked off with masonite (over the kitchen).

So drywalling was gonna be a must. I looked around at every type of drywall lift on the market. You still needed a helper to load a sheet onto the lift.

And then I found a 1989 article on making my own, that you could use for walls and ceilings up to 11 feet high! Out of 2X4s! The article left out a lot of details, so I wrote up some notes, including the author's text and pictures. I built it as he said, but I reinforced the base with some flat 1/8 steel strips and added one more angular brace.

My choices were to drop $600 for a professional lift that still couldn't lift and hold a sheet up to a wall (horizontal drywall installation requires less filling and sanding, and minimizes seams) and needs 2 guys to load a sheet), or rent one at $100 per day. Or build my own.

Here's pics of mine:




Here's the article pics and sketches:
View attachment DrywallLiftWinchDrawings.pdf

Here's my notes and text from the article:
View attachment DrywallLiftWinchFHB_Mods.pdf

You can download the article from Fine Homebuilding's website too - its too big to upload on the SWF anyway:
http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/articles/shop-built-drywall-lift-ceiling.aspx


Since I'm working alone, I paid more attention to fasteners. I made the crossbar on the base to go edge to edge on the arms, so I could get 3 2-1/2" screws into each end. And I used 2X6 for the crossbar, to get 3 bolts into the mast. I added the extra conduit brace as well. Since it gets pushed around with a sheet of drywall, I figured one more brace can't hurt. Materials cost me about $70, at 2013 prices. He says his cost him under $40 in 1989 prices.

I used hanger bolts (screw thread on one end, and machine thread on the other) 3/16" X 2" long) for the small swivel bars and the latch.

And, after checking the Internet sites about cutting steel tube and sheet steel, I settled for metal cutting 7" discs, and used my tablesaw (protective eyewear and long sleeves are a must, as well as leather gloves). A local metal shop quoted me $100 for the 8 sliders from 2X2 X 1/8 tubing. I bought a two foot length from them ($12) and did them myself. And no sawdust inside the saw or under it!!!

Locknuts is what you want on all the bolts, or you'll be double-nutting every time you take it to another floor.

The article assumes that you've tinkered around making your own widgets, so you have to read between the lines. For instance, the sketch shows the two base arms' ends cut at 90 degrees, where the crossbar is attached, but the author says you can roll it around through doorways. Assuming a 2'6" doorway into a bedroom or bathroom, the depth of the base, from the back corner to the tip of the arms would be under 30". That's the kind of details that are left for the reader to find out on his own. The arm length is given, but there's no comment on angling the tips off. Too late once you've got it assembled, unless you dig out the sawzall. Oh and you need about 20 feet of rope. I heated the ends and taped them with electrical tape to prevent fraying.

I used 3/8" bolts for parts that moved or swivelled, and 1/4" cap bolts for fixed attachments.

I did make the 3 wooden wheels on the drillpress, but I used a big round rasp instead on a modified screwdriver 'chisel'.

It took me about 15 hours, off-and-on tinkering to build it. The article even explains how to make your own winch. I paid $13 on sale from a farm supply vendor. Wasn't worth making one. Its a small one, but it handles 800 lbs, while the beaded 3/8" nylon rope only handles 300 lbs. And a huge 5 X 12 drywall sheet weighs in just over 100 lbs.

If nothing else, its a usefull tool to get stuff into the attic, or move plywood around.

It was a neat challenge. And I needed it badly, to install drywall on nearly every wall and ceiling in the house over this winter.

 

Getting close to insulating the upper floor, so we can drywall and paint, and put the new wood flooring down. Should be done in 3 weeks, just before Christmas. Amen! Still have to run the electric cable through, but that's a piece of cake, when your hands are warm enough!+

I close off the upstairs with plywood and plastic vapour barrier when its real cold. The roof is vented, so cold air comes in even with a breeze. Luckily we have room to sleep on the main floor.

 

Thanks Tedy. We're gonna get 4 days of near minus 30C here until Monday. The brass monkey is shivering in anticipation.

 

My wife hates stairs. She uses them now for her excersise walk, when its too cold outside.

Its temporary, until the insulators come with their machines and big boots, and I get the drywall and paint done. Then I'll give them a wetsanding and put a 3rd coat on. The runner is great though. You can't even hear anybody coming down, standing in the kitchen, like 8 feet away! Awesome! Come on over and try them!