The DIY thread

[Irondan]

Re:

Of all the boneheaded things...

Turns out my dad had turned the gas choke to "off" on the lawnmower while I was busy trying to diagnose other potential problems, once he turned the gas back on (most likely by pure accident seeing as he's not fond of reading owner's manuals) the lawnmower worked again.

I had forgotten the lawnmower even had a gas choke, it was the first thing I should have checked after I got the pull rope situation all fixed.

Think I'll just go stick my head in the toilet now and flush a few times, obviously my brain is full of ****!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

It being winter and freezing outside I had to find a quick fix for the garage door - there was about a 2inch gap between the top of the door and the house wall itself. (Not sure if the door is warped or if a part of the wall is missing, think it's the latter.) Lots of cold air came in, especially when it was windy. Brrrrrrr!

The best fix would have been to somehow spackle the gap, which is only in the center of the door, to where you could actually still open the vertical lift door, but I was in no mood for that because it was freaking freezing! So I bought some window foam insulation and applied that, it seems to be hanging in there, but just barely. (Have to reinforce the sticky part with some mounting tape, or even duct tape, otherwise the foam comes off when the door is moving up or down. Grrr...)

I'll have to look for a more permanent solution once the weather gets better, no way will I be arsed with it right now. (At least I haven't done anything completely stupid, but just give me some time, I'm sure I'll find a way to break that garage door.)

 

[JayKosta]

In addition to the window foam, you might also look at the round foam that goes around large water pipes.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

In addition to the window foam, you might also look at the round foam that goes around large water pipes.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

I see what you're saying, and I definitely appreciate the tip.

The issue with this project is the width of insulation has to be just perfect - if there is too much friction at the top the damn door won't shut completely, which means I'll have a gap at the bottom. If there isn't enough I won't have insulation. Ugh!

Here's what I'm working with, I just crazy-glued the window foam on for now, hopefully it'll hold.

This second project is much easier... I'm not about to buy a whole new mop, this is something that duct tape can definitely fix. Yay!

Before:

After:

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Right, so once again it's time for a DIY beauty makeover tip...

Seeing as I'm too cheap to pay somebody else to cut my hair I just cut it myself. I'm going for that Motown look (long in the front, short in the back), have had this haircut for over twenty years now. (Along with a multitude of other haircuts, but that's a bedtime story for another night.)

Pro hairstylists usually *** about having to do this 'do not because it's difficult, but probably because it's rather time consuming. So you know what? I'll just do it myself - I take comfort in the fact that if I screw it up too badly the hair will always grow back. So there.

I just love the feeling when I lose 10 pounds of hair! (That's right, in the trash is where it belongs.)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Update on the sticky-on foam I had used on the gap in the garage door (cause I know you guys are just dying for it) - the crazy glue worked, the sticky-on foam is staying put. And, thankfully, I didn't permanently glue the door to the garage wall. Yay!

Today's DIY project was a bit of a fail...

The window crank on my '67 Bug broke, upon watching some DIY vids I realized I was a little over my head trying to fix this myself. I only got this far (thought I'd give my mechanic a head start) - you basically have to take the whole damn door apart to get to the window stuff - I neither have the tools, nor the knowledge for this.

But never fear, the door does still actually open, and until I can get my Bug to the mechanic I'll just have to keep as much foul weather out of the car as possible. (Right now the window is completely open and I can't get it to close. Which means my next drive will be a very chilly one, seeing as it is still winter.)

Think I'll just go do my laundry and clean the toilets now, surely nothing can go wrong there. Or, can it?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Update on the Bug's window (cause I know you guys are just dying for it)...

Seeing as my mechanic doesn't have the part (window regulator, as it is called) in stock and had to order it I had to try to make the car at least somewhat driveable till then.

Ended up using that plastic shrink-wrap stuff you would normally use on house windows for insulating. Had to use duct tape instead of the tape that came with the plastic because the latter won't hold much up at all. (There goes my beautiful paint job, which I've already come to terms with.) Also, had to use a garment steamer because my hairdryer wasn't quite powerful enough to shrink the plastic. So, there you have it.

Ta-daa! My latest masterpiece -

Took the Bug out for a test drive, the plastic seems to be holding up well enough in the rain. I think its biggest enemies would be driving at high speeds (too much draft), crosswinds (as bicycle people we are all familiar with those), and the odd punk who would feel the need to slash my improvised window. If I can avoid those I think I'll be okay till my mechanic can fix the window properly.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Yesterday's (and the day before, and the day before), DIY concerned itself with trying to establish a computer network within the house I live in...

It's been messed up for a very long time. And honestly, all I wanted to do was use a printer that had been connected to a different computer in the house on my own laptop.

I realize everything is supposed to be automatic these days, but it's not when you have some computer-illiterate people sharing the network with you.

Seeing as I'm not a pro (and am too cheap to pay one), it took me hours and hours to figure out how to make these computers talk to each other, and, more importantly, how to make the network printer work on my laptop. (Much swearing took place during this time, thankfully there were no kids in the house. And thank you Youtube and internet for those DIY tips!)

I'm happy to report for now things are working... can't say for how long, so I'll just treasure the moment.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Yesterday's (and the day before, and the day before), DIY concerned itself with trying to establish a computer network within the house I live in...

It's been messed up for a very long time. And honestly, all I wanted to do was use a printer that had been connected to a different computer in the house on my own laptop.

I realize everything is supposed to be automatic these days, but it's not when you have some computer-illiterate people sharing the network with you.

Seeing as I'm not a pro (and am too cheap to pay one), it took me hours and hours to figure out how to make these computers talk to each other, and, more importantly, how to make the network printer work on my laptop. (Much swearing took place during this time, thankfully there were no kids in the house. And thank you Youtube and internet for those DIY tips!)

I'm happy to report for now things are working... can't say for how long, so I'll just treasure the moment.

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

Oops, I am such a moron. Turns out there's a USB plug to the network printer, obviously it has to be connected somehow. There are, of course, wireless printers (and this household does have one), but I don't even mess with it.

Sorry, Irondan, I see now how you do it. If my network is destroyed I'll have to use your method.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

See now, that never even occurred to me. The printer is in such a stupid place, and having to move my laptop to it, and all the cables that come with it...

But kudos to your resourcefulness. I should probably try this sometime.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

See now, that never even occurred to me. The printer is in such a stupid place, and having to move my laptop to it, and all the cables that come with it...

But kudos to your resourcefulness. I should probably try this sometime.

I would hate to disagree with you, but the only input/output source my printer has (seeing as I actually took a looky at it now) is a power source. (It's one of those really cheapy Canon Pixma types, which has no additional input/output plugs.)

So, what am I supposed to plug my laptop into?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Btw., if there ever was a DIY I would like to perform it is root canals, crowns, and tooth extractions.

Tooth extractions are possibly the worst - just had another one myself this week...

I realize this is not a gentle procedure, but is there any way we could at least pretend it is not so violent? (I prefer no laughing gas and such, I prefer to stay alert to whatever the dentists are about to do to me.)

So much money could be saved if I could do this DIY.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

Oops, I am such a moron. Turns out there's a USB plug to the network printer, obviously it has to be connected somehow. There are, of course, wireless printers (and this household does have one), but I don't even mess with it.

Sorry, Irondan, I see now how you do it. If my network is destroyed I'll have to use your method.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

Oops, I am such a moron. Turns out there's a USB plug to the network printer, obviously it has to be connected somehow. There are, of course, wireless printers (and this household does have one), but I don't even mess with it.

Sorry, Irondan, I see now how you do it. If my network is destroyed I'll have to use your method.

Great! I'm glad I was able to help.

 

[python]

Re: Re:

I find that if I pick up my laptop and walk over to the printer, plug it in and hit print is still "doing it myself", and much easier than what you just described...

Oops, I am such a moron. Turns out there's a USB plug to the network printer, obviously it has to be connected somehow. There are, of course, wireless printers (and this household does have one), but I don't even mess with it.

Sorry, Irondan, I see now how you do it. If my network is destroyed I'll have to use your method.

tricycle, dont be so tough on yourself. we are all naturally stupid when approaching the new areas still to be explored...

like you, but a decade earlier, i was looking into a wireless solution to a family printer that was hard wired to a living room (family) desktop via a special printer port. the idea was that any of us could print as long as we used or physically sat down at a the living room computer. i wanted to replace it with any of us (the wife and our 2 daughters) being able to print using own laptops.

it was long ago that i went to a reputable computer store and asked how i could accommodate my intention. keep in mind, i am a tech geek, even have a science phd in an unrelated field, but was a total failure at home or office networking. we are talking 2006 and i was far from what i am today...

here's what i was told and it appears the case still. of the 2 wireless printer choices (the blue tooth and wi-fi), i was recommended to buy a wi-fi printer as the one with a longer range. i knew little to ask the right questions except, 'can it be hard-cord connected to the desktop'. the person said, 'absolutely, depends on how much you are willing to spend'

after hearing the price options, i went bottom cheap with a printer (epson...) w/o the hard-wired cord option or (as any modern printer would offer)a usb port.

once i brought it home, it was simply a matter of following the on-screen printer instruction. or essentially - and vary tediously - manually entering the wi-f- pass code.

it still works flawlessly supporting at least one print job a day, though i did change last year the router which had forced me to enter a new wi-fi passcode into the printer.

we dont have a complex local network at home - just a couple of laptops, 2 tablets and the printer.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

tricycle, dont be so tough on yourself. we are all naturally stupid when approaching the new areas still to be explored...

like you, but a decade earlier, i was looking into a wireless solution to a family printer that was hard wired to a living room (family) desktop via a special printer port. the idea was that any of us could print as long as we used or physically sat down at a the living room computer. i wanted to replace it with any of us (the wife and our 2 daughters) being able to print using own laptops.

it was long ago that i went to a reputable computer store and asked how i could accommodate my intention. keep in mind, i am a tech geek, even have a science phd in an unrelated field, but was a total failure at home or office networking. we are talking 2006 and i was far from what i am today...

here's what i was told and it appears the case still. of the 2 wireless printer choices (the blue tooth and wi-fi), i was recommended to buy a wi-fi printer as the one with a longer range. i knew little to ask the right questions except, 'can it be hard-cord connected to the desktop'. the person said, 'absolutely, depends on how much you are willing to spend'

after hearing the price options, i went bottom cheap with a printer (epson...) w/o the hard-wired cord option or (as any modern printer would offer)a usb port.

once i brought it home, it was simply a matter of following the on-screen printer instruction. or essentially - and vary tediously - manually entering the wi-f- pass code.

it still works flawlessly supporting at least one print job a day, though i did change last year the router which had forced me to enter a new wi-fi passcode into the printer.

we dont have a complex local network at home - just a couple of laptops, 2 tablets and the printer.

Thanks for the encouragement, python, it's certainly appreciated.

Everything I know about computers I had to teach myself (god help us, going back to Win95), WinXP was my fave OS. (I've never ventured into the dark side called Apple.) Now I'm on Win10, and I think Microsoft keeps on screwing things up more and more. Btw., back in junior high I hated computers (that was back in the 80s when you had to use command prompts, or whatever they're called), it wasn't till 2000 that computer stuff became a lot less cumbersome and I had discovered the internet. And what a glorious day that was!

It would be easier if the network at my house was wired, but there would be too many cables to trip over, so it has to be wireless. So that presents its own challenges.

Anyhoo, I am too cheap to hire a professional, so I'd rather just go through the frustration of trying to fix things myself. So thank you all for your tips and help.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

And now for something completely different...

What are the most diabolical projects you tried to DIY? (On a scale of one to five star diabolical.)

For me it's trying to fix reading glasses (or even prescription ones), those tiny little screws are just diabolical! (I'd give them 5 out of 5 stars, no wonder opticians use magnet screw drivers and microscopes to fix them.)

And then we have painting popcorn ceilings (whoever thought popcorn ceilings were fashionable at the time was not thinking of the consequences of having to repaint them at some point!), painting popcorn ceilings goes off the charts diabolical. (Six out of five stars.)


You? (Now don't be shy, I'd like to hear from you fine folk.)

 

[JayKosta]

This one is actually 'bike related' - and is about the 'old days' of cottered cranks.
Back when wild poodles roamed the earth, the cranks were attached the the bottom bracket spindle with large 'cotters' - actually a wedge that seated against a flattened section of the spindle.

I had the 'bright idea' of removing it - and was told that 'one firm hit with a hammer and out it comes' - WRONG.
After many 'firm hits' all that happened was the cotter being totally messed-up.
FINALLY after many hours of drilling and cursing, I finally got it out!

I then bought about a dozen replacement cotters 'just in case' and have never used any more of them since, except the one to replace the original (that was about 40 years ago, and I still have them, and the bike, a Peugeot U-08)

Hence a lifetime mantra of 'one firm hit, and out it comes....'

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

This one is actually 'bike related' - and is about the 'old days' of cottered cranks.
Back when wild poodles roamed the earth, the cranks were attached the the bottom bracket spindle with large 'cotters' - actually a wedge that seated against a flattened section of the spindle.

I had the 'bright idea' of removing it - and was told that 'one firm hit with a hammer and out it comes' - WRONG.
After many 'firm hits' all that happened was the cotter being totally messed-up.
FINALLY after many hours of drilling and cursing, I finally got it out!

I then bought about a dozen replacement cotters 'just in case' and have never used any more of them since, except the one to replace the original (that was about 40 years ago, and I still have them, and the bike, a Peugeot U-08)

Hence a lifetime mantra of 'one firm hit, and out it comes....'

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

I have heard of these types of exotic creatures in the past (probably on one of Sheldon Brown's pages), but have never actually seen one with my own eyes. Is yours steel, or some kind of an alloy?

The oldest model I ever worked on was an early 80's Motobecane. Getting the original pedals off was quite the adventure that involved pots, pans, and boiling water. (And much bad language.)

Still, I love the look of the old bicycles, the new stuff just looks so clunky to me.

 

[JayKosta]

Re: Re:

...
Is yours steel, or some kind of an alloy?
...

----------------
My 'cottered cranks' (and I think all others) have steel crank arms and steel chain rings.
The 'spider' that holds the rings has 3 arms, whereas the typical alloy cranks have 5 (or 4 on more recent versions).

The steel cranks and rings work fine and are very durable, but heavier than 'cotterless' alloy ones.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

...
Is yours steel, or some kind of an alloy?
...

----------------
My 'cottered cranks' (and I think all others) have steel crank arms and steel chain rings.
The 'spider' that holds the rings has 3 arms, whereas the typical alloy cranks have 5 (or 4 on more recent versions).

The steel cranks and rings work fine and are very durable, but heavier than 'cotterless' alloy ones.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

I think I may have one of something like you had described in the artillery of old bike parts I possess, it came off an old 80s Schwinn my dad used to ride to work for years. Definitely feels like an alloy. (The rest of the bike has since been donated to a bicycle recycle shop.) Tried to make it work on my own newer bikes, but then the derailleur went all to hell, so I gave up on it.

One of these days I'd like to be able to convert one of my newer bikes to a downtube shifter one, if for no other reason than - why the hell not?

 

[JayKosta]

That crank is probably a Sugino, it is alloy and is/was called 'cotterless'. The bottom bracket spindle has tapered square ends that the crank arm fits onto, and then a bolt is used to secure the arm onto the spindle.
The bolt is NOT used to 'pull' the arm onto the spindle, that is done by hitting the crank arm with a rubber or leather mallet - the bolt is then tightened to hold the arm in place.
There's also s special tool to remove the crank arms - called a crank puller and it comes with a socket that fits onto the bolt - usually a regular socket won't fit because it's a little too thick to fit in the recessed hole in the crank arm.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Okay, this DIY is a bit graphic being it involves a bone splinter (spicule, I guess is the technical term for it) that started to come out after some dental extractions I had done a few weeks back, so if you're squeamish don't read on.

So I had a couple of teeth pulled (one a bicuspid, the other an adjacent molar) within weeks of each other recently, the gums were healing just fine. (No complications with infections or dry sockets or anything like that.) But this morning I feel something sharp jutting out of the healing gum... thought it might have been some popcorn or something like that stuck in it. So I take a closer looky at it and see it's a spicule (had to look that up on the internets), if it's small enough the internets says you can fish it out yourself with some tweezers.

I was not about to make an appointment with my dentist just to have this simple procedure done if the spicule was small enough (if they're large they need to be surgically removed by an actual dentist), so after much thought and deep contemplation I decided to try it myself. So I started picking on it with some tweezers... my biggest fear was not knowing just how big or how deep the spicule was, turns out it wasn't bad at all. But it was enough to bother me.

Anyhoo, there is a tiny bit of bleeding after the removal, but my gums feel much better now. And all the drilling and other future stuff I'll just leave to my dentist now.

 

[JayKosta]

I'm glad that worked w/o any problems.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA