Okay! Progress is happening when I have spare time. I glued on the cowling around the opening, cut it to fit and sanded it smooth. The glue-up was a bit tricky…I didn’t have quite enough... [read more]

I used 4oz fiberglass on top, per the instructions in the kit. I was afraid I was going to run out of epoxy hardener, so I only glassed half of the boat at first. This... [read more]

I’ve been busy having fun doing other things, so the kayak progress isn’t too fast. Yesterday I finished rounding off the corners of the top, and sanded through all the grits from 80 on up... [read more]

The next big step in the kayak was to glue the top on. First you put a coat of unthickened epoxy on the bottom side of the top piece, and then use thickened (cab-o-sil) epoxy... [read more]

The next step in my kayak building journey was to plane the end clamps. These need a specific radius that changes depending on where you are along the top of the boat. The kit includes... [read more]

The next big step is to glass the hull bottom. I sanded down the putty with 80 grit, and then went through all the grades all over the kayak: 100/120/150/220.   You then cover it with... [read more]

The kayak is still moving along! I’ve been a bit busy enjoying the outdoors: mountain biking (yeah on two wheels!), camping, and rock climbing.  The next part was to glass the interior middle section; there... [read more]

The kayak is starting to look like a real boat! First you have to level it, propped up on some sticks/sawhorses:   Then install the bulkheads:      And finally, start gluing it together with... [read more]

I got to the stitching part of the “stitch and glue” kayak build! It didn’t take very long….the kit was easy to work with.  I had to push my tablesaw off to the side to... [read more]

The kit came about a week after I ordered it. The delivery company received it in SFO, and was reluctant to deliver it to me right away — they wanted to wait an extra week... [read more]

I’ve been wanting to build my own kayak for quite a while. Ideally I want to make a strip-style kayak; something out of locally sourced redwood would be awesome! For now, I decided to start... [read more]

I wanted to touch up some of the areas next to my newly remodeled bathroom, and the laundry room needed a new utility sink. The plastic piece of crap I had was junk and I... [read more]

The next project after my bathroom vanity is a small utility sink cabinet made out of hard maple. Serendipitously I got a message from Aqua Coat asking to review their water based coating right when... [read more]

My bathroom vanity is complete! This is a picture before I fixed the sink on. I originally had a different more square sink, but it was simply too white. This sink is an off white... [read more]

Some pictures of it roughly installed:    THE SPROCKET EMBEDDED!

The project continues with a nice counter top. I wanted to go for concrete as I’m fascinated by it, and got two concrete counter top books by Cheng and some premixed stuff from his website (more... [read more]

I finished up the drawers. I used the Bessey clamps to keep things straight and tight, and also to pull close any gaps on the end: After that, some still had some tiny gaps…I mixed... [read more]

My bathroom vanity is starting to finally look like something.  Here it is dry fitted before glue up: The process will be to put one side on The back, and then the other side: Then... [read more]

These are mainly notes to myself on building my downstairs bathroom vanity (cabinet). Face frame construction was normal pocket hole screws and works well for the face and back frame (back side seen here): In... [read more]

I started planing some wood down to ¾” thickness for my bathroom vanity cabinet:   As I was ripping one pice to width a small sliver came loose; there was a crack in the end... [read more]

Here is my downstairs bathroom cabinet design in Sketchup: A quick rendering:   And placed in my bathroom setup:   Download the free cabinet SketchUp model: Downstairs bathroom cabinet 2015.skp    

I finally finished my Kitty Cabinet. I had to wait for some more Water Based Poly finish to come; I had accidentally ordered “gloss” when I really wanted “satin”, so it had to be put... [read more]

One coat of Target Coatings shellac (amber), lightly sanded and then one coat of their water based Polyurethene (9000). Time to order more….

I’m building a little cabinet to hold the kitty litter box, and some accessories. On top I plan to put the cat’s food and water bowls, to keep them out of reach of bad doggies.... [read more]

I finally completed all the trim and paint in my master bathroom remodel! It looks awesome! I am happy with every bit of it. Some of the final pictures below: Left side of the sink... [read more]

The bathroom remodel is a slow project when I do everything myself. Today I worked on finishing my drawers while also moving the plumbing for my sink. It’s hard to tell, but I cut out... [read more]

I want my bathroom cabinets to “float”. The top one floats 2″ in the air on top of the bottom cabinet, and the bottom cabinet floats 3″ in the air off the ground. The right... [read more]

Still working on stuff. Playing with stains; left side is 1/2 cherry ply, right is cherry wood. Bottom has a maple gel stain, top has pennsylvania cherry gel stain. Cutting all the face pieces to... [read more]

My woodworking project continues! I planed a bunch of maple to 5/8″ thick my drawer thickness. I went with 5/8″ instead of 3/4″, since my top drawers should appear more “dainty” as they are small.... [read more]

Tongue and groove practice; I have a height matched set. Note to self: Put the little rubber grommet inside the chuck. Place it on my table, and push the cutter into it until it bottoms... [read more]