patches

In anticipation for the arrival of our first sprout, the study is in the process of being turned into a nursery (hence the fabrication of the new study nook shown in previous posts), decorative walls have been created, but now the elephant (or chipboard) in the rooms needs to be addressed. When I ripped up the carpet in this room, I expected to find lovely native hardwood (Rimu) flooring, but to my horror I would a sheet of chip board (approx 2.4m x 1.2m) filling a void. (Aforementioned decorative wall shown in background. Ignore the idea cabinet, this photo was used when I was getting rid of it). So the challenge... New Zealand native Rimu is protected and using reclaimed timber is the only viable option to obtain some (unless one settles for Fijian Rimu). Reclaimed and re-milled Rimu can fetch prices of up to R440 equiv. per linear metre (of 135mm x 19mm tongue and groove). I need about 30 linear metres. So being the cheapskate that I am, I found a pile for sale, fresh from the renovation of a 100yr old villa. Approx. 130m worth of 140mm x 21mm T&G. So I bought it site unseen for about R7400 equiv. and ended up with this... The wife come with me to collect it and looked at me like I had just sold the family cow for a handful of magic beans. After a day of physical labour, scrubbing, hauling, and sorting (and numerous graunched knuckles), I found the best pieces to be stacked and stickered under the patio table I then took a sample piece and ran it through the planer and the magic beans are starting to look promising Still a looong way to go, milling, trimming and routing, but hopefully in the end it'll all be worth it. ...if not, I'll just buy a big rug to throw over it 😅

This followed me home yesterday 😬 The amount of noise and sawdust produced in the garage is about to go up exponentially! (Also, I think I threw my back out when lifting this 42kg yellow mass)

I don't have workshop specific ear protection, but I have 2 sets of wireless noise cancelling ear/headphones, which I switch up depending on the weather. The Sonys have superior noise cancelling, but they can make one sweat in summer, and I sometimes struggle not to get them too dusty. The ANC (not that one, but Active Noise Cancelling) still works well on the Jabras, and the ones I have are IP57 rated, so dust and sweat is not as much of a concern. Power tool noise is still loud enough to be heard, albeit at a very low volume, which is helpful in knowing what the tool is doing. But I have had a few frights in the workshop when the wife has snuck-up on me, haha

The cafe up the road was getting rid of a nice big stainless steel commercial fridge that had stopped working. I joked with the wife that I was tempted to wheel it down the road into the garage and use it for storage. She was not impressed 😅 But yeah, a fridge with humidity control would be perfect!

I've already got a bunch in my 3D printer filament storage, but I was thinking of adding some Damp Rid containers around the garage. They're easily available and pretty inexpensive. They make a "mega" version too that has approx 2.2kg of crystals in it and is refillable, but don't know if they're available in NZ.

To all the coastal dwellers (especially Durbanites)... how to you prevent your tools from rusting? In Auckland it's a constant battle and whilst I do my best to apply some machine oil or WD40 Rust Prevention spray after use, or periodically, all it takes is a week of humid weather and the dreaded red scourge starts appearing. I'm contemplating a dehumidifier or ventilation system in the garage, but don't want to invest in something that may be ineffective.

Oh, one I forgot that I binge watched while the wife was overseas... Jury Duty (Amazon) The premise of the show is great. It's fake court case, and all participants are actors, except 1 who thinks it's all real. Each episode follows how he (the unaware juror) deals with the various situations thrown his way by the controlled narrative, and likewise, impressive how the cast and crew adapt what they do and say based on his unpredictable reactions. Rather funny and definitely worth a watch.

three words... Let the market decide! Here in NZ the largest online classified site (TradeMe) has a "$1 Auction" whereby the reserve is $1 and as soon as someone bids that first dollar, the sale is guaranteed and market decides what the item is worth. Sure it's risky, but ads get tons of attention from people browsing for bargains, and more attention creates a frenzy and a competitive market, driving the price up and up. Heck, I've probably sold about 80 items on $1 Auction (including a car, dirt bike, mountain-bike, furniture, and all manner of power tools). Out of those 80-odd auctions, only about 3 have fallen a little flat (not $1 flat), bit about 5-10% less than what I would have expected. The kiwi $1 Auctions also allow for a "Buy Now" price, should potential buyers not want to enter into a bidding frenzy. The seller sets this to what they think it's worth, but as soon as that first dollar is bid, any "Buy Now" options are removed as the auction has begun. Every time I have put a "Buy Now" price, someone has bid $1 and once the auction has concluded, I have made more (sometimes nearly double) what my Buy Now price was. Kiwis are suckers for $1 Auctions, and I bet Saffers will be too! It's like shopping, gambling, and competitive sports all in 1! haha Ps. Mr. Admin, if you're reading this and decide to implement such a thing on BikeHub, you can send my royalty cheques to... 😅

The wife and I have rather different tastes in shows, except for British Crime Dramas. We tried season 1 of Vera but didn't quite get into it. I've heard the later seasons are better, so would you recommend persisting? In general though, we like pretty much anything with Nicola Walker in The Unforgotten Annika River The Split (not a crime drama like the above, but still good)

Oh darn! you just reminded me that I was watching Rabbit Hole, and forgot about it, haha

Currently and Recently: 1883 (Amazon) - Western and prequel to Yellowstone. One season only. Brilliant (in my opinion). Don't need to have watched Yellowstone to understand. 1932 (Amazon) - Another prequel to Yellowstone. Big names (Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren). Not as good as 1883 in my opinion, but still a worthwhile watch. Don't have to have watched Yellowstone or 1883 to follow, but it'll help. The Diplomat (Netflix)- Geopolitical Adrenalized Drama. Good pace. Funny at times. Not unlike the feel of Newsroom or one of those type shows.

What's happening with the Rand at the moment? Not that I'm complaining as I send money to my family each month, and 12 Ronds for 1 Kiwi-Kwacha is seems like a great deal (in fact I think is an all-time high).

Wife returned from 10 days in Sydney last night, so this weekend was a bit of a rush to finish up phase 1 of the study desk (and get the house in an acceptable state) So after scribing the table tops to the wall (nothing like a straight something to show you how wonky your walls are), I cut a slot in for cable management. I lined the slot with EVA foam strip and added some dust bristles (usually intended for the bottom of a door). The idea behind the size of the slot is to offer more options when it coems to cable managment (as opposed to the 1x 70mm hole desks usually have), and provide a slot for laptop storage, if one wants more desk space (hence why I EVA foam lined the slot) Under desk cable management was done with the aid of velcro... lots of velcro. Velcro on multi plugs, velcro on power supplies, velco on a compact USB-C doack, and velcro holding cablesin neat rows After that, I scribed and added another waterfall end (deviating from the original design). Tidied the dining room and called it a day. Phase 2 is likely to be a skinny pull-out bookshelf (sandwiched between the left of the cabinets and waterfall end), and a set of drawers (to the right of the cabinets). But for now... I'll take a break!

I remember my first one when I lived in Christchurch. Felt like airplane turbulence. Then there was the Kaikoura quake. That one was slower, longer and more of a swaying motion. Kinda surreal. 😂 Hopefully the past 6yrs in Auckland haven't Jaffa-rised me too much and I can life the peaceful South Island life like I once did. That said, the Ch-ch has come along way in the past 6yrs. Loads of construction and development. The city is looking rather good these days!

Recently tried my hand at some cabinet-making. Don't know if the Saffer in me that's stingy and refuses to pay NZ tradie prices for things I can kinda do myself or if I saw it as a fun project. Either way, building some "boxes" was a little more involved than I initially thought As per usual, it started with a CAD model of some kind (Fusion360 this time as I needed to sell the idea to my wife. When she doesn't need convincing I just use AutoCAD for simple sketches) The cabinets in question are 3x 740H x 600W x 450D simple carcasses with hinged doors. After settling on a colour and loading all the part dimensions into CutList Optomizer to determine quantity, I ordered the material. Two sheets of Melteca 18mm MDF (basically just fancy melamine). Then the cutting started. My small garage made it a little tricky to work with a full sheet, but the track saw was a life saver. I started with all the rips. Then switched out the 3m rail for a 1.4m one with a rail square to cross cut. All parts cut, labelled and checked-off against the cut-list. One big underestimation I made was the time and complexity of applying edge-banding to the boards. Usually pre-glued edge banding is easily applied with an iron and some baking paper or a heat gun. This edge-banding however, was 1mm thick ABS plastic so the iron just melts the face before it gets heat through to the glue. As for the heat gun, that works, but yields inconsistent results and is very finicky to use. But never fear, there is almost no challenge that the addition of a new tool cannot fix. Enter the edge-bander... The Virutex AG98 was the cheapest edge-bander I could find (and it still cost a pretty penny). In simplest terms it's just a heat gun with a spool, roller and guillotine strapped to it. But it works, and in hindsight it was worth every penny with the time and frustration it saved. To trim the overhang on the edge banding, I tried one of those Fastcap style blade trimmers to flush trim, but the 1mm thick ABS is a little on the touch side for it and it left some "shuddery" edges. So I resorted to a cheap Stanley chisel, sharpened up as best as I could. The process was therapeutic and satisfying... just look at those curls! Roundovers were done with a 3mm router bit and a little custom jig to stabilise the router on the edges of the boards. Joinery was done the via dirty-rotten-cheating-YouTuber method... aka Dominos. My cheat-sheet written onto my sacrificial work surface to remind me where to layout each domino. Two combination squares set out to the common dimensions for quick marking. I'm a big fan of the small combi-squares! The glue-up process was nerve wracking. The special melamine adhesive only had an open time of 12min so I had to work fast... but also had to stop for a quick photo 😅 Adjustable feet and door hinges (Blum soft close, with push-to-open) could be fitted while the carcass was in clamps and drying. Finally after all 3 were assembled it was time to put them in place, level them and adjust door gaps evenly. Three simple boxes, but a heap-load of work. With half of the oak desk-top in place. The mitred waterfall end is joined to the top with Peanut (keyhole) connectors to allow for disassembly. With a shelf added and the other half of the desk top laid in place. The left half of the desk has dominos glued into one end and loose fitting into the other for alignment, and cammed connectors to tighten the 2 halves together, allowing for disassembly if needed. So after many hours trimming edge banding and slicing hands (that stuff is razor sharp until rounded-over), I have completed enough of the project to buy myself some time (and my wallet some breathing space) before I carry on with the next phase of this build. Overall it was fun, a learning experience, and the result is not bad. Was it cheaper than buying some flat-pack cupboards (albeit they would be white)... definitely not (even if I excluded the cost of tools)... but that's not why we woodwork, is it!

This is standard operating procedure in NZ. NEVER buy anything unless it's on a sale, and even then, know what it's worth. Often last weeks "normal sale" had a better price than this weeks "MEGA MEGA ULTRA SALE!!" Websites like PriceSpy help somewhat with their price history graphs, but they're more geared towards consumer electronics than tools.

Speaking of toolboxes, I see that even a long long time ago, in a galaxy far away, Tanos/Festool Systainers were the Empire's toolbox of choice... The Mandalorian, Season 3 Episode 3.

It's been a while since I posted some "Good" from the beautiful scenery that makes up New Zealand, so here's a photo dump from a South Island road trip I took my Mom on, a couple of weeks back. We did Christchurch to Queenstown, with various stops along the way. Rakaia Gorge Lake Pukaki (looking towards Mt Cook) Mt Cook Station (A Cattle Farm we stayed at for a night) Clay Cliffs (near Omarama) Shotover Gorge (view from our Queenstown accommodation front porch) Lake Hayes (Arrowtown) The infamous Wanaka Tree Wanaka Lavender Farm View from the Arrowtown end of the Crown Range After this trip, I think I'm 70% of the way to convincing my wife into moving South.

Jealous! Done the Swiss & French Alps thing a couple of times was some of the best riding I've ever experienced. As I was flying with a downhill bike (ie. heavy) there were a few things I had to consider: Luggage policy of particular airlines - 1st trip was with Emirates and they allowed 30kg total. 2nd trip was with Qatar and they had a bike allowance on-top of luggage allowance, so I could take more than 2 pairs of undies 😅) 32kg luggage handling limit - Even if your total luggage allowance is 100kg, no one single item is supposed to exceed 32kg. It's some heath & safety thing for handlers or something) Bike bag vs Bike Box - With the above mentioned limits, a heavy bike (approx. 18kg), and tools etc, adding 8-9kg for a bike bag isn't really viable (even though I'd love me an Evoc one). So cardboard boxes and bubble wrap it was. Cheap (or free in some cases), light, and disposable. As others have mentioned, no particular rules around customs declarations, duties or bio-security (which is an issue here in NZ. Your bike has to be thoroughly cleaned otherwise it raises red flags). Also, worth considering what tools you may need as these are heavy and will have to be checked baggage. Finally, don't make the mistake I did and travel with a roll of packaging tape in your hand-luggage (I did this so I could make ad-hoc repairs to my bike box while in transit). It raised some suspicions with Dubai airport security and I nearly got escorted off for a more private , and gloved "interview" 😅 Oh! and +1 for Morgins

Many of you have probably seen this, but for those who haven't, it could be a revelation... CutList Optomizer (a free online tool that allows one to get the best layout of parts on sheet goods). Simply input sheet size, kerf/blade thickness, and the dimensions and quantity of parts required. It can even take things like edge banding and grain direction into account.

This weekend on Patches' Noise and Sawdust Creations... I made a plank of wood out of another plank of wood. Look at that oaky goodness 😍 You may see this and think "who the hell has money to make stuff out of solid oak?"... ...well not his guy! So this weekend I tried my hand at hardwood edge-banding some oak veneered ply. After getting a crisp rip cut on the 25mm thick ply and prepping the 30x10mm oak strips, It was time for the glue up. This can be done with the aid of brad/pin nails, clamps, or tape. ... I opted for all 3 😅 After the glue dried and any squeeze-out was scraped off, I flushed up the oak strips to the ply (as they protruded a couple of mm at top and bottom). With 3 boards to apply the edge banding to, I figured I'd flush these up with 3 different methods. Method 1 (the cautious approach) - put down a strip of painters tape on the ply and use a flush trim bit in the router. The painters tape means the oak strip will still sit ever-so-slightly proud of the ply after routing. This can then be sanded flush. Method 2 (the "aah, eff it!" approach) - just flush trim with the ply as reference, leaving no room for error. Method 3 (the "I'm a real woodworker" approach) - flush it up using a block plane. This was the most time consuming, but also the most satisfying and therapeutic. There's something cathartic about making spirally plane shavings. The added benefits of this are that you can do it at night without annoying the neighbours, and cleaning up shavings is easier than trying to contain router dust. After flushing up, I filled any brad nail holes, sanded, added a very slight round-over (2mm), and prepped for the next phase... joinery (still to come)! Overall though, it came out pretty decent and was not that difficult. Would have been easier if I had more clamps though (the woodworkers unquenchable thirst)

So I tried out the Festool vac last night and it's significantly more powerful than the Makita. Tried it out on the mitre saw and there was a notable difference in the amount of dust left behind after some 2x4 cuts. I'll likely keep the Makita for a while as it's cordless, has AWS (bluetooth tool activated start), although only 2 of my tools have this capability. Also the vac bags are a fraction of the price of the Festool ones. But this Festool can suck the chrome off a tow-hitch, so if I find I don't neeeed the cordless capability, and if I spring for the Makita AWS receiver (which will enable the Festool vac to be activated by Makita AWS tools), then I may flog it.

Not the most exciting tool addition to the collection, but decided the little Makita battery powered vac needed some support from a Festool corded vac, to tackle the more dust intensive tools. Let's see if these live up to all the rage (much like how my wife insisted we needed a Dyson Stick Vac 😅 )

On the list at the moment... The Last of Us (Season 1) for my action/thriller/sci-fi Unforgotten (Season 5) for my British Crime Drama Carnival Row (Season 2) for my fantasy/adventure South Park (Season 26) for keeping me up to date with current events... that episode about Harry & Meghan 🤣 Gary and His Demons (Season 2) for my dark comedy (similar humour to Archer and the like) Border Security (whatever season is showing on TV at the moment). for my filler. It's always entertaining watching Aussie Border Force officers reprimanding and fining people for trying to sneak in weird food stuff in. Quite the list, but we just work away at 1 - 2 episodes an evening of whatever show we feel like, and the short animateds (South Park and Gary and Hi Demons) are for my bus commutes to work. Also, we decided to cull most our streaming services (had Plex, Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, and Apple TV). Now only left with Amazon and Plex.

A pretty rare Makita air tool that can be used to increase productivity in the workplace... Apparently it does 130dB (about as loud as a jet taking off)