Way beyond my skill level….

More my speed….

Black power or 12 gauge blanks? Either way that is cool. Had a customer once install a 12 gauge on the bow sprint of his sailboat that we built. If anyone got too close or was going to cut in front of him he would shoot it. GW made him quit but it still looked good sitting there.

Black powder and fuse….

Looking for a pair of 18”-30” steel wheels to build a carriage for it. I already have the oak boards, just need the wheels and the time to build it.

Be something similar to this….

I am a weirdo that accepts too many challenges, fixes cars for a living, but was a scholarshipped engineering student so I couldn't pick just one.

End tables for my wife. They are tornado proof.



10' tall rolling lighthouse project (currently) that has to come apart for transport.




Split deck platforms with ramps each side (four total, two shown) that can hold a few colorguard kids on and under, easily disassemble/reassemble, and can fit in school hallways.



Pickled peppers and carrots.



Here's a contraption we and another band dad built that hoists a student via hidden cables from each side...and it's portable to be used during half time show.



Playing golf for nearly three years now and I have made a couple birdies I'm proud of.



Custom buttons? Sure, I make those for fundraising.



Ever heard of a bass recorder? Well, here's one. It's the size of a saxophone but it's actually a recorder...just not like the one you played in 4th grade music class. It was donated to my State qualifying trombonist son but it needed some repairs. I got it working for him.



I make my own bullets. That's cool, right?

Me and another dad shown earlier made 12 of these from scratch in a couple nights after work with no plans or much input on design from the Director.

What was the justification to make him stop? What law was being broken? I can’t think of anything….. If you’re firing blanks who cares…..

Tell the GW to go check a fisherman’s license and leave y’all the hell alone…..

Lately, a roper wallet and messenger bag. TBC’d on the finished products

That latter is “The Judd” pattern, btw. Any others are imposters

Good use of some mesquite and pecan scraps. Axis antler pin. All from my brothers place.

That is gorgeous dude. Hats off.

Well, this isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s a copy of a walnut bowl I made for my Mom in 1963 (industrial arts in high school). It’s for the oldest grandson, to be filled with pecans for cracking and eating, which he likes to do, and he can’t have the original.

Dang good match!

Here is a recent solid hard maple table I built for some friends...

That’s different…..how many racks to make that?

37 sheds.

That’s nice I bet that took some time.

Shoot, you have any interest in building another one?

I always was a make it if you can't buy it kinda guy.

I've built so many things over the years from chairs for my trap line cabin to several jigs and fixtures for my camera mount production.

But the thing I'm happiest with is the mount itself.

It started with the purchase of my first game cameras.
It didn't take me long to form a serious dislike for the straps provided by the manufacturer.

They were cumbersome, awkward to install. They offered next to no adjustment and worst of all I could see right away that they would draw attention to the camera even if the camera was hard to see.

So I went looking for an after market replacement that solved those issues.

There wasn't much to find and what was there was either no better, too big and awkward for what I wanted, too expensive or all of the above.

I thought of building something myself but nothing came to mind at the time. So one day I mentioned my dilemma to my kid brother.
He showed me a crude home built mount he had learned about from a buddy of his.

It was really just two eye screw bolted together but I could see it had potential to become what I wanted.
So I set to work tweaking and fiddling and altering until I had my own mount that did what I wanted.

I put it to work and was pleased with the results so I tweaked some more and wound up with this;



It is simple and small, small enough to go unnoticed and light, just a few ounces.

Installing the camera on the mount takes seconds. It has a stainless steel thumb screw on the mount that threads into the insert on the bottom of most cameras.
The thumb screw is rigged so that it stays on the mount where ever it goes.

It is designed to be threaded into most wood by hand. A pilot hole helps a lot if the wood is dry hardwood but even then installation by hand is possible.
It's easy to set up and adjust, it requires no tools for installation or removal.
It's adjustable on three plains over a wide range.
It works on any wood surface, flat, round horizontal or vertical.
It can be installed in seconds.
It works on saplings just one inch in diameter or a tree four feet in diameter just as easily.
It can be used where there are no trees. Just drive a broken broom handle into the dirt and screw in the mount.

Best of all it cut theft and wildlife damage almost to nothing.

Here is a few shots of it in use.





The last shot shows the camera set along a popular bush road. I left it there for two weeks. In that time no one approached it even though anyone driving down that road would have to look right at the tree it was mounted on.

This is one shot it captured.


I couldn't be happier with the results.

Curious....has anyone made anything out of an old crib? We have our kids cribs still. I just took them out of the attic and was about to get rid of them. Wife still has an emotional connection with them. Thought about making something from part of them (don't want something big, but maybe something to hang on a wall, or....????).

That is sweet!! Thanks for sharing.

The principal is easy enough to duplicate.
If you wish to try making one it should be easy enough. It wouldn't have all the features mine does but it would work the same.

All you need is a suspended ceiling screw or equivalent, a piece of flat metal about two inches by 1 inch and a small bolt to join the two together. And one 1 inch long 1/4 inch coarse thread bolt to attach the camera.

Drill a 1/8" hole in one end of the metal strap and a 1/4 hole in the other end. put a 90% twist in the middle and bolt the two together with the small bolt.

Done.

Here is a view of the un-assembled mount with the three stages of platform development.
I went with the paddle shape for a number of reasons but a simple rectangle shape works and is a whole lot easier to make,



Also, the wing nut and rubber washer are not essential. Nore is the Stainless Steel thumb screw for the camera. They do improve the functionality.

The simple version works and can be built in an hour or less depending on what you can find laying around your shop.

The version I make could take days to build, without the jigs and fixtures I manufactured for my production.
Some of the parts I use can be hard to find and expensive.

I paid just under $25.00 each for the first stainless steel thumb screws. Now I buy them in bulk for just under $5.00 each.

The cross bolt and wing nut I use is also stainless steel and has to be special ordered.
Standard steel would also work and so would a standard nut. But in time they would rust and seize.
And they would require at least one wrench to tighten and remove them.

I am still using the first prototype however I did replace the steel parts with stainless steel. But the steel did work trouble free for nearly a year.
Maybe in part because of our cool climate.