Guitar Wall Project: Day 3 - update

Cleaned out the music shop on string swings again. I just need 2 more!!!

[fixed!] Uhh... really bad phone cam image. I'll get a proper shot next time.

Guitar Wall Project: Day 2

     All these delays... damn. Well I finally found some time and here's the as-finished-as it's-gonna-be-for-now wall.... only because the store ran out of string swings.

This is what I managed to get from the music shop. 8 for now and I'll get 6 more when the order comes in.

One swing on the wall. I measured the inside width of the wall and divided that by 5 to get the space for each guitar. Then I divided the width of a space in half to get the mounting points for each individual swing. As for height, I just eyeballed the first one and held it in place with a guitar in the hook and marked it. From that one swing I used a level extended to the next mark, slapped a swing on, and traced it. And so on... Repeated for the top row.

Testing with a cheap project squier.

Bottom row complete!

Started top row. Crap ran out of swings, now we wait... 2 more swings will fill out that rather bare area in the top-right. The plan is to use 4 to stagger an in-between row to get an overall more pleasing look, though rather more tightly spaced than I'd prefer. It'll work, it'll work...

Guitar Wall Project: Day 1

     Well I got all the materials I needed short of the hangers and started the wall. I've made a major change to the project by omitting any rear paneling. Instead I'm just going to paint the area on my wall inside the black framing red. I'm hoping it comes out alright... I'm worried about the wall texture bugging the crap out of me when it's painted. The open back also makes installing the hangers easier. Here's what I have so far:

angle cut corners of unpainted pine molding

wall before

installed bottom, leveled of course. molding painted black(took longer than expected)

progress

...and now there's a big ass square on my wall. WEEeee!!!

colored between the lines

Guitar Wall Project: The Mock-up

     I'm excited to finally begin my guitar wall project after months of having to do other crap. Well I still have to do other crap but the more important stuff has been taken care of. I hope to be buying the materials starting this weekend and ordering string swings from eBay just as soon as I find a decent vendor that will give me a discount for ordering 10 hangers.

     Materials planned so far:
     - 2 sheets single ply mdf paneling/veneer - ~$20
     - 1 or 2 quarts deep red paint ~$10
     - kilz primer - already have
     - 1 quart black paint - already have
     - molding/baseboard/poplar stock for edge and latticing - $??
        - 30ft for outside(probably standard baseboard), 30ft for lattice work(probably 1/4 in" poplar stock)
     - 1 quart satin clear coat - already have

     Other expendables:
     - sand paper
     - dust masks
     - roller/brushes
     - paint trays
     - 2 ply plastic drop-cloth
     - possibly some liquid nails construction adhesive
     - painter's tape

     The whole thing will be 7.5ft sq., less than an inch thick, and probably pretty light. I plan on having the string swings' mounting screws going through the paneling into studs or anchors so I don't have to worry about unsightly screws in the  red background. I haven't measured the placement between string swings so anything that doesn't hit a stud gets 2 beefy drywall anchors. If I find drilling into the red for extra support is required(likely) I'll counter sink the heads, putty, sand, and repaint over them. I'll only use the clear on the whole thing if I can't get a good result from the red paint alone.

     Here's the full scale photoshop mock-up:

     Later I'll add bumpers to the bottom parts behind the guitars so they won't knock into the red. We'll see how that goes. I used a real picture of my wall for the bg and simulated the carpet and ceiling.

Pallet into Snack Table

     So I was talking to the my bud and facilities manager at work one day and freaked out on him when somehow he mentioned that the company just threw away pallets from incoming shipments. I was like, "What the hell? That's mostly good lumber!" So I immediately claimed the next quarter pallet, not even thinking about what I was going to do with it.

As soon as I got home I started deconstruction. It's a lot easier than said however, due to the nails used that are DESIGNED NOT TO COME OUT! And damn, there were a crap load which I had to smack out with a hammer. The entire process took me just under an hour and a half.

After chugging a bottle of gatorade I went back and started sorting and lining up the good pieces. Look at the image below. I bet you would have thought the exact same thing as me. Me: "That would make a good table top". In the end I had myself 10 short planks and figured 6 for the top, 4 for the legs. 3 were less than perfect.

After figuring out each board's best face I clamped the first few together. The boards were not necessarily the same thickness though, so I used my level as a straight edge to make sure the top was as flush as possible.

To keep it easy and quick I decided to fasten the boards together by using an improvised pocket screw method. I drilled into the end grain about 1/4" in straight and then angled my drill about 45 degrees with a 1/4" bit just to create the pocket. Then, following the angle of the pocket, I used a long 3/16" bit to drill the pilot hole. I just used 1 and 3/4" screws to finish the job. Yeah it the end grain and that IS a crack in that second pic but the pilot holes prevented complete failure of the wood's integrity. Good enough in my book. Besides, there will be more reinforcement later. Repeat on the other side.

Different clamping method for boards with different thicknesses:

Here's that extra reinforcement I was talking about. I took one of the not-so-premium boards and drilled each plank in though the bottom. I used 3/4" screws so they wouldn't protrude through the top. Obviously it was too long so I used my fine japanese pull saw to carefully trim the overhang in place. Flip it back over and we have our rough table top.

The next step was to make a set of simple legs. Again, the quick and dirty works for me so I chose to make X shaped legs like you see on a picnic table. First make sure all 4 pieces for the legs are the same length. Next measure one edge of the top where the legs will be attached. This is how wide you'll spread the legs apart. Take a plank, measure to exactly the center, horizontaly and verticaly, and drill a hole. Line up a second plank under that one and drive a 1 and 3/4" screw into that hole. Not you can use that as the pivot point for the leg spreadage. 

Spread that first set of legs to the same width as the table top edge you measured earlier. Make sure you go from outside edge to outside edge. After you get it exactly right just drive another screw near the pivot to lock it in place. I used a chalk line to snap a cutting line. This creates edges that will be even with the floor and bottom side of the top. (forgot to take a pic of the cut legs)

Do that again for the other side and this is what you get - a very wobbly table.

Take another less than optimal plank and make a leg reinforcement. Super quick and dirty. Measure the width of the top, cut your plank, drive into the outside legs like so. I used 1 screw at first just to hold it in place. Square the legs up using a... square, and drive 2 more screws to lock it up. Same on the other side.

There it is, a table! But wait, it's spintered, full of holes and looks like crap... First get the top nice and smooth using a random orbital sander with 100 grit paper. Now here's the part that's really really fricken important that almost everyone forgets or doesn't know about(and forgets to take pictures of). Use a brush to paint on regular old tap water. Get it nice and wet but not waterlogged. When its dry you'll find that the grain has raised significantly and is no longer smooth. There's a bunch of sciency stuff to explain - expansion, blah but I don't want to explain it. Just do it and run your fingers over it and you'll see. Hit it with the 100 grit until the surface is even and then 300 grit to finish. Smoother than a baby's ass.

Now for those holes. Self explanatory stuff here. Get some STAINABLE wood putty and putty away.

Can you guess what's next? Yep. 100, 300. If you're using elbow grease I feel for you. I've been there. But seriously, get a 5" orbital sander for less than 30 bucks(18 clearance at osh. Sweet.). From here you can sand everything else in the same manner. I didn't bother puttying places where people won't see anyway. Using a rubber sanding block and 100 grit I rounded the top edges and under the legs to avoid scratching my deck and my arms. Hmm.. missed a spot - putty putty putty...

With this some people would be satisfied and just slap on a clear coat. Not me! I want stain! And would you have guessed, I have some left over "gun stock" colored stain from a previous project. NOOooOooo, it wasn't for an actual gunstock. It's just the color name, ok? Only one coat in my case, let dry, 300 grit light sand. Boom! Color.

Double clear coat polycrylic or spar(that's what I used), sand 100 grit just till smooth, another coat. For the 4th and final coat I sanded the surface with 100 until I just felt the texture smooth out using very little pressure,   and brushed on a very light finish coat.

And here it is. I call it Snack Table. I dig the single coat distressed look.

Decking Out My Balcony

     So Here I am starting another project when I'm not done with the dozen or so of the others. This time around you can't blame 100% on me. Blame the FedEx guys that delivered them to me crazy fast. And when I got these I had that sort of new toy syndrome where all your interest is suddenly diverted ADHD style.

     Deck tiles, if you're wondering, which no doubt you are, are the objects that I have here:

Again, I was so excited that I forgot to take a before pic, but you can easily see from above that my balcony was cobbled in with ugly, easily dirtied pavers. ...and so it will remain - under my spanking new shorea(wood) deck tiles, that is.

You can see below that these have a sort of hook and loop assembly. They just snap onto each other. At the top is my 6ft cedar planter. Be sure to take a look at how I made that in the woodworking section too.

I'm getting there -- I'm getting there...

Around the corner and...

DONE!

Deck tiles are cheaper and movable compared to a standard deck. This is a great option for renters who want to be able to walk out in bare feet and still be able to take their deck with them when they move. 

Remember to get a bucket of wood sealer and protectant to keep the colors as vivid as the day you received them!

More shots: