Apartment Tool Kit

 

Sometimes I forget that I didn't always have a workshop in the basement containing nearly every tools my heart desires.  For a few years I lived in apartments and rental properties where I bore few maintenance responsibilities. If sometihing broke, it wasn't my concern, I remember several times leaving a message with the property mananger as I left for work and returned to the problem solved later in the day.  There is something good to be said for that situation.  I was single and working longer days at the time and so ....it was nice to have broken doors and plugged plumbing dealt with by someone else.

  But,,,,

  there were still things that I wanted customised to suit my taste and personal items of furniture that sometimes need to be repaired.

 To fill that need I gathered my first tools together a piece at a time.

My first tools lived in a shoe box in a closet for years. What were the first tool necessities ?

1. a utility knife, with  replaceable blades.  The blades are good for cutting and scrapping and you can abuse them with a clear conscience.

2 a small claw hammer. buy something cleap and basic 10 or 12 ounces is big enough.

3  muiti-tip screw driver and a 6 inch adjustable wrench. Do Not buy cheap versions of either of these tools. Cheap wrenches, slip and can break dangerously.  Cheap screwdrivers have tips that are soft and fairly random in sizing.  Not all Philip's or Robertson tips are equal.

4. decent tape measure and a metre stick.  I bought a heavy duty 25 foot tape forty years ago and it is still the tape I take with me when I am limiting the number of tools I take with me.

5.  Various pliers. needle nose. linemens, water pump  and locking.  Also don't go cheap on these.  You will use them for the rest of your life and cheap pliers will slip, slide and end up having to be replaced while the skin on your knuckles slowly grows back.

6. hack saw, it will cut up junk including old bits of furniture and wood. It is not a surgical tool, but a versitile one. 

These are the tools that will hang pictures, fix bicycles, tighten loose legs, cut up junk, fix lamps, hang fixtures etc.etc etc. and enable various arts and crafts.

If you want to take the next step and move from fixing things to making things all these tools remain useful but... there is a universe of other good, bad, and special tools connected with DIY and making. 

Bunny Sized Cello

  My grand daughter began playing cello at school last September, and has made wonderful progress.  In just a few short months she is playing recognizable little tunes and seems to be enjoying her experience.  She also has a favourite stuffed toy that travels with her all the time.  The bunnie was her mother's in fact, and so is wise and well-travelled.

  As an Opa, I am sometimes inclined to flights of fancy for the grandkids. This time:

a bunny sized cello complete with bow.

  It turned out to be a bigger project than I originally thought.  I though I would go into the shop one evening and emerge shortly with a cello.  There turned out to be more shaping, sanding, gluing and staining than I had accounted for.

  I only had a plan in my head for this cello. I had never made one before so I cut out the body from soft wood and the neck from hard wood following a general idea more than a plan.  Initially I thought of making the cello hollow but decided not to make my life that complicated. This bunny sized cello is a toy, not a replica or model. 

  Before I glued the neck on I carved 'F' holes in the body and used dark stain to make then look more realistic.  I also cut slots into the head stock and made a bridge for the strings.

  Poor planning meant there was only room for three stings instead of four and the tuning pegs are pretty ugly, and don't work.  The bow has stretched string instead of horse hair. The pin on the bottom is a long bolt and the strings are stretchy string and the bridge is glued in place.  Not very cello like but it is for a bunny.

  It seemed to be well recieved by  Grand daughter and her bunny so it was worth it totally. 

cheers ianw

ps. paint it black for cello