Rustic Post With Hanging Sign 1

The sign, shown in an earlier post, was made over a piece of Styrofoam insulation wrapped in chicken wire. (The totem pole in background next to pump house is made of papercrete over a 4x4 post wrapped in hardware cloth.) My mortar for the sign was made with vermiculite rather than sand to keep the weight down (3 - 1 vermiculite to cement with a touch of builder's lime). The sign post was cut from a discarded chain link fence gate, cemented into the ground, wrapped with hardware cloth, then wrapped again with burlap-crete strips. Unfortunately, there is no photo of the wrapped armature. Pipes from discarded gates make for flimsy armatures, and I probably won't use such again. However, it is holding up at this point.  Another lesson learned involves using the coarse sand sold as all-purpose sand by Lowes. The coarse grain is obvious and bothers me a bit. I've got to find a source for small (fifty pound) quantities of finer sand. In keeping with my usual pattern, I've moved on to another project prior to finishing this one. I will post photos of the finished project.



Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 29, 2014 at 7:54 AM

    WOW! I love your creativity and experimentation. Thanks so much for sharing. I could spend hours on your blog (and probably will...LOL). I've wanted to make a large wind chime panel for ages, and now you've given me some ideas. I want to finish it by dipping a lace curtain in a Quikwall slurry.

    Eva

    ReplyDelete
  2. F. Michael LaRosaMay 26, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    Thanks, Eva. This blog is all about inspiration and experimentation, so thanks for reading and let me know how things turn out.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drip Irrigation Experiment 2

Image
I placed another four inch block under the barrel (I think the higher it is, the better) and changed the middle four way connector to a tee, eliminating the middle emitter pipe. Then I graded the bed a little toward the barrel and water flow is much better. I think the 1/8” holes may be too large. I’ll be making another drip irrigator for a smaller bed, and I’ll drill 1 /16” holes instead. Also on this barrel, the mosquito screen top is in place, held on with a band of hanging wire. Since getting that screen to stay in place was a bit of a pain, I placed a 2” PVC fitting with cap near the top of the barrel as a filler. We’re excited and can’t wait to plant.
Read more

Drip Irrigation Experiment 3

Image
The second drip irrigation barrel was easier and less expensive to make. I drilled a 7/8” hole near the bottom and forced an old ¾” hose bib in. It took a lot of force to start turning that hose bib, but once it was in, no leaks, and no need for a washer or even a nut or fitting to hold it in place. The same went for the 2” PVC fitting used as a fill spout. Cutting the hole just slightly too small made for a tight fit and no fitting on the inside to hold it in place. This bed is not as wide as the other, so I used two emitter pipes rather than four. I drilled 1/16” holes approximately 12” apart. It takes about six hours to empty the 50 gallon barrel, which means, I hope, my irrigator will water our garden plants for six long hot hours each day this summer. I used a product called “Liquid Tape” to seal the 1/8 inch holes on my first effort, and re-drilled on the other side of the pipe with the 1/16” bit.
Read more

Improvised Shelves for our Frigidaire Refrigerator

Image
Well, this is not necessarily recommended. Ask me in six weeks, or six months, how it's going and maybe I'll recommend it then. These machines--these Frigidaire Energy Star refrigerators (like the one we purchased at Lowes only four short years ago) are frail. Seriously. All the cheesy, half-ass components that make this feeble milksop of an appliance come to life supposedly work together to make it more energy efficient. Cheap, frail plastic and glass shelves included. Of course, the energy efficient aspect of these newfangled appliances are supposed to save us money. That's the sales pitch, anyway. We replace our shabby old energy hungry appliances with new ones (appliance purchases usually indiiate an emergency, so we might well be using our credit card to make the purchase), and we're rewarded not only by a cleaner environment, but with a slightly fatter wallet. Only so far, this particular appliance is begging to be replaced after only four years. That's not le...
Read more