Stripping doors is boring, rewarding, but boring, so I decided to take a break and do something on the DIY craft side utilizing the porcelain knob and tubes connectors and insulators that I’ve been pulling from my house.  I wish I had listened to @NicoleCurtisRehabAddict and not thrown these things away when I first started demo.  Turns out there is a market for them and I even found a really cool coat rack project that I decided to try.

The project I saw only made it from the knob and tube (rack on left), but I also made one out of the long skinny insulators (rack on right).  The wood is reclaimed floor boards that I got from my friend Joan.  That color is the true patina of the wood.  I just rubbed the board with denatured alcohol to clean it up and rubbed it with linseed oil to give it a shine.

The knob and tub design utilized the existing nail to adhere them to the board and I used epoxy to force the gap to stay expanded and adhere it to the board.  The nail extruded slightly through the back of the board, so I used the grinder to remove the excess.  For the insulator version I used 5 inch (only needed 4.5 inch, but Home Depot and Lowes did not carry that size) galvanized carriage bolts with a lock washer and nut.  I thought the dullness of the galvanized worked better with the old porcelain.  Warning, if you try this yourself don’t crank hard when tightening the bolts.  I cracked the first one I attached.  I counter-sank the nut in the back with the help of my neighbor’s drill bit machine and cut the excess bolt with my grinder.

The boards were already cut to that length (why I chose them for the project, too short to use for floor repair) and are about 32″ long, give or take.  I used keyhole fasteners on the back and placed them at 16″ on center, so that HOPEFULLY a stud can be hit when it is time to install.  The knob and tube board was longer, so the fasteners are at the end.  On the insulator they are 16″ apart from the center of the board as it is shy of 32″ on length.

I think the insulator tubes would make a great mug rack, but I would need to bore a hole at an angle, so the tube can be attached at an angle.  The process to make that happen is above my skill set and tools.  My neighbor could probably make that happen, but I’m actually trying to ween myself off his help.

I only had to come out-of-pocket about $10 for the bolts and fasteners, as everything else is recycled or should I say up-cycled.  Given the cost overruns on this project I may be cranking out more and selling them to help generate some funds.

This was not my first craft project, just the first one I’ve done since starting the blog.  All my others I posted on my Facebook page or made a video about it.

Here is a link to my first commissioned project.  My friend Vicki asked me to create a frame to go around a mirror in her hall bath:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10213184592195787.1073741894.1424896347&type=1&l=bd2215cbbe

My first woodwork project was a flower box for my deck (not counting the deck and gazebo my dad and I built).  It will stay with the house when it sells.  I called myself working with scrap cedar that had been in my garage since the deck project, but I got very carried away on the size and probably spent another $300 on wood and the dirt to fill it: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10209323426469057.1073741888.1424896347&type=1&l=3c63e8b7d8

My second woodwork project was making a monitor riser for my desk.  I called it the Goldilocks Project because I bought and returned two sit to stand desks before making something that was just right.  although it took to tries to get it that way:  Goldilocks Take One and Goldilocks Take Two.

One of my favorite projects came about after watching another one of my favorite DIY shows, Salvage Dawgs.  In each episode they do some up-cycle project, that “you can try at home”.  This one I bit on.  They turned a trunk into a bench, so I took my college trunk and did the same.  This currently sits in my entry foyer.  The Welcome sign never gets seen, but was placed there to hide a crack in the top of the trunk.  It also anchors the top cushion in a way that will allow the fabric to be changed if/when needed.  This was my favorite project and probably the start of accepting I love working with my hands.  I may be selling this as part of my downsizing.  There is a built-in bench in my entry foyer and I haven’t visualized a place for it yet.

The last project I will share is the work bench I made.  With most of the projects above I did not have a proper work surface, unless I was at my neighbor’s garage/shop.  I was using mop buckets, 4′ folding table, and garbage cans as cutting surfaces with power tools.  I had purchased my first large cutter tool (a miter saw) and I was a freak accident waiting to happen, so I decided to make a work bench before pulling it out of the box.  Instead of following the plans I decided to make the bench larger as I had the space in my garage.  Well my future workshop will be the basement of my house, so this puppy is going to have to be deconstructed to get it down there.  This was my first project using my own Kreg Pocket Screw gig and no help from my neighbor, which gave me extra pride.  This called for a video:  Venus’ DIY Workbench

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