Category: whatnot

Overly Organized Gardening – Laser cut garden labels

I don’t usually grow a lot of things from seed and almost ever edibles but along with many pandemic gardeners, I am branching out. I made these little garden labels out of 1/8th in baltic birch plywood. I also make some pins to hold down the chicken wire I use in the garden to defend from squirrels and cats.

For those interested here is the Adobe Illustrator file with the editable art. I cut these on at 100w C02 infrared laster at Ace Makerspace, using 55speed and 45 power for the cut and 600speed and 35 power for the etching. The file took about 23 min. to make the whole batch, with a cost of $7 for the laser time and about 4 dollars for the plywood.

 

 

pastic white diy shed and shelves

Hacked Ikea into a Shed

So last weekend with the help of my friend Liz, I turned some Ikea Hejne shelves into a little shed for outdoor storage. I got two sets of this shelving free off craigslist.com.

These were the steps and material to skinning the shelves to make the little shed. It was not intended to be airtight just water-resistant. Image gallery below.

These were the tools and supplies needed for this project.

  • 2x Ikea Hejne Shelves
  • 2-inch wood screws
  • 3/4 inch, #8 Self-tapping Screws, Teks, Philips Truss Head
  • Box Cutter (for cutting the coroplast)
  • Sharpie
  • Straight edge (I used a big level)
  • Measuring Tape
  • Drill/driver
  • 3x, 8×4 sheets of coroplast

These were the build steps

  1. Assemble the shelves and screw them together in a few places with wood screws. To not use one of the X braces on one set. It can be double up on the back side.
  2. Use the wood screws to screw the shelves together in at least 4 places making a nice solid block
  3. Cut side panels out of the coroplast without any hanging edges using the box cutter. We used the shelves to cut the sides because they are not perfect rectangles… see cheap, free stuff. The side panel has no overhang on the edges. it can even be a tiny bit short as the front and back panels wrap around.
  4. Next mark out the front and back. I made the slight peaked shape in the middle to runoff water. We cut 2.5 inches on either side to wrap around the edges. Along the top edges, I cut an extra 1.5 inches that would fold i to support the roof attachment.
  5. Once all the sides are cut it is time to screw it together. Use the self-tapping screws to attach the side panels to the shelves. Don’t be shy about using a lot of screws but be careful about over-tightening.
  6. Line up the back panel with the side panels and fold over the 2.5-inch edge. This is easier if you pre-fold the side flap. Use the self-tapping screws to attach the coroplast to the face of the shelves in six spots around the edges. Then screw through both layers of coroplast on the wrap-around edges. You will not be hitting wood at this point so don’t over tighten.
  7. Repeat the previous steps on the front piece, then cut a door out using the edge of the shelves as your guide. Go slow with the knife.
  8. Next map out a roof that hangs over on all sides at least 1.5 inches. Cutt out of coroplast and pre-bend the center.
  9. Fold over the peak edges and secure the roof to the folded edge with self-tapping screws
  10. You can make a door catch with additional scrap coroplast and magnets (not shown, I couldn’t find my magnets!)
  11. Paint! Also not shown. Use Rustoleum plastic primer and then spray paint or latex to give the look you want. I will be using stencils to give it a decorative street look in turquoise and magenta. and lime green.
hejne shelves and coroplast in the garden
Shelves Assembled and coroplast ready for cutting
drill on shelves
Using wood screws to secure the shelves front to back
level and hands on corolplast with shelves
Marking out the side, front and back on the coroplast
roof shape cut from coroplast
Shows the roof peak and the structural flaps that get bent to support the roof.
coroplast shapes on shelves
you can see how the panels are secured with the self-tapping screws and how the wrap-around flaps work.
door cutout
Door cutout
close up of the shed roof
Close up of shed roof edges and sides

Object Impermanence: When My Whole Studio Burned Down

It is with a heavy heart that I must report I lost my beloved studio and all its content on the Morning of August 9th in an early morning blaze that in one of the M0XY buildings. I am eternally grateful that nobody was hurt and everybody is safe.

I am heartbroken about the loss of work… about 20 years worth, but even more so for my studio mates and neighbors.

I was able to secure space for the build of the Gift-o-Matic in North Oakland (gift-oakland.com) build in North Oakland. This is mostly in thanks to folks who donated to my GoFundMe Campaign. Without them, I seriously don’t know what I would have done.

 

You can read about the fire in the news here:

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13864120/m0xy-warehouse-artists-in-oakland-plot-recovery-from-fire

https://abc7news.com/5455265/

 

The Flu is No Joke

Sorry about the long hiatus folks.

The flu was pretty devastating this year…coma, month stay in the hospital, walking, pneumonia and ARDS. I have been recovering for the last 6 weeks and I am just now getting to the point I can sketch (roughly) and start making things.

That said this spring as summer is filled with exciting projects!

More to come.