e-clip installed on a metal shaft for my home gym, leg extension. Photo01 by Don Tai
My metal needs are quite simple and one-off. I needed to cut a single slot into a metal rod to insert an e-clip. This DIY slot cutter is quite simple, using 2 ball bearing drawer hinges, some scrap wood I had in my garage, and my rotary cutting tool. The slots it cuts are acceptable for an amateur like myself. It works.
Commercial exercise handles for strength training cable machines or exercise bands are quite easy to make yourself.
If you strength train using a cable machine, or use resistance bands, you will probably need exercise handles. These plastic and nylon webbing handle attachments clip to the cable with a carabiner, allowing you to more comfortably pull as well as allowing your wrist and arm to rotate in a more natural position. This rotation is much easier on your joints and greatly adds to your comfort. Conversely straight and rigid attachments such as a lat pulldown bar usually offer no flexibility of wrist angle, which is harder on your joints. A neutral grip for rowing is easier on the wrists, and therefore better for long-term use.
Lat pulldown rope, or triceps rope, for use on a cable strength training machine, home made, 39″ long. Photo by Don Tai
There’s really not much to the lat pulldown rope, sometimes called a triceps rope. A lat pulldown rope attaches to a strength training cable machine, high up, so you can pull downward and exercise your latissimus dorsi, or lower back muscles. Common exercises include the lat pulldown and face pulls. It is just a rope with an attachment point in the middle. Here’s how I made mine.
Home made lat pulldown bar, made of stainless steel tubing and 1/4 inch eyebolt. Closeup shot. Photo by Don Tai
As I prefer to use wood, I don’t often need to drill into metal. That said metal has qualities that are very beneficial. I need a shorter lat pulldown bar for my home gym. Instead of buying one I decided to make it. It is, after all, a pipe with an eyebolt.
Requirements to wear a cloth face mask, by country is evolving. Starting in Asia, acceptance has spread worldwide. This is an evolving situation, with more countries mandating use with time and social acceptance.
“The Czech Republic is one of the few in Europe that has significantly slowed down the spread of the virus,” the narrator says. “The main difference is that everyone who has to leave their house has to wear a mask…
This mask design fits very well. It is double layer cotton, with a space between for filter material. The nose bridge has a metal insert for forming around your nose. Straps go around your neck and head. Photo1 by Don Tai
We don’t as yet have an epidemic with the corona virus CoVid-19, from originally from Wuhan, China, but i thought it prudent to research how to sew up some surgical-style face masks, just in case. These home made masks can possibly match the surgical-style mask.
Delta 36-510C table saw has a terrible fence. The fence clamps to an inclined front area, resulting in an inefficient clamp, which moves when you use it.
I have had my Delta 36-510C table saw for quite a long time. The saw is inexpensive and I had very little money and needed a saw. Little did I know at the time that the table fence that came with the saw was terrible. I’d set up the fence, lock it down as tight as possible, and half way through a cut the fence would jiggle free and mess up my cut. I would end up with cut wood with dimensions slightly off at the end. After 15 years of suffering I decided to research and build a DIY table fence that works, is accurate and stays put despite the vibration of the saw.
2016 Honda Fit, after removal of the splash shield, The oil filter is blue, the oil drain plug is more rearward. Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
My 2016 Honda Fit told me it needed an oil change. This is my first oil change. In order to do an oil change I needed to remove the splash shield. The splash shield covers the bottom of the engine bay from road debris and dirt. Because the Fit only has 5.5″ of space under the splash shield, I needed to make ramps in order to gain more space under the Fit. Convoluted for the first oil change, yes, but hopefully much easier for the second oil change.
2016 Honda Fit on DIY wooden 2×10 ramps. Toronto, Canada, Photo by Don Tai
I do love the car, but my 2016 Honda Fit does have some “beauty spots”. Going to the dealer, like others have, may have resulted in parts of the car not being reinstalled correctly, and then falling off. If the splash shield was designed properly I would have probably considered going to the dealer.
Viking Auto Dryer by the T. Eaton Company, 1995, front control panel. Photo by Don Tai
Dead it was, our dryer, a Viking Auto Dryer, from the T. Eaton Company, circa 1995, model number EDX22RW1181, front load, Toronto, Canada, hopelessly turning and turning, all without heat. Of course our clothes were not dry after an hour. Wife was not impressed and put the dryer at the top of my “to do” list. A solution was required before the next weekend load. Nothing stops for laundry or cooking.
