DIY dog seat cover

There are some nice car seat covers for traveling with your dog but you can do better and for a lot less with this DIY solution.

Buy an inexpensive quilted bedspread. It will actually cost less than buying the quilted fabric and it already has edge binding.

Measure the total area you want to cover – plus about 6 inches (to tuck behind the seat). In the truck, I not only wanted to cover the seat but also the floor. I needed at least 90″ of length and 60″ of width. A little extra length would be a bonus so I picked up a king size “quilt”. There will be a significant amount of excess width. Don’t worry, it will get tucked out of the way. Just remember to do all of you measurements from the center out to the sides so it will be even.

When you go shopping, these are not real quilts. They are fabric prints that look like quilts. They are a poly-cotton blend which may not be great for your bedroom but its perfect for the dog since it will resist dirt and stains and will wash easily. The one I chose was under $25.

Every installation will be a bit different but for most trucks, there are three or four luggage straps behind the seat. I simply sewed loops of webbing / ribbon. I positioned them about 6″ from the edge of the quilt to allow a generous amount of fabric to tuck behind the seat.

Most modern vehicles have car seat anchors. I measured the depth of the seat top plus the distance down the face of the seat to the anchor points – 27″ was the result – and marked the quilt using the loops as my starting point. I then measured across the width of the seat and made note of where each anchor was. I transferred these measurements to the quilt. I then cut small slots in the quilt to line up with the anchor points. (It’s optional but I also chose to reinforce the cuts by sewing the equivalent of a really long button hole.) finally, cut a piece of Velcro about 3/4 the width of each anchor. Sew one half of the Velcro to one side of the slot and sew the other half of the Velcro to the opposite side of the slot.

Time to install the seat cover!

Attach the top loops to the base of the luggage straps. Flatten the quilt down and align the slots to the seat anchors. Tuck one side of the Velcro through each anchor and attach it to the mating Velcro.

The quilt will be much to wide so tuck the sides in and under the seat.

I’ve had it with those all-in-one printer/copier/scanners!

I print very little but I try to scan papers and documents to avoid losing them and having to store folders and boxes of papers. The problem is that my “oh so wonderful” HP 7780 networked printer / copier / fax machine is always breaking down. I don’t print enough so the heads get clogged, the color cartridges dry up or become defective, or it simply won’t start without being unplugged first.

I’ve taken to using my iPhone to photograph documents. It has worked “just OK”. The problem has been lighting and holding the camera steady and perpendicular to the document. Today I solved those problems.

If you click on the image from this post it will open a much larger copy.

I cut a small hole in one of two boards. I then cut stand-offs to separate the boards. When my iPhone peers down through the hole in the upper platform, it has a perfect view of an 8.5″x11″ paper on the lower platform. I added two 12″ fluorescent lights.

I can either use the standard Apple Camera app or one of the camera apps designed for document copying such as Genius Scan or TurboScanner. the latter is shown in the included photo

UPDATE: I discovered the “legs” I cut were a bit too short. The ideal length is at least 12″ to work well with 8.5″x11″ pages.

A carpenter’s house is never finished

A famous line I will agree with. I installed my petite gas fireplace in December of 2011. I closed off that post with a glass of wine and pondering the finish facade.

A mere ten months later and I have finished the corner wall … mostly. In the end I decided on sheetrock and paint to match the rest of the walls on the first floor. Of course, unless you do it for a living, sheetrock is not a simple or quick task. Still the end results are good enough.

I still need to build a corner drawer that will go below the fireplace but given if will not be a standard drawer, I’ll save that for when I have a few days in the shop!

The title pretty much says it all. I have this working and I will do my best to explain the entire process. But first, the disclaimer.

The following is not an endorsement for any product real or imaginary. No user-serviceable parts inside. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Continued reading constitutes acceptance of agreement. This website, author, ISP, family, friends, known acquaintances, the dog that peed on your shoe, all known humans, living or dead (excludes zombies) are held harmless. This disclaimer does not cover misuse, accident, lightning, flood, tornado, tsunami, volcanic eruption, earthquake, hurricanes, or other acts of God, neglect, damage from improper use, incineration, or robo-calls. The fact that the content described here works is a miracle on an order of magnitude that is seldom seen in a single life time. The fact that the content described here worked for me is in no way a guarantee it will work for you. That fact that the content described here did not nuke anything, cause smoke, excessive cursing, or human or animal sacrifice is not a guarantee in whole or in part that any or all of those events may not befall others who attempt to reproduce the results. Buyer beware. No guarantees, real or implied. Use at your own risk.

Yeah, that was messy. While it is partly humor, it is also important enough that I will repeat – USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

In addition to a Nikon D700, an Eye-Fi Connect X2 Card, and Extreme SD to CF Type II Adapter you will also need a utility knife, sharp scissors, and a thin piece of plastic (I used the packaging from the adapter). I also suggest you find an old Compact Flash Type 1 card you won’t mind sacrificing.

All you need to know is contained in two videos. The first shows how to disassemble the adapter. The second is optional but a good safety measure explained below.

Note: the adapter I purchased did not have the thin plastic insulating film shown in the first video. It was not critical but something you may encounter.

The D700 memory card ejection button is connected to a small frame deep down in the CF slot. The modified adapter will likely catch on it. To solve this, you need to cut a thin piece of plastic to act as a guide. I used the packaging from the adapter. Cut the plastic almost as wide as a standard CF card. Cut it slightly longer than a standard CF card. Now drop the thin plastic rectangle into the CF slot on the D700 such that the end sits between the pins and ejection frame. This will allow the modified adapter to slide into the camera without getting caught up on the ejection frame.

The second video above describes how to cannibalize an old compact flash type 1 card.

I highly recommend this procedure. It was not absolutely necessary – I tested the adapter + eye-fi card after completing the instructions in the first video and it worked. However, here is your important safety tip – IT IS VERY EASY TO BEND PINS INSIDE THE CAMERA WHEN INSERTING THE NAKED ADAPTER. You would be seriously bummed if you did that. You might get lucking and insert it once or even twice but very soon, you will be sending your D700 in for service because you mushed a pin.

The use of the CF-1 frame aligns the modified adapter in the slot. There is a much smaller chance of messing up your camera if you complete the steps of both video one and two.

In the midst of all the dissection, it is easy to get confused which way is up regarding the modified adapter and the cannibalized CF-1 frame. Below is a picture of the finished setup inserted in the D700. Use a good memory card as a reminder of which way they go in and then assemble all of the parts to match the end result.

Addendum: The D700 really likes to power down the CF card (and thus kill the juice that runs the WiFi in the Eye-Fi card. The easiest solution is to set the Playback timer to 5 minutes (MENU -> CUSTOM SETTING MENU -> TIMERS/AE&AF LOCK -> Playback). This will not affect battery life when shooting since the “review” timer is a different setting. The playback timer affects when you hit the “play” button to review past shots. Setting it to 5 minutes lets you power to Eye-Fi card and then go to your iPhone or iPad and start the Eye-Fi app to transfer images. IT will often take 30+ seconds before the first image transfer so give it time.

One last time – Don’t blame me if you screw up your camera, Eye-Fi card, fingers, or anything else involved in this post.

all weather coffee table

I recently made a Facebook comment about college student Legos and got more than one quizzical reply.

It quickly approaching the season of cooler mornings and I am looking forward to enjoying coffee out on the front porch. The problem is I still have not found the perfect porch table. So I ventured into the shop to improvise.

It turns out, that two milk crates is the perfect height to compliment the rocking chairs and two side by side crates is a convenient depth. A piece of scrap plywood makes a nice top.

I figured, these milk crates date back to high school and college so I am hoping the statute of limitations has expired

Milk crates were the building blocks of many student’s rooms in college. They were the ultimate in versatile and modular furniture. Some things never change. These days, the crates spend their lives in the workshop (when they are not pressed into temporary service in the truck or elsewhere on the farm).

Eventually, I’ll build a real table for the front porch. I now know the right dimentions!

Keeping an airplane in a hangar is best but it’s not always possible – especially if you plan to use the airplane to travel. In those situations, the airplane usually gets tied down out in the elements. A cover is a good plan but if the weather should turn truly fowl, you don’t want the wind to bang the control surfaces around. The old school solution was to use the seatbelt to hold the stick (or yoke) all the way back and centered. The problem with that configuration is the the ailerons could get blown to their extreme if the stick or yoke slipped. Worse, having the stick all the way back left the airplane vulnerable is the wind came from behind.

Control surface locks (or gusset locks) are the answer. These slide into the gap between the control surface (an aileron, elevator, or rudder) and the adjacent fixed surface (wing, horizontal stabilizer, or tail respectively).

Building your own will cost about $15 and take less than an hour.

The material are three long bolts; some rubber tubing small enough to not flop around on the a bolt but thick enough to be wider than the bolt head; and some small strips of aluminum. The tubing is likely to be the tricky part. In my case, I purchased 2′ of two sizes of tubing so one slid inside the other.

The tubing is cut into sections such that they will just fit onto the bolt and allow a nut to be tightened. In my example, that is about 3″. Then the short piece of tubing is cut into two equal Lengths. The aluminum strip is drilled on one end to accept a bolt. With the tubing in place, measure over enough such that when the second bolt and tubing is added, the result will fit snuggly in the gap of a control surface and trap both sides.

I now have three control surface locks. The rudder and elevator turned out to be identical. The aileron is a little longer and has a hook to catch the hinge slot and insure the lock does not slip out.