Tag Archives for DIY

Adventures in knifemaking

Hey, guess what? I made my first knife this weekend! I posted about the process at Wildflower Magazine for my Girlhacker column, but I wanted to share photos here, too.

Knifemaking is a fascinating, but difficult, process. Now that I’ve made one, I’m excited and inspired to make more, but I have a lot of practicing to do!

I haven’t decided what I’m naming this one yet. I’ve been envisioning a collection based on fantasy archetypes. This one feels like a ranger’s knife–at least, that was kind of what I was thinking about when I made it.






Forging on

The more I think about it, the more I think my life goal is to become a blacksmith. You know, disregarding the time and energy I’ve spent to become a writer, but who cares about things like existing career goals? I keep daydreaming about living in a little stone house in a little mountain town like Truckee and starting an armory with Andrew. And we could go hiking every day and plant a garden and be epic mountain folk. Ahhh… dreams. Maybe someday.

I think there’s something totally awesome about making beautiful tools and weapons by hand. I admire people whose jobs require labor and handiwork–probably since so much of my work takes place at a desk or on a computer.

Knifemaking has been on my mind nonstop lately. After loving knives, swords and other pointy objects (not like that, you pervs) for many years, it’s time to start making my own. I’ve had lots of ideas for blade shapes and styles, so I’ve been researching knifemaking and I recently ordered a grinder and some D2 flat stock so I can start making these ideas come to life! You’ll definitely see my creations–and failures, most likely–here in the near future.

This photoset by jarkko1 on DeviantArt was on Reddit today and I found it really inspiring. I’ve been researching different smithing processes and it’s all really fascinating.

Here are his instructions that correspond with the numbers on the photoset:

Making of the iron old school way and forging the knife from it.

  • 1-2. Searching and collecting the bog iron ore from the bottom of the river.
  • 3. Cleaning the iron ore by burning it.
  • 4. Burned iron ore, there’s about 4 kg of it.
  • 5-6. Materials needed in the melting: iron ore, lime and wood charcoal.
  • 7. Melting ongoing. Furnace is made mostly from soapstone blocks and clay.
  • 8. View to the furnace at end of the melting.
  • 9. Decrypted furnace.
  • 10. Lump that contains slag and iron. Something gone bit wrong in melting as the iron and slag were mixed in one lump, instead of two lumps where one contains mainly iron and another the slag.
  • 11. Iron (on the left) separated from slag.
  • 12. Crosscut of the iron piece.
  • 13. Iron pieces that are forged flatter. These are put together by forge welding.
  • 14. Folded piece of iron. The iron piece must be folded and forge welded solid again many times. That makes the iron piece more homogeneous and condensed.
  • 15. Chiseling the iron piece, so that it can be folded again.
  • 16. Knife blade is starting to take shape.
  • 17-18. After three days of work: finished knife blade made from the local iron ore.

My ultimate goal is to build a forge. Hopefully I’ll get to do that sometime in the next couple months. In any case, I love that he just plucked material from nature and turned it into a totally sexy knife. It feels like such an ancient ritual, forging a tool out of found metal. I might need to get a Viking helmet or something. This dude is Finnish, by the way. You have to check out the rest of his gallery. It’s seriously drool-worthy.

Why are Scandinavians so fucking cool? My last name is Danish, so maybe I should start playing that up. Eh? Eh?

Could I pass for a Viking? And that’s totally not a crudely GIMPed image (that’s right, I used GIMP instead of Photoshop like a bo$$) of me wearing a Halloween Viking hat in front of a Norwegian mountain range!

Scandinavians probably find that offensive. Sorry. Maybe I should brush up on my knowledge of Scandinavian culture. Word is that Vikings didn’t even wear those horned hats. Damn you, accurate history scholars!

The Battleroom | Phase II: Mini-hackerspace

I was going to make some stupid Limp Bizkit “Nookie” reference but I refrained. Anyway, I’m making progress on The Battleroom. I’ve had a few set backs, and have completely reimagined parts of it, but overall I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along.

One of the areas I was stuck on when we moved in is this little nook in the corner of the room. It’s not quite big enough to put a desk or anything substantial, but it’s not small enough to just ignore it. Originally I had planned to build my bookshelves there, but I opted to put them in my closet instead (more on that later). Luckily, I have a smart boyfriend who suggested making it into a crafting/hacking area, which is what we did.

I had originally bought the yellow paint for the inside of the closet, but this worked out better as an accent wall. The color I chose is Valspar’s dandelion chain.

I chose a pegboard since I plan to use this area for building things, and I didn’t want to shove the tools in my filing cabinet. Plus I think they look cool.

The surface is made out of fence posts I bought at Home Depot, and also used on the bookshelves I built. I like that they look unfinished, and I also don’t mind if they get scratches or paint on them (because they most likely will).

I’ve had the filing cabinet for a while, as well as the chair, which we got as a pair at a thrift store a few years ago. They were supposed to be our kitchen table chairs but we got a new dining table and chairs last year, so now they serve miscellaneous purposes. When we got them, we painted them and reupholstered the cushion. It fits pretty perfectly in this spot.

I want to use the wall on the left for project ideas, but for now I put some Portal stickers and some pages I liked from National Geographic. :)

I’m pretty happy with how this area turned out. It’s nice to have another surface in my office besides my computer desk.

The Battleroom | Painting

The “Planning my battleroom” series is now “The Battleroom.” Follow progress on my workspace here! 

I present to you… the battleroom!

Okay, it doesn’t look like much now. But it’s getting there. (Also, it’s not yellow. I think I took those pictures around midnight yesterday.)

The first thing I needed to do before I did anything else to this room was get the accent wall painted. If you remember the pictures I posted for inspiration, nearly all of them had a grey wall, and I’ve been hooked on that idea ever since.

I picked Dark Mink for my wall color, since it felt more on the warmer side than some of the other greys I browsed.

These pictures really don’t do it justice, but it really looks great.

Phase 1: Complete!

Solar powered cell phone charger

I never shared pictures of the solar powered phone charger I made a while ago. I had been wanting to use solar panels on a project for a while because I think they’re cool, and solar power is awesome, but I couldn’t think of anything very interesting… so I made another phone charger, because chargers are useful, and it would be handy in the event of the apocalypse. Which, of course, is the reasoning behind most things I do.

I usually get my project cases from Radio Shack, and that’s also where I got this solar panel, all for less than $10.

Drilled a few holes for lights and switches.

I picked a pink LED for the indicator light since I don’t usually do much with pink electronics.

Test it all out on the breadboard… always a good idea before soldering things in place.

Hastily spray painted it silver, with a pink pattern on the side.

Inserted the lights, switches and USB port for power. Not pictured, but I glued the solar panel to the top. Not the slickest solution, but it works well enough.

Shine some light on it–it works!

Charging in action. (See the date? Told you I did this a while ago.)

That’s pretty much it! I often carry it around with me as part of my EDC but I haven’t had tons of opportunities to use it yet. Maybe during the summer. :)

Planning my battleroom | Colors & patterns

We’re moving on Saturday, and I’m really excited to get my new home workspace set up! Today we went and bought our paint. I’ve decided to paint a wall of my office a dark, warm grey color called Deep Mink. I’ll probably paint the wall my bookshelves will go against, or the wall behind my desk. I also plan on converting the closet into an open storage space, so I’ll be taking the doors off of it and painting the inside a medium yellow–called Dandelion Chain. (The orange Buttercup Squash color is going on a wall in our living room.)

I really like yellow and grey as a color combination. When I Googled it, here are a few images I found inspiring:

I don’t plan on making gray and yellow the only color scheme for the room. I thought they would both work well with other colors. For instance, I have an old dark green Army trunk with a red and yellow label on it. I’d also like to get a couple of hot pink or red accessories. I figure I can mix and match a bit while still making things feel unified.

I’ve also been looking for other elements for the room, especially rugs. I think a great rug really pulls a room together, and we picked out a beautiful one for our living room yesterday. Having a unique rug in my office will help me to merge the themes I’m going for with my decor–modern, industrial and a little rustic. I will probably buy a solid color rug and paint it myself with the pattern I like, but I plan to pull ideas from these I found on Ikea’s website:

Tomorrow I’m heading back to the army surplus store to price out a set of lockers I’ve had my eye on for a while. My idea is to clean them up and spray paint them and use them for storage in the closet. This isn’t a very good picture of them, but I snapped it last time we were there:

Here are some examples of lockers used as home decor:

I love how these look in these rooms, and I’m excited to bring these ideas into my home!

PirateBox

I’ve been wanting to make a PirateBox ever since I heard about them a while back. Essentially, a PirateBox is an independent, wireless file sharing device. Which means that in the event of an apocalypse, we could still transfer files and communicate through chat.

Here’s a video from the official PirateBox website that demonstrates how it works:

The process is pretty simple. I chose the MR3020 router since it is small and very portable, and it has a USB port built into it. And it’s kind of stylish.

Other parts:

  • USB drive
  • Toggle switch
  • USB port
  • LED (optional, but I like using indicator lights to test if things are working. Plus lights make everything cooler.)
  • Wires, soldering equipment, etc.

The first thing I did was program the router and install the PirateBox software. This entails telnetting into the device and doing a bit of recoding so that all of the networks are open. It uses a program called OpenWrt.

Following the directions on the website, it’s pretty straightforward. The only thing I had an issue with was changing the SSID to PirateBox – Share Freely. Right now it is stuck on OpenWrt, but I can connect to it just fine. I might change the name of the SSID all together like, “Connect here for a good time.” ;)

Next came setting up the box. I had gone to the military surplus store and a thrift store to find a cool case to build it in, but didn’t find much. I just got a black project box instead and spray painted it a matte white. I then sprayed the official PirateBox logo on the top in black, with red eyes, just for some contrast.

Wiring the inside didn’t take very long. I wanted it to be powered by both USB cable and battery with the option to switch back and forth, so I installed a toggle switch with two options. I chose a red LED to match the red eyes on the front, and I crudely installed a USB port (they really need holders for USB ports, mine always look rough around the edges — literally.)

Here’s what it looks like on the inside:

And here it is all finished on the outside:

And here’s what it looks like when it’s connected (on my HTC EVO smartphone):

I have plans to add an antenna and replace the USB drive with a larger external harddrive since I have the space. I also may add a solar panel on it but that’s not really a priority now. I also have to add files to the USB drive. What kinds of cool stuff should I exchange with others? I think I might put my favorite manifestos on it, including the hacker manifesto, the cyberfeminist manifeso, and the open source way. I will probably also put some custom ezines on there, maybe cyberpunk themed. And maybe music? Or tutorials? I’ll have to think about that for a while.

Anyway, this is a really fun project, and I think everyone should make one so we can have a better independent network to exchange information.

Information Overload | March 19, 2012

I thought it was time to get caught up with Information Overload. I’m technically on spring break, which means that I don’t have to go to the one class I’m taking, but I still have to go to work every day like an adult. It’s definitely not the most exciting spring break, that’s for sure. Luckily I like my job, and I’m approaching this week with a spring break mentality anyway—relax, do something fun, and spend some time actually pampering myself (especially since last week was a week from hell). Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day, by the way. I had a margarita at Chili’s to celebrate.

Anyway, here’s some cool stuff from around the web today.

DIY

How to build your own cyclepunk chandelier out of bike parts and trash | TreeHugger

Andrew and I are so freakin’ excited to move but since we only have a little over a month, I’m trying to make a list of the DIY projects I want to complete before then. I plan on building my desk and my bookshelves, but I love this idea for a light. I’ll be replacing the light in my office and this might be just what I was looking for. Plus I love the word “cyclepunk!” I’m writing an article about the –punk subcultures for the sci-fi issue of Wildflower and look forward to exploring that one more.

CURRENT EVENTS

Beyond Kony: 5 essential reads about child soldiers in Africa| Good.is 

I’ve purposely kept my mouth shut about the whole Kony thing mostly because I’m trying to spend less time arguing with people on the internet, but oh well. This whole thing is frustrating, not because I don’t think that it’s great that Americans want to help people, but the people on the Kony bandwagon refuse to acknowledge when they are acting imperialistic or privileged. (Check the next article for more on that topic.) Also, few seem to care about what the Ugandans response is. I don’t see how encouraging more military action is going to help. We have to acknowledge that a huge reason that countries in Africa suffer is because of years of colonization by  Europe and America. We’re not going to help anyone until we can admit to that. I support people of any race/ethnicity/background helping people around the world. But, there’s a lot of stuff happening in the world that people aren’t paying attention to—and since my mom works at a children’s shelter, it would be nice if some of America’s problems were tended to with the same enthusiasm.

Anyway, this is a good list of books, although I’ve only read A Long Way Gone. I have a ton of great books about colonization and these kinds of issues in African and Caribbean countries if anyone wants some recommendations.

Q&A: Does #Kony2012 do more harm than good? | Al Jazeera English

I love this interview because Manji says what no one else is saying. When we Americans want to jump in and “save” residents of African countries, we remove the agency of those residents. We make assumptions that they can’t help themselves, that they are powerless. Many countries inAfricaare run by extremely corrupt governments, and are ridden by illiteracy and poverty, so yes, their struggles are monumental. I think that providing people with tools is helpful, but we have to get over our savior complex.

“Letting people know about violations is clearly a good thing, but what this does is distort what is going on inUgandaand what the international response should be. This is a simplistic story fit for a four-year-old, but in presenting Ugandans as either children who are victims and adults who are demons, it plays into the Western construct and prejudice about Africa and Africans.”

We cannot continue to advocate for military action around the world. It will continue to do more harm than good. A friend of mine said recently, “A hand up is better than a hand out.”

Syria: The War Within | Al Jazeera English

This isn’t one article, but Al Jazeera’s coverage of the war in Syria is very thorough. Their journalism is excellent. I’ll never forget watching the footage of the Egyptian revolution last year on their website. Technology is amazing.

All Major News Outlets Cover Trayvon Martin Tragedy, Except Fox News | Think Progress

This is such a tragic event. But is it any surprise that Fox isn’t covering it? And who gives a shit if they do? When is Fox ever a reliable source of information?

GAMING

BioWare responds to Mass Effect ending complaints as protest continues to grow | Ars Technica

I haven’t played ME3 yet but I keep hearing about how bad the ending was, so naturally I want to play it even more now. I can’t believe people are telling BioWare to change it. Gamers are allowed to make criticisms, but I usually just accept storylines as canon, even when I don’t like them (as in the case of movies, TV shows, games, etc.). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I don’t think BioWare really owes it to anyone to change it, but they might due to the outcry. But what about people who liked the ending?

Altoid case phone charger

I think that everyone should mod an Altoid container sometime in their life, because they are cool little tins with a lot of potential. I’ll admit that I had never made something in an Altoid tin before, and after watching my boyfriend build a phone charger last week, I thought it would make a perfect project to do one for myself.

The most difficult part was getting it all to fit correctly in the tin, since it’s a pretty tight fit. I used a blue LED for the indicator light and a toggle switch, since I thought the finish went nicely with the metal case. Andrew had some USB ports from another hub that we used. Cutting into the container was difficult since we didn’t have metal cutters at home, but with a drill we were able to make enough room to wiggle in the port, the switch and the LED holder. After it was in, I secured it with hot glue and super glue. Then I soldered a few wires and resistors together, and that was pretty much it! It seems to be working pretty well.

The glue is remnants of the other hub we took it from.

The gooey stuff is dried hot glue. It’s not the greatest looking thing inside, but it’s all sturdy!