insulation board and plumbing parts saving for water tanks

Habitat for Humnaity here in Athens!!!

This is me and JP!!!!!!
Check out this link to an article in the Athens Banner Hearld about the Habitat for Humanity ReStore here in Athens!
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/121310/new_755798534.shtml

Watson Spring: our source for locally harvested wood

Here are some pictures of Landus Bennett of Watson Spring, out in Farmington. We drove out there today to see some cedar for use in building our bathtub. There is a fallen tree down the hill that they are going to mill to specs for us, and I will pick the wood up a few days. In the mean time I bought a piece of cherry to give to my friend Tim, a wood turner, who is going to make us a set of plates and bowls. Wooden kitchen wear seems like the most light-weight and non-breakable option for a home where weight is an issue.
Landus and his partner Richard ( who is also a blacksmith) do some amazing work for high end designer homes. Here are some pictures of a staircase banister with iron vines and leaves,

a lamp made from apple wood that Landus is working on, and their super mellow and sweet shop dog Ben!
And last but not least: here is Scott using the metal detector they sue to find nails and such in wood they re-claim from old barns and the like.

Point of use Hot water heater #1

I bought our first of two point of use on demand hot water heaters today! used, as in uninstalled and has been sitting around Mercury Art Works for a year! $50!! Isn't it pretty!

Score @ Habitat...scavenger hunting for water filtration system supplies

SCORE @ THE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RE-STORE TODAY!!!
The third of four padded toilet seats we need to cushion the kitchen water jugs!
HINGES for the back utility closet doors!! I have been wanting to build these two doors, but waiting to find the right hinges!!
This I will use to make the form for the hole in the bottom of the bath tub. Once I get the wood frame built I will cut a hole, fit this into it and then wrap the fiberglass resin embedded cloth down into the hole and out to accept the plumbing.
This will mount to the underside of the TRLR and provide more ventilation for the solar batteries.
While I have been working away for 2 months now on the red oak portions of the roof trusses I have realized something about the order of operations with regards to construction. While I have been really frustrated at how long and cumbersome wood working can be (especially when you are working primarily with chisels, a back saw and sand paper...) I am kind of glad because it has given me time to think through some other design issues and start finding the supplies and where-with-all for building the water filtration system. The gist is that once the roof trusses go up the oak will need to be protected by the roofing and siding, but once I put the siding up it will be more difficult to install some parts of the water system (like the tanks in the sub floor). Also, I will need to build the intake and out-take ports into the siding as I go.. and to do that, and choose the right hardware, etc. so that all the pipes and tubes fit together, I need to know what supplies I will be using, from start to finish, even before I install the final system. That has brought the question to my attention " How can it be that I could pour "contaminated water" from a river or creek even, into the trailer, and have it come out clean and even drinkable?! Filters and UV light.

Water will enter the TRLR through ports built into the side, using these motorcycle gas caps and bungs I found on eBay and @ the Harley store. The bung will be welded in the siding itself, and the body of the gas cap screws tight into place, then center part unscrews to allow access to the water system. I chose these style caps because they are tamper proof, to a point. I will build a box that locks to house the spigot for getting water out after it has been cleaned. After water has been poured into the TRLR it will pass through a filter like this:
and it will either go to one of two 30 gallon tanks like this ( from DM Plastics in Alberta)There will be one tank for the bathroom and one tank for the washing machine. At the point of use in the bathroom there will be other filters like these:
used in conjunction with a point of use hot water heater, so that water used for bathing will be filtered twice and water used for washing clothes will be filtered once. Then, after it drains from either the bathroom sink, bathtub/shower, or washing machine it will enter a system that is designed to clean the water to make it drinkable.

These are UV light tubes that people use in koi pond, and it will be connected to a series of filters of a reverse osmosis system for removal of particles and heavy metals:
and then into a 60 gallon tank like this from DM Plastics.ca
This tank will also be receiving rain water from gutters that will be fed into the UV/filtration system.... and the hope is that once water has passed through the trailer and comes out the spigot at the back it could be used to refill the water jugs, taken to the front of the trailer and used for cooking and washing dishes... maybe even shared with neighbors if we are in someplace that doesn't have clean drinking water. I am saving up for the water tanks right now.

Dan Phillips: Creative houses from reclaimed stuff

www.TED.com, Ideas Worth Spreading.
Please watch this talk by Dan Phillips, and please visit Phoenix Commotion in Huntsville, TX!!!

I wrote tyo him to ask some advice about how to makema bath tub, and here is what he wrote back!!!! I am over the moon!

Hi, Gretchen,

Quite likely there is an article out there somewhere, but I don't know where. The choice of wood needs to be something resistant to rot--cedar, osage orange, black locust, cypress, are a few. Glue and nail the wood together in the shape you want. On the inside of the tub grind off lumps and bumps with a belt sander, and fill in the voids with auto-body putty (i.e., Bondo--directions on the can and available at your local auto parts store). Drill a hole for the drain with a hole saw (One and one fourth inches in diameter so that standard plumbing parts will fit). Then acquire some fiberglass resin and cloth (available at auto parts stores), read the directions, and apply two coats. Sand smooth. Then go to your local paint store and get a bathtub paint kit (Home Depot, Sherwin Williams, etc.). Give it two coats of bathtub paint. Install the plumbing parts, and... get ready for a bath.

Good luck.

Dan
Here is the bath tub Dan built for two!

Some professional wood working advice

the quarter sawn grain of the wood is really starting to come out with the sanding! with a few layers of tung oil it will be lustrous and shiny!


"The Grizzly" home of "wally the wandering sanding belt"
Brent Swanson
Feeding the grizzly

I went out to visit Brent Swanson of Normaltown Woodworks out in Winterville the other day, and showed him everything I had done here to fore. He said I can work with what I've got, and offered some next steps to take to add structural integrity to my joints, as well as covering up my shoddy fitting. Today I finished cutting all the mortises, and by tomorrow I will have all the joints glued and ready to sand, which he offered to let me do in his big sander. Thanks Brent!


I went down stairs and took the last of four similar trusses out of the clamps, then made to start on the next mortises, which are quite a bit trickier...anyways, here are some pictures of what I have done, and what I have left to do. The fit of the pieces I have made thus far is.. not too good, and I also took pictures of the gouges I mentioned that were made when the pieces I was cutting the tenons in got away from me when the saw caught in the wood. I guess what I want to know is: should I continue with what I have already done, try to fill in the gaps with epoxy and through fasten it with dowels, or should I just scrap it, buy some more wood and hire someone to help me start over and do it right/tight fitting?
I know there are more boards out there in Bishop... and I didn't get a chance to Landus' picture last time.

this is the marked for the mortise I need to work, it's 3 5/8th" deep.. and an acute angle, the X is the material that need to be removed, down to the pencil line you see running across the board.



poor fit up @ the base of the four joints I have made so far.

It was hard for me to hold the line when I cut the tenons with the radial arm saw, so the other boards don't fit snuggly.


cutting the tenons along the bias of the grain of a hard wood, sometimes the saw bit into the wood, and I wasn't strong enough to hold it, so big chunks were torn away, on the edges of the tenons.. I don't know if thse can be filled with epoxy or not.
when cutting the mortises, I have started by removing wood with the circular saw, and then a chisel, but my cuts are quite un-even, so the fit inside the joint is not so good.
the joints are angled, and it seems that my angels are too deep on one side, or another, usually both! and/or, since the inside of the mortise is uneven the tenon piece doesn't fit well, or fit all the way down into the joint....so there is space @ the bottom
more gouges where I lost control of the wod

Loft floor platform and interior wall,, ready for the trusses!

We bought another batch of steel this past Thursday, and so i spent the next day and yesterday (Saturday) building the above the bathroom/bedroom loft platform and it's accompanying supporting wall. The platform will be helpful when it comes time to install the roof trusses, as it can be used as a staging area.



The little wall is built with 20 gauge material and a light gauge non structural c-track that is 1 5/8th inches wide, so i could turn the studs sideways and save a little bit of room.
This is a good shot of the place where the floor and the walls meet, the studs are fastened to the top of the wall with angle clips.
another good shot of the assembly from the bottom...
Scott is stoked