Wood Sculpture- from the archives

 

Griffin made this mixed media wood sculpture more than 10 years ago. He started with a 3x3 piece of wood, and then drilled, sawed, and painted it. Next, he added hot glue, duct tape, nails, screws, roof shingle, ribbon, yarn, and plastic pieces. 

This was probably from before his Frankenlog series of sculptures that had personalities, moving parts, or useful features.

Solar Power Part 5- Charge Controller and Marine Battery

 I have been working on my solar power bank system for over three years. I have a solar panel in front of my window, connected to some 12-volt batteries. I mostly used old sealed lead-acid batteries with a couple of new ones. Unfortunately, I didn't add a charge controller. I thought the system would be fine without it. However, when I was away for a few months, the solar panel continued to charge the batteries every single day but there was no load drawing power. Unfortunately, it is bad for this type of battery to keep overcharging it (although not nearly as bad as overcharging lithium batteries). Other times, the batteries got over-discharged, which is also bad.

After four years, some of the old batteries were barely putting out any current. I decided to get a new battery, and add a charge controller this time. The new battery is a marine battery I got from a neighbor. It's not brand new, but it definitely works well. It is designed to start a boat engine, not for off-grid energy storage.

I made a battery terminal from copper tubing so that it could be crimped onto the end of a wire. I cut a short length with a hacksaw and then split part of it open with a utility knife. Wow, copper is soft! After I attached the wires, I covered up the positive terminal to ensure nothing could accidentally short out the battery.  

The charge controller will ensure the battery doesn't get overcharged or over-discharged in the future, even when I'm gone for a few months. I should have added a charge controller a long time ago. They are cheaper than I thought.

affiliate link to charge controller https://amzn.to/3MAjxT8

Wooden Hangers

We have lots of cheap plastic and metal hangers. They often end up breaking, but we saved some parts to recycle. The first wooden hanger I made was for pants, and was a way to reuse the metal bar and clips from a broken hanger. I used more of the oak flooring scraps for the wooden parts.

The next hanger I made was a prototype of a shirt hanger. Because the wood flooring is so sturdy, it doesn't need a cross bar. I could probably make a hanger that will hold a shirt and pants, but it would be more work and more sanding.

The next two hangers still need hooks. I tried to build them like an assembly line, but I got impatient waiting for the glue to dry. My mom's advice was to add a dowel to increase the strength of the joint, but the pieces shifted while I was drilling the hole. On the next one, I added staples to hold the joint steady while the glue dried. I clamped one hanger in the garage vise, and the other one in the workbench vise in the shed while they dried.

After the glue had dried, I used a router bit in my drill press to round over the edges. Then I used my belt sander to smooth everything. This is important so that the hangers don't snag the clothes.