DIY Woodworking Making Cedar Garden Planter Boxes | Easiest Raised Bed D...

Gardening season is upon us and its time to grow your favorite crops in using this super easy raised garden bed design. I happened upon some scrap cedar from one of the local fencing places and made a couple of these for relatively free. You could get by with just a table saw and some screws if that's all you had and you could wind up with the same product. I like to use a combination of a table saw, chop saw, brad nailer and cordless drill with a few self tapping screws to hold the corners together for the long term. Not shown in this video is that I started using Romex wire staple type fasteners to hold the boards up against the frame. The brad nailer will hold just fine as the force of the dirt, when filled, pushes out against the boards so they won't as easily come loose but the Romex wire staples or some small wood screws or nails will work even better. This simple design is one that most inexperienced folks can use. The steps are as follows:

1. Cut four 2 X 4's to 30" in length 

2. Using a table saw, rip those in half, lengthwise making 8 pieces

3. Cut 45 degree corners on all pieces

4. Using table saw, cut notch (ledge) into each piece

5. Nail corners together making two full picture frame structures identical to each other

6. Cut 16" wood slats

7. Nail slats into identical top and bottom frames

8. Using self tapping screws, screw into the corners 

Now just fill it with topsoil and plant your favorite crop.

Please visit my website: https://www.diy-technician.com

DIY How to Put on Your Socks Without Bending Over | Simple Homemade Sock...

Have you had hip or back surgery? Maybe you just can't bend over for whatever reason. This DIY Homemade Sock Installation Device is a cheap and easy way to put on your own socks without having to bend over. It's really simple and can be made with some PVC pipe and two pieces of rope. For tools I used a hacksaw, and handheld grinder, and a file. This is really nice if you have fused vertabra, lower back injury, disability, hip surgery, etc and cannot physically bend over to put your socks on and can be done from the sitting upright position with ease. I made this one in particular for a friend of mine who had hip surgery and he thanked me greatly saying it saved him from having someone else having to put his socks on for him. This is a great gift for someone in need of such a device and can be made for super cheap.



Amazon link to hip kit: https://amzn.to/3bgruL6



Blog: https://the-avant-garden.blogspot.com

DIY How to Install Pre-Fabricated Deck Railing and Posts Quickly

This pre-fabricated deck railing set up was purchased at Lowe's. It was a little more than I wanted to pay and wasn't completely top quality but it was able to be constructed quickly and effectively fit the billet of having a deck rail in place on this second story outside deck. The reason I needed a new deck was because the old one had been attacked by carpenter ants in many places so after exterminating all of the carpenter ants I removed the old deck. It made for some good dry backyard bonfire wood. I then took perimeter measurements and figured out how much deck rail I would need. This pre-fabbed railing was a little more than I really wanted to pay so I didn't want to overestimate. I got my materials home and then kind of layer it out to so I could get a visual on how it went together. The first step in construction was to install the 4 X4 posts. I secured them to the outside of the deck with lag bolts, of course, pre-drilling them before sinking the lag bolt in. Since I was a one man show I was able to clamp them into place before permanently securing them. I used two lag bolts per post. Same goes for the rails. I roughly fit them up before  securing them. Pre-drilled the holes then used weather proof drywall screws to hold them in. I pre-drilled the holes using a bit slightly smaller than the screw itself. Since each rail section was a set length I ended up having to trim a little off of one. I measured twice to make sure I had the correct length. I used my hand held power saw to whack the extra part off. Overall this deck rail was super easy to install and had it done in just a few hours as I took my time installing it. The pro's are that is was quick to install, it looked attractive and matched the design of the house, was plenty sturdy (sturdy enough to lean against), the wood was already pre-stained,  and was very simple to install by myself. The only negatives were that I wish the wood was a little thicker on the rails themselves and the other is that this set up wasn't conducive to a simple gutter system if you wanted to put one on.



Here's a link on amazon for the quick grip clamps I used here. I use these for a number projects as well:



Quick Grip Clamps: https://amzn.to/3akRzIP

DIY Homemade Pallet Firewood Wood Storage Bin-Repurposed Pallet Wood Tur...

In this DIY Homemade Pallet Firewood Wood Storage Bin-Repurposed Pallet Wood video I demonstrate how to simply construct a useful and practical all weather log seasoning rack. Since I used so many pallet slats for other projects I had many of the big pallet cross member pieces left over. Typically I would slice them up into burnable pieces and use them for getting my fire started as they are great for this. In this case I needed racks in which to store all of my firewood so these were just what I needed. So I started sorting them out and getting 4 that were nearly identical to start out with and then of course pulling the nails out of pounding them in. In some cases I had to knock them off to the side and pound them flush. The reason to start out with 4 that are identical is so the sides will be close to equal height. For the bottom all you'll need is two that are nearly identical. The top is less important as long as you have pieces that are long enough as you can trim the top or even use slats if you have long enough ones. As far as the nails go, whenever I pulled them I tried to staighten them if needed and save them for future use. In this case I was able to reuse them for building these things. After sorting the pieces I laid them out on the ground in a "U" shape making two identical parts right next to each other. The bottom portion of the "U" gets nailed together to the side pieces. Once the two identical parts are constructed I stacked them on top of one another. I then used some pallet slats as securing pieces to hold the two modules together. After standing the pieces upright I completed the square by nailing the top portion on. This adds strength to the side pieces when storing firewood and also adds to the visual appeal. These are nice to make because they are free and also you can make as many as you want and stack them next to each other in a nice organized fashion without the fear of your firewood falling over. It also makes it easier to secure a tarp to it if you need to keep it dry.



www.diy-technician.com

How to Construct a Brick Fire Pit in your Back Yard

Placed a nice metal fire ring inside the brick for easy clean up and decoration. One nice thing about living where I do is that it's legal to have little backyard bonfires. Many good times are had with get togethers around a fire. I needed to move locations of my fire pit so I decided to make a video while I made this new one. To get started I marked a counterpoint in the middle of my rough circle and started over turning the dirt with a shovel and breaker bar as it was very tough and rocky. Then I started digging out the hole in the ground deep enough to accurate the height of my fire ring that I wanted to put in the ground. I decided I wanted to inset this one into the ground for the most part rather than have it be mostly above ground. Once I dug enough dirt out to where I thought it would be deep enough, I started to test fit the metal fire ring for depth purposes but then I also used it as the template for which to create the circular brick portion around. With my digging tools I started widening the circle a little bit to make it large enough to fit the bricks. It was important to keep the bottom flat so the the bricks would be level. Once I got the bottom of the pit level I used my 3 foot level to make sure it was level. I was then able to stack all of the bricks in there in a circular pattern and then add the metal fire pit inside it. It turned out just as I planned and ended up using it quite a bit.

DIY Chicken Egg Laying Bin Station built from Re-purposed Pallet Wood

From my scrap pile of extra pallets I need to make a DIY Chicken Egg  Laying Bin Station built  from Re-purposed Pallet Wood. My chickens are now laying eggs to they need they're own area in which to be comfortable, relax, and do some laying. I broke down a few pallets and I removed all of the nails with my pry bar and hammer. I was able to reuse a few of the nails. It's always fun to use the brad nailer so I secured everything with it. Once the nails were removed I lined up the now new raw materials (pallet slats) and then nailed down a couple end pieces to secure them all together and then one across the middle. This piece will act as the bottom. I did the same thing for the back piece. Just made an "L" shape with the wood then also nailed some side on it and then a front piece as well. The chickens were a little standoffish at first but once I put some bedding in there they took to it really nicely and played some eggs.



www.DIY-Technician.com

DIY Pallet Project-Simple Wall Mounted Pallet Paint Shelf Organizer

With some simple hand tools and a free old pallet you can make an up cycled DIY Pallet Project-Simple Wall Mounted Pallet Paint Shelf Organizer in no time flat. When choosing pallets, if I have the option, I try to pick ones that have all of the slats in good shape and also I like to pick the ones that are a little heartier. It's not always an option and often times I've had to just settle with what I can get. It is never a waste though because if a pallet just went to hell when I was taking it apart, I'd just use it for firewood to generate heat. If I didn't use it in the fireplace I could use it for outdoor burning in the firepit. Pallet wood burns quick and lights up nicely prepping a good coal bed to toss some longer burning logs on. So, in making this wall mounted pallet shelf I easily cut my pallet roughly in half, using the middle cross member as my cut line so it was nice and straight. I wanted it a little smaller so I sectioned it off once again basically making a smaller rectangle out of the bigger one. This left me with a section of pallet containing four cross members. I then took my hammer and pryer and carefully removed every other wooden slat. I used one of those wooden slats as bottom piece for this shelf. I even removed as many nails as I could and straightened the salvageable ones for reuse. No use in tossing out a perfectly good nail. I then took my cordless drill and a few drywall screws and mounted this sucker to the outside of my shed. After I mounted it I cut some bottom pieces for the leftover scraps for the bottom portion of the upper shelf on this fixture. This worked out perfectly for my storage needs.

Tools used:
Handsaw: https://amzn.to/2BBD4Ag
(Optional)Skillsaw: https://amzn.to/2P9VJLJ
Crowbar: https://amzn.to/2MCjeuZ
Cordless Drill: https://amzn.to/2P9VTCP
Hammer: https://amzn.to/2N6XE0H

DIY Pallet Project: How to make a Pallet Playhouse

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! Upcycling materials for useful projects is most fulfilling. In this case the ground work foundation was laid with old pallets and the 2 X4's were pulled from an old building that was torn down. The tarpaper and shingles were left over from when I put a new roof on my house. Pallets are easy to come by and pull apart. I was actually able to obtain a bunch of nails when I  pulled them apart as well. A couple of them I had to straighten with my hammer on a flat surface.

Sorry for the horrific music. I was messing around on my acoustic and seemed like a good idea at the time to use it as a soundtrack. Most pallet projects are made to look a little rough so you can make most of them with standard electric and hand tools.

This playhouse was a joy to build. It got a lot of use by mine and the neighborhood kids. Once they grew out of it, it became a chicken coup that held numerous chickens that layed us many many fresh eggs. I even ended up making some egg laying boxes out of pallets for the chickens.

Once the chickens were gone it became a lawn and garden shed where I stored all my oils, gas, paint, tools, yard tools, etc. If you like pallet projects check out my youtube channel as I have a ton of DIY pallet projects.

If, after watching my DIY pallet playhouse construction video, you don't want to build one yourself, than maybe you can purchase one of the below.

DIY Repurposed Vintage Wooden Cedar Fence Slat Wall Decoration

DIY Welding Fabrication Project: Freestanding Metal Fire Pit from Refrid...

This was a very fun welding fabrication project.  Although I had a couple fire pits this one fit really well onto the back patio for use making smaller fires. My neighbor, who is an automotive mechanic, gave me an old empty coolant container. Knowing I was a welder who liked to tinker and weld junk metal together, he always brings me interesting parts to make stuff from.

I made sure it was empty by drilling a hole into the top first just to be sure there wasn't anything left in it. Using an electric corded angle grinder I cut the top off the container. There was a weld seam around it that I used as a guide or cut line.  I had some 1/4" wide flatbar laying around that I bent into a circle matching the same diameter as the tank. The flatbar was very soft so I was able to bend it by hand and weld the end together. Using the same size flatcar, I cut 4 riser pieces approximately 6" long and ground the mil scale off the ends to shiny metal. This makes a better surface to weld. I then welded those risers to the bottom larger portion of the container. I then welded the circular flatbar piece to the 4 risers. This portion is in an effort to create somewhat of an access or viewing window to the flames that will live inside the tank as well as create a seat for the top lid to set upon. I had some wire mesh laying around to it seemed natural to cut out a section and wire tie it to the viewing window (access) portion of the fire pit. I would have like to weld it in place but it's too thin so I decided to use metal wire instead. I drilled holes to for which to run the wire through and secure it in place.

For the legs, I had some rebar laying around so it seemed like a good idea to use these to bring it off the ground a bit. While welding these it's important to focus your heat on the rebar as the tank wall is very thin. If you sit on the tank wall too long or apply too much heat to it, you'll blow right through the wall. I tacked them all in place first and didn't get in a hurry thereby keeping them cool before proceeding to weld more.

I had some other bent round stock laying around so it seemed like a good use for some handles to move the thing with. I cut and welded those on in the same fashion as the legs.

I went and purchased a can of high heat paint for the local hardware store and applied a couple coats. I was very happy with the results. The guitar playing is me just messing around as these videos are an excuse for me to play and use it for theme music.