Crafting & DIY Thread

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Self-healing cutting mats are made from layers of PVC or polyethylene in different hardnesses - you can buy them in tabletop sizes, but they tend to be rather expensive.

Several years ago, I ordered a large cutting mat from draftingsteals.com and was quite happy with it. I believe the company will cut their mats to size for free. You could also try contacting a local quilter's guild or club for more suggestions.

Good luck!

I found those guy's and I have also found out that there is a very specific name for what I'm after but not what (an non of the threads are open for replys), I know there is a brandname or trade name for this stuff other than cutting matt, I just want to order a few roll's to cover my new benches, my old ones where pre measured to take A1 matt's but these are a fair bit bigger,and I know I don't want to saw down the mat's.

But honestly that's a start an thank you.
 
I found those guy's and I have also found out that there is a very specific name for what I'm after but not what (an non of the threads are open for replys), I know there is a brandname or trade name for this stuff other than cutting matt, I just want to order a few roll's to cover my new benches, my old ones where pre measured to take A1 matt's but these are a fair bit bigger,and I know I don't want to saw down the mat's.

But honestly that's a start an thank you.

I found a bunch of different suppliers online earlier, but I got ninja’d by @Durable Mike Malloy . Also, I wasn’t sure if you’re in the States or not, so I didn’t know if it’d be worth it to post links to US suppliers. (I didn’t check if they did international sales.)

If it helps, the wiki page for self-healing material has a bigass list of the different polymers that are used to create self-healing mats. Maybe it’ll help to find the specific name by looking by composition?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-healing_material
 
I've been making felt dolls recently of people from my favorite tv shows. Right now though I'm making a Prince doll.

I went to Hancock fabrics going out of business sale last weekend. I spent $100 on a shitton of embroidery thread felt scissors and trim. Oops
 
I just ordered the parts i need to make this bench power supply.
FI2SDPWG33P0P58.LARGE.jpg

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-bench-power-supply-mostly-from-recycled-par/
Mine's going to be in a small guitar amp case that a friend of mine had found.
 
It’s volunteer month for my company and my section decided we’d decorate duffle bags to give to children to keep their possessions in when they go to a new foster home.

These are still works in progress while they dry, but I figured I’d share.

I don’t take credit for the original drawings - I got them off google images and copied them onto the bags.

IMG_5751.jpg
This is the pocket side of the duffle bag. I’m going to add the rest of the dragons from the group on the other side.

IMG_5753.jpg

I went outside the lines on this one ... a lot, so I’ve got to figure out something to put around the edges to cover the gesso I used as a primer. (Suggestions welcome, because I dun fucked up.)
I’m going to put a Pokeball on the other (pocket) side and probably a Mudkip and a Wooper.

I still have two other bags to do and I’m thinking of a Hello Kitty theme on one, but I’m kind of stuck for a theme on the last one. I can’t really do anything too difficult because I suck, so anything cartoony is preferable.
 
It’s volunteer month for my company and my section decided we’d decorate duffle bags to give to children to keep their possessions in when they go to a new foster home.

These are still works in progress while they dry, but I figured I’d share.

I don’t take credit for the original drawings - I got them off google images and copied them onto the bags.

View attachment 99181 This is the pocket side of the duffle bag. I’m going to add the rest of the dragons from the group on the other side.

View attachment 99182
I went outside the lines on this one ... a lot, so I’ve got to figure out something to put around the edges to cover the gesso I used as a primer. (Suggestions welcome, because I dun fucked up.)
I’m going to put a Pokeball on the other (pocket) side and probably a Mudkip and a Wooper.

I still have two other bags to do and I’m thinking of a Hello Kitty theme on one, but I’m kind of stuck for a theme on the last one. I can’t really do anything too difficult because I suck, so anything cartoony is preferable.
Steve from Minecraft, maybe? IDK if that's too complicated. Otherwise, Spongebob?
 
It’s volunteer month for my company and my section decided we’d decorate duffle bags to give to children to keep their possessions in when they go to a new foster home.

These are still works in progress while they dry, but I figured I’d share.

I don’t take credit for the original drawings - I got them off google images and copied them onto the bags.

View attachment 99181 This is the pocket side of the duffle bag. I’m going to add the rest of the dragons from the group on the other side.

View attachment 99182
I went outside the lines on this one ... a lot, so I’ve got to figure out something to put around the edges to cover the gesso I used as a primer. (Suggestions welcome, because I dun fucked up.)
I’m going to put a Pokeball on the other (pocket) side and probably a Mudkip and a Wooper.

I still have two other bags to do and I’m thinking of a Hello Kitty theme on one, but I’m kind of stuck for a theme on the last one. I can’t really do anything too difficult because I suck, so anything cartoony is preferable.
MLP:FIM
 
Thanks for the suggestions! My mom agreed I should I do the Hello Kitty bag, and that’d be pretty easy and quick to do. (Just got word I only have until Friday to get these things finished and my Pokemon and How to Train your Dragon themes are more involved than I originally considered.)

No.
These bags are going to children to carry their belongings to their new foster homes. Haven’t they suffered enough?

Seriously though, maybe. I’m already doing a Hello Kitty themed bag, so I was thinking of maybe doing something more generalized, like cute animals or something.
 
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This is sort of DIY so I'm posting here instead of making a thread.

I have two problems.

1. My flatmate chain smokes non-stop when he isn't sleeping or showering, and it seeps into my room.

2. There are two holes in my closet where the water heater outputs go through the drywall. Some sort of lung-irritating dust blows through those holes into my closet and room.

I partially fixed #1 by putting one of those foam-tubes-in-fabric-bag things under the door, so air transfer is blocked there. There is still a ton of space on the sides and top of the door because it's not hung correctly, and there is a gap in the door knob as well. I figure I can unscrew the door knob, carefully insert a piece of foam padding, and tighten it up. I'm not sure how to fix the gaps around the sides and top of the door, I need some sort of thick fuzzy strips with adhesive backings, like moleskin stuff you put on your feet but thicker.

I mostly fixed #2 by spraying expanding foam in the holes, but being a fucking sperg I made a mess and even got some on my arms and in my beard. It looked like I got facialed by Frosty the snowman before I cleaned it off.

Anyways the gaps are filled, and I moved everything out of my closet, wiped down all surfaces, vacuumed for an hour, and washed all my clothes and bedding. The coughing from the drywall dust or whatever has almost abated, but I never want to experience that again so I'm never setting foot in my closet again. I scheduled a steam cleaning of the carpet in my room this week, and I plan to seal the closet door the same way I will seal my other door.

I figure that I can prevent future incidents by putting a box fan in my window, blowing inwards, when I open it in the future to create positive air pressure in my room and push air out rather than draw it in.

Do my ideas make sense?
 
I figure that I can prevent future incidents by putting a box fan in my window, blowing inwards, when I open it in the future to create positive air pressure in my room and push air out rather than draw it in.
That seems like it would work, provided there's a good seal around the fan. That's what they do with cleanrooms for electronics and stuff. I'm guessing you can't just move to a different flat?
 
That seems like it would work, provided there's a good seal around the fan. That's what they do with cleanrooms for electronics and stuff. I'm guessing you can't just move to a different flat?
Can't move for a few months.

I'm still not sure how to best seal the tops and sides of the doors.
 
How would I apply weather stripping when the gap is uneven at the tops and sides? Glue a shim to the top of the door?
How uneven are we talking? If it's a very big difference shims would be a good idea, but if it s a small difference the give in the weather stripping itself should be able to handle it. I'd say V-Seal weatherstripping is the most flexible in that regard.
You could also use different types of weather stripping for the top vs the side, but that's a bit more expensive because you're buying a bunch that you won't use.
 
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How uneven are we talking? If it's a very big difference shims would be a good idea, but if it s a small difference the give in the weather stripping itself should be able to handle it. I'd say V-Seal weatherstripping is the most flexible in that regard.
You could also use different types of weather stripping for the top vs the side, but that's a bit more expensive because you're buying a bunch that you won't use.
Top of door is 29.5 inches long. Gap is 1/8 inch on one end, 5/16 inch on the other end.

Side of door which opens has 1/8 inch gap, side where hinges are has 1/16 inch gap.

Where do I get a 29.5 inch long shim?
 
Top of door is 29.5 inches long. Gap is 1/8 inch on one end, 5/16 inch on the other end.

Side of door which opens has 1/8 inch gap, side where hinges are has 1/16 inch gap.

Where do I get a 29.5 inch long shim?
The weather stripping should handle the gaps on the side just fine. For the top you have a number of options.
  • You could draw up the plans for the wedge you need to fill that gap and take it to a carpenter to cut it out of some wood. You can probably pay dirt cheap for some of his scrap. I'm lucky because I can think of 3 separate hobbyist woodworkers off the top of my head that I'm good enough friends with they'd let me take their scrap and use their tools for free, but it doesn't sound like you are in a similar position. You may be able to find something online, but I don't know where you would start looking. A Makerspace, maybe? Even if you can't find one there, someone there may know somebody.
  • You could buy the lumbar and a hand-saw yourself and cut it, but if this is your first time using a hand saw you're going to have to go very slowly and it will still be ugly. I speak from experience.
  • You can go to a hobby store and buy some foam then cut/sand it to shape with really inexpensive tools.
 
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