A Sheath for my Multi-tool!

For many years I have carried a multi tool of some sort. The first nice multi tool I owned was a Gerber needle nose sliding scout. I continue to like this model if you primarily use the pliers because you can open the pliers with one hand. I made my first sheath that you will see at the beginning of this video specifically for this multi tool. It was wet formed so it would press the release buttons and open the pliers as you pulled it out of the sheath. It also had a slot for a Fisher Space Pen and a small flashlight. Although this setup worked really well, I realized that more often than not I needed the knife as opposed to the pliers. For this reason I switched to the Leatherman Wave. With the Wave you can open the knife blade with one hand without opening the pliers. I still use the same sheath with it and love it to this day. At one point I made a second sheath (see the video above). This sheath was a little deeper and allowed the storage of a larger LED Lensor flashlight as well as the Leatherman Bit Kit and the Leatheman Bit Extender. I had planned to keep it for myself, however, I actually prefer my old one as it is thinner and doesn’t get in the way as much. If I wanted to carry all of the contents, I would modify a nylon sheath as it would be a smaller footprint.

1968 John Deere 110 Restoration! 

So I should probably start off by saying that I am using the term “restoration” a little loosely. Don’t get me wrong, this think looked great when it was finished, but I am sure a true restoration would have included more. I never meant for this to be a show tractor. From the beginning I planned on mowing with it. Most people would have just rebuilt the engine and been done with it, but I can’t help myself. I always have to try and make things look new again.

Up until around 2002 I had never really done much mechanical work. I had done a lot of woodworking and electronic type stuff but I had never really worked on an engine. I married my wife in November of 2001 and her father is an avid mechanic with a passion for tractors both big and small. I am not sure if it started off as a desperate attempt to bond with my new father-in-law or if I actually had an interest at the time, but regardless this was definitely a turning point in my life and is largely the reason I am now a mechanical engineer and do almost all of my own mechanic work. I wish I had owned a better camera back when I did this as all I have are a few blurry pictures, none of which show a completed tractor. The best pictures I seem to have are for some reason without the front grill installed.

 Portable Wii Gaming System!

Since my wife and I have had children we have always seemed to travel a lot. The places we were visiting didn’t always have a separate TV for the kids, much less a gaming system. Not that my kids are really gamers because they definitely are not but it is always nice to have something to keep them occupied while in places other than our own home. For Christmas that year I got the wild idea to build them a portable system. A system that was ready to go once it was plugged into an outlet. So I purchased a small 19” TV and started looking for a Pelican case that would fit it. The case has storage for multiple controllers, games and other accessories. Since our Wii is Jailbroken it also acts as a DVD player.

 1970’s Renken Runabout Restoration!

In the early days of eBay you could really get some smoking deals that you just can’t seem to find today. That being said, it was also a lot easier to get burned back in those days as there weren’t as many checks and balances. I purchased this boat for my wife’s birthday (I understand how that sounds!) somewhere around 2004. The seller only had a few pictures and they were from years past. In his description he said that over the winter a racoon had gotten in the barn and messed up some of the upholstery but that the boat was still very usable, it just needed the upholstery fixed or new seats. Being the naive young man I was I won the auction and headed out to get my new boat…I mean my wife’s new boat! I don’t remember the specifics but I remember something went wrong and it ended up being around 1 in the morning when I finally made it to where the boat was. I pulled in to a rural driveway in the absolute middle of nowhere. It was pitch dark and I didn’t even have a flashlight. All I had was the light from his windows as he came out. The boat was there waiting for me so we made our exchange and parted ways. I noticed there was a strap on the out-drive of the boat but he assured me he just kept it there as “insurance” but that everything was perfect last time he used it (remember I was young and Naive).

When we woke up the next morning and went out into the sunlight to inspect our purchase my wife and I were both sick! It looked as though the boat had sit outside for years! The floor was rotten, half of the interior was actually missing and there were spider cracks all through the fiberglass. After further inspection I found out the hydraulics were busted, the engine had carburetor issues as well as a vacuum leak and the gimble ring was leaking as well. I learned 2 things from this experience: Don’t trust someone who is trying to sell you something and learn when to cut your losses.

One of my greatest assets as well as my greatest faults is that I don’t give up easily. I was determined to make this boat like new, so I pressed on. After months of replacing the floor and carpet, repairing fiberglass, painting the hull and trailer and so much more, it came time to buy new seats. Something that had not occurred to me up until this point is that although you can buy new seats fairly easily and economically, it is not so easy to buy matching vinyl to cover all of the trim pieces and the console. No matter how hard I tried I could not find matching whites, much less colors! So I once again dug in my heals and went to Walmart and bought a sewing machine! I purchased a couple rolls of vinyl from my local fabric store and started off on a new adventure! I can truly say that I gave that boat a new life, unfortunately I couldn’t wait that long to get on the water so during this project I purchased a boat that was already finished so by the time this one was done I only used it once before selling it. My wife says I always fix things up and then sell them before I get to enjoy them!

 Building a 19’ Sailboat!

When I was 18, myself and 2 of my closest friends decided we wanted to build a sailboat. I’m not sure why, maybe it was our love for the water, or maybe it was our obsession with Jimmy Buffet, either way it is one of the most memorable projects of my life. We set out armed with only the most basic of tools, a set of plans we ordered offline from Stevenson Projects and a dream! It took us almost 2 years to complete the boat. We learned a lot during this project, we learned about teamwork, fiberglass and most of all, not to leave Kyle alone with Bondo! The boat was 19’ long and could ride 4 and sleep 2 and the plans are still available online. It truly was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

Vehicle Storage System!

I had built a shelf in the rear of my SUV to add to the storage in the vehicle. This way I could easily access things like golf clubs even if I had the rear full of gear. One day while I had one of the rear seats down, It occurred to me that I could have some hidden storage behind the rear seats that would be undetectable when the seats were up. I accomplished this by recessing the desired items into a hollow core door and then covering it with matching carpet. For video purposes I used some guns and knives just for fun, but in my next version I plan on recessing recovery gear.