Those concerned about global warming may enjoy this. It’s superstringy, from The Reference Frame. Or maybe not.
Cat Bed Again
My wife suggested that I needed to make another cat bed. Winter is coming on and there is no shortage of cats. Here again is how I do a quick-and-dirty cat bed.
This cat bed is not fine cabinet making. It is more like rough carpentry. But it makes a cozy bed that the cats seem to like.
This article refers to power and hand tools. Always use safe practices and follow all instructions provided by the tools manufacturer in using tools. Wear appropriate safety equipment. Failure to follow safe practices may result in injury.
After safety, the next thing to consider is how big to make it. If your cat curls up in a particular cardboard box or box lid, that is one place to start.
I have never written down what size (before now) so I usually start by measuring an existing cat bed. This one will be 11 1/2″ x 16 1/2″ inside. 13″ x 18″ outside. These boxes get used by cats from 8 lbs to 19 lbs.
Another question is how deep to make it. Stock 1-inch lumber comes in 1×4, 1×6, 1×8, etc. I have made beds in all three depths. The shallow ones are occupied in summer and the deeper ones in the winter. Most of ours are made from 1×6.
When you select lumber, avoid edge knots, loose knots, and warps. But other than that you need not be picky. If you want to be fancy, oak makes a nice box as does cedar. I am using regular white pine here. The box is formed from two long sides that that lap the short sides so measure for 2 pieces 11 1/2″ long and two pieces 18″ long.
Cut these 4 pieces. Also find or cut several pieces of scrap wood to test the kerf formed in the operations below.
Trim the ends so both short sides are the same and both long sides are the same.
Choose the side that is less attractive on each piece. This is the side that will be inside where it will be covered by the blanket anyway. Choose the edge that is least attractive. This will be the bottom where the groove for the floor is. Mark the inside (ugly) side of each piece at the bottom.
Next adjust the saw to cut the bottom side of the groove. Set up your saw so the the fence will provide a cut that begins 1/4″ from the bottom edge.
You can use a larger measurement. This will make the bed shallower and provide a large air space. The trapped air provides insulation. Measure from the side closest to the fence.
Raise the blade to a measured 3/8″. I used 1/4″ in the illustrations but have used 3/8″ in the past.
Using 3/8″ provides a deeper groove with more “slop” on the fit for the bottom. Using 1/4″ reduces the chance that the channel will split.
On my saw, I must remove the blade guard and splitter to perform the required operation below. If your saw is similar, use extra caution while working with the unguarded saw. This means using hold downs, fingerboards, and pusher sticks as suggested by the operating manual for your saw.
Pass a piece of scrap through the saw. Stop the saw. Measure the distance from the edge and the depth of the kerf. Adjust until satisfactory. Cut several pieces of scrap to the final setting. The extra scraps will be used to adjust the other side of the cut.
Pass each of 4 pieces, properly oriented through the saw. This forms one side groove. Make sure that each piece is held down snugly and against the fence as it is passed through. Check each piece to make sure the groove is straight on the bottom edge and that the bottom of the groove is flat.
With the saw stopped, reposition the fence so that the side of the blade away from the fence is far enough away to complete a groove the thickness of plywood bottom. Using one of the pieces of scrap, cut the groove. Use a 1/4″ chisel to remove the waste. Verify that the groove is a snug fit on the plywood. Adjust until satisfactory.
Again pass each of 4 pieces, properly oriented through the saw. This forms other side of the groove.
Make sure that each piece is held down snugly and against the fence as it is passed through. Check each piece to make sure the groove is straight on the bottom edge and that the bottom of the groove is flat.
Carefully use a 1/4″ chisel to remove the waste.
Do a trial assembly without the bottom using clamps and check the measurements.
You will want the to cut the plywood bottom just a scosch smaller than the distance between to bottoms of the kerfs. Measure carefully. You can easily see the bottoms of kerfs on the ends. Harder to measure is the long dimension. But it is the outside length – 1 1/2″ + 2 x kerf depth (nominally 3/8″ times two). Do the calculation then measure to the wood and verify by eyeball that your calculation is correct.
Measure the plywood and cut. If you prefer, you can cut a bit oversize, then make trimming cuts until the sides fit properly.
Sand the sides if desired. Finish if desired. We typically leave the beds bare wood.
Mark the long sides for drilling 3/8″ in from the end and 1 inch from the top edge and bottom edge.
Assemble the sides and bottom.
Clamp the assembly.
Drill and countersink for screws.
Screw together with 1 1/4″ screws. Brass screws are best for outdoor use. When I drive brass screws, I pre-drive and then remove a steel screw the same size. Regardless of which kind, I soap or wax the screw to reduce driving friction.
When the screws are in, line the inside with a piece of Polarfleece® or similar material.
Set it in a place where your cat will feel safe.
British Cars Repaired, Restored, Revitalized
My neighbor has a hobby restoring classic British sports cars. I have seen his work on his own cars and on jobs that he has done for others. The work is always top-notch. He does take the time to do the job right. He has a fine web site too.
Chainsaw Massacre
I had planned to do an article about the successful resuscitation of my 14 year old McCulloch chainsaw. The bad news is that the operation was not successful and the patient is mostly dead. I asked my friend and former neighbor Doug if he had any ideas. Doug restores antique small engines and knows a lot about these things. His advice was throw away the McCulloch and get a Homelite.
So that is what I did. Hurricane Ida blew through here with a bit of wind and a lot of rain.
A dead pine tree blew over.
And an Austree that had previously been laid low by ice apparently became waterlogged at the top because it fell down after the rain had stopped. They needed to be cleaned up. And with a clear direction on the chainsaw front, I went looking for a Homelite.
Lowe’s did not have them. They had Paulen (budget) and Husqvarna (pricey). I had used a neighbor’s Paulen while my saw was waiting repair and with the Homelite recommended, decided to keep looking. WalMart does not appear to carry chainsaws. Home Depot had Homelite and Echo. The price to replace the 14″ saw was $99. The 18″ saw was on sale at $130. A $20 savings. Since the saws now have a nose guard that must be removed if you are cutting through wood longer than the blade, and I had sometimes been frustrated by the 14″ blade, I went with the 18″.
The end result was I was able to clean up the mess and spend two days carrying stuff to the brush pile.
Hokenhagen
Despite the lack of evidence, politcos of all stripes will meet in Copenhagen next month to divey up the worlds wealth. Ostensibly, they are going to cool the earth by reducing carbon emissions. Some are calling it Hopenhagen. But the real reason they are meeting is to transfer money from the richer countries to the poorer countries using some phoney-baloney carbon credit scam. But while they have been trying to get it together, the world has changed. The poor countries used to include India and China. “Not any more” as Inspector Clouseau would say. Nontheless, they would like to be on the receiving end of the wealth transfer. It is more like HopeIgetsome. Oh, and did I mention that somehow this is going to cool the earth.
Sarah Palin Comeback?
Friday’s Wall Street Journal has an op-ed editorial wondering if Sarah Palin is ready for a comeback. Hey guys, to make a comeback, you have to have been somewhere. Sarah Palin is nowhere, nohow. Possible Commander-in-Chief? Not. Should I count the ways? Abuse of power. Deriliction of duty. Desertion. Sarah Palin is one way that the Republicans could lose in 2012 after the taxpayers get the bill for the current session of Congress. They could run one of my cats and win. But not if they run a quitter.
TPS replacement
No, not the TPS report from Office Space but the throttle position sensor in my daughter’s 1993 Olds Ciera.
The Check Engine light was on last time she was here. We read it out with the Actron CP9135 scan tool . The code 22 indicated that the voltage on the TPS was low. Since this is a 1993 Oldsmobile Ciera, replacement was probably indicated.
She brought the part with her for this visit.
The TPS on this 3.3 MFI engine faces down toward the upper radiator hose pipe. No clearance for a normal screw driver. If we had had a flat ratchet offset style driver, that would have been ideal. Lacking that, after disconnecting the battery and removing the air cleaner and its mounting plate, we used a needle-nose vise grip to break the 2 screws loose. Then used a #1 Phillips tip in a holder to get them out. Replacement was a matter of holding the screws in the TPS while aligning the paddle that is pushed by a similar paddle on the throttle shaft. Starting both screws by finger, running them in with the mini screwdriver and snugging them with the vise grip. Reconnect the battery and test. Put the air cleaner mounting plate and air cleaner back on. Clamp the air inlet hose where the strap had broken and done.
Honduras III
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has achieved victory. Under her plan, Honduras will hold its previously scheduled election on schedule with the candidates who were qualified for the ballot before the fuss earlier this summer. The Honduran congress will vote (again) as to whether former president Zelaya can serve out the rest of his term.
I still think that this is a case of the US meddling in Central American affairs. A big black eye for President Obama. Of course wanna-be member of the President-for-Life Club, Hillary Clinton needed to establish a precedent. Thank goodness for the good sense of the Hondurans.
Model Railroad
I have for a long time been, what the serious model railroader would call, an “armchair model railroader”. That is someone with big plans for a model railroad but somehow never builds the model.
My mini-vision was to model the 4 under/aboveground rapid transit systems (Red Line, Green Line, Blue Line, Orange Line) with the heavy rail commuter lines of the Boston MBTA in a coffee table. I really will do it if if I have any money after I retire.
Armchairs aside, somehow in one week I have got news of the worlds smallest model railroad and perhaps the world’s largest.
The smallest is a model in a model world.
The largest is the model layout where the basement is the bedrock. This is the real thing. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway bought a big chunk of
Think about a 1:1 model layout. No need to go down to the basement to see this one. If you live in the West, drive to the nearest grade crossing.
Thousands of miles of tracks. No need to dog-bone or fold an oval. These tracks are all with engineered minimum radius.
Think about it. Track, yard, tunnels. The whole she-bang. No plaster-of-Paris mountains. These mountains are real rock.
No need to schedule an “operations night”. Operations are 24×7.
I will sometimes pick up a copy of
But I suspect Mr. Buffet will be looking for the balance sheet, expense and revenue summary, cash flow statement, sales projection. Stuff like that. He will be more interested in talking with the CEO, COO, and the CFO than the man or woman that drives the choo-choo.
Halloween Kitten
This is not a great picture but I love it anyways.
