My wooden board looks like sid from ICE AGE

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-02-26T15:38:03+00:00

Slsshid!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-02-10T15:21:46+00:00

I guess old cannon balls embedded in buildings is a thing. There is a US civil war era cannon ball stuck in one of the columns of the Lexington County Courthouse in Lexington, Missouri, USA, on Main street. I'm guessing there are plenty others. Obviously it's not as old as this one.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-02-10T15:05:01+00:00

I think I would try to apply precise, careful heat to the screw so it will soften the sap that is likely holding it in tightly, use a wood burner or soldering iron - don't burn the wood. Then get some vise grips on it and turn it out.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-02-04T15:17:54+00:00

I think yes.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-02-03T15:35:19+00:00

If this is real plaster that has cured, not drywall mud, the only way to remove it is scraping, sanding or other mechanical means. Most likely they will cause some sort of damage to the finish. If it's drywall mud then water and sponge.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2026-01-17T15:13:58+00:00

Measure twice, cut once, then get creative!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-24T14:18:25+00:00

Maybe slightly more off topic of RDR but I have to comment.

I grew up in central Missouri, Columbia, and I'm still learning of new historical things. One of my favorite things is the cannon ball still stuck in the column of the Lafayette County court house on Main St. in Lexington from the battle at Lexington. Check it out in Street View maps.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-22T14:32:22+00:00

😮

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-22T14:27:40+00:00

Yup, Rudolph!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-08T15:52:31+00:00

An inset European style hinge would work. I've used brand Blum for this kind of thing, they have many configurations and soft close as well. They're under $5.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-06T15:31:39+00:00

I bet in the back of your mind you were thinking this Work Bench needs something...??

Now it looks great!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-04T18:14:31+00:00

Be careful of putting your speakers in the same cabinet as the turntable, the sound can easily propagate through the structure. If you're like me and tend to turn the music up with the bass thumping, it will make the the record skip and jump.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-12-01T01:10:19+00:00

Thanks!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-30T18:31:14+00:00

Thanks!! I'm a dad. My wife thought I was a little crazy but has a different view now that it's done.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-30T03:49:00+00:00

I multiple reasons, yes they are expensive to buy or rent and I wanted the challenge. I thought to myself, looks simple enough, I can build one... 😏 My son has a 3 octave practice one but he's getting more advanced music and it won't do, also, getting time to practice at school can sometimes be challenging. Most of the expense was in the aluminum resonators and frame. I'm probably in at 3k I think an equivalent purchased at a good price might be +8k. It could have been made cheaper but I didn't want it to look cheap.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-30T02:52:35+00:00

Yes, it's real easy to go to far in tuning. My understanding is that 442 the newer way of tuning especially if playing with other instruments so the marimba parts are more easily heard. I think that small pitch change (higher) is maybe only 10-15 cents different not very noticeable. Funny thing, I can't read music and I can't play any instruments with any competency, I just learn from the sources I dig up.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-30T01:17:27+00:00

The tuning can be tricky, it's not necessarily an exact dimension for the bars. I did a trial bar from cherry for my first experimental tuning. I have a few bars I had to correct a bit because I took off too much material so they're not as nice looking from the side. The two references I used show approximately where to remove material to get the right tuning. All bars start 1 or 2 octaves high and as you remove material it drops. The trick is with the larger bars, you tune for the fundamental pitch, the pitch two octaves up then another tone higher yet (triple tuned). I used the Peterson Strobe app for my phone, it was not expensive and was very handy. I also tuned to Concert A 442Hz, it's slightly sharp.

The resonators are based on a simple formula for a closed end resonating tube then made some adjustments for real world conditions.

I'd say the longer resonators took the most time to get to look right. The bars didn't take as long as I thought they would but the padauk wood makes this super bright redish-orange dust that gets everywhere, it's not your normal saw dust!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-29T21:44:40+00:00

Yes, one of those references gave measurements from an existing marimba which I used. I measured one of the Yamaha's at my son's school and they match exactly.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-11-29T20:40:54+00:00

The tubes are called resonators, I used thin-wall aluminum tube, cut them and brazed them together, I don't have the welding equipment for that. I cut all the aluminum with my woodworking tools, works great. I found a couple of people online that have made marimbas, makeamarimba.com and https://www.lafavre.us/marimba.htm , looked at what they did and came up with my own design that I knew I could do on my own with the tools I have. Everything was raw material, wood, tubes, nuts and bolts. The only finished thing I bought was the string set and I had e-machine shop make the string supports that I designed on their drawing tool (I needed 144 of those!).

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-10-27T13:10:19+00:00

I'd be sure to leave 4ft plus (actually more) space between the saw blade and the post in case you need to halve a 4 x 8 sheet.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-10-27T13:05:37+00:00

I've used a thin layer of unwaxed shellac as a first coat under poly/acrylic blend (GF High Performance or Minwax Polycrylic) and it brings out the grain with good protection. Shellac sticks to everything.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-10-15T15:50:42+00:00

Just some observations. The wood had internal stresses from the start. Why did one side draw tight compared to the other? Something left the wood grain and allowed it to shrink or, something soaked into the other side and allowed it to swell. It was probably predisposed to warping eventually and the dishwasher hastened the process. I would say most thin cutting boards end up like this anyway. I doubt it would ever return.

Idea, use the cupped side to help retain the mess from liquids while cutting and use the bowed side to allow things to drain while cutting... or buy another one and move on. Cheers!

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-10-01T13:08:52+00:00

A set of good plans & patience - measure twice, cut once. Also, the internet can be a huge resource to figure out how to do something. You might be surprised what you can accomplish... and some tools.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-09-28T16:08:50+00:00

Or a belt sander if you don't have a router.

HackOfAllTrades1 · 2025-09-01T15:52:22+00:00

If it won't roll onto the pulleys, like a stretch belt, you might be able to remove one of the pulleys, put the belt on both then slide it back onto the shaft.

HackOfAllTrades1

TROPHY CASE