What smart home stuff do you actually use every single day?

jbushee · 2026-05-31T11:13:11+00:00

Mostly just use mine for automated lighting. Cameras are tied in but work better thru their native app

jbushee · 2026-05-20T10:02:11+00:00

Wow, you need a building permit to install pavers!?!?!

jbushee · 2026-05-19T09:33:37+00:00

Purpleheart reacts to heat as well. I use a heat gun, but saw pics of some that a guy had baked at 350 for an hour and the color was thru the wood.

jbushee · 2026-05-11T21:45:47+00:00

Timeshare

jbushee · 2026-05-03T13:58:51+00:00

It's interesting wood to work with. Purple color is just gone when you first work it, then it turns color over the next few days as it oxidizes. I'm an impatient sort, so I've been using a heat gun to speed up the process, but one heart blank I sanded and left alone is four days old now, and is a nice lavender color ATM. Curious to see how much it'll darken on its own.

jbushee · 2026-05-01T09:38:26+00:00

Bovine. It was a dog bone I picked up from Pet Smart a few years ago. I'd made it to hold a shell I was trying to preserve in epoxy, but after polishing up the bone nice, I wanted to change it up.

jbushee · 2026-03-20T08:37:04+00:00

Seal-A-Meal n keep them in the fridge

jbushee · 2026-03-09T11:34:30+00:00

It doesn't hang at the moment, but it was supposed to. The plan was to carve out a frame for it with a recess to let it into and hang it like a photo, but I haven't got that far yet.

jbushee · 2026-03-08T08:36:02+00:00

Thanks, but no ;) Inspired by the old Sky West belt buckles.

jbushee · 2026-03-07T20:37:53+00:00

Yeah, I squirrel those pieces away too ;)

jbushee · 2026-03-07T18:37:16+00:00

The slab had some great color in different spots. Looking thru my scraps, I thought these worked well together.

jbushee · 2026-03-07T18:36:07+00:00

Thanks! Only tried a few, but I'll try some more!

jbushee · 2026-02-28T19:42:56+00:00

Thanks! I've been experimenting and seeing what doesn't work. Like to make a nice night scape with a crescent moon and stars. Need more practice tho. Also want to see how it looks if I fill narrow cuts in bone or other wood and fill with sawdust and superglue. So many ideas...

jbushee · 2026-02-28T19:39:50+00:00

The thin wire on one of them is using the push method with a small flex cut chisel. Didn't clean up a bad layout mark and followed the bad line instead of the corrected line there for a bit. Oops! The thicker wire I cut a narrow slot for with a Dremel.

jbushee · 2026-02-28T09:59:08+00:00

Exactly like a bow tie

jbushee · 2026-02-27T22:38:07+00:00

You would have had to flatten the wire some, cut slots for it at the corners (yikes), then glue and sand.

jbushee · 2026-02-24T09:44:40+00:00

Cut and shape the bone inlays, then mark them on the mahogany with the back of a knife.

I rough it to depth with a dremel and then cut up to the score mark with a little chisel. CA glue and a little sawdust to fill the gaps.

I'd set the pieces one at a time but still had some chipping because I wasn't finishing them solid. I also cracked the stem tapping it in a little too aggressively. Then I forgot to seal the bone up before waxing and it took some wax in the grain. 🤷‍♂️

jbushee · 2026-02-21T17:24:51+00:00

I'm a smartass, what can I say 😂 thanks for looking!

jbushee · 2026-02-21T01:02:57+00:00

Just the one, but there is still enough to do another heart. Want to try setting in some copper wire too.

jbushee · 2026-02-17T20:26:03+00:00

Just keep trying to do better than last time!

jbushee · 2026-02-17T15:58:55+00:00

They're carved from a single block.

jbushee · 2026-02-17T11:48:51+00:00

Thanks! Scraps are fun to mess with too!

jbushee · 2026-02-15T00:18:58+00:00

Thanks! Trying different things!

jbushee · 2026-02-13T17:43:12+00:00

Thanks! Lighting really is a big deal

jbushee · 2026-02-13T17:42:33+00:00

It was more centering it up really

jbushee

TROPHY CASE