Sure a hose may do sometimes but often its a pain. I have been needing an outdoor sink for this very reason for the longest time and finally its complete.

If you have been following along with this project, you will know there is a part 1 and a part 2 and now here is the completed sink.

Also I started a new website to showcase all my crafts and concrete works here Pearidge Concrete.

What is RFID chips? Well for starters, read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification 

One time I somehow found a video and watched it online. It was called ”America: Freedom To Fascism”.

Very good film. Opened my eyes to a lot of things. I decided it was so powerful that I informed a lot of my friends and close family to it.

Later I asked them if they had seen it yet because I wanted to discuss it with them. Guess what? No one had watched it. Seems as if everyone is too busy watching bullshit tv shows that stuff thats really going on around us every day. Fell on blind eyes as usual.

So what I have done here is highlighted only the part or start of the part from the film about RFID since that is the subject matter today.

More at http://www.spychips.com/ 

Also I will point out some other videos that have surfaced that seem pretty legit. Sometimes a video is worth more than type.

666 Micro Chip Implant Coming March 23, 2013

THE 666 RFID CHIP !!
HOW IT WORKS AND HOW IT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED !!! DON’T TAKE IT !!

Microchips Discussed at Bilderberg 2008 Jones,Tucker 6-9-2008

As with most things, it will start small and seem very useful. Question everything.

First I went to the local home depot and picked out some wall trim that I liked. I chose a vinyl trim casing that was 8 foot long and it was about $13.00. I got 2 of them.

I also purchased a 12 foot long 1×4 pine board, some recessed cable plates, and a french cleat.

A french cleat is hard to explain so here is a picture. It is a nice way to hang things.

This is what the wall inserts look like:

This is how they look in the wall after I rerouted my wiring.

I am getting ahead of myself a little but in this article but what I did was hold the frame up against the wall and inside the frame I marked where I wanted to cut the hole out. Using the provided template that came with the outlet box, I drew it out on the wall and used a dremel with a drywall cutting drill bit that lets you cut sideways and I cut the square out.

I did this same thing a lot lower in the wall behind the dresser for the power to go up the wall to the frame.

Now back to making the frame.

I first measured the outside length and width of the tv as it lay face down on a piece of foam.

Next I cut the 1×4 pine board to create a box around the tv using a brad nail gun powered by air.

After that I used a miter box to cut 45 degree angles into the pieces that will become the frame.
I carefully measured for the frame cuts. I wanted to cover the tv’s silver edge, but not the buttons and remote sensor, so I measured carefully, did some figuring and decided to come in about 3/8 of an inch all around the tv. I built the frame and stapled the seam with a staple gun. This was the only way at the time for me to connect the pieces.

It looked like this. I didn’t get a good picture at the time. Sorry about that.

After that I had to position the box and frame carefully as the tv was bigger on the bottom than the top, so this meant that the box would not line up with the square in the frame. Again hard to explain, but basically you have to do some math and measuring and configure the frame atop the box in the precise location to where the tv will look its best and no infrared sensors or other touch buttons will be affected by the frame, then proceed to nail it to the box. You can cover the nail heads later with putty or just pain right over them.

Drill some holes in the top for ventilation. These tvs can put off some heat and after all this work, you dont want to burn up your precious tv!
I put some big 3/4 holes in the top since heat rises, and smaller holes at the bottom which serves at dual purpose. More ventilation, as heat rises, it will also pull air up into the box, and for sound to escape as the speakers are on the bottom of the tv.

You will also see the French Cleat installed in the above picture.

Here is the other half of the cleat mounted to the wall.

Here is the frame unpainted mounted on the wall. Very easy.

Now to paint it. I chose a leather brown and let some of the white shine through in spots.

Here it is all finished.

Total cost of this project:
2 eight foot white casing boards = $25.12
1 one by four pine board = $7.18
2 wall passthru plates = $8.00
1 French Cleat = $15.00
1 can spray paint = $4.00

Grand total was $59.30

Sorry, but I got caught up in a new hobby after the kitchen remodel in April.

My new hobby is artisan concrete.

I taught myself how to make my own custom concrete counter tops during the kitchen remodel. It was fun and very rewarding. We could not find any style or color of granite that we liked. Granite is over done, played out. It has limits. We decided that we didn’t want it, and wanted some pre-cast custom concrete tops.

I must say that there is just something about taking a custom recipe mix of dust and making it a liquid and then a solid that will be appreciated for years to come.

Since then I have been learning about making sinks and other cool projects with concrete.

After the kitchen remodel I was consumed by concrete and with summer coming on full blast, I was not near a computer unless I was at work. I live in the backyard from sun up till sundown in the summer time and never made time to sit inside and code an application for the iPhone.

Sorry for that. Maybe I will give myself an extension of a year to try it again.

Sinks

Custom Concrete Sink

Custom Concrete Counter Tops

If I were to do the hand pressed look which makes it look more like granite or marbled, I would have to slurry coat the entire thing to fill in the voids, and also do this deep inside the sink. Then I would have to sand it several times to get a glossy finish. That’s OK, but I really do not want to slurry this one if I do not have too. Nor do I want to sand and sand and sand. I want a more machined look, crisp, smooth and clean.

This can be achieved two ways.  I can either wet cast or spray the concrete.

If I wet cast, that’s simply a wetter mix that is really flow-able and I can just pour it into the mold. This is good, but my counter top thickness is 1.5 inches and the sink is 6 inches deep. In order to wet cast I would have to build my mold up in tiers so that I could pour the counter top, cover it with more melamine, then build sides around the sink and pour some more. This will require more concrete mix and more melamine.

If I spray the concrete, it will be a GRFC mix (glass fiber reinforced concrete) and I will not have to use any metal bracing in the concrete like I would have to do in the other two types of concrete casting. Whats so cool about doing this, is that not only will it use less concrete, but I will not have to build up a two tier mold, will not have to add metal bracing, will give me a smooth finish with less if not no bug holes to fill.

I really really wanted to do GFRC but I have never done it before. When I researched it I kept finding out that I needed a really large air compressor. I needed a hopper gun specifically designed for spraying concrete, and I had neither of these things. I only have a 2.5 horsepower 15 gallon compressor.

I read in very few places where some guys were getting by with even smaller compressors. This made me think it might be possible after all. Next I needed a gun to shoot the concrete with. Luckily a friend of mine has a drywall hopper gun. With a few modifications to tilt the hopper bucket further back using a 45 degree PVC fitting, I think this too will work.

Drywall Hopper Gun used to Spray GFRC

After I got the hopper gun I plugged it into the compressor to see how it works. Now I know why they say I need a large compressor. When you plug the gun in, its constantly blowing air. All the trigger does is dump whats in the hopper in front of the moving air.

I came to an realization that in order for this to work I was going to need to regulate the air and be able to turn it off and on when I needed it, so I could save the air and this way my compressor would run out of air so fast and I have to wait on it to fill up. A quick trip to Lowes to find what I needed and all was well.

Now to test.

OK, so I need to test this stuff out, but on what? Not going to waste an effort, so I remembered this small plastic pond thing that I picked up at Lowes several months back that wanted to one day make a sink from.

Pond Liner used for Concrete Sink

Well today was that day. I quickly fashioned a standard mold, its quite small actually at 19×24 inches. I affixed the pond thingy with silicon, added my tail piece for the sink drain made from a PVC pipe and rubber gasket, then 3 other pieces of PVC for the faucet, a typical 4 inch bathroom faucet. Now I am ready to spray, or try to.

Concrete Sink Mold

I made my mix and poured it into my hopper. I then sprayed a little on a piece of cardboard to see how it would spray.

I felt confident I had most of it all right, and I began to spray my mold. After it set a while I back-filled with my not so wet mix. I did this by hand. Everything looked good and I covered it for 2 days. On the 3rd day I took it out of the mold and I was delighted at what I was seeing. For my first run at this it was pretty flawless. There were a few bug holes to fill inside the sink and seal it up.

First sprayed layer of GFRC

Concrete Sink

This was a great first test run and I think I will do one more of this same sink and make the counter for it larger, before I tackle my outdoor integral guitar sink.

Stay tuned.

I recently got into a discussion over the internet with some friends about charging the iphone with shake technology.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a reserve battery in your cellphone for emergencies and all you had to do was shake your iphone for 30 secs or so to get it charged enough to use it? Think about it. Your cell phone could be charging its reserve while you run, walk, or while its in your pocket while you are walking!

Some have never heard of such, and here I was thinking that everyone knew about this kind of technology to charge things.

I cant remember when I heard about it first, but many many years ago my Aunt got me a shake light for my Birthday and I was wow’d at the simple technology behind it. It has this really neat wireless switch that works of magnetics. It charges itself with a magnet passing through another magnet with wires wrapped around it. This charges a capacitor and stores the power. It can be charge hundreds of thousands of times.

Here is a video from the company demonstrating all there is to know about the light.

Its a fantastic flashlight and I recommend it to anyone. Its a great light to keep in your trunk as you will never have to worry about batteries corroding. Take it hunting or fishing, camping, anywhere!

REMEMBER: if Apple decides to use this in one of their future phones. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST !!!

This is my first attempt at making a concrete sink and I am blogging about it in parts.

In this post I wanted to post several pictures of the cabinet as it is now completed. Also the sink will take the shape of a guitar. I worked on the guitar mold for quite some time now and tonight I completed it.

The cabinet was a simple build with 2×4′s and later I put older would on the facing of it so that it looked rustic.

The guitar mold was fashioned out of the pink 2 inch thick foam from Home Depot. I used 3 layers of it glued together. I then sanded it slightly and coated it with plaster in 2 coats then sanded it down to a fine finish and coated with a two part epoxy. The epoxy should allow me to reuse the mold on future guitar sinks later on.

Quick little funny, tonight as I was looking at the mold and marveling at the glossiness of it and daydreaming about how the sink would look, I noticed that the 2×4 boards I was using to keep it off the work bench was now glued to my mold. WHAT WAS I THINKING !!!!!???!!!

I quickly reacted and tried hard to get the boards a loose from the mold trying desperately not to destroy my hard work.

I succeeded with minimal damage and learned a valuable lesson. I think I can fix the rough edge I made. Everything should be ok.

Here are some pics of the cabinet base.

Here is a small video of the concrete sink mold getting fabricated.

Stay tuned for the next installment Concrete Sink Project Part Three

Having a sink in the back yard would be great and would bring a little of the inside out. It would also allow me to try my skills at sink making, something I have been wanting to do for a while now.

This video covers me and my brother in law making a slab to put the cabinet on and then the cabinet gets made that will support the sink. This is part one of the video, part two will follow in a later post as the construction continues.

This is not a how to video with steps, this is just a video with a lot of time-lapse pictures  showing the progression of the project.

The cabinet will later be faced out with old rustic wood taken from old homes. I know a place that salvages wood from older homes to make flooring with and I can go and get scraps. This will work really well on the cabinets.

We did all new floors, cabinets, counter tops, and appliances. A complete redo!

I have a history of doing ceramic tile flooring so I took it upon myself to do the flooring for this remodel.
As you can see in the pics / gallery below, they turned out well.

Now the cabinets were done by a local cabinet shop Wilbourn Cabinets of Grenada, MS. They do fantastic custom cabinet work.
The tile back splash wall behind the stove was another task I completed.
The counter tops…yes the counter tops….This may surprise you but I made them and I made them out of concrete.

I know what you are thinking…. “a concrete counter top?” ….. How Ugly?

No not at all. Concrete is not just for sidewalks anymore., no it is fast becoming the new popular item in most kitchens these days. It is quickly replacing granite. Yes it really is. See granite is what everyone “thinks” they should put in there kitchen. Everyone is doing it so why not me right? Well I don’t always want to do what everyone else is doing. I want my kitchen to be unique and custom and with engineered stone or concrete you can do just that. You do not have to be limited to the puke colors that granite offers. We thought about granite and other leading products but we never could find one that wasn’t too busy and that we liked. One actually looked like vomit. I knew that with concrete the shapes, the color, the texture, all could be up to me and I could get what I wanted from it.

Whether it be color, shape, feel or whatever you like, concrete can give you what you want. No Limits!

This is a great video I found on YouTube that explains some things.

So after doing some research, reading lots of books, and watching a few videos, I decided to try and tackle this in our new kitchen remodel.

This is the picture that inspired my kitchen. It is from the book Decorative Concrete by Sunset.

We decided that concrete counter tops would be an economical way to go for new counter tops versus the tired an seen all too often granite counter tops. Also for all of you out there that like to GO GREEN and do whats right by the environment, this is also a very good green thing to be doing. I plan on talking more about that later on a website I am about to build about my love for concrete and the projects that I am doing.

When doing the concrete counter tops, there are 3 basic looks. A hand pressed look, a wet cast smooth finish look and a troweled look.
I noticed that the hand pressed look was an old world look that I loved. Its a pressed finish that Buddy Rhodes pioneered. I love this look.

Check out this video from Buddy to see how he does it.

Ok so this “Pressed Technique” watch this video to understand it.

So THAT is what I am going for. That look right there.

So I started doing this at the end of March 2011 and by the end of May 2011 I had our kitchen counter tops done as well as some coffee tables.

In order to learn this trade you really have to just dig in to it and do it, and that’s just what I did and I learned a LOT along the way.

First off there is a slight expense involved to do things right. You need the right tools. The right tools can help make your job a lot easier, trust me on this.
I ordered myself a wet polishers and diamond coated sanding pads from 50 grit to 3000 grit and some hand sanding pads. You really do not want to skimp on this as this makes all the difference in the finished result!

I sanded one table by hand with an orbital sander and regular sandpaper and it can take forever and cost you lots of money as it will just eat up the paper like no tomorrow.

Next get yourself a good mixer. I used a large drill with half inch shank and a mortar mixer paddle. You can do this with a hoe and shovel, but why? You may not get it all mixed well and you will wear yourself out.

A word or two on concrete mixes. Yes you really can go to Home Depot or Lowes and make a counter top out of a bagged mix, but I do not suggest it.
The only bagged mixes I would say you can use, is the quikrete precision grout, as its mainly a sand mix, and the Quikrete 5000 which is a very strong concrete mix used often by Cheng, another concrete artisan like Buddy Rhodes.

The Quikrete 5000 has pea gravel in it and will show up when sanding enough to expose it. If this is the look you are going for, that’s fine. Its gray concrete and takes color well, and is very very durable. You may find it hard to do a hand pressed look with this mix. Its best suited for a wet cast.

I formulated my own recipe which is a basic sand mix. It is one part cement and two parts sand, two different types of sand. Also some acrylic fortifier and fibers along with metal reinforcements and a little plasticizer .

I have learned a lot of water to concrete ratios too. Yeah there is some math to know and I have formulas stored in my notes cause I cant just wing it from my head quite yet. I had to measure out and weight all my water and mixes to keep things the same throughout. It was a challenge but a very worthwhile challenge.

Here is a small video of me sanding the concrete to get the glass like finish. It was hot and normally I do not wear a shirt in the backyard when I am working.
I had a poncho on the keep me from getting drenched in water. Sorry for not having a shirt on.

Here is a video I shot recently after all was in place.

Below you will see several pictures in the gallery from templating, mixing, hand pressing, and all.

Pin It

For several years I have visited these steps and I usually can do it twice. That’s going up and down one time and then do it again and I am usually spent! Well then I got to where I could do it three times. To me this was a big accomplishment cause I have heard that no one in the area has done it more than five times. I shall keep those two people that have done it five times anonymous.

So anyways I did it three times on several occasions.

Yesterday I had a wild idea that I wanted to go run the stairs three times and try to get a fourth.
Then being the avid camera guy and media junky that I am, I thought to myself …Why not video it?
I know you are saying, why video it? Well here are several reasons.

• It may be cool to see how it looks doing it
• Just in case I actually succeed in doing a fourth time.
• It would be cool to show others how its done
• If I trip and stumble it will be something for us all to laugh at

This is a very challenging exercise. It really gets exhausting. At the top of the stairs it feels like you have little children hanging on each leg. Incredible pump. This is great for HIIT (high intensity interval training) if you are looking for something to do to burn fat fast.

So here is the video I put together using a pair of DVR sunglasses to give you the effect of what I see, then two point and shoot personal hand held cameras set up on tripods to catch 2 angles. I edited this in iMovie on the Mac.