Cigar box DIY poker chip case

Had an old cigar box that I did not want to toss so I had to think of something else to do with it. Bought some trim from Lowes and cut it to fit the box.

pizza box and newspaper plant nursery

This holds about 25 of the recycled newspaper paper pots shown in this post.
Simply a pizza box lined with the plastic I took off the window (SPRINGTIME!).

After filling the pots with soil and a variety of seeds and water I add another layer of wet newspaper. I then fold the plastic over to trap the moisture.

A lamp heats the seeds to germinate quickly. I will pull the plastic back in about 5 days.

Making a pot from newspaper using a wine bottle.

Get a sheet of newspaper and a wine bottle, the kind with the little space in the bottom. Fold a sheet of the pennysaver(or other half sheet of newspaper) in half the long way. Fit it halfway up the bottom of the wine bottle. Press the bottom of the paper into the grove in the bottom of the bottle firmly with your fingers. Remove and fill with dirt and seed. When ready to plant it can be left in the paper. Shown above with a pepper seedling.
You should not need to see this boring video to figure it out but just in case:

Show in this video are my seeds from last year. I saved them in a bank envelope which i think is a good way to reuse those envelopes with clear windows.

Credit where it is due i got this idea from this product.

recycling junk mail envelopes for saving next years seeds.

Recycling, re-using technically, junk mail envelopes for saving next years seeds. I like how the clear plastic window lets you see the seeds. I let them sit out by the window for a week or two until dry before putting in the envelopes. I like to save a few from each of my favorites of the year so I don't have to buy seeds next year. This will be the third year for these peppers.

Paul Revere Reproduction Bowl F B Rogers. What is is made of?

I found this bowl at a garage sale for 50 cents and though it might be a good casting material. I would like to know what it is made of though. Mine is not in as good of shape as the one pictured on the right.

What I know:

It does not specify silver on copper or sterling silver so I do not think it is one of those.
It is heavy. A rough estimate of density of the base is 9.5 g/ml
Lead — Density: 11.35
TIN — Density: 7.287
Zinc — Density: 7.04
Nickel — Density: 8.912
Copper - Density 8.96

The base:
It is dull gray color in the middle.
It is silver plated. I would guess pewter. I melted it down and cast it into this lost crayon casting

The sides:
Under the silver plate it looks a little yellow like a brass or other copper containing metal.
I would guess brass.





Please comment with your thougths. Or reply at this forum.
Whatever it is made of it seems to be a pretty good price at 50cents for 1.5lbs.

Hydroponic lettuce 500ml square media bottle

Another in the long series of various hydroponic bottles. This is a 500ml square bottle (the kind cell culture media comes in). I cut it in half with a hack saw and flipped the top. This year I let the lettuce go to seed and started some new little plants to do hydroponically. There are a few now but I will split them up when bigger.
Better photo to follow when I find my camera charger.

Obviously don't do this with a bottle that held anything dangerous. My rule is if I would not drink it don't use for hydroponics.
Wine, soda, PBS(as this case), sterile water.... OK.
Acetone, paraformaldehyde, Blush wine..... NO.

Post about wine bottle hydroponics

How to cut a wine bottle with string and acetone

reused chopstick business card holder.

collected chopsticks for a while and washed them in the dishwasher. unfortunately most places use different types so only two pairs actually reused in this project.

Drilled with 1/8th" bit in different parts of of each half of the chop sticks.


Threaded with 1/8th" metal dowel.



Cut down chopsticks and metal with dremel cutting wheel.



This business card holder can fold down flat or bend up as show in photos.

Mint and Basil: two new hydroponic wine bottles

This idea I straight up stole from aarn's wine bottle hydroponics.

Mint in a No8 Zinfandel bottle.














Basil in a set of two different bottles.
not too much to say about these that are not in the two posts below.
Post about wine bottle hydroponics
Cutting a wine bottle with string and acetone





How to cut wine bottles with string and acetone video
How To Cut Wine Bottles with a Dremel tool

Update 7/12/09
The basil plant was doing well but fell in the wind. Here is the photo of the new bottle it is in as well as a new spearmint bottle.

How to cut a wine bottle with acetone and a string

Written instructions below


(there is an obvious burn risk with this project. You could also loose an eye. )

• put on some safety goggles and gloves THESE ARE THE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS I USE BUT MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT.
• wrap a string around a wine bottle two or three times and then tie it. I used kitchen string that you use wrapping meat.
• fill a pot with cold water.
• soak the string in Acetone , nail polish remover, and put it around the bottle. (presumably other flammables could work for this but I have not tried them. White gas, gasoline, rubbing alcohol..... I make no claims to the safety of this)
• light the string and rotate is as shown in the video.
• quickly put the bottle in the water when the acetone is about to go out.
• you may need to try a few times.
• this is not a good technique for making drinking glasses because the cut is not that clean. for a cleaner cut check out: How to cut wine bottles with a dremel tool, How to cut beer bottles with a dremel tool

NOW WHAT
This is the technique I used to make the hydroponic zucchini planter from a wine bottle in this post:

Wine bottle hydroponic zucchini

Wine bottle hydroponic mint and basil

Consider adding a design. Check out my post on how to Etch Glass without using stencils.

Other things people make out of bottles include: Drinking glasses, lamps, wine bottle planter.

Homemade LCD protector for my digital camera

After breaking my LCD screen by leaving my keys in my pocket with my two month old camera I have decided to build a protective cover for the LCD. The following instructions will show you how to build an LCD cover for just about any digital camera.

Supplies:
An old CD or cassette case with very few scratches.
Adhesive Velcro. I got this at a local hardware store.
Razor.
Fine sandpaper.

I started by placing the CD case on top of my camera and traced the shape of the LCD screen with a little extra space on both the left and right sides.



I than scored these lines all the way to the edges of the CD case with a razor blade. Once scored the lines can be cracked by gently bending the plastic.




To finish the plastic I beveled the edges with fine sandpaper.

Next i cut two thin strips of adhesive velcro the height of the LCD screen. I afixed the soft sides of the velcro to the camera and the course side to the plastic.


I than velcroed the new screen cover to the camera. I have been using this in lew of a case since I made it.





This side view shows the slight clearence between the protector and the LCD which allows pressure to bend the protector without affecting the LCD.

In case you are not as cheap as I am: