that needs to be isolated by a non-puzzle blog.Dug deep into my archives looking for a non-puzzle
and e4ventually noticed I hadn’t brought this across from LJ that was posted on 22 Sep, 2020.
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Boys and Girls
This damn C19 is being blamed for a lot of things nowadays and here's another one of its victims.
This is not as much a medical casualty but more so the justification for burdening you readers with this very basic but practical project.
With the home isolation indoctrinated by our politicians, there has been an additional burden imbued on my humble letter box that has caused me to view it with greater respect and thereby belatedly herald its birth into this world, as a project here at LJ's.
It all started by an impromptu dislodgement, perpetrated by a misguided postal service delivery truck up my driveway several years ago, on what was considered to be an immovable, securely embedded letter box
mounted in concrete by 4×10mm bolts… the incriminating scars after all these years,
While it was put back on its feet, correction… foot, I was apprehensive of its future survival so a replacement was decided on.
Never let it be said I'm a creature of habit, so keeping my mouth shut, it was off to the SketchUp drawing board,
Jarrah was my immediate choice of timber
as that was the only "exotic" I had… and used 100mm PVC pipes for the paper holder tubes
(the red tape was to indicate which was the wrong end… {sigh!} I could never win).
Holes were cut for the junk mail receptacles with the by-product of a bloody big mess and lot of timber burning
A PVC pipe retainer was cut out of a 6mm jarrah veneer on the scroller,
I made 2 in case I screwed one up,
Fortunately I did manage to screw it up so the second one wasn't wasted.
With the base dovetailed and test fitted,
It was trimmed to final dimensions using a following router bit,
Eventually screwed on confirming I was a total smart-arse,
Dovetailed the top half
and laminated some merbau decking for the top half's base,
Perfected my dovetail joins by some colour co-ordinated wood filler,
and a dry fit of the two story box,
Had to check whether the stainless letter plate was the right colour and wouldn't fall through the hole,
I opted against mounting the new letter box on a pedestal and chose a concrete tile for a rest,
with some bolts through it to hold some packers,
for screwing the box to,
The box was finished with several coats of Sikkens Cetol HLS and Sikkens Cetol Supernatural,
Some of you may have noticed that there is no number on the box, while the rest of you did not… that is because (no, not the noticed but the lack of number), the house across the road is #1
and my neighbour is #2 with #4 next to #2, which is not me… and Australia Post refused to ratify me using #0. Confused? Well mine is a corner block and the idiot owner/builder used the back door as the street address and there's no bloody way I'm walking around the block to get my letters. Fortunately the posties has had 45 years (house built in 1975) to learn the numbering system… unfortunately it's a bitch when I get a new postie and have to scour the gutter to get my mail until he can be appropriately indoctrinated.
I did manage to slip in the #0 on the curb,
however, Australia Post continually throw a wobbly every time a letter is addressed to #0.
I did make a SketchUp video of some of the options I considered before concluding on this final design.
Before writing up this project, I had a quick look at the letter box and was a bit embarrassed about the state it was in and decided a slight facelift (a quick sand and coat of Sikkens) wouldn't go astray. Unfortunately I forgot to take a before facelift picture, however this is what it looks like now, after the surgery,
In my opinion, it has cleaned up reasonably well after those years in the sun, however, the reputedly "stainless" hardware, didn't fare as well,
even with some spit and polish... maybe I should have used Finnish instead of Polish.
PS. If you don't use letters and only converse via email, my next project of "A picture of my computer" might interest you.
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Don’t be crafty Craftisians,... SHARE your craft!
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
I really misjudged the size of this box before I read the post. I had figured the tubes were about 40mm in dia (see what I did there?) and had no clue what this was for. Reading was helpful 😁 Nice project LBD!
I like the design, but probably still wouldn't keep the wankers here from busting in to steal the junk mail.
Being rural, the mail is a multi-unit box at the end of the street. Perfect target for cars to smash into, though they usually wait until it gets hammered out square again and reset before playing tag. The PO seems to have now decided it they don't repair it, it'll not get run over.
Most already know my penchant for reading. My claim to fame, other than balancing a beer bottle, rather than a reading book on my head, is to know (what little I do), with the amount of reading I haven't done. When it comes to reading.... I follow the philosophy of that old B&W TV show from the 50/60s, "Leave it to Beaver".
A can of appropriate coloured rattler, and all contents can be considered RED!
BB1 ..... Do you have any drain holes in the paper holders?
Never thought of that BB1, however, the condition of the contents is of little concern. I spend enough shekels through idle surfing of the internet than to be spammed by a pamphlet to coax me into buying something I can afford but don't need. As for the local rag (newspaper), I don't nee to read about youth crime, I can see it out in the streets.
RyanGi commented about 6 hours ago new Hey Ducky, did you haul this one across form LJs? If so, and it’s a bit older, how has the box held up with the weather??
Sikkens doesn't live up to the recommendation of a veteran painter or the hype on the can
Also looking at the "junk mail" on top... BTW, someone removed my "no junk mail sigh"... it is bound by a rubber band I presume for "convenience"... for WHOM I ask?... after the rubber band is removed, it is not conducive for reading, and impossible with it in place.
OK OK I thought you wood have known in the Aust sun you will need to re sand and recoat every 12 months, regardless of what impressive claims manufacturers make. no matter how many coats you apply it has to be done, a sad aspect of wood greying in Australia hence whywe dont have beautiful wood finish home here. Just out of interest where did you get the Jarrah from? its almost a rareity here, even my Iron bark supply has been almost depleted
General trivia:- Sikkens has been bought out by PPG another good product/company bites the dust
RobsCastle ...... Just out of interest where did you get the Jarrah from?
I used to buy my jarrah from Tile Importers in Melbourne (Oakleigh) before I moved to Churchill 15 years ago. That was back when they were a small business selling cheap/junk/seconds. I visited them a lot when I was refurbishing my house in Richmond... and I made a lot of visits,
Every visit I looked at their jarrah seconds pile (rejects they sourced from reputable timber merchants)... I "randomly" picked out any decent looking boards for potential future use..
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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