Saturday, June 11, 2011

There, I fixed it!

You might wonder why there are circular troughs surrounding each of the bench holes on my workbench.  They are the result of me swinging the arm of my desk lamp around as the light needs to be shifted.

The plastic clamp portion of the lamp had broken long ago and I am too frugal to buy another, so I just stick the metal post in a bench hole and get to work.

Over the years, the metal post has begun eating away at the holes, so the desk lamp has become less supported and refuses to stand upright.

Today, I had had enough and decided to build a quickie holder that could slide along the back edge of my bench.

I figured it would keep me from my project for about half an hour.

More than an hour later and with much fiddling, I'd come up with a lego-like contraption that works, but is rather unsightly.

I sandwiched a spacer block between two 2x4s and stuck the lamp post in a hole that I drilled into one of the boards. When I angled the lamp to one side to test it, the entire assembly tipped along with it.

That meant adding another piece that would wrap beneath the back edge of my bench, but the 2x4 in the back was too short to reach the bottom of the apron.

So, I had to add another thin board beneath the 2x4 before adding the final piece that would hook the holder in place.

It's pretty ugly. But it does work.

Which reminds me of another "There, I fixed it!" story.

Our garden hose had started to leak pretty badly where the nozzle is attached, so I went to the store to buy plumber's tape. I did not fix it right away, a few hours went by, and my partner came in from the yard to tell me she'd fixed the hose.  She then proclaimed, "That tape is so lame. It's not even sticky!"

I went to inspect her handiwork and found this:

I kinda wished she had asked me how to use plumber's tape before she fixed our leaky garden hose. 

But, it does work. 

16 comments:

Duane said...

Way to go Nancy, that's the best use of plumbers tape that I have seen in a long time

Mark Poulsen said...

And I'm guessing she used the whole roll too! lol

Aaron said...

Kari, that epic hose repair job is fantastic and brought a needed smile to my face today! Kudos to N for attempting a repair despite experience with the tools. That kind of "can-do-it-ness" is always the correct response to a broken doohickey.

Aaron said...

Whoops - I meant inexperience.

Anonymous said...

The tape is HYSTERICAL!!! LOL! At least she tried.

Jonathan
=======================

Autumn said...

I laughed so hard my sides hurt. A couple of summers ago, my partner was industriously repairing the handle on her old pitchfork. She proudly brought it to me, saying "I fixed it!" After a moment, a slow grin spread across my face. "Diane, I hate to tell you this, but the handle is on backward."

Unknown said...

When you need to get on with things, sometimes "right" is the enemy of "goog enough". Love it! - (both of them!)

BlacksheepWW said...

Your fix on the light looks like it will be more practical. When your frugal, your more creative.
High five to Nancy for her fix on the hose. Give her credit for trying.

Vic Hubbard said...

LOLOLOL!!! No she didn't!?!?!?! I love her. Anyway, it's always the in progress engineering that screws with my scheduled time frames. But, for shop projects, the project itself is usually the prototype. I have a couple more of those type lamps on the way. I have French cleat holders for them. I'm sure when I build my bench I'll have to do something like this, too.

Tom Buhl said...

that has to be one of the best DIY posts in a very long time. Now I know why you don't have to hire writers to make you seem funny. You've got Nancy. I hope after your ribs heal from the laughter that you give her a big hug.

rgdaniel said...

You can't make this stuff up... B-)

PABLO said...

You just developed A prototype!

Pablo

"But I'm Much Better Now"

Kari Hultman said...

She did in fact use the entire roll of tape. It's a laugh a minute here. It reminds me of the "I Love Lucy" show. Nancy gets herself in a pickle or does something funny frequently.

If you're friends with me on facebook, you read lots of "Nancy" updates....

msiemsen said...

Kari,
Funny stuff with Nancy's repair of the leaky hose, at least she got it done.
I have similar style lamps, my holder is a 2x4 with a 3/4" dowel sticking out of it that fits the dog hole. The 2x4 has a hole drilled in it offset from the dowel for the lamp. You can rotate the 2x4 around the dog hole and also the lamp swivels in it's hole.
The stuff Nancy used to repair the hose is what I call Teflon tape, the plumbers tape that I grew up with is a roll of metal tape with holes in it for strapping up pipes. There was no Teflon back then.
Mike

Dave said...

Nancy, the fix might be ugly but girl you did fix it & that is what counts!

Kari Hultman said...

Mike, I have lots more "Nancy" stories. Wish I'd made this lamp holder a long time ago. It works much better than just sticking the metal post in a dog hole.

Dave, absolutely! It also counts that she provides me with such funny stories to share. hee hee