The Do-It-Yourself Tool Shed Thread vs Duct Tape Fixes EVERYTHING

[addictivepersona]

the pre fabs are obviously much cooler looking, but i built mine out of scrap. the carpet i got cost like $8 and i still have enough left for another shelf and a few 1x4s that cost very little. the prefabs cost $150-200, im about $60 in, including the staple gun that i had to buy and i have more wood (flat pieces i can fashion into shelves AND 1x4s for support stands) more carpet, more rope to wrap around wood for scratching and more carpet. the cats love it as they can get up high and be king of the post. ill prolly buy a brand new razor for cutting the carpet from now on. thanks for the tip. like i said, im prolly going to make this one a little taller with another higher shelf and then start on another separate one and figure out a cool way to connect them. i rub catnip on them every week or so just to keep the cats interested in doing their scratching there. its all super low tech too, L brackets and wood screws do the trick for support and i use staples to keep the carpet in place

That is awesome. :D

My neighbor had a cat condo her boyfriend rigged up years back--There were two pre-fab condos on either side of the couch/loveseat, and were connected with a two-by-four or something between them. Kept the cats off the couch a bit. ;)

 

[tambourine-man]

I just ordered a new welding helmet. Cause my old one is getting beat up, and my friend wants to make a metal sculpture, but can not weld, so I am going to do the welding for her as she directs the placement of the metal members. I am going to be using gas tungsten arc welding with a mix of argon and helium as shielding gas to weld the aluminum members.

Awesome! When does the rest of the Sardaukar warrior outfit arrive?

 

[matt2012]

i half assed a cat condo and am still in the process of adding another level to it. its not much to look at but the cats love it and use it as their main scratching post now (which makes it a success by default). i had no idea what i was supposed to be doing with the carpet so it s def all janky lol.

any advice on how to make the carpet not look like crap when i staple it down would be appreciated. maybe im cutting it with too dull a blade?

I made one for my cats...it was striaght when I built it then I took it apart an wrapped it with carpet. put it back together and it leans shightly to the left. but they still use it. carpet is a hrad thing to put down on them and from what I can see you did a fine job. but to clean up the ragged ends where you cut it and it is stringy just fold it underuntil you have a straight clean line and staple through both layers. you can also melt the stringy bits with a lighter to get rid of them.

 

[felix]

right. this has been driving me a bit mental for some time, because I strongly suspect there is an obvious answer and I'll probably feel like an idiot when someone gives me the answer.

I have a narrow spiral hose with a male threaded end, like so, on the left:

the spraygun head attachment that came with it is cheap crap and broken, so I want to be able to attach it to a more conventional "quick connect" spraygun head like the one on the right, above.

I do not want to cut the end of the spiral hose - it's a smaller diameter than 'normal' hosepipes, and it already has a really nice quality brass threaded end, which I don't want to just throw out. finding the correct size of fittings for this narrow hose won't be too easy, so let me just reiterate that cutting the hose in any way is not an option yet. :D

here are the spare random hose connectors I have:

I have rummaged through the hose fittings section at B&Q and elsewhere several times, but I still can't find the bit I need.

can anyone help me out here, please? which "bit" do I need and does it even exist???

 

[tambourine-man]

The green 'sleeve connector' (top right, bottom picture) should have another part that screws up if it is to connect to the 'gun end' of the pipe. This screw fitting which tightens six or seven teeth onto the hosepipe, creating a compression fit.

http://www.hozelock.com/watering/hose-fittings/connect-to-gun-sprinkler.html

These types of connectors have an internal valve that stops the water flow when the spraygun is disconnected.

You're missing the tightener on that green effort, plus, it might be the other type of connector that connects to your tap

http://www.hozelock.com/watering/hose-fittings/connect-to-hose.html

 

[felix]

The green 'sleeve connector' (top right, bottom picture) should have another part that screws up if it is to connect to the 'gun end' of the pipe. This screw fitting which tightens six or seven teeth onto the hosepipe, creating a compression fit.

http://www.hozelock.com/watering/hose-fittings/connect-to-gun-sprinkler.html

These types of connectors have an internal valve that stops the water flow when the spraygun is disconnected.

You're missing the tightener on that green effort, plus, it might be the other type of connector that connects to your tap

http://www.hozelock.com/watering/hose-fittings/connect-to-hose.html

Nope!

I think you're asking me to cut the hose, aren't you? wasn't I clear about that? :D

I'll try to explain again.

On the left is the 'good' gun. It has the standard quick connect fitting, which is the same type of fitting as the rest of my hoses & pressure washer etc.

On the right is the 'bad' gun (from the spiral hose) which will be binned soon.

The spiral hose (which is brilliant and extremely handy) is quite a bit narrower than a 'standard' garden hose, so standard compression fittings won't fit it. Therefore I need to somehow convert the gun end of the spiral hose from that male thread in the first picture on the left, into a female quick connect socket. Then I will be able to plug Mr Good Gun (or any other item with a male quick connect 'prong') into the spiral hose, and my life will be complete.

These FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS are devastating, aren't they?

editing to add:

here are two scenarios:

so what would work is a female to female adapter, either threaded or quick connect. but I'm fucked if I can find any. this is really odd.

 

[Klue]

Hey Felix, me old mucker


Hopefully an irrigation socket will do the trick in the simplest way possible. They are threaded internally and should just screw onto the brass fitting on the hose and then the quick release adaptor should screw into the other end. Sometimes I used to have to go to a specialist irrigation shop to find the right fittings when I was solving these sorts of problems in the past. They might have an irrigation section at the DIY store you mentioned that has the correct size socket.

You might find the gun doesn't work as well as it would on normal garden hose because there will be less pressure coming through the smaller diameter hose. Shouldn't make too much of a difference though.



Edit (for the 10th time): I read Tambo's post again after sitting here for an hour trying to figure this out. The green connecting fitting that's clicked onto the gun in the last pic doesn't look like an adaptor I have seen before. It does appear to be missing a sleeve that you would use to secure a normal hose with. But a socket should work.

 

[felix]

hey Klue. :D

that's exactly what I need. I would never have thought to call it an 'irrigation' socket or to look anywhere other than in the garden hose section. so thanks for the suggestion and I really do appreciate you spending some time on this.

also, I think tambo was probably right now you mention it - that piece must be missing the compression collar, but i've no idea how that happened - that's a pretty new piece. unused, in fact.

back to the drawing board. thanks guys.

p.s. in my line of work, the thing I need would be called a female to female 'union':

 

[Klue]

I searched a bit more and saw photos of that quick connect green fitting you have.

Hadn't used a fitting like that before. Looks like they are used for other purposes rather than compressing the hose onto it... it's a different fitting all together.


Providing the threads match up you should be good to go with one of those irrigation sockets. They would only be a couple of bucks...maybe a good garden centre that does commercial irrigation could sell you one if you can find them in a hardware store. Use some pluming tape too because wands and guns are notorious for leaking.

thanks for the suggestion and I really do appreciate you spending some time on this.

No problems at all mate, it's a pleasure

 

[felix]

Still couldn't find a female to female connector piece, so I asked the very nice man in a DIY shop if he had anything like it. After scratching his head for a few minutes, he came up with an idea. :D

say hello to the smallest hosepipe in the world:

great success:

:D

 

[cletus]

Not only is it the smallest, it's probably the cutest as well :D

Awww look at it's wee face!

 

[Max Power]

Still couldn't find a female to female connector piece

I know a few bars/clubs in the area that might assist you in your search.

 

[felix]

Let's not cheapen this moment with your filth, Max. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[cletus]

I've got a small project to get on with. I managed to snag a brand new 2 x 2 x 2 metre metal shed worth £1400 from my work, for the measly price of a £50 donation to charity. What an absolute f***in' result! It might look like I have an electrical substation in my back garden when it's built, but I now have a proper place to store my motorbike next to the house. It can be painted with the help of etching primer & a finish, but I'll worry about that later. First I'll have to level the ground, make it solid & perhaps make a run to it so I can actually get the bike in it!

 

[felix]

£50 donation to the crane driver's drinking fund, more like.

here's some advice: build the shed, THEN put the bike in it. not the other way round.