Thursday, January 27, 2011

Coop de Ville

 Portland allows 3 hens without a permit.

The hen house portion of the coop was built in my shop.  All but
the top came from plywood salvaged from the basement where
they had been used as sliding, closet doors.

Creating a jig in preparation for cutting a hole in the garage for the nesting boxes.
It's no trivial matter to cut through the heretofore undisturbed wall of a 100-year old garage.




I reluctantly had to cut a stud.  The nesting boxes are in the garage due to
space considerations, the ability to retrieve the eggs without getting rained on, and
"coolness" factor.


The nesting boxes.  It turns out you only usually need one for 6 or so hens.

The main wall has 3-way operation.  1. Shutters open to admit light.
Shutters are needed because it is a sunny spot.

2. The window, a reused one from the basement windows we replaced,
swings out to provide additional ventilation.






3. The whole wall swings open for cleaning.  Notice the zero clearance hinges.
Also, the note their are no bracing cleats at the wall intersections.
This is so there is an as easy to clean as possible interior.

the interior still needs to be primed and painted.


The hen's front door.  On the left a picture window (yes, the plexiglass is in.
On the right the closed door rides in an aluminum channel.

The front and back have vent holes that can be open or closed by sliders.





Zune Holder

Just a quick project to hold my Zune in the car.

A small piece of clear acrylic with 4 rubber mounts usually used to mount
hard drives to an enclosure.  They are a soft, gummy rubber designed
to isolate the drive from physical shocks.





As you can see, the Zune slides neatly between the wheels requiring no clips or retaining straps.

Lego Chess Set

Well, what more can I say...
"My name is Marc and I'm a Legoholic"

1000 pieces ordered from 4 different "suppliers."