Looking around at various options for building a sailboat, we decided on the PocketShip by CLC boats: https://www.clcboats.com/modules/catalog/boat.php?category_qn=wooden-sailboat-kits&subcat_qn=pocketship&code=pocketship-sailing-pocket-cruiser-kit But at the good advice of their team, we are starting with a kayak to get the hang of the “stitch and glue” plywood and resin build process. We went with their Mill Creek 13 kayak: https://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/kayak-kits/recreational-kayaks/mill-creek-13-stitch-and-glue-recreational-kayak-kit.html…
New project: Building a houseboat!
I have an idea for a new project… Praew and I have been very interested in Tiny houses, as the houses we have built have gotten smaller and smaller with each iteration. First BaanMae (my mother-in-law’s house), then BaanRimNaam (the one we are living in now), then BaanLoiNaam (the floating house). BaanLoiNaam is a remarkable…
New Project: Building a sleeping hammock
This is the hammock we built. I’ve always seen a hammock as something to lounge on the balcony in and read a book on a nice summer day, but not something to spend the night in. On a lark, I decided to Google “is sleeping in a hammock bad for you?”, and came up with…
New project: Indoor gardening
I’ve been thinking about growing food plants indoors for about a month now. I’m not sure whether it is worth the effort, but I’m experimenting with it to see. I’m less interested in hydroponics as I’ve read that it can cause an unusually high level of certain chemicals in your food. And what’s wrong with…
Building a large storage shed
It was always part of our plan to build a storage shed at the end of the parking area that would also block the rain. So we planned it as the next job for the welder after the pontoons. Here it is in progress: The large metal sheets on the ground in the lower left…
New project: Building a ladder to climb up to the loft
So one feature of BaanRimNaam that is interesting is the bedroom and bathroom have a ceiling which provides a floor for a loft space up above. This can be used for storage or whatever, but does involve climbing up there. Rather than have a permanent staircase (which would take up a lot of space) or…
New Project: First flush rain diverter
Over the summer, we had a mechanical engineering intern named Chanon helping out on an experimental project. The problem is that while rain water is mostly clean, the roof it hits is often not. In addition to the dust and other pollution that collects between rains, there is also feces from birds, lizards, and other…
New Project: building a wagon for moving things around the land
I’ve been wanting something for a while now to move large objects around the land. The workers have been using the pickup truck we bought, but after a rain, it tears up the mud and sometimes gets stuck. The long term plan was to move things around on the walkway with possibly automating some kind…
New project: Building custom steel pontoons
We have begun building a prototype of our custom steel pontoons that Kong helped us work out a simple engineering design for. Here are the steel plates that we will use for the “skin” of the pontoon: In this picture, the workers are carefully covering the steel in high quality anti-rust coating. After the pontoons…
Can you 3D print a shoe?
3D printing is a very cool technology that has been around for a while, but only recently made it to consumer pricing levels. With it you can imagine something, design it in a CAD program (such as FreeCAD), and then print it so that you can hold it in your hand a few hours from…