There is a silver lining with the whole COVID-19 pandemic, at least for me there is. My work finally allowed us to telecommute. For the time being, I no longer have to commute into the city. I gained so many hours back daily. I get to eat breakfast with my kids. I feel my mental health has improved. It’s unfortunate that it took a global pandemic for them to realize the possibilities. I’m a programmer/developer and can work 100% remotely – it only makes sense. So, with the extra time, what can I do?
We bought our first house a couple of years ago and I have many ideas of DIY projects and home improvement. It’s a good time to start. So I decided to look up videos on power tools on YouTube. I instantly fell in love. So many skillful people out there. I’ve always wanted to take up carpentry if I didn’t have a 9-5 job or once I retire. I wanted to learn about different types of wood, cutting, joining pieces together using different joints. It’s a whole new world and it’s very interesting.
I’m a bargain hunter and have purchased tools before. The first tools I bought was a set of Dewalt Impact Driver (DCF787) and Drill Driver (DCD777). Both came with bits, cordless, and uses brushless motor (they say these are better). I was able to get this set for $149 back in 2017. It has been a great tool so far. The battery holds up well and chargers fairly quickly.
One of the first things I did after moving into the new house is built shelves for the many different video game consoles we have. I looked around Pinterest to get ideas. So I went to Home Depot and picked out some lumber. I didn’t want to spend too much money since I am inexperienced so I just got the “basic” ones. I didn’t have any cutting tools, so I had them cut it for me. I already had the dimensions in mind. The taller consoles I was able to use 2×6 wood as the ends while the rest, 2×4 worked well. I used MDF board for the shelf itself. It’s very primitive but it worked.
The cuts were not perfect and neither was the measurements but it works well enough. I had left over paint from a previous project, that’s why it’s blue. If I were to do it again, I’ll repaint to white. I looked around for a simple shelf like this but couldn’t find any. So I built one.
One of the things I wanted to solve was cable management. It was a lot worse than the photo. I ran strips of wood and used cable clips. All consoles are wired to the network to help with download speeds and lessen the WIFI traffic.
With this idea, I wanted to build a computer stand. One of my computers is on the floor – carpet. This is very bad. I wanted to lift it a few inches off the ground. I looked around and all I found was standing desks when you search for “computer stand”. I found one through Ali Express and got it but it wasn’t great. Again, why not build one so I did.
The shelf itself is MDF and I used 2×4 wood as the feet. I added one in the middle for extra support. The case is a Fractal Design Define R4 and at that time served as my NAS back up so it had 8 hard drives – very heavy. Simple yet it solved my problem. Not sure why they don’t sell computer stands anymore.
This new hobby has enabled me to build things that I can’t find or don’t exist. I’m not great at it but I’m learning. I can’t wait to start on the next project.
