Fixing My Grass Trimmer Part 1

Don’t throw stuff away!  Learn how to fix it and save the Universe…

Shutters on Deck!

Shaving With A Straight Razor

Here’s the best way to get a close shave, save money, and help the environment.  And it’s COOL.

Graham Paige Air Filter

Restoring the “air filter” and I use the term loosely.

Seven Dwarfs Installation

Graham Paige Car – Restoration Update – June 2017

I was working on some other projects this weekend and needed some space in the garage so I pulled the car out. The work is continuing, mostly on mechanical parts. This is the current condition of the frame.

Disney Backyard Garden Train

Holmes Haunted Homes in the News

The St. Catharines Standard website 2013: 

Halloween 2013 in Niagara this Week:

Halloween 2013 on the CBC website:

Halloween 2011 in Niagara This Week:

Some special Halloween haunts are in store when trick or treaters knock on the door at 120 George St. in St. Catharines.

At the Holmes household, there is more than treats in store. For the third-straight year Geoff Holmes will be bringing back his skeletal swingers — animatronic skeletons that tell stories, and sing. From Saturday through Monday nights, local residents will be able to take a trip back in time to the ‘20s and meet Tommy Gunn, Boney Bennett and No Lips Hannigan during Ghosts and Gangsters of Old Chicago.
“It’s an actual show with a 1920s and ‘30s feel,” said Holmes. “I bought a ‘29 (classic car) I’m going to restore, and I thought how can I tie it into the show.”
The result was Tommy Gunn and his fellow cast of characters, in the show which features music, special effects and some video. The entire show is controlled by laptop, and the characters are brought to life through electronics, including radio-control servos and pneumatics.
Holmes, who has been working on the massive display for about six months, has put together similar presentations the past two years. In 2009 he had a pirate-themed display with a singing skeleton head and clams, and last year he brought his lawn to life with a piano and saxophone players. This year he styled it more into a show, and took it to his garage, which is off Stuart Street. The show is narrated, and set to music.
Holmes admits it’s been a lot of work, with many hours spent not only on the display itself, but researching and trouble shooting via online forums, but it’s a passion.
“I loved this type of thing — it’s a lot of fun,” said Holmes. “Right back to when I was a kid, I liked going to Disney and seeing the animated shows.”
This year he is also using his passion to give back. Instead of just preparing the show for Halloween night, he is inviting the public to come Saturday, Sunday and Monday, anytime between 7 and 9 p.m. to check out the show. Shows will run every 15 minutes, and Holmes will be collecting monetary donations in support of Community Care of St. Catharines & Thorold.
“It’s a great cause and helps people all across the city,” said Holmes, who notes the show is geared to all ages and doesn’t feature any blood or horror. He notes, however, smaller children may be fearful of the moving skeletons.
For more information on Holmes’ Haunted Homes display, including videos of past years’ performances and a sneak peek at this year’s show, visit www.holmeshauntedhomes.com.

Scott Rosts, staff Scott Rosts/Staff Photo October 27, 2011

Halloween 2011 in the St. Catharines Standard:

Halloween, 2010 in the St. Catharines Standard:

Halloween 2013 – Pirates of Niagara

Pirates of Niagara!
Join us for our spectacular robotic show featuring our skeletal superstars lead by Cap’n Soggy Bottom and his crew. This year’s show promised to be the most impressive than ever. We’re showcasing more characters, more animation, more music, and more fun!

As with all our shows, “Pirates of Niagara” will be a family-friendly event with no blood, gore, or intense scares. We believe that Halloween entertainment should be lighthearted and fun for all.

The show is completely free of charge. However, donations to our selected charity, the Niagara Health System Foundation would be greatly appreciated. A donation box for cash will be placed near the entrance to the event tent.

Arrrr…see ya there Mateys!

How to Build a Realistic Cannon

Hi guys. This is PART 1 of how to make a cannon that looks like this…

PART 1

For this project, you’ll need a cardboard tube. The kind they sell at Rona or Home Depot for pouring concrete into. The size you buy is up to you. I think they range from 6″ up to 10″ in diameter, so you could make a small or fairly large cannon.

You’ll also need a plastic bowl that’s the same diameter to fit on the back, a length of ABS tubing to form the inside of the barrel, and some 1/2″ pink or blue styrofoam.

The basic shape of the cannon body is a tube, but as you can see, you need to get it to taper down at the front. It might be helpful to get a picture of a cannon you like and use a computer program like photoshop to draw a grid and rulers over it to get the proper dimensions. There’s no exact shape that’s perfect, it’s up to you.

Okay, in order to get the tube to taper, you’ll need to remove a pie shaped wedge the whole length of the tube. Draw a line straight down the length of the tube. At one end, measure out an inch (or more if you want more taper) on each side of the centerline and make a point. Now draw lines connecting both these points with the centerline at the other end of the tube. This gives you a long pie shaped piece that you need to cut out. Use a sharp utility knife and a metal yardstick to cut out the pie shaped section. Keep it though, you’ll need it soon.

The real bugger now is to get the tube pushed inwards so that the two cut ends meet. I tried taping it…no good. The only thing I found that works is to take the discarded piece of wedge shaped cardboard and glue it inside one of the cut sides with about an inch sticking out, wait for it to dry, and then push the two sides together and hold it together with small bolts and glue. If someone comes up with a better method of joining the two sides, please let me know.

Once you get the tube glued into the proper tapering shape, you’ll notice the two ends are not “square” with the length of the tube any more. You can wrap a piece of paper or length of cardboard around the tube at both ends as a guide, then mark a line to “square up” the ends, and cut them with a utility knife.

Whew. Now you have the proper tapering tube.

In the next part, I’ll explain how to make the most challenging part, but the part that really sells it. The muzzle.

Thanks for you kind words and good luck, Mateys. Arrrrrrr.

PART 2

If you read the first part of my thread, you know we’re working on a realistic but lightweight cannon like this…

We’ve already made the body of the cannon, a tapering cardboard tube, now we’re going to form the muzzle section.

I puzzled over this for while before coming up with this solution. Pink foam. It’s the best stuff for making props and it’s cheap.

Basically, the muzzle is a series of donut shaped pieces of foam stacked over a lenth of ABS tubing. The inside of the donuts is the exact diameter of the tube, but the outside varies to give the muzzle it’s characteristic flared shape.

It’s best to slide all your sections of pink foam onto the tube while the tube is standing up. This way, they all go on nice and square. You can use foamboard adhesive, available where you buy your pink foam, to glue it all together.

Now the fun part. You want to muzzle to have a nice smooth shape. But the pieces of foam are square sided. The best way to shape it is to spin the whole thing. Like you would on a lathe.

I figured out that if I hot glued a temporary plug of wood in each end of the pipe, then drilled a hole exactly through the center, I could insert a dowel that would act as my lathe.

I just attached one end of the dowel to my drill, clammed the drill down, inserted the other end of the dowel into a piece of wood with a hole in it that I also clamped down, and spun the whole thing. It works great!!!! All you need is some course sandpaper and gentle pressure and you can shape the foam perfectly as it spins. It might take some trial and error, but the raw material is cheap.

Once you get it looking smooth and the shape you want, insert it into your cardboard tube at the narrow end to test the fit. It should fit nice and snug into the tube. If it’s too big, just sand it more.

Once you’ve got it, take out the two wooden plugs, squirt some latex caullking around the are where the ABS meets the foam, and the muzzle is ready to be glued in.

One thing though. The length of ABS might need a support inside the tube, especially if you’ve kept it long. The best thing to do is cut a support disc and glue it inside the tube.

Next, we’ll talk about how to add more details to the cannon.

Arrrrrrrrrrrr…..

PART 3

Here with go with more details on the “Geoff design” cannon:

You already have the tapering cardboard tube and the muzzle section done. The rear rounded part of the cannon is simply a plastic bowl! I managed to find one in the dollar store that was the exact size the the cannon at the back. It even had a flat bottom that allowed a plastic ball to epoxied onto it.

I wanted a “steel band” around the back of the cannon between the bowl and the tube. This was just another disc of pink foam that I sanded to be more rounded on the edges.

The “stanchions” or posts that come out of the side of the cannon were sections of ABS pipe. I carefully cut a hole in the cardboard tube on both sides and slid the pipe through. Note: if your ABS muzzle tube goes down the cardboard tube too far, you won’t be able to have the stanchions go all the way through the body of the cannon. In my opinion, it’s better to make the muzzle tube a bit short so the stanchions go right through the cardboard tube are good and sturdy.

The “reinforcing bands” going around the cannon are just strips of heavy cardboard (I used another builder’s tube for strips) glued into place. To give it some extra shape and dimension, I even wrapped some plastic piping around the center of each band, and then blended it in with latex caulking.

Caulking. Caulking. Great stuff. Use it wherever there’s gaps and cracks. Who cares what it looks like unpainted because the next step is…

You guessed it…

Finishing.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrr…..

PART 4

Ahoy mateys. Good to see you again.

Now we’re going to make your cannon come to life. Sure, it just looks like a pile of cardboard and foam (and it is), but soon your friends and enemies will gasp in terror and delight. Because of paint.

I like to make my props rather durable so I can use them again and again. So I decided to coat the entire thing with several layers of water based polyurathane. I use water based stuff because anything oil based will probably eat your cannon like acid before your horrified eyes.

After I gave it a protective coat, I sprayed the entire thing with a satin black paint.

AND WAS REALLY DISSAPOINTED.

I mean, it looks okay I guess. But it just didn’t sell as cast iron. What was missing was some SURFACE TEXTURE.

So here’s how I added some. Get some lightweight wall spackling and a sponge. Use the sponge to gently stipple the spackling all over the body of the cannon. You don’t have to put it on thick or evenly. You’re trying to make the surface just look rough.

Now your cannon looks like it’s got some horrible skin disease, but that’s what you want. Now take some medium sandpaper and GENTLY start to “knock down” the bumpy texture of the spackling. The idea is to get it so it just barely is there. This will give the impression that the texture is eating INTO the surface, like a real cast iron cannon would.

Now you can re-coat the whole shebang with several coats of water based urethane again to seal it and once again spray it black.

DAVY JONES LOOKOUT!!!!!

Now it looks real!!!!!!!!!!!! (insert more exclamation marks here)

Once it dries, get a friend and carry it to work, acting as if it weighs hundreds of pounds. Then hurl it at some unsuspecting guy and watch him have a heart attack. (okay I did this and it was funny but I don’t recommend it).

Your cannon will impress everybody except your mom.

Next, I have to build a carriage for the darned thing out of 2X6s.

Thanks for reading my posts and good luck.

Cap’n Geoff

Halloween 2011 – Ghosts & Gangsters of Old Chicago

2011 Show – Ghosts & Gangsters of Old Chicago

Halloween 2013 – Pirates of Niagara

Promotional Video for the 2011 show:

Peter Shea in a recording session for the Halloween show…

2011 Sneak Preview:

Bringing Her Home! Our “new” Graham Paige

After seeing the 1929 Graham Paige 612 car in Pennsylvania, I made arrangements to have her towed to Lewiston, New York. Then, I went to meet the guys and bring her the rest of the way home to St. Catharines, Ontario.

Crossing the border became problematic though. First, there was a giant wind storm on April 28th, 2011, so they closed the bridge to Canada. I had to stay in a motel overnight. The next day, the border guy gave me a hard time since I had purchased the car on eBay. I guess they aren’t used to seeing old cars like this and didn’t know what to do with me. In the end, I finally got it home the morning of April 29th, 2011.

My wife will always remember that there was a big power outage due to the wind storm the previous day, but she did use the last of the batter on her phone to check out William and Kate’s royal wedding.