Efficiency - Making space for your hobby

I live in less than 400sq feet with three humans.

My bed is in the living room, my son has the only bedroom, and my 1 car garage is "roached to the max" -

This is a posting about using your space in an efficient way*

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Our bed is 6' 6" long
5' wide
The mattress rests on a 30" stand (to keep the dogs off of it and facilitate alternative sex/sleeping)

Under the bed I have freed up an honest 30" x 5' x 6.5' - so 80 cubic feet of storage
There are no cross beams or internal feet
Openings are:

5' 9" x 2' 2" on both sides
23" x 2' 2" windows at the end

Stacks out a lot of stuff.... (before we had a box spring + 2 mattresses to raise the bed - wasted space)

Of course I considered all the failure modes - it is rock solid
Does not rock or move in any way
Corner feet are L 2x4 with an upper internal brace (instead of an external sheet )

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This is what we think about having no space to store your ebike tools...
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View attachment 16
View attachment 15
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So we went to the lumber store and picked up the goods

Boy looks like that because he knows I should have had 2pcs strap... but I had what I had and nothing fell out of the back
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We use up-cycled tools -
So this is a legacy Ryobi drill (NiCad?) upgraded to lithium
The pack we got for $15 at the fleamarket with a weed wacker (that we use the hell out of)
Balanced the pack, added an anderson tap (because we dont have a charger)...

I get er done with this rig... you have no idea



Jank-ass old-school 5.5" saw on a 10mm arbor
Upgraded the blade for $13 and it rocked the soft wood


Safety first... note that I can cut 2x4's while resting them on his head at the deepest setting (1/8" margin)


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This is our hardware set...
Note the fasteners are all now torx which are far superior

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Note that this particular brand of bit as absolute shit

Complete garbage that could not even last 1 "dead" battery pack

On a wanker drill from the 80's

Embarrassing bit of business sold by Home Depot front and center
I used to love that store... until they re-branded the black bins (with yellow tops)
The ass-clowns (business whores) took an AMAZING $11 bin that was INDISTRUCTABLE
Exploited the good reputation we made for them...
And created TOTAL GARBAGE that sells for $9 and fails almost immediately

YOU FAIL HOME DEPOT - Particularly your BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Reliability FIRST profit SECOND - DUH!

Seriously... Home Depot... Please grow a pair and be an actual hardware store.
DO NOT sell garbage
Especially DO NOT promo GARBAGE front and center (like these bits for a couple bucks)

Fix the Black Bin with Yellow Top failure (I have 25 with broken lids)
Take these crap bits off the shelf
humpf!
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serenity now...
serenity now...

Eat some lunch
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make time for art
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View attachment 8

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Build stuff that works and ignore the fussy-ass, mucky-muck, aficionados who spend the majority of time over specializing in lost craft...

Just build something
Make it work


My shit always works
My plans always work... because the plan is... to deal with reality once the plan goes to shit!

I had plans on all these parts
Fell apart as soon as HOME DEPOT did not have the sliding saw ready (I had developed a parts kit girrrr....)
Hence... why I built what I built what I had.

Seems to work out that way
Secret to R&D

"Aint never going to be perfect son"
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Remember to build things in 2 parts so they fit thru any standard door*

Remember to build things that re-purpose... so in the next garage they can serve as shelves
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Then go to the beach.

Solutions for modern living*

Look at your space in 3D
Decide what takes up that space
Lift it up
Use whats under it

Black bins would be my choice... but the lady of the house has "other" ideas...
She will cover this shit-show in fabric and put free night stands under it (that the college kids leave behind)

-methods

And...

Since on the topic (Ebikes...)
Lets talk about Charging.

We can, at this point in time, charge via J1772

We can, with some clever, charge with any of the DC Fast Charge Standards (requires a spoof*)

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My suggestion is to first focus on J1772... the simple AC standard
Takes like... eh... a resistor???
To get it working

Trouble is the cost of the bits*

I have seen some kits
I have seen some 3D printed kits
More interesting... I have seen some PULL DOWN at a local charge company

Pallets and pallets and pallets....
Of J1772 gear...

Not suitable for sale
Not really suitable for heavy duty...

But plenty good for a cottage industry kit-up

Goes like this:

1) Take the entire lot
2) Buy a bunch of vodka and redbull
3) Invite 10 people over
4) Apply the redbull or the vodka (or both)

Ensure that each brings a cordless tool***

5) Tear all that stuff down and bin it up as parts
6) Toss anything that looks sketch - or down-bin it for repair or recycle
7) Set up a website (I can do that part)
8) Sell the bits as what they are... super sketch...
9) Build up a bunch of stuff that works

10) Build up a bunch of emulator adapters
11) Get Ebikes on the Charge Network
12) Convince big companies (like ChargePoint) to offer One Kilowatt a day FREE!

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In EV terms that is nothing
In ebike terms that aaaallll weeeee neeed....

We buy stuff too... so convince the property owners to extend the offer.
Get Ebike riders into your store while they "fast charge"
20 minutes... or... Priority...
An hour when other spaces are open

That would be rad

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Ebikers turn into EV owners
EV owners stick with what they start with
Get them on the network

Thats my take

2 birds
1 stone

Clear out the space cluttering junk
Clean up on an emerging customer base

I only WIN WIN

-methods

Putting the trailer back on the bike today

Good for carrying STUFF...
Like... kids... or stuff I buy at stores...

I have limited range
I ride to stores that have CHARGERS
J1772 chargers... that offer FREE CHARGING for Ebikes

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Its good PR
Its profitable for the business owners
Its Green
It promotes health (pedal assist)

Stuff changes hands (businesses move product)

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yep
Its a good idea
Pays off over a longer timeline... maybe 5 to 10 years... when the EV market may actually take off.

like...
Getting kids hooked on crack while they are still in jr high
Yea... yea... maybe they cant afford much NOW...
BUT LATER>.....

Little bastards will be blowing up your pager looking for a rock with their Round Table paycheck :lol:

Yep
Sure of it
The right move

Subscription EV Charge Companies should forward a "plan" to Ebikers.
If... they... will...

I will sell
On a website
A reasonably legit J1772 "kit" for adapting to ebkes in a safe way.

Probably take me 100 to 500 hours to make that happen
$10k seed to buy stock at some sort of reasonable price
(Yea... never happen... but we can dream)

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yep... just as soon as I cash in that 100 in bitcoin... this is like... eh... 23 on the list!

Right after:

Suitable Housing (i.e. someplace with a big enough garage to "build stuff")
Personal transportation (an EV)
Lawyer bills (omfg)
Old lines of credit (omfg)
A life time supply of whisky and fags (duh... more valuable than toilet paper)
Personal debts (solvable)
and...

yea - so... 7th on the list

-methods

I live in much more space with one less human bean. But I nonetheless also have good reasons to conserve space. Here's the workbench I built that lets me still park in the garage and makes it easier to use the garage for table tennis.

[youtube]Fu2FV_CNQDQ[/youtube]

I've also built two wall beds for our guest rooms. They aren't as economical as your platform, but are far cheaper than purchasing retail.
View attachment 1

Nice!

We have been talking about wall beds... And thats the finish I prefer

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Just watched the vid...
Thanks for making it look easy!

(Finish shots along with detail shots... Lowers the inhibition around starting.. )

Yea...
I can make a wall bed !

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I used these hardware kits.
http://www.wallbed.com/deluxe-kit.html
Piece of cake if you have basic carpentry skills. For a kid, I'd just sand and paint. Probably let the kid pick colors and help if he's of a mind. The Birch veneer at Lowes was pretty reasonably priced and that's what I used. In fact, I used it for the bench as well. The bench is essentially one 4x8 piece of plywood cut into a two 1x8s (top and bottom of box) and one 2x8 which is the front lid. Most of the rest was scraps left over from the wall bed. Though I did buy 2x4s and 1x4 for the lid/bench supports. The 1x4 supports are used in the middle. They are thinner and this allows the 2x4 supports to fold over on top of them. If they were all 2x4s it would be more trouble to get everything to fold flat.

Here's a picture of the first one I built. It's the same exact design. The only difference is how I finished the front with the faux panels.

DIY FTW!

There should be an entire page addition to any resume: "DIY Interests and Accomplishments"

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DIY really makes for much better engineers...
In every catagory

(So long as they also have due diligence, discipline, actual understanding of math-logic-electricity-physics-chemistry... etc)

-methods

Making space for your hobby

Click to expand...

ok I will bite

Not so much making space, but organizing everything. I just buy tote boxes, preferably clear to put all my wires/heat shrink/tape/soldering iron/ solder etc in one box, connectors in a sewing organizor, bicycle parts in another, rotors and hubs in another. I just stack them. Now for wheels and tires I have 5 of both, then 2 or 3 laced motors all put under the in home vac. What I need to do is fix the laced motors, one is cover plate, second is burnt windings, third is cyclone 4k minus bb. I should really get on it and install them on bikes and sell them, but I am too busy working on other things.

yea...
thats about where I am

I have 5 or so old hubs
Some blown some not

Probably a few front hubs that are new
All the rears were smoked during 420 testing...

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I started rigging front hubs to the rear*
It works
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I am short on controllers

-methods

I also run into space issues. Several years ago my wife and I decided that we both despised yard work and purchased a two story town house with a small single car garage. The back yard is big enough for some grapes, a small table and chairs, that is pretty much it.

The garage is filled with Heavy Duty steel storage shelves and various bikes and trikes. I have one of the sets of shelves (two shelves, both are apx. 4'x2') for tools and bike parts.

For other hobbies, my reloading stuff is in one of the three bedrooms, the one that has become my study. I still don't have my amateur radio stuff up. I keep intending to put some antennas in the attic.

I would say that the biggest issue with the downsizing is the Garage. It is smaller than the pantry and shop area, both part of the garage, in the house we moved from. I really don't have much 'tinker' room unless I open the garage door and roll some into the driveway. I don't like doing that because if I do, I have to be out there with e stuff. I can't really take a long break unless I put everything away first.

hmmm...

Good feedback
And
Glad to hear you are reloading and leveraging amateur radio!

A commercial space in a semi poor area goes for a few thousand a month around here.
10 guys could afford it at $300/mo but that is unrealistic
3 guys could pay a thousand a month... still unrealistic

In the past I have sub-leased square footage in a warehouse
That did not work out awesome - but it could

My #1 frustration is co-locating tools, supplies, equipment...
For what I do
I have to have all the stuff I need
In the same spot at the same time

... that box of random crap...
The copper pipe, the angle grinder, the solder pot, the nail gun, the welder, the scrap bin, the air compressor, the ebike parts bin...

I am looking at moving into a larger space. A 2 car garage can be outfitted to meet most needs.

-methods

So far my attempts at building a cheap, easy, robust "bed stand / ebike parts stash spot" has turned out well!

Does not rock or sway
Has not collapsed and killed the dog

I now have 3 projects worth of junk under the bed... shit that used to either sit in the middle of the room or get moved from the garage every time I needed to work on it.

... Basic Jury-Rigging is an important skill to have ...

Not to be confused with fine wood crafting (as was posted above - thats in another league where I am not at yet)
But to my point -

We want to see Engineers coming in with breadth and depth
Basically... a fresh EE... needs to have basic knowledge (think boot camp level here) of "how stuff works"
Its super important that it is knowledge gained by actual work done -
AND NOT JUST A HEAD FULL OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS
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So if you are the new guy...
Dont be scared!

Just go get yourself a set of tools from the fleamarket
Some wood from the store
And figure out what works and what does not work

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The lessons ALWAYS pay out in your paid engineering jobs.

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Its also relaxing to do shoddy work when you can -
Especially if you have to do super anal work for pay

-methods

Check out the camping and boating shows for compact living ideas; those guys really know how to do it.

FWIW, I could see adding a lot of 4" (10cm) shelves to the wall where a fold-up (Murphy) wall-bed will cover them, when raised. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but you will soon fill up all of those shelves. The bed will not stand out much more, when folded up. Your feet go under the shelves.

For a Murphy-style bed, I'd want an air mattress, both for real comfort and for weight considerations. I have a Sleep Number mattress, but there are many good brands (and prices) available. Use a quilted mattress cover with an air mattress, or you will feel a cold "draft" from under you at night.

My local office supply store had a sweetheart sale on hefty plain wooden two-drawer file cabinets, so I bought a dozen. 8) I bolted them together side-by-side in groups of four, to make both sides and the foot of an industry-standard 60" x 80" (153 cm x 203 cm) bed-frame. That left me with a hidden storage area in the middle. I covered this "bed-frame/drawer" assembly with heavy plywood (to cover the hidden storage and the cabinets) and a thick quilt (to protect the air mattress from the bare plywood). The plywood is 25" (64cm) above the floor. I have 24 drawers to fill now; each drawer is12"Wx18"Lx12"H (30cmW x 46cmL x 30cmH). Since they are file drawers, I put all of the household paperwork in PendaFlex (hanging) folders with tinted ID tabs, in some of the drawers.

X2flier said:

FWIW, I could see adding a lot of 4" (10cm) shelves to the wall where a fold-up (Murphy) wall-bed will cover them, when raised. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but you will soon fill up all of those shelves. The bed will not stand out much more, when folded up. Your feet go under the shelves.

Click to expand...

I suppose. But in our case, my wife is more concerned about decorating that area. But if I was living with the Murphy bed myself, that would be something I'd like to do.

I originally intended to integrate a fold-out desk/table for the first bed, but ran out of time before our guest was due to be using it. Now I'm just no longer motivated.

X2flier said:

For a Murphy-style bed, I'd want an air mattress, both for real comfort and for weight considerations. I have a Sleep Number mattress, but there are many good brands (and prices) available. Use a quilted mattress cover with an air mattress, or you will feel a cold "draft" from under you at night.

Click to expand...

I've never slept on an air mattress that I found particularly comfortable. Also, these particular designs use air springs to counterweight the mattress. So I'd have to either figure out the right replacement spring, or add counterweights to the mattress platform. As it is, folding out or stowing the bed is something that just about anybody could do with one hand. The air spring works well to counter the weight of the mattress.

This one is easy.

Anything that breaths goes outside.
Plenty of room for muh hobbies now. :lol: