Making Handbalancing Canes

Here’s a quick DIY for making handbalancing canes. My daughter and I built these in an afternoon. They’re great for working on handstands, press-ups, L-sits, dips, and handbalancing tricks. We use them during aerial straps classes at Cirque School LA, so I thought it would be fun to make a set at home.

Parts:
-One 2’x’2′ piece of 3/4″ plywood (we started with pine, but that was too soft) cut down to three sections
-Two 4″ lengths of 2×4 for hand blocks (I used some scrap framing pulled from our 1939 house during a renovation)
-Four 3/4″ floor flanges
-Two 18″ sections of threaded 3/4″ black pipe (you can choose 12″ for a shorter stand, and can always swap them out later)
-Twelve #10 1-1/2″ screws
-Sixteen #10 3/4″ screws

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CNC Circuit Playground Holder

I decided I needed a Circuit Playground and Circuit Playground Express render farm. Here’s the stand I made on the CNC machine.

I designed it in Fusion 360 and then milled it with the Othermill Pro. First, I ran a pocket clearing pass.

Next, I ran a pencil pass to clear out the scooped out slots for the curvature of the boards.

These rough passes left behind a bit of material, as you can see here.

The final cleanup was a parallel pass with a fairly tight stepover, I ran it at 90 degrees from the stock, so it followed the grooves and had longer runs.

Here it is with a Circuit Playground Express nestled in it lovingly.

Here you’ll see some purple prototype boards, and the new red Circuit Playground Classic Digi-Key will be selling as part of the “buy one , give one” donation program for Girls Who Code

Here’s the full set, ready for various tutorials I’m working on with MakeCode, Arduino, and Circuit Python!

CNC bench on wheels

I got this nice little bench from a picker I know. I try to put everything in my shop on casters, but didn’t want to spend too much, so here’s a set of old casters I got for $5 being hacked into a pice of plywood.

 I cut out some footholds from scrap on the bandsaw.

Estate Sale pan and knife

Hit a semi-disappointing sale this morning. Not too much of interest, or as pickers say, nothing had any age on it.

The two finds I did get: a great little Griswold no. 3 cast iron pan for $5. Nicely seasoned, probably perfect for a grilled cheese sandwich I’ll be making for lunch…

The other thing I picked up is this kooky Keen Kutter pocket knife. It’s a bone handled Barlow model, made from 1940-1960. Blade marked “K288 1/2”.

I call it kooky due to the tip. Looks like the previous owner snapped it off and then did a nice job cleaning it up into a concave dip. I probably paid too much at $10, but I like its apparent history.

I can tell from the other knives at the estate that the previous owner really had a problem with using knives as screwdrivers/pry bars. At least this one has a nifty attempt at saving it.

Coffee & Tool & Coffee Tool of the Day

Today I’m featuring an electrician’s Leatherman, the E4 Squirt, and a Modern Times (beer brewer/coffee roaster from San Diego) Black House coffee brewed in a Bialetti moka pot my mom gave me. (I think it was from my Zia Wanda’s kitchen in Cassino, Italy.)

I really like the E4 because it’s got a good set of wire strippers/cutters on it, and the Philips screwdriver is a pretty nice one. I keep it in my jeans coin pocket.

Coffee & Tool of the Day

Inspired by Dominic Morrow’s Tool of the Day posts, here’s my new feature: Coffee & Tool of the Day.

The macchiato is from Commissary Coffee in Burbank, the pico widgy pry bar is from County Comm, and is a great little tool to keep on your keychain.

Sheet Metal Tool Tray

I harvested sheet metal from an old fluorescent light fixture, and spot welded strips together to make a little tool tray.