Offcuts By: Don Heisz

Ice-Fishing Shack

November 21, 2019

An old friend of mine wanted to build an ice-fishing shack a few years ago. He owns a nice piece of property on a lake north of here. He spends most weekend during the summer there with his family, enjoying the peace and quiet, th...
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To Build a Shed

Since I got the albatross off my neck, namely the one called “the roof”, I thought it would be safe to move onto other...
Roofing is an Adventure

It’s the end on an era, for me at least. For years I have been claiming that I was going to reshingle my house. So many year...
Surrounded By Water

So, I have mentioned before my woes of basement flooding. I have also mentioned – been mentioning, actually, for about four ...
Them’s the Brakes

I must say that I have pretty bad luck with cars. If you venture back in time through these Offcuts, you will likely find referenc...
Ladder Up?

So, I should be an expert using ladders. I’ve been using them since I was very young. We never had a “good” ladd...
Beards

So, a few weeks ago, I went to visit John. We’d not seen each other for about two months and surprised each other since we b...
Battery Tools Should All Take The Same Battery

The title of this post is very straightforward. I don’t like having to toss away perfectly good tools because the batteries ...
Get What You Pay

Some of you may be aware that I like to get a “good deal”. Now, a good deal can range from paying somewhat less for so...
Truly Brushless

So, I’ve been busy. You know, busy with work, yachting, smoking Cuban cigars, eating caviar in Morocco, dodging arrest warra...
More Lawnmower Power

Anyone who has read my Offcuts posts here from the beginning may recall I have had some issues with lawnmowers in the past. You ca...
Fine Old Buildings

Some of you may recall that John and I have gone on a couple of picture-taking drives where we have sought out abandoned buildings...
Violins, Strings, and Other Things

I’ve often wished I could play the violin. In the right hands, it is truly a magical instrument, capable of stirring the mos...
How to Put New Hair on a Violin Bow

What’s a violin without a bow? A fancy ukulele. A guitar for a lemur? An expensive backscratcher? My experience of bows is e...
New Glue for an Old Violin

Last time, I finished with the case. Maybe I almost finished with it, actually. I think it might need a couple of loops for the bo...
Violin Case Repair Part Two

So, after last time, I consider the outside of the case done. I don’t have much desire to redo the finish or replace the har...
Violin Case Repair Part One

To continue from last time, instead of jumping head first into trying to repair the violin, I decided to “restore” the...
A Broken Violin

Last time, I outlined some of my attempts to make musical instruments. I neglected to mention that I did successfully make a solid...
Luthier Adventures

Quite a few years ago, I decided I was going to try to make a musical instrument. The father of one of my friends had made a few a...