We lost our best friend this week. Here’s to Bodger 1994-2010

Over the years, we have replaced so many doormats that we lost count. When we moved into a house with double doors, it was an even bigger challenge to find something that looked appropriate, that might last for more than one summer. TK came up with what we call the Lifetime Doormat. Made of rectangular steel tubing that has been sliced into 3/4″ pieces and welded together, we will never shop for a doormat again! This mat does it’s job perfectly no matter what time of year. It’s great for stomping sand off your shoes throughout the year, gets the snow off in the winter and in the rare occasion that we have rain, is great to scrape the mud off before entering the house.  It is heavy so instead of shaking it off like you would a normal mat, it catches the debris in between each steel ring and you just run the shop vac over it once in a while to clean it up. It could be inset into concrete or wood decking for a smooth finish. Our Lifetime Doormat can be made any size to accommodate a double or single door entry.

When we were remodeling our first house, we decided to go all the way in the living room and get rid of one of the biggest eyesores in most homes, the big boxy television. (back in 2003 anyway) Our house was small and there was only one wall that would work to hang our new flat screen TV. Problem was, that when you walked in the front door, we didn’t want the first thing you see to be the side of it. TK came up with a solution by making a narrow screen that added interest to the room and blocked the side view of our new toy.

The rails are made of 1″ square tubing, the cross rods are 5/16″ steel rod spaced at 6″ apart, the woven wood came from an 1/8″ door skin that he had left over from a previous project, and there are threaded feet at the top and bottom to help lock it into place. He cut the door skin into 1 3/4″ strips, powder coated the frame and once put together, we had a stylish, economical solution to our problem.

The photo above and the first one below, are of the screen in it’s original location. The other photos are of it in our current home where we placed the screen to give a bit of separation in our open entrance/ living/dining area’s. The close up photo, which was taken by Morgan Satterfield of The Brick House when she came for a visit, shows the simple design, and the other photos I took on a snowy day in the desert. Even if you are a novice welder, you could try this project yourself, or if not, TK can create one for you in any size. Please contact us with questions.

We have posted a number of photos of this outdoor kitchen/sink cabinet while it was being fabricated and installed for artist Andrea Zittel. TK recently completed the project. Made of 14 gauge hot rolled steel with a poured concrete countertop, it’s built to stand up to the extreme desert weather. The steel will rust over time and look even better with age.

You gotta love well made American tools. I found this scroll saw at a swap meet a while back. With a little TLC it works perfectly. It weighs about 115 lbs., is 24″ from the blade to the front of the neck, has a tilting table and an air pump to blow the dust off the cutting area. I’ve been using it for various projects in the shop. In the video I’m cutting out a Bigsby-type arm rest for solid body guitars. They’re available for $85. plus shipping. Contact us for more info.