Today I stepped it up a notch. I’m still playing the one man’s trash is another man’s treasure game. The funding for this endeavor is from items I found in the garbage and sold on eBay. 

After my first purchase of a vintage 1966 Seiko automatic ~ I spent $340 on watches. Since then I have recovered all but $54 and still have 2 watches and 3 straps to go. I’ve documented it all in a pending article.

Round 2:

Look what I bought today;
1) eBay: A Hamilton Automatic – my guess, sight unseen, is a 1958-60 K-458. Described as “works and is in great shape except for some scratches…” from the seller trying to open.

2) Ashford: I need a watch to wear and dealnews.com had a coupon for this mil-style SNGZ15 for $79 delivered… figured the reliable 7S36 will make a fun beater. It’s big~!

3) shopgoodwill: None too cheap for a “non-working” unidentified “dirty” old watch but I was still sore for losing on a dreamy Zodiac Glorious this morning. I failed on the Zodiac at $145 based on a 7 word listing with a blurry photo from a sketchy seller. Can anyone relate to the feeling of losing an auction… for an item that strikes a chord in your heart… that you were willing to go higher on… that you know is worth double.. but you ran out of time to think clearly in the final seconds ~ it’s brutal~!
I think this one is a 1958-60 Accumatic III. We’ll see soon enough.

That’s two vintage Hamilton’s and a new Seiko in one day. Somehow, I have to stop thinking about watches. How much did I spend on all three? $227. (the price of 4 hearing aids I found in the bottom of a bag of bathroom garbage that, even though I wore gloves, was gross. …was it worth it? lol… would you like to find a brand new Seiko SNZG15 in the trash with two vintage Hamilton automatics next to it?)

I’ll let you know how it goes when I write ‘flipping time; part 2′. I intend to learn about crystal replacement with these old Hamiltons. I will clean the non-functional one and sell one or the other when it looks pristine. I hope to fetch $200 for the one with the sweet deco lugs… an Accumatic?

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After selling my 1966 Seiko 5 Sportsmatic Deluxe, I chose a Tourneau-branded watch for daily wear.  The simple but sophisticated design is complimented by a new lizard band and I’m pleased with my $33 investment.

Find out what’s inside: 

Inside the caseback we can see a number, my guess is model/movement: T watch corp. 3050-0012. Today, Google says “Your search - tourneau 3050-0012 - did not match any documents.”

Finally, the movement… signed: T watch corp. unadjusted seventeen 17 jewels, Japan 0012

When was this Tourneau watch sold?
Was this 0012 movement made specifically for Tourneau?

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It began with the requirement; “analog watch with a second hand” – A watch for school, to record patient’s vitals. A $25 Timex would have been perfect, but, of course, I have to be difficult.

I queued dozens of watches in my Amazon wishlist. Querying the members of watchuseek.com was all it took for me to become hooked on horology. Since then I’ve begun to create a list of my watches here on wkp.us, buying vintage pieces online and delving into the world of watchmaking.

Had I known I’d take this turn I might not have sold three old Seiko’s and my broken Luminox.

watchuseek.com will have you ‘hooked’ on watches no time. There are Seiko ‘fanatics’ on that site that changed my desire for a T-Classic Tissot Tradition to a Seiko Automatic in hours. Set on wearing a classic 60′s style watch, I hastily ordered an Asian-market diver (Seiko SNZF25K1) that doesn’t resemble the watch I wanted at all~!

I’ve always been very much a seller on eBay and not much of a buyer. Now I’m watching as many items as I’m selling. I’ve already purchased three watches that predate my birth.

My first win was a Seiko 5 Sportsmatic Deluxe, a 25 jewel automatic manufactured in May of 1966.

This watch had some identifiable issues. One never is sure what “As-Is” means until you get your hands on it however, the crystal is ok, the case and caseback are fine and the watch runs smoothly.

I’m very pleased with my first purchase.

My idea here was not to win something I could wear tomorrow. (though that would be a bit more practical.) Watchmaking is perfect for my perfectionist eye and my penchant for mechanics. I’ve spent some eBay profits on a few new tools to compliment my existing array of small tools. My first buy was a Digital Caliper.

Look at this 25 jewel automatic movement made in Japan in 1966.

I did my first watch repair after taking some dilaudid with red wine. I questioned my timing but everything went smoothly. Time disappeared while engrossed in the microscopic world of being hyper-vigilant under 10x magnification. I reset the hands and cleaned up the dial and inside of the crystal. I gave the watch a few shakes and went to bed. 12 hours later, the watch was right on time~!

Since then, I’ve been wearing this 1966 Seiko every day. It’s has kept time perfectly and, amazingly, held it’s “charge” for 30 hours when I set it down over Easter weekend. I believe I will sell it to raise money for that darn Sea-Gull that’s pestering me but honestly I will hate to see this one go. After wearing it about a month, I am certain this is the perfect watch for me~!

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The Veterinarian called and said she’ll fix up my dog if I’ll build them a chicken coop.

I agreed and set out to build what would become a full-sized chicken coop comprised of 4 sides and a roof that fastened together with 12 screws and featured a drop-in floor and nesting boxes, accented with custom stenciled ventilation holes.

My first Chicken coop, The Coop de Grace, is an example of my craftwork and a fine home for our chickens but my second coop is something special, it’s the Coop d’Go and it’s made for delivery.

I started with… no idea, little $$ and a deadline. I had no idea what it would look like, no idea how I would assemble the pieces, no idea what materials to use… not much to go on… but I started.

My first step is usually some blueprints but for this project I started with a trip to the lumber yard where I picked out (30) 2″x 3″ studs and (2) sheets of the cheapest sheathing I could find (7/16″ pressboard – yuck)

I drove home in the rain, so I set up my E-Z UP Canopy which has come in handy for a lot more work days than ‘camping’ days.

Even without a plan, you can build a house. I started by choosing (from mid-air… or by measuring the coop d’grace) a height for the ‘low side’, a length for the ‘long wall’ and a height off the ground for the floor level.

Since I started writing this article at 2:30am, just moments before I drive the Coop d’Go to Pennsylvania… I’ll have to update ya’ll when I get back.

OK, I’m back – check it out~!

It’s done, it’s installed, well-received and lived in already~!

After 7 hours in the car, 30 minutes of assembly time and a few hours visit, I’m glad to be home. I’ve completed my second Chicken Coop and I’d like to share the details of it’s construction, purpose and completion. 

I started this project with little idea but also little time so, I got right to it. The single most important factor in my method of construction was choosing a siding. My choice was some reclaimed solid cedar siding that I removed from a chimney this past winter. These old boards have plenty of life in them and the result is a beautiful interior of natural cedar for the birds.

Since I needed to fit this onto my pickup truck, moreover since I had to physically muster the entire structure single-handedly, I decided to make this full-sized chicken coop in several manageable sections.

During construction, the removal on an end panel was so easy that I found myself taking off one side or the other several times throughout. Though I built it as a whole, the end panels were secured from the interior with 2 screws each side and 2 into the rafter. Six screws on each end panel hold this entire house together. Taking it apart and putting it back together square is simple. Everything aligns an fits together precisely. (I was careful.)

The Coop d’Go packed up nicely for the trip to meet it’s new inhabitants. We left so early in the morning that I caught this snapshot of the sun rising over Philadelphia as we headed west on the highway 76.

I really enjoyed making this, my second, chicken coop. From the stenciled ventilation holes to the operable laminated-glass window to the removable flooring this house was an interesting build. It’s collapsible nature turned out to be pretty impressive. Once re-assembled on site, the drop-in parts included the flooring panels, the nesting box, roost dowels and a ramp for the exterior. I had already predrilled for the only thing added on site; hooks into the rafters with rope ended with s-hooks for adult-sized water and feed jugs.

Here’s a rare shot of Kim with coop #2; The Coop d’Go.

Here is a gallery of images showing the progression of this portable chicken coop. Feel free to ask questions or leave a comment below. I hope this coop serves it’s new caretakers for a long time to come. Thanks for fixing up my doggie.

You can see both my doggies throughout this gallery. They especially like being a part of any project that has to do with birds.

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Happy 4th!

My first American flag tie dye shirt.

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My first tie-dye using black dye to surround the designs but came out vibrant and amazing.

THE FRONT, Heart

THE BACK, Peace

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I didn’t venture to the Art Supply just for a Barista, I went for a newborn that needs some sweet wraps. Here’s a gallery of his new tie-dye baby clothes, most of which Ember dyed.

I did sneak in a pillowcase for my own bed, tied and dyed to my own liking~!

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Over the past few months, I’ve made quite a few tie-dyes. Below I’ve posted my basic steps followed by a few shots of the king size tie-dye sheets set I made most recently. I think these sheets came out beautifully and represent my dying skill right now which is yet far from advanced. 

Starting with a table of supplies and dyes,

I tie up a white cotton garment. Here is a T-shirt ‘tied’ with a V pattern.

Dying is an somewhat of an art, as you can’t tell the result at this time.

…and the result:

So how did the sheets come out? – Pretty spectacular!

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I started with a single pillowcase to see how things were going this time around.

I liked the results so I continued without a plan. For the tie-dyed king size fitted sheet I thought an infinity symbol would be nice to sleep on, it’s a bit 8 looking but believe me, it’s an infinity symbol!

For the top sheet, I used a five-pointed star in the center and added two double-spirals at the footboard. Notice that every part of this sheet was tied including pleated edges with a little red-white-blue. The idea here was to make sheets that were predominately brown.

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Muahahah. Damn the Overlord.

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Hearts, Peace signs, Stars… it’s a colorful tie-dye blast. Here’s my unprofessional batch (without sodium alginate) of tie-dyes, all a test of technique for an upcoming project, due on the 25th of this month.

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Here’s another product/ability I’d like to have: Multiple cut-and-paste.

I constantly use cut and paste. On my Macbook the Command, C and V keys are shiny from use. There is a feature I have always wanted and that’s multiple cut and paste.

I’d like to be able to cut (copy to clipboard) several pieces of information; a song lyric, an image, a file title, a link and a symbol or whatever and then be able to paste any.

I could cut them in order and be able to paste them all at once or
I could cut them in any order and press command-spacebar-v and a menu will come up asking which to paste.

This has been a feature I would like to have for a few years now. Someone at Apple Computers please add that to the next OS. Just wanted to put this out there since I’ll never get around to writing a program to do it. I have a great idea for a phone app too.

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