Rain, Rain, Go Away

Perfect use for this bike.

     Because I'm doing this in my back yard I'm pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature. This means for the last four days I've pretty much been at a standstill because of rain or the threat of rain. The day after I made all of my fabulous progress I had to take the "L" section off and store it, along with all of the rest of the lumber I have for the project, on the bottom bunk and cover the whole thing with two 9'x12' tarps, the only ones I have. Let me tell you it sure is fun going outside a few times a day to re-cover and/or adjust the tarps because of our wonderful Prairie winds. I finally had the bright idea yesterday to lean bikes against the outside to hold the tarps down. It isn't pretty, but it's working so far.

It doesn't get much more tidy than this.

     Yesterday was nice enough for a few hours for me to do a bit of work, but not on the bunk beds. Instead I built a box to fit inside the window in my basement bike shop room that I could fit a fan into, effectively creating a fitted, removable exhaust fan. The smell of some of the products I use to clean or lubricate my bike(s) bothers Arlene, and it's always a good idea to exhaust any chemical fumes straight outside, especially when you have 2, soon to be 3, kids running around.

A tricky window to fit.

     I had originally wanted to build this box from a salvaged fan, but after a couple of weeks of keeping an eye out and not finding one, I opted to buy a new fan instead. So instead of building a removable exhaust fan box with a permanently mounted fan, I built one with a removeable fan instead. The downside is that it cost more to make, but the box was a lot simpler to construct and now I have a fan to use elsewhere in the house when I'm not using it as an exhaust fan.

    It's a pretty simple box using cheap 2"x4" frame, and 1"x6"planks measuring 7.75" long, with a particle board faceplate to control airflow. Luckily, the two (wood) inset frames' offset distance measured 1.5", which meant the planks could be secured right to the 2x4 box and give a fit fairly snug against the innermost wood frame and the frame of the window itself. The distance on the bottom of the frame was a little greater, at 1-7/16", requiring a 1/16" shim between the 2x4 and the planks. Cutting a length of 2x4 to get a thin strip of wood like that I think was the hardest thing I've had to do on my table saw yet! Funny, but my heart was pounding the whole time!

The shim I'm so proud of!

Backing blocks from scraps

     To prevent the fan from blowing back (having the air I just pushed out blow back in) I put in a face plate that I quickly cut from a piece of 1/4" particle board I had lying around. I secured it to the box by nailing it to a some backing blocks I made from scraps from cutting the 1x6 planks.

Box in window, fan in box.

     And voila! That's pretty much it. Down & dirty. Does the job, and installs and removes very quickly and easily.