Saturday, March 12, 2011

Playing with my new toy

I am a life member of the Handyman Club Of America and actively participate in their product test program. I recently was chosen to evaluate a new time-lapse project cam. It's really cool and I have been having lots of fun with it! I thought I'd share this video of me refinishing the top of one of the tables from the breakfast area at the hotel I work for. This is a compilation of the different steps performed over several days.


11 comments:

  1. Cool. That was fascinating, Andy. So how long did this three minutes worth of work take in real time?

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  2. Thanks Sam, I would say about 90 minutes start to finish. That is if you don't count cleaning up all the fine sanding dust that coats my garage now! :) I actually did eight of these tables so I really need to do some dusting now!! :)

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  3. That camera really is fascinating. Does it have different settings on it so that you can control the length of the video, etc.? I can see the usefulness of something like that as a sales tool and a way to produce instructional videos. Yeah, I can imagine the amount of "dust" eight projects like that one would create.

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  4. The camera does have a lot of different options. You can set the frequency of the shots, I used the ASAP setting which just takes them as fast as it can, but it can go as slow as once a day. To save power it will shut off between the delayed shots. You can even have it take a short video clip instead of a still shot. Another neat feature is it's completely weatherproof so it can be set up outside and left. After getting the stills out of it, you just use Windows Movie Maker to compile the video. This video used just over 1500 stills! There is a link to the camera website where it says "time-lapse project cam" if you're interested. I was really excited when I got selected to test this since I get to keep anything I test for free! :)

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  5. Wow, if only it really went as fast as the video that's be amazing! lol That's a pretty neat camera, and it's awesome that you get to keep it. So did you apply one coat of stain and three of Varathane? The table looks fantastic, awesome job Andy!

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  6. Yep, you got it. One coat of stain, then I used three coats of an exterior grade polyurethane for water resistance and durability.

    I was wishing I had set the camera up outside for the last few days because we had 6 inches of snow fall and then completely melt away. It would have made a cool video! :)

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  7. That table looks beautiful. And you did it all in just 3 minutes! :-)

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  8. What a lot of work. The table looks great. Looks like you know what you're doing. The camera works great, too.

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  9. Thanks Nancy, it is always encouraging to know I am succeeding at looking like I know what I am doing! :)

    I have done this kind of stuff all my life, my dad was a builder and taught me and my brother a lot. I enjoy these projects from time to time but I hate the cleanup that follows! :)

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  10. Thanks Cheilsea! It is isn't it? :) I love playing with new gadgets and gizmos! :)

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