Minicel Yoga Block Beverage Holder, Mark II

[Guest]

The poly board seems to be a good suggestion. Try not to over think it though!

The base needs to have some weight to it for stability, perhaps more so if used with a stove and boiling water. I will have to refer back to Glenns wood preferences, and combine that with a poly cutting board, with handle extending beyond the wood base.

 

[Guest]

Still playing with Yoga blocks.

Per Glenns suggestion I tried a couple variations of pad eyes. Some with bungee. This was the only bungeed one that worked, and I did not much care for it. Glenn specificity note, number 6 stainless steel Phillips flat sheet metal screws and a one eighth inch drill seat pad eyes on the wood base perfectly.

P1020310 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I would hate there to come a day when I followed all of Glenns suggestions, so I installed only two pad eyes per base on the last production run. After some experimentation an unadorned pad eye, centered on the narrow end, seemed best.

P1040322 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Per Glenns suggestion I drilled two pencil holes in each minicel block. Glenn specificity note, 19 64eths fits most pencils, a little tight on some pens.

Per my suggestion, which I follow faithfully, I pushed in a 2 inch nail, fully seated into the top of the minicel, for sundry marlinspike uses. Glenn specificity note, Number 8 coated sinkers work well and resist rusting. No hole drilling required.

WallyWorld had only two Yoga blocks left. 2.97 each. Time for the experimental Mark III and Mark IV. Well, not really, there have been more designs than that.

The last of the original all wood models, circa 1990 production.

P1040314 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

One of those is floating in an eddy somewhere, probably along with friend Willies carbon paddle. Using his lifetime guarantee Willie got a single holer minicel replacement. He can make his own customized two holer for more Glennesque purposes.

Custom base cozzie holder, to slide centered along the Optimas raised center keelson.

P1040316 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

A couple of kayak deck models, one for arched decks, one for flat.

P1040318 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr


I had two virgin Yoga Blocks to play with. Cylindrical holes drilled offset this time, closer to one side to allow more space for pencil and etc slots.

P1040325 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Yoga block Number 1 need not be fancy. A simple oak base, two cylindrical slots for water bottle, glasses, flashlight and other miscellaneous nightstand containment, and a couple holes for pens or pencils. Neoprene base so it does not slide on the carpeted side table.

No drain holes, no pad eyes, no bungee. The Tripping Truck Bedside Table will permanently reside alongside the fan and lamp. That simplified TTBT was a piece of cake.

Having dang near run out of boatwork to do it was on to fulfilling other special requests.

Yoga block number 2 was trickier. Glenns evolving criteria for the PNTK are believed by some to require more thought.

This all requires more thought.

This requires more thought.

As Elvis said, This lack of action aint satisfactioning me.

I immediately wondered whether it would fit my Jet Boil stove, which I've knocked over on uneven ground and, worse, in my tent.

First, a heavy wood base, unlikely to be tipped over by even the clumsiest tent or van cooker. The weight does not matter, Glenns portaging days, like mine, are but a memory. Preferrably some exotic wood. How about a 2 lb slab of kiln dried ash a full inch thick? 10.5 x 7.5 inches.

P1040328 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Quarter round routed and sanded. Correction, I suck at identifying scrap wood, but that is a chunk of cherry by sweet router smell alone. Corners rounded so Glenn does not suffer a pointy edge boo boo on his pinky. That is an untipppably weighted base, even for someone in their dotage.

P1040329 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

No drain holes in the base, no neoprene. But I will hit it a lick or two with spar urethane. No wait, not spar urethane. I used an exotic oil mixture. A mixture of one third each spar vanish, boiled linseed oil and turpentine. With some leftover Watco mixed in.

P1040332 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I labeled that can of oil and spar varnish mixture ARKAY MIX, after the guy who first told me how to constitute it. That stuff seemingly never goes bad or solidifies, I have had the same can for 10 years. I dumped a solid hockey puck of Spar Varnish in that can a couple years ago and it has finally fully dissolved. Great use for the dregs of varnish and oil that otherwise might be wasted.

Getting weirder, and more Glenn request centric. A poly cutting board base. BPA free, stain, bacteria and odor resistant, does not dull knives, will not warp, splinter, crack or peel, , non porous, non absorbent, with a full surround cavity to keep juices from spilling over. One each, made in the USA.

8.5 x 11 inch, big enough to fillet any minnow Glenn might catch. With the handle left accessible outside the base as requested.

Gflexed to the bottom of the cherry. Poly and Gflex meant alcohol wipe and propane torch flame treatment for best adhesion. Done and clamped.

P1040336 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Glenns other requests for fully seated knife and utensil slot criteria posed a challenge.

I like a challenge.

If I remember Glenns criteria correctly, some kind of lengthwise slot to accommodate a fork and long handle spork, a folding knife, a small flashlight, a bag of weed and a hidden Viagra stash. How the heck to accomplish that?

It should be foam. It should be blue foam. It should have a neatly carved, easily enlargeable 1 inch tunnel along its length. Those specifications could be complex to fulfill.

I had a shop scrap idea, without having to buy a minicel dado blade, or borrow Glenns spork for sizing.

Noodle, pool, hollow, leftover scrap from the Walmart spring collection, circa 2015.

P1040334 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Cut 8.5 inches long lengthwise with the band saw and attached as half inch hollow sleeves on the long sides. Contact cement and heat gun installed on yoga block sides.

P1040338 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Custom convex carved minicel Jetboil fuel canister plug and 1 inch tall flat topped mug handle plug. A 1.5 tall plug, just in case, and a brand new Duckhead coozie.

P1040340 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Four pad eyes attached with SS screws. Two pencil holes drilled. One marlinspike coated nail embedded, cause Mike said so. Small piece of Dragonskin for future minicel sculpting.

Uh, oh, Harmony dragon skin is discontinued.

Yes, Dragonskin was discontinued. Soon after it was DougD and I bought every available pack at BMO. I have never even opened the two new packs of Dragonskin I bought. Should be a lifetime supply.

P1040324 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Now, since one must want and waste not, some purpose should be found for those circular foam pieces.

Half round minicel extension pods on the ends of the yoga block, just to make it completely Glenn centric. More blank space for Glenn to drill custom holes. If only he had access to that most basic of power tools, an electric drill.

The dang thing looks like an early version of the starship Enterprise.

P1040342 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

P1040343 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Portable Night Table Kitchen. These are the voyages of the PNTK. Its mission, to explore strange new campgrounds, to seek out new foods and new preparation, to boldly go where no PNTK has gone before.

Now I just need Glenns address so it can be field tested and improved.

 

[Guest]

Funny business at BMO

I have a history of hiding oddball paddles in Blue Mountain Outfitters racks when no one is looking, complete with a descriptive make and model tag, but no price, so a curious shopper would have to bring it up to the counter.

Years ago, a Canadian Style Greenland Paddle. Two broken hockey sticks scarf jointed together with blades on either end. One of the owners found it in the racks next morning and shouted Who the heck ordered this!

A few years later I left a warped and blade busted Feathercraft. Half the grip and part of the blade was missing, and the shaft warped and wapped. Shaped, sanded and lovingly revarnished, with a couple different sized hole saw cut outs in the remaining portion of the blade.

That stick looked like Dr Seuss meets Salvador Dali. It was tagged as a Three Mile Island Asymmetrical Double Bent, and sported radioactive material stickers on the blade.

BMO discovered that the hole saw cut outs on the blade were perfectly sized for holding and passing Solo cups. Unintended serendipity.

I needed a shop supply of outfitting bits and pieces, flange washers, wide head foot brace rivets, minicel and double D rings. As always BMO had it all in stock. While there I hid one of the Mark II minicel yoga block beverage holders under a mound of spray skirts in the back of the shop. With the usual laminated product tag affixed, described as

Paddlers Console
Holds most cylindrical canteens and coffee cups
Dry storage under ashtray, pencil & marlinspike nail
High flotation with non-skid base with pad eye tie downs
(Beverage not included)

I got an email a few days later from the owners, commenting that The Marlinspike Fairy had paid them a visit. That at least sounds more macho than the Canyon Fairy.

 

[latremorej]

Haha! A good read and laugh to go with it! Nice work, how much does that beast tip the scales at?

Jason

 

[Guest]

Haha! A good read and laugh to go with it! Nice work, how much does that beast tip the scales at?

I hid one of the standard Mark II beverage holder consoles at BMO, not the MacGrady kitchen model.

The plain two-holers weigh 10 ounces.

 

[Guest]

Two-holer canoe consoles for ultra-light aficionados.

Yippie, I was in Wally-World and noticed that they now sell grey yoga blocks, just a shade lighter than the usual grey minicel outfitting.

PC191449 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

That would look much nicer than the bright blue yoga blocks cut up and carved out as canoe outfitting. I still had four blue yoga blocks in the shop, lots of scrap rectangular exercise flooring, contact cement and a brand new 3 ½” hole saw with a deeper cutting blade.

Time to make another batch of 2-holer canoe consoles. The last dozen I made went fast (it may have been the suggested MSRP).

Skipping the wood base this time. That wood base was a carryover from when I made the insulating minicel base circular; those narrower cylinders needed the wood base for added weight stability.

PC230195 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Going with a 9” x 6” base two-holer that stabilizing weight is superfluous. And, mostly, I don’t need to cut and rout and sand and varnish the wood bases, which was a huge time, waiting for multiple coats of varnish to dry, sand and revarnish. Nor the need for a non-skid neoprene base either, just contact cement the two minicel pieces together and call them done.

With the new deeper hole saw the cylinders are smooth sided perfection, only one hole needed Dragonskinning, and the drill press construction for 8 holes took only minutes, plus a half hour waiting for multiple coats of contact cement to dry before heat gunning and pressing the pieces together.

I added a bead of Goop around the perimeter of the contact cemented together pieces as usual, also using up unwanted shop stock; I had partial tubes of Goop and Plumber’s Goop, but have come to prefer Dan Cooke’s suggestion of E6000 over any of the other tube squeezable adhesive sealants.

Yoga block insulating tops and scrap exercise flooring bottoms.

PC191451 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Finish weight 3 ounces, vs 10 oz for the wood based Mark II versions.

I noticed that WallyWorld now sells Yoga Blocks with a floral print, which would make a perfect console for the fashionable Mrs. Plaid Prancer, provided Mr. Plaid Prancer has a 3 ½” hole saw, contact cement and a drill press.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evolve-Fashion-Yoga-Block/514873782

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Mike, I thought you'd like to see this...



Apparently, you can glue foam to HDPE. I roughed up a piece of clean cutting board with 60 grit, and cemented it with g-flex. It seems to be holding very well. Now my paddling buddy can also turn the drink holder over in camp and use it for a cutting board. Unseen behind the strap, is a slot for the I-phone/camera. I'm set to make another for myself, but with slots for gps and pocket camera.

 

[Guest]

Apparently, you can glue foam to HDPE. I roughed up a piece of clean cutting board with 60 grit, and cemented it with g-flex. It seems to be holding very well. Now my paddling buddy can also turn the drink holder over in camp and use it for a cutting board. Unseen behind the strap, is a slot for the I-phone/camera. I'm set to make another for myself, but with slots for gps and pocket camera.

I like it. That inexpensive cutting board plastic is handy stuff for a number of different purposes, including as a cutting board. In camp, or even in boat; slice me off some cheese and salami while we muckle up and float for a spell.

How did you make the I-phone/camera slot? I hadn’t considered cutting a slot for my little waterproof digital camera. I would probably take more photos if the camera was instantly available stuck inside the minicel console at arm’s length.

No pocket or zipper or bag to open; all reasons to miss shots, or simply not take them. Because of that inconvenience I sometimes stick that camera under a thwart bungee. It is at least quickly available, but I don’t like how it gets splash dripped and banged around, and how the heck did I sprinkle sand atop that thwart? (Answer, inattentive wet foot entry).

I like the concept of just plucking the little camera out of the minicel console and stuffing it back in when done. Especially the “putting back” part. There’s too often that thing with stopping to take a photograph, drifting off course and the suddenly facing the competing needs to put the camera away and oh-crap take a corrective stroke. Taking the oh-crap stroke while holding the camera is not a good compromise.

I’d rather not have Dragonskined crumblies in that camera slot. For crisp slot cutting I’m thinking slice one end off the minicel block off with the bandsaw, cut a rectangular slot from one fresh side using a coping saw, and contact cement the two halves back together.

I have some virgin yoga blocks in the shop to measure and ponder. That camera is 4” x 2 ½” x 7/8”, and all of the controls are on the last inch of one side.

I’m thinking a tight slot to hold the camera in place, securely enough that it would stay stuck and float with the console in a capsize (the sole security advantage of a pocket/zipper/bag storage). I would not want the controls compressed in the minicel sleeve, lest something inadvertently turn on or change setting.

So sunk only screen deep and easier to pluck out; call it a slot 3/4” x 2 ¼”, but only 2 ½” deep. I could just cut a bottom filler piece from the slot removal waste and glue it in place as a base riser.

Hmmm, I do still want the convenience of a two-holer, plus minicel yoga block space for a camera slot. Maybe one 3 ¼” diameter hole for a coozie, one 2 ¾” diameter hole for a naked can or 800ml Kleen Kanteen and a rectangular slot for the camera.

Playing with a fresh yoga block, coozie, can and camera - if I offset the two cylindrical holes I’ll have just enough room left at one end for a camera slot.

I like it. I’m gonna give it a shot as well.

Dammit Steve, I’m psyched to start right now, but I just finished some skid plate epoxy work and don’t want to be making minicel dust in the shop. With the hole saws in the drill press that minicel dust goes everywhere.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Mike, I cheated. I used a mortising tool and bit that attaches to the quill on my drill press. A half dozen single file square holes, and the deed was done.

 

[Guest]

Shout out to Steve in Idaho for an excellent idea.

Holes cut, 3 ½” hole for beverage coozie, offset 3” hole for naked can or canteen, both loose enough that the coozie or canteen lifts out easily.

PB200023 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Minicel slab cut from one corner, and camera slot cut.

PB200024 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Minicel bottom spacer cut from the waste piece so the fully seated camera sticks up far enough to grasp and pluck out from the (tight fitted) console slot.

PB200026 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Three timed coats of contact cement on the minicel pieces and a little heat gun action.

PB200030 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Carefully press together and pray it is aligned correctly. The Sharpie line on the slot cut side helped.

(OK, there was a disheartening late night, hurry to finish contact cement mistake that needed to dry and be sanded away. At least I didn’t glue in a butt-cheek shaped foam seat facing in the wrong direction)

PB200032 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr


Once cured a bead of E-6000 adhesive sealant along the cuts, just cause I know it works well on minicel edges.

PB200034 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I like a hard-to-tip-over weighty wood base, both on the floor of the boat and in camp use. Cut, routered, sanded and drain holes drilled for the sweaty beverage slots.

PB220042 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Lightly sanded base, contact cemented to the minicel console. I like it, the slot is tight enough that the camera doesn’t fall out even if held upside down. That camera, while waterproof, does not float, so that wedged-in-place could be a good thing. Hoping I don’t prove that anytime soon.

20191123_110441 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Having the camera more readily available to pluck out (and, especially, hurriedly drifting off course stuff back in) may lead me to take more photos, both underway and while in camp. Paraphrasing Mr. Gretzky,

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/wayne_gretzky_378694

The console still needs a no-slide neoprene base, but I’m out of old neoprene. And a hole drilled for an ever ready trip note pencil. Maybe a Bic lighter slot; the imagination runs wild.

Grey minicel chunks, 9” x 6” x 4” (they got thicker, used to be 9x6x3). Couple bucks at Walmart.

PB220043 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

With a saw and some Dragonskin those WallyWorld yoga blocks have many outfitting possibilities, from canoe consoles to knee cups/pads to DIY foam block roof rack cushions.