Hands on Katie

I've wanted this for ages.....

After doing absolutely masses of caulking, siliconing and gluing manually on this build, I've finally decided to treat myself! I've seen these for years and they're pricey, but my goodness does this change the game. I can just press the button to evenly stream a perfect bead of caulk whenever I want.

No more sore hands from pumping for hours or dodgy bits from uneven ejections!

The result is way better than I even hoped - I'm now looking for things to caulk around the house.....!...

This stuff is like silicone on steroids...

But boy is it sticky! Sealed all the windows and doors today, so that is the official 100% watertight point!

Starting the build of the cabinets tomorrow morning - so excited!

All those finishing touches.....

Just a quick update on what's keeping me busy!

You know when you think you've just about finished a project like this.... you're about halfway there! So many little finishing touches, peeling off the insulating foam, fitting the window handles and testing they all work correctly (all perfectly aligned thank goodness!)

But I've also managed to get the 'contemplation zone' set up (a sofa!), so I can ponder my bonkers ideas in a bit more comfort!

Let the flame wars begin!! Open source vs Closed source!

I've been wanting to cover this topic for a while and the recent Bambu Lab controversy (as well as the more quietly managed 'closed sourcing' of Prusa) meant I just had to cover it!!

It was also the perfect opportunity to introduce you to one of my little gang - the SV08 that I've had for many months, it's a great beast printer for larger formats.

As an aside, I think 3d printers should abandon bed size measurements in mm/inches and just go to what's important - this let's me p...

Designing in another dimension.....!

Been brainstorming the final layouts for all my devices in the new workshop and I have to say, this is a super handy way to help visualise everything!

I'll include some videos so you can 'see what I see' in upcoming videos once I've got electrics sorted, so I can stream content.

Using AR (so I can see the room, but also overlaid 3d objects) is great as I can really picture the exact sizes of workbenches, how much space I'll have to move around, how high cabinets will be and every...

Longstanding annoyance fixed?

About 6–7 years ago, I installed Tado v2 Thermostats throughout my home. The system has been... meh/underwhelming. For every problem it solved, it seemed to create another. For instance, room-by-room control was a great feature, but it came with terrible battery life and, I kid you not, no support for rechargeable batteries at launch!! On a deeper level, the software architecture has been quite poor, to the point where I’ve essentially replaced their app and...urgh subscription offerings ...

The silliness continues!

Completely unrelated to anything, but as I was joking with some of you over my 'Festool nails' in previous videos, I thought I'd share some more of my silly collection - this is the precise colour of the Hands on Katie logo and text - branded nails eh!?!? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I'll need to think of some other shades to order - ideas welcome!! I think Dewalt colours would be funny too, but hard to be subtle with black and bright yellow!!

Missed some of the build!

I need to dig through all the photos taken along the way as there's LOADS of extra shots and videos of the build.

I'll do a proper 'end to end' video once it's done so you can see the whole process, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share these whilst I'm finishing the painting and flooring (and I'll share those next week!!)

This week's challenge!

• Super clean of the floor - need to get every last grain off before the final floor goes down.
  TOP TIP - robot vacuums are awesome at this job, just leave him to bounce around for hours and you'll have an immaculate surface!

• Lay the floor - gone with some 9mm high quality LVT which should be super tough for all the chemicals, scratching and temperature fluctuations that it'll experience

• Treat and seal the exterior wood

• Paint the exterior...

  2025-01-22 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Packing away the Snowman!

Bit late, but I remembered I wanted to share this is a little tradition I've made whilst I was putting all the Christmas decorations away!

This little snowman I made has a removable head and inside I put little gifts for each of my children and my husband. They can then pull his head off and pull the little strings to pop out their little presents.

Ummm.... it's nicer than it sounds..... decapitating snowmen..... !

Cheater's Guide to 3D Print Designing!

Hey all,

Know quite a few of you have asked about this as a general topic, so I thought I'd throw a quick crash course video together on how to create your own custom 3D Prints!

And I'm building out a resource library of all the cool generators I find, so check this out too as I'll keep adding to it!

https://handsonkatie.com/makers-library/

Hope you enjoy!

A bad workwoman blames...... ;)

Well I've been saving up to upgrade my camera set up - in the hope this will improve my videos a bit!!

So it's just arrived and I'm playing around with all the new buttons! This is a Sony FX3 and it's got some super neat features that will save me lots of time, but it's also just a better camera (full frame) so it should allow some great footage!

Sneak peeks of the workshop interior!

Floor down: DPM, Insulation and Plywood.
Windows in and sealed.
Door on!

It's time to order the final floor, plasterboard for the back wall and an absolute tonne of plywood for making some ultimate units!!

Workshop tidy up

It's absolutely freezing at the moment (around -5C here) so everyone's huddled in their houses, except one mad woman who's pushing on with her workshop build!

Thought I'd tidy up a bit so I can crack on when the weather improves next week - hopefully I can get painting the outside next week if we get a few clear days!

Easter Eggs....

I was just sorting through loads of photos I've missed from last year and I was digging out some of the hidden jokes I put into my videos.

Now some women pick colours to match their hair colour, skin complexion or dresses, but when I get the opportunity to pick my own, I pick far more important colours..... 🤣🤣

Did anyone spot this subtle easter egg in my previous videos?? 🕵️ Perfectly matched to the official brand colours, I'll have you know!

Next-Level Custom NAS Cabinet!

Well this was a little tinker project over the Christmas break for me!

I can't tell you how much I love the final result, it's awesome!!

More NAS Assembly..... and designing the workshop layout in VR!

NAS unit is basically in final assembly - I'm hoping it's going to work really nicely!!

Oh and I've been designing the new workshop layout in VR - highly recommend this as an approach, I'll share in upcoming video. I know architects do this pretty commonly now, but it's such a neat way to visualise the size of units in a space.

I got a Quest 3 for Christmas from Santa (for being good all year!) - augmented reality is a brilliant way to visualise spaces where you are.

.....an...

Happy New NAS Cabinet!!!

Happy New Year all you lovely people!!

Hope you had a wonderful time, I woke up to a splattering of Scottish snow to bring in the new year after most festivities were cancelled due to the awful weather... but as Robert Burns once said:

When winds do howl an’ skies do greet,
Wi’ rain that drowns baith man an’ street,
Dinna curse the stormy beat—
Build a NAS cabinet tae keep life sweet!

Or maybe not....

I've been epoxying the cabinet doors that I've de...

2025 Sneak peeks!!

Hey all!

I couldn't resist one quick video before Christmas to cover off some sneak peeks at what's coming up and cover a few cool things I've been testing!!!

Hope you enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!! 🎄🎁🎄🎁

A new camera!

You will have seen the first glimpse of this little guy in action in my previous video, but expect to see plenty more!

He's great as I can just film myself super easily by setting it to track me or another object!! He's much easier than setting up tripods and things, so I'm actually going to use him wherever possible outdoors for footage!

And of course I had to customise him a bit - I'm forming my own little film crew of robots! Speaking of which, I had a completely bonkers idea ...

I don't look silly at all....

This is the latest device I'm testing as part of my Body Assistant series that I'll be showcasing next year - this is the Sens.ai, an interesting device indeed. I'll report back on if it does absolutely nothing, radically improves my cognitive abilities or turns me full Cylon.... I know which I think would be coolest.... ;)

Underware 2.0: Infinite Cable Management

Right folks, get those cables organised - it's time for Underware 2.0!

Underware 2.0

Oh yes, we're going back here....

More options, more parameters, more innuendoes.....

Prepare your cables for some seriously flexible underware!

(Puns and innuendoes below and I'll see how many I can squeeze into the video!)

Festive Kicks! 👢🎄

Hey all!

Well I know I've got enough to finish before the end of the year already........ BUT I just wanted to sew some Christmas boots for myself!

How was I meant to visit Christmas markets without them???

They look silly I know, but I don't care!!! ✨ 🎁

Pain and Pleasure!

Going hard at the roof this week, been battling through gaps in the weather - final straight now that I'm in the zone!! Everything is going to be soooo much easier in comparison once this roof is on! Laying the floor is child's play in comparison!

But I'm easing my aches and pains, whilst thawing each night with a sauna for a good day's work!!

Shout out to my new drone, who I think I'm calling Lex-Wing who took these photos. It's a super cool upgrade to my old one as it allows me ...

The Nano Wallet!

I seriously deserve some gin!! I really wanted to cover this as an example, as I'm always conscious I walk around my house and there's actually dozens of these tiny little devices that are just as handy as the 'headline' ones, but they never get the limelight!

Well that's four videos in a week! As it's such a simple little project, I knew I'd get shouted at if I shared this AFTER Black Friday as all this SwitchBot stuff is 40%+ off at the moment! (they seem to be one of those firms wh...

Sad News..... 😉

Oh I'm super looking forward to modding the new David Mowie!
Now you folks get the full widescreen cinematic version of my video!!

Note my mum's academy award winning performance!! (she is super delighted about getting David Mowie as they've been struggling with their lawn a bit!)

You all know how awesome I think the Luba range are - such an amazing innovation! However, I do always say to never buy them full price - just wait for the off season sales!

I think I got one of...

More? Yes, more!! Let's talk lasers!!

Ok, as promised the second video that many of you have asked about over the last few months on which laser cutter, so thank you for your patience and hope this helps demystify a bit!

They are very different devices to 3d printers, so it's not as simple as better and better models, these all differ in the materials they can handle and the applications they're best suited to.

Nevertheless, I've tried to give you as much information as possible to help understand the differences!!! 2024-11-19 16:31:29 +0000 UTC View Post

My favourite tool of the year! (Safety AP2)

Hey all!!

As promised first video, I'll publish the other laser one later, so get extra popcorn ready!

This honestly blew me away, it's such a leap forward for air filtering - I look forward to seeing lots of imitation versions from other brands in the coming months!

Oh and xTool have already come back to say they've taken the feedback on opening up its API, so they're going to look at this!!

Enjoy!

Too much exciting stuff!!!

Hey all, I just had to release this soon or it'd become completely out of date!
As you can tell, I actually recorded this with my fresh thoughts straight after the Herbus video, I've just been so busy I've not had a chance to get around to it until now!!

This covers off a few extra thoughts and behind the scenes bits from the Herbus video - I've got the test files ready, but I've got a few hours left to build a dedicated webpage on my site as there's been masses of interest. In addit...