§ 03 — WORKSHOP

The personal stuff.

What I make, fix, or break outside of the classroom. Some of it ends up on YouTube. Some of it ends up in the trash. Most of it I'd do again.

Booker the dog resting near a stacked woodpile in the side yard
Weathered hull as bought, sitting on its trailer with the truck in the driveway
Close-up of the rubberized rub rail along the hull edge
Finished green boat on its trailer among the trees
Close-up of a rust spot on the hull before repair
Bare hull set up on blocks in the yard, ready to be flipped for painting
Hull tarped on blocks with primer coat drying, house and truck in the background
Hull tarped on blocks with primer coat drying, shed in the background
Hull flipped upside down on a tarp with primer coat applied
Hull flipped over with a glossy black coat and red pinstripe applied
Black-painted hull with red pinstripe, further along in the yard
Finished boat on its new trailer in the woods, registration on the bow
Close-up of the black-painted hull with red pinstripe
Custom plywood switch panel box built on the workbench
Plywood switch panel box test-fit inside the hull, house and truck in the driveway beyond
New plywood deck and switch panel test-fit in the driveway, wiring still exposed
Plywood deck cutouts fitted in the backyard, shed visible behind
New carpet decking and cushioned seats installed, backyard shed in view
Pedestal seat backs and a bow-mounted trolling motor added
Finished seating and trolling motor setup, back in the driveway
Dusk test of the boat's new lighting, lantern glowing beside the trailer
Night shot testing blue LED lighting from inside the boat
Close-up of red and white LED lighting glowing at night
Close-up of the red LED light modules at night
Night shot of blue LED strip lighting up the boat's frame
Night shot of red LED strip lighting up the boat's frame
Bigger outboard motor mounted on the transom, dusk in the driveway
01 / 26
PERSONAL · 2019–2023

Fishing boat rehab

Picked up a beat-up aluminum jon boat and rebuilt it from the leaf pile up: new transom, deck, paint, rubberized hull, custom LED lighting. Held up to running it up on rocks. Came in over budget thanks to an unexpected trailer purchase, but still way cheaper than a new bass boat. Added real seating and a trolling motor a couple years in, then finally swapped in a bigger outboard. Learned a lot. Had a ton of fun.

[ IN PROGRESS ] ▱ brick_sidewalk.jpg
YARD · 2026

Brick sidewalk + koi pond

Dug and staked the path, paver sand and bricks going down this month, small pre-formed koi pond as a water feature alongside. Walkthrough video to follow.

Old weathered red shed on a property a town over, barn doors open, before I took it apart
Old red shed with doors open, wider view before disassembly
Interior of the old shed with tools and boxes before I salvaged it for parts
Interior of the old shed's frame and rafters, doors open while breaking it down for material
Cleared and leveled square dirt foundation at home for the rebuilt shed
Shed framing going up at home with a mix of salvaged and new studs and rafters
Shed gable end sheathed in plywood with framing still exposed
Shed walls sheathed in plywood, barn-style gambrel roofline visible
Shed walls sheathed in plywood, opposite angle showing the gambrel roof
Close-up of the roof deck sheathing along the eave
Close-up of shingles being applied along the roof ridge
Shed with a fully shingled roof, walls still bare plywood
Overhead view of the finished shingled roof from a ladder
Finished shed painted blue, side view through a gap in the fence
Finished blue shed with a ladder leaning against it in evening light
Finished blue shed with dark shingled roof, front three-quarter view
01 / 16
YARD · 2022

Shed build

Found this old red shed on a property a town over, took it apart board by board, and hauled it home. Rebuilt it from the ground up with half that salvaged material and half new: foundation, framing, plywood siding, shingled gambrel roof, then paint. Still need to add trim and a ramp.

Old rickety wooden steps down the wooded slope, overgrown with moss
Old wooden steps down the slope, another angle showing the wear
Digging out the old steps and staging the slope for rebuilding
New wood-framed step borders being set into the slope
View down the client's wooded slope toward the creek with materials staged
Wood step borders pried up for rework partway down the slope
New step with hand-poured concrete set inside its stained wood border
A second concrete step framed in stained wood, further down the path
Concrete steps framed in stained wood, continuing down the slope toward the creek
Finished run of concrete steps framed in stained wood, leading down through the woods
01 / 10
FREELANCE · 2022

Creek path rebuild

A client in a neighboring town had wooden steps down a slope to the creek that had rotted out completely. Rebuilt the whole run with a stained wood border framing each step and hand-mixed, hand-poured concrete set in the center, step by step.

Google Street View capture of the house years before we bought it, still with its original screened-in porch
Real estate listing photo from when we bought the house, porch already opened up by a previous flip, bare mulch beds
The house as we inherited it, open front porch, car in the driveway, view from the street
Freshly mulched flower bed around a large curbside tree
Ladder and tools set up on the front porch during a repair
New porch steps being framed and painted white
House with truck parked on the bare dirt driveway before gravel was laid
Bare dirt and grass strip along the driveway before regrading
Pile of gravel dumped at the start of the new driveway
Car parked on the new gravel driveway looking toward the road
Car parked on the new gravel driveway, view back toward the house
House and finished gravel driveway on a clear day
New wire fence and gate framing along the driveway edge
Truck parked on the gravel driveway among the trees
Newly mulched planting bed with a rusty steel edging border
Foundation planting bed with fresh mulch along the front walk
Lumber staged for building a new front walkway
String lines and stakes laying out the new front walkway
Lumber form staked out for the front walkway, ready for base material
Wheelbarrow and tools next to the walkway's sand base
Sand base being leveled for the brick walkway
Finished brick walkway laid in the sand base
Small tree and watering can in a freshly mulched bed by the porch
Evergreen shrubs and a hydrangea in the mulched foundation bed
01 / 24
YARD · 2020–PRESENT

Front yard

That first Street View shot is from years before we owned the place, back when it still had the original screened porch, just too good not to include. By the time we bought it in 2020 a previous flip had already opened up the porch. Since then it's gotten a gravel drive, a brick walkway, and mulched beds, and I keep finding new things to change.

Early winter view from the back porch looking out over the bare backyard, before the landscaping work began
Newly built raised garden bed with wire fencing against a wooded backyard
Raised garden beds with wire fencing, expanded with more beds
Five-gallon buckets used as planters lined against the house foundation
Squash vines growing out of buckets against the foundation
Pink rose bush in full bloom in the front foundation bed
Sunflower and squash vines growing in buckets, wheelbarrow nearby
Booker the dog lying in the backyard grass
View down onto the backyard shed and garden beds
Tall sunflower growing on the front porch steps
Small flowering groundcover planted along the foundation
Row of sunflowers growing along the side yard fence line
Rainy-day view of the side yard lawn and fence
Two trees freshly cut down, stumps left in the backyard lawn
Close-up of an old tree trunk with bark damage against the fence
Trees framing a view toward the neighbor's building
Freshly cut tree stump with the truck parked in the sunny backyard
New shed sitting in the wooded backyard, Booker the dog resting nearby
New shed and open lawn area in the backyard
New shed from a different angle, open lawn beyond
Split-rail and wire fence enclosing a section of the backyard lawn
New wood-framed wire fence section under the trees
Wood-framed wire fence stretching across the backyard
Backyard fence line with a dirt mound from post digging
New wire gate and fence panel installed in the grass
Red gas grill set up on the back patio
Freshly cleared fence line with a brush pile
Wood fence and brush pile along the property line
Fire pit and lounge chairs set up under the shed's shade
Shed and patio umbrella set up over a gravel seating area
Patio umbrella and grill on the back patio
Above-ground pool cover staged next to the patio umbrella
Shed, pool, and umbrella set up together in the backyard
Same backyard setup from a different angle, shed and pool visible
Brick path through the backyard leading toward the shed
01 / 36
YARD · 2020–PRESENT

The garden & backyard

Tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins in buckets, an Opuntia cactus that flowered for the first time this year, and a Japanese red maple that surprised everyone by surviving the winter. The yard itself took years too. We cleared dead trees, put up the shed and fencing, and finally got a firepit and a pool out of the deal.

Pile of reclaimed brick and wood pallets staged next to a partially built retaining wall
Freshly dug drainage trench along the side yard fence line
Shovel next to a drainage pipe being laid in the trench
Drain line run stretching back toward the raised bed garden where it outlets
01 / 04
YARD · 2020–2021

Drainage project

Started because the basement kept flooding. Ended with a sump pump line running about 90 feet back from the driveway to the backyard near the raised bed garden, plus separate lines tying in the rain gutters, a cleanout valve for servicing the underground run, a retaining wall, and more digging than I care to remember.

[ INCOMING ] ▱ basement.jpg
HOME

Basement

Rebuilt the stairs going down, and now a workshop corner and a music area are slowly taking over the rest. Photos coming soon.

3D-printed part shown in the slicer software, prepped to print
3D-printed light housing with four LEDs wired in, held in hand
3D-printed nose cone fitted onto a PVC frame pole
Team laying out the float's frame poles at the staging area
3D-printed fitting test-fit onto the propeller for the float's big mechanical drone, which rode up and down on a motor-driven lever
Wiring and electronics box being assembled on a plywood panel
Float frame loaded into the truck bed for transport to the lake
Float frame set up at the water's edge, dock and lake behind it
Dusk view of the lake with the float platform being prepped in the water
Finished float lit up at dusk on the water, Country Drones sign glowing
Finished float fully lit at night, cruising the water during the carnival
01 / 12
COMMUNITY · 2025

Canoe Carnival float

Co-captained the AFO float for the 2025 Medford Lakes Canoe Carnival. Ours was "Take Me Home Country Drones," with 3D-printed lighting mounts, a full LED wiring rig, and a large mechanical drone prop that rode up and down on a motor-driven lever. A projector played drone footage of Medford I'd recorded, synced to a custom cover of the John Denver song, sung by another AFO member. We took 2nd in our division.

Watch the float's footage and song →
[ INCOMING ] ▱ 3d_printing_projects.jpg
HOME · ELEGOO NEPTUNE 3 PRO

3D printing projects

Functional parts, replacement bits, gifts, Warhammer terrain, and the occasional weird experiment. Print log and STL files heading to the Resources page.

[ INCOMING ] ▱ mtb_setup.jpg
RIDING · NJ TRAILS

Mountain biking

Diamondback hardtail 29er, Black Run Preserve, and figuring out a fork upgrade. Got my wife's Jamis back from the shop so we can ride together.

[ INCOMING ] ▱ adeptus_mechanicus.jpg
HOBBY · WARHAMMER 40K

Adeptus Mechanicus army

Painting, magnetizing, terrain. The most appropriate faction for an engineering teacher, obviously.

[ INCOMING ] ▱ fly_fishing.jpg
OUTDOORS

Fly fishing & spin casting

Fly fishing on my own, freshwater spin casting with my oldest daughter. Anywhere with moving water and minimal cell signal.

[ INCOMING ] ▱ home_projects.jpg
FREELANCE · DIY

Home repair & freelance DIY

Whatever needs doing: repairs, upgrades, builds. Sometimes for friends, sometimes for hire.

/THIS SEPTEMBER · UPDATED SEP 2026

What I'm focused on right now