With the outhouse roof coming out well, I decided to jump into a larger paintcrete project. I have wanted to get back into rabbit breeding. Additionally, I have planned a paintcrete rabbit hutch for a few years, I just never go the gumption to actually do it.
This project is a little different than my outhouse. I am using better paint, less mortar mix, and sheets instead of window screen.
I already had the nails and the mortar mix, but the wood and paint cost me $53.00 at Lowe’s. The sheets were a few dollars at the good will, so this is a rather inexpensive project.
The biggest problem is my choice of wood. I used cheaper 2×3 lumber instead of 2z4 lumber, which caused a lot of splitting during nailing.
This has caused a lot of side to side movement, so I will need to buy more wood next paycheck.
In this project I was more consistent with my mix, and I made a much more liquid mix than I did with the outhouse.
I used a 24 ounce water bottle with the top cut off to measure the liquid and a large container of cottage cheese to measure the mortar.
Next, I used two scoops of mortar to a bottle of paint and a bottle of water. After fixing very well, I found I could easily paint this mix on the sheets.
It went on pretty easy, and when I was done, the inside of the sheet was very smoothly coated with the paintcrete mix. I actually found the inside rather attractive and finished looking – especially compared to the rough outer texture.
In the second video I show the completed hutch standing in place in my back yard.
The roof is mostly done and so is the back wall. The paintcrete rabbit hutch does need a few more coats of paintcrete to get sturdy, but the thick coats take a while to dry.
When I went to the store to get more miss-mixed paint they did not have any except some $25.00 premium paints. In looking for cheaper paint I found a $10.00 brand of PVA primer.
In doing some internet research, I found where contractors mix PVA sealer into cement to increase flexibility, reduce cracking, allow the cement to bond better, and yes to increase its ability to resist water penetration.
All of the things I am looking for. The particular paint I am using is sold as a drywall sealer, so I had no issue mixing it with mortar.
It sticks better than the other paints I have tried, costs the same as the mis-tinted paint I have been buying at a discount, and, being new paint, I can tint it. I choose a light brown color so it would look like adobe plaster because I have always been fond of that color.
I got back into building AR pattern rifles last year and made a couple to meet my personal desires. As always I like pushing the envelop and thought of manufacturing my own lowers for my personal use.
Research into this lead me to cast epoxy lower receivers. I have heard good things about them. The cost is reasonale. However, I do have some reservations to having a plastic rifle.
In the spirit of exploration and trying new things I want to build a plastic fantastic AR-15 and see just how useful a home cast AR lower can be.
Legal Caveat:
I don’t know your state and local laws and I am not a lawyer.
I do know that this is federally legal as long as you don’t build them for commercial purposes or transfer the guns to someone without having serial numbers and proper federal paperwork.
Since this is my gun to never leave my state or my possession it is my right per the Tennessee Firearm Freedom Act to be able to make a legal semi-automatic rifle. However, there are regulatory restraints within that law as well.
So please watch the Plastic Fantastic AR-15 I Introduction as the first of a 5 part series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG7NRMyLtXw
In this video above I show how I went about molding the lower receiver using the freedom-15 mold kit. This kit is not hard to put together, and it is a pretty ingenious idea.
It is pretty well documented on their website and the kit comes with instructions.
The only thing I found difficult in the molding process is bending the buffer tube support to fit inside the mold.
It was, without a doubt, the most difficult portion of the process. It is also something that caused blemishes in the final product.
I had places where the metal support touched the side of the mold so that it showed through the epoxy on the side of the finished receiver.
This did not impact the final product in terms of usability, it did hurt the lower cosmetically.
Once again I have my doubts about a plastic AR-15 Lower receiver, but if it works it would be awesome to be able to make my own 100% lowers whenever I want. The price of that is not bad. However, it you are looking at straight cost, there are cheaper ways of getting AR-15 stripped lowers.
In part III I focused on Heat Treating the Polymer AR-15. This is am additional step in making the freedom15 lower stronger and is recommended by the manufacturer.
I also compare the finished lowers side by side to show the various shades of black and grey and tell the corresponding numbers of drops of black pigment per lower.
Additionally, I talk about how I broke one of the lowers in the de-molding process and how that happened so you can avoid wasting one of your lowers.
Making these were pretty easy. You can allot about 2 hours per lower, and the company says and one hour and forty five minutes per lower is average.
I took somewhere between the two, but I was closer to 1:45 than 2.
Heat Treating the Polymer AR-15
The manufacturer recommends a 12 hour air cure at 70F+ air temps before heat treating the Feedom15 lower receiver.
Set a small toaster oven at 135F
Insert the lower into the oven so that it sits upright on the mag well
Bake for 2 hours.
Heat Treating the Polymer AR-15 is not required…..however the manufacturer states it will make the lower stronger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKL9y7VIJzw
This video is a 10 minute instruction on building and AR-15 Lower Receiver. This lower build happens to be on a Freedom15 Polymer lower, so it is a little different.
Building an AR-15 lower is not hard, and can be done with common hand tools in less than 30 minutes, even by a first time builder.
However, building an AR is pretty simple, but sometimes things go wrong and may take a little more to get functioning.
I took the plastic fantastic to Royal Range for the Polymer AR-15 Test Fire. You may remember I went to Royal Range and did a construction video before they opened.
I did like the range setup a lot, but the rifle did not meet my expectations.
It fired, but would not pick up a second round. At this point I am willing to assume that it is my 1990’s era GI magazines, as they are pretty old and banged up.
My plan is to go get me some new p-mags and try again after working on the gun a little.
Hopefully my next Polymer AR-15 Test Fire will live up to my expectations and I can test the gun until I burn it up.
If I can get 100 rounds out of the gun in a row I will feel like it was a positive test, as some who want an off the books lower would only need it to get a better gun in the event of a total confiscation of weapons. At least that is a thought process of a potential reason to make your own 100% lower.
Okay I bought new magazines, I cleaned up the gun, and I have brand new ammunition.
As you can see from the video it did not go well. After taking the gun back to the shop I found that the pins walked and elongated the hammer pin hole.
Elongated Pin holes can cause the gun will fire more than one round when the trigger is pulled. As you can imagine that is dangerous if not anticipated. Additionally, the BATFE has gotten convictions for the possession of an unregistered machine gun. They have pursued this on occasion knowing that it was the result of an undesired firearm malfunction.
To keep this from happening again I built up one of the other lowers and too my surprise the upper did not fit.
4 out of 5 of my freedom 15 lowers my upper did not bolt on. I could not find an upper to fit them.
The freedom15 company gave me the story that they have loose and tight US Mil-Spec and they make the lower to the tight spec and I needed to find an upper that was made to loose spec.
That sounded like BS, but I asked them if they knew a “loose specification upper” manufacturer. They could not tell me and I could not find any company that advertised such.
The gunsmiths I talked to thought I was an idiot for asking.
Anyway, to try to salvage it I got some anti-walk pins, but even that did not solve the problem on the original lower.
I rule this entire thing a bust. I know that some have had good results with these lowers, but their customer service showed that they are plastic guys not gun guys and they could not answer specific questions about the AR.
Improvised pyrotechnic igniters are awesome. Heck, any kind of legal pyrotechnics is awesome. The only thing that comes close is eating bacon wrapped jalapenos while your hot wife rubs your feet while you watch a John Wayne movie.
Since few things are better than shooting fireworks, especially fireworks you made I want to share with you how I make improvised different improvised pyrotechnic igniters for fireworks and campfires.
The first time I saw electrically initiated fire I was at a Boy Scout program at the state park my father worked as a ranger. The Scoutmaster set up a couple of igniters in some accelerant and made the campfire ignite remotely.
It was magical to see someone wire a bunch of tiny little wires to a radio receiver and later press a button and cause a huge fire to “whoosh” into existence. From that point I was hooked.
The adults were smart enough to keep me from knowing too many details at the time. However as I grew up I came to understand I had a fascination with the “whoosh” of making things burn.
These are Not Blasting Caps
This is a pretty cool think to know, its not likely to be missused because this is not a blasting cap. Consequently, it is not going to help a terrorist make a bomb. It will, however, make a boy scout at a jamboree happy as the campfire magically lights.
The DIY igniter videos below show several types of electric matches. I use different systems like Nichrome wire, steel wool, and bits of thin copper wire. Additionally I use matches and homemade nitrocellulose lacquer (that I extracted from ping pong balls). Since they are improvised they don’t work quite as well as commercial squibs, but they do work.
Now as a prepper, what I can do with pyro and stay legal is limited. Most homemade fireworks are for entertainment only if you want to stay on the right side of the law, but some skills are transferable, and I am sure that with a little thought a smart person could find a use for these DIY igniters.
Personally I think they would work good with black powder mortars, but I am still fighting with the wife for a cannon for Christmas.
I include videos on testing some of the setups. You need to be certain they work well before you attach them, because a hooked up igniter that does not ignite on command is dangerous.
If it has a delayed activation that occurs while you are around the pyrotechnics then you can die. It is not the dying that is bad, its the fact that it will HURT the entire time you are dying.
TEST a few of the igniters in every batch before you use them.
Buy at Amazon
Especially if the igniters are improvised. As you can see in the videos, I had a batch batch had a bit of a delay. That was because I used copper wire as an electrical bridge rather than the more effective Nichrome wire.
This means it took longer for the wire to heat and ignite the compound.
Knowing that the igniter has a delay is important, However, because of it, I would not use this in any type of public display. An ignitor like this would work better for lighting a fire like I mentioned in the original post.
There are many ways to make these igniters, and any search of a rocketry club will show you how.
Without any more talk here are three videos showing the construction and testing of various styles of improvised pyrotechnic igniters
I have been thinking about buying one of these boxing reflex ball headbands for a few months. When I was WT’s age I did not do a lot of sports and never built up my hand eye coordination when it was easy to do.
I have even plotted to make my own with a tennis ball, cord, and a hat, similar to my camera hat setup.
So when Cicloop offered to let me try out their Boxing Ball on String I could not resist.
I must say, WR has had a hard time with this ball. He is getting better. But more importantly he enjoys it, and his mother thinks it is hilarious.
This set comes with a lot for the $12 price:
Silicone headband
2 Boxing balls (different skill levels)
Spare elastic cords (2)
Boxing handwraps (2)
Carry bag to keep them altogether.
The goal is to improve hand-eye coordination with this boxing ball set. The elastic band is supposed to be set at the length of the user’s arem and tied with a bowline. I should have cut the cord after I set it to WT’s size. However, I wanted to try it myself so I just wrapped it aroound the strap. It looks funny in the video, but that is because I choose not to follow instructions.
Apparently I should have read the instructions as the balls were weighted differently to give two levels of difficulty.
I used the heavy ball, when I probably should have used the lighter one.
William (he calls himself TNTell the YouTuber) came to me while I was working on my website and was so excited that he made his own chocolate milk without asking for help (he says he can do that because he is 6). He said he wanted to make a video on how to make chocolate milk.
I thought it was funny as he had chocolate all over his face and the timing was suspicious as his mother had just left for the gym.
He said it was okay because he was practicing to make a video for his channel. You ought to check it out.
With that logic I guess we had to go ahead and make a video.
I think that it wasn’t all about the chocolate, I have been kinda busy working on the site, and I think he wanted some Dad time. He asked on Monday if we could have a father son dinner (but he allowed his mom to come).
His timing turned out to be perfect, he had it made and the mess cleaned up right when his mom got home.
She took one look at his mouth and reminded him she told him he couldn’t eat anything while she was gone. Luckily he pointed out that drinking was not eating.
I am in so much trouble. I am creating a free thinking trouble magnet. After all, that was my plan from the day he was born.
Improvised pyrotechnic igniters are awesome. Heck, any kind of legal pyrotechnics is awesome. The only thing that comes close is eating 
The DIY igniter videos below show several types of electric matches. I use different systems like Nichrome wire, steel wool, and bits of thin copper wire. Additionally I use matches and homemade nitrocellulose lacquer (that I 
Especially if the igniters are improvised. As you can see in the videos, I had a batch batch had a bit of a delay. That was because I used copper wire as an electrical bridge rather than the more effective Nichrome wire.
