Is it worth making your own hard board paint panels?

In the beginning, I used to buy pre-stretched canvas and or canvas panels. Today I make my own paint panels from hard board. I like to make my own gallery paint panels which are 1 5/8" thick and either 18"x24" or 24"x30". I can buy a 2'x4' hard board panel for just a few bucks and the wood for a little over that each. I find that the darker panels work better for me than the light colored ones as the light colored panels have a lot more dust flying around which is a health hazard.

I use 1"x2"x96" clear pine for the backing and edges and cut them to size and then glue them in place with a good wood glue.  It doesn't matter whether you use a butt joint or a miter. I use miters because I've been a carpenter and a wood worker for decades and am used to cutting miters with my power miter saw. To seal everything I'll buy a can of Rustoleum gray matte 2X Painters Touch all purpose spray paint. All in all the entire panel will cost me a fraction of what I would pay otherwise. I can get 2-18"x24" and one 12"x24" panels or 1-18"x24" and 24"x30" panel off one 2'x4' hardboard panel all for under $15.

The spray paint will adhere to just about anything and as long as it's not an oil base paint, I can use acrylic paints over it without having to gesso the entire panel. Acrylic paints also will adhere to just about anything so gesso isn't always necessary. One thing I might advise you on is to follow directions on the spray paint can. For a second coat do it within an hour otherwise you will need to wait 48 hours before applying a second coat. For that matter, I will wait 48 hours before beginning to start my painting to make sure that the paint had dried fully. I have not had issues doing this yet!

gallery art panel from hardboard

back side of gallery art board

front side of gallery panel with face sealed

paints I use to seal my paint panels along with a paint can trigger

I use the paint can trigger mechanism for better control. Some of the paints have so much pressure that getting good control and accuracy is a bit difficult. I don't need to be fighting with spray paint. I have enough problems just using the spray cans so the trigger handle works like a charm and with any other spray paint and sealers. It cost me only a couple of bucks. Using a painters respirator with any spray paint or sealer is a must regardless where you spray. I spray in a well ventilated garage and keep the door wide open. Even then there is always spray mist flying around not to forget about the strong odors. The mask keeps my lungs free and clear of any deadly mist from spray paints.

Here are a few paintings I did on my home made gallery hardboard paint panels using acrylic paints over Rustoleum Painters Touch all purpose 2X paints with no gesso.

painting I did on a home made paint panel

a painting on a 18"x24" gallery home made panel

another painting on a home made panel

an acrylic painting on a gallery home made art panel

Comcast XFinity review

I have XFinity for my internet access and land line telephone. The service for both in the last 2 years have been very reliable and have had no issues with either.

We are seniors with a fixed income living on a budget. I told them that when I had xfinity put in. In the 2 years there have been 3 increases in cost of service even tho I was supposedly put on a fixed price. I've talked with other family members and friends and they all tell me that Comcast/Xfinity is a rip off! They, like ATT lure you in with a cheap price and then as soon as they can will increase they're prices. The increases aren't nickle and dime you to death, but substantial Anywhere from $30-$50 like my recent bill showed. We had a 45% increase. They will do this without advance notice as with me.

So, when I called them up I was told that my promo had expired and need to call them every year for a new promo. It's not like you're locked in for several years. It's a game they play with you to make more money off you. They also set these promos in a way that you have to sign up for a bundle in order to save. You can't just sign up for internet because it's more expensive than having a bundle. I have phone and internet service thru Comcast and wanted to delete the phone service. They told me that I would not save anything if I did and basically I could not just have internet service. If I really pressed it, the cost would be the same as with the phone service, so the phone service is basically a give away according to them. I just don't buy that!

My promo ended up being $10 more than I had up to this point which also increased all of the other fees along with equipment rental, another rip off! The modem rental is now $11 a month. I've already paid 2 years rental at $10 or $240. The modem costs about $180 so by the time I'm done with my new promotion I will have as well bought 2 modems. One positive outlook on this is that my speed went up from 60mbps to 150 so I can look at it as if I'm paying $10 more a month for service supposedly over twice as fast as I had. So far I have not seen any difference!

If you are expecting to get the speed you think you are paying for remember that the words are up to. I don't know anyone who actually gets the speed advertised or they are selling. I'm constantly doing speed tests from different devices. My desktop, using a 300mb wi-fi adapter shows me getting anywhere from 60-84mbps download with around 12mb upload with a 150 mbps service. I haven't seen anything above a 100mbps yet. My lap top with a 300mb wi-fi capability shows under 50mb download and a 12-13mb upload. My tablet with a 150 mb capability shows between 30-45mb download and between 6-8mb upload.

I was told that I would receive a new bill and just to disregard the one with the 45% increase as it would be adjusted. I waited and waited...no bill. We got the new bill the other day, no adjustments and a bill for almost $200 for 2 months service. I should have known they are crooks before signing up!

If you have something else available in your area, try them first. I can't recommend Comcast nor ATT. I had ATT and had plenty of problems with their service due to old lines. Even after they replaced the wires, we had issues and lack of service. They are not very reliable! They will however nickle and dime you to death with their increases in time.

my review of Netgear A6210 USB WiFi Adapter

Here's what Netgear says about it:

"802.11ac Dual Band with High Gain Antenna

Your PC at the Speed of AC. Now Faster with USB 3.0

When it comes to connecting online, speed is everything. Now with this AC1200 USB 3.0 adapter, you can make even your older Windows^®-based laptops and desktops connect at the speed of 802.11ac, the world's fastest WiFi technology. Increase range with high gain antennas, and with USB 3.0, you can connect even faster than USB 2.0. Just plug this adapter into a USB 3.0 port and enjoy faster browsing, streaming and gaming. Compatible with USB 2.0 and the latest 11ac WiFi devices and backward compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n devices."

NetGear A6210 Genie

I use it to gain access to the internet thru XFinity WiFi at 60mbps. The Genie is connected to my desktop with Windows XP Pro with all the updates until Microsoft stopped updating it. I also use FireFox ESP 52.9.0 (32 bit) USB2.0

The Genie as far as I am concerned is a piece of crap! Each time I want to use my desktop, I have to go thru a routine of connection repairs before it works. Ever since the last Netgear update on it, I've had nothing than problems with it. It has been very unreliable. Even when I am on the internet, I can lose the connection at any given point in time. As a matter of fact, I just did a few seconds ago and had to do another connection repair. I have no problems using my other computers using the XFinity router/wifi. The problems are with the Netgear Genie.

I don't recommend this device for anyone using the USB 2.0 even tho the device is supposed to be compatible with all Windows and both USB 2.0 and 3.0.