# Daves Workshop



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Fixing a dust collection ducting mistake.*

We all make mistakes, what moves us forward is knowing how to fix those mistakes… In this video I show how I made a design and implementation mistake in my dust collection ducting, and how I fixed it…





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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Fixing a dust collection ducting mistake.*
> 
> We all make mistakes, what moves us forward is knowing how to fix those mistakes… In this video I show how I made a design and implementation mistake in my dust collection ducting, and how I fixed it…
> 
> ...


Regarding your remark about making mistakes, even the master woodworkers describe the many ways you can fix a woodwork blemish, miscalculation, or goof up. When you do the same thing over and over, then you can eliminate mistakes, but then you are into manufacturing or doing a job with a lot of repetition on identical items. If you are doing a one-off, or into creative pursuits, then you are even more likely to make mistakes.

You need to buy some small pan head screws for your duct installation. They also come in handy for electrical work. An overly long screw that extends into the duct is a natural place for a big shaving to hang up, or possibly a piece of something bigger that is accidentally sucked up. Then if you have a bunch of screws in the duct space, you will have a lot of work trying to figure out where it hung up. Since I have spent time finding a blockage in my system, I know what a pain that can be…

Doing the trim on my mobile base for the drill press. Drawers will come later, but I will install the drill press on the on the base once the trim is done since the drawers can be installed with the item already in use.

Staying cold up here, hovering around 1 degree above zero…

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Fixing a dust collection ducting mistake.*
> 
> We all make mistakes, what moves us forward is knowing how to fix those mistakes… In this video I show how I made a design and implementation mistake in my dust collection ducting, and how I fixed it…
> 
> ...


You are quite right on the screws issue. Elsewhere in the system, I cut down the screws. I was making this a quick and dirty video and didn't spend the time to cut down…

I really proably ought to consider rivets if I want to avoid too much to grab stuff flying past…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Fixing a dust collection ducting mistake.*
> 
> We all make mistakes, what moves us forward is knowing how to fix those mistakes… In this video I show how I made a design and implementation mistake in my dust collection ducting, and how I fixed it…
> 
> ...


I have cut down screws in various situations as well. And although you don't need a lot of strength in the DC duct, drywall screws, if that is what you are using, are more brittle than most other screws, if I recall correctly. So OK for noncritical use, but not so good, apparently, for most construction purposes. Now, to be honest, I used drywall screws for all kinds of things for years, and never had them fail. So the issue may be over stated, and I suspect it is.

I like small pan head screws for many things, so I have an assortment of #8 and #6 screws pan head screws on hand. Although I guess they are technically for sheet metal and such, they work very well in many situations. I use a short pan head screw to secure my flexible ducting for the DC system to the plastic connectors and blast gates. Then there is no need to cut a screw down. They look better because they lie flush to the surface, and are less likely to catch onto things that brush up against them.

Still cold here in Alaska. Even La Conner WA where our vacation home is located had a dusting of snow. That is the first time in the 6 years we have had the house.

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*

This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…





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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


I never liked the crush butt connectors much, although I have used them, and have some in the shop. I don't do any automotive or motor home wiring work anymore, but when I did, I would normally solder the joint and then cover it with heat shrink tubing. When I install a crush terminal connector on anything, I always solder them as well as crush them.

For solid wire, I was taught to use a Western Union splice in my junior high school electrical shop course. But I tended to solder those as well. I operated mobile ham radio some, and the only way to eliminate reliability issues was to solder everything.

Soldering is easy here in Anchorage. I have a grounded temperature selectable Weller EC1002 soldering station all set to go at all times, as well as a Panavise and magnifying lamp. I also have an old Weller GT corded light weight solid state gun. It heats instantly and puts out a lot of heat. It resides in my electrical tote.

In La Conner, my setup is not as good. I will probably get a better device there eventually.

Later…


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


The only way to use crimp connectors properly is to have the mating racheting crimp tool. Hand crimping without the correct tool will cause fires in high current applications. If you use say Panduit connectors you need the Panduit tool. The Panduit crimper will emboss two circles on the terminal body so the connections can be inspected & verified.

A 'factory' running splice is soldered and covered with HS tubing - 'factory' *never* uses electrical tape.

M


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


Jim I agree that a good solid solder joint with shrink tubing is far superior to a crush type butt splice, but you must agree from a safety perspective particularly when there is vibration concerned a crush type butt splice is far superior to Simply twisting and taping or even wire nutting a connection.

This particular video was done more or less for the specific individual I was mentioning his situation and the assumed skill-set more or less preclude quality safe soldering. I don't know for sure but I don't think he has any experience soldering and without much experience it's hard to keep from dripping water everywhere and in that motor home it would not be all that good to have Globs of solder everywhere.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...





> The only way to use crimp connectors properly is to have the mating racheting crimp tool. Hand crimping without the correct tool will cause fires in high current applications. If you use say Panduit connectors you need the Panduit tool. The Panduit crimper will emboss two circles on the terminal body so the connections can be inspected & verified.
> 
> A factory running splice is soldered and covered with HS tubing - factory *never* uses electrical tape.
> 
> ...


We are talking 12v DC at .1 amps or so… And I wouldn't considered crimps for higjh draw applications like a high power amp or a winch.


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


Soldering is the only proper way to splice wires in machinery to prevent loosening and shorting. I always use 2 pieces of heat shrink, one the length of the joint and another to cover past each end of the joint. I also use a label printer that prints on Heat shrink tubing so the splice is identified. Overkill, but safety first.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


Hey Dan, nice to see you chiming in here. Long time no read… (-:

Obviously, I am in the overkill camp. And with things that are designed to move, I use two overlapping heat shrink tubes as well… interesting. I have even used three… ultimate overkill!!!

But as Dave notes, for low current situations, the crimped butt joint is better than simply wrapped. I don't think I have ever done a simply wrapped and taped joint, even in high school due to the shop training in school.

.........off topic, but interesting, Dave….


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


Hello Jim, been fighting some medical issues, but ain't dead yet. I have used crimp connectors in automotive wireing. For solid wire the best thing next to solder is the twist on wire nuts, they do lock tight because of the spring in them.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...





> Hello Jim, been fighting some medical issues, but ain t dead yet. I have used crimp connectors in automotive wireing. For solid wire the best thing next to solder is the twist on wire nuts, they do lock tight because of the spring in them.
> 
> - papadan


Absolutely true. However when using stranded wire, wire nuts are one of the worst ideas as they just don't hold fast.

I hand't considered solid wire on this as in my experience automotive / RV applications use stranded, as well as the power tools I have worked on.

I personally wouldn't and don't hesitate to use crimp connectors on stranded wire applications Solder and shrink tube is best, but also most time and skill consuming.

For the applications I am trying to cover, there would be no factory running splice per se. At best soldered quick disconnect, but more likely crimped. (Ever looked at the switch connections on say a corded drill?)


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...


I worked on city buses for 30 years. Butt splice connectors are used a lot. On the ones we had at work, the insulation is actually heat shrink tubing, thicker than regular heat shrink. Also, they are color coded, yellow for 10 ga. wire, blue for 16 ga. and red for 22 ga. wire. If done properly it is a very good fix. They are for basic component wiring, when you get into twisted pair, forget it, you change the wires.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Wiring basics. How to use a crimp butt splice.*
> 
> This applies to power tool wiring work as well. Any wiring connection that is going to be exposed to continued long term vibration. Splicing in a new switch? You need to know how to do this. Relocating that swtich? Same deal… This covers a basic skill that I am finding some people don't have readily available…
> 
> ...





> I worked on city buses for 30 years. Butt splice connectors are used a lot. On the ones we had at work, the insulation is actually heat shrink tubing, thicker than regular heat shrink. Also, they are color coded, yellow for 10 ga. wire, blue for 16 ga. and red for 22 ga. wire. If done properly it is a very good fix. They are for basic component wiring, when you get into twisted pair, forget it, you change the wires.
> 
> - hairy


You are absolutely right on the color coding and heat shrink. I happened to be out of those when I did this video. I need to restock my electrical bins… I do have a lot of the heat shrink crimp bullet connectors though, both Male and Female for 12 - 14 ga.They are what I use on my off road lights.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*

If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.





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## smitdog (Aug 20, 2012)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


That's a great way to keep shavings from getting hung up and a huge improvement over the long screws that were in there. I would hope nobody would use those long drywall screws like that to connect their DC system! I have yet to get a DC so I haven't researched how to join the pipes but do those little 1/2" zip screws that you use on furnace ducting not work for some reason? I know they would protrude a little bit and the rivets certainly would make it near impossible to clog but I just wonder if the time installing/removing them is worth it compared to the zip screws? I guess it's not like you'll be taking the thing apart every day but I know those self tapping screws are lightning quick and would make for a super easy install if they don't catch too much debris. The rivets are certainly the "smoothest" option next to gluing!

Thanks for the idea and video!


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## trevor7428 (Oct 9, 2015)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


I have a PVC piping dust collection system in my shop. All piping is only dry fitted together, not sure why anyone would use screws.

For the pieces that absolutely have to be secured together. I just used the normal PVC piping glue. Once its installed it won't be coming apart until I move. At that point in time, if i cant reuse at new shop. I can just buy a couple new fittings, there not that expensive at H.D. or Lowes. Everything else is dry fitted to expand, if need be.

Not sure why you would use rivits instead of PVC glue, besides the look…I guess


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## Ted78 (Dec 3, 2012)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


Well there is more than one way to skin a cat. Personally I'd much rather use rivets than deal with the nasty pvc primer and cement and the smell and having to hold the pieces together for 20 or 30 seconds so cement setting doesn't popl them apart. As far as screws go I guess if you had just the right length of screw they would hold securely without protruding, but unlike sheet metal ducting you'd still have to drill before the screw goes in and if you have to drill a hole anyway, the rivet goes in a quick as a screw.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


FWIW, I had used drywall screws that I had clipped off, but still had at least 1/2" intruding into the duct. I am giving full credit to Jim Bertelson for the idea and it was something so painfully obvious I should have seen as I am not exactly unfamiliar with riveting…

It's a sign of wisdom when we can take other ideas and see their merits… Hopefully I have been wise…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...





> I have a PVC piping dust collection system in my shop. All piping is only dry fitted together, not sure why anyone would use screws.
> 
> For the pieces that absolutely have to be secured together. I just used the normal PVC piping glue. Once its installed it won t be coming apart until I move. At that point in time, if i cant reuse at new shop. I can just buy a couple new fittings, there not that expensive at H.D. or Lowes. Everything else is dry fitted to expand, if need be.
> 
> ...


Okay I will play. Say you get a clog in your system at some point. How are you going to clean it out? Rivets can be drilled out and new ones put in. PVC glue is pretty much permanent.

And not all ducting systems are PVC, you aren't going to glue sheet metal together, and this works far better air flow wise than sheet metal screws…

I guess the pieces connecting the down pipes that have gravity trying all the time to yank them apart could be glued, and then the horizontal pieces without the physical forces against could be dry fitted.

More than one way to skin a cat I guess.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


I bought both screws and pop rivets when I set up my dust collection, not sure which I would be using. I ended up using the rivets on my metal ductwork because it worked so well. Three or four rivets per joint and some foil tape did the trick.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Using a cheap Harbor Freight riveter for awesome dust collection ductwork joints.*
> 
> If you, like me have been putting your dust collection system together with screws, STOP IT, those screws stick into the duct work and can snag stringy stuff and clog things up for you. Not a good thing. In this video I show you a great, serviceable alternative to screws.
> 
> ...


I actually have a similar riveting tool, about 20 years old. Since my DC system doesn't use PVC, I don't use fasteners much in the system, just clamps. I use one short pan head screw to obtain a more positive hold in places where a tool is attached to the system and movement occurs. They get removed with some frequency for various reasons, so screws work better there. For the majority of a PVC or metal system, rivets should work good. At bends where you are likely to get a blockage, short screws might be considered.

A PVC or metal system should give better air velocity, from what I have read. However, my shop has some tricky places to negotiate, and tends to be in some flux over time, so the rigid systems are not an option yet. I plan to revamp some of the shop arrangement over the next couple of years, and then with more permanence, a PVC system would be a better option for me as well.

Will put the DP on its mobile base today, and convert the old base into a mobile work table. It has an outlet box installed with a long heavy gauge cord, so it will be good for the new purpose.

Have a good day…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Drill Master 68287 18v drill vs 3/4" auger bit and pine 2x4. Who will win?*

Okay for this demo / test I put a full charge on the Drill Master 68287 18v 3/8" cordless drill, and threw my most common auger bit size at it, my 3/4" Irwin SpeedBor auger bit. (The one I use for boring 3/4" holes in tree stumps for using Stump Rot). Is this drill up to this fairly simple and common task?

Watch for yourself and find out!





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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Merry Christmas from Dave's Workshop.*

Merry Christmas 2016 from our workshop to yours!

WARNING! If you are offended by religious themes and content, please skip this video!





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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *Merry Christmas from Dave's Workshop.*
> 
> Merry Christmas 2016 from our workshop to yours!
> 
> ...


Merry Christmas to you and yours. Have a safe holiday season


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## bobkas (May 23, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *Merry Christmas from Dave's Workshop.*
> 
> Merry Christmas 2016 from our workshop to yours!
> 
> ...


Merry Christmas! Sorry didn't mean to shout.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

dbhost said:


> *Merry Christmas from Dave's Workshop.*
> 
> Merry Christmas 2016 from our workshop to yours!
> 
> ...


Merry Christmas Dave thanks for the holiday wishes and a reminder of what Christmas is all about.
A very happy Christmas to you and yours and all of the LJ family.


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## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Merry Christmas from Dave's Workshop.*
> 
> Merry Christmas 2016 from our workshop to yours!
> 
> ...


Merry Christmas to you and yours!


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Solving a Gorilla Glue problem, I hope... Making a glue bottle stand.*

I have nevver had any luck with Gorilla glue, it always sets up rock hard in the bottle ater one or two uses. I have a glue up coming that needs something like Gorilla Glue.

Lots of reading here, and on other furums say to store Grolla Glue upside down to keep it from setting up in the bottle. Something about the way the bottle seals with the glue against the cap or something like that.

So I put together a quick and easy glue bottle stand for a small bottle of Gorilla Glue. No sense after all in storing a large bottle. I just don't use enough to make it worth the effort…





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## RTV (Dec 28, 2016)

dbhost said:


> *Solving a Gorilla Glue problem, I hope... Making a glue bottle stand.*
> 
> I have nevver had any luck with Gorilla glue, it always sets up rock hard in the bottle ater one or two uses. I have a glue up coming that needs something like Gorilla Glue.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tip!


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Solving a Gorilla Glue problem, I hope... Making a glue bottle stand.*
> 
> I have nevver had any luck with Gorilla glue, it always sets up rock hard in the bottle ater one or two uses. I have a glue up coming that needs something like Gorilla Glue.
> 
> ...


I had the same issue with Gorilla Glue, and didn't buy a second bottle. Might try it again, because it does have some good characteristics, so let us know how the stand works out. By the way, Gorilla Glue does not fill the gaps well in poorly fitting pieces, and apparently shouldn't be used in those situations. Hence, you might consider using the Titebond III for your chair. Not sure if the sawdust trick would mitigate that issue.

I keep all my gluing supplies in a shallow box I constructed for the purpose. I have one at each shop. If I decide to get some Gorilla Glue, I would put the upside down stand in the glue boxes.

Anyway, thanks for the tip, and that makes me somewhat more inclined to buy Gorilla glue in the future. There was a good article on it in a recent issue of FWW.

Happy New Year. The holidays have kept me busy with family events, but things have finally quieted down…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Solving a Gorilla Glue problem, I hope... Making a glue bottle stand.*
> 
> I have nevver had any luck with Gorilla glue, it always sets up rock hard in the bottle ater one or two uses. I have a glue up coming that needs something like Gorilla Glue.
> 
> ...


I have been out since the beginning of the Holidays, sorry guys…. Have a major pet health issue. Looks like we will need to be putting down our 20 year old cat soon… Haven't felt like shooting video or anything, just taking care of family… I will be back soon though.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*

No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…

You probably noticed that I haven't put out a video for about 6 weeks. To say the beginning of 2017 sucked is an understatement. A colleague of mine suddenly passed away, a friend's dad lost his battle with cancer, and the one that hits us at home, our beloved 20 year old cat was diagnosed with bone cancer the day after Christmas. She lost her fight with the disease on January 29th.

My project queue now includes a cat urn for her remains. Not sure I am going to do it though. We ordered a nice hand carved rosewood urn from the vet hospital.

My wife and I are debating this, but the Kitty Condo I made for our cat back in 2009 was from Hurricane Ike blow down scrap. I am considering dismantling it and using the lumber for some shop projects I have been putting off.

In the first video, I cover replacing modern composite headlamps, prepping for the known issues with them, and updating bulbs to LEDs. Our lumberwagon is a 2004 Ford F150, and the stock lights flooded with water and peeled up. We show you how to seal up a set of aftermarket lights, and install them on the truck. We also cover fixing the hyperflashing that comes with LED turn signal bulbs with the lower resistance than incandescent bulbs have…





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The second video is covering how to prep a wall for installatinon of vinyl wall art when your wall is textured.





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## Marcial (Nov 27, 2016)

dbhost said:


> *2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*
> 
> No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…
> 
> ...


My condolences on your cat. We lost Girlfriend our 12 year stray last summer and Ernie our 18 year old early December. Made for a sad holiday season. Like you, one of my projects is a little box for Ernie's ashes. Here's to honoring our cat's memories.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*
> 
> No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…
> 
> ...


Thanks.

It's odd. I've lost friends and family members before. Not sure why but losing a pet sure does seem to actually hurt worse.

I always knew when I didn't quite have the shop door latched, especially when working with hand tools. (She stayed out of the shop if power tools were anywhere near…). I'd be laying out cut lines or whatnot, and hear the distinctive plop of little paws on my bench as she jumped up from floor to tote, tote to bench…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*
> 
> No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…
> 
> ...


Pets are universally mourned when they die, just like their owners mourn for a family members death. When I was practicing OB-GYN, a common complaint from patients was depression from the death of a pet. It is also amazing how much people will spend on their pet's health.

Frequently they would mention the death of a friend or relative and the death of a pet in the same sentence, giving them equal significance. I still get a little teary eyed when I think of putting down our little Shih Tzu at age 15. That little dog broke a hip when she was fairly young, and of course had surgery. For a small dog like her, they just remove the part fractured off and let a pseudo-joint form. After a few months you couldn't even tell which side had broken. She ran and jumped just like nothing had ever happened. If I took a nap in a recliner she would immediately jump up, squeeze in just beside me, and fall asleep as well. It was a ritual. Of course, she also slept on the bed, but stayed below my wife's feet because she is shorter.

We didn't get another dog, because we already had our hands full with our Mitred Conure, Kermit. He is now 26 years old, and going strong. If something happened to him, I might consider another dog, but not another bird, because most would outlive me.

Lots of snow this year in Anchorage, and it getting to be a pain. Made all the more obvious, since we just got back from our northern Washington vacation home in La Conner. They are getting some dustings of snow this year, the first we have seen there in 6 years. Must be the year of snow.

Didn't view the videos since they are not in my sphere of interest. I get to do a little automotive work today, installing a wire to connect a trickle charger. The one that was installed in my car by the dealer failed, but I am not going to replace it. I prefer the charger to be outside the car so I can see better what is going on.

Later…


----------



## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*
> 
> No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…
> 
> ...


Sorry for your loss. My Mom-in-Law just passed 2 weeks ago also. It takes a bit to get used to someone not being around.


----------



## dbeck (Jun 1, 2017)

dbhost said:


> *2 new videos, some sad news, and back on the track... Lumber wagon work, and wall work...*
> 
> No woodworking in the shop at this time. Just vehicle and drywall work. I have woodworking tasks in the queue though. One I REALLY don't want to do, but it's something I have to do…
> 
> ...


So sorry to hear about your bad year so far. My condolences on the passing of your cat, i hate to say it out loud but you are right sometimes losing a pet is hard to imagine how difficult it is. Best of luck on the rest of your year


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Finally got the shop clean, ran into a snag fixing the portable air conditioner.*

Finally got the shop clean, working on fixing the A C. When I ran into a problem.

How do I fix this?





View on YouTube

Sorry I am posting from mobile and I haven't figured out how to get the embed code to work right from mobile.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Finally got the shop clean, ran into a snag fixing the portable air conditioner.*
> 
> Finally got the shop clean, working on fixing the A C. When I ran into a problem.
> 
> ...


See your "squirrel cage" fan problem. If you can't get a replacement part, I would look at epoxy.

I repaired a headphones plastic support with epoxy with great success, a few months ago. Important, since they were expensive Bose noise cancelling headphones. I simply looked at the epoxy packaging, and it said it worked on most plastics.

If you put the same amount on each vane, it shouldn't get out of balance. Meaning, put glue on the ones that are still holding as well. I used Loctite 5 minute professional epoxy. It comes in two bottles, not tubes, and I know it was over 5 years old. That means long shelf life. So if you buy it, it will last for a long time and be useful for many projects.

I would think using 5 minute epoxy (actually takes longer than 5 minutes), you could do the whole fan in 4 or 5 segments, as an off the cuff estimate. So if you have to manually hold it, it is manageable. More likely, some other holding method should work.

Test it see if it actually works on this particular plastic, and then proceed. Not much to lose.

So there, you have my not yet patented, solution… (-:

I have been doing DIY projects on the houses, so staying busy.

We are buying a new condominium for our handicapped daughter. We will be in total control of this one. It will hold two clients and the care providers. We rent it to the corporation that supplies the caregivers. We are leaving a shared arrangement because of the difficulties in managing two clients with considerably different levels of function. So Sherie is tasking me to make furniture and stuff. It will interrupt our usual travel schedule to our vacation home, but it is a one time problem.

Here, Spring is coming, although with temperatures around 10 deg F who would know. For you, spring is probably OK, but Summer is probably too hot, I would think?

Best to you and yours…

Later…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Finally got the shop clean, ran into a snag fixing the portable air conditioner.*
> 
> Finally got the shop clean, working on fixing the A C. When I ran into a problem.
> 
> ...


Oh, and where are the clean shop pics, huh????? ...(-:


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Finally got the shop clean, ran into a snag fixing the portable air conditioner.*
> 
> Finally got the shop clean, working on fixing the A C. When I ran into a problem.
> 
> ...


Take a look at the video in my next post you can see the clean shop. I will do a walk-through here probably in the next week or so right now I have a bunch of toads now if we had it I am cleaning and prepping camping gear so my life and I can take a trip


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Finally got the shop clean, ran into a snag fixing the portable air conditioner.*
> 
> Finally got the shop clean, working on fixing the A C. When I ran into a problem.
> 
> ...


I have been bogged down in the email department, just too many shop projects and repair jobs right now. Should get to your video later today or tomorrow.

Would you believe it is -5 deg this morning? What are we doing with below zero weather in March? Oh well, at least the sun is shining and we have a lot more daylight.

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*The shop A.C. is fixed!*

After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.

To refresh your memory, this is the original problem video… The thing sounds awful and trips the breaker quick.





View on YouTube

Tearing it down, I found the actual problem. I wasn't initially sure how to fix it though…





View on YouTube

And I figured it out, and got it fixed… Now it's freezing me out. The control panel is still squirrely but it works well enough using the remote…





View on YouTube


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## higtron (Jan 26, 2011)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


Sorry no video is showing, when I go to your view on youtube link I get a video does not exist message.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


No problem.

I keep trying to add the links using my mobile. Embedding Youtube videos on this particular forum is a royal pain in the tail…

It works when I do it from my regular desktop / laptop systems…


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


Videos are working now. This was the first time I tried. Glad you found a cement that worked. repairing plastic is not always an easy deal. I gather the problem was that the squirrel cage was loose on the axle and destroyed itself on the housing… I think.

Have a good day. Busy in the shop assembling my wife's quilt ironing board, that is being mounted on a cabinet with adjustable shelves.

Later…


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


You are exactly right about the cause of the impeller destruction. The repair on the plastic was not just luck or I don't know what to call it. I did a lot of research on the plastic that the Impaler and the housing were made from and looked at products that I could find were made from the different kinds of plastics and advertised as such and as best I could tell the impeller and the housing on this air conditioner we're both made of ABS plastic the other possibility was a particularly stiff blend of PVC and I hedged my bets and got a solvent cement that worked on both. Several of the fan blades had to be reglued twice because I did not have them clamped properly the first time I tried but they are all in their solid as a rock now. The impeller shaft Bolt is cinch down I'm going to have to assume considerably tighter than the factory job and I use threadlocker on it this time.

Something I didn't mention previously or in the videos was that the drain stub from the bottom of the unit had broken off early on in my ownership of it and I had attempted to reattach it using epoxy which had marginal at best results it was fine as long as I didn't fiddle with it. When I got after it with the PVC ABS solvent cement the fix is now very solid probably more so than the surrounding material I just need to remember not to roll it too close to anything for fear breaking it off again. I left the unit running accidentally yesterday it was in the upper 80s when I turned it on and we went to deal with a family medical issue when I came home quite late in the evening the AC was still on working exactly as it should unfortunately I had the thermostat set to 65 degrees and by the time I got home the inner had done its job well and was waiting for the temperature to rise back up above 65 it was not what I like in my shop.


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


Great results. Glad everything is fine, with a minimal expenditure of money. I will remember to check out the multi-use cement next time I have a similar problem.

Temperatures are rising here, but still don't know if it is a spring time trend. Last winter was unusually warm and this one is unusually cold and snowy. Something to do with the Pacific water temperatures, I am sure.

I don't much like high temperatures and humidity, and I have lived for a time in those environments. But I am done with winter, and would like some balmy weather, for a change.

Best to you and yours…

Later…


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


I've been working on prepping camping gear for a trip soon. So I have been spending a lot of time in the shop checking the old school white gas appliances for leaks and fixing them

That AC has been an absolute godsend. The funniest part is last night I was working on and shot a video of troubleshooting and fixing a propane heater. Mr. Heater portable buddy. It's actually heater that I use to heat the shop quickly in the winter. I will post that soon but again I am on mobile right now and for some reason posting videos from mobile doesn't work.


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


When young, I carried everything in a back pack, with canoe on my shoulders, and plied the waters of Quetico-Superior boundry waters area of northern Minnesota. The last time I did that was in my early 50's, nearly twenty-five years ago.

Then there was tent and car camping. I had my share of old school white gas appliances, and they got plenty of use.

Then in later years I had the motorhome, and it took care of everything. I did have a small propane barbecue set up in a small compartment right next to the steps up to the motorhome interior.

Nowadays, we are done with camping and motor homing, and travel to a vacation home in Washington State. Such is the progression from youth to old age.

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


I still have my backpacking gear. But we are more in the car camping /tenting phase… For what it's worth, you are a few years under my parents age, and my Mom went white water rafting down the snake river about 3 years ago… It's kind of in the blood… I am just not in the physical shape to tackle backpacking right now. The weight is going down, slowly, but it is going down.


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *The shop A.C. is fixed!*
> 
> After a few false starts a bunch of obscenity and some finally clear thinking finally finally have the shop air conditioner working. Now I know what most of you were thinking it's early March and this guy's already talking air conditioning. Well I am in coastal Texas and spring is almost here. That means without air conditioning my shop will soon B intolerable heat wise. Anyway here's the video I hope it all makes sense if you have any questions let me know.
> 
> ...


I think I could handle a rafting trip, as long as long hikes or backpacking is not required. I have done some white water rafting in the long distant past.

Don't know what I could drag my wife into, but not much.

The temperature is starting to nudge upward here, and it is about time.

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*

After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.

I have seen where lots of guys simply throw in the towel on these units when they won't light, but they are such a simple fix, it is well worth a try. With a street price of $70.00, it's not a huge loss if you just replace it, but then again, that could cover a new Harbor Freight Pocket Hole jig at full price, AND get you a Starbucks on the way back home. It's worth a shot.

And like always, I don't gloss over where I make mistakes. Sorry if you are expecting a video of somebody doing something perfectly. If you are expecting that, find a different blogger / vlogger… I am FAR from perfect!





View on YouTube


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


Fortunately just a little normal maintenance cleared up the issues. As I recall, I carried minor parts for the Coleman two burner stove and lantern. When I traveled with the motor home I carried a large number of tools and electrical equipment. The problems in the motor home tended to be electrical and plumbing, with an occasional mechanical issue.

Have a good day. I am betting you don't need the heater any time soon.

Later…


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


You are right. The need for the heater is more or less done for the season. The AC is starting to become mandatory. I I'm going to find a heavy plastic bag director and to keep dust out of it but at least I know it's ready for next season.


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


I like the attitude that you tried to fix it first before just tossing it to curb.Sometimes a little simple maintenace works wonders.
I have salvaged a LOT of thngs because "Either people didnt know how, didnt want to bother or just didnt care" they TOSSED IT !


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


*canadianchips*

Ah, another dumpster diver, some of my favorite people in life are dumpster divers… (-:

*Dave*

12 deg this AM, but at least it climbs up close to melting during the day. The sun is getting rid of snow and ice by sublimation, if nothing else. The March sun is relentless here.

Later…


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


ONE day Ill get to Alaska !
Had BIG plans in 2007.
House didnt sell soon enough. Cancelled the trip.
Been to MILE 0 in Dawson Creek BC. MAny times, just never continued on NORTH ! 
Beautiful up there Im told !
"Sorry to hack your post dbhost"......this seemed important !


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Shop heater. Fixing the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater that won't light.*
> 
> After 12 years of use, and admittedly heavy abuse, our Portable Buddy heater just would't fire up the pilot light. We really didn't need it this year at all, I was simply going through and cleaning / maintaining all the white gas and propane appliances when this was discovered to be non functional.
> 
> ...


It is pretty here in the summer, for sure. In the winter too, if you are into snow. The best months are May and June, the least rainfall then, although you never know. Some of the cruises are pretty as well.

Don't feel bad about Dave's post, I'm always hacking other people's post, and Dave doesn't mind. It just keeps the party going. I use LJ's instead of Facebook and Twitter. Much more sane up here. Now if I could only get the rest of my far flung family to use LJ's… (-:

Up to 24 deg here now.

Have a good one…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Cord Custting Project, and basic skill builders.*

Not a lot of woodowrking, but at least I am on top of the table saw and workbench…

Gathering the stuff together for a full on structured wiring project and cord cutting. We are going to full streaming and over the air television. For what it's worth, all I am lacking is the F type coaxial keystones that are on a slow boat from Monoprice. But at least I have whatt I need to get started…





View on YouTube

And for those that aren't familiar with the how…. Here is a howto on terminating RG6 coaxial cable.





View on YouTube


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

dbhost said:


> *Cord Custting Project, and basic skill builders.*
> 
> Not a lot of woodowrking, but at least I am on top of the table saw and workbench…
> 
> ...


Whoa! Talk about doing it up right! You're going to have a state of the art system when you're done. Bravo….

But, for anyone wanting to do this and get decent results at low cost. You can with your existing modem, a maybe 4 port wireless router and a few other things. We went cordless about 5 years ago. This is how to keep your cost down to just about the cable internet bill.

Put an antenna on the roof or attic if you can. If you live in or near a large city something much smaller can be used. With a digital signal, you either get reception or you don't. There's no in between. If all the stations are in one direction you don't need an antenna rotator. Digital signals are line of site. I live in a low hilly area. I have a large antenna and it's mounted up high. Stations that are about 30 miles away or less will come in good. More than that and unless you live in a very flat area, you will need height. Most of my stations are 30 miles. One is 60 miles and I wanted that station. Hence the larger, higher antenna. The signal is just strong enough that the digital signal 'catches' and shows. A snowy day, it might not. Stations over about 70 miles can't be received no matter what your antenna directions say. Anything over about 70 miles would have to have pinpoint aiming under ideal conditions. Not reliable.
Here's a link to the antenna I made in case anyone is interested in doing that.

Next: If you have a smart TV or something like apple tv or roku or box, then get a netflix and/or amazon prime movie account and share the password with a neighbor or relative. Then split the cost. If you just get one service then Netflix is probably the best although Amazon Prime's other features in shopping on amazon are cool.

More advanced…..
Connect a computer to your TV. It can take the place of the roku box if you do. You'd have to have a flatscreen and a computer that has an hdmi port or dongle that will convert it. I have a dedicated Macmini for this. It's made to connect directly.

The following is not for people with scruples. It is not legal. But you can make it safe.
Download a program called "vuze" for your computer platform. It will let you search for and download any movie or tv show ever made. Play it via your computer to TV using a program like VLC… all of these programs are no cost.

Note: If doing the computer thing with Vuze it is highly recommended that you sigh up for a VPN (Very Private Network). It's not hard to do. I use "private internet access". You sigh up for about $3.99/month and download a small program that turns it on on your computer. It bounces your internet signal to switzerland and back so it's virtually untraceable.

So, Minimal hardware depending on what you want, The cost of your internet account, half the cost of maybe Netflix, The VPN all comes to about $8/month not counting the hardware and your internet cost. You don't get sports stations but almost any TV/movies is possible and you can even download current movies in the theater.

*dbhost: I wasn't meaning to hijack your post here. I will be following the thread as it is very high end and being done really right. You obviously know your stuff. I'll learn a few things.*


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Cord Custting Project, and basic skill builders.*
> 
> Not a lot of woodowrking, but at least I am on top of the table saw and workbench…
> 
> ...


No worries about hijacking. 
I was hoping to start a conversation about these types of projects. I know this isn't much, if any woodworking at all, but it is related in that we are all on the internet and heavily into DIY stuff.

I know my setup is on the advanced side. 
I am a Sr. Systems Engineer and, well not too many homeowners are going to keep a virtualization cluster or iSCSI SAN at home… I do to stay on top of the tech and methods…

Part of my design is built in flexibility. And I can back off much of the expansion without ripping cables out. However for those wanting a good manageable setup…
The minimum IMHO, and this assumes you have a space you can dedicate as a structured wiring panel such as a blank wall in a utility closet or even a space that can be climate controlled in an aittic (We've done at least two of them) is…

Piece of blank wall, and a plywood panel to mount your gear on. I am using 3/4" but 1/2" will suffice. Make sure your panel is at least 20" wide so insure you have space to mount items, and can catch the studs you need to with the screws to hold it to the wall.

I like to round over the outside edges of the board and paint my mount board / panel so that it looks like a designed in piece of the home, not a tacked on piece of plywood.

You will need cable obviously, and a means to pass the cable through the wall or ceiling depending on your layout. Mind you, I am ONLY going to discuss single story structures with accessible attics / wall headers as a 2+ story building complicates things beyond the scope I am dealing with…

Broadband modem. We typically work with cable, but DSL and Satelite systems work as well. To keep overall Total Cost of Ownership down. Buy your own modem if you can. Comcast charges, after fees and taxes, approximately $8.50 / month for a modem. My Zoom modem I bought 50 months ago cost me about $60.00. It didn't take long to recoup the cost of my modem at all!

Good WiFi router with the performance specs you need. You do not want a modem / router combo. Tech on WiFi changes MUCH faster than the rest of the network. The router also, with consumer grade networking equipment, tends to be the hardware that fails most.

A gigabit ethernet switch with the capacity of ports you want to carry. Generally speaking you will want 1 port per bedroom, at least 2 for the living room, and 1 for the garage / workshop if you desire. Some don't. So for a 4 bedroom house, you will want…
1 wired port for VoIP on your panel.
4 wired bedroom ports.
2 wired living room ports.
1 wired garage port.

That's 8 ports. Let's assume you have a router with 4 gigabit ports on it. Grab an 8 port switch, you will lose the use of 2 ports up linking from router to switch, but no big deal. Put the VoIP adapter on the router, and everything else on the switch.

VoIP adapter. How many lines do you want? I have 2 VoIP adapters because I wanted to add a fax line. If I had to do it over again, I would have gotten the Obi202 2 line VoIP adapter and called it good. That way I only use 1 ethernet port.

Telephone hub. My existing phone system is a disaster, many older homes are. Age, humidity, and heat have caused the plastics in the existing panel to fail. I NEED to replace mine if I am going to have any distributed phone in the house. So I am recommending this, if you have a similar issue do likewise.
For a phone hub, decide how many lines, and where they will be going. For me I will have a phone in…

Bedrooms 1,3, and 4, plus a phone in the living room / dining room, kitchen, and an extension in the garage. I would like one in bedroom 2 and the living room as well, but I got the wrong hub. I would suggest if you want to be as widely distributed telephone wise as I am trying to do, get something like a 4×12 Telephone hub instead of a 4×6.
I can add a second 4×6, but the cost is just a few dollars less than a 4×12 and is much messier install wise.

The 1×8 coaxial splitter, well, I *could* leave the coax split up in the attic, and not re run at least 5 of the 8 rooms, but I want things moved. Let's assume though that you have say old, melty coax that needs to be replaced, and you want it centralized with your other communications gear.

3M foam double stick mounting tape. Seriously. Consumer grade Modems, routers, VoIP adapters tend to be designed to be set on a desktop. IF you are lucky, you will have key hole slots for screws on the bottoms or backs, but don't count on it.

That leaves us with cable, I already have Category 5 cable, you COULD use the same Category 6 cable box to feed runners to each room assuming you have enough, but you won't be able to color code that way. My Cat5 is gray, the Cat6 is blue. Easy to identify.

So let's cut the verbage down and list an inventory to get it done.

Antenna. Mine is massive overkill for the flat land close to the transmitters area I am in.
Plywood panel. 1 @ 24" x 24" 1/2" thick.
Paint. 1 pint.
Drywall anchors, and / or 1.5" wood screws. At least 4
3/4" wood screws. At least a dozen.
3M Foam mounting tape. 1 small roll
Modem 1
Router 1
switch 1
VoIP adapter 1
Telephone hub 1
1×8 Coax splitter 1
Coax clips 1 large box.
Velcro strips 1 roll. I like the 1/2" strips.
Wall or ceiling penetration / brush plate etc… I have seen several methods. I prefer the low voltage bracket, and brush plate approach. I have seen guys and gals use PVC threaded fittings as penetrations. Up to you how to do it.
Smart TV, and / or a set top box. More on that below.
Wall plates for keystones. Rooms that have 1 ethernet, 1 coax use a 2 port, add a port for each additional keystone.
RJ12 telephone keystones, RJ46 Category 6 keystones, and F Type coaxial keystones. They are MUCH cheaper by the box.
Low voltage brackets for the plates.

Craftsman On The Lake made mention of certain search software. 
There are set top Android boxes running an application called Kodi, which is the streaming player, there are plugins for Kodi that do those search services for some, well legality challenged streaming providers.

I use it to stream media that I own the physical media for. I am going to call that fair use. 
I would think using the software to access other material, such as movies that are in theaters, etc… might be more iffy.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*What's what's on the workbench April 2017*






A quick look at my current short term projects on the bench.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *What's what's on the workbench April 2017*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That candle stand resembles some "sewing table/sewing machine" projects that Sherie wants me to do in this life. It will cost more than its worth, and I don't have the time right now… so the only saving grace is enjoying the project… (-:

Just finishing up the quilters ironing board with a cabinet with adjustable shelves, as a stand. It is a utilitarian project, but the size of the cabinet, 48" x 16", 36" high, and the board attached on top that is 24" x 60", make it a significant project. But it should be done today.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Shop First Aid cabinet upgrade with custom graphics.*

Okay the embed doesn't work on mobile. Must be Adobe Flash based…

I got the first aid kit graphics done and installed.

Supplies are swapped over, I still need to parse out excess stuff and organize it better…
But overall I like it


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*

In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.

http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


Glanced at this, but since none of it has any pertinence to me didn't read it through. Sounds ambitious.

Working on the dining room table Sherie needed for the new rental for her daughter. Staying very busy. I should have more time in a month or so…

Spring arriving at a glacial pace, with a little snow here and there in the shadows of the house. Spring is about 5 weeks later than last year.

Have a good day…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


I know, this one was a bit wordy. But let's boil it down to soup & nuts…

My original coaxial, and telephone wiring in the house, from 1984 was in less than stellar condition. Especially after being chopped up and cobbled back together over the years by changing from antenna, to cable, to satelite and back to antenna. The prior owner of the house tapped into wires by cutting, stripping and twisting wires together, sometimes without even so much as electrical tape to protect the connection. Needless to say, phone didn't work, and I want the security and speed of a good wired ethenet network.

I give the list of what I am doing, what I would have done differently (bigger phone switch, bigger ethernet switch, and potentially, in wall mounting instead of on the wall…

I got a lot done over the last few days. The antenna is run to the splitter, signal is now going to 4 of the 7 target locations. Having a problem with the antenna fittings, and trying to get support from Polaroid / Tuff Manufacturing. These guys are NOT the Polaroid of the past. Customer service is so far non existent. Not happy with them.


----------



## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


The house in La Conner got a good updating when we remodeled the kitchen since it was in the main core of the house. We don't even use a land line there, so phone was just maintained but not expanded. CAT-5 was run to multiple places, however and that was an improvement. Cable was also slightly expanded. The big deal was that it was all centralized in a convenient storage closet in the center of the house, a perfect location for the Wi-Fi. A security camera system was also installed and centralized in the closet as well. It is all conveniently wall mounted. There is no local TV there, so no antenna needed.

Here in Anchorage, we ran CAT-5 to a number of places with the remodel. But I still didn't anticipate that I might want it in the living room. However, fortunately, I can link the internet entry in my office with the living room by going through the garage. That will happen sometime in the next year. Local TV here comes by cable, so no antenna.

Due to the size of this house, I run an internet access point in my wife's hobby room, so in effect we have two Wi-Fi's running. Unfortunately, there is no good central area for everything, so we have electronics strewn throughout the house. The security system and the cable phone are in different areas. I doubt we will ever change it.

Busy day today running errands…

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


I do have a security system that is centralized, but not where this is.

The house is small enough, I have good wifi coverage for the whole house from this one room that is centered on one side of the house.

If I were designing a new home, I would have a datacom closet designed in that would simply house all the stuff needed.

Land line is being done solely for resale value of the home. Although I suspect that is minimal. I had the parts already, including the cabling, from old consulting / side contract jobs so no extra cost, and aside from the kitchen, no real additional labor. Just run it with the ethernet.

I am not ready to give up on coax yet. I can honestly see that hanging in there for the foreseeable future. Plenty of need for local broadcast media, and even if it were streaming, failover to OTA during the aftermath of storms and such is critical. Internet may be unavailable. (We are in hurricane country here..)

FWIW. I have the antenna connections updated. The rig now looks like…

Antenna, mounted to mast. Mast grounded with 12ga wire to ground rod. Coax run from antenna to grounding block, grounding block to ground rod via 12ga ground wire. Coax surge supressor attached to grounding block, and then coax sent in, through soffit through attic, down wall to penetration and finally to power supply / control box. In turn to splitter. Splitter in turn is split to the various rooms. Unused ports are terminated with 75 ohm terminators. So living room, master bedroom, kitchen, and front bedroom are done.

Kitchen is complete for coax, phone, and ethernet.

Front bedroom is complete for coax. Phone and ethernet pending.

LOTS of other goodies to come.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


I think the Datacom closet will be a standard item in newer upscale homes. Probably not much value in it for tract housing and such, because it is much less likely to be used. Good old Cat-5 and coax do come in handy, and save considerable headache.

Almost ready to assemble my table base, just a few holes to drill in the apron for screws. I will countersink them with a 3/8" Forster bit to accept plugs. If this were not going to be a painted base I might do things differently, but the screws and plugs will be the fastest way to do things, and will enhance the strength of the corners, needed because of the 3/4" off the shelf stock.

Later….


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


LOL. FWIW, not sure about Alaska, but my area of Texas would be considered middle class / upscale. Pretty much everything built since 1999 has had a datacom closet. 
I have stumbled across an offer from a friend to buy off my 2 8 port gigabit desktop switches that I use for my SAN, and I got a screaming deal on another 16 port, and a 24 port gigabit switch.

This wil allow me to run the actual number of ports I need to connect certain monitoring apps, and doubling up on the SAN connections, which will allow me more training / experimentation.

So my layout will change a little bit. Extra open slot goes away, one of the shelves goes away, and 2 larger switches get moved in…

It will make sense once I post pics up…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


We bought a 2005 built condo, mid-range quality, no data closet. That is the replacement house for our handicapped daughter. So data closets haven't migrated to the last frontier in great numbers yet. The condos are located in a well designed neighborhood with good services from the HOA, bike paths, landscaping, etc.

But in La Conner, house built in 1995, no data closet per se, but there is a closet perfectly located to be one, under some stairs with a door off the stairs going down to the garage. As I noted, we turned it into a data closet. Absolute center of the house, so good location for Wi-Fi. But I doubt that was intention, just a happy accident of the house design that was dictated by being built on top of and partly down the slope of a granite monolith. No changing the terrain under that house without a lot of dynamite. The site for that house is probably ideal for earthquakes and floods. No need for flood insurance, unless there is a flood of biblical proportions. And I mean one bad enough to sweep all of Seattle out to sea.

We own half of another house, the current abode for our handicapped daughter, but she will be moving to the condo soon. We will sell our half of the old house. Interestingly, that house came through the 1964 earthquake unscathed (9.3 on the Richter scale, the second largest ever in the Americas, and the largest in North America). The inspectors were trying to get us to do some strange modification for earth quake protection, but they relented when we noted that it had been tested to 9.3… (-:

Will be interested in seeing your setup. I have an old 16 port Linksys switch as well as the cable modem and router in a swiveling little cabinet installed in the book shelf in my corporate style U shaped office desk. I can see all the winking and blinking lights with a quick glance up and to the right when I am at the computer. It swivels some so I can get at the backside of the equipment, the cabinet being open front and back for that purpose. The shelves are adjustable for position as well. Built it 15 years ago or so.

Later, off to the shop…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


I guess it is a regional difference… Of course 1995 would I would think be a bit early for common home adoption of datacom closets…

It's definately a thing here though. Although I must say, with POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) dying off at the rate it is, and pay TV services sliding into the past, I somewhat doubt the phone lines or coax is going to be all that common in coming years. However I still use them, and buyers in my area expect them.

I have a new project in the kitchen, and on my bench…

We got a new sink, one of those touch sense Delta faucets, and a mess of new plumbing for the kitchen sink… I am prepping lumber to get ready for a true butcher block counter top.

This is either going to work out great, or it is going to kill me in the process.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


A butcher block counter top is a more sensible project than a dining room table, so hopefully it will go well. I would think it would be a rather forgiving type of thing, but then again, I have never made one.

Good luck on the project…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Structured wiring project. Wooden antenna mast clamps, components, and lessons learned.*
> 
> In my latest blog entry about the structured wiring project, i discuss the wood antenna mast mounts, the compnents, and what I would have done differently if I were starting over.
> 
> http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2017/05/components-and-thoughts-on-what-i-would.html


Contemplating a ton of options on that. Including pre made butcher blocks…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Overview of the Ryobi JM82K biscuit joiner, and comparison to the JM82GK.*

After a long time of non use, I have a project I am needing to use biscuits on, so out comes the old RYobi JM82K biscuit joiner. I had to re-learn the controls, and thought I would share my findings with you, not to mention compare and contrast my 2008 model to the current (Summer 2017) model on the shelf. Hopefully you enjoy the video and thanks for reading / watching!





View on YouTube

For those of you on ios, Android and other platforms that do not support flash video…. Here's the direct Youtube link…


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

dbhost said:


> *Overview of the Ryobi JM82K biscuit joiner, and comparison to the JM82GK.*
> 
> After a long time of non use, I have a project I am needing to use biscuits on, so out comes the old RYobi JM82K biscuit joiner. I had to re-learn the controls, and thought I would share my findings with you, not to mention compare and contrast my 2008 model to the current (Summer 2017) model on the shelf. Hopefully you enjoy the video and thanks for reading / watching!
> 
> ...


Does not open.
Bill


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Overview of the Ryobi JM82K biscuit joiner, and comparison to the JM82GK.*
> 
> After a long time of non use, I have a project I am needing to use biscuits on, so out comes the old RYobi JM82K biscuit joiner. I had to re-learn the controls, and thought I would share my findings with you, not to mention compare and contrast my 2008 model to the current (Summer 2017) model on the shelf. Hopefully you enjoy the video and thanks for reading / watching!
> 
> ...


You are quite right and I'm not sure why it was working when I posted. I am having some life issues interfere with my ability to go in and update tonight particularly since that is a flash file it creates so we will see how soon I can get it updated hopefully very quickly.

Until I can get in and figure out what is wrong with the embed code please simply follow the YouTube link.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Candle stand top biscuit jointed glue up*






First off sorry about not embedding but embed does not work well for mobile.

I was finally able to take some time and do the sizing of the word pieces cut the biscuits and do the glow up for the candle stand top. I hope you enjoy my little video.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Candle stand top biscuit jointed glue up*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have the same experience with miter saws you do, they spew sawdust everywhere. I have the dust well controlled on my RAS, and unless I am cutting off less than a blade's worth, the table saw dust collection works well also. My miter saw is a Festool, and I use their dust extractor with it, but it is almost a waste of effort to attach it to the saw. So even the top notch miter saws have sawdust collection problems. That miter saw is in La Conner. The RAS gets the cross cut work here in Anchorage.

I got a biscuit joiner for building the dining room table for my handicapped daughter's condo, but then decided I didn't need them. I will be using it in the future, however, especially for shop projects where I tend to use butt joints and nails with 3/4" plywood. Getting those things lined up is difficult at times, and the biscuits should be a help.

Today I will be sanding the primer coat, and then applying the first finish coat on the two end tables and coffee table that I am refinishing for the condo. So staying pretty busy.

Have a good day. Hope that everyone is recovering from Harvey, but I suspect it will take months if not years for full recovery.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Candle stand top biscuit jointed glue up*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Years I am sure.

I have volunteered with my church to start building / rebuilding standard lower cabinets. Even with 1" of water flooding a house, particleboard cabinets simply wick the water straight up and… well you know the rest of the story.

A huge part of the donations that came trucking in after the storm was lumber. Plywood, and lots, and I mean LOTS of poplar and various oak. Not partuclarly impressive stuff, but worthy enough to make cabinets for people's homes. We are going to go all assembly line once we figure out the production stops.

The face frames are all biscuits, the carcasses will be pocket screwed. We literally have 4 biscuit joiners, (My Ryobi, 1 other Green Ryobi, and 2 Craftsman) oddly enough they are all mostly identical), and 5 pocket hole jigs (3 HF and 2 Kreg) set up in cobbled together jigs at the ready.

We simply set up in the parking lot. We have a mess of folding tables with plastic covers to keep from gluing things to them, and we just clamp our jigs and go…

Major break down station, helper runs to the XY or Z cutting station depending on the piece, those pieces get run to the appropriate jig station, then when finished the parts get run to the assembly stations.

I have literally been too busy with that to video it. But it IS giving me LOTS of good experience.

It will likely be several years before things get back to normal here. This has brought the best out in people, and the worst.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Hurricane Harvey in the shop.*

First and foremost I want to say I am completely blessed to have taken this storm so well. No flooding thank you God! So many of my friends, neighbors and family didn't off so lucky.

Here is the perspective of Harvey from my shop after 4 straight days of hard rain.





View on YouTube


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Hurricane Harvey in the shop.*
> 
> First and foremost I want to say I am completely blessed to have taken this storm so well. No flooding thank you God! So many of my friends, neighbors and family didn't off so lucky.
> 
> ...


Hurricanes have such wide ranging effects, unlike, say, tornadoes. Watching the flooding issues with Harvey, and the wind damage from Irma and Maria is a real primer in what hurricanes are all about.

My home here in Anchorage actually has some flood risk, 100 year flood plain, I think. It has never happened, however. We are near to the ocean, and there are creeks and rivers all over the place.

In La Conner, we have about zero flood risk because of the elevation of the property, situated on the top of a hill. We don't carry flood insurance for that house. If that house floods, Seattle would be destroyed as well. Because we are inland a bit, and shielded by islands and significant elevations, a tidal wave wouldn't reach the house either, in all probability. There is significant flood risk for the low lying areas in town from the neighboring Skagit river. It has large levees through much of its course in the Skagit Valley until it empties into the ocean just a mile or so from the house. The Skagit Valley is very fertile, probably because it is situated on the historic flood plain for the Skagit River. It's exit into the ocean has probably varied over the millennia, putting much of the valley effectively on old river delta.

Hopefully, we have seen the last of the big hurricanes this year, but we still have over a month to go in the hurricane season, as I recall. Nothing out in the Atlantic threatening the southern US any more, thankfully.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Hurricane Harvey in the shop.*
> 
> First and foremost I want to say I am completely blessed to have taken this storm so well. No flooding thank you God! So many of my friends, neighbors and family didn't off so lucky.
> 
> ...


Actually about a month and a half. End of November is the end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season if I recall right…

Mentally, physically and emotionally I am exhausted. We have family and their pet in our house because theirs became a pool. Lots of my friends were swamped, Flood insurance and Fema haven't been much help….

LOTS of Texans are very angry with Fema right now because we recall the flood of Katrina evacuees that FEMA set up in temporary housing here in Houston with those trailers. Now when Houston in hurting, no temporary housing for those that lost their homes.

We have a couple that are friends of ours from church, they've had a hard time prior to the storm with their marriage, and I am not sure they are going to make it. He's ready to head for the (wet) door, and I don't think she'd mind… There have been LOTS of health problems with both of them, and her son, his step son has been a HUGE problem for them. (legal, drug issues).

I know the stress hasn't been great for Debi and I, we are snappier than we should be. Good thing is we know and recognize when we are getting snotty and just tell the other, it's not you, I'm stressed and need some shop / craft room time… (to each their own stress releif).

I had a nice cabin rental set up for Columbus day weekend just for a couples get away for us, well… the storm changed all that. Even over by Austin, the cabin we were going to rent got flood and wind damaged…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Post Hurricane Harvey, working with pine bead board wainscotting. *

I am working wiht pine bead board to create wainscotting for a remodel of our main bathroom. My wife and I want to salvage as much of the original walpaper as possible, but there's just not enough to patch with, and too much damage from prior issues…

We made it through the storm untouched more or less, but wiht so much loss, and hurt here in Houston, not to mention our family in Florida, with Irma, and Oregon with the wildfires, it's been an interesting month and a half so far!

Sorry I couldn't embed directly into the post, but the embed code generator isn't working for me today, and since the generator relies on Flash video, something Youtube is getting away from, and the mobile platforms abandoned years ago, I am going with a straight link these days…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Post Hurricane Harvey, working with pine bead board wainscotting. *
> 
> I am working wiht pine bead board to create wainscotting for a remodel of our main bathroom. My wife and I want to salvage as much of the original walpaper as possible, but there's just not enough to patch with, and too much damage from prior issues…
> 
> ...


Been very busy lately, refinishing furniture for our daughter's new condo, as well as making the dining room table. Not much time to post stuff. Hopefully I will catch up soon, so hang in there. Glad to hear you got through Harvey OK, that was truly an historic storm…

Later


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Post Hurricane Harvey, working with pine bead board wainscotting. *
> 
> I am working wiht pine bead board to create wainscotting for a remodel of our main bathroom. My wife and I want to salvage as much of the original walpaper as possible, but there's just not enough to patch with, and too much damage from prior issues…
> 
> ...


Thanks,

Yeah, I can only say I am convinced that there IS a God and he was protecting us. Hard to explain but my property is on a creek that backs up into Galveston Bay, 2 blocks upstream everything was flooded… It was like somebody took a compass and used my line as the pivot, and drew a circle 2 blocks out. Everything outside was flooded, everything in was dry…

I did lose some fence pickets, and the dog is finding ones that are loose!

We have 2 in laws, and 3 neices / nephews that got flooded, and pretty much everyone we know in Dickinson Texas just south of us took heavy damage.

We are working with our church in the recovery efforts. It's hard work, very tiring, and mentally / emotionally exhausting.

I've been through 4 of these storms now. Tropical Storm Allison, Hurricanes Rita, Ike, and now Harvey. I personally took far more damage in Ike, but the region, our communities were hit much, much harder by Harvey…

When Ike hit, it looked like an aerial bomb blast went off in certain areas. With Harvey it's weirder, it's like the structures are there, but the stuff inside just sort of melted out tot he yards, almost everywhere you look.

There are some very poor neighborhoods that god hit really bad, and it hurts knowing these people most likely don't have flood insurance, or the means to really recover their lives from this whole mess.

I have decided on a project though, and got the plans for them. A plywood and fiberglass John Boat. I've got the glass, and resin, just need to source up the marine grade ply. It's a 16' boat plan I sourced up, and I figure for under $1,200.00 using a cheap Craigslist engine, I can get on the water next time one of these hits and do some good!


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Post Hurricane Harvey, working with pine bead board wainscotting. *
> 
> I am working wiht pine bead board to create wainscotting for a remodel of our main bathroom. My wife and I want to salvage as much of the original walpaper as possible, but there's just not enough to patch with, and too much damage from prior issues…
> 
> ...


The John Boat should be an interesting project. I would think a plywood boat would handle a little better than the aluminum ones, but I am no expert. I spent a lot of time in canoes, and the best paddling ones were wood or fiberglass. I owned a fiberglass canoe that traveled all over the canoe country of northern Minnesota, and some places in Alaska as well. It was a little heavier than the aluminum ones, but paddled a lot better. Trade offs, because you had to portage the canoe on your shoulders. But I was able to carry both the canoe and a pack, so it wasn't too bad.

I remember in Explorers, there were a certain number of us who were big enough to carry the canoes, and having enough of them in the Post was important. I was about 175# at 6 feet tall, and that did the trick. We were the most active Explorer Post in Minnesota, as was the associated Boy Scout troop. We were the designated symbolic voyageurs for dedication of the Voyageur statue at what is now Voyageur National Park. I believe it was a national monument back in 1958 (I think that was the year) when the statue was placed there. We traveled 90 some miles over 9 days against very strong winds to get there on time. We would get up at four in the morning and be on the water at five to get in some time before the high winds got going. We quit paddling at noon and went to sleep early.

Hope the boat works out. That ought to be a fun project, and useful as well.

Later…off to painting furniture…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Post Hurricane Harvey, working with pine bead board wainscotting. *
> 
> I am working wiht pine bead board to create wainscotting for a remodel of our main bathroom. My wife and I want to salvage as much of the original walpaper as possible, but there's just not enough to patch with, and too much damage from prior issues…
> 
> ...


LOL…. Yeah, the Jon boat is a pretty simple build. The hardest part is going to be glassing it up. The plan calls for 1/4" treated ply, with fiberglass mat and resin on both sides, The ribs, and gunwales are going to be sourced from treated 2×4s, and again, fiberglass mat / resin. The transom, bracing and seats will be out of 3/4" treated ply, mat, and resin….


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Home repairs keeping me from woodworking!*

So I need to clean my shop, but I can hardly do that when I am busy with work, and home repairs.

The tub drain stopped up. Clear it out nice and quick with a snake right? Not so fast. The snake won't fit. Spin off the stopper? Did't want to budge!

In this video I show you what I did to get the path cleared all the way, including the right tools and protection to prevent damaging the finish on any of the pieces.

Thanks for watching!

(Sorry the embed code thing relies on Flash which is unsupported on mobile, so… you get a link.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Prepping pine bead board wainscotting.*

For my bathroom remodel, we are prepping pine bead board wainscotting to be painted bright white.

I set up a makeshift production stop using pretty much any old scrap I could cobble together in the shop and went to town at it.

Take a look at the video and let me know what you think!

And again, sorry about using external links, but the embed code from Youtube doesn't seem to work here, and the embed generator previously shown here that I have used in the past relies on Adobe Flash that is not supported on modern mobile OSes, and is a huge security problem, so I will not be using it any more.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Prepping pine bead board wainscotting.*
> 
> For my bathroom remodel, we are prepping pine bead board wainscotting to be painted bright white.
> 
> ...


Spam or phishing in the above post.

i think you said someone thought bead board was dated. We had bead board installed in a bathroom/laundry here in La Conner just last year. During the remodel of the kitchen we combined the laundry and guest half bath. By doing that, we could capture some space for the kitchen to install a built in fridge and more cabinets. it actually made the laundry space and the bathroom space larger as well just due to the efficiencies of combining them and eliminating swinging doors. A sliding pocket door closes the space.

The door to the bathroom/laundry opens onto a short hallway between the living room and kitchen. it is a well traveled space, and of course, is seen frequently. There was kind of an unfinished look about it. So Sherie came up with the bead board idea, and the decorator agreed. So we have white bead board in that space, giving it a much more classy and finished look.

You are right to stick to your own ideas. Bead board is still a valid choice and remains part of a decorators armamentarium.

We actually used MDF, but the space does not have a shower or bathtub, so the risk of water exposure is low. I think if this was a full bath, pine would have been a better choice. The space has modern plumbing, all replaced during the remodel.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Prepping pine bead board wainscotting.*
> 
> For my bathroom remodel, we are prepping pine bead board wainscotting to be painted bright white.
> 
> ...


My sister in law is a Real Estate broker, she's actually quite good at her job. But yeah, she's the one saying bead board / wainscotting is dated. I think she forgets sometimes that this house was built in 1984.

The idea is we want to salvage the upper part of the wallpaper that wasn't damaged years ago by my former roomates dog. (Long story, and I work slow when the design gets reworked 100x).

I wanted something that I could paint gloss white. There is no external lighting in this bathroom, just the ceiling lights, that since I switched to LEDs has been MUCH better, but this bathroom is too dark… I am painting the wainscotting, cabinets, and medicine cabinets gloss white.

We've been sick with a nasty sinus infection and am too busy fighting that off to do any shop work work shooting…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Installing the pine bead board wainscotting.*

Measure once, cut twice, no that's not right, measure twice cut twice? Hmmmm. Oh yeah, measure twice cut once!

In today's video I install the pine bead board wainscotting for my bathroom remodel. And I discover after matching it up, no less than 3 times on the bench, there is a HUGE variation between bench measurements, and applying to the wall. 3/16" to be exact….

And we solve a little problem with the lower edge trying to warp away from the wall. This was fixed with plenty of additional liquid nails, and a box of Bai Coconut Fusion beverages.

A few more steps and we are ready for paint!

So here's the link. Sorry no embed, the mobile browsers can't see the flash used for embedding here, and the security risk isn't worth it….


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Installing the pine bead board wainscotting.*
> 
> Measure once, cut twice, no that's not right, measure twice cut twice? Hmmmm. Oh yeah, measure twice cut once!
> 
> ...


It has been a while since I used liquid nails, but that is an obvious good choice for the project. Isn't it strange how bench and site measurements seem to always differ a bit. I have used all kinds of kludges over the years to solve problems like that, and fortunately, with a little filler, sanding, and paint, the result comes out OK.

Regarding the critique you got of using bead board, meaning dated. It implies that one always should or want to be like everybody else. It is kind of like my hair cut. I have cut it the same since I was in grade school. Every 10 years or so it comes back into style. I just get it cut to suit my needs, rather than slavishly following some style. Nowadays, people are becoming more individualistic, rather than being fad followers. I see that as a good thing.

Just getting back in the groove in Anchorage. Finally got my three office computers all up to the latest and greatest Windows 10. Now I have to get the portable and my wife's computer to the same point.

Cold and snowy here. Getting the winter tires on my car today.

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*






Well I had a project that called for tools that I don't have and I won't use very often which was a perfect excuse to go to Harbor Freight. I wanted to see at least in the rough terms how the Harbor Freight Tool compares to say the comprable Ryobi. I was actually somewhat stunned to see the specs on the Harbor Freight we're better than the Ryobi

And we go into our home office rebuild which is yet again been redesigned by she-who-must-be-obeyed. I love my wife but she confuses me sometimes. Oh well this gives me an excuse to build my own custom server rack.


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## CRAIGCLICK (Mar 14, 2018)

dbhost said:


> *A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I used to refer to HF as my "tool rental." I could go there and buy the tool for less than what the rental cost in some places and…every once in a while…I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the tool lasted for more than 3 or 4 uses.

Now, They still offer the cheap single-use stuff. but they also have a range of higher-end tools which compete very favorably with the stuff at the big box stores.

Their US General tool cabinets put the Lowes stuff to shame. Their hand tools are very well made…better than my old Craftsman stuff, actually. Their new lines of Li-Ion tools are excellent. Their Vulcan line of welders is just baaaarely shy of pro-level quality.

Now, if they could just get a decent line of woodworking tools…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually, I am rather pleased with my HF lathe, and band saw…. They are going on a decade old now with hardly a hiccup after I got them the way I wanted…

My HF Dust collector does what is is supposed to, although I would LOVE a ClearVue cyclone for sure!
My old single bevel HF 12" SCMS, once set up and locked down with some thread locker, is spot on accurate, and aside from being noisy, has been VERY reliable. And I absolutely LOVE my HF 29 gallon oil lubed air compressor…

I am noticing they are stepping up the QC level though. THey have 2 12" Dual Bevel sliding compound miter saws, the older Chicago Electric, and a new "Hercules" Professional model. The Hercules is nearly twice the price, just below a Ridgid price wise, but it seems to be very well machined etc… I am pretty sure I wouldn't pay their asking price for it, but it is interesting…


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## CRAIGCLICK (Mar 14, 2018)

dbhost said:


> *A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I checked out the Hercules saw. The only issue that I had with it was the smoothness of the slide. It was "jumpy." Otherwise, it seems pretty nice, but 399 bucks is pretty spendy.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, $399.00 for a Harbor Freight miter saw isn't going to happen with me. For that scratch, I will save up a bit extra and grab one of the Hitachi models that have the slides forward, taking up FAR less bench space than the old rear slide designs…

FWIW. My old single bevel HF saw, the slides were a bit jerky at first. Graphite lube on the slides, work them back and forth a few times and they are smooth as silk to this day…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *A trip to Harbor Freight and new projects*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No Harbor Freight in Alaska, unfortunately, as far as I am aware. Like you say, sometimes good enough is good enough, especially for little used tools.

I remember buying parts like assorted bolts and screws, a grinder, and a drill index via mail order from Minnesota, while I lived in Fairbanks. I still have all the above items, and just kept on replacing nuts and bolts as I used them. The company was DRI Industries. I think they still exist, although their focus has probably changed. They were an early foray into the low cost end of tools and parts.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Dive bomb cleanup!*

Okay so long story short. I have a stack of projects, totes everywhere, and packaging from project materials in my shop making it, well… Uninhabitable! Time to dive bomb clean this shop…

I started last night by starting back up with putting any tools that are not where they belong, well, back where they belong. I have material that belongs on the lumber rack just leaning against the table saw, I have a fallen apart / glue joints failed chest of drawers carcass sucking up a HUGE amount of floor space… etc….

Tonight's plan?

#1. Get the camping gear back into the proper totes, set those aside in the proper stacks. I need more rugged totes though, the ones I have aren't really stackable…
#2. Put the 1×4x8 stock onto the lumber racks.
#3. Finish clearing off the recyclable packing materials into the recycle bin, get that junk on the curb for tomorrow's recycling pickup.
and…
#4. Get the shop vac back onto the shop vac rack / shelf…

I don't really want that chest of drawers, that was my wife's idea. It is made with 2 to 3" wide strips that are glued up. The glue joints have almost but not quite all failed. Part of me wants to fully knock down this thing and use it for material, part of me wants to load it in a truck, take it to the beach and use it for a bonfire…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Dive bomb cleanup!*
> 
> Okay so long story short. I have a stack of projects, totes everywhere, and packaging from project materials in my shop making it, well… Uninhabitable! Time to dive bomb clean this shop…
> 
> ...


A woodworker's job is never done! Keeping the shop organized and clean is not easy. I have been on a respite from shop stuff here at home, although I worked a lot in the shop in La Conner when I was there a couple of weeks ago.

I have to tear out a leaking hot water dispenser today. I am not going to replace it. They have multiple points of failure, and my item suffered all of them. From what I read, they are just not robust enough. The leaking has caused significant damage, so I will do without, from now on.

Happy cleaning. I could fill a dumpster with all the stuff I have to get rid of. Things just become outmoded over time, if nothing else.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Dive bomb cleanup!*
> 
> Okay so long story short. I have a stack of projects, totes everywhere, and packaging from project materials in my shop making it, well… Uninhabitable! Time to dive bomb clean this shop…
> 
> ...


LOL…. I really should do my cleanup before starting another project, but…. I started on my server rack project last night. Got the pieces cut, and pilot holes drilled. Going to do some sanding over the next couple of days, assemble the wood pieces, and paint. Once that's done, install the rack rails and install it into the data closet.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*

I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*
> 
> I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


Don't have a Japanese pull saw, but that really came in handy. I may have to get one.

I have fixed defects like this pretty much the same way you did. I hadn't thought of using a plug cutter to cut out a stripped screw, though. That's a trick I will remember.

Your plug cutter worked pretty well with a hand held drill, but I usually run those in the drill press.

The weather has finally turned warm here, with high temps in the 70's. You people from Houston would probably die for the low humidity 70's high, and cool nights. But we really don't get that many of them. There are issues with living in a temperature rain forest zone that is also essentially subarctic.

We will be going to our vacation home for a bit, and woodworking will become the focus there. Need to make some speaker stands. My first shot will probably be painted black, unless I can find some good cherry or oak at a reasonable price (not likely).

This comment got delayed since I was in a massive pressure washing project. We bought an electric pressure washer from Costco, and surprisingly, it is quite powerful for an electric. It has an induction motor that draws 13 amps, so that should put it at or over one horsepower. Bought a ten foot stepladder to assist with the project. Could have used even a higher one, but we would have trouble storing and moving that. The ten foot is a good compromise.

I pressure washed(PW) the whole house. It was a big project, since the house is quite large, and high. I also PW the brick walkways, the decorative blocks supporting the raised beds, the deck with its steps, and the driveway including the motorhome pad. A lot of concrete. Also did the large garden sled and the 6 foot wooden fence surrounding the back yard.

I did 2 to 4 hours of PW per day, over many days, and finally finished two weeks later, with a few rest days thrown in. Trying to avoid tendonitis in my wrists.

The pressure washer worked well enough that we will buy one for the vacation home as well. That area is also a temperate rain forest, but it is much warmer, with only a few days each year below freezing. That makes the house and property into a moss factory. At least July in La Conner is almost always completely free of rain.

Have a good 4th of July…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*
> 
> I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


Working on it. The weather is supposed to be lousy.

I have been away from the shop for a bit. We had a nasty storm blow through here a bit over 2 weeks ago that killed my fridge with a lightning strike… Lucky that was all it broke… Still waiting on the new fridge, so I am painting the kitchen, and working on other things while living out of a big ice chest until the new fridge arrives… :-(

Since the 4th is going to be a wash out, I am going ot work on doing a second coat in the kitchen. I need to change out the sink, disposal, drain plumbing etc… as well… Lots to do, only so much me to do it…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*
> 
> I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


Lightning has never caused us much damage, mostly, because there isn't any lightning in Anchorage, for all practical purposes. We had a power surge a number of years ago that did in a few things, but that is about it.

Hope that refrigerator had a few years on it, so at least you might benefit from a new one.

We are now in La Conner, having arrived yesterday afternoon. Summer, especially July, can be pretty dry here. So first thing this morning, will get the irrigation system going. That is mostly a matter of putting hoses and battery operated timers in place.

Here, water is fairly expensive. La Conner buys water from Anacortes. Agriculture and industry put a fairly high demand on water, but a least there is water to be had. A good size river, the Skagit, empties into the ocean here, but although it is used some for irrigation, mostly it is not tapped.

In any case, you don't water more than you have to.

Anchorage is the exact opposite situation. Anchorage does not meter water, you can use all you want to. Immense water resources in the area, and little demand. The ground is frozen nearly 7 months of the year, minimal agriculture and minimal industry. And very few people, considering the land mass.

Most of our water is glacier melt…with all kinds of options, might as well pick the best. it costs the city 65 cents per month to provide water to a typical residence. Metering costs would be multiples of the cost of the water. We have a reservoir, a lake between two mountains. 8 miles long, averaging 100 feet deep. If no more water ran into the reservoir, it would last for 100 years.

Alaska is kind of a crazy place to live, in some ways, but it does have a few advantages…

Good luck on the plumbing… my least favorite household activity. I will be fixing deck railings, pressure washing, and making some speaker stands this trip…

Later…


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*
> 
> I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


The old fridge was 16 years old. We were planning on paying off the Home Depot card and buying the particular one we have bought, but we weren't ready for it yet. And honestly I would have preferred having a working fridge until the new one arrives…


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Filling a hole in a medicine cabinet and refinishing it.*
> 
> I was trying to protect the wallpaper in the bathroom, so I opted to remove the medicine cabinets. One came out easy, the other had a screw the installer had stripped the head, and honestly, it just wasn't coming out. I had to use a plug cutter to get the cabinet out of the wall…. So I went ahead and plugged it as the cabinet iwas to be painted…


Glad to hear that fridge was due for replacement. You will for get about the inconvenience and appreciate the new one.

Beautiful weather here, got the irrigation system up and running for the July dry spell. Have been nursing a flu/cold, a real bugger, but i think it is retreating…

Have a good one. Marshall your forces for the next DIY onslaught… (-:


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*A therapuetic project...*

Among my hobbies, woodworking, and music are the 2 I use for stress relief when I can't really get away camping, or hunting… And there's been more than enough stress going on in 2018 for sure!

As some of you know, I play the electric bass, as well as guitar.

The last time I went through this much stress in my life, was when my ex and I split up, and just how messed up things with her really were came to light…. To have an outlet for all that stress, I played music, aggressively, and LOUDLY. And I have been doing that again lately.

One of the pieces I am working on, is the bass line for Pink Floyds Comfortably Numb. I have been trying to fake it on a 4 string fretted bass, but that unique sound is only really achievable with a fretless…

I want to do this on a budget, and I could have just bought for $20.00 more than their fretted version, a fretless 4 string PJ bass (Fender Precision Bass style bass with a single coil "jazz" bass pickup at the bridge position, but it is only available in one color, gloss black, and I am VERY partial to the 3 tone sunburst finishes that expose the grain of the underlying wood under the finish…

So instead I ordered up the following. An SX Guitars Ursa 3 RN 3TS Alder. Translated. Rosewood fingerboard neck, 3 tone sunburst, American Alder body.

It's a nice, low cost instrument on its own. 









I have been sitting, for quite a while on a fretless neck I bought from this vendor on sale last year.









The replacement necks have the European market headstock shape, which is the older shape used here in the US, I prefer the one on the fretted neck, but not enough to reshape the fretless neck headstock. So here's the plan…

#1. Apply the waterslide decal the vendor sent me for the head stock. I know it's not a brand many will brag on, certainly not collectible, but I want it to be "right".
#2. Strip the stock strings and put them in the recycle bin (these things ship with junk strings in my book).
#3. Pull the neck from the bass. Mark the screw hole locations on the new neck. and take it to the drill press. Drill the neck pilot holes.
#4. Swap over tuning machines, and string tree from original neck to new neck.
#5. Install new D'Addario XL nickel round strings.
#6. I have also purchased a white pearloid pickguard, for 13 screw Fender. These fit, more or less these basses. I need to do some minor trimming of the neck pocket and split coil pickup pockets as they are not 100% the same as Fender…. So trim up and install the pickguard..

That will leave me with an unused rosewood fingerboard neck, that honestly has one of the most beautiful, in my book, headstock designs on the market… I have an older SX with an earlier headstock design that is, well badly outdated as in 1980s looking pointy. Yuck. So swap those necks around as well…










Once the neck swapping is done, I will need to set the reilef, and action on the necks, and then the intonation for the strings at the bridge.

I am also a bit leery of touching the pointy headstock bass…. It was the cheapest instrument I have ever bought at $109.00 new, but it is also the best playing bass I have ever laid hands on… And I am almost afraid of messing that up!


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *A therapuetic project...*
> 
> Among my hobbies, woodworking, and music are the 2 I use for stress relief when I can't really get away camping, or hunting… And there's been more than enough stress going on in 2018 for sure!
> 
> ...


I used to play a little guitar, classic, to accompany me while I sang, mostly to myself. It was form of relaxation. I never got good at the guitar, or any other instrument. I just lacked the interest.

I also played the harmonica, probably better than I played the guitar. But to be honest, I don't do much of anything in the musical realm anymore. I definitely had the talent, but it was my voice. Dramatic baritone, great for Wagnerian operas, and opera was definitely not my thing. It also yielded to my busy schedule as a working physician.

So music has always been in the background for me, but far into the background. I understand what people are talking about in the realm, and that is about it.

My understanding of the guitars you are talking about is minimal, but I do recall that they are built to be repairable, including a screw on neck, correct? It will be interesting to see how it works out. Be sure and take before and after photos so that clueless people like me can see what happens…

Finished pruning our old crab apple tree yesterday, and hope it will produce better next year. I think the weather controls everything, in any case, but the tree will be in better shape if it is a good year. I picked about 10# of apples last week, and we made crab apple jelly. It is my humble opinion that the tree produces the world's best apple jelly, although I might be suspected of bias, I suppose… (-:

Just a few more days of good weather and then it is going to turn cold and rainy… until it snows.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *A therapuetic project...*
> 
> Among my hobbies, woodworking, and music are the 2 I use for stress relief when I can't really get away camping, or hunting… And there's been more than enough stress going on in 2018 for sure!
> 
> ...


I always had an interest in woodworking and music when I was young. I never had the money to pursue either, although I did take shop class in high school, and I took music lessons in school with a borrowed acoustic guitar. I still remember my teachers. Mr. Dee Smith was my wood shop teacher, and Mr. John Gladstone was my music / guitar teacher. These guys were different than many of the other teachers. They wanted to make sure we learned not that we could pass a test… Kind of a different approach… And I know the arguments for both. Not worth getting into…

So for me, they both go hand in hand.

Actually last night I spent some time with my Ursa 1 (Precision bass copy). Literally simultaneously my cheapest, and my favorite instrument. It cost me $109.00 + shipping from New Hampshire. I spent probably 30 minutes playing a bunch of 60s through 80s stuff. Mostly some Vanilla Fudge, Def Leppard, The Temptations etc… so a wide range of Motown, classic rock, and Glam Metal… Yeah I like to play around…

I should mention, the Ursa 1 was bought a few years ago so I could leave it at my desk, and get some practice in with headphones at lunch. I liked playing it so much it ended up my main bass… Yeah I do collect them as well…

You are right about the bolt on neck, and that is really where this becomes a woodworking project, sort of. I have to set up some sort of jig to hold the neck dead flat under the drill press so I can make the pilot holes for the wood screws that secure the neck to the body.

There are other designs, and I don't own any, but some basses, and solid body guitars are built as "neck through" where the neck and body are one piece as it were. Kind of a big glue up sort of arrangement.

I must admit, I REALLY want to learn luthierie as find it intriguing. Esepecially since I don't fully fathom how necks are made with the compound radii they use.

So the jjg for the neck drilling is in progress. I will post it up when done.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

*Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*

As was once told to me by my Dad,

Son, always have multiple means of income coming in, even if it is just a trickle.

Well, I am going to be making some trinkets to sell at some upcoming craft shows. Coaster sets, trivets, Camp / gym shower mats etc…

These are items I will be making on camera for my youtube channel, and will be branding them as such…

My shop has 2 names. Well the shop itself is named the Amish Heritage Workshop, and I had a rubber stamp makers mark made a couple of months ago, that works great, until I try to wipe on poly over the mark. BAD news. Especially with hardwood. Stamp over paper, and paper glued and cleared over works, but is lame…

And the logo / text was BIG for small stuff. I really wanted something 1×1.

So I just happened to when looking at some ideas for pyrography, stumbled upon a maker of branding irons on Amazon. Inexpensive enough, cheaper than a meal for 2 at a low / mid priced restaurant in our area, so I figured why not try it?

Well, it took 17 days from order to arrival, but it is here. I got the design that has tree rings on the bottom, and a sawblade on top, with text fields. marked HANDCRAFTED BY DAVES WORKSHOP, the name of my youtube channel.

It took some practice, but I got the branding down decently enough now. This is on scrap oak. I have since followed up with some 200 some odd grit sandpaper, probably something like 240, and it cleanes the smudgy parts out.










My initial runs were nowhere near this good. The surface was VERY uneven, so the tree ring part would be super dark, but the upper part would not even be barely legible. I flattened it on some sandpaper just like sharpening a chisel, and leveled it right out.

Total cost was $28.00.

My plan is to print out and include with each piece to sell, a business card with the logo, My shop name, contact info, and my youtube channel link.

I don't expect to make a ton of money, but some extra coin in the pocket, and some funds raised for our church youth and people in need ministries would really go a long way…


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


That's an outstanding looking brand. It's going to add an additional personalized touch to your work.


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## ralbuck (Mar 12, 2012)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Neat.

Where did you get it made? Do they have other designs? Answer appreciated, Thanks. 
I usually sign a lot of my stuff with rjR and a convex curve under the 3 letters coming back to the center of the R

I also made a metal piece by welding a pipe handle on a flat 1-1/4 by 1-1/4 flat and grinding in a AT as 1 letter. the top of the T being the bar on the A. Then when I do use it I have to heat it with a torch-but it works O.K. not super.


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## AJ1104 (Nov 9, 2013)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Fabulous design! This came out great. Nice job.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Ralbuck,

I ordered it from an Amazon seller at https://amzn.to/3uXLY6z

There are 3 pages of their designs you can chose from, I literally chose the default as I just liked it so much, but you can provide your own artwork as well.

And verified it, the option is H002 for this design.

The $28.99 was for the 1×1 size, 
2×2 is $45.99
3×3, their biggest size, is $79.99, that is pretty big…


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## JCamp (Nov 22, 2016)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Very cool. I've been meaning to get one of those for a while now but just been to lazy. Lol. I looked at the site. This part cracked me up. I guess basic math isn't a strong suit sometimes


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Just to note. Mine was ordered on March 14, arrived on March 31. So that is what, 17 days?

This thing had a US return address, City of Industry Ca, but I am pretty sure that is just the distribution point they use once it hit the dock here in the US, there is no way this wasn't sent from China, Vietnam, or some other nation with cheap labor. Unfortunately I couldn't find any of these custom brand makers that were "Made in USA" or at least North America being US, Canada, or Mexico… Sigh…


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

dbhost said:


> *Making stuf to leave the house. A branding iron for marking my projects.*
> 
> As was once told to me by my Dad,
> 
> ...


Your logo looks great. Mine is just text with no logo but a gift from my daughter so its a keeper.


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