svtmike

SamDoe1

Damn, good for him. I don't have the patience for that.

svtmike

00TL-P3.2

Yeah, no idea what his setup looks like, but I was damn impressed to discover it was cut 'by hand'.

SamDoe1

Yup. Followed closely by a router.

Though my guess is that the map was cut with a scroll saw and not a jig saw. But either way, impressive work.

00TL-P3.2

May have been a scroll saw, definitely easier to make more precise cuts than a jigsaw.

00TL-P3.2

Had a big windstorm a few weeks ago break 2 fence posts, that hold up one of the backyard gates. Have had it propped up for a while, since I haven't had the time to get to it.

Doesn't seem normal, but the old posts were concreted in, but the top of the concrete was about 2-3 inches below the soil/grass. So the posts both rotted at the base. Windstorm shifted the fence almost a foot

Took a lot of work to get the old posts out, since there wasn't anything to grab on to. Got it dug out around the concrete & had to use a ratchet strap around it to pull with. Ended up using a shovel handle for leverage against the mid-bar of the fence.

Got new posts in & concrete is setting, should be able to re-hang the fence this afternoon.

Not the prettiest sight at the moment. Had to improvise & strapped an XL pallet to the fence with the gate in front of it. Keeps the dog in the yard, and more importantly keeps the yard 'secured'. Paranoia with having a pool & the gate being open.

1 broken shovel (handle) & some sore muscles later, and it should be fixed better than it was before.

Definitely a bit of this going on a few times

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Having the concrete a few inches below the surface is normal so grass can can grow all the way up to the post. The last thing you want is a mound of concrete sitting at the same height as the surrounding earth. Unfortunately that puts wooden posts in an area where they can rot, but if you use pressure treated ground contact wood, you should be fine.

00TL-P3.2

That makes sense. Guess I'll have visible concrete until the day we re-do the whole fence.

CCColtsicehockey

Once you concrete them in get some roof tar and paint the concrete and the first few inches of the post where the dirt will touch. Will help prevent future rott.

The other way to do it is don't use concrete at all. Dig the hole 8-12in deeper than the post needs. Fill that extra space with pea gravel. Then just set the post with dirt. With the propper pressure treated post you will get 8-12yrs of life from the post as long as it isn't in a spot that has frequent sitting water. If that is the case coat the entire posts bottom in roofing tar and if should almost last forever.

00TL-P3.2

Noted for the future. The posts I put in are likely to still be there after the great meteor comes & wipes us all out.

00TL-P3.2

Let the dog out last night & happened to look at the fridge as I went through the kitchen. Freezer was showing 28F.

Though maybe one of the kids didn't close the door or something was keeping it from sealing completely. Moved some things around & about 20 minutes later it was showing 30F.

Luckily, we have a 2nd fridge & a chest freezer in the garage (primary fridge from our old house). So I got all the frozen stuff moved out there.
Check fridge again about 30 min later & see that the fridge side has started warming too. Got everything moved to the garage before anything spoiled.

Turned the kitchen fridge off around 1130PM last night, hoping that something was just frozen/locked up. Turned it back on this morning & onboard temp display showed 56/65. 1/2-3/4 hr later & I'm seeing 55/62, so I'm pretty sure it's toast.

Never again on Frigidaire appliances.

These houses came with a Frigidaire appliance suite (I believe, we're the 2nd owners, but a few of our neighbors have identical appliances)

Our dishwasher does a decent job of cleaning & we've figured out how to get the best out of it. One of the bad designs on it, is that the soap dispenser can be blocked by a large bowl/plate on the bottom rack, and will prevent it from opening. Pretty sure the prior owners' kids stepped on the door, as it opens past level with the floor & the bottom rack will slide out if you're not careful.

Washer/dryer set that the prior owner left weren't bad, but I'm not a fan of front-loaders, and they were a bit undersized for us. Gave them to my wife's brother a bit before he got married.

Now the fridge takes a dive. The icemaker had stopped working a few weeks ago, tried some troubleshooting & no improvement. Glad I hadn't spent the money to replace it.

Luckily, the cooking side all seem to be chugging along great.

Wasn't planning on fridge shopping at the moment, so we may just have to make do with the non-matching (kitchen is all stainless) black KitchenAid fridge from our old house.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Bro...ours is on it's last leg...I fucking hate melty ice cream and that's what we currently end up with...especially once you also factor in the kids leaving
the fridge open looking for something snack on.

00TL-P3.2

We're fortunate that it wasn't our only fridge & we were able to salvage everything.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Is your ice cream hard, bro?

SamDoe1

Are you going to try and troubleshoot it? Might be something simple like a bad thermocouple or control board, both of which are cheaper than a new fridge.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

That sucks. I didn't realize how expensive appliances were until I bought my house

If you don't care about small imperfections, check around at Lowes and HD for floor model deals. I got a stainless french door LG fridge for about $1k off normal price since it was a floor model. There was a scratch on the side that can't be seen and a scuff on the left door that I was able polish out. Don't be afraid to negotiate

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Sears scratch and dent is the shit...I'm with Morgan on this

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

The appliance is only perfect until that first time you punch it when you're standing in front of it and remember your volume knob is probably not facing the right way
anyway.

00TL-P3.2

Our garage KitchenAid was a scratch & dent special. Small dent on the side, hidden by the wall, scuff on the fridge door & a scratch on the handle. No big deal to me.

May try to troubleshoot the Frigidaire, but need to get it swapped into the garage. Will become the garage fridge if we get it working.

00TL-P3.2

Inherited/gifted a Chicago compound miter saw. Been doing some garage rearranging & may have to permanently demote the MBZ to driveway duty, so I can make 1 bay into a work space. Will have to see if the 3rd will fit the car when it's all rearranged (we still have some of the in-law's stuff stored here, including one of their motorcycles).

Need to fabricate a dust shield of sorts. Tried hooking up a shop-vac to the exhaust & it still just blows most of the sawdust out the rear.

SamDoe1

Unless you're buying a Festool Kapex, you're not going to get dust collection worth a shit on a miter saw without some extensive work. The best set up I've seen is to build a box around the saw to contain the dust and put the vacuum port at the bottom. It'll blow all the dust into the box and the vac will suck some out, the rest will just chill in the box until you get irritated enough to clean it. I've, in general, just stopped using my miter saw because the giant mess it makes all the time.

00TL-P3.2

I figured the wood guru would chime in.

With the Chicago, it seems it throws the majority out the back, instead of through the exhaust port. Saw a few DIY dust shields, and some like you mentioned with a vac at the bottom instead of the top port.

It's casual use, so nothing major to be done with it. Luckily, the majority of what it does throw out seems to collect in a decent little pile ~1 ft behind the table; which will be fine as long as I don't intend to put it against the wall.

00TL-P3.2

What/who do we like for air tools? Have an air compressor on the way for Christmas.
Probably start small, impact(s), air ratchet. Prefer not to break the bank on it, but understand 'buy once, cry once'.

SamDoe1

Honestly, I've converted damn near everything air tool to cordless electric. The only air tools I have left are nail guns. For air tools I'd recommend harbor freight to be honest, especially if you're just a shade tree mechanic.

00TL-P3.2

Fair point. It'll all be light duty use, tire rotations & the like. Need to get more tool storage & some form of workbench setup.

00TL-P3.2

Finally got all the lights on the house (because I refuse to do it before Thanksgiving ). Tested them all to make sure they're working & avoid a repeat of last year. Had them all up & working on Sunday.
Walked out last night & saw a dead strip in the same place a different sting of lights failed last year.

00TL-P3.2

Mysteriously, all the lights are working again. Cheap lights, will likely replace/upgrade next year.

00TL-P3.2

Had some scrap wood laying around from a prior project & decided to throw something together. Total cost was something like $20.
Going to hang it on the back porch by the grill. Just needs a bit of touch up in a few places.

Before


Painted

CCColtsicehockey

Needs to be bigger

Looking good

00TL-P3.2

Didn't mention. It's 60" x 40"
Any bigger & it wouldn't fit on the intended wall.

SamDoe1

Need a bigger wall.

00TL-P3.2

Finally got this hung over the weekend.

Yumcha

That is very cool.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Whoah, that is hung, dude. Nice!

00TL-P3.2

Have seen them online for >$100 for a smaller version.
Think I have about $30 in it, and some of that was buying a few small tools I didn't have/couldn't find (compass & protractor for the star). If I did another, I'd probably only be out the cost for paint.

00TL-P3.2

Got the official command at work for all personnel to work remotely, unless you're needed hands-on at the office (lab mostly).
Commandeered my wife's office & got all set up. This'll do for now, adjusting to only having 2 screens, from my 3 screen setup in the office.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

don't be trying to hide the jergen's for your pictures!

00TL-P3.2

We had a really fast & hard storm roll through yesterday afternoon.
Luckily, I had just finished the yard.

Un-luckily, the really strong gusts turned our trampoline into a kite. It took flight & was about 7 ft high & upside down. Only good things are that it stayed in the yard & didn't get damaged (just a couple of the safety net posts were slightly bent).

Quite a sight to see that flying across the yard. Rushed outside & got it strapped down, then the storm has passed

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Tornado?