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Invisible Ted posted:e: Asking here instead of the woodworking megathread because I'm kinda hoping for some wisdom applicable to more than just woodworking. General wisdom would be that if you want to learn about a subject you start by seeking information sources specific to that subject... books, classes, forums, etc. I guess I'm not really sure what you are asking but if you want to build a bookcase and understand the joinery principles you might start with some of the book recommendations in the woodworking thread.
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Jul 8, 2012 15:06
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bobua posted:This isn't really a 'fix it' thing but I didn't feel it needed its own thread. peepsalot posted:do more coats Also, don't use the spray plasti-dip on foam. The solvents that it sprays with eat foam and make it coat like poo poo. Get the liquid in a can and brush it on.
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Jul 8, 2012 15:31
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I just cut a piece of metal, and the cut end is really sharp. Aside from using a file/coarse sandpaper (that doesn't seem to be doing very much...) are there any other effective ways to sand the sharp edge down so it doesn't slice people's hands when they touch it? \/Ended up getting exactly that. It worked (with a ton of elbow grease, that is). Thanks for the suggestion! melon cat fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 16:52
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melon cat posted:I just cut a piece of metal, and the cut end is really sharp. Aside from using a file/coarse sandpaper (that doesn't seem to be doing very much...) are there any other effective ways to sand the sharp edge down so it doesn't slice people's hands when they touch it? Buy a deburring tool like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/plumbing/plumbing-tools/brasscraft/deburring-tool-41550.html Alternately, you can sometimes get by with a Dremel and deburring bit, but I prefer the manual one.
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Jul 8, 2012 17:18
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Tim Thomas posted:Buy a deburring tool like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/plumbing/plumbing-tools/brasscraft/deburring-tool-41550.html If the metal's thick enough, You can always take a hammer to the edge to blunt it too.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:34
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Any recommendations on some reasonably priced interior paint that I won't have to do 3 coats to get good coverage? Been trying to read up on some pretty common ones (Behr, Valspar, Sherwin-Williams) but without any actual first hand experience there is no general consensus that I've found. Some reviews of any recently used paints would be great.
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Jul 9, 2012 04:08
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excidium posted:Any recommendations on some reasonably priced interior paint that I won't have to do 3 coats to get good coverage? Been trying to read up on some pretty common ones (Behr, Valspar, Sherwin-Williams) but without any actual first hand experience there is no general consensus that I've found. Some reviews of any recently used paints would be great. I used Sherwin-Williams HGTV home paint and it needed 2 coats but just barely. I kind of think if I had used better roller inserts I could have done it in one coat. I did prime, but I think SW's primer is garbage. Very difficult to get an even coat. Maybe that's just how primer is though, it was my first time painting. Make sure to wait for a 30-40% sale on SW's paint if you use it though, the normal prices are crazy.
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Jul 9, 2012 06:17
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excidium posted:Any recommendations on some reasonably priced interior paint that I won't have to do 3 coats to get good coverage? Been trying to read up on some pretty common ones (Behr, Valspar, Sherwin-Williams) but without any actual first hand experience there is no general consensus that I've found. Some reviews of any recently used paints would be great. I've used Behr for a while now, and always with great results. Except for that time I painted a white room red and refused to use primer! Also, a protip I've learned that seems to have worked well is to use a roller cover with a thick nap (like 1 1/4" instead of the more common 3/8") it puts more paint on the wall faster.
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Jul 9, 2012 06:26
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excidium posted:Any recommendations on some reasonably priced interior paint that I won't have to do 3 coats to get good coverage? Been trying to read up on some pretty common ones (Behr, Valspar, Sherwin-Williams) but without any actual first hand experience there is no general consensus that I've found. Some reviews of any recently used paints would be great. We used Sherwin Williams and it did really well. One coat in almost all the rooms and it looked great. I think the particular type we used was what they called their "superpaint"...or something to that effect. It wasn't available in all colors though.
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Jul 9, 2012 07:59
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excidium posted:Any recommendations on some reasonably priced interior paint that I won't have to do 3 coats to get good coverage? Been trying to read up on some pretty common ones (Behr, Valspar, Sherwin-Williams) but without any actual first hand experience there is no general consensus that I've found. Some reviews of any recently used paints would be great. When I was painting, I read up on quite a few painters forums and they seemed to all agree that Benjamin Moore Aura was the best for coverage. The arguement was that time saved more than balanced out the cost per can.
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Jul 9, 2012 14:23
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Is there an easy way to remove vinyl siding (Well more of a ceiling) without a removal tool without destroying it?
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Jul 9, 2012 17:02
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I'm cleaning out my mother's house and have to dispose of 61 gallon cans of old latex paint, in various colors, ages, and states of drying. I've sorted out the stuff I'm going to keep, but how do I get rid of the rest of it? I see there's some stuff called paint hardener, but I'm not really keen on buying 52 packets of it. Even then, will the garbage take it after it's hardened?
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Jul 10, 2012 00:08
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you ate my cat posted:I'm cleaning out my mother's house and have to dispose of 61 gallon cans of old latex paint, in various colors, ages, and states of drying. I've sorted out the stuff I'm going to keep, but how do I get rid of the rest of it? I see there's some stuff called paint hardener, but I'm not really keen on buying 52 packets of it. Even then, will the garbage take it after it's hardened? Use kitty litter. If these are all full cans then you'll need to dump some out into something else first though. You should be able to just throw it in the trash afterwards (or more likely dump yourself at the landfill if you have that much), but I would check with them first just to be safe.
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Jul 10, 2012 00:29
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you ate my cat posted:I'm cleaning out my mother's house and have to dispose of 61 gallon cans of old latex paint, in various colors, ages, and states of drying. I've sorted out the stuff I'm going to keep, but how do I get rid of the rest of it? I see there's some stuff called paint hardener, but I'm not really keen on buying 52 packets of it. Even then, will the garbage take it after it's hardened? Check about donating some of the fuller cans. I'm sure there are some places around that will take them off your hands.
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Jul 10, 2012 00:46
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Thanks guys. Most of these are partial cans, and the few full cans are really, really old and probably not salvageable. I'll look into donating, and I happen to have a pile of kitty litter around from another project.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:28
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You can also just leave the lid off and let it dry naturally before disposing of it.
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Jul 10, 2012 07:52
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You might check with your local waste management as well. Ours has a recycling/disposal program where you can just drop it off.
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Jul 10, 2012 13:29
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I need to cover up some windows and a sliding door with curtains. Usually not a problem, except these windows in my apartment suck. The edges are made of metal, they go right up to the ceiling, and there is literally no space between the windows and the sliding door. I'm at work so I can't provide any pictures at the moment, but they both take up about 8-10 feet of the wall. I've considered attaching the curtain rod to the ceiling, but am unsure about how well it would work; for one, the ceiling has stucco. Also, from what I can ascertain from a small hole in my bedroom ceiling's stucco, it's just a...sheet of stucco, or something. Like, the stucco resembles wallpaper more than spray-on stucco. Is this going to be a problem if try to attach a ceiling-mounted curtain rod? Or can I just proceed as if it was a regular ceiling?
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Jul 10, 2012 18:39
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You need to know more about the ceiling before you try to fix anything to it, but yes, fixing the track to the ceiling is acceptable.
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Jul 10, 2012 18:56
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Invisible Ted posted:So I've been thinking about building a very basic bookshelf as a way to introduce myself to woodworking and handiness in general, but I'm hung up on how to approach it. Does anyone have any advice on the general procedure when building a piece of furniture like this? Not specifically bookshelves, but like a "scientific process", except for woodworking. Sketch some ideas for how you want the finished product to look. Once you have something that looks good go measure the space it's supposed to fit in. Create a scale drawing of your project so that you know how big the pieces are. Calculate how much lumber it uses, get that plus some extra in case of screwups. Buy your fasteners and then get to work cutting, sanding, assembling, painting and positioning your new bookshelf. Having a good plan to work from is a huge timesaver, especially if you are doing something complicated. That's the time to build scale models and make sure they work before you spend real money on wood or other materials. By the way, when I talk about drawing up plans you need a pencil and some paper. You don't have to grab the t-square, engineering rule and your protractor in order to put together a bookshelf. A crude drawing showing what you want and some dimensions should work fine. The first time you make these things it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a lot of time in the design phase. In the end, you'll have to grab a saw and make a cut. Screw and glue some boards together and see if the drat thing falls over. Building an ugly bookshelf should be seen as a gateway to building much prettier bookshelves in the future. You have to start somewhere so at least try to build a plan to work from. CuddleChunks fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 20:39
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Has anyone here ever ordered stuff from http://www.repairclinic.com/ before? I need a heating element for my dryer, specifically http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Heating-Element-Assembly/3387747/525502 and it's a lot cheaper on this site than from Sears or local parts stores... just wondering if there's anybody that has used them before that can say if the parts are just as good (it says OEM) and how well it works.
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Jul 10, 2012 23:01
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Anyone have a good resource for learning how to put in a sprinkler system? I know how to cut, assemble and glue PVC, but no idea about how to design one to function properly. I also don't know how to tap into the water supply without calling out a plumber.
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Jul 10, 2012 23:21
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Ballz posted:
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Jul 11, 2012 03:09
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ixo posted:Anyone have a good resource for learning how to put in a sprinkler system? I know how to cut, assemble and glue PVC, but no idea about how to design one to function properly. I also don't know how to tap into the water supply without calling out a plumber. You have two questions here. For the first one, RainBird, Toro, etc, will give you free plans based on a measurement of your pressure (buy a gauge from a big box and hook it to your spigot) and volume (time how long it takes a 5 gallon bucket to fill) combined with a drawing or google earth snapshot of your yard. Then you just buy what they tell you and set up the zones according to what they design. For tapping into your home's water supply, you will most likely be better off with a separate meter. This will, unfortunately, likely require a master plumber for the water company to be good with it. The good news is that in my city at least, that costs between $300 and $400, all of which you will make back in a year or so since you aren't paying sewage fees on the irrigation meter. While you're at it, add another spigot or two so you don't pay sewage fees when you wash you car, pressure wash your deck, etc. let it mellow fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 03:23
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CuddleChunks posted:Sketch some ideas for how you want the finished product to look. Once you have something that looks good go measure the space it's supposed to fit in. Create a scale drawing of your project so that you know how big the pieces are. Calculate how much lumber it uses, get that plus some extra in case of screwups. Buy your fasteners and then get to work cutting, sanding, assembling, painting and positioning your new bookshelf. Very solid advice. The only thing I'll add is to make sure you also measure the spaces you're going to use to get it to that space you're fitting it in. Usually not a big deal but if you have narrow hallways, or a tight stairway turn or a really big handrail or something you'll want to know about it before you're trying to carry a bookshelf through there. Put the screws in once you have all the parts in the room it's going in if you have to; if you're putting that much work into making the piece, moving the last step from the woodshop to the living room is well worth avoiding the hassle of catching the bookshelf on a handrail, putting a divot into the drywall with the corner of it as you try to detach it and then putting a nice scratch down the front because it scraped the door latch on the way in.
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Jul 11, 2012 03:56
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oldskool posted:Very solid advice. The only thing I'll add is to make sure you also measure the spaces you're going to use to get it to that space you're fitting it in.  Ugh, this is totally wrong. How are you ever going to learn anything until you make a beautiful, handcrafted bookshelf out of mahogany and hand-rubbed reclaimed oak planks only to find that your lovely efficiency apartment has a pillar right after the entry door where you can't turn the bookcase no matter what non-Euclidean geometry you pick. Do you saw your beautiful bookcase down into mobile chunks? Do you take a sledge to the pillar in order to get a notch where you can move the bookcase through? Or, do you just sit and sob, a broken shell of a man? Why would you take this incredibly valuable lesson away from them, oldskool? For shame!
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Jul 11, 2012 18:18
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I'm finally getting around to doing something with the stairs. They're pre-built from Lumber 86 and unfinished, by request. Once I scrape up and sand the gobs of drywall plaster, I'll put a coat of stain on the treads and... then what? What do I use to protect the wood from the heavy use it'll be getting? I've been told by multiple people not to use polyurethane because it's slippery, but most of the results on Google are people using polyurethane. Are they using a specific type of polyurethane? Should I be using a different product entirely? On my kitchen cabinets I used three coats of high gloss spar varnish, which I understand is marine-grade polyurethane, which theoretically shouldn't be slippery. Will this work? Do I need to go to an actual boat store and ask what they use for boat decks? How many coats?
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Jul 11, 2012 20:38
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Can I use the outlet directly connected to the breaker box to permanently power my network (modem, router, switch, NAS). I figure collectively they're using less than an amp, but is there anything that says that outlet can't be used permanently. I've always heard its for temporary use only, but never from anybody with actual knowledge of building code.
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Jul 12, 2012 04:22
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Triikan posted:Can I use the outlet directly connected to the breaker box to permanently power my network (modem, router, switch, NAS). I figure collectively they're using less than an amp, but is there anything that says that outlet can't be used permanently. I've always heard its for temporary use only, but never from anybody with actual knowledge of building code. I don't see why not as long the receptacle is installed correctly in a box. It's likely on it's own 20a circuit (I also assume of course that this is indoors)
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Jul 12, 2012 04:59
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Triikan posted:Can I use the outlet directly connected to the breaker box to permanently power my network (modem, router, switch, NAS). I figure collectively they're using less than an amp, but is there anything that says that outlet can't be used permanently. I've always heard its for temporary use only, but never from anybody with actual knowledge of building code.
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Jul 12, 2012 22:08
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My trimmer's head just flew apart at high speed and a small piece dissipated  It's a little silver cylinder that sits in the eyelet to hold the line. I can only find the whole spool assembly online, because I have no idea what I would call this thing.  The other three were mercifully left attached, but I can't use it without all 4. The trimmer is a Troy-Bilt TB525CS and the part number for the spool is 753-06044. Anyone know where I could find just the bit I need?
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Jul 13, 2012 00:52
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Does anyone know if the outlet on one of these light fixture / outlet combo is always hot, or is it controlled by the chain? I'm looking to install an antenna in my attic, with a amplifier that needs non-grounded power. The only easy-access power up there is a single light blub fixture. I'm wondering if it's worth replacing the fixture with the combo piece, or if I should just get one of those "Two Outlet Socket Adapter" instead.
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Jul 13, 2012 14:40
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Voodoo posted:Does anyone know if the outlet on one of these light fixture / outlet combo is always hot, or is it controlled by the chain? Usually, the outlet is constant hot, but most of those fixtures can be wired either way. Easiest way is to go up there with a flashlight and some method of testing the outlet and just check it.
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Jul 13, 2012 16:00
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Triikan posted:Can I use the outlet directly connected to the breaker box to permanently power my network (modem, router, switch, NAS). I figure collectively they're using less than an amp, but is there anything that says that outlet can't be used permanently. I've always heard its for temporary use only, but never from anybody with actual knowledge of building code. Well, that depends on what you're attaching them to the receptacle with. Power strips, extension cords, triple adapters, etc are considered temporary use only. Only surge protectors are allowed for multi-outlet permanent installations. With that many expensive electronic devices, you'd probably want to use a surge protector anyway. This is the same setup I use at home to power my network stuff, down to the breaker box outlet. babyeatingpsychopath posted:Usually, the outlet is constant hot, but most of those fixtures can be wired either way. Easiest way is to go up there with a flashlight and some method of testing the outlet and just check it. Eh, most pullchain/outlet combos I've seen aren't either/or. They're so compact that the outlet is usually just bars of metal that the socket is directly attached to. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 16:13
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Voodoo posted:Does anyone know if the outlet on one of these light fixture / outlet combo is always hot, or is it controlled by the chain? 410.5 Luminaires (Fixtures) Near Combustible Material. Luminaires (fixtures) shall be constructed, installed, or equipped with shades or guards so that combustible material is not subjected to temperatures in excess of 90°C (194°F). 410.6 Luminaires (Fixtures) Over Combustible Material. Lampholders installed over highly combustible material shall be of the unswitched type. Unless an individual switch is provided for each luminaire (fixture), lampholders shall be located at least 2.5 m (8 ft) above the floor or shall be located or guarded so that the lamps cannot be readily removed or damaged. grover fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 16:40
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daggerdragon posted:I'm finally getting around to doing something with the stairs. They're pre-built from Lumber 86 and unfinished, by request. Once I scrape up and sand the gobs of drywall plaster, I'll put a coat of stain on the treads and... then what? What do I use to protect the wood from the heavy use it'll be getting? Anybody? I was hoping to get the opinion/advice of someone who has done this before I'm going to Home Depot after work to pick up some more spar varnish, but in satin for the stairs, I guess.
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Jul 13, 2012 16:45
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daggerdragon posted:Anybody? I was hoping to get the opinion/advice of someone who has done this before We used plain ole normal poly. It holds up well, cleans easy, and is not slippery wish shoes or bare feet, but is slick as hell if you're wearing socks. grover fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 16:46
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Thanks everyone.grover posted:Officially... you can't use bare bulbs in attics used for storage. Unofficially... it's pretty much standard. The plug is normally always-on, the cord just switches the bulb base. The plug is kinda useless, though, as the cord touches the bulb and melts unless you tie it up and out of the way. If you're handy, you could install a new receptacle just for your antenna; you're looking at maybe $2 worth of box/receptacle/cover and however much cable you need.
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Jul 13, 2012 17:10
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Voodoo posted:Thanks everyone. You're only allowed to make wire junctions inside boxes. Don't just splice and tape outside of a box. But you got the right idea: turn off the circuit, take the fixture off, pry another box knockout out, poke your new NM cable through leaving lots of slack hanging out, staple it to the wood close to the box, stretch it to your new box stapling every few feet, put up your new box, poke the wire through there too and make all the proper connections. It's hard to say if that circuit branch has grounding or not. That depends on when your home was built. GFCIs aren't required in attics. I would just use a regular outlet.
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Jul 13, 2012 17:56
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Might be worth reading the electric DIY thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3090739 Adding a receptacle isn't hard, but you still have to know what to do.
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Jul 13, 2012 18:01
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