Woodworking, DIY, and home repair thread

[drt 645]

If you do go airless, X5 would be my rec.  I have one of the handheld graco that has the paint cup, and cleaning is a fucking pain.  So much so that basically everything that isn't a big job I just roll or brush.  But the big jobs require refilling the cup constantly.  Go big or go home.

[NateHitch 1,282]

I'd think about pecky cypress maybe, light and very figured in its look.

Finally getting started on this. Took a while but I found some pecky cypress.

Did a test with a small piece, and the stain I want and it turned out really well

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

3 minutes ago, NateHitch said:

 

 

Finally getting started on this. Took a while but I found some pecky cypress.

Did a test with a small piece, and the stain I want and it turned out really well

 

I friggin love pecky cypress . It's got so much character .  And it's one of those woods that few know about .  It looks like its ancient.  It takes a stain very well and gives really nice coloration.  Did an Irish pub type bar for a house years ago.  It's still one of the coolest cabinet  pieces I've ever designed .  And the weight isn't an issue, very light.  

[NateHitch 1,282]

Excellent call and you're right, I had never heard of it and neither had several wood places I called. They acted like I was just making shit up. Got one end done and took a chisel to the side pieces, trying to make a faux beam. Happy so far, the other side is drying and then I'll start in it

[utee94 16,066]

Cool project Nate!

A couple of years ago I did something similar with a slab of live edge black walnut, but instead of going rustic I went super modern and poured a thick coating of clear epoxy over it (think, bar table top finish).  Then I hung two vintage industrial light fixtures with Edison bulbs from it.  It hangs over my dining room table and it gets a lot of compliments.

 

 

[NateHitch 1,282]

Take a pic of that, I'd love to see it!

[utee94 16,066]

When I stop being lazy and finally sign up for image hosting, I'll do that.  Doesn't one of the services not work well with surly?  I don't remember which.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

Imgur doesn’t work with tapa.

[davidg 4,057]

On 10/22/2018 at 11:16 AM, drt said:

If you do go airless, X5 would be my rec.  I have one of the handheld graco that has the paint cup, and cleaning is a fucking pain.  So much so that basically everything that isn't a big job I just roll or brush.  But the big jobs require refilling the cup constantly.  Go big or go home.

 

Anybody got experience using an airless sprayer with oil based and dealing with the clean up?  I've got some 20' containers and a building that need painting and I would like to use enamel but I'm not sure about the cleanup.

[Shoxthemonkey 1,992]

You can do it but your cleanup needs to be painstaking. It needs to be thin enough to shoot, of course. My old Wagner did fine until my son and his buddies painted a truck.

[Spaulding Smails 1,610]

2 hours ago, davidg said:

 

Anybody got experience using an airless sprayer with oil based and dealing with the clean up?  I've got some 20' containers and a building that need painting and I would like to use enamel but I'm not sure about the cleanup.

As noted, unless you're really taking your time cleaning it, I'd opt for something other than enamel.  All of our paint crews run two spray rigs.  One for latex and one for enamel.  Consider using Sherwin-Williams DTM acrylic for metal surfaces.  Paints just as well as an enamel, great for 95% of all applications, and much easier to clean than an oil-based product.

[52-80 19,379]

enjoyed having a cordless oscillating multi-tool at home... cutting up furniture and vines and shit all overgrown on my fence

[davidg 4,057]

31 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

enjoyed having a cordless oscillating multi-tool at home... cutting up furniture and vines and shit all overgrown on my fence

This is a fantastic price for 2 5A 20Vmax batteries and a charger.  If you have a 20vmax jgrinder, you really need these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M08HTVS/?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=toolguyd-20

 

via  https://toolguyd.com/hot-deal-dewalt-20v-max-5ah-battery-2-pack-charger/

 

[NateHitch 1,282]

Went a different direction with the style of the overhead island light but it's coming together pretty well. Lots of holes in the pecky wood, I put a soft yellow light bulb inside that will shine some light through them

[NateHitch 1,282]

good god, tapa butchers any reply that includes pics

[Spur08 383]

I'm thinking about building this toy storage thing for my daughter.  I figured I might just use birch plywood for the frame and then trim it out with something.  Thoughts?  Better design to recommend?

 

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

Why use birch? I’ve seen it mentioned on other stuff before but never knew why.

[drt 645]

Baltic birch ply from Europe is pretty much the best ply you can buy.  No voids so it's very consistent thickness, one face is typically clear so it looks nice, plies are all oriented across each others grain so it stays flatter, and all plies are actually birch instead of having softwood species mixed in the middle layers (helps hold screws and joinery).  Chinese knockoffs aren't as good.

If you're just talking the birch plywood from home depot, it typically has a less busy grain pattern in the veneer layer than Oak (looks better painted, and if staining doesn't look like cabinetry from the 80s).  All that stuff has a paper thin layer of whatever hardwood it's named after, the rest of the plies are a mishmash.

[davidg 4,057]

Everything you want to know about Baltic Birch:    https://www.woodworkerssource.com/blog/woodworking-101/tips-tricks/your-ultimate-guide-to-baltic-birch-plywood-why-its-better-when-to-use-it/

[utee94 16,066]

Yeah Baltic Birch is great, but just beware it usually doesn't come in standard American 4x8 sheets.  It's typically 5x5.  Which for me at least, means there's some odd sizes and extra waste when doing standard casework.  But I still love the material.

For the big box stuff, 4x8 sheets of birch used to be somewhat cheaper than oak or maple, but these days they're all about the same.  I agree with drt and prefer the less busy grain of birch over oak, which indeed does remind me of cheap crappy 80s cabinetry. 

 

[Spur08 383]

Still good quality for painting?  I do not plan on staining this piece.

[utee94 16,066]

Yeah, even better for painting.  Birch can get splotchy while staining, using a pre-conditioner is always a good idea.

[Jhawk 1,075]

Alright gents, have a railing that needs to go.  The situation:

I have a railing at the top of a metal spiral staircase that needs to be deleted.  I rent so I need to keep the railing so I can put it back in when I decide to move in the distant future (1+ years).  2 issues; First, foot of the railing is secured in concrete via some sort of masonry screw such as the one pictured below, secondly, the other half of the 4 contact points are tack welded to the metal landing portion of the staircase.  I got a dremel and have been going at the welds.  I'm making progress there but thought it might be easier to get the screws first to open up the gap between foot and floor to cut the welds.

Now the chief problem, I got one screw out easily but the other is a real sum bitch.  My Ryobi cordless doesn't have the torque to unscrew it.  My Ryobi cordless impact driver will send shocks and make a shitload of noise but isn't turning the screw either.  There is a washer between concrete and foot of the railing so there is no gap to cut the screw with the dremel.  The threads are in good condition still so I don't want to just put a metal bit through them without exhausting all options.  That seems like a last ditch effort to me.

What say the shag?

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Why would you delete a railing at the top of a stair ?

[Jhawk 1,075]

1 minute ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Why would you delete a railing at the top of a stair ?

It's a redundant railing (already one on the stairs coming up) and..... I'm installing a golf simulator and the rail is very close to the swing space.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

Did you know coyotes can’t climb spiral stairs?

[Jhawk 1,075]

1 minute ago, Jkwellborn said:

Did you know coyotes can’t climb spiral stairs?

Neither can drunk womens.  Makes it easy to get them to leave after you fuck them on the couch downstairs.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

I’d get a grinder and use it to cut the welds and screw head off if you can get to it.

[Jhawk 1,075]

Here is a pic. The head is flush with the foot it is fastening. There is a washer between the concrete and metal foot. I’d like to not have to grind through the washer and the screw but will if that’s the only option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,998]

Oxy acetylene torch maybe?

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

Half inch impact. Or an impact driver that you have to hit with a hammer.

[Jhawk 1,075]

Don’t have any torch experience and it’s right outside my bedroom door in an apartment building. I haven’t exactly gotten this approved so I want to tone down the noise/smell as much as possible. Think I’m going to just go at it with the dremel at this point. I’ll turn the music up and try to get it done as fast as possible then knock it off the seating with a mallet. Grab what’s left in the ground with vice grips and manually pull it out. 

[Jhawk 1,075]

How have I never bought a dremel before this?  Cut through everything cleanly in about 5 minutes. Can now take a full swing with my drive at the top of my stairs in a little landing/office space in my loft. Ballistic screen and mat are ordered. Going to pop for the skytrak system and projector next month. Fully functional range in 10 days and a golf studio in a month.  

[Robin Masters 122]

In the future, soak that screw with some Liquid Wrench, or PB Blaster. Repeat.

More advice, don't go cheap on the baltic birch plywood, buy the real thing.
I built 16 bookshelves. I planned them for what I could cut out of a 4x8 sheet. Looked at Lowes and Home Depot, tons of voids in their better plywood. I priced real baltic birch, nope nope nope, couldn't pay that much. Craigslist to the rescue. Some local chain of lumber yards had Chinese baltic birch, cheaper than the big boxes. So I wound up buying a bunch of 3/4 for the frames, 1/2 for the shelves and uprights, and 1/4 for the backs. Start cutting and find that the Chinese stuff has the thinnest veneer possible and the plys were glued with some red colored glue. I wound up leaving it bare instead of staining because of that, every stain or poly I tested really brought out the red. So again, buy the real thing.

[Spur08 383]

The birch @ HD was only like $40 for 4x8

[utee94 16,066]

Yeah, that's the cheap stuff folks were mentioning above.  Very thin face veneer, often a lot of voids.

Still, I've built plenty of projects out of it. If you're happy with it, carry on.

[davidg 4,057]

On 10/22/2018 at 11:16 AM, drt said:

If you do go airless, X5 would be my rec.  I have one of the handheld graco that has the paint cup, and cleaning is a fucking pain.  So much so that basically everything that isn't a big job I just roll or brush.  But the big jobs require refilling the cup constantly.  Go big or go home.

The X5 is currently $224 at Home Depot and on Amazon and the X7 is $292 if any body has an airless paint sprayer on their Christmas list.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

The X5 is currently $224 at Home Depot and on Amazon and the X7 is $292 if any body has an airless paint sprayer on their Christmas list.

Funny you should post this. I saw that today and will be getting the x5 this weekend. Sale goes off Dec 2. I’ll probably pick it up after Texas Beats ou.

[davidg 4,057]

29 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

Funny you should post this. I saw that today and will be getting the x5 this weekend. Sale goes off Dec 2. I’ll probably pick it up after Texas Beats ou.

I have it on my amazon tool wishlist and noticed it was marked down yesterday.  Its a great price for the X5. May go ahead and snag one too.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

You gonna get the extension they always show as an additional purchase? I’m thinking about it because I’ve gotta porch to seal

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

I have it on my amazon tool wishlist and noticed it was marked down yesterday.  Its a great price for the X5. May go ahead and snag one too.

You got a link for amazon? I couldn’t find it and it’s just the pro deal at home depot

[davidg 4,057]

Amazon kicked it back up to $289.

HD was sold out of X5 online and was $329 in store. I ended up ordering an X7 off of AZN for $298.

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

The x5 is $299 in the store. I showed the lady at the counter the ad and got it for that.

[PokerFace 65]

Question: currently making a table, and it’s my first major project. About to be done sanding and getting ready to stain.

A lot of people have given me differing advice: do I need to apply pre-stain before staining? I heard it can help softwood stain look more even, but some others have told me it’s not necessary. What say you? Top of table is Douglas fir, base is yellow pine.

[utee94 16,066]

I'd use the conditioner on both of those woods. Post up some pics, would love to see the results of your first effort!

[AUinHsv 583]

1 hour ago, PokerFace said:

Question: currently making a table, and it’s my first major project. About to be done sanding and getting ready to stain.

A lot of people have given me differing advice: do I need to apply pre-stain before staining? I heard it can help softwood stain look more even, but some others have told me it’s not necessary. What say you? Top of table is Douglas fir, base is yellow pine.

Take a piece of scrap and try both - see which you like best

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

19 hours ago, PokerFace said:

Question: currently making a table, and it’s my first major project. About to be done sanding and getting ready to stain.

A lot of people have given me differing advice: do I need to apply pre-stain before staining? I heard it can help softwood stain look more even, but some others have told me it’s not necessary. What say you? Top of table is Douglas fir, base is yellow pine.

Well, I'd probably us a pre stain before staining, but that's just me.  Yes, pre stain to get a more consistent color.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Onboard 2.0

[PokerFace 65]

Sorry been off a few days. Thanks for the advice! Went ahead and took it—applied pre-stain prior to staining, definitely glad I did. Looked really blotchy on the test wood without the prestain.

Not done yet—hoping to be done before next weekend when family comes in for Christmas. I’ll go ahead and post a few pics of the progress so far. Be gentle—it’s my first time!

[NateHitch 1,282]

Damn man, nice work!

[Jkwellborn 7,006]

Looks good.