Recent content by Paul in MN

Thank You James!

BLKF350, In this application, shear only possibly happens when the base beneath the concrete has sunk so it does not support the area beneath the pad. The whole point of my calculations was to show that you have a huge amount of safety factor even if the concrete is not as strong as you might...

BLKF350, I have built a lot of pole barns, garages, and houses. With apologies to the good concrete guys, my experience has been they generally are the most unreliable part of the trades. But putting all war stories aside, it is rare that a slab is poured and finished to an accurate depth. A...

I worked as a residential construction foreman back in the 70's and early 80's. I have seen good concrete crews, and crews who were thieves and belonged in jail. One even threatened to kill me, and he was serious. I have done a lot of my own concrete and block work, but now at age 72 with some...

G-Man, Thanks for the information. Now I am just a little bit smarter, but maybe I lose more each day than I gain?? (Just ask my wife....) My better anvil is a Trenton, I'll look for the numbers on it. I suspect that it is somewhere near 85 lbs. It was formerly in a school shop and shows signs...

G-Man Bart, That is a nice find! I do have some questions about weight and possible repair of the chips. I have some recollection about the weight being stamped with 3 numbers representing some weights in units different than pounds. Something about English (not US) system weight units. Is...

Drivesitfar, Wow, you are quick to respond, and thanks for the encouragement. I thought in my original "anvil" post that I was responding to the many posts on page 1 of this thread. Later, I found those posts to have been made in 2009. So I am learning this system. I participate in "Yesterday's...

Drivesitfar, Thanks for the complement on my writing style (or was it maybe too bookish?) Whatever... My bad, I thought I was responding to the first post in this 44 page thread, and I was confused by my lack of familiarity with this website (newbie!). I tried to eliminate (cancel) my post, but...

Anvils are very useful tools. I belong to a blacksmith group and consider myself to be a novice. It is often accepted that the height of the top surface of the anvil is about even with your 1st knuckle of your hammering hand. Greater height reduces your hammer swing. Secondly, a good hardwood...

Anvils are very useful tools. I belong to a blacksmith group and consider myself to be a novice. It is often accepted that the height of the top surface of the anvil is about even with your 1st knuckle of your hammering hand. Greater height reduces your hammer swing. Secondly, a good hardwood...

Welcome from Plymouth. We are in the midst of a wild and crazy construction boom. It is almost impossible to hire a crew or a contractor to do good work at reasonable prices. A good friend has had a contractor string him along for 2 to 3 years on a good size barn/shop build north of Brainerd...

Shed Better, The 3 bifold doors I have installed were cost effective. Due to the size of our farm equipment, I did not want to sacrifice any headroom beneath the trusses. Due to the width of 30ft+, o'head doors become astronomical in price. I looked at many options and decided that the best...

You should determine what the structure of the current header is. You may be able to move it up, but need to determine what are the other structural aspects of that end wall. I have done this mod to my son's pole barn, and have also done similar mods to regular stud framed buildings. I have had...

Hi Ray, The recently acquired undeveloped small parcel of land on the east side of doggie park adjoins my piece. I try to hide my stash of IH PU's in my west tree line, but when the leaves fall I'm screwed because they become visible to city people who think I have a small junkyard. The city...

Thumper68, Thanks for the Hello. I have friends in Duluth ,an did some RV camping at Buffalo Valley the week before Labor Day. You guys have the greatest RR Train museum, which I really enjoy. In the Twin Cities, we have nothing to compare, but do have a transportation museum in St Paul in the...