Recent content by Stuart in MN

I keep looking at that picture of the cut off parts of the I beams, thinking there has to be a good use for them. Maybe the basis for the world's strongest workbench? :)

The PV Co stands for Prentiss Vise company, you'll have better luck searching for a replacement nut using the full name. I believe there's a vise parts discussions elsewhere on the board that may be helpful.

Without ongoing maintenance, gravel over a weed block or a vapor barrier is going to fill up with organics - dust and dirt blowing in over time, fallen leaves, etc. - and weeds will start growing.

More often than not the different answers are coming from people who aren't electricians or engineers. Having said that, sometimes there is more than one 'correct' way to do things, it just depends on the particular situation. In any case I started this discussion by posting a link to a video...

I've had the best luck with Benjamin Moore paints.

There's always a person who feels obligated into turning any discussion into their own personal rant. It gets really discouraging for those of us who just want to post something that may be helpful. :mad:

The Practical Engineering YouTube channel has a new video titled Every US Electrical Outlet Explained. The topic comes up here pretty often so I thought I'd post the link. His other videos are well worth a look too, he does a good job of explaining all kinds of things from the engineering world,

Now, if you can just get the delivery truck guy to come back when you're ready to put the beams in place. :) The hoist on his truck looks pretty versatile.

Figure out how many GPM will come out of your shower head, multiply that by how long it takes for you to take a shower. If it weren't for the shower you could probably get away with a 5 or 10 gallon heater.

Sadly, both hardware stores in my little home town are long gone. I remember as a kid going to the Coast to Coast hardware store where they had one of those multi drawer metal cabinets full of bearings, chain master links, and other maintenance bits for bicycles. Since my life revolved around...

You're in Loretto, I'm pretty sure that's Xcel Energy. Their winter kilowatt-hour rate is a hair over $0.11/kwh, so running a 5 kw heater will cost you 55 or 60 cents an hour if it runs continuously (look at the second page of one of your bills from a winter month, all the charges are itemized...

And of course, most everyone here knows about Harry J. Epstein in Kansas City. While ordering tools from their website is fun, you really need to visit in person if you're ever in the area. It's an awesome store.

While I have a couple good hardware stores nearby, there's also a couple departed ones that I miss... Rex Hardware was a tiny place just a few blocks away, I could walk there. It dated back to around world war 1. A veteran came home from WWII and bought it in 1945, and he and his wife ran it...

I'm fortunate to have a couple of those places in my neighborhood, one pretty large one that has several stores in the metro area, and another one that's a small, old fashioned place still in the vintage building where they've always been. I agree, if there's such a place near you, patronize...

I wasn't able to get a good picture so here's a sketch showing how my garage wall is built. The view is from inside the garage. From the bottom up: concrete slab, one course of concrete block, one 2x4 bottom plate, one 2x4 jack stud to support LVL header over garage door opening, one 2x4 king...