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Bathroom, continued. A wise person, who probably resembled Mel Brooks, once offered sage advice: “**** never flows uphill.” In my case, **** does not levitate its way into overhead drain pipes either. The new bathroom drains were lower than the drain lines I needed to connect to. This...

A protracted bathroom addition I just finished a lovely book about an English professor running a ranch in the Dakotas and his misadventures while switching his herd from cattle to bison. He describes building miles of fencing to withstand the forces and inclinations of buffalo, and shared a...

A (more) proper project. Apparently it’s spring verging on summer now. 80 degrees today, snow melting, rivers rushing, and a bevy of projects to get done. Started the day with an impromptu call from my in laws, they were administering vaccines, banding, and branding their herd of angus cows...

Holy holes I was doing my best to ensure that this thread did not evolve into a list of “Questionable Facebook marketplace purchases.” But then I actually got a decent deal on a big yellow drill press. It was classic story of somebody retiring/moving/getting out of the hobby. I stumbled on a...

Kudos for getting back on a pedal bike after a hiatus. The first ride is always humbling. Gift yourself some wider tires and lower tire pressure. It makes a world of difference. The pro peloton rode skinny tires through about 2010 when riders realized they were often better off and ultimately...

Snow Hello from a snowbank. For folks and followers who have glanced at the news, you might’ve seen headlines about the deaths of nine people in an avalanche near Truckee this week. It’s a small town, and nearly everyone is only a degree removed from the tragedy. One of the local ski...

Nothing of consequence. I hoon it periodically and every time my 2 year old gets in it he asks “daddy are we getting donuts?” Then I yank the e brake. There are only two major steps I need to take: one is to fab and mount a bumper bar for lights, and then build a roof rack. This generation...

got a new used Tormek. Sharpening party.

Interlude: getting sharper I found an older generation Tormek grinding system at an estate sale over the weekend. Somehow it was the only woodworking tool in a home otherwise full of duck decoys and yellowing copies of Time magazine and garish furniture. In the original box, with all the...

FWIW, I quite like the brass threaded inserts. When I’ve used them in softwoods, I add a dab of epoxy (or titebond in a pinch) to the exterior threads. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of tearing out the hole in case of over tightening by reinforcing the wood that is directly in contact with...

Miter station rebuild The quick hit of pine sawdust while building my shelf last week spurred me back into action. I decided to rebuild the entire miter station and workbench. The original miter station was the ******* child of convenience and necessity while I was finishing the shop last...

Mr don glad to see you out and about and posting. Happy hammering.

Please send your snow and another 20 degrees of cold air to California. Sincerely, the guy skiing when it’s 44 degrees out in January.

@lilscorpion always impressive. Question: how do you bend the tab at the bottom of the tube, that you screw through. Can you adjust the brake for that small an area?

Resolutions and remodels I’ve allowed many ideas to percolate with varying degrees of conviction that together amount to some garage-borne New Year’s resolutions. 1. Good enough is better than Perfect. Ira Glass has an excellent piece on the gap between taste and talent that I think of often...

A new year, and projects abound Toddlers, tamales, and tools to usher in the new year. I’m overdue for an eloquent and poetic early 2026 update. Christmas was blessedly convenient in that the furthest I traveled was to the end of the driveway to plow the first real storm to hit the Sierras...

Over a decade of following @sakurama and today I learn that vinegar takes off mill scale. Oh the grinding I could have avoided.

Oops, double post. Apologies.

@lilscorpion supremely helpful, thank you. As always, you’ve given me plenty of noodle on and new tooling to consider.