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I do. All the time. I have a set of cordless tools that use 19V batteries. I've had to replace the charger twice because of power surges, and I've bought four additional batteries to supplement the two that came in the kit. I've never used the cordless circular saw--the corded Makita just...

The foam is rated at 25 psi as I recall. The concrete is closer to 3000, so it will distribute the load. But even at 25 psi, a 10" square baseplate will support 2500 pounds directly on the foam. Of course, you wouldn't do that--the foam would eventually creep if nothing else. But the stuff is...

Put the windows on the north side and the sun won’t shine through them. Rick “surprised by how often one needs to see outside” Denney

The only mistake I made on my 40x60 was residential-height (7') doors for the second two doors. Dumb! The door for the GMC Motorhome is 12' tall, and I wish I'd made the others 9' tall at least. Your sketch does not show that mistake. Looking at your plan, the wing walls next to the doors seem...

My favorite EDC is a Kershaw Leek. Even with the carbon scales, it's under a c-note, so not really expensive. My priciest knife is a GiantMouse Ace Biblio with micarta scales. Really nice, but just a tad bulky for EDC. (Their photo--too bad about the Stanley import wrenches.) For knives I...

Nobody used the Silca plastic heads, at least not for long. My Campy head has black rubber tips, and I may have replaced those when I refurbed the bike for display in the late 90’s. Maybe I bought them from Bicycle Classics when they were in Newton, MA. That’s where I got the long-lasting black...

Did someone say Eddy Merckx? This is the most comfortable bike I own, but it’s also the stiffest. Rick “state of the art, ca. 1994” Denney

My first good bike was this: I owned every tool needed to assemble from frame up and service everything: A Campy T-handle (combining a 6mm Allen wrench with an 8mm nut driver), 13 and 14mm cone wrenches, 14 and 15mm box-end wrenches, 15mm pedal wrench, Campy headset wrenches, Phil Wood...

The last few posts make me very happy I stick with my old-school bikes. Current designs are too complicated for their own good, it seems to me. Hydraulic lines through the headset? Really? Rick “never had a profound brake failure” Denney

They were the first to make a metal toolbox, which they called a metal suitcase. They were also the first to make a metal machinist chest like the all-wood Gerstner among others, with the locking front cover that used pins. And they were also the first to make a rolling bottom box. Others...

Yes. But if the seat post is so frozen that it rips the bottom bracket shell off, it seems to me there wouldn’t have been any alternatives anyway. Rick “who has used a slide hammer with a foot on the inside of the main triangle” Denney

The green Shimano stuff is similar to the venerable Phil Wood grease. I still have a kilo tub of Campagnolo grease, half full from decades past, which is a heavy white lithium grease like Lubriplate. For vintage open loose-ball bearings, it’s great. I have been known to use Valvoline...

Vintage crank arms need a torque wrench, but should never be retightened without being loosened first. Rick “a troublesome mechanical design” Denney

I've seen a Mac Tools truck parked in front of a cookie bakery for at least a year, and have never not seen it there when I drove by. It appears to be rooted to the ground. I'm curious about it but not that curious. Rick "cookies and tools--a good combination" Denney

I bought one of those mecaquartz Speedgrafs, too. Really cool vintage panda style. Rick "not expecting anything free from Italy these days" Denney

I really do need to stop using my real name. :) College in '02? Young'un! The rubber washer in my Silca pump started rotting in 1977 :) I think the hose on it broke in half last time I tried to use it. I'm currently using a new pump (Bontrager? Don't recall) and it's fine. But that's purely a...

That Silca inflator for Presta valves was the best ever made by anybody, especially in the old days when the rubber bladder in it was a soft-but-durable natural rubber. I loved those things. I can't find those original-style rubber components any more, though. Rick "whose old Silca pump needs a...

MPI is as much a one-man show now as when Mel was still alive. But though the VAR business has been good for them, and VAR tools are excellent, VAR is still a French company and has sort-of a relaxed business model. I'm sure you know what I'm saying there. :) Wayne keeps a lot of stuff in stock...

All my bikes are 8-speed or less, so the old chain whips are fine with me. For me, 8-speed stuff meets all my needs and so far has been completely maintainable. I have a fleet and have put tens of thousands of miles on them, but my most-used bike right now is a late-80's Cannondale touring frame...

VAR tools are imported by Velo Classique of Purcellville, VA. (540)338-8376, who is also the former Mel Pinto Imports (a name known to most industry people of a certain age). They sell at retail and can get anything in the VAR catalog. I'm local to them and have bought a number of VAR tools, and...