XJSuperman
Well-known member
I'm based closer to Ankeny now, but its easy enough to grab a beer after work or a Weekend lunch/whatever. Just let me know, your availability is surely less than mine lol.
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The **** Shack
- Thread starter bdbecker
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Damnit Brad. My dryer started making a tapping noise. You can feel its the drum hitting the housing. Bad rear bearing? Anyway, I solidly blame you for posting about your dryer problems being the sole cause my dryer is acting up. It was perfectly fine before you went ahead and posted.
Good thing I swallowed my coffee before reading that post... you got me good with that one.
(although now I worry about what kind of a person I am after laughing so hard at someone else's misfortune)
I do find it odd that everything seem completely normal and issues like these seem to just pop up out of the blue. You'd think there would be more signs ahead of time? I've been kind of obsessing over this in the back of my mind this week. My working theory is that (at least in my use case) the dryer gets run hard during the weekends and generally sits unused during the week. My idler wheel more than likely wore past its limit the weekend before, but because the machine was still warm and moving, it didn't give any indication of failure. It was only after it had cooled off and not been running for a week that it was able to seize up completely.
The good news is that there seems to be a lot of commonality between manufacturers when it comes to repair parts. If you are willing to go with non-OEM parts, there are a lot of highly rated repair kit options on Amazon that offer next day (or even same day) delivery, at least to my address. $20-30 and a couple hours of work should hopefully have you back up and running. I wouldn't have put my dryer back together if I could have afforded to wait a day, but everyone was critically low/out of various clothing items and I had to get some loads run through for the week. Even if you find out it's something else, it still wouldn't hurt to replace those items while you're in there if you've had your dryer for awhile.
I'll be thinking of you (and probably laughing to myself a little) when tear into my dryer again this weekend.
28 minutes... That is how long it took me to swap out the pulley and rollers on Saturday. I wasn't rushing the job or trying to set any sort of record, but having just torn it apart a week ago, the process was fresh in my mind and I didn't have to spend any time thinking about what tool to use, fiddle around with the best way to remove a panel or part, or second guess which fastener goes where. That, and I didn't have to spend any time vacuuming or cleaning up lint, or trying to clean up the old parts before reinstalling them. The dryer was run hard over the weekend and sounds as good as new. It's nice to have that project checked off the list.
That was my win for the weekend.
The rest of the weekend (project wise) was a bit of a bust. We had some severe weather roll through on Friday night. As we were hanging out in the basement trying to keep the kids from freaking out over the storm, I noticed that my toilet had started seeping water from around the base. If there is one project in this world that I absolutely despise, it's replacing wax rings on toilets. The reason I hate it so much is not necessarily because of the material that flows through the wax ring (sure, it's kind of gross, but I grew up on a farm, so I'm used to dealing with crappy situations), it's that it is a very simple, straightforward project that I never can seem to get right on the first try.
After a couple of trips to Menards for a wax ring, and then a second one (I knew I should have bought the thicker one first), I think I've got it fixed. After the second one was installed, I still had a small amount of water seepage. I ended up tightening the flange bolts down just a little more and think I have it fixed now. Thankfully I'm the only one who typically uses that restroom so I'll be able to keep an eye on it. Even if it does leak again, the floor is tile on concrete, so it's not going to cause any real damage, just a mess. But I really hope I don't have to dig into it a third time... fingers crossed.
After the toilet was 'fixed', I helped Wife finish up some yard work. Despite the rain, she moved mountains this weekend. Planted a bunch of new flowers, relocated a few others to balance everything out, plugged in some arborvitaes on the back row to replace the ones that didn't make it through the winter, and got everything looking pretty nice. Smasher is developing an interest in gardening and was right by her side helping out. I'm pretty sure he knows more of the names of the flowers we have in our landscaping than I do at this point. And he likes digging holes in dirt.
Backing up a little, Saturday afternoon/evening was fun. Mom was in town again, traveling for work, and offered to watch the kids so Wife and I could go on a date. When we couldn't come up with a plan of where to go, we decided to hit up a couple of our favorite standbys. We started off with a beer at The Ridgemont, a good low-key, hole-in-the-wall type place. Not a dive bar per se, but nothing fancy either. We had dinner at Gilroy's, American food often with a subtle twist, and never disappoints. Finally a stop at The Winchester, great atmosphere and is probably one of the better spots in town to get a craft cocktail, along with having solid beer selection as well. We were home a little before 9pm, which is plenty late for both of us these days.
So not a bad weekend all in all. We dodged the tornadoes, got some projects knocked out, and Wife and I got some quality time together. I'll take it...
That was my win for the weekend.
The rest of the weekend (project wise) was a bit of a bust. We had some severe weather roll through on Friday night. As we were hanging out in the basement trying to keep the kids from freaking out over the storm, I noticed that my toilet had started seeping water from around the base. If there is one project in this world that I absolutely despise, it's replacing wax rings on toilets. The reason I hate it so much is not necessarily because of the material that flows through the wax ring (sure, it's kind of gross, but I grew up on a farm, so I'm used to dealing with crappy situations), it's that it is a very simple, straightforward project that I never can seem to get right on the first try.
After a couple of trips to Menards for a wax ring, and then a second one (I knew I should have bought the thicker one first), I think I've got it fixed. After the second one was installed, I still had a small amount of water seepage. I ended up tightening the flange bolts down just a little more and think I have it fixed now. Thankfully I'm the only one who typically uses that restroom so I'll be able to keep an eye on it. Even if it does leak again, the floor is tile on concrete, so it's not going to cause any real damage, just a mess. But I really hope I don't have to dig into it a third time... fingers crossed.
After the toilet was 'fixed', I helped Wife finish up some yard work. Despite the rain, she moved mountains this weekend. Planted a bunch of new flowers, relocated a few others to balance everything out, plugged in some arborvitaes on the back row to replace the ones that didn't make it through the winter, and got everything looking pretty nice. Smasher is developing an interest in gardening and was right by her side helping out. I'm pretty sure he knows more of the names of the flowers we have in our landscaping than I do at this point. And he likes digging holes in dirt.
Backing up a little, Saturday afternoon/evening was fun. Mom was in town again, traveling for work, and offered to watch the kids so Wife and I could go on a date. When we couldn't come up with a plan of where to go, we decided to hit up a couple of our favorite standbys. We started off with a beer at The Ridgemont, a good low-key, hole-in-the-wall type place. Not a dive bar per se, but nothing fancy either. We had dinner at Gilroy's, American food often with a subtle twist, and never disappoints. Finally a stop at The Winchester, great atmosphere and is probably one of the better spots in town to get a craft cocktail, along with having solid beer selection as well. We were home a little before 9pm, which is plenty late for both of us these days.
So not a bad weekend all in all. We dodged the tornadoes, got some projects knocked out, and Wife and I got some quality time together. I'll take it...
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Tony, when I was a plumber's helper in the early 1960s, I helped install/repair a few toilets. I wasn't involved in the parts purchases but I don't think wax rings came in different thicknesses back then. I do remember stacking two wax rings under every toilet we set. Richie the plumber never had a callback as long as I helped him.
So good to hear you missed out on the tornadoes.
The flange is flush with the surface of the tile floor, which I'm pretty sure is why my first attempt failed - the flange should be on top of the floor (learned something new). The floor was dry this morning, so I think I'm in good shape. I have heard of doubling up rings, but I've also heard varied opinions on whether or not it's a good idea. At this point, I'm willing to give it a shot if the leak comes back.
On Saturday, I took the kids to Home Depot for the monthly workshop while Wife went around to some plant sales. HD was absolutely packed so we bailed out as soon as we had the kits put together - I’ve never seen it so busy and both kids were happy to get out of the madness. I might have to go back to the old ‘pick up a kit and build it at home’ method I used to use when Sis was younger. After that, we stopped by the auto parts store to pick up some items for Wife’s car. Oil, filter, wipers, window washing fluid, and a cabin filter. I about choked when I saw the total. I knew prices on things were up, but when they all hit at the same time, it became very apparent that I need to start watching for deals and stocking some of these items ahead of time. The kids weren’t quite ready to go home after our parts run, so we took a look around the ReStore to see if there was anything good. Smasher fell in love with an old handsaw and really wanted me to buy it for him so he could “cut some boards”. I would have gotten it for him, but it was in rough shape. I’ll keep my eye out for a nicer one – might make for a good Christmas gift (and yes, only to be used under my direct supervision).
Once home, I made the kids lunch. Sis headed off to a friend’s house for a playdate. Smasher tried to avoid his nap by watching some YouTube videos with me, but I guess Inheritance Machining isn’t as engaging as Paw Patrol and he conked out on the couch pretty hard. I rested a little myself (what’s with all these afternoon naps lately?) and then did some research on DIY egress window covers.
We recently (finally) cut back the bushes along the north side of the house. This is about the only part of the landscaping we haven’t really touched since we moved in. When we did so, I was reminded that I really needed to get some window well covers installed (haven’t thought about it in years… out of sight, out of mind type thing). The three smaller windows were no big deal – some inexpensive pre-made plastic covers and 20 minutes of work did the trick. These are really just to keep the leaves from piling up in the wells - they are only a foot or so deep and given the orientation of that wall, very little moisture, if any, makes it into them. The egress window is going to be a different animal. When I saw what the going rate for a cover was, I quickly decided that I can build something that will hopefully be less expensive and much better quality. Plans are in the works and I’ll be sure to post the project details once I dig into it.
Probably the best moment of the weekend came when we were hanging outside Saturday evening. Sis wanted to relax and sit around the fire pit, Smasher wanted to antagonize his sister. In an attempt to distract him, I suggested we look for four leaf clovers in the yard. He’s never done this before, so I had to explain the rules of the game to him. We looked around for about 10 minutes when I finally found one. As I was walking over to Wife to hand it to her (a long running joke stemming from when we first started dating), Smasher says “I found one too!” and comes running across the yard. As it turns out, he did not find a four leaf clover, he found a five leaf clover! I’ve heard of them, but never seen one in person. Talk about peaking early… his first time looking for a four leaf clover and 11 minutes in he finds something that most people will never see in a lifetime! Proud Dad moment for sure…
I started off on Sunday by mowing the yard. With all the rain we’ve had lately, the grass is going nuts. Looks like I’ll be mowing twice a week for the foreseeable future. Oh well, I enjoy it, especially when the weather is nice.
After that, it was maintenance time for Wife’s car. We’ve had this car for four and half years now. One thing I’ve always been annoyed with is how difficult it is to access the oil filter on the front of the engine. Hoping to avoid scraping the hell out of my forearms while trying to reach between the trim panel and the engine, I finally took the time to see how difficult it would be to remove the panel itself. As it turns out, it’s really simple and does not require any tools. Six flipping oil changes later and I finally figure this out? Nothing like keeping your ego in check.
Smasher was very interested in in what I was doing and I took the time to explain everything along the way. It’s kind of fun that he’s now at the age where I can ask him to hand me a wrench and he knows what I’m asking for. He was right by side during the oil change, washer fluid fill-up, wiper swap, and the cabin filter swap. I think Wife was a little jealous because I stole her garden helper.
After that, I puttered around the shop for a while - putting away tools, organizing a little here and there, and wiping down surfaces (rust season is back). A nice way to end a very enjoyable weekend.
Once home, I made the kids lunch. Sis headed off to a friend’s house for a playdate. Smasher tried to avoid his nap by watching some YouTube videos with me, but I guess Inheritance Machining isn’t as engaging as Paw Patrol and he conked out on the couch pretty hard. I rested a little myself (what’s with all these afternoon naps lately?) and then did some research on DIY egress window covers.
We recently (finally) cut back the bushes along the north side of the house. This is about the only part of the landscaping we haven’t really touched since we moved in. When we did so, I was reminded that I really needed to get some window well covers installed (haven’t thought about it in years… out of sight, out of mind type thing). The three smaller windows were no big deal – some inexpensive pre-made plastic covers and 20 minutes of work did the trick. These are really just to keep the leaves from piling up in the wells - they are only a foot or so deep and given the orientation of that wall, very little moisture, if any, makes it into them. The egress window is going to be a different animal. When I saw what the going rate for a cover was, I quickly decided that I can build something that will hopefully be less expensive and much better quality. Plans are in the works and I’ll be sure to post the project details once I dig into it.
Probably the best moment of the weekend came when we were hanging outside Saturday evening. Sis wanted to relax and sit around the fire pit, Smasher wanted to antagonize his sister. In an attempt to distract him, I suggested we look for four leaf clovers in the yard. He’s never done this before, so I had to explain the rules of the game to him. We looked around for about 10 minutes when I finally found one. As I was walking over to Wife to hand it to her (a long running joke stemming from when we first started dating), Smasher says “I found one too!” and comes running across the yard. As it turns out, he did not find a four leaf clover, he found a five leaf clover! I’ve heard of them, but never seen one in person. Talk about peaking early… his first time looking for a four leaf clover and 11 minutes in he finds something that most people will never see in a lifetime! Proud Dad moment for sure…
I started off on Sunday by mowing the yard. With all the rain we’ve had lately, the grass is going nuts. Looks like I’ll be mowing twice a week for the foreseeable future. Oh well, I enjoy it, especially when the weather is nice.
After that, it was maintenance time for Wife’s car. We’ve had this car for four and half years now. One thing I’ve always been annoyed with is how difficult it is to access the oil filter on the front of the engine. Hoping to avoid scraping the hell out of my forearms while trying to reach between the trim panel and the engine, I finally took the time to see how difficult it would be to remove the panel itself. As it turns out, it’s really simple and does not require any tools. Six flipping oil changes later and I finally figure this out? Nothing like keeping your ego in check.
Smasher was very interested in in what I was doing and I took the time to explain everything along the way. It’s kind of fun that he’s now at the age where I can ask him to hand me a wrench and he knows what I’m asking for. He was right by side during the oil change, washer fluid fill-up, wiper swap, and the cabin filter swap. I think Wife was a little jealous because I stole her garden helper.
After that, I puttered around the shop for a while - putting away tools, organizing a little here and there, and wiping down surfaces (rust season is back). A nice way to end a very enjoyable weekend.
I like to get stuff like wiper blades, oil filters, and cabin filters from RockAuto. You have to wait a few days and pay shipping, but you can’t beat their prices. Once you learn their site, it’s easy to minimize shipping costs.
For fluids like oil and coolant, I find Walmart the cheapest. Sometimes you can catch a good sale at one of the auto parts stores.
I’ve never seen a five leaf clover!
Ed
For fluids like oil and coolant, I find Walmart the cheapest. Sometimes you can catch a good sale at one of the auto parts stores.
I’ve never seen a five leaf clover!
Ed
RockAuto is my go-to for parts (when I can wait on shipping), but for some reason I never thought about ordering consumables from them. It only makes sense that they'd have good prices on that stuff as well.
I'll take a look at Walmart's prices. I used to buy my oil and fluids from there when I lived in South Dakota (basically the only game in town open on the weekends). Other than Christmas shopping or a quick in-and-out to get a specific item, I just don't go there nearly as often as I used to.
I'll post pic of the five leaf clover - I've got it pressing in a book right now so we can put it in a frame.
With the convenience of online shopping, the grocery store is the only bring-and-mortar shopping I do on a regular basis. Sad to say, but the Prime truck visits my house at least once a week.
Don't feel bad... it throws me off if I see a Prime van driving down our street and it doesn't stop at our house. Kitchen shears broke? New pair will be here tomorrow... Running low on kids vitamins? They'll be on the doorstep by 5pm this afternoon. I know it saves Wife a lot of time not having to make a list and run around to different stores for things, but man, we get a lot of deliveries.
Haha, I know what you mean. My parents bought the house next door and my mom is a big shopper, online and otherwise. When I hear the quack quack quack of the Amazon truck backing out of their driveway, I pretty much expect it at my house next.
The boxes seem to be doing fine. The sides don't appear to be bowing and all joints appear to be holding solid. The boards did shrink as they dried and left a nice, consistent gap between them. I'm glad I lined the interior with black plastic landscape sheeting otherwise the dirt would be seeping out the sides. The only thing I'd do different would be to not miter the corners on the top rail. Out of 8 joints, all but 2 or 3 have gone wonky. Lesson learned. Wife initially requested another two boxes this spring, but has since changed her mind. The summer schedule is already filling up, so it'll be enough work keeping up with with what we already have.
The snow peas and leeks are starting to pop up, and the asparagus patch seems happy. Tomatoes are in as well. We won't do watermelon again as that was a bust last year. I think we only got 5 or 6 melons, and only 2 of them tasted good. The trellis I built won't go to waste though, one side will be for snow peas, the other side (I think) will be pole beans.
No major updates from the weekend. My folks were in town, so we spent most of our time hanging out with them. Dad and I did make a materials run for the egress window cover - snagged a deal on FB Marketplace on some expanded steel. Now its just a matter of cutting and welding everything to fit.
A question for those in the know... I plan on pie-cutting the angle iron to bend it around the radius of the window well opening, then welding and grinding everything smooth. Is there a rule of thumb for how many pie cuts I should make and/or how close I should put them together given a certain size radius? I've always just went with whatever worked in the past, but didn't know if there was maybe a better way of going about it.
One highlight of the weekend... Wife and I went to see the band Cake on Saturday night. My first time seeing them despite being a fan for nearly 30 years now. Their album 'Fashion Nugget' was one of the first three CDs I ever bought (Presidents of the United States of America self titled album along with and Beck 'Odelay' being the other two). Every time they've been near me in the past, it's usually a weeknight or I already had prior plans. It was an outdoor show and we had absolutely perfect weather. They put on a solid show as well - the band was really tight and played well together. Whenever they come around again, I'll be sure to go.
Another highlight is that Sis, not wanting to be outdone by her little brother, found a five leaf clover and a four leaf clover in the yard on Sunday! That was her first time finding either. I found two other four leaf clovers while we were looking as well. Wife is getting a little annoyed with me (us) because she hasn't found one in quite awhile. She even looked for a good 20 minutes after Sis found hers.
Since I have a few minutes, I'll tell the story of our long running four leaf clover joke...
When Wife and I were first dating (only a couple of months into our relationship) we went geocaching at a state park in Minnesota. I was laser focused on trying to get to the next way point and wasn't paying much attention to Wife (I'm better at this sort of thing now). At one point, we reached a clearing and I was getting my bearings as to which direction we should head next. Wife didn't want to admit that she was getting tired, so as a way to take a break, she suggested that we stop and look for four leaf clovers. I look down at the ground and, no joke, there is four leaf clover laying over the toe of my boot. I bend over, pick it, and say "Found one! Can we keep going now?" I can still see the look of utter disbelief on her face. We did end up taking a break. We ended up framing that one and it sits on a shelf next to some of our family photos.
In the subsequent years, I've found probably close to 20-25 four leaf clovers and always give them to her. One day a few years ago, I found six in about 15 minutes of looking. It still annoys the heck out of her that she hasn't found one since I've known her.
Until next time...
A question for those in the know... I plan on pie-cutting the angle iron to bend it around the radius of the window well opening, then welding and grinding everything smooth. Is there a rule of thumb for how many pie cuts I should make and/or how close I should put them together given a certain size radius? I've always just went with whatever worked in the past, but didn't know if there was maybe a better way of going about it.
One highlight of the weekend... Wife and I went to see the band Cake on Saturday night. My first time seeing them despite being a fan for nearly 30 years now. Their album 'Fashion Nugget' was one of the first three CDs I ever bought (Presidents of the United States of America self titled album along with and Beck 'Odelay' being the other two). Every time they've been near me in the past, it's usually a weeknight or I already had prior plans. It was an outdoor show and we had absolutely perfect weather. They put on a solid show as well - the band was really tight and played well together. Whenever they come around again, I'll be sure to go.
Another highlight is that Sis, not wanting to be outdone by her little brother, found a five leaf clover and a four leaf clover in the yard on Sunday! That was her first time finding either. I found two other four leaf clovers while we were looking as well. Wife is getting a little annoyed with me (us) because she hasn't found one in quite awhile. She even looked for a good 20 minutes after Sis found hers.
Since I have a few minutes, I'll tell the story of our long running four leaf clover joke...
When Wife and I were first dating (only a couple of months into our relationship) we went geocaching at a state park in Minnesota. I was laser focused on trying to get to the next way point and wasn't paying much attention to Wife (I'm better at this sort of thing now). At one point, we reached a clearing and I was getting my bearings as to which direction we should head next. Wife didn't want to admit that she was getting tired, so as a way to take a break, she suggested that we stop and look for four leaf clovers. I look down at the ground and, no joke, there is four leaf clover laying over the toe of my boot. I bend over, pick it, and say "Found one! Can we keep going now?" I can still see the look of utter disbelief on her face. We did end up taking a break. We ended up framing that one and it sits on a shelf next to some of our family photos.
In the subsequent years, I've found probably close to 20-25 four leaf clovers and always give them to her. One day a few years ago, I found six in about 15 minutes of looking. It still annoys the heck out of her that she hasn't found one since I've known her.
Until next time...
I think that means you're the lucky one!No major updates from the weekend. My folks were in town, so we spent most of our time hanging out with them. Dad and I did make a materials run for the egress window cover - snagged a deal on FB Marketplace on some expanded steel. Now its just a matter of cutting and welding everything to fit.
A question for those in the know... I plan on pie-cutting the angle iron to bend it around the radius of the window well opening, then welding and grinding everything smooth. Is there a rule of thumb for how many pie cuts I should make and/or how close I should put them together given a certain size radius? I've always just went with whatever worked in the past, but didn't know if there was maybe a better way of going about it.
One highlight of the weekend... Wife and I went to see the band Cake on Saturday night. My first time seeing them despite being a fan for nearly 30 years now. Their album 'Fashion Nugget' was one of the first three CDs I ever bought (Presidents of the United States of America self titled album along with and Beck 'Odelay' being the other two). Every time they've been near me in the past, it's usually a weeknight or I already had prior plans. It was an outdoor show and we had absolutely perfect weather. They put on a solid show as well - the band was really tight and played well together. Whenever they come around again, I'll be sure to go.
Another highlight is that Sis, not wanting to be outdone by her little brother, found a five leaf clover and a four leaf clover in the yard on Sunday! That was her first time finding either. I found two other four leaf clovers while we were looking as well. Wife is getting a little annoyed with me (us) because she hasn't found one in quite awhile. She even looked for a good 20 minutes after Sis found hers.
Since I have a few minutes, I'll tell the story of our long running four leaf clover joke...
When Wife and I were first dating (only a couple of months into our relationship) we went geocaching at a state park in Minnesota. I was laser focused on trying to get to the next way point and wasn't paying much attention to Wife (I'm better at this sort of thing now). At one point, we reached a clearing and I was getting my bearings as to which direction we should head next. Wife didn't want to admit that she was getting tired, so as a way to take a break, she suggested that we stop and look for four leaf clovers. I look down at the ground and, no joke, there is four leaf clover laying over the toe of my boot. I bend over, pick it, and say "Found one! Can we keep going now?" I can still see the look of utter disbelief on her face. We did end up taking a break. We ended up framing that one and it sits on a shelf next to some of our family photos.
In the subsequent years, I've found probably close to 20-25 four leaf clovers and always give them to her. One day a few years ago, I found six in about 15 minutes of looking. It still annoys the heck out of her that she hasn't found one since I've known her.
Until next time...
I think that means you're the lucky one!
I think you are right...
Jayman17
Well-known member
I'm interested to hear if you get any responses to your angle iron question, I have wondered the same thing.
Uofime
Well-known member
This question reminds me of setting the number of polygons when creating an STL file. Anyone who’s exported solid models and/ played with 3d printing has seen this. The question is how closely do you want to approximate a circle, balanced with how many welds do you want to do?
You could do some iterations in a modeling software but I think i’d play with sticks personally. Get some scraps of wood or maybe some stiff wire(coat hangers, welding rod, ect) and lay them around the perimeter, approximating the shape and see any looks good. My bet is something between 12-18” will look reasonable and keep your number of cuts, welds and associated distortion in balance with a respectable appearance.
That hits the nail on the head... a lot of cuts will make for a nicer radius, but also creates a lot more work. Fewer cuts will get the job done, but may not look as nice.
I have considered dropping it into CAD to determine the number of cuts that would make sense, as well as what angle I should make the pie cuts. That is when I realized that I'm overthinking things again and just need to remind myself of the old aphorism "great is the enemy of good". This cover will be on the side of the house that nobody really sees and will be hidden by plants and bushes once everything grows back. That is not a justification to do a hack job, I'll make it look nice, but I don't need to make this a 20 hour project either.
I guess I'd better make sure to wear my comfy workboots because I'm going to be making a lot of trips across the yard between the window and shop while I'm fitting everything up.
MadeByMiller
Well-known member
I made some for my sister's old house several years ago. I just fabricated the radiused sections out of .1875" sheet. Just clamped and tacked to form the radius. The worst part of the project was cutting and welding the expanded metal.
Uofime
Well-known member
Yeah I think you could sell that is art to hang on your wallI made some for my sister's old house several years ago. I just fabricated the radiused sections out of .1875" sheet. Just clamped and tacked to form the radius. The worst part of the project was cutting and welding the expanded metal.
Jayman17
Well-known member
Damn, that is a nice job on those, they look great!I made some for my sister's old house several years ago. I just fabricated the radiused sections out of .1875" sheet. Just clamped and tacked to form the radius. The worst part of the project was cutting and welding the expanded metal.
MadeByMiller
Well-known member
I was able to get the window well cover project mostly knocked out over the weekend, all that is left to do is paint. I wanted to paint it outside to avoid stinking up the garage, but the sporadic rain showers we had yesterday afternoon thwarted that effort. Looking at the forecast for this week, I might have to just bite the bullet and paint it in the shop after all.
(ignore the mess around the well, as I may have mentioned before, this is the one area of the landscaping we haven't really touched yet)
As promised, it is not as nice as Austin’s covers, but I’m happy with the result. It fits my window well perfectly - tight enough to not slide around while still being loose enough that it doesn’t bind or catch at all during removal (which was my main concern). It is also solid enough for me to stand on while still being light enough that Sis can easily lift it up and out of the way should she ever need to do so.
It was very much an exercise in ‘build to fit’. I suspected ahead of time that the window well was a bit of a parallelogram in relationship to the house and confirmed that fact during the build. This meant many trips back and forth between the shop and house. I would bet that at least 1/3 (if not more) of my time was spent just walking. I did consider setting up shop temporarily in Wife’s garage to reduce steps but scrapped the idea because I figured I’d just end up making more work for myself by having to transfer all the tools, clamps, grinders, PPE, etc. back and forth between the two spots. I also thought about firing up the generator so I could tack everything in place around the window well, but that side of the house gets very little rain and everything is bone dry – the risk of starting a fire was just way too high with all the leaves and mulch around. In retrospect, making a template of the window well out of plywood would have been worth the effort, but in the moment, I just wanted to get to fabricating.
The process went like this… pie cut one piece, form around the well corner and use a couple of c-clamps and another piece of angle to hold that shape while I carried the piece back to the shop, tack, go back to the well to verify fit, back to the shop to weld, back to the well to verify fit once again. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the parts. It was a lot of walking, but given the odd measurements and shapes, I didn’t want to assume anything. In the end, it was worth the effort because other than having to cut a few tacks off one of the curved angles and adjust, the project went off without a hitch.
Speaking of pie cutting the angle iron, I went with a 1” cut spacing, roughly 1/8” wide at the edge and tapering to a point as I moved towards the corner. This was just a guess initially, but I was pleasantly surprised at how close I got to hitting the sweet spot of being able to make a nice curve with minimal flat spots. You can see the flat segments if you look closely, but once you get a foot or two away, it’s not noticeable at all. I could have maybe gone a touch wider on the spacing, but that would have only saved me a few welds. Welding the seams was simple enough – I welded the inside first, and then the outside using a slightly hotter setting to keep the beads small and flat for easier cleanup and blending.
I used the portaband saw table to make my cuts instead of the angle grinder. This made for nice, clean cuts. I was also able to make my cuts in the shape of a small triangle, which despite just free handing them, worked well to create fairly consistent seams for welding later. The only frustration was that the little slivers of metal were just large enough to get sucked down into the saw and jam the blade. I had to take the saw off the table to clear up the jams at least three or four times before I figured out that it was faster to leave the last little bit of material holding the sliver in place and then pull them out using a needle nose pliers.
It took a bit of fiddling with the weld settings and technique to get good welds on the expanded steel. Too hot and you just burn away the little pieces of metal, too cold and you don’t get penetration into the angle iron. I started the arc on the angle iron and then let the puddle wet into the edge of the expanded steel, stopping the weld right as I saw the expanded metal start to melt in. I debated on whether or not to put in reinforcement bars because the expanded steel alone seemed to hold my weight without issue. I decided to add them for good measure, figuring that I probably wouldn’t regret having them, but may regret not having them, and that it would be easier to install them while I was in the midst of the project. I’m glad I did because now there is no question as to whether or not it’ll support a person’s weight.
Throughout the project, I had a couple of very interested kids keeping an eye on me.
They really wanted to watch me weld, so I set them up with one of my spare hoods and they watched through the shop window. It was a bit of a disappointment for them. “Dad, I can’t see… it just goes dark when you start welding and all I can see is a little green spot…” Yeah kids, that’s how it’s supposed to look. I told them if they wanted a closer look, they had to put on proper clothing, but it was “too hot to wear pants”. I told them that we can do some welding a different day just for fun, which they seemed to think was a good compromise. I made it up to them when I cut the expanded steel outside. They were at a safe distance on the deck 75’+ away. Smasher thought the shower of sparks from the cutoff wheel was pretty awesome. Sis thought I was going to start myself on fire and wanted to check my arms for burns afterwards. I explained to her that, while the sparks were hot, they burn out quickly and don’t really hurt.
It's good to have this project (nearly) checked off the list. All in, I’ll have $110 worth of materials and around 7-8 hours of my time into the project. A nice savings over an off-the-shelf cover and a good excuse to get in some QST. While it’s a pretty simple project, it felt really good to dust off the old metal working skills.
Until next time…
(ignore the mess around the well, as I may have mentioned before, this is the one area of the landscaping we haven't really touched yet)
As promised, it is not as nice as Austin’s covers, but I’m happy with the result. It fits my window well perfectly - tight enough to not slide around while still being loose enough that it doesn’t bind or catch at all during removal (which was my main concern). It is also solid enough for me to stand on while still being light enough that Sis can easily lift it up and out of the way should she ever need to do so.
It was very much an exercise in ‘build to fit’. I suspected ahead of time that the window well was a bit of a parallelogram in relationship to the house and confirmed that fact during the build. This meant many trips back and forth between the shop and house. I would bet that at least 1/3 (if not more) of my time was spent just walking. I did consider setting up shop temporarily in Wife’s garage to reduce steps but scrapped the idea because I figured I’d just end up making more work for myself by having to transfer all the tools, clamps, grinders, PPE, etc. back and forth between the two spots. I also thought about firing up the generator so I could tack everything in place around the window well, but that side of the house gets very little rain and everything is bone dry – the risk of starting a fire was just way too high with all the leaves and mulch around. In retrospect, making a template of the window well out of plywood would have been worth the effort, but in the moment, I just wanted to get to fabricating.
The process went like this… pie cut one piece, form around the well corner and use a couple of c-clamps and another piece of angle to hold that shape while I carried the piece back to the shop, tack, go back to the well to verify fit, back to the shop to weld, back to the well to verify fit once again. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the parts. It was a lot of walking, but given the odd measurements and shapes, I didn’t want to assume anything. In the end, it was worth the effort because other than having to cut a few tacks off one of the curved angles and adjust, the project went off without a hitch.
Speaking of pie cutting the angle iron, I went with a 1” cut spacing, roughly 1/8” wide at the edge and tapering to a point as I moved towards the corner. This was just a guess initially, but I was pleasantly surprised at how close I got to hitting the sweet spot of being able to make a nice curve with minimal flat spots. You can see the flat segments if you look closely, but once you get a foot or two away, it’s not noticeable at all. I could have maybe gone a touch wider on the spacing, but that would have only saved me a few welds. Welding the seams was simple enough – I welded the inside first, and then the outside using a slightly hotter setting to keep the beads small and flat for easier cleanup and blending.
I used the portaband saw table to make my cuts instead of the angle grinder. This made for nice, clean cuts. I was also able to make my cuts in the shape of a small triangle, which despite just free handing them, worked well to create fairly consistent seams for welding later. The only frustration was that the little slivers of metal were just large enough to get sucked down into the saw and jam the blade. I had to take the saw off the table to clear up the jams at least three or four times before I figured out that it was faster to leave the last little bit of material holding the sliver in place and then pull them out using a needle nose pliers.
It took a bit of fiddling with the weld settings and technique to get good welds on the expanded steel. Too hot and you just burn away the little pieces of metal, too cold and you don’t get penetration into the angle iron. I started the arc on the angle iron and then let the puddle wet into the edge of the expanded steel, stopping the weld right as I saw the expanded metal start to melt in. I debated on whether or not to put in reinforcement bars because the expanded steel alone seemed to hold my weight without issue. I decided to add them for good measure, figuring that I probably wouldn’t regret having them, but may regret not having them, and that it would be easier to install them while I was in the midst of the project. I’m glad I did because now there is no question as to whether or not it’ll support a person’s weight.
Throughout the project, I had a couple of very interested kids keeping an eye on me.
They really wanted to watch me weld, so I set them up with one of my spare hoods and they watched through the shop window. It was a bit of a disappointment for them. “Dad, I can’t see… it just goes dark when you start welding and all I can see is a little green spot…” Yeah kids, that’s how it’s supposed to look. I told them if they wanted a closer look, they had to put on proper clothing, but it was “too hot to wear pants”. I told them that we can do some welding a different day just for fun, which they seemed to think was a good compromise. I made it up to them when I cut the expanded steel outside. They were at a safe distance on the deck 75’+ away. Smasher thought the shower of sparks from the cutoff wheel was pretty awesome. Sis thought I was going to start myself on fire and wanted to check my arms for burns afterwards. I explained to her that, while the sparks were hot, they burn out quickly and don’t really hurt.
It's good to have this project (nearly) checked off the list. All in, I’ll have $110 worth of materials and around 7-8 hours of my time into the project. A nice savings over an off-the-shelf cover and a good excuse to get in some QST. While it’s a pretty simple project, it felt really good to dust off the old metal working skills.
Until next time…
Jayman17
Well-known member
Looks like your estimate on the wedge size was right on, your radius looks real good. Nice work!
Uofime
Well-known member
Wow, that looks really nice! I was thinking of just making “an octagon” out of the curve but you made it really nice!
Thanks! I always say I'd rather be lucky than good.
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I think it would have probably been a wash as far as time is concerned trying to do something like that. Fewer welds to blend, but a whole lot more time trying to get the angles just right. The smaller segments are pretty forgiving and give you a lot of wiggle room, but there is more grinding/blending. I will say, the 3M Cubitron II grinding disc I used really impressed me on this project. It ate through the welds like a cow in a cornfield. Surprisingly controllable as well. A little touch with a flap wheel disc was all it took to blend the grind marks away.
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Batten down the hatches bud, looks like we're in for a night of excitement.
Uofime
Well-known member
Grinder and paint for the welder I ain’t! Haha
You make it through okay? Our neighborhood had a number of good size limbs down, but nothing like the derecho from a few years ago. One neighbor's trampoline took a little joyride through the air and landed a couple of yards down. We lost power for a few hours, but I have to hand it to the MidAmerican crew - trucks were rolling through as soon as the skies cleared up and they had the power back on before bedtime. No hail, thankfully.
My neighbor's oak tree dropped a decent size limb on our fence. I got to give my Makita 18v chainsaw it's first real test and was very pleased with how well it ran. As a bonus, I've now got a nice little stock of white oak turning blanks for the wood lathe. I could have had a lot more, but only kept the largest, straightest pieces.
Maybe it's this way everywhere, maybe its just a Midwest thing... whenever a storm like this rolls through, as soon as everything clears up, all the neighbors were out checking on each other and helping to get everything back in order. Not to get too sappy, but it was truly a heartwarming moment.
Dad sent me this picture of a piece of land that my brother and I own up north, near my parents' farm. The area covered in water is a field. The shorter trees are a few acres that we have in CRP, the larger trees are a neighbor's property. I'm guessing my deer blind is well on its way to Cedar Rapids by now.
Not a big deal... it was built out of a handful of old pallets. While I've often thought of building something a little nicer out there, pictures like this remind me that it'd only be temporary.
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Truth.
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Didn't hear a peep out of my neighbors, and I wouldn't expect to (for my situation). Where I grew up we would have, but not these neighbors lol. No hail, apparently just missed by a tornado outside of town. It got windy for a couple minutes and that was it. I didn't even have that many sticks in the yard. I picked up a handful and that was it. Unfortunately the scrap washing machine didn't blow away; its still on the curb.
Well, now you own a lake instead of a field. Time to build a dock and launch the boats.
Well, now you own a lake instead of a field. Time to build a dock and launch the boats.
No shop updates… we spent last week in the Duluth, MN area celebrating Mom’s retirement. It was certainly a trip we won’t forget.
The drive up from our house was right at 400 miles. We loaded up the Flex with everything but the kitchen sink and left Saturday morning. Other than a few heavy rain showers, the drive was uneventful. We stopped every few hours to let the kids run around and burn off energy. While it did add a few hours to the drive, it was well worth it to maintain sanity. One of the funnier comments from the drive was when we got north of the Twin Cities and Smasher asked “Why are there so many trees?” Well buddy, that’s kind of why were here!
We spent most of the day on Sunday just bumming around the rental house. I think I’m going to suggest this as a new tradition when we do these big family vacations in the future. Getting a solid day of R&R before spending a week exploring was a great way to get everyone in the right mindset for the rest of the week. Probably the most exciting part of the trip (at least for me) occurred on Sunday morning when I got a healthy reminder that we weren’t in Iowa anymore. I went out to the car to grab something. When I stood up and shut the door, I found that I was 20 yards away from a black bear that was casually wandering through the yard. The only other time I’ve seen a bear outside of a zoo was in Alaska five years ago, but it was further away and I was in a car.
I’d like to say that I kept my cool and handled the situation appropriately, but I did not. I panicked. I was frozen for a few moments trying to figure out what to do. While the bear initially looked back at me when I shut the door, she didn’t seem to be interested and continued on her way along the pond wall. I made my way to the back of the car and checked that she still wasn’t looking, and then (stupidly) made a run for the house. She still wasn’t looking when I made it to the porch. It was only when I got inside that I saw she wasn’t alone – there was a much larger male with her who wandered to the rock behind the pond. I have no idea where he was at when I was by the car, and running like a prey animal across the driveway was a colossally dumb idea. Remember that thing I was getting out of the car? It was my 1911... it never occurred to me that I should take it out of the case and load it. Granted, 45 ACP isn’t the best for bear, but have a solid level of competency with that platform/caliber and it would have been better than nothing in that situation. Now that I got this first encounter out of my system, I’d like to think I’ll do a better job in the future.
Speaking of wildlife encounters, the place we stayed at must have been on some sort of wild animal highway. Whitetail deer, foxes, squirrels and birds of all sorts could be seen daily. Sis had her own Marty Stouffer moment when she was looking out the window and saw a bobcat walk through the yard. Before it made its way out, it stopped near the bird feeder to snag a squirrel for dinner. It was too fast to catch on camera, but everyone but me caught a glimpse of the action. When my Brother and I were running to a store, the bobcat was back harassing a pair of foxes that lived nearby. Dad went to investigate and thinks that the bobcat was trying to get at some cubs in the fox den - apparently the growling and hissing between the animals was pretty eerie. Finally, there were a couple of families of mallards that liked to hang out at the pond. The spats between the families protecting the ducklings was a good source of entertainment during the evenings. Who needs Jerry Springer when you can watch ducks dive bombing each other?
The house we stayed at was in the Craftsman style but was built about 16 years ago. It is truly a work of art – absolutely dripping with well executed attention to detail everywhere you look. Most of the wood in the house is Douglas Fir reclaimed from industrial buildings that were being torn down in the area. The owner is a homebuilder and lives on the adjacent lot. When the lot came up for sale, he bought it with the intention of building his dream house. Working in the trades for many years, he knew which subs to call to make it a reality. Once it was built, I don’t think he lived in it for very long - he said it was too much house for him and his dog (lifelong bachelor) and has been renting it out since. Here’s a link to the VRBO listing if anyone is interested…
All that, and I still haven’t gotten to the actual vacation-y stuff yet…
We spent Monday in the Canal Park area of Duluth, mostly checking out the lighthouse and Aerial Lift Bridge. We happened to be there on the day when the Paul R. Tregurtha – the longest ship on Lake Superior – passed under the bridge. You want to put a smile on some kids’ faces (and mine too), stand next to that ship as it floats down the canal… what a sight!
en.wikipedia.org
Tuesday we spent the day hiking around Gooseberry Falls. I taught Sis how to skip rocks and she finally got the hang of it at the base of the falls. We also made a stop at Iona’s Beach before stopping at Betty’s Pies for lunch and, of course, pie. Smasher and I agree that the Bumbleberry pie is the best.
www.dnr.state.mn.us
www.dnr.state.mn.us
www.bettyspies.com
Wednesday we took a drive up to Grand Marias, stopping at the Split Rock Lighthouse along the way. I’ve never been that far north in Minnesota. The roads do **** up there, but the beauty is worth the wear and tear on the suspension. While Mom and Dad hit the shops, we wandered down the beach near the Coast Guard station and more rock skipping. Wife and I agreed to make a trip up to Grand Marias someday to really be able to enjoy the area.
www.mnhs.org
Thursday we went back down to the Canal Park area of Duluth so Mom could hit up the shops. After doing some souvenir shopping, we took the kids back down to the bridge and also spent some time going through the museum. We had a late lunch at Pickwick Restaurant and Pub overlooking the lake. The restaurant is 110 years old and has a very cool ambience. The food was also excellent.
www.pickwickduluth.com
Friday morning we did a scenic train ride on The Duluth Zephyr. Smasher could barely contain his excitement when he realized that we got to ride on a real train. I bet his face hurt from all the smiling. After that, Mom, Dad, and my Brother headed down to the end of the point. Wife and I had already been down there on a previous trip, so we took the kids back to the house for a much needed afternoon of rest.
duluthtrains.com
Saturday morning was spent packing up and heading home. As always, the week flew by. We packed a lot of family time in around our activities and it was a lot of fun. While the kids certainly had their moments, they honestly did great considering how out of routine they were. I’m looking forward to this new chapter of life where we can start taking more trips like this with them.
Until next time…
The drive up from our house was right at 400 miles. We loaded up the Flex with everything but the kitchen sink and left Saturday morning. Other than a few heavy rain showers, the drive was uneventful. We stopped every few hours to let the kids run around and burn off energy. While it did add a few hours to the drive, it was well worth it to maintain sanity. One of the funnier comments from the drive was when we got north of the Twin Cities and Smasher asked “Why are there so many trees?” Well buddy, that’s kind of why were here!
We spent most of the day on Sunday just bumming around the rental house. I think I’m going to suggest this as a new tradition when we do these big family vacations in the future. Getting a solid day of R&R before spending a week exploring was a great way to get everyone in the right mindset for the rest of the week. Probably the most exciting part of the trip (at least for me) occurred on Sunday morning when I got a healthy reminder that we weren’t in Iowa anymore. I went out to the car to grab something. When I stood up and shut the door, I found that I was 20 yards away from a black bear that was casually wandering through the yard. The only other time I’ve seen a bear outside of a zoo was in Alaska five years ago, but it was further away and I was in a car.
I’d like to say that I kept my cool and handled the situation appropriately, but I did not. I panicked. I was frozen for a few moments trying to figure out what to do. While the bear initially looked back at me when I shut the door, she didn’t seem to be interested and continued on her way along the pond wall. I made my way to the back of the car and checked that she still wasn’t looking, and then (stupidly) made a run for the house. She still wasn’t looking when I made it to the porch. It was only when I got inside that I saw she wasn’t alone – there was a much larger male with her who wandered to the rock behind the pond. I have no idea where he was at when I was by the car, and running like a prey animal across the driveway was a colossally dumb idea. Remember that thing I was getting out of the car? It was my 1911... it never occurred to me that I should take it out of the case and load it. Granted, 45 ACP isn’t the best for bear, but have a solid level of competency with that platform/caliber and it would have been better than nothing in that situation. Now that I got this first encounter out of my system, I’d like to think I’ll do a better job in the future.
Speaking of wildlife encounters, the place we stayed at must have been on some sort of wild animal highway. Whitetail deer, foxes, squirrels and birds of all sorts could be seen daily. Sis had her own Marty Stouffer moment when she was looking out the window and saw a bobcat walk through the yard. Before it made its way out, it stopped near the bird feeder to snag a squirrel for dinner. It was too fast to catch on camera, but everyone but me caught a glimpse of the action. When my Brother and I were running to a store, the bobcat was back harassing a pair of foxes that lived nearby. Dad went to investigate and thinks that the bobcat was trying to get at some cubs in the fox den - apparently the growling and hissing between the animals was pretty eerie. Finally, there were a couple of families of mallards that liked to hang out at the pond. The spats between the families protecting the ducklings was a good source of entertainment during the evenings. Who needs Jerry Springer when you can watch ducks dive bombing each other?
The house we stayed at was in the Craftsman style but was built about 16 years ago. It is truly a work of art – absolutely dripping with well executed attention to detail everywhere you look. Most of the wood in the house is Douglas Fir reclaimed from industrial buildings that were being torn down in the area. The owner is a homebuilder and lives on the adjacent lot. When the lot came up for sale, he bought it with the intention of building his dream house. Working in the trades for many years, he knew which subs to call to make it a reality. Once it was built, I don’t think he lived in it for very long - he said it was too much house for him and his dog (lifelong bachelor) and has been renting it out since. Here’s a link to the VRBO listing if anyone is interested…
All that, and I still haven’t gotten to the actual vacation-y stuff yet…
We spent Monday in the Canal Park area of Duluth, mostly checking out the lighthouse and Aerial Lift Bridge. We happened to be there on the day when the Paul R. Tregurtha – the longest ship on Lake Superior – passed under the bridge. You want to put a smile on some kids’ faces (and mine too), stand next to that ship as it floats down the canal… what a sight!
MV Paul R. Tregurtha - Wikipedia
Tuesday we spent the day hiking around Gooseberry Falls. I taught Sis how to skip rocks and she finally got the hang of it at the base of the falls. We also made a stop at Iona’s Beach before stopping at Betty’s Pies for lunch and, of course, pie. Smasher and I agree that the Bumbleberry pie is the best.
Gooseberry Falls State Park
Gooseberry Falls is the gateway to the North Shore. It is known for its spectacular waterfalls, river gorge, Lake Superior shoreline, Civilian Conservation Corps log and stone structures, and north woods wildlife. Listen to the thunderous roar of the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls of the...
www.dnr.state.mn.us
Iona's Beach SNA
Unique Lake Superior cobble beach with “singing stones”. Rock outcrop, aspen-birch forest, and alder swamp. Gitchi-Gami State Trail runs along boundary.
www.dnr.state.mn.us
Betty’s Pies—The Best Pies In Minnesota Ship Nationwide
Betty’s Pies, home of the best pie in Minnesota, is world-famous for our cream pies & fruit pies. Stop by or shop online—we ship nationwide via Goldbelly!
www.bettyspies.com
Wednesday we took a drive up to Grand Marias, stopping at the Split Rock Lighthouse along the way. I’ve never been that far north in Minnesota. The roads do **** up there, but the beauty is worth the wear and tear on the suspension. While Mom and Dad hit the shops, we wandered down the beach near the Coast Guard station and more rock skipping. Wife and I agreed to make a trip up to Grand Marias someday to really be able to enjoy the area.
Split Rock Lighthouse | Minnesota Historical Society
Thursday we went back down to the Canal Park area of Duluth so Mom could hit up the shops. After doing some souvenir shopping, we took the kids back down to the bridge and also spent some time going through the museum. We had a late lunch at Pickwick Restaurant and Pub overlooking the lake. The restaurant is 110 years old and has a very cool ambience. The food was also excellent.
www.pickwickduluth.com
Friday morning we did a scenic train ride on The Duluth Zephyr. Smasher could barely contain his excitement when he realized that we got to ride on a real train. I bet his face hurt from all the smiling. After that, Mom, Dad, and my Brother headed down to the end of the point. Wife and I had already been down there on a previous trip, so we took the kids back to the house for a much needed afternoon of rest.
North Shore Scenic Railroad - Duluth Trains
All Aboard for family fun train excursions along the North Shore Scenic Railroad. Offering daily train tours in the summer and fall. A fun attraction in Duluth Minnesota.
duluthtrains.com
Saturday morning was spent packing up and heading home. As always, the week flew by. We packed a lot of family time in around our activities and it was a lot of fun. While the kids certainly had their moments, they honestly did great considering how out of routine they were. I’m looking forward to this new chapter of life where we can start taking more trips like this with them.
Until next time…
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Heck yeah, loving the Stouffer reference. Wild America is my favorite movie (based on their start).
I got a good laugh out of the bear story, sorry. Although I haven't been there myself exactly.
Glad you had a good trip, sounds like it was a lot of fun.
Wild America (the PBS TV series) was a staple in our house growing up. It was one of the few shows Dad would actually sit down and watch, Nature being the other one. While I was a touch too old to really get into the movie when it came out, my younger brothers really enjoyed it.
No worries about the bear story, I shared it because I (now) think it's funny as well. I'm sure anyone who lives near them is thinking "you saw a bear in the backyard, what's the big deal?" the way we might react to a story about a whitetail deer nosing through the garden.
Jayman17
Well-known member
Love that house you stayed at, looks like it was a labor of love for the builder. Beautiful materials used to finish it
I got the window cover painted and installed.
Painting it was a bear! Somewhat self-induced, I decided to use a brush and roller instead of spraying it because I already had most of a gallon of industrial enamel on hand. Getting the thousands of nooks and crannies on the expanded steel covered was really the worst part. I tried using a roller with a fairly heavy nap, but it just didn’t get the paint deep enough into the crevasses and I had to resort to using a chip brush instead. Eventually I found a method that worked, but I probably spent over 2 hours painting. The worst part was that about halfway through, the skies started getting dark and I was sure I was going to get rained on, so I was rushing the job and applying subsequent coats probably too quickly, which required more touch-ups. Whatever… it’s done now and looks decent enough. Not my best paint job, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Probably the most annoying bit is that it never ended up raining.
After that, I mowed the yard, and puttered around the shop for awhile. When Smasher woke up from his nap, he really wanted to have a squirt gun fight. What a blast! Sis never got into squirt guns and I can’t remember the last time I had a good old fashioned run-and-gun squirt gun fight. I took it easy him at first, but it was pretty funny once he realized getting wet was no big deal and went full Terminator on me – just running right into the line of fire and soaking me in the process. Then the gloves were off. We both ended up soaking wet by the time we were done. I will also say, if you are on the market for a good squirt gun, I don’t think you can beat the X-Shot brand. We’ve had these floating around for a few years but I’d never really messed with them. Super durable, affordable, and the best part, you just dunk them in a bucket of water to refill them in seconds. I spent more time than I care to admit cruising around Amazon last night looking at what other options need to be added to the arsenal.
Speaking of water, on Sunday I revamped our garden hose setup and storage. About 4 years ago, I spent some decent money on a hose reel cart. I did some research and found (what I believed to be at the time) a good option for our needs. 250’ hose capacity, metal construction so it would last, solid wheels so I wouldn’t have to constantly top off pneumatic tires, and relatively compact given its capacity. It worked fine, until the seals wore out and started to leak. Looking through the manual that came with it, there are no replacement parts listed. Great. I tried tracking down something that I could use to make my own, but no luck. Even if I had found seals or material, I would question how long they would hold up given the amount of corrosion I found when I took the cart apart. I find it very annoying having to scrap something because of a cheap little part, but it is what it is. I ended up getting a Suncast hose reel box. It has a three year warranty and gets pretty good reviews, but I’m keeping the receipt handy.
A couple of years ago I also installed brass quick connects on everything so it would be easy for Wife to swap between the hose running to the front of the house and the one that attaches to the hose reel. These also have turned out to be garbage in that you end up spending more time fighting the connectors than it would take to just unscrew the hose by hand. Not sure of the brand, I think I got them at Lowes. Wife ended up getting a kit made by a German company named Gardena at Home Depot. Despite being made of plastic, the fittings seem very well made and I’m interested to see how well they hold up over time. I see they also sell metal versions on their website, so that might be an option if I find we are breaking them due to abuse. Finally, I also took the time to replace a handful of worn hose gaskets while I was at it. For the first time in probably a year, I’ve finally got a hose setup that doesn’t leak, and more importantly, doesn’t annoy Wife.
After the hose was up and running, I took apart the old hose cart so it would fit in the trash bin. Me being me, I did save a few potentially useful bits from it – the axle shaft and wheels, and the tool basket. I took it easy after that, just worked on some odds and ends and cleaning while I watched ‘Platoon’ on the shop TV. Man, I forgot how good that movie is – probably been a good 15 years since I last watched it. Another squirt gun fight Sunday afternoon after naps, this time with the whole family. It started off as Wife and I versus the kids, but eventually devolved into a free for all. Again, lots of fun.
The only thing I didn’t get checked off the list this past weekend was to get the pool cleaned out and filled up (didn’t want to fire up the pressure washer while the kids were napping). I’ll work on it tonight. Looks like upper 80’s/low 90’s all week, so it should warm up pretty quickly and be ready for the weekend.
Until next time…
Painting it was a bear! Somewhat self-induced, I decided to use a brush and roller instead of spraying it because I already had most of a gallon of industrial enamel on hand. Getting the thousands of nooks and crannies on the expanded steel covered was really the worst part. I tried using a roller with a fairly heavy nap, but it just didn’t get the paint deep enough into the crevasses and I had to resort to using a chip brush instead. Eventually I found a method that worked, but I probably spent over 2 hours painting. The worst part was that about halfway through, the skies started getting dark and I was sure I was going to get rained on, so I was rushing the job and applying subsequent coats probably too quickly, which required more touch-ups. Whatever… it’s done now and looks decent enough. Not my best paint job, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Probably the most annoying bit is that it never ended up raining.
After that, I mowed the yard, and puttered around the shop for awhile. When Smasher woke up from his nap, he really wanted to have a squirt gun fight. What a blast! Sis never got into squirt guns and I can’t remember the last time I had a good old fashioned run-and-gun squirt gun fight. I took it easy him at first, but it was pretty funny once he realized getting wet was no big deal and went full Terminator on me – just running right into the line of fire and soaking me in the process. Then the gloves were off. We both ended up soaking wet by the time we were done. I will also say, if you are on the market for a good squirt gun, I don’t think you can beat the X-Shot brand. We’ve had these floating around for a few years but I’d never really messed with them. Super durable, affordable, and the best part, you just dunk them in a bucket of water to refill them in seconds. I spent more time than I care to admit cruising around Amazon last night looking at what other options need to be added to the arsenal.
Speaking of water, on Sunday I revamped our garden hose setup and storage. About 4 years ago, I spent some decent money on a hose reel cart. I did some research and found (what I believed to be at the time) a good option for our needs. 250’ hose capacity, metal construction so it would last, solid wheels so I wouldn’t have to constantly top off pneumatic tires, and relatively compact given its capacity. It worked fine, until the seals wore out and started to leak. Looking through the manual that came with it, there are no replacement parts listed. Great. I tried tracking down something that I could use to make my own, but no luck. Even if I had found seals or material, I would question how long they would hold up given the amount of corrosion I found when I took the cart apart. I find it very annoying having to scrap something because of a cheap little part, but it is what it is. I ended up getting a Suncast hose reel box. It has a three year warranty and gets pretty good reviews, but I’m keeping the receipt handy.
A couple of years ago I also installed brass quick connects on everything so it would be easy for Wife to swap between the hose running to the front of the house and the one that attaches to the hose reel. These also have turned out to be garbage in that you end up spending more time fighting the connectors than it would take to just unscrew the hose by hand. Not sure of the brand, I think I got them at Lowes. Wife ended up getting a kit made by a German company named Gardena at Home Depot. Despite being made of plastic, the fittings seem very well made and I’m interested to see how well they hold up over time. I see they also sell metal versions on their website, so that might be an option if I find we are breaking them due to abuse. Finally, I also took the time to replace a handful of worn hose gaskets while I was at it. For the first time in probably a year, I’ve finally got a hose setup that doesn’t leak, and more importantly, doesn’t annoy Wife.
After the hose was up and running, I took apart the old hose cart so it would fit in the trash bin. Me being me, I did save a few potentially useful bits from it – the axle shaft and wheels, and the tool basket. I took it easy after that, just worked on some odds and ends and cleaning while I watched ‘Platoon’ on the shop TV. Man, I forgot how good that movie is – probably been a good 15 years since I last watched it. Another squirt gun fight Sunday afternoon after naps, this time with the whole family. It started off as Wife and I versus the kids, but eventually devolved into a free for all. Again, lots of fun.
The only thing I didn’t get checked off the list this past weekend was to get the pool cleaned out and filled up (didn’t want to fire up the pressure washer while the kids were napping). I’ll work on it tonight. Looks like upper 80’s/low 90’s all week, so it should warm up pretty quickly and be ready for the weekend.
Until next time…