Pressingonward
Well-known member
That deck looks amazing! Totally transforms the look of the back of your house. Nice work.
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The **** Shack
- Thread starter bdbecker
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Thanks fellas! Last weekend I was able to get the deck oiled and got a good start on the new steps. I'll get some more pics and details once I get the steps finished. I was hoping to get everything wrapped up this weekend, but might have to help my Dad with a project instead. We'll see what happens.
Speaking of painting stuff black (it seems like that's all I do these days), Wife gave the mailbox a fresh coat this week. This was actually painted black by the previous home owner, we just freshened it up. In the process, we wanted to swap out the numbers for something a little more our style. I don't know of you've looked at house numbers, but they are surprisingly expensive for anything beyond the generic options. 3D printer to the rescue!
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The numbers are printed with PLA and painted with a couple coats of high fill primer to hide the print lines, followed by antique white paint, and several coats of clear. I have a spool of PETG I could have used, but figured I'd give this a shot since I knew I was going to be painting. It'll be an interesting experiment to see how well it holds up to the weather and snow plows. Sometime in the near future, we're going to replace the box with something a little more suited to our style anyway, so no big deal if it only makes it a few years.
Thanks Pat! Wife did all the real work on it (sanding and painting), I just came in at the last moment to put the cherry on top.
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A few weeks ago, we had a window of mild and dry weather, so I capitalized on the on the opportunity and sanded and oiled the deck. Here's a half finished shot so you can see the difference:
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The main goal was to find something that really let the wood show through while still protecting the deck. After a lot of reading and research, instead of doing a stain or sealer, I ended up choosing a deck oil made by Penofin (western red cedar tone/tint).
https://www.penofin.com/wood-stains/ultra-premium-red-label-wood-stain
If you haven't researched deck finishes, it is maddening. I suspect that most of the websites offering "reviews" of products are paid promotions. A product will get a great review on one site, and a bad one on the next, and there's no good way of telling who is being honest. To add more mud to the water, there aren’t really any 4 or 5 star customer rated deck finishes because a fair amount of people either have unrealistic expectations as to what a deck finish should do, or have no idea what they are doing in the first place. So now you get to read through a bunch of conflicting information (again). How I landed on Penofin was from reading through builder's forums. Penofin doesn't seem to advertise much, and their distribution is fairly limited. The comments I did read from the guys who build decks for a living were generally positive, and it was available locally at The Woodsmith Store. At some point you need to make a decision and act. I figured that if contractors were using and The Woodsmith Store was selling it, it was probably a decent product (Woodsmith doesn’t really mess around with selling sub-par products).
The main factor in choosing deck oil over the other options is the ease of reapplication. The deck oil will need to be applied annually in my climate, but very little prep work is required before reapplication. It's as simple as scrub off any dirt using water and a stiff broom, allow to dry, and reapply the oil. No sanding or stripping of the previous finish is needed. No deck coating lasts very long in Iowa's wide range of temperatures, so there was no sense in trying to find the one that would last five years instead of three. Personally, I know that I am more likely to keep up with a few hours of oiling the deck each spring vs. a multi-day project of stripping, sanding, and resealing the deck every 3-5 years.
Applying the oil is pretty straightforward - liberally brush or spray on (I used a brush), allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, and wipe up any excess. That's all there is to it. It took me a good 16 hours to sand and oil the deck. The sanding was by far the most time consuming part of the job, so I'm guessing that it'll probably take me no more than 4 hours to oil the deck each year. I have read that a lot of people will do a second application a few months after the first one on new decks to really make sure the oil has penetrated into the wood, so I'll probably do another coat this fall.
Speaking of sanding the deck, I used 100 grit paper with a 5" orbital sander. Very time consuming, but very much worth the effort. I can't help but smile when walking on it with bare feet because it's so smooth.
On to the steps...
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Because of the low height of my deck, I used the box step method instead of stringers. The frame is made of 2x6 pressure treated (PT) lumber with a 16" joist spacing. While fairly basic in construction, actually building the steps were a little bit of a challenge for me, but in a good way. The biggest thing I learned from this project was that sometimes you have to cut to fit what is, not cut to what you think it should be.
The concrete slopes away from the house, but not consistently. At the back of the steps (where the deck and concrete meet), there's ~2" of drop over 12' as you move from the house side to the yard side. The slope was slightly different at the front, 2.5" over 12'. To add additional complexity, the concrete is not "flat" in the sense that its not a straight line from the high point to the low point. (Not that I expected the concrete to be perfectly flat - not complaining about the quality of work - just mentioning it as an added factor to take in to consideration.) In order to have square and level steps, each board used to frame the first step had to be ripped to match these varied slopes. I spent at least half of the total construction time on getting this first step frame just right because I knew if I made a mistake here, it would show up in everything I did after that point.
Another example was getting the measurements just right for how the decking would fit on the frame. I wanted the treads to be flush with the risers and I did not want to have to rip any of the deck boards to make it fit. Not having an overhang meant I couldn't hide a errors. I was trying to calculate board width and spacing while taking into account variations and leaving myself a little bit of wiggle room when all the sudden it dawned on me to just pull measurements from a few different spots on the deck I'd already built. There was a little variation, but I took the average of those numbers to figure out my step dimensions. In retrospect, its a painfully obvious and simple solution to get my dimensions using this method, but sometimes you've got to figure those things out for yourself.
In the end, the steps came out better than I expected. I've always held a deep respect for the trades (Dad and Brother worked/work in construction/framing) and this project only reaffirms that respect. The funny thing about building a set of steps like this is that if you get it wrong, everyone notices. When you get it right, nobody will think twice about it. It takes a lot of work to build something that no one will notice.
A project is not really a project unless you get to buy yourself a tool, right?
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I wanted to round over the edges of the decking to match the radius the boards have from the mill - a minor detail that really put a nice touch on the final product. A router has been on the shortlist for some time and this was the perfect excuse to finally get one. I’m also pretty happy with the deal I got on it. When buying the Penofin at Woodsmith, I saw they had the floor model of a Makita router on sale for a pretty good price. When I went back in to buy it a few days later, the salesman pointed out a promotion they were running on the Bosch unit where if you buy the router kit, you get the “deluxe” edge guide system for free. The price was pretty much the same between the two units, and I didn’t really have a preference between brands, so I took the deal. Besides the deck project, its definitely going to allow me to take my woodworking to another level.
So that sums up the last few weeks. The only thing missing from my build report is some pics of the LED lighting I added. I’ll see if I can get the DSLR out tonight and get some good pics. Overall, I’m really happy that I took this project on and with how it turned out. Its not perfect, but it is the best I could do given my skills and resources. I also learned a lot throughout the process, which is probably the most important thing.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Pressingonward
Well-known member
I hear you on the deck finishing conundrum. I did a ton of research and found all the "top 10..." garbage "review" sites that were just trying to get clicks. My deck was painted and we went with a solid stain over it. Pretty happy with it overall now, but it took months to dry and has chipped here and there from bad prep (I chipped off the loose bits of the old finish, but missed a few spots)
Love the look of your deck - I'd definitely like to go with the oiled cedar if we ever rebuild ours. The oil instead of a stain does sound like a good call.
Love the look of your deck - I'd definitely like to go with the oiled cedar if we ever rebuild ours. The oil instead of a stain does sound like a good call.
The deck looks great! Glad I found your thread as I have spent a ton of time trying to figure out the best product to use on our deck. The last round of crappy Sherwin Williams deck stain barely lasted 2 years. I just settled on a solid color stain and after seeing yours, along with testing it on a garden bench, our minds have changed.
I did a quick sanding test on the upper steps into the porch and the wood looks great, especially considering I built the deck in ‘11. But there is no way I want to sand this 16x16 deck with my 5 inch DA. The local HD has deck/floor sander rental, so that will be my plan. I plan to make some calls tomorrow to a couple of the local dealers to confirm stocking of the red label oil. And then await a dry spell that aligns with my work schedule.
For the redwood finish, I was surprised it did not have a more reddish tint. I am also considering clear cedar since our decking is cedar. But the sample seems to have a yellowish tint.
Thanks for sharing your project!
Sent from my iPad using Garage Journal
I did a quick sanding test on the upper steps into the porch and the wood looks great, especially considering I built the deck in ‘11. But there is no way I want to sand this 16x16 deck with my 5 inch DA. The local HD has deck/floor sander rental, so that will be my plan. I plan to make some calls tomorrow to a couple of the local dealers to confirm stocking of the red label oil. And then await a dry spell that aligns with my work schedule.
For the redwood finish, I was surprised it did not have a more reddish tint. I am also considering clear cedar since our decking is cedar. But the sample seems to have a yellowish tint.
Thanks for sharing your project!
Sent from my iPad using Garage Journal
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As promised, a couple of night shots showing the LED lighting. There are lights hidden under the overhang that give the deck a bit of a floating look when you're in the yard. The lights on the steps are all the same color temperature, its just the wood reflecting the light that makes them look more yellow. The controller I'm using turns them on at dusk and keeps them on for 4 hours. Other time increments can be programmed and the whole system can be manually overridden if we ever have a party that goes that late.
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Hopefully the annual oil plan works. I don't want read this a few years from now shaking my head at how naive I was.
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Glad you found it helpful!
Using the 5" sander was one of those things that if I knew how long it would take before I started, I probably would have looked for a different tool. By the time I realized how long it was taking, I was already halfway done and just stuck with it. That was on new wood - I can't imagine how slow it would be trying to remove a solid stain.
There are two cedar tones offered - "transparent cedar" which has the more yellow look to it, and the "transparent western red cedar" which is what I used (will verify that later today). For the first week I was a little worried because it did have more of a red/orange tone to it than I would like. However, after that first week it lightened up to a nice, natural looking cedar color and seems to be done changing. It'd be worth doing some samples to make sure you end up with the color you want.
Also, you might want to double-check that the "clear" option has the same UV protection as the "transparent" ones. For some reason I want to say that it doesn't have the 99% UV blocking, which will leave you with a gray deck pretty quickly. I could be wrong though, after reading about so many different products, I could very well be confusing it with something else. Good luck on your project!
I had a window of open time at work today, so after confirming stocking status at a small decking place, I made the run to grab 3 gallons. Wow, $50 each. But after chatting with the owner for a while, I am comfortable with the cost as this is the only product they use and he spoke very highly of it. They have been using it commercially since the product was introduced, which really speaks to the quality.
I went with the transparent western red cedar and he confirmed the 99% UV rating. Thankfully I found your post before slapping on the solid stain we just bought. Although it will make the sanding easier, but I still have 10 years of age along with lots of raised grains to knock down. So the rental sander should help speed up the process.
I showed my wife your deck as an example before pulling the trigger and she was jealous of the steps. She really wanted something like yours when I built our deck, but it is too high and needed handrails. BTW, those night shots with the accent lighting looks stunning.
I went with the transparent western red cedar and he confirmed the 99% UV rating. Thankfully I found your post before slapping on the solid stain we just bought. Although it will make the sanding easier, but I still have 10 years of age along with lots of raised grains to knock down. So the rental sander should help speed up the process.
I showed my wife your deck as an example before pulling the trigger and she was jealous of the steps. She really wanted something like yours when I built our deck, but it is too high and needed handrails. BTW, those night shots with the accent lighting looks stunning.
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
That deck looks great. I can't wait til we move and I can build one.
$50 is about what I paid here as well. Cabot 3000 was the other product I looked at and it runs around $45 a gallon, so not much of a difference. I got a similar vibe about the product from talking with the sales rep at Woodsmith. The big thing he warned me about is to make sure to apply it when the temp is 80 degrees or lower, and the humidity isn't too high. There was even a big hand written sign above the display stating the same thing, so folks must have some issues with it when it gets hot/humid.
3 gallons seems like quite a bit for a 16x16 deck. I bought 2 gallons and ended up having a little over a half gallon left for my ~360 square foot deck. Not a big deal to have extra - its better than running out midway through the project, and you should be stocked up for another year or two.
I did confirm that I used the western red cedar tint when I went home for lunch today. Like I said, its going to be a little red/orange at first, but that should subside within a week or so.
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Thanks!
Thanks for the temp tip!
I bought 3 to be safe and have some for a potential 2nd coat in the fall or spring. But I also have another small deck along with a screened in porch (so another 200 plus sf). My plan is refinish in that order and see how much is left.
I bought 3 to be safe and have some for a potential 2nd coat in the fall or spring. But I also have another small deck along with a screened in porch (so another 200 plus sf). My plan is refinish in that order and see how much is left.
Wow! The back of your house is looking great! The deck came out fantastic and the lighting is a very nice touch.
It's like an offensive lineman in a football game. The less times the announcer says their name, the better they're doing!
It's like an offensive lineman in a football game. The less times the announcer says their name, the better they're doing!
Lol... as a former left tackle, I can relate to that.
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I hope everyone had a great weekend! We went up to my folks' farm and just enjoyed a little R&R. I didn't realize it until we were there, but this was the first time we left the "city" since all the craziness started. It felt really good to see cornfields and gravel roads again. I kind of wish there were more job opportunities for us (Wife and I) in rural areas. After the last few months, I'm starting to think that living in a city is not all its cracked up to be. Don't read into that too much - I'm just thinking out loud here - we're not planning on making any changes any time soon. Anyway...
I had a proud Dad moment over the weekend - Stinker caught her first fish! We didn't weigh it, but it was a good size catfish. Needless to say, the subsequent bluegill that were caught were a little disappointing to her. I tried to explain to her that she peaked too early in her fishing career, but that's a difficult concept to relay to a 4.5yo.
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racer-john
Well-known member
Who'se holding the fish? Who'se taking the picture, inquiring minds need to know? 
Who'se holding the fish? Who'se taking the picture, inquiring minds need to know?
I took the picture. My Dad is holding the fish, Mom is holding Stinker (who is scared of the fish), and Norma Jean is on lifeguard duty.
nicholam77
Well-known member
Wow, makin' moves! You've been busy! Lots to react to...
The patio and the deck look fantastic! The black + penofin oil combo looks great and I love the contrast. The electrical and lighting thought you put into it really paid off, too. Compared to the "befores" it's like night and day. Really excellent work!
Re: the penofin oil, have you checked out Kwijibo's Denver MCM thread? I know he used it on a lot of his timber and might have some insight on longevity / durability.
One summer I had a baby rabbit die in our shed and couldn't find it and it stunk for literally months.
That's kind of the ultimate compliment when it comes to craftsmanship if you ask me.
The mailbox numbers look modern and elegant. Good work and funny use of 4D printer.
I think that's one thing that draws me to simplistic forms... or at least I appreciate that sometimes the most visually simple objects take the most precision to create (well).
It's a must!
From what I heard the Bosch routers are good, so nice score. I have the Bosch edge guide for my DeWalt and it works well.
And lastly... that fish picture is awesome!
Hope you are having fun with the new baby
The patio and the deck look fantastic! The black + penofin oil combo looks great and I love the contrast. The electrical and lighting thought you put into it really paid off, too. Compared to the "befores" it's like night and day. Really excellent work!
Re: the penofin oil, have you checked out Kwijibo's Denver MCM thread? I know he used it on a lot of his timber and might have some insight on longevity / durability.
One summer I had a baby rabbit die in our shed and couldn't find it and it stunk for literally months.
That's kind of the ultimate compliment when it comes to craftsmanship if you ask me.
The mailbox numbers look modern and elegant. Good work and funny use of 4D printer.
I think that's one thing that draws me to simplistic forms... or at least I appreciate that sometimes the most visually simple objects take the most precision to create (well).
It's a must!
From what I heard the Bosch routers are good, so nice score. I have the Bosch edge guide for my DeWalt and it works well.
And lastly... that fish picture is awesome!
Hope you are having fun with the new baby
I have seen that thread. I was following along when he first started it but didn't subscribe for some reason. Looks like he's been busy - I'll have to get caught back up.
Our neighborhood was developed in the 50's and 60's, so its chock full of great examples of mid-century architecture, mostly ranches and splits. Sadly, a lot of these houses have been mcmansion-ized with beige paint, faux mullion windows, vinyl shutters, etc. over the years to match the trends of the late 90's/early 00's. Our 1960 split was no exception. Now that I've finally got Wife off the "Fixer-Upper Modern Farmhouse" boat, we're starting to pull elements into our house that are more in tune with the house's mid-century character. (I'm happy to say that we aren't the only ones either - I've noticed more and more houses are getting "cleaned up" in the neighborhood)
While probably not period correct according to the MCM fanatics, I think the numbers add a subtle bit of modern flair to the house that fits with what Wife and I like. I'm not interested in having a perfectly procured magazine house anyway. I just want a place that has some style, but also one that I'm not afraid to live in either.
I've noticed that about your projects. I'm also drawn the modern/minimalist/Scandinavian aesthetic. Unfortunately, its probably one of the most difficult styles to build in. If you screw up on some busy, ornate victorian end table, there are dozens of details to distract from the mistake. If you screw up on a modern end table, there's no hiding it.
...Hope you are having fun with the new baby
We are!
The first month was hell because he was having issues with the formula we were giving him. Once we figured that out, it's been smooth sailing. We're figuring out his cues and have a good routine established. Best part is, he usually only wakes up once in the middle of the night to eat, so we're able to get some good sleep again.
Thanks again for posting the details about your deck and the Penofin oil! We tackled ours today... started with a rental orbital floor sander (took ~3 hours and was money well spent), then stained this afternoon. Despite being 9 years old and way overdue for a refinish, it came out great. As I suspected, my dried out wood sucked in the oil and we used about 1.3 gallons on the deck (256 sf), stairs and main upper perimeter frame boards. It was so dry there was no need to do the recommended 30 minute post application wipe down. Perfect timing as well since the temps are ramping up to the low 90's starting tomorrow for a while.
Good luck with the little one!
Good luck with the little one!
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(So it looks like we lost a few posts from the thread. Kind of felt like time travel when the forum had to revert back a few days - I know I posted and had conversations, but there is now no record of it ever happening, so the question is, did it really happen? I suppose its best not to think about it too much. For the sake of continuity, here's a version of the home gym post from last week along with a new update from this last weekend.)
Long time readers of this thread may remember the craft room project I did for Wife a few years ago where we took an unused corner of the basement and built a desk, storage cabinet, and installed shelves so she could have a place to work on projects. I still get a kick out of my lack of imagination for this area because its basically a small scale version of my garage layout at the time (L-shaped desk on the right, shelves above, storage to the left).
Before:
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After:
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What does this have to do with a home gym? Wife wanted a dedicated workout space in the house and volunteered a corner of her craft room for this purpose. Getting to the actual gym was difficult enough with one kid and our work schedules. Add a second child to the mix and that our gym is restricted to 50% capacity and reduced hours and you can about imagine that the scale is keeps creeping the wrong direction. The workout area is to the left of where the previous photos were taken.
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I pulled a new outlet and mounted a TV for music or workout videos, mounted a mirror and handrail so Wife can do Barre, and built a shelf complete with yoga mat storage. I'm particularly proud of the mat storage solution I came up with that uses rope and round drawer pulls (after using it, it turns out the rope needs to be replaced with bungee cord, just too difficult to get the mat rolled perfectly every time).
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I've since updated the light with a low profile LED fixture (0.9" thick compared to the old 6-7" thick bulb fixture) that really makes the room feel bigger. The new weight bench showed up over the weekend but I haven't had time to set it up yet. The only other thing I need to sort out is a dumbbell rack - not sure if I'm going to build or buy that just yet as I need to figure out how the space is going to work with the weight bench. This whole project was Wife's idea, but in the end, I think I might be more excited about having this space than she is.
In garage related news, not much going on. I seem to get into these lulls every summer where too much is going on and the garage becomes a dumping ground between projects and requires a whole weekend cleanup just to get everything back in place. I started trying to get some cleaning done, but got distracted by the portaband table that I started several months ago. I originally was going to use sheet metal instead of plywood, but didn't have enough pieces in the scrap bin to make it work. I kind of like the wood/metal blend now that its done.
(please ignore the messy bench)
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I used Brownells Oxpho-Blue to black out the table top and hopefully offer a bit of rust protection. If nothing else, I think it looks cool. I still need to wire everything up (used the outlet for the home gym TV, so I need to make another trip to the store), but the idea is that the table will have its own plug and outlet running off the small switch on the front panel. Plug the table into the wall, plug the saw into the table outlet, with everything being turned on/off with a single switch. Difficult to see in the pic, but I added a LED task light that will also be run off this switch. Finally, I couldn't resist making a tag for the table using the 3D printer.
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The "glitter" used for the background of the tag consists of actual metal shavings from the saw attached using contact adhesive. I topped it off with rattlecan clear to keep it from rusting. I need to blackout the screws, the shiny silver is just too distracting. The table/saw has proven to be very handy. In the case of the pics above, the mess on the table is from when I had to trim the nubs off a steel fence post so I could slide a garden hose holder post over it. Trimming the nubs took only took a minute and I didn't have to dig out my face shield and make a big mess of the garage with the grinder.
Finally, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. My parents and brother were in town to enjoy our local fireworks display. One of the many perks of our location is that we get to watch the city fireworks from our front yard. During the show, Wife caught an awesome pic of a special moment between my brother and Stinker laying in the yard together enjoying the show.
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Until next time...
Long time readers of this thread may remember the craft room project I did for Wife a few years ago where we took an unused corner of the basement and built a desk, storage cabinet, and installed shelves so she could have a place to work on projects. I still get a kick out of my lack of imagination for this area because its basically a small scale version of my garage layout at the time (L-shaped desk on the right, shelves above, storage to the left).
Before:
View media item 66425
After:
View media item 66426
What does this have to do with a home gym? Wife wanted a dedicated workout space in the house and volunteered a corner of her craft room for this purpose. Getting to the actual gym was difficult enough with one kid and our work schedules. Add a second child to the mix and that our gym is restricted to 50% capacity and reduced hours and you can about imagine that the scale is keeps creeping the wrong direction. The workout area is to the left of where the previous photos were taken.
View media item 105050
I pulled a new outlet and mounted a TV for music or workout videos, mounted a mirror and handrail so Wife can do Barre, and built a shelf complete with yoga mat storage. I'm particularly proud of the mat storage solution I came up with that uses rope and round drawer pulls (after using it, it turns out the rope needs to be replaced with bungee cord, just too difficult to get the mat rolled perfectly every time).
View media item 105051
I've since updated the light with a low profile LED fixture (0.9" thick compared to the old 6-7" thick bulb fixture) that really makes the room feel bigger. The new weight bench showed up over the weekend but I haven't had time to set it up yet. The only other thing I need to sort out is a dumbbell rack - not sure if I'm going to build or buy that just yet as I need to figure out how the space is going to work with the weight bench. This whole project was Wife's idea, but in the end, I think I might be more excited about having this space than she is.
In garage related news, not much going on. I seem to get into these lulls every summer where too much is going on and the garage becomes a dumping ground between projects and requires a whole weekend cleanup just to get everything back in place. I started trying to get some cleaning done, but got distracted by the portaband table that I started several months ago. I originally was going to use sheet metal instead of plywood, but didn't have enough pieces in the scrap bin to make it work. I kind of like the wood/metal blend now that its done.
(please ignore the messy bench)
View media item 105052
I used Brownells Oxpho-Blue to black out the table top and hopefully offer a bit of rust protection. If nothing else, I think it looks cool. I still need to wire everything up (used the outlet for the home gym TV, so I need to make another trip to the store), but the idea is that the table will have its own plug and outlet running off the small switch on the front panel. Plug the table into the wall, plug the saw into the table outlet, with everything being turned on/off with a single switch. Difficult to see in the pic, but I added a LED task light that will also be run off this switch. Finally, I couldn't resist making a tag for the table using the 3D printer.
View media item 105053
The "glitter" used for the background of the tag consists of actual metal shavings from the saw attached using contact adhesive. I topped it off with rattlecan clear to keep it from rusting. I need to blackout the screws, the shiny silver is just too distracting. The table/saw has proven to be very handy. In the case of the pics above, the mess on the table is from when I had to trim the nubs off a steel fence post so I could slide a garden hose holder post over it. Trimming the nubs took only took a minute and I didn't have to dig out my face shield and make a big mess of the garage with the grinder.
Finally, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. My parents and brother were in town to enjoy our local fireworks display. One of the many perks of our location is that we get to watch the city fireworks from our front yard. During the show, Wife caught an awesome pic of a special moment between my brother and Stinker laying in the yard together enjoying the show.
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Until next time...
Pressingonward
Well-known member
Bandsaw looks great! I love the nameplate.
amkluttz
Well-known member
Excellent name! I know you watch AvE but this name makes me think you also watch Vice Grip Garage.
nicholam77
Well-known member
The forum crash was definitely confusing. I had posted on 6-7 people's threads, including yours I think, that was erased, as well as my own.
So I'll just say, again, the home gym looks great.
I like the portaband setup. And good job putting the 3D printer to use.
So I'll just say, again, the home gym looks great.
I like the portaband setup. And good job putting the 3D printer to use.
Thanks fellas!
No, but after looking him up I'll probably have to start - thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking for a new channel to dive into now that I'm completely caught up with This Old Tony's back catalog. I've been watching a lot of woodworking lately and I find myself shopping for tools I don't really need and definitely can't afford late into the night as a result.
No, but after looking him up I'll probably have to start - thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking for a new channel to dive into now that I'm completely caught up with This Old Tony's back catalog. I've been watching a lot of woodworking lately and I find myself shopping for tools I don't really need and definitely can't afford late into the night as a result.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
VGG is great. I met Derek at Power Tour last year. He is a great guy.
amkluttz
Well-known member
If you like woodworking check out Under Dunn as well. He might not be to your taste but I find it entertaining and appreciate his willingness to show all of his mistakes. Not a master woodworker by any means but I've enjoyed his videos. He also does the Aging Wheels channel which I found after YouTube suggested his woodworking channel.
Well, thanks a lot... I had to stay up until nearly 11pm last night to finish the C10 rat truck build series. I guess I've got a new channel to work through.
I see how my naming the portaband table the Glitter Grinder 9000 reminded you of something he'd say. I caught a couple of similar sounding names for his tools - must be a Midwest thing. It is a little weird watching his videos because he reminds so much of a close friend of mine (attire, appearance, and sense of humor).
I see how my naming the portaband table the Glitter Grinder 9000 reminded you of something he'd say. I caught a couple of similar sounding names for his tools - must be a Midwest thing. It is a little weird watching his videos because he reminds so much of a close friend of mine (attire, appearance, and sense of humor).
I'm never going to get anything done with all these great channel suggestions. Coincidentally, Under Dunn's table saw rebuild has been popping up in my suggested video feed for the last few weeks. I watched it last night and stayed up too late, again. I think I've seen a few of his other videos in the past - I remember the weird paint on his walls. His sense of humor is definitely in line with mine.
In case anyone is wondering, here is a list of the garage/hobby channels I'm subscribed to. This Old Tony and Frank Howarth are the only channels I actually keep up with, the others I'll watch to varied degrees depending on the subject matter.
6061
AvE
Bosnian Bill
Clickspring
Essential Craftsman
Frank Howarth
Grind Hard Plumbing
Ishitani Furniture
Jimmy Diresta
Laura Kampf
Lowbrow Customs
Made in Poland
Mighty Car Mods
Museum of Our Industrial Heritage
Pask Makes
Project Farm
Rainfall Projects
Scott Turner
Shurap
The Post Apocalyptic Inventor
This Old Tony
TysyTube Restoration
Welding Tips and Tricks
Woodsmith
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
I am highly insulted you don't have my channel on you list of must watch TV.
Actually I am surprised that any one watches it. I really need to put up another video at so me point.
Actually I am surprised that any one watches it. I really need to put up another video at so me point.
I never noticed that link in your signature until you posted that. If I stay up late for a third night in a row watching your channel, at least I know who to submit my complaint to.
In other news, Dad stuff...
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In other news, Dad stuff...
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
If you can stay awake while watching it I will be shocked and amazed.
I think you might be able to handle a bigger pole by now.
Man you just added 10 more great youtube channels to my subscriptions.
Okay so here is what I have left after subtracting out all the channels we had that were the same.
Andrew Camarata (Heavy Equipment and brilliant problem solver)
Mustie1 (this guy does VW, Bikes, Motorcycles. He is my favorite) He has years of videos to watch all the way back to 2016.
Scoutcrafter (Awesome Hand Tool Restoration) He does 3 videos a week.
EngelsCoachShop (Amazing Craftsman. Woodworking and Blacksmithing)
Jay Leno’s Garage
Hagerty (I watch this for the Redline Rebuilds)
Hand Tool Rescue
Tips from a shipwright (this one is about boats but there are really good tips about finishing wood)
Gosforth Handyman (Amazing small shop)
Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration
Nick’s Garage (Mainly Mopar. I am Chevy guy but his channel is awesome)
Epic UpCycling ( I think you will absolutley love this channel)
Jackman Works
Ohyo56 (Amazing Craftsman that makes a ton of woodworking jigs and tools)
Wesley Treat (Interesting Craftsman)
Paul Sellers (The master Woodworker himself)
TheAFICIONAUTO (Lots of cool Movie Cars and their History)
Blake Weber ( Woodworking very small shop)
Jon Peters (Woodworking)
Bret
Okay so here is what I have left after subtracting out all the channels we had that were the same.
Andrew Camarata (Heavy Equipment and brilliant problem solver)
Mustie1 (this guy does VW, Bikes, Motorcycles. He is my favorite) He has years of videos to watch all the way back to 2016.
Scoutcrafter (Awesome Hand Tool Restoration) He does 3 videos a week.
EngelsCoachShop (Amazing Craftsman. Woodworking and Blacksmithing)
Jay Leno’s Garage
Hagerty (I watch this for the Redline Rebuilds)
Hand Tool Rescue
Tips from a shipwright (this one is about boats but there are really good tips about finishing wood)
Gosforth Handyman (Amazing small shop)
Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration
Nick’s Garage (Mainly Mopar. I am Chevy guy but his channel is awesome)
Epic UpCycling ( I think you will absolutley love this channel)
Jackman Works
Ohyo56 (Amazing Craftsman that makes a ton of woodworking jigs and tools)
Wesley Treat (Interesting Craftsman)
Paul Sellers (The master Woodworker himself)
TheAFICIONAUTO (Lots of cool Movie Cars and their History)
Blake Weber ( Woodworking very small shop)
Jon Peters (Woodworking)
Bret
You haven't seen me fish - I'm terrible at it.
I think the Moana pole has finally given up the ghost. The anti-reverse clutch is shot, allowing Stinker to turn the handle both ways, which leads to repeated birdsnests, frustration, and eventually tears. Her birthday is in a few months, so it might be a good opportunity to upgrade her to something a little better. Meanwhile, I'll keep my eye out for a yard sale unit, or even a clearance one at wallyworld and just swap the reels so her first fishing pole is still functional.
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I bet our YT profile/algorithms are pretty similar, a lot of those guys come across on my feed as well.
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The plan was to take it easy this weekend. When I got bored of that Saturday morning, I knocked out a few smaller projects that had been piling up - assembled some yard storage boxes and the weight bench for the home gym, spent some time cleaning the garage, and so on. I also needed to do some work on the XTS. How do I get myself into these messes?
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Another 'round to it project I finally got around to was pulling the infotainment system from the Cadillac to replace a faulty touchscreen. When we first got the car last fall, it would have its moments where it didn't want to respond to button pushes, but then would snap out of it. I wasn't sure if was just my dumb fingers trying to learn a new system or what. During the winter, it worked just fine, but once the weather warmed up, it started going downhill fast, becoming unresponsive to the point of being non-functional, and ghost button pushes causing random screens to pop up. Finally the spiderweb showed up and I couldn't ignore it any longer. (To be more accurate, I could probably keep ignoring the screen, but I could not keep ignoring Wife asking me to fix it any longer. She is not one to nag, she is one to take action. If I didn't fix the screen soon, the dealer would have.)
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As it turns out, this is a pretty common issue with Cadillac's Cue infotainment system. They used some sort of gel touchscreen technology that has a notoriously short life. It is so bad that there have been a few attempts at a class action lawsuit against GM over it. I never had it quoted myself, but others have commented online that they were paying anywhere from $1000-2000 to have the dealer replace it. They replace it with another gel screen, so when it fails again in a few years, you get to do it all over again. Truth be told, I'm getting a lot better at not letting things like this upset me. I've come to realize that there is no sense in obsessing over factors that are beyond my control. I have a broken screen and I need to fix it, simple as that.
Because it is a common issue, there are a number of aftermarket replacements available. Replacement screens can be had for as little as $40 on Amazon. I ended up spending a little more and buying one from Cuescreens. (https://www.cuescreens.com/, also sells on Amazon) Cuescreens does not use the gel screen technology. I figured if I was going to go through all this trouble, I wanted to make sure that I was replacing the screen with something that would last. Some of the cheap, no-name kits had just enough DOA complaints to make me nervous. Cuescreens also has a warranty and reputation for good customer service to fall back on (I actually screwed up and ordered the wrong kit, but they were super responsive and changed the order without issue).
The replacement and install is pretty straightforward. If you've ever done a car stereo, this is well within your wheelhouse. Cuescreens also has a set of YouTube videos that walk you through the removal and replacement processes and makes the project very easy. I would bet that about 30% of the time it took was just me having to unlock my phone and reopen my YT app every minute or so to see the next step. Without much fuss, I got the screen replaced and everything buttoned back up.
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This project was kind of interesting on a personal level. The last time I tore into the dash on a vehicle was to install cruise control on my '03 F150. Gone are the days of pulling off a trim piece or two and a dozen screws to open the whole thing up. Now everything is in small pieces, layered on top of each other. Not really complaining, just an observation about how things have changed over the last 20 years. The other interesting thing about the XTS in particular is that it is such a roomy car and there is so much room to work - very different than back in the day of jamming my 6'3", 275lb body into the cramped footwell of a Honda Civic or Ford Probe. I'm also getting wiser in my age - I had the forethought to open the AC vent in Wife's garage a few hours before digging into the dash. I don't think I even broke a sweat working on the car, which felt kind of wrong.
Having the new screen is one of those "you don't know how bad it is until it is fixed" type things. I can say for sure that the OEM screen was bad when we bought the car. We probably could have had it replaced before the warranty ran out on it, but it would have been a gel screen that would have eventually failed anyway. Now I know its fixed (hopefully) for good.
That's pretty much it for now, hope everyone has a great week!
BD.....Fellow Iowan here...We also share alot of the same taste in youtube channels. Wishing TOT would get back to work and keep us posted on the progess on his new milling machine.
So, seems that you are able to go to both wood and metal, so I'll just warn you that I am about to cause you to loose 24+ hours of your life.
Check out Sampson Boat Co. on youtube. It is the story of the restoration of a 100+ year old sailboat. I'd recommend waiting till you have some serious time to spend, and then start at the oldest video. Leo publishes 1 new video every 2 weeks. Since you like wood working, problem solving, tools, machinery and metal working........well you can now kiss 24+ hours of your life as you knew it good bye.
Sorry.
So, seems that you are able to go to both wood and metal, so I'll just warn you that I am about to cause you to loose 24+ hours of your life.
Check out Sampson Boat Co. on youtube. It is the story of the restoration of a 100+ year old sailboat. I'd recommend waiting till you have some serious time to spend, and then start at the oldest video. Leo publishes 1 new video every 2 weeks. Since you like wood working, problem solving, tools, machinery and metal working........well you can now kiss 24+ hours of your life as you knew it good bye.
Sorry.
Always happy to meet a fellow Iowan on the board!
Judging by the lack of videos, and the relatively simple nature of the ones he has posted lately, I bet Old Tony is hard at work on his mill conversion. Part of what makes his channel so good is that he does a great job of presenting his projects in a manner that makes it easy to follow along. In order to do this (especially on the big projects), I suspect he waits until the project is completed before he starts editing and posting videos related to it. He's probably got a half-dozen sub-projects he's working on with the mill, only getting so far before he gets hung up on a problem he needs to solve or discovers he needs to buy a part or material to continue making progress. If he were to film and post in real time, it'd be a lot more scatterbrained, but through the magic of editing, it all ends up being one easy to follow story posted in bi-weekly increments.
I will note your Sampson Boat Co. suggestion, but save it for this winter based on your warning. Gotta make hay while the sun is shining as they say.
And you haven't seen me fish. I'm intentionally bad at it! There's nothing that ruins hanging out and drinking beer by a lake more than dealing with a fish. I only like deep sea fishing where you're after the huge bastards and a freezer full of dinners.
A man's got to do what a man's got to do...
Last week when I gave my old Walmart special MTD mower a pull, I heard a metal clinking noise as it fired up. I immediately shut her down and began to investigate. I found that the blade adapter had sheered off the pins and x-shaped arbor, which meant the only thing that kept the blade spinning was the tension on the mounting bolt. I have no idea when this happened. It looked just fine this spring when I sharpened the blade, and haven't hit anything of consequence this year, so it just must have just been its time.
This put me in a bit of a pinch though. The yard needed to be mowed, rain was in the forecast, and the odds of finding the adapter locally (at least from a business that was open at that time of the day) were pretty low. I briefly considered mowing with it as is, but just didn't want to risk further damage or injury. Knowing the blade I had on the mower was getting a little long in the tooth, I decided to just weld it to the adapter. Good to go? Nope...
I was in such a hurry to get the mower "fixed" that I didn't even think about the fact that I'd tipped it on its side with the air filter pointed down. As a result, the air filter was soaked with gas. The mower wouldn't run with the filter installed, I wasn't going to mow without it, and by that time I sure as heck wasn't going to the store to buy another one. So after all that, I didn't even get the yard mowed that night. It ended up working out though, I mowed right when I got home from work the next day and got done about a half hour before we got hammered with rain.
This weekend, I wanted to get the mower fixed correctly. So with a new blade and adapter in hand, I went to do what I told Wife would be a 10 minute job. An hour later, I had a new trophy.
View media item 105470
I figured I'd just be able to give the blade a whack or two with a mallet to get the adapter to slide off the output shaft. When that didn't work, I pulled out the slide hammer. With the blade still welded to the adapter, I could not get a good grip on the adapter. Out came Pork Chop (my angle grinder with a cut-off wheel) and I cut the blade off. I did do a little check of my weld job and was pretty impressed to see that I actually had that blade welded on pretty good - probably could have kept running her like that for the rest of the season.
The adapter still did not want to come off using the slide hammer. That meant round two with the angle grinder to put a couple relief cuts in the adapter, being careful to not cut too deeply and damage the shaft too much. Even with the relief cuts made, it still took a good half dozen cracks with the slide hammer to get the adapter off. I told Wife that if I ever say something should only take a certain amount of time, she should just automatically add the word "theoretically" to the end of it to account for these types of issues.
Otherwise, it was just a low key weekend. Yesterday was actually pretty nice, so I just did a bunch of yard work and a little cleaning in the garage getting ready for the city junk day next weekend. I also smoked a couple of pork butts - honestly the best pork I've smoked yet. Wife used a combination of Cookie's Flavor Enhancer and a 12 pepper blend for a dry rub and I skipped the foil to see if I could get better bark. I only had one small area of one of the butts that was a touch dry (still totally edible), otherwise the meat was still juicy and had a more authentic smoked meat bark than what I was getting with the foil wrap.
View media item 105469
Oh yeah, speaking of doing a little cleaning in the garage... I was making some room for a new (used) piece of equipment that I'm going to pick up today. More to come soon...
Last week when I gave my old Walmart special MTD mower a pull, I heard a metal clinking noise as it fired up. I immediately shut her down and began to investigate. I found that the blade adapter had sheered off the pins and x-shaped arbor, which meant the only thing that kept the blade spinning was the tension on the mounting bolt. I have no idea when this happened. It looked just fine this spring when I sharpened the blade, and haven't hit anything of consequence this year, so it just must have just been its time.
This put me in a bit of a pinch though. The yard needed to be mowed, rain was in the forecast, and the odds of finding the adapter locally (at least from a business that was open at that time of the day) were pretty low. I briefly considered mowing with it as is, but just didn't want to risk further damage or injury. Knowing the blade I had on the mower was getting a little long in the tooth, I decided to just weld it to the adapter. Good to go? Nope...
I was in such a hurry to get the mower "fixed" that I didn't even think about the fact that I'd tipped it on its side with the air filter pointed down. As a result, the air filter was soaked with gas. The mower wouldn't run with the filter installed, I wasn't going to mow without it, and by that time I sure as heck wasn't going to the store to buy another one. So after all that, I didn't even get the yard mowed that night. It ended up working out though, I mowed right when I got home from work the next day and got done about a half hour before we got hammered with rain.
This weekend, I wanted to get the mower fixed correctly. So with a new blade and adapter in hand, I went to do what I told Wife would be a 10 minute job. An hour later, I had a new trophy.
View media item 105470
I figured I'd just be able to give the blade a whack or two with a mallet to get the adapter to slide off the output shaft. When that didn't work, I pulled out the slide hammer. With the blade still welded to the adapter, I could not get a good grip on the adapter. Out came Pork Chop (my angle grinder with a cut-off wheel) and I cut the blade off. I did do a little check of my weld job and was pretty impressed to see that I actually had that blade welded on pretty good - probably could have kept running her like that for the rest of the season.
The adapter still did not want to come off using the slide hammer. That meant round two with the angle grinder to put a couple relief cuts in the adapter, being careful to not cut too deeply and damage the shaft too much. Even with the relief cuts made, it still took a good half dozen cracks with the slide hammer to get the adapter off. I told Wife that if I ever say something should only take a certain amount of time, she should just automatically add the word "theoretically" to the end of it to account for these types of issues.
Otherwise, it was just a low key weekend. Yesterday was actually pretty nice, so I just did a bunch of yard work and a little cleaning in the garage getting ready for the city junk day next weekend. I also smoked a couple of pork butts - honestly the best pork I've smoked yet. Wife used a combination of Cookie's Flavor Enhancer and a 12 pepper blend for a dry rub and I skipped the foil to see if I could get better bark. I only had one small area of one of the butts that was a touch dry (still totally edible), otherwise the meat was still juicy and had a more authentic smoked meat bark than what I was getting with the foil wrap.
View media item 105469
Oh yeah, speaking of doing a little cleaning in the garage... I was making some room for a new (used) piece of equipment that I'm going to pick up today. More to come soon...
GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I finally did it! Came to the end of the thread. I've been taking notes as I've read through so I could comment on everything at once, but Windows decided it needed to update without asking and I had never saved the notes file, so I'm going to do my best from memory:
Firstly/mostly: Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I remember thinking that having a second baby would be like a two-for-one discount, so why not? Figured having two wouldn't be much harder than having one. Came to find out the opposite was true the very first night we brought her home and I realized that I couldn't stay up all night with the baby because I still had a toddler to chase the whole next day. Two kids was THREE TIMES as hard as one! Worth it in the end, but I don't envy you right now. At least your daughter is a bit older and therefore more self-sufficient.
I've really enjoyed your can-do attitude and fabrication ability throughout your thread. Interestingly, I was in a similar situation prior to my fire. My old shop was almost certainly as crappy as the crappiest **** shack on this forum, to the points where rats had chewed quite large holes through the walls at multiple points. Wood-to-ground contact pretty much everywhere had resulted in a lot of rot, you could see daylight through dozens of cracks and gaps pretty much everywhere. Zero insulation, built-in shelves and braces and whatnot would have made insulating and hanging plywood expensive and incredibly difficult.
It all just kind of seemed "not worth it." I'd been in my house for seven years when the old shop burned down, and I had willfully put off doing anything to improve it for at least half that time, as the plan was to always tear it down and rebuild anyway. Then six figures worth of repairs and necessary improvements to the house later, and it became clear that the shop rebuild would either never happen or happen much later. I finally broke down and did my best to make my little shop useful, first disposing of any shelves and tables I could easily get rid of to free up space, then doing a deep clean (no comment on sheer volume of rat poop removal...), then starting to stock up on some decent(ish) tools.
In the months before the fire, the shop had become quite useful in spite of its limitations. I rebuilt my truck engine in the shop (well, just in front of it), did a ton of work to my car, rebuilt several motorcycles, did some woodworking projects. It was amazing what happened when I just got over it and made due.
Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky like me, The **** Shack will burn to the ground, and you can lose years of your life and get hopefully behind on all your projects while building **** Shack 2.0!...
Anyway, your bench came out awesome, as did your fire pit, patio, and stairs. You also inspired me to order a 3D printer! I had no idea the price had come down so much on those things! Out of curiosity, which one did you get?
Thanks for the interesting thread. Still subscribed.
Firstly/mostly: Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I remember thinking that having a second baby would be like a two-for-one discount, so why not? Figured having two wouldn't be much harder than having one. Came to find out the opposite was true the very first night we brought her home and I realized that I couldn't stay up all night with the baby because I still had a toddler to chase the whole next day. Two kids was THREE TIMES as hard as one! Worth it in the end, but I don't envy you right now. At least your daughter is a bit older and therefore more self-sufficient.
I've really enjoyed your can-do attitude and fabrication ability throughout your thread. Interestingly, I was in a similar situation prior to my fire. My old shop was almost certainly as crappy as the crappiest **** shack on this forum, to the points where rats had chewed quite large holes through the walls at multiple points. Wood-to-ground contact pretty much everywhere had resulted in a lot of rot, you could see daylight through dozens of cracks and gaps pretty much everywhere. Zero insulation, built-in shelves and braces and whatnot would have made insulating and hanging plywood expensive and incredibly difficult.
It all just kind of seemed "not worth it." I'd been in my house for seven years when the old shop burned down, and I had willfully put off doing anything to improve it for at least half that time, as the plan was to always tear it down and rebuild anyway. Then six figures worth of repairs and necessary improvements to the house later, and it became clear that the shop rebuild would either never happen or happen much later. I finally broke down and did my best to make my little shop useful, first disposing of any shelves and tables I could easily get rid of to free up space, then doing a deep clean (no comment on sheer volume of rat poop removal...), then starting to stock up on some decent(ish) tools.
In the months before the fire, the shop had become quite useful in spite of its limitations. I rebuilt my truck engine in the shop (well, just in front of it), did a ton of work to my car, rebuilt several motorcycles, did some woodworking projects. It was amazing what happened when I just got over it and made due.
Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky like me, The **** Shack will burn to the ground, and you can lose years of your life and get hopefully behind on all your projects while building **** Shack 2.0!...
Anyway, your bench came out awesome, as did your fire pit, patio, and stairs. You also inspired me to order a 3D printer! I had no idea the price had come down so much on those things! Out of curiosity, which one did you get?
Thanks for the interesting thread. Still subscribed.
No joke on the kids... I'm so glad we waited a little longer between the two. I can't imagine how tough it'd be if Stinker wasn't so independent. I've got friends that have 3-5 kids all a few years apart. I cannot imagine the chaos that would be.
I know that's sarcasm about the shop burning down, but that would really bum me out after all the work I've put into it. Sure, a new build would be nice, but at the same time, this little shop has really taught me a lot about myself. There's a lesson learned in every corner of that building. Its kind of funny how a building I loathed at one point has become a place I love.
We've got a 3D printer thread going if you haven't seen it yet.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384990
I've got a Creality CR10S4. Due to the fast pace of development, I'm sure that model has been replaced by a few generations of improved versions already. While it does lack a certain level of refinement compared to other brands, I'm still happy with my decision. I always seem to have too many irons in the fire to be able to give it the attention it deserves, but its not hurting anything sitting on a table in my office, waiting for that winter day when its too cold to do anything outside and I can really tinker with it and tune her up.
I know that's sarcasm about the shop burning down, but that would really bum me out after all the work I've put into it. Sure, a new build would be nice, but at the same time, this little shop has really taught me a lot about myself. There's a lesson learned in every corner of that building. Its kind of funny how a building I loathed at one point has become a place I love.
We've got a 3D printer thread going if you haven't seen it yet.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384990
I've got a Creality CR10S4. Due to the fast pace of development, I'm sure that model has been replaced by a few generations of improved versions already. While it does lack a certain level of refinement compared to other brands, I'm still happy with my decision. I always seem to have too many irons in the fire to be able to give it the attention it deserves, but its not hurting anything sitting on a table in my office, waiting for that winter day when its too cold to do anything outside and I can really tinker with it and tune her up.