jross

No need to register. Just put the date on your calendar and visit Fine Homebuilding.com April 24th at noon.

At that time everyone can watch it free. After that we'll put it up on the membership side so any member can watch and rewatch it any time.

There’re some great tips in these comments. I’m in agreement with some others here that Old House Guy’s tip of a chain on a string is a great idea. I especially like the part about using a magnet to retrieve the chain. I’ll have to try that next time I run some wire.

As far as the lath tip goes, there are a couple reasons why I like it and we decided to include it in the Better Way tip series. First, the lath is skinny enough to slip past many obstructions that you find in old walls, insulation, newspaper, corncobs (and other rat debris), older wires, and yes plaster. Yet because of the shape, it’s highly controllable. You can move it from side to side, back and forth and in general probe around to find a way through. This makes it useful in a variety of circumstances including times when the only way into a wall cavity is from below.

Second, like Old House Guy’s tip, it uses something that is inexpensive to solve a problem in a clever or unexpected way. This is at the heart of the There’s a Better Way tip series.

As far as busting keys off, I’ll own that one. It is ill advised to go busting off the keys without a good reason. That said, every situation has to be assessed. Remodel, especially in old houses is a messy business. Do I think clearing a 11/2-in. wide path is going to jeopardize the plaster strength? No. The plaster is on the wall and under compression. However, I probably should have warned people that if the plaster is unsound or they get crazy with the tip and have a key-busting party with their friends they might run into some problems.

If you have single-pane windows, good storms will do the trick. The payback, depending on how leaky the rest of the house is, will be under ten years and possibly as low as three and a half years (according to the U.S. DOE EERE home Page [http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/windowsvolumepurchase/pdfs/low-e_storm_window_field_test.pdf]). You can buy storms or make your own for a fraction or replacements and think of all the landfill space saved when original windows are kept in place.

Most well equipped shops I’ve been in have one and the old timers still swear by them. I had an old Dewalt (one of the old blue ones) and it ran like a champ.

The biggest advantage of a RAS over a chopper is that you can flip the switch on a RAS and let it run continuously. This is a big plus when sorting or culling stock or cutting big packages.

This summer I made parts and pieces for twenty sets of twelve-over-eight reproduction sashes. In one three hour period I made over four hundred cuts. That’s going to put a lot of stress on the motor and brake of any chop saw.

Funny you should ask about the shed video. We start publishing it today. Here’s the link. Most of it is free and will be released over the next month. However, if you want it all at once plus the plans you can purchase that option.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/pages/how-to-build-a-shed/index.asp

Have fun watching!

JR

The mosquitoes are fierce!

MFournier, I get your point and if all Chuck said was ‘use plywood to back up your drywall patch’, I’d agree with you. But there are some good takeaways here, namely driving a second screw near the bottom of the plywood to support it while he secures the top.

I don’t think all tips are created equal. But if they’re good, they can all have a home at FHB.com

Like Rob, I was taught to cope crown because-“that’s the way you do it.” When I had my own trim carpentry business and was faced with getting in and getting out and still making a buck at the end of the day, I started questioning everything, looking for efficiencies anywhere I could find them.

I found that preassembly whenever possible was a big time saver. Plus the joints looked better because there is more control working off a bench top than working off a ladder.

When assembling before installation I always used an inside miter. I put two-part ten-second (2p10) in the joints to hold while we installed and at the same time I put a little yellow glue and some nails to hold the joint over time.

For all other joints I coped using a special coping jig I made and then the Collins coping foot after I evolved a little.

I asked John Mahan, a slate roofer in Springfield MA, about this. He'd already seen the video and thought it was impressive. The big concern he had was the stress put on the framing members. While it seems in the video that the bucket is not touching the roof (the roofing felt is not torn), the large number of fasteners being pulled at once would put upload stress on the framing.

But hey--It’s working for the guy in the video!

I'm still thinking that --Hammerhead-- is a good descriptive name. At least for the folks circling around here.

More on ellipses.

Tucker sent me this link to Jim Chestnut’s site.

It’s a home grown video on using trammel to draw an ellipse.


http://www.miterclamp.com/Woodworking_video_index.htm

Classicplans,
Thanks, I tried the search and easily found more than I'll ever need to know about ellipses.

This video link is pretty cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYs8pV860w4

And this other one pretty much covers everything else:
http://www.uwgb.edu/DutchS/MATHALGO/Ellipses.HTM

Too many tools! Next you’ll be saying that one size fits all.

A person should be able to get by with four (maybe five) drivers although I think that’s a little thin. To regular drivers (I like the Panasonic 15 volt), one hammer drill, one corded 1/2in., and one compact impact driver (although two would be better) OK so six ‘cause those little minis with the battery up in the handle are really useful in tight places.

So six. Any one person should be able to squeak by with only six drivers.