Just finished doing some fancy casings on an entire upstairs 2nd floor. All doors and windows…and oh yeh some base. Actually it was a chair rail I used for the trim. Looks awesome but…..I was lucky enough to be able to push some furnature to a corner and cover everything with drop clothes and open the two windows in the room…after discussing that with my customer.
What do some of you do if you “have to” set your chopper up a flight down the stairs and several yards out of the house$$$. Mannnnnnnnnn…that takes for ever especially if you have to tweak a miter every now and again.
I’ve taken to using a non electric miter box for small jobs I can use right in the room which kicks up next to no dust. Might even invest in a REALLY good one one day. the one I have isn’t too bad. Cost me about $50 or so.
I know there are those dust cover tents but I doubt those keep the dust contained enough when there’s furnature in a room.
Bottom line is I tell the customer the jobs going to cost significantly more if I have to keep running up and down the stairs vs finding a room I can work in. Even with taking measurements of all doors and windows before running up and down the stairs it still is very time consuming.
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I only do a cost plus job in that situation, too hard to account for moving #### around and running up and down.
Just a thought, but extend the backsaw-miterbox thing a little and consider doing all cuts with hand tools.
A Lion trimmer shear for trimming miters can really work well, as would some good Japanese saws, scary sharp planes, and a good bench setup with stops and clamps.
Totally acoustic! Totally green! You don't need to plug into the grid, and your carbon footprint is nil. You can even offer carbon credits to your client!
You've seen all that excellent finish and trim work executed before the days of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. No reason at all why you cannot do the same.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Been considering one of these http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32922&cat=1,42884
and I have one like this but nt nearly as nice. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32926&cat=1,42884
This is more like the one I have http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=52321&cat=1,42884
It's amazing how fast they cut. Faster then some people think and IMO much more accuratly...who knows...I may be getting back to my roots
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Edited 4/11/2009 12:15 pm ET by andybuildz
Hire a cub, train him/her well on the saw. Buy a 2 way walkytalky or use a push to talk. Hire a youngin' who's got good legs.
You stay upstairs, call your dimensions out, your runner brings them to you as your measuring the next.
Your hourly rate plus $15 saw person and $10 runner plus you buy lunch daily, 'cause your a good guy,the owner still saves and your legs will love you.
Buy company logo'ed T shirts for every one, cheap shades and everyone looks cool.
Man , I feel your ''pain'' in you legs! Just finished putting some crown on kitchen cabinetes had to cut outside in a detachted garage it was 35 degrees out, what I did is tried to at least make 2 or 3 cuts in advance , looking ahead at cuts , outside miters and such , I think its just a matter of the beast , you gotta get the job you know what I mean , I also had customers say it don't matter they will to the final clean up and dusting , they just want the job done nice and quickly
I also had customers say it don't matter they will to the final clean up and dusting
That always gives me the willies. The dusting? Maybe if the items to be dusted are especially precious...but then I'd do everything I could to not dirty it in the first place.
I always do my own cleanup. The last thing I need is them complaining later on about having to do it, or someone else observing them cleaning up after me or my guys.
Well there's always this
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/561287/Festool-Kapex-KS-120-Sliding-Compound-Miter-Saw
But if you pony up for that let me know so I can borrow it ;)
Yes, it's ridiculously expensive. But it's also small/light enough to cart up to the second floor. And it sucks dust pretty well from what I read.
Haven't seen anyone rave about the dust hoods you mention, at least not in the situation you'd want to be using them in.
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On more than 1 occasion , I have set up my pipe scaffolds to set the saw right outside a window. When doing bathrooms, thats where I set the wetsaw too.
hmm...i guess thats something to consider...might have worked out good for the tile job I did for his 2nd fl master bath that took months...actually I had my pump jacks set up there and and never thought about putting my wet saw out there...grrr
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
With a little planning, I can cut an entire room of trim in just a couple of trips. You need to measure, mark and label the pieces, and carry as much as you are reasonably able.
And if I have to tweak a miter, I use my block plane, which is always in my tool belt when trimming.
Or just think of it as aerobic training <G>