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Looking forward to finding out new tips and formulas you all use. For example does everyone find their picket spacing for a deck rail the same? Looking forward to checking back. Safe building and Long weekends
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"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
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here's how I space my ballustars.
If I know I want them on 5" centers, I'll lay my tape across the top or bottom rail so that the end of the tape is in the "center" of the imaginary balustar where the post really will go.
Then if my rail comes out to 101" (from imaginary balustar to imaginary balustar), I know I need to make up 1" by the time I get to the end because at 5" spacing, 100" would be a good place to stop.
So, I mark the first one and slide the tape 1/20 of an inch (there will be 20 balustars ) and mark the next one, and just keep going.
Much easier than marking in increments of 5.05".
*I bought a metric tape measure in Canada. [Had a hell of a time finding metric only; Canadians must work a lot in the US]. When I have a lot of divisions to make, I get out that tape, measure in millimeters, and divide. Then, write out the values on a scrap, and lay out the tape once and mark. A LOT easier than 1/16 conversions.
*Sorry,Some of the tricks we keep to ourselves (many long years of learning). Why should I pass this on to you?Ed. Williams
*SO! That's why we can't find any good help. They don't know anything because no one want's to share the knowledge - the tricks of the trade.HUBCAP!!! This is all your fault! Why aren't you out there spreading the word.And you grrls, too .... get out there and turn some tricks.
*Grouchy bastard!It still must be hot in texas...blue
*got all these tricks up my sleeve...no wonder i'm broke...
*blue,It's here!!!! It's here!!!!!!!The last day of summer is upon us.Boy!!!!! Do I feel better.But I'm still not sharing 26 years of carpentry tricks with just anybody. I gotta make a living, don't I?Ed.
*Actually Ed, I understand. I don't mind sharing with guys that I don't directly compete with however. But I'm very cautious around here. blue
*Pete; Was showed these two tricks years ago.My roommate was an avid four-wheeler who showed me this first trick---he"s dead now so I don't think he'll mind me sharing this trick!! Four-wheelers use large diameter tires that when deflated generally separate from the rim.Their size requires a tool that when inflated around the circumference of the tire forces the tire against the rim by constricting it,andforcing a tire to rim seal to begin.You then inflate the tire with air to complete the seal. Four-wheelers by-pass the need for this tool by spraying starting ether into the tire rim cavity and igniting it.This expands the air inside the tire and momentarily seals the tire to the rim.Compressed air is quikly added to complete the seal. This is a dangerous process but I've seen done several times without problems.These guys would give about a 3 second shot of ether into the cavity,the air supply was chucked onto the valve stem beforehand and crimped off until the moment it was needed.A match was used for ignition. Another mechanical trick that has always worked for us is the problem of removing pilot bearings recessed into flywheels.Because the bearing is flush in its cradle there is no way to force it out to replace it or straighten it if tilted unless the flywheel is removed. The removal trick is simple.Find a metal punch that approximates the inside diameter of the bearing.The diameter of your punch should be .001 smaller than the center of the bearing.We've used duct tape wrapped around the punch for this adjustment. Fill the center of the pilot bearing with grease to completely fill the cavity behind the bearing.The grease must fill all spaces.Position the punch in the center of the grease filled bearing and hammer.This will hydraulically force the bearing from its cradle.If it fails the first time then either more grease should be added or the diameter of the punch needs to be readjusted.This process does work perfectly ,with low impact,when these conditions are correct.
*Don, that's a great tip with the ether. You might pick up some other handy helpers here------> http://www.goldmann.com/spudgun.htmlJoe H
*I've found that when I try to share a trick with the hired help they look at me like I'm full of it. When working with a 6/12 pitch on a hip roof the long to short measurement of the hip rafter is always one and a half times the run of the common rafter.jim
*JIm that is a very interesting observation.Is the term Long to short, the measurement of the hip rafter from the long point of the plumb cut to the short point of the level cut. I'm confused.blue
*Ok, this is a stupid one, but I was curious if anyone else did it.When doing sonotubes I mix the crete right in the tube with a long-shaft mudpaddle on a 1/2" drill. I mix a bit in a 5 gal bucket to start but the rest in done in place.Along the same lines, a friend of mine fills up a bunch of 6" tubes from the waste when the crete truck is done a pour. When it is time to do the decks they get put into a hole and life goes on, pretty slick. The 6" size makes it possible to actually handle them and because they put them in place as they build the deck they have half a shot at landing a post on them.
*If your auto ever stops running cause of a loose battery cable, and you have no tools on hand to tighten it back up, then reach for the chewing gum. Remove the gum and use the aluminum foil wrapers. Stuf these wrappers between the battery cable and the post so that the cable is pretty snug. It should allow you to get going again.If the cables are covered in acid gunk, pour a solution of baking soda and water over them; it will clean them like new. If you don't have any baking soda on hand, then just pour some CocaCola soda pop on them; it works just about as good; which may be how they got the saying; "Things go Better With Coke!"Davo.
*If you're golfing and your shot is on the fringe of the green, don't reach for your putter. Instead, use a 3 or 5 iron and stroke this club like a putter; your ball will thank you for it, and so will your partner in that skins game.Davo.
*If you like to go flying at night in a small plane with one of your buddies, just remember: Aircraft have navigational lights, the red light is situated on the left wing (Pilot's side) and the green light is located on the right hand wing (passenger side) sooooo.....If you see another plane in the sky and you notice "Red light on your Right" and the lights appear to be motionless, then hightail your airplane out of there, cause you're on a collision course!"Red Light On Your Right, Dangerous Sight!"Davo.
*Here's a tip closer to the trades; when drilling into metal, always use a hammer and a punch (a nail will do in a pinch) to mark the center point; this way your drill bit won't wander and mar your work.Davo.
*Davo...great tips....another....brush ones teeth to avoid cavities...near the rocket scientists,ajjust kiddin with ya!
*Reassembling with wood screws:Wood screws cut grooves in the wood the first time you put them in. If you have to take something apart and put it back together (like changing a lock, for instance), if you just screw them back in, they cut a new set of grooves. Do that often enough, and the hole strips out because the wood is all chewed up. So, what you really want is to get the screw into the same grooves it made the first time. Put the tip of the screw into the hole with gentle pressure, and slowly turn it counter clockwise (unscrewing direction) until you feel it click into the old groove. Then turn it the other way to get it started.I learned that from a piano tuner. Pianos are all made of wood (at least the good ones), and put together with screws. Failing to do this right on a piano can do a huge amount of damage.-- J.S.
*Finding the radius of an arched window (or door).I have occasion to make curved moldings to fit to arched top windows and doors, and, finding little satisfaction with making traced templates - not quite accurate - I have come across a simple technique and formula to use with it.For a true radius, I take a two-foot level mark the exact center, and pick-up my adjustable square. Over at the window, I take the level and hold it against the inside of the curve. I then measure the height of the curve (the arc height) at the center of the level with the adjustable square.With that measurement (along with the known measurement of half the chord length (half of the 24" level), I apply the following formula: 2ay=(a-squared + b-squared)a = arc heighty= radius (the unknown variable)b=1/2 arc length (half of the level, or 12" in this case)For a arch top window that measured 6" from the level at midpoint to the curve, I apply the formula as follows: 2ay = (a[squared] + b[squared]2(6" arc height)x(y) = (6"x6")+(12"x12")12y=36+14412y=180y=15 The radius for the window in this example would be 15"If you have a ConstructionMasterIV, there is an even simpler way. If you ask me here, I will show you that as well.Ken Baker, CLC
*You asked about how to space pickets (or spindles in a railing). I use a ConstructionMaster IV calculator as follows to achieve absolute perfection.Per code, the maximum spacing between pickets in a railing is 4" The picket(or spindle) I will use for this formula is a standard 2"x2" which is 1 1/2" square.I measure the span that I want to install, subtract one space (4"). then divide whats left by the sum of the spacing and the picket (or spindle). Note: since I always start with a space and end with a space, there is always one more space than spindle.The number that I get will usually be in the form of a number with a decimal amount to the right of the decimal point, such as 23.45. I know that I cannot install exactly 23.45 spindle/space unite, and knowing that I must have 4" or less, I increase the unit to the next whole number which in this case will be 24. Next, I multiply the spindle measurement by 24, then subtract that number from the span, and divide that number by 25 (the number of spaces. Now comes the really cool part!Usually, the mathematical result of the formula will be some odd-ball decimal that you normally round off to the nearest 16th of an inch and go for it. The problem is that you never quite come up with a perfect last space when you round off that way. Using the ConstructionMaster IV, there is a secret way to use fix this.For example, 3.82" can be rounded off to 3 13/16" which is decimally equivalent to 3.8125" If you were to use 3 13/16" on your measuring tape, and, assuming you stepped off each increment without error, you would have a 3/16" error at the other end. Normally, you will have an even greater variance if you step it off. Now, taking your trusty CM4, figure the spacing as indicated above. add 1 1/2" (for the spindle) to this number, then hit the M+ key to put it into memory. This will now store the sum of the space and the spindle into the memory and can be added to itself for each spindle location. If the number I put into memory was 5 5/16 (3 13/16 + 1 1/2"), that is the location of the leading edge of the first spindle from the post. Now, with your trusty CM4, hit the plus key, then hit the RCL key twice, then the equal key.The next number will be 10 5/8, which will be the leading edge of the #2 spindle. Hitting the equal key again will successively give you the next consecutive spindle location.The advantage to this system is that the calculator always does its math with the decimal, but displays the fraction of an inch. For each repetition, it adds all of the decimals, then rerounds the number. Thus, in the example above, your spacing should be no more than .0075" off. And using the repeated sum for the successive numbers eliminates "stepping off", gives more accuracy, and is quicker.Although this approach sounds complicated (and long-winded), in practice it only takes a few minutes and works flawlessly.
*Davo...what if its one of those mail delivery planes where the pilot is on the right side?
*blueyes the measurement is from the long point at the top to the top of the rafter at the heal (where it sits on the wall.) I love cutting rafters with all the different ways you can measure them.use the tables on your framing squarelong to long acrosslong to shortlong to long-long ( valley rafters long-long to long-long hip and valley jacksI could go on all nite and then there is trying to explain what all that sh8t means.jim
*My sister had a couple of favorite tricks that she.... oh, wait a minute..... wrong kind of trick.... never mind
*Hi Jerry,Does'nt matter where the pilot sits; the navigational lights remain the same for the plane's wings.Davo.
*There's a much simpler way, with much less math involved. My way will give a space centered on the rail, and an equal space at the ends. Learned it from a friend making grates for horse stalls - he was using .5" steel rod with 2.5" spaces, so adjust according to materials & layout:Measure span length, top and bottom, to allow for out of plumb posts - this assumes they're close to plumb. Cut rails to these lengths. Find and line up center points of the rails, and measure out 1/2 your "centering" measure (width of 1 spindle and 1 space) in both directions. In this example, measure out 1.5" in each direction. That gives you your center marks for the spindles either side of center, and just go that centering distance further for each spindle. You'll end up with the same end space automatically, no figuring.If your end space must match the regular spacing, then Ken's approach might be necessary. Or, if having the end space = 1/2 the regular space is allowable, just adjust your centering measurement so the span length is an even multiple of the centers.
*Good old "3,4,+5" (thanks Pathagreous) comes in mighty handy.
*Ken, I've used that same technique for many years for a variety of different applications (stairs, rafters, etc). I do it with my simple dual power, 5$ calculator however. It is a fast, simple, accurate trick.Hats off to you. blue
*Heres one I have found helpful , if you ever get in a dispute with a customer/sub/fellow worker and they come at your upper face with 2 fingers out you always want to hold your hand up vertically and side ways in order to prevent them from poking you in the eyes. This is very effective and helpful especially if your not wearing safety glasses.
*Mr. Ford,Tell your guys you've got to go to the store and get a level. BRB.The Machine
*A trick for taking finishing nails out of trim:When a piece of trim has been pulled off and will be re-used, and the finishing nails come with it, you need to back them out. If you just hit the point of the nail with a hammer, the head will often chip out the surrounding wood. So, find an old magazine (not FH, one you can put holes in instead... ;-) ) or a pile of old newspaper 1/4" or a little more thick, and put the piece face down on that. Then when you tap the point of the nail, the sacrificial paper supports the surrounding wood, and it doesn't chip out. Once it's started, it will come out the rest of the way without doing any damage.That was the last woodworking trick my father taught me, before his Parkinson's got so bad he couldn't talk any more.-- J.S.
*Or better yet, pull the nails through from the back side with a pair of nippers. Use a rolling motion to save effort. If the nails were set and filled, there is generally no mark on the finished side.
*It may not be a trick, but when putting hip rafters, I nub the top plate off across the corner on a 45 so that it's 1 1/2 or the same width as my hip rafter.This pulls the hip back and makes everything plane and you can notch your hip the same height as your other rafters.We used to notch a hip 3/8 or so deeper, but this method works better.
*To do Mr Pita one faster, for level rails I use a pair of dividers set at the distance center (4"), measure 3.5" from both ends and walk it out, usually only takes no more than twice. On rakes (stairs), use a straightedge to mark a line the same degree as the stair rake (I use a torpedo lev.) from the lower point mark a level line, on the level line mark your particular spacing (4") then flip the level vertical and mark your third line (should look like a pie) at the 4" mark, use dividers again to go from point to upper mark, usually about 5+'ish inches on 37 to 40 deg rakes to get 4" spacing on spindles. Layout in less time than it takes to find out the calculator batteries are dead.
*In reply to the guy who removes nails from old trim by beating them through his old copies of FH (just kidding!)-------Why not simply use a pair of "giddy-gappers" and pull the nails out from the back side? This will leave the face of the old trim untouched.BTW - a friend who was watching pull nails in this fashion with a pair of end-nippers (or end cutters) remarked that his grand daddy used to cut horses hooves with them and called them "giddy-gappers" (giddy-up!).Ken
*One of my Favorite tricks for Cutting plywood to fit a valley, you are always cutting at least a 45 degree angle when you hook your chalk line it always wants to slide down the sheet and doesn't mark acurately. Instead at your long point mark cut a slice in the top edge of your sheet, and instead of putting your hook on the sheet just hook the knot in the slice it will hold well and no nail to pull out. Another one of my favorites, not a trick but it sure saves a lot of frayed chalk lines-- woven fishing line in the 80#-100# range it works great I have used it a couple of years.Rob Cutting
*The advantage I see to backing the nails out rather than dragging them through is that the head of the finishing nail is, though slightly, larger than the shank. Dragging them thru enlarges the hole. If you backed them out, you can put it back together using the same size nails in the old holes.-- J.S.
*John, why would I want to re-use the nail holes and the same size nail? Most trim isn't thick enough that I could reset the nail deep enough to get a good purchase, and my nail set would enlarge the hole by that point.Not for exterior work, certainly. Not for the quality of interior trim I do. Since you're gonna have to fill the holes in any case, why not nail things up tight?In fairness, I'm probably gonna use a gun for a lot of the interior trim replacement jobs...Anyhow, try the approach us old-timers use... you'll become a convert in no time at all!Steve
*Rule of Thumb Question: Is 3/4" sub-floor boards Re-nailed I/8penn ring nails shot in, then 1/2" PLY on top, also shot I/2 1/2"I ring nails 16"cc (old full size 2x10) The question is this adaquite sub-floor for tile installation and if not who's responsable for more Tile guy or Carpenter ? ie:cement backerboard; Rick
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Looking forward to finding out new tips and formulas you all use. For example does everyone find their picket spacing for a deck rail the same? Looking forward to checking back. Safe building and Long weekends