Support Tools - Not too expensive.

Building up a good collection of tools takes time and money. Sexy tools such as compound miter saws, Kreg jigs, cordless tool sets, and table saws costs big bucks. But some of the best stuff isn't too expensive at all. This is especially true with, what I call support tools (maybe there's a better name?). I classify support tools as ones that don't to the actual work of cutting, screwing, drilling, and etc.  Measuring, marking, and assistive tools are critical in successful projects. 

I'm going to show my collection, collected from the last 15 years or so, some even at garage sales. There's plenty more stuff out there, I'd still like to pick up. As usual, I'm including sourcing links if you want to order them from Amazon.com, but you can likely find it at your local hardware store or home center.

In no order whatsoever, other than how I grabbed it our of my drawers:

(1) The folding rule is handy for laying on the ground a lot more rigidly than a tape measure. Plus it's a bit more accurate when measuring using the tip, since it doesn't slide around. I don't use it much, but occasionally it really fits a need. The kids love playing with it; it's mesmerizing fun. ($8-$18)

(2) A combination square is great for measuring and transposing measurements. You tighten the wheel to lock a measurement in place. I use constantly in the workshop and on my renovation projects. I have this little sibling, a 6" combination square that I keep in my nail apron when I'm in the shop. It's perfect for setting table saw height, or simply taking small measurements. These usually have both metric and standard units of measure. These get heavy use. (12" = approx. $10 - $15, 6"= approx. $10 - $12)

(3) Tape measures are critical, period. I usually carry a 25' tape for general use, but a small 10' tape is fine for working in the shop. Most wood stock is no longer than 8' so a smaller tape is perfect for carrying in my nail apron. You can buy either metric or standard, some even come with "cheater" measurements labeled, down to 1/16" of an inch. (approx. $5 - $25, I've even seen Harbor Freight coupons for a free one)

(4) Calipers are also helpful for making tiny, precise measurements. I just use these mini pocket calipers for occasional detail work. Since I don't do machinist type stuff, it's somewhat rare that I reach for them. They make nice electronic, digital ones as well. ($20 - $25)

(5) A carpenter's square is another workhorse. It's good for measuring, drawing lines, and keeping things square during assembly. It's also seen heavy use as a cutting edge for straight line cutting with and X-Acto Knife. In a pinch, you can clamp it and run a cutting tool against it, like a saw or router. This is a mid size one. (approx. $15)

(6) This odd looking rascal is a T-Bevel. It's good for copying angles for cutting or corners for mitering. The wing nut screw tightens, so nothing slips. I've used it quite a bit for moldings. ($10 - $15)

(7) Yes folks,  it's pencils!!!!!!! Seriously, buy a whole stinkin' pack of these #2 elementary school specials and scatter them around your work area . It's an absolute pleasure to have pencils anywhere you reach. I loose them constantly, sometimes they are in my pocket or behind my ear. I hate looking around for something I've misplaced when I'm really on a roll. I do the same with 4-5 tape measures. It's nice to have a pencil sharpener out there too. (approx. $2)

(8) A compass is good for scribing lines and transferring regular measurements. An inexpensive type that takes a pencil is perfect. Mine is overkill, a relic of my days in art school. (approx. $5 -$14)

(9) A rafter square or speed square, is another heavy use item. Not just for rafters or stairs, its a quick 90 degrees. It's a quick straight edge of trimming a 2x4 with a circular saw. It has angles marked as well as a short ruler for length. This one just fits in my back pocket enough to not fall out. (approx. $18)

(10) A utility knife actually does do cutting work, but I still keep it in the support category. Mine is a Stanley quick change model, which is really convenient. Just another great, basic tool to have easily at hand. Careful, these demons send lots of folks to the ER for stitches, respect your knife safety. (approx. $5 - $10)

(11) A cutting guide or straight edge will make breaking down sheet goods with a circular saw a snap. Just clamp it down and run your saw against it. Its good for routing dados as well. I like this one because the two sections clamp together to make a 100" single edge. (approx $25)

(12) Mechanical center punches are excellent for marking an indent in metal, prior to drilling too keep the bit from wandering. (approx. $20)

(13) Scratch Awl is a basic utility tool good for marking, especially on metal. (approx. $3)

(14) I love the Calculated Industries 8510 Home ProjectCalc Do-It-Yourself Project Calculator This little guy handles full mathematic function using fractions. I know it's easy enough to do calculations by hand, but this is just great. I use it constantly. ( approx. $20)

(15) Bubble Levels, get a lot of use on remodeling projects I use a 24" I-Beam Level and I have several torpedo levels for smaller work. Don't drop them or they loose their accuracy. You can check by holding two levels together and seeing if they read the same. ($10-$20+ for 24") and (approx. $10-$15 for a torpedo)

(16) Another one of my art school veterans, it seems like I reach for this T-square for various layout work. It's quick and handy. (approx. $10 - $15)

(17) I found this large carpenter's square at a garage sale. I like it's larger size for occasional use.

That's it for now. I'm sure this list will grow, as these things always do over the years. The deal is, you can get away with a tape measure and a pencil for most tasks, but it's quicker and easier to have some specialized support tools. Most are less than $20.

Power Tool Storage

In cleaning up the garage after a couple weeks of heavy-duty weekend-warriorsmanship, I decided I'm not using my storage well enough. I'm having difficulty getting everything put away without heaping it up. There's two sets of double wall cabinets that I picked up on clearance about four years ago. They're cheap pressboard, but they're serviceable and seem to be holding up fine.

I picked some choice specimens from the scrap pile and used the illustrious Kreg Jig Jr. to screw a sub-shelf together. (Honestly, I look for excuses to make Kreg Jig Projects) I made it shallower than the shelf-pin holes so I could hang the blade-guard of the circular saw below its edge and still get the door shut. It's a better use of vertical space.

 

 

A thin (reclaimed pallet wood) shelf below the tool shelf holds extra blades and accessories. The whole sub-unit is able to slip out in one piece if necessary. There's plenty of room for more on the base of the cabinet. I stored my beloved Jorgensen Miter Saw way up top, where I'll need a step stool to reach it. I haven't used it since I got the mighty DeWalt Sliding Compound Miter Saw, but maybe I'll have a use for it and bring it back to the fighting front lines. Otherwise, I'll Craigslist (a verb now?) it later for a few bucks and clear the space.

 

I made a similar unit over in the cordless-tool neighborhood, but without the sub shelf. It needed the room for the drill and impact driver to slip in and out, with their batteries attached. I'd robbed the factory shelf for another cabinet earlier, but this worked better due to the circular saw trick. I may add a second story riser, but this is doing the trick now. I drilled a hole in the base for the charger cord so I can top up batteries right in the cabinet. This cord is pugged into a switched receptacle so I can simply shut it off from below when I close down for the night.



 

I ran out of time for goofing around with the Kreg Jig and the Miter Saw making these high-end, custom-crafted beauties, so I just picked up a simple wooden box I'd made when I was practicing with the dovetail jig. Perfect! Yep, that's a dovetailed, 3/4" custom sander stand. You just can't put a price on such hand crafted finery when you're stacking a pair of wood chewing DeWalt sanders (Random Orbital & 1/4 Sheet Orbital)

 

The routers are upside down to protect the bits that are set juuuuuuust right.

 

Done. All the tools are put away. I still need to re-jigger my whole storage setup at some point. I still have nail guns piled in a mechanic's tool chest drawer with other assorted stuff.

 

I even vacuumed the shop before coming in for pizza. Perhaps tomorrow after work, I'll pull out the planer and start working on interior door number three. This floor isn't meant to be free of sawdust for long.

 

 

 

The "Ted's Woodworking" Scam

In the normal course of working on this blog, building readership, I did a search to see how it was showing up on Google. I searched some terms that were fairly unique, like "...too busy kicking old house ass..."   before searching "AZ DIY Guy's Projects". I found this odd little link at the bottom of page one:

Fine Woodworking Plans?

Weird. It clearly referred to my General Tools EZ Pocket Hole Jig review post. Then the next phrase isn't mine. Huh? I thought I'd follow whoever shared my post and kindly ask them for a proper back-link. Here's where it went:

Huh? (Again). I kind of remember something about this from about a year ago. I checked around. Sure enough, this is the scam that Steve Ramsey of Woodworking for Mere Mortals posted several times about. Here's links to a few of the good ones: April 2, 2012, April 7, 2012, April 10, 2012.

Basically this site appears to be a shady affiliate in the Ted's Woodworking pyramid scheme of selling woodworking plans that have stolen from magazines and reputable sites around the web. There's tons of info out there on this huckster syndicate if you want to look for it, and can wade through all the paid advertising with fake reviews. I'm surprised they are still going, but these shadow scam things are hard to stamp out. I've researched a similar tactic from the Build Your Own Solar Panels for your Home scam in the past. It's all crap.

I even followed some comment links and found good old "Ted" AKA "man with gray hair smiling" at iStock Photo. Yep, good old  "Ted" himself is a $29 image from a stock photo house.

Screen capture of iStock Photo

I wonder how the guy who sold his mug to a stock photo house feels about the way it is being used. The poor schlep is likely to be recognized on the street by an angry, wronged woodworker and get socked, unsuspecting in the jaw.

I'm not posting clickable links to this garbage. I don't want to give it any sort direct traffic. Here's where it gets me: how the heck did they embed my story title and text into a Google search?

I searched around a bit and, as near as I can tell, it's coming from paid, automated software that "legally steals" or "ethically steals" back link traffic. What the hell is that? Programmers create this stuff. People behind the sites sell and operate it. Bastards all.

Selling someone's plans without permission or plagiarizing their written word's in an effort to misdirect / or trick the web surfing public into a scam site that sells the stolen plans is stealing. It is unethical. Legal or not, if you take part in this, you are a scumbag, period. You are making money on the art created by the talents of others, without their permission, and from what I understand against their express statements denying permission.

So far, I've only been slightly wronged, maybe a tiny bit of misdirected traffic. I'm angry anyway. This site is barely two months old. Others are probably suffering actual damage. Plus, the artists that created plans that have been stolen have certainly been wronged. Please don't support it by buying this garbage. Do your research. Wait until you hear about the actual product you will receive.

OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION:

I hereby prohibit any of my created works, images, text or media of any kind from being utilized in any form to support the sale of Ted's Woodworking products.

Disclaimer:

This post is written with the research I was able to do on the web. I trust the sources I found, supporting my conclusion, as good and upstanding, and have no reason to doubt their claims. If I am wrong in my belief that the Ted's Woodworking Plans operation is a filthy, scamming, operation of thieving jack-ass-dom, I will remove this post and offer sincere apologies, without crossed fingers, once I see proof otherwise. I invite the scumbags to contact me, since they cannot be contacted directly to inquire.

Back to sunshine, rainbows, and happy projects next time, my friends. Promise.

Interior Door Project

Having successfully wrapped up the first of our interior door replacements last weekend with the

new pocket door

, I'm moving forward with the project. The rest of the doors are standard hinged style. The next one to tackle is the guest (

kids

) bathroom. It's one of the most visible in the house, we'll enjoy it being complete.

Pre-Primed, and too big

Rather than the more efficient, prefab / assembly line approach of buying all the doors, trimming all the doors, painting all the doors, etc. all at once, we're going with the slower, easier on the cash-flow approach of doing one door at a time. I suppose a benefit is that I don't have to stage doors all over the place as paint dries. Plus, we get to see some finished work a little sooner. The drawbacks are the repeated shop cleaning between each door's planing and painting as well as the wait time between paint coats.

I bought another six-panel door at Home Depot this morning. I also picked up a new brushed nickel, lever-style "door knob" (

What do you call it if it's not a "knob" anyway? The packaging doesn't even say

.) and a bulk pack of matching brushed nickel hinges. By buying the bulk pack of 12 hinges, I saved over ten bucks vs. buying them individually.

Buying in bulk!

Back at home, prepping this door was exactly the same as prepping the pocket door. Only this time I managed to screw up the edge planing of the first side. I sort-of tapered the door somehow; it was 1/16" off at one end. I must have twisted the depth knob when I was interrupted by a little girl offering to keep me company in the garage,... if I'd fix her a bowl of cookies 'n cream, ice cream.  It took a bit of tweaking to get it squared up again.

I really like the Bosch planer . It took a bit of practice, but I have the hang of it now. The only struggle I have is the necessity to walk while cutting the long edge. Sometimes I get a little bobble in the cut. I ended up doing a shuffle / shimmy / slide / step-behind maneuver. It would probably be better to set the door on edge. I'll try that next time.

Grab your popcorn folks! Here's the world premier movie of AZ DIY Guy in action. I'm really much better looking in person, this particular role required a dusting of grey hair at the temple and an out of shape appearance. I think I pulled it off. It's certainly Oscar worthy.

There's a dust storm rolling in! Hold your breath and cover your eyes!

Gracie's been bugging me for a week to help with the painting, so I let her have a go of it. She did pretty good,... mostly. I had to keep reminding her not to scrub (destroy) the brush and tried to keep the splatter to a minimum. I lightly, quickly brushed over her work to keep the strokes with the wood grain. Despite the exuberant assistance, It turned out pretty well.

The paint dried fast in today's 78º, dry weather. I need to put one more coat on in the morning. Hopefully, I can get it done tomorrow.

<UPDATE>

Up before 6am Sunday morning, while the family slept, I put a coat of fresh paint on the reverse side of the door. I ran out of paint right at the finish line, dang-it. I scraped that can as clean as Gracie's bowl on a spaghetti night. I need to go grab some paint first thing and finish if there's any hope of installing it today.

Installing the New Pocket Door

I'm installing the new pocket door for the master bath today. I'd already prepared our new six-panel door, trimmed it to fit, primed the fresh edges, and painted the whole thing with a couple coats of white, semi-gloss last weekend. If you missed the story, find it here; it's a cliffhanger. The last coat of paint went on 6 days ago, so it's nice and dry, out in the workshop.

The dang thing keeps falling off its rail, plus it rubs on the inner walls of the pocket as it sways loosely from the track. I've already replaced the track mounting screws with larger screws, they seem to be holding. Look how ugly that beat up old slab door looks!

I pulled the top two trim pieces (casing?) off to access the mounting hardware, showering the whole area with bits of drywall from the rough edge behind. It isn't the best looking installation of trim I'd seen, with heavy globs of caulk filling the voids. Maybe when we redo the bathroom, I'll re-trim the whole thing with wide trim.

There was a side piece of molding that kept me from swinging the door out from the bottom. First a quick score with the utility knife to break the paint / caulk line: 

 

I used a wide-blade putty knife to slightly pry the molding out enough to stick my mini-prybar/ nail puller behind it. Having learned from several past remodeling disasters, this time I took my time, gently wiggling the tools, then the molding itself as it slowly broke free. I want to reuse it when I reinstall the door. It actually came out in one piece! If you look close, you can see the horrendous tile in the shower. Don't worry, it's on the to do list.

Jack stopped in and pulled all the nails that were left. The narrow head on the mini-prybar/ nail puller made it easy without scuffing up the paint on the remaining trim. He had fun with it and did a great job. There's another glimpse of that horrible black tile in the shower on the left.  

Child Labor Rocks !!!

I learned why the door was swinging free, dragging on the pocket sides. There were plastic guides originally installed, but they were yellowed and brittle. They had snapped off sometime in the past 30 years. I also saw old water damage from our wonderful house flood a few years ago. (A toilet feed line had ruptured - I'll cover that in future story).



I needed another set of hands for the next step. Jack pushed the bottom of the door from inside the bathroom while I lifted the door up with the top of my foot from outside. The door pivoted from the track, hanging like a garage door. It took my mini pry bar and my favorite, beefy, slotted screwdriver to pry the track and wheels apart. FREEDOM!!! The door popped out. I could see the wheels were well worn, compared to the replacements I have bought.

Looking inside the wall with a flashlight I can see I'm in luck. The track mounting screws inside the wall have not worked themselves loose, like the ones in the doorway had. I could only reach one with my screwdriver; it was tight, thank gods of remodeling. The whole plan to avoid cutting the drywall had hinged on this. Whew! 

Like most men, I have a one-track mind.

In order to replace the broken plastic guide on the bathroom side of the door, I had to pry the inside molding up a bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it free. The floor tile had been installed after the trim piece and was encasing it. I tried out a tool I'd never used before, a "Variable Speed Oscillating Multifunction Power Tool". It plunge cut, flush with the floor, slicing the wood like butter. 30 seconds = done! Mine is a Harbor Freight cheapie that I picked up a couple months ago on a whim; it was on sale. I'm sure it's not lasting quality, but it's a great concept. I'll definitely buy a nice, quality one whenever this one dies.

I pulled out the molding a bit, removed the old one that was installed with a finishing nail, and screwed the new one in. I'll adjust it later when the door is in.

I lugged the old door out to the workshop and laid it on top of the new one. Perfect match. With luck or possibly the benevolence of magical, midnight workshop elves visiting, I had managed to use the planer for the first time, to trim the new door down to a duplicate size without removing the old door.

It was interesting to note that the top, bottom, and pocket side edges were bare, unpainted wood. That's apparently a big no-no in humid environments. I didn't see any ill effects though.

Using the old door for placement, I matched the location of the roller hardware and installed the new ones by measuring, pre-drilling, and running the screws in tight with the impact driver. The new hardware seems a lot heartier. The big hex bolt adjusts the height of the rollers, more on that later.

I also copied the location of the latch from the old door. A very close call, I nearly cut the same size slot, but for some reason I read the instructions and learned that the new latch was 1/8" smaller. I shudder to think what foul words I would have befouled the neighborhood with if I had ruined the door by cutting an oversize hole. The old latch was painted and had a broken mechanism. My wife even cut her finger on it two days ago. I couldn't have used it.

I managed to scuff the new paint by dragging the old door's latch across the new one's face. To avoid more damage, I taped off the face of the new door, drilled a starter hole in the back of the slot and made three slow, steady cuts with the jig-saw. The new brushed-nickel latch fit perfectly. 

Go time! I tipped the new door top first into the head of the opening and slipped the rollers easily into the track. Of course that is complete bull, a bald-faced lie.

I grunted and sweated that bastard into place crawling on my hands and knees back and forth, in and out of the bathroom trying to get those rollers to get into the track. For as many times as I had popped the old door back on track, I should have been able to do it with my eyes closed. AAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!

Finally, I turned my brain on for a second and adjusted the rollers so that the wheels were completely extended. It just took a few turns with a 1/2" wrench to extend them. Having only turned on my brain, "for a second" I was quick to realize that by cranking the wheels all the way up, it drove the door down, wedging it into the floor. I couldn't budge it. Idiot.

Turn the brain back on,.. climb back up the step stool,... crank the wheels back up,... climb down the step stool,... swing the door out,... climb back up the step stool,... extend the rollers again,...

This time, a quick prying motion with the mini-crowbar on the roller and the same with the screwdriver against the rail. Click-click, POW! Locked and loaded. I adjusted the rollers back up with the wrench making the leading edge square with the wall so there is no gap. The door slid closed smooth and easy. I installed the second guide at the bottom and tightened both. This door will not rub.

The original trim goes on with a quick "skadoosh!" from the finish nailer. It was easy to place since the original razor cut-line fit back together like a tight puzzle.

I've got it on the run now! Quickly swapping the nail gun for a caulking gun, I keep on shooting.

With wet caulk, I have to pause to address the more important task of enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich, a bag of Fritos, and a Diet Dr. Pepper that Sweetie whipped up for me. There's enough time to eat, clean up, and type up the story while it dries.

After a couple hours, I hit the trim and the door scuffs with a quick touchup of white paint. It's nice that I didn't have to remove trim from anywhere against wall color paint. It was all trim on trim / white on white, therefore no masking, just a quick layout of old newspaper on the floor to avoid drips.

 

Finished! I think it looks 100% better than before. It really dresses up the room a lot. The ladies will be pleased that the door finally, actually locks and won't fall off the track, trapping them in there.

Overall, it wasn't a super difficult project. It did take time to prep the door, but today's portion only took a couple hours to do.

What do you think? Better?

That's the only pocket door in the house. Next, I have six standard doors, the door to the garage, and a louvered closet door to replace. 

Prepping a replacement pocket door

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone, start the interior door upgrade project my wife asked for and cross one item off the to do list. The master bath door is constantly falling off the track. Several times, my poor wife or daughter has been trapped, hollering for rescue when the door has gotten wedged. I'll find the unfortunate lady, peering furiously through a five inch gap.

I initially wanted to replace the track with a two rail type, where the wheels cannot easily disengage. However, based on my research, removing and replacing the track requires highly customized tools to get at screws deep in the pocket where you cannot reach, or opening the wall up. I'd rather not open the wall and get into a bunch of drywall repair and painting. I'm going to see if I can simply replace all the hardware and tighten up what I can get to. I'm replacing the beat-up, scratched, over-painted, bleeeechh slab door.

I picked up a 28" W x 80" H hollow core, six panel door at The Home Depot for $30 along with new hardware. Like all of our interior doors, the standard size was too big. I had bought a new tool, a handheld planer. I'd never used one, but I'd used a jointer, the same principle, just move the tool, not the work piece. I chose a Bosch 6 amp, 3 1/4 planer. (Maybe I'll review it after I've done all the doors in the house - so far, so good). It took a few passes to get the hang of it, but slowly felt comfortable taking deeper cutting passes.

Notice my work bench? Yep, that's the (still) unfinished hall organizer project.

On my first couple passes, I got some splinter-out as the cutter leaves the surface, following the cut. I used a little trick I saw Tom Silva do on This Old House, although I think he was working on window casings at the time. I clamped a sacrificial strip of MDF to the exiting edge of my cut with three way clamps. The MDF took the blow-out and the snipe, keeping my edge straight. (shown to the right above)

I took the door down to 27 5/8' W x 79 3/4" H, in multiple passes, learning the feel of the planer. It threw a fair amount of sawdust, but not a ton. The collection bag filled up twice. If it was green, it would have looked like Easter Basket grass.

I hit the freshly planed faces with the Random Orbital Sander and slightly eased the edges by a quick 45 degree pass, to keep the veneer from chipping out later.  

Grace always loves playing with my sawdust. These shavings took it to the next level. She made some sort of dinosaur / Angry Birds amusement park. It was a constant, "Watch this Daddy,...Daddy watch!,.. Look at this guy!,...  Hey, watch this!,... Daddy look!...Daddy,..." She had an absolute ball,... then she tracked it into the house. 



Since I had taken all the factory priming off the edges, I hit the bare wood edges with two coats of a good primer. Since this is a bathroom door, subject to moisture, I want too make sure it's sealed up really good.  



I applied a couple coats of semi-gloss, white latex on the whole door and left it to dry. Well, at least I painted five sides out of six. Even though today was a beautiful 70 degree day, the paint was still a little tacky when I decided to clean up and head in for the Super Bowl.

I headed out to the shop and checked it at halftime. The paint took beautifully. I'll probably paint the reverse side tomorrow after work.

So far, this is a pretty easy, enjoyable project. Follow the exciting install next!

Replacing our interior doors - planning

The whole family is sick today. We're laying around like limp dish rags. No projects this weekend.

blurry picture / blurry brain

 I had hoped to dig into the next reno project, replacing interior doors. Our current ones are simple, beat up, flat slabs. The doorknobs throughout the house don't match at all and some of the hinges are painted over. My wife asked if I'd do this as a birthday gift for her.

Unfortunately, it takes all the energy I have, just to put dishes in the dishwasher. I'm down to doing research while laying on the couch, between bouts of slipping into feverish sleep.  In the end, I don't even know if this post contains a single, coherent string of thought.

We're going to need a total of 5 interior doors, plus one for the garage. I'm pretty sure that one has to be metal for fire resistance.

Par for the course, our door openings are too small for standard size doors. I'll have to see if I can plane them down enough to fit, rather than tearing out all the trim and framing. I read a few articles about resizing doors, and a planer is apparently, by far the way to go. Of course, I don't have one, so that's going to be picked up specifically for this project. It will probably be something we use again in the future, but I wonder just how much use I'd find for it. I'm not sure which route to go; do I go high quality/price (DeWalt, Bosch, Makita, etc.), mid-grade (Porter Cable, Craftsman, Ryobi, Skil), or über cheap (Harbor Freight)? Would the Harbor freight last 5 doors x 4 sides each? Hmmmm...

As for the doors, I think we'll go with a simple hollow-core, six panel. We haven't visited the home centers to look at their in stock doors, but, I've been couch surfing-them. Here's the showdown:

The blue versus orange smack down.

Lowes vs. Home Depot

 

I've never taken a bare door and installed hinges, latches and knobs. I'll probably need one of the hole saw door kits to be sure I'm right, I'm pondering routing out for the hinges by hand.

 

I think we're going to go a with satin nickel lever style

Maybe next weekend... Now, it's time for medicine and some hot tea.

School Projects in the workshop

A home workshop lends itself naturally to kid's school projects. It's nice to draw on leftover paint, scraps, and widgets from previous projects and applying them to school projects. It's been rewarding to start working with the kids on kindergarten posters, through elementary school dioramas, and even cub-scout pinewood derby cars.

The best part is the transition from working significantly hands on as a parent to protect the kids from sharp blades and to teach them the possibilities of school craft projects, to a point that the kids take the lead.

Jack had to do a project showing the layers of the earth, for 7th Grade Science (which of course he dropped on us Sunday morning). The concept was his idea completely, he asked us to pick up some Styrofoam spheres to make a cut-away, and questioned me on how to decorate them. He described what he wanted, right from the start.

No the sander was not used on this project, but the pliers were! So it's a messy workbench.

Aside from some assistance with spray painting and sawing the unwieldy globe (with a hack-saw), he really ran with it.

Spray-Paint?!!! Yeah, we learned that spray-paint and Styrofoam are not really friendly together. The paint melts the Styrofoam, shrinking it, pitting it, and making a lovely snap-crackle-pop sound. We managed to get a decent finish by lightly dusting it with the paint.

Together we experimented with spray painting a continents on cardboard before we attacked the globe. We sliced up smaller globes, painted them, and assembled the whole thing with toothpicks. He labeled the whole thing using a label maker. It was a four-handed job to wrap the labels on finishing nails to make flags.

Another decade of projects on the way.

 

 

(Hijacked) Review: DeWalt Deep Pro Organizer

I have two inexpensive plastic tray style organizers that are pretty trashed. Years of lugging washers, nuts, screws, bolts and the like have taken their toll.  I picked up this beefy DeWalt Deep Pro Organizer thinking it would be perfect for carting my common nuts and bolts stuff from the garage to my various projects. Personally, I like the portability of tray organizers rather than a bench or wall bound drawer system, just my style. At $30 it seemed like a fair deal.

I like the features. The construction is really tough as well as smart.The deep yellow bins are removable so you can take just what you need, if it's a small job. The lid has indents that keep the bins in place while carrying suitcase style. The latches, hinges, and handle are heavy-duty. You can even stack & clip multiple organizers together for bulk carrying action.

As far how it works for using it as I intended, for lugging my project hardware, my experienced advise is... I have no idea.
 

I could almost feel the heft of this beast loaded with 7 varieties of washers, before it was torn ruthlessly from my grasp.

You see, when today's modern, tool-weilding Daddy-about-town shows up at the house lugging a rig as sweet as this one, the entire family responds with the obvious chorus, "LEGOS, LEGOS, LEGOS!!!!!!" Out-voted. Even my beloved wife, my steadfast partner against the world's challenges, sided with our rapscallion offspring.

My yellow & black, bullet-proof, hardware-toting man-satchel was mine no more. It would never taste the pleasure of lightly machine oiled hardware. Not a single 10/32 machine screw would rest in it. No, it now serves a new master and she offers no quarter:

The Wee-Pirate and her loot.



Admittedly, ....<Insert overused comedian cliché, but true, story about stepping on Legos in your bare feet in the dark>..., so I guess it's a good idea, to keep those little hellish, foot slaughtering rascals sorted away nicely. The kids absolutely loved sorting various Lego figures, weaponry, "cool-stuff", wheels, windows, etc. into the totes.  Maybe now we won't have meltdowns when one of the Ninjago or Star Wars figures is missing one of their trusty side-arms.

I think I'm going to quietly grab another couple of these and smuggle them into the garage, undetected.

The Great Family Room Remodel: Part VII

This is the final episode of the Great Family Room Remodel, the last five full days of work. The electrical trim, crown molding and baseboards get wrapped up.

Spoiler Alert!  If you've stumbled into the mess without first reading the exciting beginning of the saga, head over to the beginning at The Great Family Room Remodel - Part I

Workday 15:

Electrical Switching is done and the can lights are lit!

I'm really excited about these dimmable L.E.D. fixtures. The light is decently warm at 3000k, much better than the CFLs I've seen. Each puts out the equivalent of a 75 watt incandescent at only 14.5 watts. They dim to 5%. We have more than twice the light of the old twin 60w ceiling fan for less than half the energy. It's spaced more evenly around the room. Plus, they generate less heat, which reduces the A/C load. They supposedly last 32 years. Commercial Electric T91: $39 each at Home Depot. They take about a minute to install in a standard can, including opening the box and climbing the ladder.

t took a bit of fiddling around to get the dimming to work. Dimmer switches specifically for LED fixtures didn't work. I ended up going to their website and figuring out which standard dimmer to use.

The three gang switch box includes a dimmable toggle switch, a speed control switch for a ceiling fan, and a standard toggle switch that controls a receptacle hidden above the bookshelves for Christmas lights or perhaps a string of future LED rope light for ambient lighting.

Workday 16:

I put up the ceiling fan, which is pretty much a must-do for every room in the house when you're in Phoenix. We chose one without the light kit this time since the cans do so well. We gained a lot more vertical space in the room. This will be much more comfortable on the old noggin when I'm jumping around like a fool with the kids, playing with the Xbox Kinect.

 Rather than more white on white, we went with a brushed nickel with dark wood blades. We may change the blades in the future, but we like the way it looks now.

We pulled down the plastic sheeting protecting the bookcases. Aaaaaaghhhh. Everything was coated with drywall dust. Jennifer & I spent the rest of our work time cleaning everything up. I'm still going to do some work on the shelves to make them a bit more usable later.

Workdays 17 & 18:

 80' of crown molding in 16' lengths loaded with less than 5 feet of bed space.

Putting up the crown molding was slow going since I hadn't done it before. We chose a simple, clean profile since there is so much detail on the dentil molding and the bead board in the room. We thought it would look too busy.

This is Trimfinity Crown Molding from Home Depot. It's is made from 90% recycled plastic (50% post-consumer, 40% pre-consumer). Mostly polystyrene. It's economical

too, much cheaper than wood and a bit less than MDF (which chips too easy IMHO).

After fighting the 16' lengths home, I decided to only put it up about 4-5' at a time. It's just too floppy to work with a long stick and make it look good, by myself. It cuts , nails, and takes paint like wood. I can hide the scarf joints pretty good.

<update - I wouldn't do this again in the future. Too many joints across the room, in four months, about half of them have opened up and need to be caulked. I'll have help next time instead of stubbornly doing it alone>

I'm using the method (from Tom Silva of This Old House) where I butt a stick to the wall and back cope one mitered cut rather than a dual-mitered corner that will open up later.

Note the gap at the wall and the face screwing at the edge, hidden by the crown.

Workdays 19 & 20:

Final details. We decided on a 6" tall, simple profile base molding. It seems to go with our somewhat classic look to the room. It was a bit tricky to place because the floor was so wavy. When I installed the first piece using a level, with the highest point touching the floor, I had a 2" gap by the edge. It had to be torn out. I ended up warping the molding to keep it somewhat uniform in it's distance from th

e floor. It looks good to the eye. Once again, I wish our predecessors had originally put a flat floor in. No way we can afford to tear it out and re-do it now. 

I decided I really do prefer the green Frog Tape for masking. It leaves a much crisper paint edge than anything else I've tried. There was a lot of hating on their FB site, but it sure worked well for me, on pretty fresh paint, with no issues. It worked equally well edging the crown molding. Those are my cheap computer speakers on the left. I use them with an iPod or the Kindle Fire (as show in the awesome Dodo case) to play music while I work.

That's pretty much it for the project. Just a final clean-up and moving back in. We need some new furniture to get it right. I'll do a final reveal when it's all set.

The budget was about 10 - 20% high, but I really blew the timeline. 5 workdays turned into twenty, plus several evenings during the workweeks. We're really pleased with the results. I'll check back in with more updates as more tweaks get accomplished.

And the next major project is... ?

The Great Family Room Remodel series:  

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII  • Before and After: Family Room.

The Great Family Room Remodel - Part VI

After tragedy, travel, family illness, and getting back to work, it was tough to get rolling on the project again.

Spoiler Alert!  

If you've stumbled into the mess without first reading the exciting beginning of the saga, head over to the beginning at 

The Great Family Room Remodel - Part I

As I have been recounting The Great Family Room Remodel story on this site, I've known this chapter was coming and planned on glossing over a big gap in the progress due to family tragedy, as I had originally done on my Facebook posts. I like to keep my stuff light, somewhat humorous, and not too personal. Now, months later, I feel it's an integral part of the story and I should share it; it's reality of life. Life has a way of getting in the middle of projects. Plans get derailed.

Jef:  12/21/1971 - 05/09/2012

May 9, 2012, my youngest brother Jim called me at work, from Michigan, to tell me that our other (middle) brother Jef had been taken to the hospital with some sort of heart trouble, and was in intensive care. Jim was far from the hospital, but on his way, and would call me back when he got there. His next call, an hour later, was the absolute worst news; Jef had died. He was 39. Jim, his wife, and Jef's wife were in really rough shape at the hospital. I had to tell our parents, via telephone, that their son had passed. That memory will haunt me forever. I was, and remain, crushed and heartbroken. I'd never lost anyone close to me in my entire life. We left that night, on the red-eye flight, for Michigan.

The next days were a blur. Visitations, the funeral, and family visits were an overwhelming crush of emotions. We got back home, exhausted, roughly a week later. My poor wife was severely sick. I had no steam left, or interest to working on projects. The house remained a wreck.

Jef was a truly good man and I miss him terribly. He left a beautiful family, his wife and three very young children. The amount of friends and people he had touched in his life was simply staggering. At the time, we had no idea what had caused his young heart to stop working. Now we have an idea, a belief. I'm not sharing specifics at this time. However, my personal decision and advice, based on my belief, is to stay away from energy drinks,

especially the popular shot-size energy supplement drinks

. I'd boycott stores that sell it, but there don't seem to be options for stores that don't. I've blocked them from advertising on my site.

Jef's family, May 2012, in Florida, on vacation.

Before we returned, Jef's wife encouraged me to get back to work on the family room. She said she and Jef had been following my Facebook posts, and enjoying the progress. He'd want me to get back at it.

Throughout the summer, a group of Jef's friends, still close since childhood and high school, my brother, parents and I set up a trust fund for the future education of his children. This will be an ongoing project for years.

Hug your spouse and your kids.

Workdays 13 & 14:

After tragedy, travel, family illness, and getting back to work, it was tough to get rolling on the project again. My heart just wasn't in it. But once I got started, it was really great to be using the tools, making sawdust, and blasting the iPod. Mr. Nugent may be a bit of a nut lately, but some of

his old stuff

sure gave me a boost in production. All the planks are up and it looks great.

The last row was a bear to slip in place, getting the tongue and groove together without too much gap at the wall. I also had a devil of a time with dark fingerprints this time for some reason (easily cleaned with Costco baby wipes). I still can't believe how well it worked out; in all the cuts for length, edging, can lights, A/C, and the fan, I only screwed up once and cut a board backward; measure 3 times and cut once.

By over ordering by 10%, just in case, I have a box and a half of spare planks to put in the attic, in hopes that I'll never need to make a repair. If we didn't have them, certainly the roof would be leaking by tomorrow and we'd find this particular plank out of production.

Of course there's still lots of work to do, but the end is in sight. We're ready to stop living like cave people in the dining room.

THE GREAT FAMILY ROOM REMODEL SERIES:  

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII  • Before and After: Family Room.

The Great Family Room Remodel - Part V

The Weekend Warrior is back. After a getting back to work for a week, we get back in action on the weekend. Real progress continues with more framing, insulating, and the actual installation of the ceiling planks gets underway.

Spoiler Alert!  

If you've stumbled into the mess without first reading the exciting prequels to the saga, head over and start from the beginning at 

The Great Family Room Remodel - Part I

All tucked in.

Workday 11:

Saturday: I managed to finish the framing at the sloped edges of the room to allow for end fastening of the planks. I had to rip some 2x4's on the table saw for the width of the room and create a bunch of short brackets to hold them. A slow process, since no two framing members were alike up there. I managed to get them up and finished insulating and taping the ceiling by the end of the day. Once again, the DeWalt Chalkline Laser Level  was invaluable for getting everything level.

A close up of the clip for the groove on the planks.

Workday 12:

Sunday:

Finally,

the ceiling planks are going up. It's a neat system. It took a bit to do the math, rip, and fasten the first edge piece, by face screwing the edge into the framing. 

Once that was done, the planks started slipping in quickly. It's all tongue and groove with a screw-in clip for each rafter.

 I launched a bunch of those screws around the room throughout the day, before finally realizing I needed a #1 Phillips driver bit instead of the standard #2.  I used my impact driver to drive the screws which really sped things up and was lighter than lugging the full size drill overhead all day.

It's starting to look like a finished project!

The can lights and vents slowed me down a bit, due to all the cutting with a jigsaw. Masking tape on the shoe of the jigsaw kept me from scratching the finish. I had to make cuts on three to four planks for each can light because the openings were wider than the planks. I used a paper template that came with the cans.  By the end of the day, four cases were installed, about 1/3 of the room. The room already looks better and is holding temperature nicely.

I really like the plank system. As I mentioned in Part I, they are Woodhaven 1148B Ceiling Planks by

Armstrong Residential Ceilings 5" wide x 84" long x 3/8" thick. They are an engineered board, like hardboard with a smooth, white painted finish.

We ordered them online through Lowe's and picked them up at their local home center.

It's a good looking system. You take the cut end from a finished row and start the next row with it. This way the plank seams are nicely staggered, creating a diagonal pattern.

Next, I'm derailed by family tragedy, but return with: The Great Family Room Remodel Part VI

THE GREAT FAMILY ROOM REMODEL SERIES:  

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII  • Before and After: Family Room.

Installing an LED Miter Saw Worklight

It's a little dim by my miter saw work bench. With my less than perfect eyes, its a little tricky to hit my marks. Yesterday, I received a work light system designed specifically for my saw. It's also supposed to project a shadow-line that gives assistance, similar to a laser. I'll review it later, but I wanted to share what the install was like.

This is the contents of the DeWalt DWS7085 Heavy Duty Miter Saw LED Worklight System. It includes a switch assembly, a LED assembly, a T-20 Torx tipped Allen wrench, and an instruction manual.

The manual is short and sweet; it's illustrated and easy to follow. I gave it a quick preview and could tell this was going to be a simple operation. I briefly considered following the French instructions, but decided to use English, since I am admittedly, completely clueless about French.

Working with the unit unplugged, you start with removing a couple of the Torx head screws to open an access point located on the top of the saw, just back from the main trigger / handle. The access cover gets discarded (or squirreled away forever, if your a pack-rat like me). Save the screws.
I locked the saw in the down position to make it easy to reach.

With the access cover off, there are two wiring connectors tucked in the cavity. It's an interesting testament to DeWalt quality that the cavity is totally enclosed; I had expected to see the electronic and mechanical guts of the saw visible when I removed part of the outer shell. The cavity was clean and sawdust free. This is obviously designed for easy consumer access for upgrades.

The switch assembly, termed the "Worklight Power Supply (WPS)" was straight forward. The two wiring connectors snap into their respective mates. The connectors only fit in their proper locations and configuration, so even a knucklehead like me couldn't screw it up.

It takes a little fiddling to make sure they are tucked properly in the cavity and the wires don't get pinched. The WPS fits perfectly where the access cover once was.

Next it's time to remove a black plastic thingie (a scientific term)that sits just above the leading edge of the blade, inside the blade guard. I raised the saw to the open position.

Again, using the supplied T-20 Torx wrench, I removed the screws holding it, two on each side. The two on the right and the one top left are easy to access from the basic, open position.

The forth screw is accessible by raising the blade guard. All four screws are easy to get out.

Two of mine were also very easy to drop, ricocheting off the floor to hide under and behind nearby stuff. I wonder how DeWalt engineered them to do that. They must have known would be time for me to take a stretch break and crawl around on the floor with my butt in the air, cheek pressed against the concrete looking for hiding screws.

The black plastic cover ("thingie") is fairly easy to wiggle out from behind the blade guard. There is another wiring connector tucked into it. Again, I squirreled the part away for the future. The directions state that it is unsafe to run the saw without either this cover or the work light installed, or risk "...serious personal injury". Good tip. They also warn you not touch the sharp point of the blade with fingers or hands, again at the risk of "...serious personal injury". That seems a bit more obvious. No warning about jamming my thumb in my left eye though.

The cast metal work light assembly slips on easy enough. First, there is another simple wiring clip connection to make, followed by tucking the wires neatly inside, again without pinching them.

The four T-20 Torx screws taken out earlier (and found hiding under a tricycle) are replaced in the same way they were taken out. A quick test to make sure the blade guard moves easily, and surgery is complete Doctor!

The whole operation took about ten leisurely minutes, including the dropped screws and an interruption from a pint-sized visitor wanting Daddy to whip up some chocolate milk. It was not a serious challenge (the worklight or the chocolate milk); it was a pleasure to install. I suspect anyone that knows "righty-tighty / lefty-loosey" can handle it without sweat. If you see this as a difficult procedure, I submit that you stay away from a tool that includes a 12" carbide-tipped blade, that spins at high RPM.

I'll review this unit soon, when I get a chance to make some sawdust, but I couldn't resist setting the mood in the ole workshop before shutting down for the night:


Good night sweet prince. May you dream of large boards.

UPDATE: Check out that sweet shadow line! I'm loving this thing!

Finally: A good comparison of photography with a DSLR camera instead of a camera phone.

Inexpensive Foot Pedal Switch for Dust Collection

I picked up this foot pedal switch at Harbor Freight last weekend on a whim. It was only nine bucks. I meant to use it with my dust collection system on the table saw, because I have to walk over and switch-off the rear mounted switch to kill it.

Of course I bought the wrong one, not paying attention.  I bought the Momentary Power Foot Switch (#96619) rather than the Power Maintained Foot Switch (#96618) that I would have preferred. The difference is that the "momentary" pedal only switches on while your foot is on it, not good for table-saw work, while the "maintained" pedal clicks on and stays on until step on it again.



This sucks!

I ended up installing my little Craftsman "Clean and Carry" 1.5 HP /  2 gallon vac to my miter saw. I plugged it into the load side of the switch, plugged the switch in, turned on the vac. It worked perfectly when I stepped on the pedal. The miter saw is a walk up and cut type operation. Just step on the switch while you cut. It was pretty good. The dust collection pick-up on the saw on the other hand wasn't the best. But it still was better than nothing.

  Watch that first step, It's a doo-oozy!

    -Ned Ryerson, Insurance Salesman 

I've seen how expensive these types of switches are elsewhere. Shopsmith charges $38.65, plus freight for theirs, of course it's a lot nicer unit. But for this price, the Harbor Freight unit seems pretty decent. I'll grab the maintained switch next time. Let's see how long they last.

The DIY Guy vs. Dealership Challenge 2013!

I'm not a car repair guy at all. I don't have much experience, or interest. But, a dealership repair quote socked me in the gut. Surely, I can take a crack at it. A little off-track from my normal subject of DIY around the house, I'm taking this fight to the driveway.

You don't know jack!

I love my Honda Ridgeline. It's a mid-sized, 4-door, short-bed, pickup, perfect for hauling the family or my piles of project material. Mine is the middle trim-line, the RTS, which includes a 3.5 mm auxiliary audio jack for plugging in iPods, MP3 players, etc and playing them through the excellent audio system. Mine simply stopped working, the radio wouldn't even let me select "AUX" as an option anymore. I figured it was the connection, because it cut in-and-out for a while, when I wiggled the plug before it died. I took it to the dealership to get an oil change and to have them look at it; I realized I had slipped just past the warranty mileage expiration. Lovely. The quote to replace the jack came in at $120.00. It was actually a little higher, but my ears turned off at "One hundred and twenty..."
 

Looks like a snap.

While waiting for the oil change, I sauntered over to the parts counter, just to see what the part cost. $35.84. Hmmmmmm.... If I can do it for less than $84.16, I'm ahead, even if it takes me a several hours of weekend time. I ordered the part. If I failed, or it didn't fix it. I'm only $35 at risk.

Holding the part in my hand, it looks like a snap in deal with a plug-in wiring harness in the back. Fairly easy, for $84 in labor? Can I get to it behind the dash. Any of those pesky clips you can't figure out and end up breaking hidden in there. Still, I'm pretty sure I can beat it. Thus,...

 The DIY Guy vs. Dealership Challenge 2013!

 

 

On your mark, get set...

In the Dealership corner:

• A trained, professional automotive mechanic, wearing dark-blue coveralls (coveralls assumed)
• A full set of specialty automotive tools
• Experience with this procedure, in this vehicle
• A heated work space (it's 35 degrees in my driveway)
• Manufacturer's reference material
• Smug, professional confidence
• free coffee in the waiting room

In the DIY Guy corner:

• My lucky Dunedin, New Zeland ball cap (a gift)
• (2) mugs of Kirkland Signature, Pacific Bold, Dark Roast Coffee, Extra Bold coursing through my system

Pop out these thing-a-ma-jigs.

GO TIME!

I opened the glove box and emptied my junk onto the driver seat. There were some sort of bumpers that keep the box from falling all the way open. They were a little flexible and the glove box itself was a bit rubbery as well, so I took a chance and pushed them through from the outside. They popped out pretty easily, one on each side of the box. Then there was a plastic, plunger / piston thing on the right side that simply unhooked from it's connection. The entire box flipped all the way open and hung upside down, leaving an open access behind the passenger side dash. 35 seconds.

 

Nothing broken! I got one of those early bursts of confidence, you get when nothing goes wrong early in a project. Dangerous.

 

I stuck my hand up in there, like I was birthing a calf, and felt around for the back side of the jack. There was enough room for my fairly large hand to feel around in there. I could feel the wires and some sort of plug. I couldn't tell if there was any sort of locking mechanism holding the wiring clip in so I didn't pull on it.  I didn't want to damage a wiring harness that I can't get to the other end of the cable. (That would probably cost at least  $800.00 at the dealership!) I could feel the spring clips I had seen on the replacement part. A quick, tentative squeeze to both clips and I could tell the jack assembly was free, no retaining clip. Sweet!

 

I gently pulled the jack forward and fed a little of the slack cable through the opening. There was enough to twist and rotate the assembly so I could get a good eyeball on it. There wasn't even a clip on the little green plug for me to break! I grabbed the plug and the jack assembly and slowly pulled / wiggled it apart. Bingo! No problems so far. The plug popped into the new jack and the jack snapped into the dash. I clipped the plunger / piston onto the glove box, reinstalled the two bumper things, removed them both when I realized I needed to semi-close the box first, reinstalled them again, and, using the most difficult technique of the day, flipped the box closed. That was easy, too easy, waaaaay too easy...

I stopped the timer. Barely over 2 minutes, TOTAL, from opening the glove box.

 

Knucklehead. I didn't even test it before reassembling everything. When it inevitably didn't work, I have to do everything all over.

 

I plugged in an audio cable, turned on the ignition and pressed AUX. The radio actually displayed it. There's a good sign. Pulse, pounding in my temples, I hooked up the Kindle Fire (The iPod battery was DOA)...

On button,...

   Music,...

      Songs,...

         Shuffle....

            DETROIT ROCK CITY!!!!



Get up, Everybody's gonna move their feet, Get down Everybody's gonna leave their seat You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City

  

     Veni, vidi, vici           

          - Julius Ceasar, Tyrant



 

POST GAME SHOW:

 

2 Minutes, 9.9 seconds. No tools other than my hands.

 

Let's call it three minutes. Let's add 10 minutes for the mechanic to go grab the part. Lets add another 5 minutes just for, whatever. Call it 18 minutes. What the heck, call it 20 minutes, . That calculates to an hourly labor rate of $ 252.48 / hour.

 

Using my totally SWAG* methodology, that calculates to a Mechanic making $25 / hour + 25% employee burden and 10% overhead, leaving $218.11 / 634% in profit!

 

*Scientific Wild Ass Guess

 

     We Came, We Saw, We Kicked its ass!

            - Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghostbuster

 

You think it was the hat, or the extra bold coffee?



Safety: What are you hearing?

That's not a Princess Leia hairdo, honest!

Someone at work made a comment that in a lot of my remodeling action photos, I'm wearing hearing protection. It's not just because I think I look so darn manly / macho in my bad-ass, bright-yellow 'muffs. (and I certainly do!) It's because I truly think hearing loss is serious business. You loose it and you don't get it back. Some of our saws, nail-guns, and the sort are just stupid loud. Plus, I like to hear my tunes while I'm working, rather than that ringing in my ears following the savage aural ripping fury of a circular saw.

Listen,..do you smell something?

   - Dr. Ray Stantz, Ghostbuster

The earliest I recall being exposed to potential hearing damage was when I won tickets to a Lynyrd Skynyrd  concert at my High School graduation party. Mind you, I was not the Classic Rock aficionado that you find before you today; being from suburban Detroit, I had no idea who these guys were. After arriving at the show, we were: A.) the only teenagers, B.) in the only 4 wheeled (non-Harley) vehicle, and C.) not wearing black leather, we were greeted by the unfurling of the largest Confederate flag I'd ever seen at the back of the stage, "uhhhhhhhh...ohhhhh" ( remember - we were in suburban Detroit, waaaay before I lived in the deep South). What followed was actually an awesome concert, but LOUD! I remember my buddies and I having to yell our conversation afterwards; the other late night denizens of Denny's, (breakfast served 24 hours, were not pleased). My ears were still ringing the next morning. A couple years later, I think an Edgar Winter concert may have actually made my ears bleed with his outstanding Frankenstein.

"Nah - Nah! I'm not listening to Daddy!"

"Still not listening!!!"

My sweet wife's hearing is damaged, permanently, most likely due to getting horribly sick while traveling, in her mid-twenties. She does fine, but hearing aids are not fun or cheap, and they don't give you anywhere near 100% of your hearing back. I know that when we become shriveled, little old people, together in our old age, eating applesauce and peas, I'm going to be the ears; she's going to be the eyes. So, I wear the dorky ear-lids. It's not too bad, I just wear them when working around the house on my projects, not jogging around the neighborhood,... or posting pictures of myself wearing them,... on the internet,... for thousands to see me look like a gump...

Both of our kids have always seem to be extra sensitive to loud noises. Gracie started grabbing my earmuffs from the garage when we vacuumed, ran the stand mixer in the kitchen, or anytime I used power tools. I ended up wearing those pain-in-the-butt, little foam inserts so she could have them. She never put them away. Jack started wearing them when he got old enough to run the popcorn air-popper. He'd leave them out on the kitchen counter.

There's several stories here.

I finally bought a couple of those cheap red ones from Habor Freight, specifically for the kids. They probably won't last too long, but they are inexpensive enough at $2.99, that I can replace them, no sweat. They love each having their own pair when we're all working out in the shop together.

I slip on the ol' earmuffs with the table saw, the circular saw, the framing nailer, and the air compressor, especially if I'm working with the garage door closed when it just seems louder. The tool that really got me in the habit was my first table saw, a direct drive Delta, that was louder than a heartbroken banshee. I finally sold it after I bought the Shopsmith, because I didn't use it all that much and I simply hated that horrendous scream.

I've not been abusive to my ears, but like almost everyone, I been around loud stuff throughout my life: power tools, aircraft, racecars, concerts, etc. Still, when it's quiet I hear that ringing. It's enough.