20 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

Bought a giant slab of live edge poplar wood from a guy at a farm in Bel Air. It's 11 feet long, 3" thick, and was 32-34" wide. The guy took it to a saw mill and we watched them rip it in half so the better edged side is 19-20" in depth. It's gonna be a long bench in our mudroom at the house we're renovating. I had a local metalworker make me some beefy brackets that will be hidden behind the drywall so the bench will appear to float. Gotta finish the wood, it needs sanding and sealing and there is one crack at the end that's about a foot long so I'm gonna try my hand at making a butterfly or bowtie inlay to keep the crack from growing. So I get to buy a router! We've got a giant poplar tree in the backyard, so I like that we ended up with a poplar slab for the bench.

The sawmill was really cool. Huge sled that held the wood down with pnuematic clamps and the saw that did the cutting was easily 6 feet in diameter.

[RShack]

Bought a giant slab of live edge poplar wood from a guy at a farm in Bel Air. It's 11 feet long, 3" thick, and was 32-34" wide. The guy took it to a saw mill and we watched them rip it in half so the better edged side is 19-20" in depth. It's gonna be a long bench in our mudroom at the house we're renovating. I had a local metalworker make me some beefy brackets that will be hidden behind the drywall so the bench will appear to float. Gotta finish the wood, it needs sanding and sealing and there is one crack at the end that's about a foot long so I'm gonna try my hand at making a butterfly or bowtie inlay to keep the crack from growing. So I get to buy a router! We've got a giant poplar tree in the backyard, so I like that we ended up with a poplar slab for the bench.

The sawmill was really cool. Huge sled that held the wood down with pnuematic clamps and the saw that did the cutting was easily 6 feet in diameter.

 

That is way cool...

 

Any plans for the non-bench chunk?

[Mackus]

That is way cool...

Any plans for the non-bench chunk?

Shelves above the washer/dryer.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Everyone is so much manlier than me. Damnit

[BobPhelan]

Everyone is so much manlier than me. Damnit

You probably have me beat, don’t get too down on yourself.

[Mackus]

Everyone is so much manlier than me. Damnit

Just try stuff. Between Google and YouTube you can get good guidance on how to do just about anything. It's always harder than it looks, but usually by the second time you try something you can do it well enough. Eventually you get a good feel for what's out of reach and what's doable, combined with a feel for what's worth your time and what's not.

And if it doesn't work out, screw it. Then you call and have a pro do it. Probably not out much money or time.

[SportsGuy]

Bought a giant slab of live edge poplar wood from a guy at a farm in Bel Air. It's 11 feet long, 3" thick, and was 32-34" wide. The guy took it to a saw mill and we watched them rip it in half so the better edged side is 19-20" in depth. It's gonna be a long bench in our mudroom at the house we're renovating. I had a local metalworker make me some beefy brackets that will be hidden behind the drywall so the bench will appear to float. Gotta finish the wood, it needs sanding and sealing and there is one crack at the end that's about a foot long so I'm gonna try my hand at making a butterfly or bowtie inlay to keep the crack from growing. So I get to buy a router! We've got a giant poplar tree in the backyard, so I like that we ended up with a poplar slab for the bench.
The sawmill was really cool. Huge sled that held the wood down with pnuematic clamps and the saw that did the cutting was easily 6 feet in diameter.

Where did you go? Was it expensive?

I’m asking because we are thinking about stoning the wall around our fireplace and we want to buy a wide wood beam to use as a mantle.

[RShack]

Just try stuff. Between Google and YouTube you can get good guidance on how to do just about anything. It's always harder than it looks, but usually by the second time you try something you can do it well enough. Eventually you get a good feel for what's out of reach and what's doable, combined with a feel for what's worth your time and what's not.

And if it doesn't work out, screw it. Then you call and have a pro do it. Probably not out much money or time.

 

I think a lot of it is just growing up thinking that using tools to make stuff and fix stuff is a normal thing, not a special thing...

 

My Dad was the first one in several generations who didn't go into the family housebuilding biz... his own dad, granddad, great granddad built most of the houses in Grafton WVA... but who wants a new house during the Great Depression?  So, he moved to BAL and worked for the phone company... but he had all the tools, and I grew up with tools all around... he'd make shelves, little stuff like that... plus he did a major job to reinforce the concrete side walls of the driveway as it went down to the basement-level garage under the kitchen... so, I just grew up thinking it was just normal to do stuff, big or little... no intimidation to overcome...

[Mackus]

Where did you go? Was it expensive?

I’m asking because we are thinking about stoning the wall around our fireplace and we want to buy a wide wood beam to use as a mantle.

Some guy I found on Facebook marketplace. I'll PM you, he has tons of pieces that would be good for mantels.

It was very inexpensive compared to buying from any other more typical source I had stumbled across.

[SportsGuy]

Just try stuff. Between Google and YouTube you can get good guidance on how to do just about anything. It's always harder than it looks, but usually by the second time you try something you can do it well enough. Eventually you get a good feel for what's out of reach and what's doable, combined with a feel for what's worth your time and what's not.
And if it doesn't work out, screw it. Then you call and have a pro do it. Probably not out much money or time.

I’m not a handy guy at all.

My wife is way more handy than I am.

Her and her dad just did this (not exactly this but very close) and put them in our office.

https://www.thedesig...l-pipe-shelves/

It wasn’t hard to do.

My problem is that I have no patience to do stuff.

[Mackus]

My problem is that I have no patience to do stuff.

I struggle with this a lot. I can stay motivated and working through the main parts of all the projects but when it gets down to the finishing I get worn out and try to cut corners. My wife is usually quality control on such projects and helps me push through when I wanna call it finished.

Drywall is a prime example. I'm terrible at it. I always try to convince myself it looks good enough and I'm done a coat or two early. And I always regret it after it's painted.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Just try stuff. Between Google and YouTube you can get good guidance on how to do just about anything. It's always harder than it looks, but usually by the second time you try something you can do it well enough. Eventually you get a good feel for what's out of reach and what's doable, combined with a feel for what's worth your time and what's not.

And if it doesn't work out, screw it. Then you call and have a pro do it. Probably not out much money or time.

 

Yea until I try to change an outlet or something and end up killing myself because I didn't turn the circuit breaker off.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Also here are my tools:

 

-Two screwdrivers

-Wrench

-Tape measure

-Couple pair of scissors

-Steak knives 

 

And in a pinch I can use my head as a hammer 

[RShack]

And in a pinch I can use my head as a hammer 

 

If you use an empty booze bottle as a hammer, you can both fail and cut yourself... and maybe put your eye out, but that's unlikely...

 

It's mainly a matter of which kind of injury you prefer...

[RShack]

-Two screwdrivers

 

For 96.3% of household tasks, you only need one like this:  https://www.amazon.c...tag=toolguyd-20

 

The other 3.7% can be annoying... especially if you get into Torx or itty-bitty stuff... but it's not crazy...

[RShack]

-Couple pair of scissors

 

Scissors are one thing that used to be better than they are now.  That's not true of very many things, but it's true for scissors.  Every once in a blue moon, I'd lurk on ebay and get a proper pair for cheap... I've no need to do that anymore, but they're still there...

[Mackus]

What advice does Google and YouTube have for the Clark Griswold meltdown that inevitably occurs after it not working out?

I embrace the meltdown. Let it out. Loudly and profanely.

Then after it's passed, sometimes you need a pause, and then I get back to work. Sometimes you gotta call it a loss and hire out. It happens.

[Mackus]

Yea until I try to change an outlet or something and end up killing myself because I didn't turn the circuit breaker off.

As your expand your toolkit, if you're gonna do anything electrical, a voltage tester pen is a great asset and they are cheap.

Take precautions, but you're not likely gonna kill yourself on 120 volt lines no matter how dumb of a thing you do. You can get a real good shock, but unless you're latched on and stuck you'll be fine. Still, use the tester.

[SportsGuy]

The right tools make projects so much easier.

I know that seems obvious but once you actually use them and do it, I don’t think you really realize it.

[Mike in STL]

The right tools make projects so much easier.

I know that seems obvious but once you actually use them and do it, I don’t think you really realize it.

Ain't that the truth.

 

When we bought our house, we added a concrete patio on the back yard. The misses bought a stencil like thing that you pour the concrete in and smooth it out, remove the stencil and it looks like pavers in a pattern. 

 

My dumb ass was mixing concrete one bag at a time, by hand, in a trash can, with a shovel. One bags worth was the size of one stencil. About the time it would take her to smooth out one, I'd have the next one mixed, so we had a little groove going. 

 

Took about 3 weekends and 90ish bags of concrete. 

 

Couple years ago her dad came to visit. Helped me rent a cement mixer that fits in the back of pick up (Didn't know was a thing). We poured a concrete slab for a shed with 120 bags of concrete in under 4 hours.