ShopTalk Sunday: Minor Deck Build – Part 1

I have been staring at a pile of lumber down in the wood-fired coffeemaker area in front of the house for the better part of 5-months now. So, with the arrival of cooler weather this week (high of 87 Saturday) I decided to get the first couple of hours in on the deck.

Planning Things to Death

Since this is a project that has had a lot of gestation time living inside the “a/c bubble” this summer, a fair bit of time was spent watching how Amish communities do “barn raisings” and after watching some YouTube videos, I began to suffer the illusion of thinking “Why, I can do some of that kind of work!”  (No, not really, the details on that as out story unfolds.)

The main feature of solid Amish work is their dependence on the material rather than get addicted to “Englisher” ideas.  Like metal fasteners and new-fangled machines.  As my fever would up, I had some insights into “a blended build.”  Which (in theory) could be a bit of Amish this, and  bit of high tech that.

The main difference in my deck would be:

  • The use of ground screws for the post foundations.
  • Notching the posts so that no metal joiners would be needed to secure beams to the uprights.

Also, being a tool slut, I was determined to use that nifty little Black and Decker Power Hand saw that has been hung on the side of the workbench gathering dust.

saw picture
B&D power hand saw (if that’s not somewhat oxymoronic…)

There’s a funny story here:  Trying to put the blade in.  After agonizing over it for 10-minutes, or so, I realized that the fastest way to get to a conclusion would be to jump in the office and turn on YT and find a video.

picture of tv
Remedial training is always there on YouTube.

I had used the saw a few times, but like so many tools in the shop, there are just so many little tweaks and kinks to remember, a fast internet connection may be all that ensures the continuation of life on Earth.

Time and Tools

Another key a/c bubble insight was that on too many of my projects, time has been wasted by the armload simply shagging tools.  It’s only 150-feet, or so, from where the deck was going in.  But that’s 300-feet per forgotten item.  I was planning to do better.

I have fond memories from being 18 and a journeyman R&E mechanic at “Hughes Air Wurst”.  When I was on a crew that was pulling a D-check on an F-27, for example, you’d go to the tool room and give them your “chit.”  In return, they would have you the tool that the IAM mechanics were not required to keep in their kit.  Things like a megger – a fancy high voltage ohm meter to test insulation values on wiring harnesses.

Heavy checks in the aircraft industry are a real joy to work.  Because there is a procedure for everything.  Every screw and nut has a torque setting and usually a safety wire (castellated) nut involved.  I can still “spin safety wire” with the best of ’em.

Anyway, this and doing a lot of the work on our own Beechcraft (at Chad Moser’s shop in the Georgia mountains) got me looking forward to the “prepping for a job” as much as doing the job well itself.  See, Chad had things like a “pain cart” and an “air tool cart” (and a wiring cart, of course) because it allows a very complex set of shop operations to develop naturally with no time wasted on tool-hunting.

There are exceptions to “tool cart” theory. For example, the sand blasting cabinet was a fixed location in the shop in order to have high-pressure air and big capacity air handy.

As a result of working in these kinds of settings, I’ve got my own shop set up as a kind of “halfway house” spin.  I mentioned a year, or so, back about how those fat-wheeled beech wagons are great for big yard and farm projects?  Mine is still used with great regularity. I simply walk to each of the “tool areas” in the shop and pull what’s likely to be needed.  Starting with that power hand saw.

Walk with me and let’s go pull some deck-building tools!

A Fool and His Tools

To successfully pull tools, you begin by thinking about what you will be needing  (and roughly in order) for the work planned.  Remembering our Grand Simplification of all work?  Materials, measure, cut, join, and finish makes it a breeze.

First stop is the Measuring Department.  This is where rulers, gauges, levels, anything having to do with measuring lives:

the measuring dept.
The Measuring Dept.

Combination square, long and short levels, and a good measuring tape. If you have some depth in Measuring gear, you will have the luxury of a 16 or 25-foot Fat Max (not the big 40-footer).  Allowing you to size the tools to the work.

If we’re going to measure, we will also need to mark in order to cut.  This leads to visiting the Shop Pencil and Marker Box:

pencil box
Every shop needs a pencil box.

This wasn’t a high precision job.  Level to an eighth of an inch (over 8-feet) would be fine.  Again, you pick the tool for the job.  No point using the self-retracting carpenter pencil (and its odd offset sharpener) when a fat black Sharpie will work better (and be a hell of a lot easier to see) on treated timbers.

Now we think about fasteners.  We want something weather resistant, and this means a visit to the Impact Driver section with a sample of our choice from the fastener cart.

impact driver bits
There’s a whole chest full of odd impact driver bits to search through. It can take time.

A couple of boxes of fasteners goes in the cart, as well.  With not one but two impact drivers.  A little Skil is light and useful for Philips heads us to an inch and a half, or so.  But the big Hitachi with a socket on it for the bolts that will hold uprights into the ground screws.

Outside, the tools are beginning to pile into the beech cart…

beech cart and tools
Those fat wheel beech carts are great for yard work and schlepping tools around.
extension cords
Seriously, who has an extension cord department?

But no matter how orderly you try to be in your thinking, there’s always that “one more thing” I forgot.

Best practice is to spend almost as much time on tool selection (and getting the right goods in the cart) as you think you will actually spend working.

I exaggerate, of course, but – for example – standing outside the shop staring into the cart it dawned on me that I would need to power that hand saw.

Hmm…what have I overlooked?

Well, sure as hell, there it was: No way to power the little whizzy.  So back into the shop and a visit to the Power Center (the area around where I installed the charge controllers, switching, metering, breakers, and inverter-chargers for the grid interactive solar system.

There’s an assortment of extension cords there – some of them heavy duty enough to run a welder 100 feet out (like at the panels).  For this job, though, a lighter duty 50-foot cord would work.

Was there something else?

Yes! PPE!

That’s Personal Protective Equipment. Covers the whole range from eyewear to N100 masks to Tyvek suits, to rubber gloves, leather gloves (though the cutting and welding gloves are with the welding helmets closer to that equipment.  Here, we also find shop first air kit and more gloves than you can shake a stick at:

PPE safety station
Protective equipment only has to pay off once in a lifetime to pay for itself.

Again, one-more-thing to go into the cart:  Several pairs of cheap cotton work gloves.  We have no delusions about these keeping every speck of dirt off the hands (they won’t), but it’s a start.

Just two more stops and load out will be done.

Sticks and Sticks

Over in the corner of the shop is a wood pile.  Not a very pretty thing.  But when you are doing basically one-man work, an assortment of “sticks” is a useful thing to keep handy to really speed up the work.  You can brace, hold, and do all manner of clever things with them;

wood pile
Some shops only keep scraps if they are mor than one-board foot in size. But what about for paint stirring and other necessary tasks?

I didn’t need too much: A couple of 3-4 foot pieces an inch and a half by 3/4 thick.  Might not be used, but easier to put in now than have to walk back to the shop to fetch later.

Then there was angle metal.  These would be used (not going “full Amish” which would involve actual skill) to hold the 2-by-6’s in place and immoveable. There’s a cart call WIP (work in progress) Cart… supplies for upcoming ideas.

work in progress cart
(Don’t ask what’s in the Time Portal box!)

Of course, it would be the “framing metal” that we’d be pawing through:

assorted framing metal
When you buy framing metal, get lots – eventually you will use it.

Son G2 once remarked “You could build a house just with all this shit in your shop, dad…”  Well, um, not the whole thing. But there are a couple of chainsaws, a chainsaw mill and some big blades for the bandsaw, so I suppose we could timber and recut some wood if we got ambitious…

To the Joe Site

We will do Part 2 of this (likely next weekend) but two things to point out.  On Day One, I was able to get the basic frame and foundation up in 2-1/2 hours because I love ground screws:

ground screws
Predrill each ground screw hole with a 3/4″ auger. Then wind the screw in with the rebar handle most come supplied with.

Put these bad boys in and you have a buildable foundation in about no time.  Seriously, when G2 returns, we will have the meaningful father-son conversation about barndominiums  and  ground screws with 4X4 posts on ground screws and a concrete pad over.  Get the verticals up, put in some notched 2-by-12’s into 4-by-4s under and toss up a few armloads of prefab roof trusses.  They come up now and then on Craigslist in the Materials section.

Power Hint

Getting set up for the job, an important fine point of workmanship here: Always keep the fat end spade of your power connector in the wide extension cord hole to preserve grounding/neutral:

outlet polarity
Remember, the fat side is neutral. Oddly, no grounding pin on the power hand saw.

(Yes, I knocked off the piece of grass from the plug before connecting. Not a big deal on a bone-dry day, but any moisture and the electrical inspector would flag the job.

And as long as we’re setting up power for the job, make sure to put a half-turn in the join to keep your cords from coming apart.

safety tie cords
This is particularly useful on electrically powered yard tools like blowers and mowers.

There’s an argument that cords should be allowed to part in the event you trip on them.  But let’s not go there.  Power going off is always a timewaster on the job.

Final Point: Where’s My Stogie?

My late Dad’s late brother (whole family seems late, lately) was one of the best homebuilders I’ve known.  Built beautiful homes when he wasn’t a Seattle Firefighter which was his main gig – always like 10-years before similar designs hit Sunset magazine.  Had a real eye for design, detail and perfect workmanship.

Used to have a Dutch Masters cigar when working.  A habit I found most agreeable, as well.  Now, however, I’ve switched to simply chewing on the end of a Sharpie.  They’re harder to keep lit, however.

sharpie in lieu of cigar
Sharpie or stogie – you make the call. (If the Missus ain’t around…)

Still, there’s something about chewing on a stogie (or Sharpie) that seems to sharpen the mind when putting critical eyes on your project as you line up the next steps.  When a particularly precise piece of work was to be done, there was a little “mini ritual” where the stub of the cigar came out and was placed in a position of honor.  And the ritual closed with the return of the stogie when the job was satisfactorily done.

Kids today – especially those raised chicken-like in small “coops” in the city, have no idea the joys of doing high-quality construction around the home. Industrial arts have been mainly “lawyered out” of education.

While banging and sawing a way on projects like this, I wonder how long it will be before America is humbled (as we were in the Great Depression) when people had to “go local or go hungry”?  Fears about war in Asia before month-end linger. Preparations continue.

We want to be able to watch the miserable proceedings from the deck.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

49 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Minor Deck Build – Part 1”

  1. Having wasted as much time tool-chasing as building, I can appreciate the prep that’s going into your deck project. For leveling, though, it’s hard to beat a garden hose with a couple of clear tubes for the ends. You can level points as far apart as the hose is long, and they’ll all be on the money.

    My current project is a water line to go from the water tower to the garden by way of the back yard and goat pens. 220′ of trench to dig, and no rain in August makes that a chore, even with Digger O’Dell, my mini-excavator. Having to soften the concrete-hard sand/clay takes time, but it’s faster than trying to dig without doing it. I use a tree root-watering wand, inserting it along the trench line about every foot or so.

    • Is the excavator a friendly one?

      (I only undertake this response to see how many lives Reilly still has.)

      • Of course he’s friendly! I named him after the ‘friendly undertaker’ in Fibber McGee and Molly’s programs, so his friendliness shouldn’t be in question!

        Oops! I would have sworn he was one of FM&M’s characters, but it looks like he was from The Life of Riley! Thanks for making me use a brain cell to look it up.

  2. I’ve lost my innocence three times now:

    The first was the assassination of JFK.
    I lost my faith in official investigations
    and government boards, because they
    made no common sense.

    The second was nine-eleven.
    I lost my firm belief that Fortress America
    was safe behind her oceans, and attacks
    on America in America couldn’t happen.

    The third is happening now, as I swim in
    in a world where the waters have gone insane.
    Suddenly, nobody listens to anybody else,
    and all deal in extreme absolutes, with no
    sensible middle ground possible, since
    “compromise” has become a dirty word.

    Each time an Old World died, and a new one
    came forth — and like birth itself, each was
    painful and utterly life-changing for me..

    Each, now, with some decades of perspective,
    seems an order of magnitude greater than
    its predecessor.

    America, as it recently was, was built by
    The Greatest Generation out of the ruins
    of depression and global war.

    Their progeny, however, seem self-indulgent,
    weak, ill-educated, insolent, generally ignorant,
    and unworthy of the baton to go forward.

    I have NO idea what to expect, what can be
    counted upon as reliable and predictable.
    And I see nothing but several different
    bad ends to it all.

    Till now, I always thought of myself as
    an optimist. I still want to, but I need
    some Good News from somewhere to
    do that.

    • The good news, such as it is, was summed up by Richard Bach in his book Illusions.

      “In the path of our happiness lies the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime.”

      The new – grabbing for the batons to pass to their (ODD quirky self-indulgent peers) have no idea what it is like to render food from dirt, sound from solder, have their own a/d converters between the ears, a core of honesty with hard rules (about 10 of ’em) nor is there a sense of compassion or ability to take in the broader scope.

      The good news? The Will get theirs – the clockwork Universe smiles and takes its sweet-ass time, But vengeance is ours over immorality, laziness and sloth in the end. Just hope we are here to witness the return of reason.

      • Some call it vengeance.
        Most call it justice.

        May they know what they do
        and may they reap what they sow.

        May I live to see it in my lifetime.

        • I regard it as karma. It’s not about vengeance or even justice, simply that each is accountable for his/her actions. I don’t need to have to have any emotional involvement, other than perhaps dispassionate compassion(a real thing).

      • Try as I may to flag, I’m still an optimist.
        Fortunately, I’ve been exceptionally lucky to
        have gone places and seen things of highly
        remarkable note. And I’ve also been
        fortunate to have been schooled in many
        arcane processes and procedures and
        hidden systems. My best gig was as
        effectively a last-ditch, desperation go-to
        for repairs of incredible things. Don’t be
        too impressed: I often hadd little to zero
        knowledge how the damn things worked,
        and in some cases WHAT they even were,
        but I was blessed with luck and blarney and
        a deep intuitive grok of things as having
        Meaning — and often that was enough to
        know to swap out the betteries in the remote,
        apply an “Italian Hammer Adjustment,” or
        just plug the goddam thing in. It’s Truly
        Amazing how helpless and functionless
        big-shot PhDs become so quickly,, and
        how much of an unsung genius one can be
        by just swaping out the remote batteries. I
        built a decent career on it, and was often
        showered with glory and thanks for doing
        nearly nothing.

        Part of what made me an optimist.
        I do want to keep that.

    • I enjoy your posts here William and agree with your analysis. The problem is that you are part of a seemingly diminishing group in society that genuinely cares about the future.

      I look for solutions to what I see happening but often feel like a drowning man in an ocean covered with floating toothpicks. There is not a lot I can offer you except perhaps a quote from the Bible.

      Ecclesiastes 1:18. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

      Stay strong my friend. Treasure the small things. There is a better world on the other side.

      • As a Democrat.. I seen potential.. up until recently.. where I once seen hope and potential I now view some of them in the political realm as those to be ashamed of for their actions are no longer honorable but more contemptable.. there has to be a social separation.. if you don’t have the social separation there is no longer anything to work for.. ask anyone that knows me.. I have a heart bigger than my pocket book and will go out of my way to help someone in distress.. I believe that there is always room for someone wanting to raise a family in the USA.. I also believe that there is a reason why we have the vetting process.. follow our laws.. come in legally pay the same taxes that the citizens pay.. no services until they meet the same requirements that tax payers have to meet..
        I feel the doom and gloom.. those that are above the law are putting forcing it to happen.. and having lived through the dark side of situations.. I see it coming more so than ever.. I fear what I see coming..
        while everyone sees blue sky.. I know that there isn’t an endless blue sky.. we need to take care of our own with a weak country how can we help someone else if we cannot help our own.. the business model is set to fail. That is one thing I do admire about trump.. he has failed seen failure first hand.. and he has overcome the tragedy of failure and had enough mind to overcome it.. until you have failed and learned from it.. you cannot overcome what you have not experienced.. my children don’t see it coming.. they have never had to learn from it.. and that is what scares me.. my grand daughter that is going to another country soon.. my daughter going on a girls only vacation outside the USA.. they cannot see what I see.. they have not lived it.. while they were young I did everything I could to shield them from what I had experienced..

      • I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this., so let me be the first.
        – You come off as a sad, miserable little person with a deep-seated confused loathing for yourself.
        .
        I wish you would seek professional help., and spare all of us your fetid, hate filled comments.

        • Well said, and thank you dlynn.

          Loob, your posts outnumber all of the other readers’ posts here, please use netiquette! (and nearly all of your posts are incomprehensible, circuitous babbling of misinformation!)

          The fact that you have to serial post over 10x per day indicates a person with no real personal life, seeking attention and pity by any means necessary.

          I’ve been on this list many years (paying), am so tired of scrolling thru your doom dumps…manic depression may be your problem, quit making it our problem!

      • one of the best things is I love to read….
        one if the worst things in my life.. is I love to read..

        I truly wish I didn’t read as much as I have..if only our politicians would read some of the studies that they have had done..then think about what is in them..
        no one wins…. NO ONE.
        to put mankind on the endangered species list. for a few coins that won’t have any value.. a few moments if deviant sex with children and whatever other sick perversion they have.
        https://youtu.be/k-Cu9GVjxU0?si=WGT9gzQqc1jKM097
        ignorance is bliss though..
        it doesn’t matter who gets in office..I believe we have gone over the tipping point. the interest on our stupidity and warring ways has a life if it’s own..we will be knocked off if the hill as king.. we will suffer for the open borders.. cultural shifts is just a minor thing..there again if they had only paid attention to the affects of their moronic doings..
        ignorance is bliss my hope is that the worst we see is only the worst depression in modern civilization..the rest if they push it to that point is pure horror..

  3. boy can I comment on this one.. LOL.. I built two houses by myself.. well working at a cabinet shop for many years cabinets are assembled similar to anything in a factory.. on a table.. since I was working two full time jobs and one part time job and only able to do the house build in my spare time the best option was to break it down. ONE board at a time.. the first thing I did was make myself a ten foot assembly table. and a couple of jigs.I could assemble a ten foot wall in about five minutes this way give or take… the spacing jig.. draw out the plans.. how did I want to put it where were the windows and doors by placing the windows and doors first then studding the rest.. it was simple.. lay it out measure where the door opening is.. drop it in.. .. then you frame up the doors and windows place them and run your studs and cripples.. on walls.. I put a wall anchor board.. one end board then one inside that so it was an L.. had one wall that i screwed up on.. put the wall anchor board on the wrong side.. that was a bitch to fix to…. hurricane bracing.. omg.. important when building a wall and also extremely important if your doing it your self.. the wall is when your hoisting it by yourself .. twists.. but with hurricane bracing it won’t and one person is managable doing it.. the heaviest wall i built is in the dining area.. that wall was so heavy with the headers and windows that I couldn’t manage it by myself.. it wasn’t that big of a wall section either.. I ended up helping a guy take down a grove of trees so he and his son would help me lift that wall into place… the header in the garage was another spot that was a bitch.. that dam header would drop your nuts to the ground.. luckily a guy driving by with his front end loader seen my struggling and he came by and it was up and anchored in no time at all..
    Deck Rails can be just as hard as the headers.. remember I beam.. takes the work out of it..

    https://youtu.be/lbb2kuQipgQ?si=0fUEVZgrlAuDOtfV
    tools and tool movement.. on an assembly line having the tools close by cuts time spent.. thirty seconds is thirty seconds.. so shop table came into play.. and space saving what do you need and where do you need it.. so I made a cart that I could wheel right where I was working.. ( I would take a photo of the cart but after the house build I used that very same cart in my jockey box keg cart.. which is what it is today.. here is a link to the keg handle..
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/488400907/funny-dads-beer-tap-handle-for-man-cave
    I actually have several handles.. at one point in time I was collecting them.. when I made the cardboard bar for the grandson so he could entertain while in college.. I left the handle off.. so he could pick which one he liked.
    the heavy tools.. to keep space saving.. Here is the mobile tool caddy below..

    https://youtu.be/aC8oFt7nG-M?si=17ehBQBO8QJGi6Cb

    the heavy tools.. to keep space saving.. I have talked many times about how I wanted to build the cube hydroponic garden.. put it on rails.. well using the same idea in a small space works just as good with big tools.. the table saw etc.. so a work bench.. is needed.. and what better way than to make one that is similar to the grow bed cube.. in a small area you can fit all of the tools.. what I had on mine was a cart that could go and then the tool of choice come out and you use it..
    so while I was trying to work in small areas with here is a view of the work bench and construction of it.. simple and it works.. with the cube the idea was to have a rail that could be assembled and the shelves lined up.. each one would have a lazy susan on the bottom so they could be turned sideways etc.. locked into place.. then tilted tall growth plants on the bottom and or root plants…. four of those would make a grow bed garden that would fit in a twelve by twenty green house.. it also works great for keeping shop tools on.. a roll around work cart.. sits under the shelf with the tool on it.. and slides out on a heavy duty drawer slide.. ( I think one of the commentors and readers here was the one that had the company that sold the slides .. great heavy duty kitchen utensil slide.. ) the roll around project cart was to hold the tool and give support for the parts.

    https://youtu.be/6pcSBCV4rT4?si=UAvFWe5rO7dTHz7V
    https://youtu.be/kwz2Lw3vebw?si=0vfs1t59LuM68Qeg

    Amish and pole barns.. they put the anchor in then the wall tilts up.. just like a hinge.. if you notice this is the same method that is being used by the Elon Musk boxable house.. I use to make play houses for the kids that folded up like that.. simple then when they are done playing fold it up and put it away..
    I was able to build our home in three months.. a few setbacks there.. the contractor that I had gotten took the deposit and ran with it.. ( that is where I got my ten thousand dollar hammer.. LOL he left his and I never seen any of that money ever again.. learned an important lesson there though.. if your getting something done.. and a deposit is required then put the deposit or the funds for the whole project in a separate account that has to be signed off by both parties… he has it as collateral for material for a note and your protected.
    When my son in laws father and I built the kids deck.. we used the same principles on setting the studs and building the deck..
    speaking of this.. I have to finish my generator shed.. which I should do today..

    • When working alone, it’s often easier to put up a light frame and fill in when it’s vertical. This is especially true if working on a second floor where there’s no room at all to tilt up and the only other option is to lift it from outside with a machine. It’s sometimes even easier to frame one stick at a time in place. These options are most useful when remodeling rather than building from scratch. Time is important if you’re short of it, but sometimes the joy is simply experiencing the process.

      • I can actually relate to that one to Mike.. putting up roof trusses.. what a mess that was.. if you have two you can walk them along and place them.. I didn’t have that luxury.. and had to place them.. luckily i got structured trusses.. so when they came they had a crane and dropped the whole bunch on the frame.. then the leveling of the trusses.. it is also where I made my biggest mistake to..
        See when the foundation contractor took the money and ran.. ( he was one of the bigger contractors around here at the time.. he did that to a lot of people that and the other thing is he shorted some.. used inferior or just faked the rebar etc.. ) anyway when he took the money and ran.. I had limited resources.. it was a third of everything I had to work with.. so I CUT the pitch.. of the roof trusses.. instead of a six twelve pitch I went lower to cut costs.. cheaper trusses to help with other things..
        since I built the house.. I knew that with the trusses I had originally planned.. I would have a nice walkway in the attic.. by going smaller I had to crawl.. so a few years ago.. I had to redust insulation had settled.. and I crawled my fat ass up there. only to realize I was thirty years younger and a lot thinner.. so I had to hire a young man to do it.. what I will do with the house.. is if something happens to the wife.. then I will give it to the neediest grand child.. pass it on.. I stay in my bedroom.. they have the house and everything and can take over the maintenance of the home.. they get a free home.. I save the quarter million for an assisted living .. and I know it goes to someone that needs it..
        if I pass on before the wife.. I don’t care what she does with it.. building it myself though and still putting in a hundred hour a week work week.. I had to do the building of it.. as fast and efficient as possible..having a framing table was perfect.. I drew out the plans how I wanted it.. and broke it down into ten foot wall sections..ten foot I could manage by myself..
        my dream home would be rammed earth.. seen a building that was almost a hundred years old built that way.. a college professor in Kansas took the kids out and they did several buildings.. using it.. we visited a lot during their summer extra credit course.. his mix was five parts sand ( aggregate ) three parts clay two parts portland.. compacted..
        I bought a CEB press for a mission and got one for myself at the same time.. it sits unused in the garage..
        https://youtu.be/jcdG18XoqqM?si=tluuuSRvM_6YL–b
        https://aectearthblock.com/
        I have two block forms.. the lego and the cement.. when I got it the cost was like two hundred now they are five hundred.. but shipping is horrible.. when I had one dropped off and shipped to the mission.. it didn’t hardly cost anything.. to get one shipped to me in the wastelands.. dam that was five times what the thing cost.. the kids in Kansas built theirs..

      • My biggest mistake I made.. what I overheard my sister inlaw telling my wife.. You know its going to take him ten years to build this.. I was busy had to get to work.. I had a small two foot stub wall.. and I let what she said bother me.. no level just slapped that bitch up all the while saying to myself.. god dam it grab a dam hammer and help.. and I nailed that sucker in place.. when sheet rock was going up.. I went to put the door in.. and the top is a half inch out of square.. I know what is holding that wall in place there no way to remove or fix it.. every time I walk down the hallway.. I see that wall the half inch out of square and think to myself.. never let what someone says bug you to the point where you get frustraited by it.. LOL LOL

    • I had a job once in a travel trailer factory for a few months when I was 18. We used jigs and framing tables to build walls, just like you suggested. They work well for repeat construction. I’m not sure if they’re as useful for one-off, though I can see getting alignment and measurements right the first time. There are many paths to the river…..

      • Yes.. and after I was through I dissassembled it and used the wood in other places.. just like the tool caddy.. its now my kegerator.. jockey box cart.. my problem was I worked over nights.. then mornings.. and late afternoon.. I only had minutes.. so literally putting up one board.. and doing it myself.. I could lay the wall out.. slap a board on then go to work.. or get fifteen minutes of sleep.. there was usually two hours between the night shift and the day shift.. so sleep an hour then work on the house an hour then off to work.. off at that job.. sleep a half hour then off to stock shelves .. HELL year was worse.. I worked a hundred forty hours plus travel time.. I cannot even tell you how many times I thought a camper would be ideal..my average work week most of my life was a hundred hours a week.. seven days a week.. juggling it so that a day off was an eight or twelve hour day.. I can tell you my kids wouldn’t ever do that.. took food over to a family a week ago.. I feel for him.. made sure I did it so he didn’t know who left the food.. we live closest is fourteen miles.. I know from experience that is a seven hour walk and winter is coming.. been there done that.. he is in for one rough winter.. I picked some tomatoes for the girls.. because one of them said how much she loved tomatoes.. and then learned that was the only food they had had in a week was the meal they ate here and those tomatoes.. so I dropped food off for them.. he doesn’t have a car or a license.. and lives seven miles away from the nearest place to get a job.. not good.. not good at all..

        • 14 miles.. there is one place seven.. but that requires a class a driving permit.. with hazmat..a bad spot for working a great place to raise kids..

  4. I bought an ATS25. About all I have tested is FM sensitivity so far. I was hoping as a demonstration to be able to get a local FM station which I have problems getting indoors on portables, but no problem in the car . 30# roofing felt underlayment on the walls and roof soaks up radio waves.
    The unit came configured for FM mono out of the box. I put it on a cart next to the window to charge, facing the North where the station was located Mid-morning I gave it a try with the included antenna. Sure enough, the radio picked up the station, but the signal was weak, and volume low. Still better than all but the best of my portables with stock antennas. As I was playing with the antenna, it drooped over and the end hit my refrigerator door. Suddenly the signal came in much louder. The baseline interference was better than I would have anticipated with an omni-directional icebox antenna, but not good enough for casual listening. Next I tried a short wire antenna to the top of the fridge. Reception got decent for FM. Moving the wire antenna reel to the top of the kitchen cabinets, giving another 4′ of wire antenna in the opposite direction gave no reception at all. I moved the reel back to the top of a stack of plastic coffee cans on top of the ‘frig. Awesome reception. I plugged the radio in to recharge the battery, and reception went to zero. Bummer. Pulled the USB charge cable, and everything went back A-OK.
    All this sophisticated radio propagation technology is really exciting. Now I want an SDR.

    • Trust me, you will run out of time before running out of signals with an SDR!
      Don’t forget, there is a very small switch on the back of most of the ATS20-ATS-25 type receivers that will toggle from FM to AM (and HF bands). Sounds like you haven’t f=lipped that little slide switch to see which is better. Just remmber when you’re done with FM (and whatever) to put it back the other way for HF and AM reception

      • I have been considering one of those.. I don’t need anything that I can talk on ..just one I can listen on..

      • I tried the antenna source switch – Auto seemed to work as well as the FM position. Then I tried swapping USB power supplies, and reversing the plug polarity. Plug polarity didn’t seem to matter, but USB supply mattered immensely. The newer and more Chinese the USB supply, the worse the noise floor. After testing 4 or 5 USB power supplies, I found a vintage Motorola USB cell phone supply in a drawer, and it worked best by far. There was some noise, but nothing like the newer generic USB supplies. Not sure a powerline filter will help; the noise source seems to be the USB supply. I haven’t seen a cheap low-noise USB charger. Amazon sells USB filters, but they are pricey.

      • Found a brief reference online in a discussion thread to using a usb battery bank in between the charger and the load to filter. Worked like a charm with the ATS25 and the Motorola charger. I’ll never find that reference again so I can’t give a proper attribute. Hat’s off to amateur enthusiasts.
        The susceptibility to USB noise explains the range of reviews I saw online. The workaround is cheap.

    • I use my Big Berkey water filter as an antenna booster. Set the radio by the Berkey and lean the antenna over to touch it. Works like a champ.

    • Radio receivers exist in a world of Light (EM-rad),
      just at a far longer wavelength. Over the years,
      one eventually learns to “see in radiolight,”
      however dimly; and one begings to see how
      unpredictable radio waves can be. Things
      that should work, don’t; and things that
      shouldn’t work do — and it all seems so
      counter-intuitive and chaotic; but it
      isn;t; you just haven’t accouted for all the
      weird ways very long waves can present.

      • in the wastelands we live in a dip or hole.. and most of the signals pass overhead.. when we first moved here I put an antenna on the top of the house.. and couldn’t get anything at all.. called the only way to get television even for the weather was by having a seventy foot pole or cable..
        to have cell phone was funny you could get something if you put aluminum foil hat on held a coat hanger above your head at one spot near the railroad tracks.. LOL.. well verizon put a tower in.. and we had good reception as long as you had verizon.. then last summer a kid was struggling.. he couldn’t get a signal.. verizon moved their service.. so I took the young man out pointed to a pole in the center of town.. see that pole.. yup.. thats their television antenna.. from long ago.. there use to be a pay phone by the bank that took a quarter a minute.. we kept a roll of quarters on the fridge.. and I had a pager.. someone would call leave a message I would get the beep walk to the payphone and call them back.. I really kind of miss those days.. today I pay a great deal of money just to have some political party call me for donations.. and other scam calls.. we do have a land line.. well fiber optics home phone.. but don’t use it or answer any of the calls that comes into it.. as far as I know the only time I have used it is when I put my cell phone down someplace and couldn’t locate it LOL

  5. George
    Anything in/on my ‘project’ is never more than forty feet away and has to have a well known permanent location. Sorting by function is not as pertinent as sorting by ‘where does it fit’ and not get wet. It’s all Ryobi now for ten years, everything from radio to vacuum, saws, drills, grinders, sanders all in one locker along with the various required attachments.
    And the real beauty? When something is ‘lost’, the answer is always, “It’s on the boat”. Unless you know you dropped it over the side previously.
    The wheelly thing is for carrying groceries from the market to the dinghy, folds up and stores in a cockpit locker.
    You get the picture.
    Boat life has some wonderful tradeoffs.
    Stiks
    ]

  6. I saved a man’s life one time because the power cord was NOT tied in a knot like you did,,, it was during the power plant construction, the cord had been repaired by a non electrical person,[connected hot to safety ground] the carpenter was down inside the form with all the rebar in place and was drilling some more hole to insert ties holding the forms together, and called out to his helper to plug into the gas powered welder/generator, welder grounded to the rebar for welding,,, when it stiffened him up like a statue, I reached down and yanked on the cord running beside me and pulled the connection loose,,, he fell into a slump,, we quickly untied some bars over head and lifted him out, he lived,,,
    but, that said, I still do what you did also with my hedge trimmer cord
    the carpenter would have been ok if it were not for an IGNORANT ASS WIPE [a third party] (he was not equipped to do so) thinking he could fix it, when he made the repair

    when ignorant citizens do not understand the US Constitution, they blindly follow the leaders that claim “for the democracy”, they are a threat to our freedom as they willing surrender our freedom for their security,,, jail is a form of security, but who will protect her from the jailers?

    need a light for your sharpie?
    “but, I did not inhale” ,,,sure Billy
    and I did not have sex with the girl in the blue dress, ok Billy
    https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/194912148/Bill-Clinton-in-Blue-Dress

    Speaking of dresses, I see where e jean the serial liar has a couple of lies to account for,, back in the news cycle
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/case-you-missed-it-new-york-magazines-guessing-2/
    and why does liddle E jean have her mouse house in the woods painted with blue/white stripes like Degenerous tv set and Epstein’s temple, seems coincidental
    https://www.marzlovesfreedom.com/post/epstein-island-temple-blue-white-striped-symbolism

  7. George
    Occam’s razor for the 5 August 2024 to 7 October 2024 low to low valuation is a 8/17 of 19-20/20 day :: y/2.5y/2.5y 3 phase Lammert decay fractal series.

    The Nikkei, the ACWI world index, and US Ten Year Treasury interest rates are all following this daily fractal series decay pattern.http://www.economicfractalist.com/blog/

  8. “Another key a/c bubble insight was that on too many of my projects, time has been wasted by the armload simply shagging tools.”

    Try doing maintenance on a TV transmitter at 10,000 ft ASL when you have spent all day prior at sea level! Hypoxia is sneaky. You move slowly so you don’t feel ‘winded’ and everything becomes slow, deliberate actions. So you take off a few panels and are head & shoulders into the final tube cabinet when you discover you need a tool. Slowly withdraw and shuffle across the room to the workbench, where you suddenly wonder what the hell it was you were looking for! Another trip across the room to the transmitter, and you have forgotten where/what you were working on.

    I learned to make myself detailed ‘work lists’ while at low altitude that I could check off line-by-line. I also tried to stay at some of the up-country lodgings to get acclimated to the thin air a bit. One night I tried to sleep at the transmitter site but couldn’t. I felt like I was suffocating every time I closed my eyes. Had to put a fan in my face to feel like I was breathing yet.

    • I have a lot of respect for the tower guys.. my friend owns a tower company.. dam seen some of the videos of what those boys do.. I heart and prayers go out for them and their safety all the time.. asked one of the guys which is worse the tower flexing or ice.. ice was what sobers them up quickly..
      I know the guy doing this climb..
      https://youtu.be/a2p4BOGXSBw?si=SIQfsEpslfQceFrt
      I never did claim that any of them had any sanity though.. why in the hell he climbed that one without a safety harness is beyond my understanding.. you fixing big equipment up in the sky has my serious respect and admiration.. I get on a step stool and realize I could hurt myself LOL

  9. Heard a story of a Dr. that drove all over south LA in a VW with the front passenger seat out, wife in back seat, home made table where coffee and PBJ sandwiches. He loved Acaidian style dog trot houses. After months of study and drawing he had decided on the build. He drew it to scale. Purchased all materials, Then measured and cut every stick of lumber to dementions and any notches. After that assembly and fastening. Saw was never used after. After house was assembled, he wired, plumbed, and finished the interior. All pre-cut wood. A picture shows the beautiful creation. 25 acres in a area that today a 75×100 lot goes for over 1 million. Raised cows, goats, chickens. His week in the house with his wife were magical. Soon there was a small flaw. When out for the evening the beautiful house burned to the ground. Electrical. His one area not thought out well. Broke his heart and never rebuilt. He did build a stone barn with one side with living quarters. Everything he ever built was the same. Drawn, cut, assembled. Had old of his 50 year old chicken pens.
    Think that is how the old timers built their buildings and without fancy fasteners.

    • Electrical will ‘getcha’ if you are ignorant. I replaced EVERY crusty, 50yr old outlet in the ranch here before moving in, and discovered a major electrical faulty wiring job in the process.

  10. The best photo of you, yet! Must be nice to be working in a green Eden, while growing younger all the time.

    Best to ya!

  11. re: 2 i’s & Mr. Burns
    feat: not The Simpsons

    Folks,

    There was a festive mood underway on Saturday at Kenwood House. This fine publication has seen past mention of the Grade II listed manor at Hampstead Heath, London. The current property was built by Scottish lawyer William Murray who was named the 1st Earl of Mansfield by King George III in 1776. A grandson of Tsar Nicholas I leased the house early in the 20th century. As chance would have it one of his German daughters married a grandson of Queen Victoria. Thereafter HM QE2 and the Duke of Edinburgh typically spent their anniversary celebrations with these particular cousins.

    “France24” notes as “unprecedented” the public statements made at Kenwood House this past Saturday by the heads of the UK and US secret services.

    https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240907-us-and-uk-spy-chiefs-praise-ukraine-for-audacious-russia-incursion

    The occasion was the FT Weekend Festival. According to the festival website the anchor sponsor was Bank of America. The organizer, “Financial Times”, is owned by a Japanese colossus whose adherence to government spiels earned their nickname “Japan Inc.”. The festival website link to planned speakers shows no heads of intelligence services being scheduled:

    https://ukftweekendfestival.live.ft.com/page/3794798/speakers

    By the way, there was a tastings and champagne bar as well as site accomodations for pets during the festival.

Comments are closed.