Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
- Start date
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Decently built houses have OSB under the siding. That said, when my brother was an electrician he helped build some houses where they only sheeted two sides so when he installed outdoor lights and such he could literally cut through the wall with his box cutter.
Lejina
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Installed security cameras around the house. Need to pass the wiring in the attic and while up there I figured I'd run a couple Ethernet cables so I can wire the tv to the net and move the Wi-Fi access point to the living room.
Sounds easy enough.
Jesus, there must have at least a foot of blown insulation in that attic. I basically swam in large dust particles for 4 hours. Using two 2x3 foot pine boards to sit on and move around.
Originally planned to run the cables thru the soffit but I couldn't reach it without submerging in the insulation and impaling myself on the shingle nails. So I had to drill thru the brick on the front and back of the house.
Go outside and to run the wires 20ft in the air, thought it was a bit windy up on my ladder, felt more wobbly than usual. Figured it was just me being tired, onward to finish the job. I walk inside the house once it's done and there was a tornado warning. I guess it was windy after all.
Was a shitty day but glad it's done.
Sounds easy enough.
Jesus, there must have at least a foot of blown insulation in that attic. I basically swam in large dust particles for 4 hours. Using two 2x3 foot pine boards to sit on and move around.
Originally planned to run the cables thru the soffit but I couldn't reach it without submerging in the insulation and impaling myself on the shingle nails. So I had to drill thru the brick on the front and back of the house.
Go outside and to run the wires 20ft in the air, thought it was a bit windy up on my ladder, felt more wobbly than usual. Figured it was just me being tired, onward to finish the job. I walk inside the house once it's done and there was a tornado warning. I guess it was windy after all.
Was a shitty day but glad it's done.
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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Rented a power rake today so I can get started on renovating my lawn. The power rake let me do some grading work and smooth out the bumps in the yard. Unfortunately, I don’t have a tractor, but I figured I only have about 4-5K sq ft of lawn so I flattened some chicken wire and put a couple concrete blocks on it for weight and drug it around the yard for a couple passes. It worked pretty well, but I’m not sure that my fat out of shape ass is gonna be able to walk tomorrow lol
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Vinen
God is dead
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Curious as well. Now that I have a Garage I can start storing stuff I will never use.
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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Basic:
Hammer
Screwdriver
Hand saw
Box cutter/extra blades
Crescent wrench
Torpedo level
Slightly more advanced:
Cordless Impact driver
Speed square
Skillsaw
Reciprocating saw
48” level
Oscillating tool
Socket set
Ratcheting PVC cutter
Advanced:
Laser level
Miter saw
Table saw
There’s many more useful tools than the ones listed here, but they’re more specialized to specific projects/tasks (for example mud knives, extendable handle paint rollers, hammer drill).
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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Only the unenlightened would dare call Chacos “sandals”.Doing yard work in sandals?
Props on the innovation though.
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Whatever they are, I see exposed flesh! I'd wear jeans too if I could somehow not sweat like a pig.
~5 piece cordless set, a 3 pack of channel locks(the brand or some other quality brand), a pack of flathead screwdrivers, linemans pliers (klein), a bit set and a screwdriver that takes bits.
Or watch Facebook yardsale for when someone is clearing out a collection and go from there.
Or watch Facebook yardsale for when someone is clearing out a collection and go from there.
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I think there's an easy way to figure this out. For the next while, do your own projects, and buy the tools you need. Not for every little thing, necessarily, but if you're doing drywall repair, putting in a door, installing trim, fixing basic plumbing, minor electrical, and so forth, buy the tools you need. After a couple years of that, you'll have a great set of tools that will do basically anything. Periodically you'll have to get something new, but there's no need to go and outfit yourself with every possible tool you're going to need as a DIYer right now.
But the list above is pretty good. I'd start with basic screwdriver set, a good drill, good pliers and wire cutters, and see what you need beyond that as the projects come up.
One piece of advice - you don't have to get the very best of every tool you buy, but don't buy the cheapest either. You'll eventually regret it, even with basic things driver bits for your drill and screwdrivers. Get decent stuff right off the bat and you won't be battling your tools forever. One example is my table saw. I got a real cheap one about 20 years ago (Delta, something like $120 at the time), and that sucker would not die, but it also was just a crappy table saw. I struggled to get good cuts even on smallish projects, and if I had to rip something out of a 4x8 sheet? Forget about it. Fairly recently I got a Jet table saw. It retails for over $2,000, but I got it on a local marketplace for under $400. Since I've had it I have been building cabinets. It's simple to cut from big sheets as the rip gate can be set all the way out to 40 inches, and the weight of it makes it very stable. Plus, the power of the motor rips through anything without effort. It made me miss 19 years of using that piece of shit I had originally.
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Hateyou
Not Great, Not Terrible
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I suggest one of these paired with a circular saw over a table saw. You can hang it on a wall, it’s $40, and it’s easier to rip stuff with if you’re doing stuff by yourself. Tablesaw can be a pita to do alone unless you have a giant fucker. My neighbor has an expensive Dewalt tablesaw and he borrows my jig instead now.
Rip-Cut Circular Saw Guide
And like lurkingdirk said, just buy some basic stuff and buy as you go, get middle of the road stuff. You don’t need high end shit that guys doing construction use, but you don’t want Chinese garbage either. Stuff like Kobalt is perfectly good stuff without breaking your wallet.
Rip-Cut Circular Saw Guide
And like lurkingdirk said, just buy some basic stuff and buy as you go, get middle of the road stuff. You don’t need high end shit that guys doing construction use, but you don’t want Chinese garbage either. Stuff like Kobalt is perfectly good stuff without breaking your wallet.
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Channel locks are my number one don't cheap out item. If they're held together by a screw and nut the only thing they're good for is beating the person who handed them to you imo.
When buying any of this stuff remember that all metal/materials are not the same, sure you can get a 40 drill bits for $15 but pay attention to how long it takes before they're smoking their way through pine. If you lose a lot of tools it may work out perfect, but it can also be frustrating to pick up a bit and head into a crawlspace and have to shit yourself in the pretzel position pressing into the joists overhead because you saved 7 dollars on something you're going to have for 5 years.
When buying any of this stuff remember that all metal/materials are not the same, sure you can get a 40 drill bits for $15 but pay attention to how long it takes before they're smoking their way through pine. If you lose a lot of tools it may work out perfect, but it can also be frustrating to pick up a bit and head into a crawlspace and have to shit yourself in the pretzel position pressing into the joists overhead because you saved 7 dollars on something you're going to have for 5 years.
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Kobalt is really hit and miss with their power tools. Most of their hand tools are great, though.
And I'm intrigued by that rip-cut circular saw guide. I'll have to look into it a bit more. But there are also these things, that clamp onto whatever you're cutting, and you can run your circular saw along it with the accuracy of a table saw:
All-In-One Clamp Guide Package
I have a couple of those, and they are very useful.
However, there are times when a circular saw will simply make a mess of things, and a table saw will make a much better cut. For example, when I recently cut through 2 inch butcher block, there was no way I was going to get a clean cut with a circular saw. Table saw made short work of it, though.
And I'm intrigued by that rip-cut circular saw guide. I'll have to look into it a bit more. But there are also these things, that clamp onto whatever you're cutting, and you can run your circular saw along it with the accuracy of a table saw:
All-In-One Clamp Guide Package
I have a couple of those, and they are very useful.
However, there are times when a circular saw will simply make a mess of things, and a table saw will make a much better cut. For example, when I recently cut through 2 inch butcher block, there was no way I was going to get a clean cut with a circular saw. Table saw made short work of it, though.
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Lejina
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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It was rough but not as rough as when I was trying to rake at the deepest setting. The power rake isn’t self propelled, and I’m short so pushing forward inevitably caused me to push upwards on the handle (forcing the nose down). This meant that any slight mound or bump would cause a hard stop of forward momentum as the front of the power rake buried itself. I wrestled with that for about 15 minutes before I decided the second deepest setting was good enough lol. My whole body is sore as fuck, but my arms are feeling it the most.
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Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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i've been seriously thinking about either switching or having dual product lines of my current ryobi and some other brand.
price per brand ryobi is like .5% more than the rest on a bare tool.
does dewalt also have like only 1 battery type to buy or is it all different?