adambaum

I went with a Dewalt package from Lowe’s. $149 for a drill and impact driver, 2 x 20v batteries, charger, and carrying bag. Much lighter than my Nicad setup. Should be fine for me since I have a drill press and a corded drill for when I need more horse power.

That’s the same problem I have with my Dewalt. Seems like chucks these days aren’t as good as they used to be.

I’m in need of an upgrade. I’ve got two Dewalt 18v drills with nicad batteries. Batteries last maybe 10 minutes and are pricey to replace. So I noticed most brands have a 20v lithium setup on sale for around $100. Anyone have experience with the models in this price range? Milwaukee, Makita,, Dewalt, etc. adam

Looks like the heat (118+) was too much for one of my cans of Zinsser. I opened my finish storage cabinet and found a puddle around a few cans. Can't quite figure out how it got out because the rims of all the cans are clean. I'm thinking the seal around the bottom of a can let loose a bit. Thankfully it was still goopy so cleanup wasn't too bad.

Yes, weather stripping is in excellent shape. Brand new house. I expect some air leakage where there are gaps in the concrete pad, but I would think the additional insulation could act as a radiant barrier for keeping heat out.

My garage door is supposedly insulated. Realistically speaking, it's insulated for a garage, not a shop. Anyone ever add one of those Home Depot garage door insulation kits? Ive seen two there: Corning and generic. I'm assuming they are roughly the same; incorrectly sized panels that I'll have to figure out how to fit in the garage door channels. One problem area is that my door doesn't really have channels. Are there panel dividers, yes. But they don't provide the traditional channel where something can be inset. I'd have to use double stick tape or some other adhesive. adam

I have a jet JTAS10XL with 52" rails and extension. I need to make it mobile. Ideal mobile base would also be able to carry a cabinet I built that fits under the extension. No fancy, just a standard base cabinet sized to fit under the extension. No outfeed table or other addons. Suggestions? adam

My net price was around $6700 or so. I paid more up front, but since its Costco, I received a Costco cash card in the mail and I'll get the annual rebate. I got a SEER 16 unit that covers a 3 car garage out here in arizona. Garage is insulated and I told the sales guy that I was looking to maintain low 80's temp-wise. Oh yeah, I got. Lennox with 12yr warranty. Price also covered electrical and permits.

You won't. At my local Costco, there are a bunch of service kiosks on the way to the exit. One is garage doors, another windows, etc. I picked up the brochure for AC and called the number.

Have you tried going thru Costco? I just had a Lennox mini split installed using the Costco AC provider.

I'm limited in that the builder won't put any outlets in the floor and near certain components, such as the water heater. The garage is setup as a 4 car tandem. So roughly 20x40. I asked if they could run a pipe/pvc/something for electrical towards a particular area during the pour of the garage floor and they said no. So I asked then if they could do it during the electrical install phase of the house biuld, and again they said no. Don't really need a subpanel. They put in huge panels to begin with and it is attached to the outer wall of the garage. There's enough free space for 4 dedicated 220v and 6 dedicated 110v circuits. That's more than plenty. I work off of 2x 220v and 2 x 110v right now. I never run more than two 220v items at a time: DC and then whatever tool. Adam Definitely going to hire out. It will either be the builder's electrical team or some other licensed & bonded electrician.

Ok, so it's really a garage. We are going to do a new build house so I have two choices: 1) builder do electrical or 2) do electrical after build. pro of #1 is that it will be warrantied by builder. Also will be in wall. Pro of #2 is cost. Can get outlets wherever I want. con of #1 are cost and limitation of outlet placement. Can only get wall/ceiling mounted outlets. This is not a custom build so options are limited. con of #2 are 3rd party warranty and possibly not hidden in wall. Could get pricey if electrician has to cut into drywall to run wiring. If you had a similar decision to make, which way did you go and why?

We're contemplating moving and for some reason all the houses we are looking at have gas water heaters. Since the garage = my shop, should I be worried about wood dust starting a fire within the water heater? What about standard finishing fumes? I try to do most of my finishing with the garage door open, but if it is later at night or windy, the door remains closed. Adam

Here is pic of a purpleheart and maple jewelry armoire I made for my wife. Given how it turned out, I would pick a different dark wood next time. In the typical warm light of a house, it just looks really dark. Finish is a water-based poly.

I'm using ArmrSeal to finish a bandsaw box made out of Alder. The wood is so dry that even though I flooded it three times in under a minute, every bit soaked in and the wood looks like its already dry. Didn't have to wipe anything off and its dry to the touch. I spent more time getting gloves on and stirring the finish in the can that I did applying it. Something tells me not to keep this wood anywhere near an open flame. Adam