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We lost another brave solders in combat, the brother of my best friend. RIP Molinar The hardest part about being a Veteran is leaving your friends behind, its even harder when you loose them. Im sure some of you guys know what Im talking about. *TAPS

The biggest benefit to variable speed is when sanding material other then wood. reduce the speed =reduction in friction/heat. Sanding materials like plastic at high speed will gum up the paper and melt your work piece.

Give me that truck already! Time to retire my old 4runner. If you have not seen the latest TIA video, Bosch is giving away a new Dodge Ram. One of my favorite trucks and the one I would buy if I had enough money. Also, bosh is giving away power tools. Simply watch the video and you could win that product. Very cool Bosch, and thanks TIA for promoting this giveaway. Someone is going to be very happy in a few months. Enter here: http://www.boschbestbuilt.com/?affiliate_id=1b

I would think you should be as far away as possible with an HD cam. The guys can zoom in and size the background from there

I dont have money for the festool, wish I could go that route. Looks like I will be putting which ever sander I get to good use. We are going to sell our house and there is lots of work needed to get it in shape. The vanity project will be put on hold and Ill start knocking out some honey do's. Im leaning towards the Bosh RO. The price is right and reviews are awesome. The Mikita is also in the running. I'll make a decision before the week is up.

The Bosh also looks good. Bosch 2.5-Amp Orbital Power Sander Item #: 294221 $59.00 But I dont know if I like the dust collector

Are you talking about this guy? Makita 5 in. Random Orbit Sander: Model # BO5030K $69.97 Great price, or the variable speed model?

I use to be part of the steam world. Although not a train. I served on two ships that were steam powered. The last was the USS Cleveland LPD7. Two steam boilers, not common and it was going to be decommissioned till 9/11. The Cleveland is a troop transport/landing platform. Has a flat bottom so we can get really close to shore. We flood the well deck and the ass end of the sip sinks about 8ft into the water, that way we can launch boats, hovercraft, and those floating tank like things(LCU). She wasn't fast but we still chased down pirates! But we often brook down. An old steam ship is a lot of work!

Im in the market for a random orbital sander, I think it will make refinishing the vanity project go much faster. I'm leaning towards the dewalt but I'm open to all brands. I don't know if I would ever really need variable speed, at least for woodworking applications, but working with other materials it might come in handy. What do you guys think? Bosh, Crapsmen, Dewalt? Too many too choose from. As always I am able to buy this tool because I did some side work. I only have about $100 to spend on the sander though.

If I had the money i would buy this for you. http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/clt/4387557440.html crazy how much these little guys are going for. Found it while searching for hand tools.

If nothing else I have influenced everyone to clean their work-spaces, myself included.

How about we use that green screen to "host" TIA in the users workshops? Forum users submit pictures of their/our workshops and Eric/Dan does an episode of TIA from the users virtual workshop? I think it would be fun to see my garage on YouTube.

I like that Bosh, always been a fan of the arm vs the rails. Only because of space saving..

How about an RFID truck toolbox. You have an RFID tag on you, in a wallet or something... And the tool box unlocks when you around, locks when your out of range. No key, no external lock. Locking from the inside of the box... I could build something like that, but would it really be worth it?

Not really, but pretty funny

One of the first things I did when I got out of the Military was buy a classic car. I bought a 1965 ford fairlane, shaved door handles, 390, with exhaust pipes poking out behind the rear slicks. Illegal ran a red light and T-Boned me, sent my car into a light post. I crawled out the window right before it caught fire. Had that car for less then 10 min. .. No insurance yet so I got to pay a fine and the car was totaled.

It's spring break this weekend so I should have more time to work. On the project. My wife is going on vaca with her mother so me and her dad will hit it hard and I'll try my best to get it done before she gets home. You know I'm a tool nut when I'm spending my spring break woodworking instead of drinking.

My wife has been wanting a vanity for awhile now. She puts her makeup on, seated Indian style, on the floor, in front of a mirrored door. We spotted an old vanity on craigslist for cheap and she fell in love with it. Went down today and picked it up. The vanity needs some work so I decided to refinish it. Starting with the seat, I took it apart and started to sand. My father in law came over and decided to lend a hand. It's a special thing for him to help on this project because he just finished cancer treatment. Still in recovery, his doctors encourage him to be active. I set him up with a mask and old porta cable sander, (random orbit sander is on the Xmas list). He went to town and worked all day! He told me stories of when he was a kid in wood shop. Said he was never any good but enjoyed it anyway. He really was able to forget about the cancer, remember some good times, and smile. He called me tonight and thanked me for letting him help out on the project, even asked if he could come over tomorrow and finish up. Woodworking is a great thing, it's always been my therapy. A great way to find peace is behind a tablesaw, and now I get to introduce Bob to the hobby. I'll post some project pics later but for now enjoy these... Wife and one of our dogs Allison Gator reaction to the vanity Bob sanding away! My wife stripping the old fabric, found 4 old fabrics, one under another This was at the bottom, and most likely is the original fabric(or close to it)

its inspiring to see you guys helping one-another out. Bravo-Zulu regopit

I live in a good area to score sweet tool deals. People are always buying new tools for hobby and selling them when they realize how much work... working is. The other day I was working in the garage, my father in law came over, he is recovering from cancer treatments so he like to sit and watch me work. He told me I need a hobby, said I work too much. I told him that working is my hobby. Im up at 6am and work till 6pm, then school till 10pm. On the weekends I study about 10hours and spend my "free" time working in the garage or I'll pick up a side job. Working in the garage and building stuff is fun for me. Most people dont understand it, but thats why we love tools right? Too bad Im a poor student otherwise I would cash in on the tool deals, I can at least give you guys a heads up.

An oscilloscope is used to view an electronic signal. A simple example of an electronic signal would be a sin wave. (think back to trig). The waveform has different characteristics and the scope makes it possible to view the characteristics. This is an example of an analog waveform. it would be impossible to view a waveform on a normal meter. With digital electronics and computers: A good oscilloscope can also decode signals. Everything needs some way of talking to stuff, electronics are no different. Protocols have been established to create a standard of communication. When viewed with a scope the signals look like square waves. The high = 1 and the low = 0 .. Thats where you get all that 10010100100101 binary stuff. It's more complex and different standards do different things but the principle is all the same. This is what an SPI bus looks like on paper and this is what a good scope can do: Notice that a good scope can even decode the square wave pulses into hex ( a number system thats easier to read then wave form) The scope Tek is giving away can do a lot more... As for price... $$$$$$ cheap scope = $400 good scope = $2500 professional scope = $50,000

Yes, winnint the scope would be like winning 10x ultimate tool bags! Still, winning the 5-way laser is cool. Im not exactly sure how Ill use it yet. Any ideas for a test project?

Cool, I had no idea they were even giving away stuff.

I live close to the guy, maybe I can help you broker the deal?

Spotted a guy selling a bunch of new/ish Festool Tools on CL. Always when I dont have money.. http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tls/4360562268.html