khariV

I've got one that I picked up from Lowes last year. I've used it quite a bit on plywood and it works quite well. While these are a lot cheaper than a track saw, there are a couple of things that you do have to keep in mind using them. 1. For really long cuts (96"), be careful not to push too hard against the fence or it will distort. I actually took to clamping the middle of the fence to keep it still and moving the clamp when I got close. 2. It takes practice to put enough pressure against the fence to keep the cut straight but not so much that you skew the blade. It's especially difficult with long cuts or when the angle you have to hold the saw at gets strange. 3. These guides don't do anything for tear out. Dedicated track saws have anti chip inserts. You'll need to score the wood in plywood first if this is an issue for you (it was for me even with a really nice Diablo blade if I was crosscutting)

I could probably be convinced to pick up the copper tubing cutter, if it's still available.

Looks great. I don't suppose you'd know a good place to buy Kaizen foam? Sellers on Amazon want $34 for a single sheet of the 2" thick stuff, which seems a bit crazy to me.

I decided to step up my measuring game. Tape measures and my temp guns got some high tech reinforcements today! Now I can find my cats when they're hiding in dark rooms.

I have to say that I never really understood the concept behind the twin blade saw. I'm all for innovation, but that one seems to have a more downsides (heat, increased consumable cost) over a traditional smaller bladed circular saw. Perhaps I'm just not sure what it's good at.

I look forward to the detailed response, but in the meantime, here's what you're saying. Using unfaced insulation: One minor wrinkle (actually it's an $800 wrinkle) is that I can get faced insulation for 30% less than unfaced. With that in mind, what you're saying absolutely do NOT do is this: What if I flipped the faced insulation over and put it with the paper up like this? In theory, the two vapor barriers are back to back and touching. Is there opportunity for moisture between the 2? I suppose that I could also perforate / slash the paper if that would help. I don't want to end up with rot / mold from trapped condensation, but the cost differential is significant at this point, so I'd like to figure out my options.

@overanalyze That site is amazing. I've been going down the rabbit hole of attic ventilation, vapor barriers and insulation all morning. Great for educating myself; not so great for getting anything productive done at work. From what I'm reading, I can see that I'm probably asking the wrong questions. I'm not really up for spray foaming the entire underside of the roof decking, for cost and environmental reasons, so a true unvented roofing system is right out. I think the foil is out, but also perhaps so are the pre-fab plastic baffles. There are soffit vents at both ends of the roof that need to be tied into the ventilation. From a number of articles, I am just not convinced that the prefab plastic baffles will do as effective of a job providing ventilation and keeping the outside air out of the fiberglass as a site-built baffle using foam boards or plywood. There are no lights in the rafter space to deal with, so I've got going in my favor. Is there a good reason to use both plywood and foam boards or would a baffle made out of foam boards (sealed of course with foam and tape) do the job just as well? I'm also going to have to re-measure and possibly use furring 2x4s to build out the depth a bit after the foam baffles are in place to be able to fit the R-38. I'm going to keep reading and perhaps take a trip to the depot to check out the options. Thank you again for the tips.

North Carolina. I looked up the required thickness on the zone map and it says to use R-38 for cathedral ceilings.

That makes sense, though every time that I've attached something to the side of a house, I've always gotten out the lag screws or concrete anchors.

Perhaps I'm being dense, but if you're looking for nails to secure the hangars to the ledger boards, why would you want more than 1 1/2"? A 2x10 is only that thick and if you put a 3" nail into it, you'll have half of it sticking out of the side. Speaking from recent experience -I used 1.375" structural joist hanger screws to attach the hangers to the ledger.

The model ends in -21, so I'm pretty sure it's just a 1 battery kit.

I'd like to talk insulation to pick the brains of those in the know. The attic in my house currently has no insulation at all, a legacy of the failed renovation contractor engagement. The house has a cathedral ceiling so the "attic" is really just the underside of the roof and is fully open to the rest of the house. There is no enclosed and sealed attic really. The red part is the what has no insulation currently. Actually, there's no insulation on the floor area of the attic either, but that's not really an especially exciting discussion. The rafters are 12" deep and 16" on center - nothing oddball there thankfully. I'm going to install new insulation myself, but I think I need a bit more information on the right and wrong way to do it. The first option would be to install faced R-38 insulation. I'm pretty sure that I'd also need to install baffles to ensure the proper gap. That's Option 1. While that would work, I've been told that I really ought to investigate reflective insulation. That's where things get complicated. From my research, I'd use something like this. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix-16-in-x-25-ft-Double-Reflective-Insulation-with-Staple-Tab-ST16025/100012574 The installation instructions on this say that it needs a 1" air gap to be effective and that it can be used as a vapor barrier with unfaced insulation. The first problem, and it's my problem, is that Lowes has a 30% off insulation deal on now that doesn't include unfaced R-38, so I'd be using kraft paper faced and it would look like this. Well, that doesn't give the required gap between the paper and the reflective insulation. Does it matter? In my research, I also see that in NC, you can install the bubble reflective insulation directly against the roof decking, again as long as you have the 1" air gap beneath it. That brings me to Option 2a. I'd still have to put in baffles on top of the reflective insulation and I'd still be using faced insulation stapled to the rafters. So, those are my choices. I'd like some input from anyone that knows more than I do on this topic - meaning probably just about everyone Here are my questions. 1. Should I bother with reflective insulation in addition to the fiberglass? 2. If I do use the reflective insulation, is it OK to use with faced insulation (Option 2)? 3. If I go with option 2a, do I still need a plastic sheet vapor barrier on top of the faced insulation (This is where the green line would be in diagram 2a) As always, thank you all a ton for your experience and advice. kdv

Video is marked private, but thank you for confirming that this will work. I've also re-enforced my opinion that the crew is a serious bunch of enablers Not that I ever really want to be talked out of buying tools, mind you. I have an appointment with two new restoration companies coming out tomorrow afternoon. If they come in too expensive for cleaning & re-insulating the non-four-stories-in-the-air part of the attic, I'll be going green for an extractor and possibly a sander. Who am I kidding - if they come in with pretty much any level of padding, I'll be doing it myself. Save some money and I get a new toy to keep when all is said and done? How is that a decision? The real choice becomes which one to get. Is the AC worth the extra $$$ or go with a MIDI and a dust deputy?

I've read competing things on this topic, so I wanted to hear from the festool owning crowd in the crew. I've got an assortment of different tool brands that I might want to hook up to DC. If I happened to pick up a MIDI or one of the CTs, what would be the drama level of hooking up to my tools? I've read that there are basically no adapters that fit the festool hoses to make them standard sizes. I've also read that the Bosch ones fit - tools or adapters, couldn't tell. So, the question I have for the crew in the know is - what is the difficulty in finding adapters to fit your Festool DC up to non-Festool power tools? I'd need to hook it up to my Bosch router and perhaps my miter saw (2 1/2") or a circular saw, if I ever get around to hooking that up. thanks kdv

I've looked at the Dust Deputy, but the problem is then you have to empty the DD cylinder. I'm not sure it would be a great idea to go banging out a mouse poop filled DD, though I suppose I could do that while still suited up.

I didn't get in on this early enough so I still got the killer price, but I won't be seeing my screwdrivers until September. Oh well, still a great deal. If anyone else is looking for the deal, you have to look under other offers to get the deal prices. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not yet marked down yet on this side of the border.

So I was typing a response to a thread I had started and I was having trouble uploading an image. So, I figured, I'd switch to a different browser and try again. There was this helpful little button called "Moderation Actions" that had a "Delete" option. Silly me, I thought that this was a "Cancel" this post update. Nope. I found out the hard way that it nuked my entire post, replies and all. Doh! In case anyone else was wondering what it does....

I seriously thought about getting a Festool and this would really be the perfect excuse. Then however, I thought about the fact is be vacuuming up poop with my fine German engineering and I'd probably have to replace a $400 hose when I was done because there's no good way to clean it out for regular woodworking dust duties. I've vacuumed up litter box dust with a shop vac before and the smell never really leaves the hose. I'm just not sure I could do this to a Festool or any really nice dust extractor. That's why I was leaning towards something like a Dustless that has a pre-filter. I don't know that it's that much cheaper, but then I don't have to have the conversation with myself saying "well, this is the stinky Festool. I have to buy another one for my shop" if that makes any sense.

A 1/4"x 1" lag screw isn't really all that long so I'm quite certain either the Dewalt or the Milwaukee will work out just fine. What may I ask are you using such small lag screws for that you couldn't use a different wood screw? Maple is hard so you'll definitely want to pre/drill to keep it from splitting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The HD deal (7.31.2016) of the day involves 10-20% off of a bunch of brushed M18 kits. If anyone was looking at these, it's not a bad way to save a bit of money.

As a continuation of the attic drama from my other thread in "Around the House" I am contemplating doing the cleanup in my attic myself. To do that safely, I really think that I should use a good HEPA vacuum to remove all of the drywall dust, mouse poop and fiberglass leftovers. I love my ridgid shop vac, but I don't think it's quite up to the job. Does anyone have experience with this sort of mess that can recommend a good HEPA vacuum? I don't mind spending for quality, but of course I don't really want an industrial system that costs a fortune and weighs a ton. Any personal experience that can say what not to buy is also greatly appreciated. Thanks kdv

Still $10 around here.

Looks great. I love Cabot Gold - it's 3x as expensive as some of the other all in one stains that you can get, but it's the best stuff I've ever used. What are you using to fill the screw holes?

Now that's a lot of lube.