ChiTownMigrant

So I've been working on remodeling our kitchen over the past couple months, and mostly been doing it low budget trying to reuse existing materials and just improve the layout and make it more open concept. Its been going well, and I just put back up some of the upper cabinets that were on a wall that got taken out. It wasn't until I put the doors back on that I realized I had a problem. The previous owners had run crown molding across the top of the cabinets that were relocated, so now my doors are about 3" too short. If you look at my attached pictures, you can see how they were before and how there is a problem now. I see two possible solutions. Either make new doors, or join on an extension to the existing doors to make them the correct size. I'm a woodworking newb, but I was planning on making a couple new doors for the new pantry I am putting in next the the fridge (you can see it in the picture). Our current cabinet doors are just 3/4" MDF with a laminate veener and a beveled edge. I was just going to cut a couple doors to size, run the edges over the router table, and veener them. I'd love to make all new solid wood doors for the whole kitchen at some point, but need a lot more time and money. My wife also would murder me if I started doing it now. So I could just make 2 more doors in addition to the ones I was already planning on making. Or I was thinking I could joint on an extention to the two existing doors with biscuits. Haven't tried this before and have little experience working with MDF. Should I not waste my time trying this? Any other suggestions? Sorry about the lines over the before picture, only one I had was from when we bought the place. Got quotes from a few contractors to redo the kitchen similar to what I have already done, and they wanted $40k+ not including appliances due to us living in a condo in downtown Chicago.

Haha, yeah. I had one last year as I was at 10 years from my last one. I'll let you know if I start getting lockjaw and having arm spasms. Or I guess I won't because I won't be able to type.

I took out a wall/ french doors. There is a remaining 1x1 with metal bracket that used to hold the door frame. The main reason I got the multi was to take out the grout and rasp under a few tiles I need to remove. Never have found a tool that makes it easy. Hoping it will make the job easier, preferably without breaking the tiles. They are luckily solid granite and hopefully not too brittle.

Haha, Protoolnut, I totally agree. I usually am always wearing gloves. I was wearing one on my right hand, but took the one on my left off to do something (I think to use my phone). This is exactly what I deserve for being stupid. Oh well. Just a little flesh wound.

JMG, This is exactly what I need. I am going to shoot them an email to figure out where they are located. Thanks for the info!

So I actually have seen my uncle use the cow stuff in upstate New York on his livestock. Similar to the 1st Gen quickclot powder, just not as advanced. I would prefer the 2nd gen bandages over the powder because they work better, and they do not require a trauma surgeon/ER doc (depending on severity of wound) to scrape out the clotting powder to debride, irrigate and close. Don't get me wrong, if that's what you have it will save your life/ stop the bleeding, however once you've seen how they remove the stuff (essentially a wire brush) you will have wanted to have used just the bandage. The powders also expire a lot faster than the bandages. Wayyy better for you in terms of how the wound turns out. For deep, life threatening wounds, you can pack the wound much easier with the bandage than the powder. Watch this: ( ) There is a heat, cauterizing effect with the powder. Now watch this: Much better for you, and the gauzes can be seen on xray and removed easily by next level of care.They show the powder being washed out easily, not really true after its been in there for an hour. Also, for more minor wounds, putting a bandage on is easier than using essentially a clotting/cauterizing agent. Both agents will stop something as serious as a femoral bleed and save your life/or limb. These products are awesome.

So, Bmack, get this quickclot trauma kit from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical-Kits-2064-0292-QuikClot/dp/B003BS2PW4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454398164&sr=8-2&keywords=quikclot) and some steri-strips (http://www.amazon.com/3M-Steri-Strip-reinforced-Skin-Closures/dp/B004WFXCSQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454398211&sr=8-1&keywords=steri-strips) Once the bleeding stops using the quick-clot, use the steri-strips to pull the wound together. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5m0CYCt59E_) Make sure you sterilize, irrigate, and debride the wound with some sort of surgical soap (http://www.amazon.com/Hibiclens-Antimicrobial-Liquid-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B00EV1D79A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454398298&sr=8-1&keywords=surgical+soap) and then apply Iodine or something around the wound. No sutures required. Especially awesome for face wounds where stitches can't be applied. As long as you keep replacing the steri-strips and keep the wound together as it heals, no stitches required. That being said, if in doubt go to ER. Also, you can learn to do your own stitches on multiple youtube videos. Just buy the kit and sterile sutures. really just sewing flesh instead of cloth.... Being on alcohol always helps. The quickclot (bandages, don't get the first gen powder stuff) shit is the best to have regardless of whether you are going to fix yourself or go to the ER. Watched these things stop bleeding from trauma due to a 7.62x39mm round many times... I also apply some sort of bacitracin agent several times a day to keep the wound sterile. If it starts to pus, you are on anticoagulants, doesn't stop bleeding, or get really inflamed, go to ER. Sutures are generally always going to hold the wound together the best. Knowing how to do them yourself is awesome because it avoids waiting hours in the ER and paying $2000 for a 10 minute procedure. However, some areas are not ideal for sutures (think cut above your eyebrow), and steri-strips are better. Dissolving sutures are also ideal, but you might not always get them--in the ER or if you do them yourself. You can easily remove them yourself after a couple weeks using the same suture kit you used to put them in--I have this one (http://www.amazon.com/COMPREHEMSIVE-LACERATION-CASTROVIEJO-INSTRUMENTS-GSI/dp/B00R2IZTFO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454399448&sr=8-2&keywords=suture+kit). Learn how to put in sutures using this video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P0rYS6LeZw). I would also recommend getting some practice sutures and a practice pad (http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Suture-Your-Design-Medical/dp/B00STNQ9UU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454399798&sr=8-1&keywords=practice+suture+kit). Or use some raw steak or chicken with a laceration in it, So that the first time you are doing it isn't on yourself. Trust me, I'm on the internet on a tool forum...

Well, apparently I am not a good photographer while dunk.

So I was trying to sleep, but as I just sliced my hand open (see whatever area forum post) I apparently have so much adrenaline in my system I cannot. Today (3pm-1am) I was trying to finish the drywall and other finishes in our kitchen. I used to Dewalt Multi-tool (power tools can only be generally used from 9-5 in my condo building due to noise and my lovely neighbors). There was this little 1x1 and metal stud left over from taking out some french doors. needed to cut this off so I could finish all the way down to the floor. Used the nail and wood attachment on my Dewalt Multi-tool to accomplish this (neighbors still complained about noise, but I had a construction agreement in to management and was in the 9-5 window, hahahah, assholes). You can see the finish along with the acrylic finish patch and fiberglass tape I used to face the stud. Was too thin to use drywall, so I am facing with this awesome product and will use joint compound over it to finish and smooth the area, Is beneath a new granite Island I am putting in the kitchen. Using all existing materials for the Island to make a more open concept. I hate how they did shit 30 years ago. Luckily they used good materials and I can reuse the granite. We will see how well my granite seam turns out on the island. I need to use a diamond dry bit on my router to smooth out the piece I am going to use. The only complaint I have about the multi-tool is that it is loud as fuck and takes a while to cut through. a jig saw or cutoff probably would have worked better, but the multi is new and I am still playing around with it,. What do you guys think?

So i was taking off some door trim, needed to slice the caulk open, so I was using a razor. I am usually good about cutting away from myself, but apparently not today. Cutter went into my thenar eminence (the big meaty part of your thumb next to your palm but below the actual digit). Cut down and partially into the muscle belly (abductor pollicis brevis), and was bleeding like crazy, but surprisingly didn't hurt that much. Luckily I still had my old issued IFAK (individual first aid kit) (I'm now in the reserves with this Recon unit down in Joilet--was with 2nd LAR in Lejuene on active if we have any Marine dudes in here, and 4th AT ( STA Plt), and 4th Force Recon). Used the Quick Clot bandage and pressure to stop the bleeding, used a steri-strip to pull the cut together (weird being able to look at your own muscles). Once I was sure the shit wasn't bleeding too much I pulled off the quick-clot bandage and looked at it. (I also consumed several adult beverages while waiting for it to stop bleeding, which may be it doesnt hurt). My first thought is fuck, I can see the muscle and this needs stitches. This is going to cost me a fuckload of money if I go to urgent care or the ER. So since I am in Medical School at NW, I decide I am fully qualified to put in my own stitches (I also put in my own when I got shot in the ass in AFG and I was trained during one of our live animal courses). Take a swig of whiskey, started putting in stitches using my kit and here is the result (I also disinfected using surgical soap I stole from work and used Iodine from my kit to create a decent field). See the attached pictures for result and blood spatter. I am able to fully use the cut thumb (hurts a little), so I am not worried able long term damage (else would go to ER). Well fuck me, I am so glad my wife is out of town. Only thing I had to deal with is my dog trying to lick up all the blood and off me--Oh god, he has tasted human flesh, run!!! Haha, I am drunk right now, but feeling all right. I guess I will call it quits on construction for now. What do you guys think about my stitch job??? If you don't have a QuickClot trauma pack, I would highly recommend buying one (the 2nd gen civilian ones are fucking awesome, same shit we use in country). So I have been rambling, probably from the cytokines and alcohol. I am going to try and go to sleep. I'll post follow-up pictures tomorrow. If I don't, it's because I bled out and should have gone to the ERl. Hahaha. :Love you guys, even though I just met you. I am such a fucking idiot. Hope this doesn't leave too big a scar. (Never even been to ER before this for myself). Not even sure if my writing has been comprehensible, hard as fuck to type with one hand. Kill kill kill. Stephen

So I think I'm going to start writing a guide to doing work in a condo/in minimal space. I've only gotten as far as step 1: Step 1: Don't live in a condo. Haha, I'm trying to get some drywall work done before our new fridge shows up (had to bribe the wife somehow to let me destroy her place and have it filthy for a month). Just hand sawed and scored more drywall by hand han I would like to admit. Metal studs are also a fucking bitch to hand screw drywall screws into. I had to do this all after hours and so I am being ultra-quiet. JMG, I am coming up with all kinds of ideas for how to sound proof a work area based upon what you told me. I am allowed my own room in the condo (the ruler, the wife, is generous to her subjects), the study, but it is lost when "guests" come into town and must be made "clean" when they are here. (I am joking, but she is awesome with me, and honestly keeps me from living in filth my entire life). So any sound proof room I would build would have to be break-downable and storeable. I would love to dust and sound proof the room for woodworking, but it ain't gunna happen. If I could gut the whole place I would put in resilient channel mounted sound-dampening drywall with spray foam insulation, knowing what I know now. Only problem is I can't gut the whole place and those materials cost 10x more than normal shit. Other issue is how to minimize vibration transmission to above and below the unit. In reality I need to find a place to do work with my tools. Would love to have space to set up my router and table saw and whatnot. I either need to make friends with someone with a garage, or find a place I can rent and put all my shit in (they would have to allow me to work in it). This would be easy down in NC where I was last stationed, not so much in Chicago. Now what I have made progress on is buying tools that are compact and space saving. Due to have literally no storage place in our condo (I'm working on some big built-ins), I can't have much. However, I have become crafty in finding compact replacements for a full-size garage work area. This is actually probably why I found tools-in-action. I am using the current remodel work to get my wife to let me buy Dewalt's heavy duty miter saw stand. I am going to use it to build a work table attachment and a router table. (I told her I absolutely needed it to do her crown molding) Then I would love to use that to make new cabinets and whatnot down the line. Good news is that I can break all this down and throw it in a big closet when I don't need it. Anyways, thanks again for all you guys chiming in to talk to me. Feeling a bit isolated in a new town (Chicago) now that I am out of the Marines. Living in a city is a bit different for me too. Anyone else have experience doing work in a condo?

Hey guys, thanks for all of the welcomes. JMG, that is a fantastic idea, hadn't even occurred to me. Do you know what they used to make the soundproofing box?

Haha, I know what you mean chadlanthier. I guess it was the way I was raised in that I'm very reluctant to make problems for anyone. My upstairs neighbors work the swing shift and will be vacuuming and walking around at 2am. Is it annoying? Yes. Am I enough of an asshole to complain about it? No, because they aren't bad enough for me to want to make their lives annoying. Worst thing about the people next to me is that I gave them my number and email and asked them to call, email, or knock on my door if anything was bothering them. They are so passive aggressive and smile at my wife and I when we see them in the hall. They say, "oh gosh, I'm so sorry someone called management, it wasn't us" (maintenance and I get along very well and they tell us exactly who is complaining). I hate people who are so spineless they hide behind systems like that. It also bothers me they treat the management and maintenance staff like their personal servants (they have lived in the building for 30+ years). Oh well, not worth taking my time to be angry about.

Hey everyone, Got into watching Tools in Action on YouTube and liked the guys so much I figured I would join the forum. Living in downtown Chicago right now as I just got out of the Marines and am going to school by Northwestern Memorial. Spent most of the money I saved being deployed in Afghanistan on buying my first place (condo). Excited to finally have a place that I can work on as I find doing work to be one of the few therapeutic things for me. Unfortunately living in a condo is a bit of an adjustment for me (from Nevada) and my neighbors are a pain in the ass (directly next to us is the "treasurer of the condo board"--which he tells me is a big deal). Only being able to work on my place M-F 9-5 is a bit difficult, but I still love it. Looking to learn from you guys as I work on our place. Currently working on putting up crown molding in our place and plan on updating a lot more since most of it is still stuck in the 1970s. Biggest problem for me right now is getting work done during the "prescribed hours" as our retired neighbors have nothing better to do then call management on us (they called to complain about the smell when we painted our place and when we had our carpets cleaned--that smell bothered them too). God forbid I'm still running the compressor for my nailer at 5:05 because I'm trying to work at the end of doing stuff all day. Anyhow, sorry for the bitching, just need somewhere to gripe right now. Just not used to being able to do what I want in place I "own". Anyone else had to deal with doing work in a condo? Not sure if I am being a crazy entitled ass or not. Only been here a while, but cannot wait to live in a real house again. Any ideas for getting work done that are really quiet (believe me I have been trying)? Anyhow, looking forward to learning and seeing what everyone else is up to!