PeteM

Old Artillery poem: "...a battery seen is a battery lost". Tools: a tool unseen is a tool lost. I shudder to think how many repetitive purchases of things buried on a shelf I have wasted.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what ideas strike home.

I know you've all been keeping this from me, but I found it anyway: upper right area of the Forum pages have a "sort" button. I never really looked for it before, but you can focus on just the newer articles by sorting by initial entry date. Just FWIW.

I've been painting my exteriors for about 30 years with latex, water based, and it seems pretty well suited. We have some pretty aggressive sun and heat, and the paint will last 10--15 years (which is shorter than my wife's patience with any one color!).

I saw a recent mention of latex paint as an indoor coating. Latex works quite well, but keep in mind that it's formulated for outdoor use and as a result it can take years to truly harden. [As I understand it] the trapped moisture gives the latex a longer life. Sooooo, 6 years ago I used latex on baby crib / dresser / change table (I figured that would often be a wet environment). The dang paint still hasn't dried!! It's mildly tacky to the skin, and two latex coated pieces placed in contact tend to stick (and maybe peel). A paint specialist* suggested using enamel instead. I don't know all the chemistry details, but the next furniture project worked out much better. I did some Adirondack chairs, used latex, they worked out great (3 years & counting), but I learned not to coat the bottom of the feet: they stick to the deck. I finally put some pads under the feet for separation. I suspect after a few years the pads evaporate (high UV here), but by then won't matter. FWIW *I know he was a specialist in whom I could place complete trust because he had an apron and was standing behind a paint counter. Uh, orange apron if that matters?

Is this a "directions on the boot heel" story? Every device I have I research the instructions, installation, specs that are on line and store the data in a Product Info file. I'm really screwed in a power failure.

You might also check out "diy drum sander". Also "SandFlee sander". I have a SandFlee, and I love the simultaneous jointing and sanding action. However it is not a thickness planer. I see a lot of instructions on how to use a bandsaw to resaw and veneer. Wouldn't the bandsaw do 1/8" slices?

Too cool! Optical illusions are just that: they twist the brain. The more you look at it (and measure it), the less the brain misinterprets. Lew doesn't see the curves anymore (smart brain). It jumps off the page to the rest of us.

The attached file is a design safety summary for the 3-in-1 bed/crib, but it hits the CPSC rules, and is a good graphic summary. I have the 2010 final rules (downloaded), but the header on the first page should google out to the full document if you want to see it: 81766 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2010 / Rules and Regulations crib safety.pdf

Beds had drop-sides eliminated because too many kids were killed in the pinch. That change was about a decade ago. I made a number of kids furniture starting about 6 years ago. Most popular / complimented item (by moms) is the "learning tower". I looked at the commercial offerings, figured out a design, and did a couple of them for g-kids. They've stood the test of time and are still in use. Steve Ramsey's "Popsicle bench" was also a big winner. Two years ago, xmas present for precocious g-daughter was a child-sized work table for her crafts. Parents got storage cabs and chair, but wanted custom sized table to fit space. In comes Poppa-P and we came up with a real winner combo. I learned that working with the parents really helps customize some of the most useful items.

There is relatively little pressure at that point. Painter's tape would hold. Shucks, Scotch tape would hold. You could also make little plugs of dried rubber cement and work them in. I'd suggest micro-corks, but you might take me seriously.

The air at the outlet of a fan is crowded to the outside of the scroll (impeller housing). The upper half of the outlet probably carries 80% of the air volume; in some cases, the 10% area near the bottom of the outlet (the "throat") can actually run backward. So, in your diagram the high velocity runs along the turn of the duct (the "S" curve) in the direction of the fan rotation. This is good. But then you hit the next turn, and you get a lot of turbulence as the high velocity air crosses the duct center, slams the opposite wall, splashes all over. In, say, a 4" duct, you'd like 12--16" straight off the fan to avoid most of this turbulence. Shorter = more pressure loss: it can be 1" or more loss (vs fan able to make, say, 4--5" pressure). Can be noisy, too. Lots of energy loss. Uphill/downhill in transport velocity applications usually doesn't matter....until it does. Hunks don't move the way dust does. If you are really just dealing with dust, slope won't matter.

Are you going from a 9.5" diameter (outside dia) fan to 12" with the same motor? And: are you also changing the fan housing (aka "scroll")? Reasons I ask: 12" impeller will greatly increase your power demand on the motor. It may also stall the motor (motor doesn't have the torque to achieve full speed). And the scroll/fan housing is sized to the impeller diameter, so if you change the impeller you should change the scroll. If the new 12" fits inside the old scroll, you've changed all the air flow/turbulence design, and you've narrowed the gap between blade and scroll; that gap is designed to pass large particles, and the gap is also important in converting velocity to pressure.

Is that the motor shaft you're pulling the impeller off? A used / old one?

I needed a small TS sled for about 50 crosscuts with the dado (sample piece in pic to right of sled). I have a full size sled (somewhere), but it struck me that a small one for just this one purpose was worth the time. The runners don't quite fit exactly in the slots: they're slightly deeper than the slots, so the bed of the sled hangs a fraction above the TS top (I just push down). The screws are a little too long and rub on the bottom of the slots. It's all from scraps, including the plastic safety guards (I like my fingers; I think I'll keep them). For something tossed together it sure worked well. Pretty don't count. The product? The long version (shown) is used as a counter utensil rest. The body is made of whatever you want (I'm making pine, maple, sapelle, padauk) with cross cuts on the bottom, longitudinal cuts on the top, depth of dados enough to drain water from the top through the interference holes. Button feet will complete the assembly. This was originally a short (4.5" L) version used as a soap dish. Somewhat by accident I used two together next to a sink, and it's a great place for scrubbies, sponges, handled brush, etc.