[Grimjust Bearegular]

I build clothes....does that count?

[cerveza_fiesta]

my sister in law does that too. It counts if you Did It Yourself (therefore DIY)

Was millimetres away from buying a jigsaw last night.

Played with them all at Home depot...its down to the makita and the deWalt one. The makita is less powerful (motor amperage) and about 10 bucks cheaper but it has features I like - like actual screws that hold the blade in and it comes with a nifty carrying case.

The dewalt has an extra 1.5 amp on the motor, a full metal casing around the business end, a better shape/grip, but has a latch-style (ie no key needed) blade holder and no carrying case. I'm always iffy on those keyless systems cause they always seem great at first and then eventually just start sucking once they get worn. I guess for regular hobby workshop use, I'm not going to be swapping out blades every 5 minutes or anything.

So is it worth the extra 10 bucks to get one with a little more power and metal construction? The carrying case is kinda moot cause I have 2 cases from other tools that I no longer use for those tools. I could easily adapt one of those if I needed it.

Any comments on the keyless system? I hate them on drills but I've never seen a keyless jigsaw one in action.

I gotta get one in the next couple of weeks for a project.

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 26 January 2011 - 04:47 PM

[Macros]

I'm a bit of a Makita fanboy, so my initial instinct is get the Makita.
On a more level headed note, unless you're doing industrial grade work that slight power drop won't matter, the screw change issue is entirely up to you.4 Or 5 years ago id have bought a Dewalt no problem, they were the bee's knees, but they were bought out or merged or something recently and their cordless drills have gone to shit, really cheap and plasticy feel and not dependable, can't comment on their corded stuff though. And american market stuff could be built elsewhere

[HiddenOne]

DeWalt in USA sucks, too, Macros.

We use a lot of Bosch tools here, seems to be pretty good for price

@CF -Keyless setup has no complaints, yet, after a few years usage - not daily, only occasional

[Slow Ben]

Yeah, Dewalt has majorly dropped off in the last few years. Sadly, I used to love Dewalt.

I've got a Dewalt jigsaw i got a few years ago. Cutting plywood or OSB its no problem. When i'm putting down a hardwood floor it has to work a little hader to cut into the hard woods.

Its a good tool, not a great one.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Right on. Reviews on teh intertubes said as much.

I'm not looking for a "contractor grade" tool that will cut 15 linear kilometers per day. Pretty much anything in the ~$100 range I'm looking at is home-workshop grade anyway.

I wish they'd let you plug em in and try em at the hardware store. I'd like to hear em both working and feel vibration levels. They both seem to be perfectly acceptable tools. The DeWalt has a bit squatter profile and just realized it has a trigger mounted speed control - which I fucking hate. Worst spot ever for a speed control dial. I'll probably get bigger props from my carpenter-by-trade friends from the makita too and it seems to get more 4&5 star reviews than the deWalt does.

Probably go with the makita. Gonna do a doublecheck of some other brands tonight. I like the bosch brand ones but they're way to expensive compared to the deWalt and Makita.

[Slow Ben]

cerveza_fiesta, on 26 January 2011 - 06:14 PM, said:

Right on. Reviews on teh intertubes said as much.

it has a trigger mounted speed control - which I fucking hate. Worst spot ever for a speed control dial.

THIS.

As annoying as you think it might be to have the switch there, its worse.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Slow Ben, on 26 January 2011 - 10:17 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 26 January 2011 - 06:14 PM, said:

Right on. Reviews on teh intertubes said as much.

it has a trigger mounted speed control - which I fucking hate. Worst spot ever for a speed control dial.

THIS.

As annoying as you think it might be to have the switch there, its worse.

I don't quite get your meaning...

The makita has speed control as well, it's just mounted on top of the handle rather than on the trigger.

I'd rather one without a trigger activation at all (like oldschool ones you can just click on) but they don't exist.

Paid special attention to the above at Canadian tire last night. The trigger-mounted speed control dial is pretty stiff on the deWalt, so it won't accidentally change speed on me all the time.

And the screw-less blade clip is actually a pretty solid mechanism all in all. I'm on the fence again. Fuck. Doesn't matter to me really at this point. The makita is cheaper and has a carrying case, so maybe it's the best buy.

[Macros]

if it helps we have a jigsaw in the back of the van for cutting backboards for lights and stuff, asked the boss, he says he's had it for 5/6 years, only thing replaced on it has been blades. Has a box as well, probably just the older model of the one you're looking at

[Slow Ben]

cerveza_fiesta, on 27 January 2011 - 12:41 PM, said:

Slow Ben, on 26 January 2011 - 10:17 PM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 26 January 2011 - 06:14 PM, said:

Right on. Reviews on teh intertubes said as much.

it has a trigger mounted speed control - which I fucking hate. Worst spot ever for a speed control dial.

THIS.

As annoying as you think it might be to have the switch there, its worse.

The trigger-mounted speed control dial is pretty stiff on the deWalt, so it won't accidentally change speed on me all the time.

They must have stiffened it up since i bought mine then. Thats why mine is so annoying, you can graze it with your finger and it'll change.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Thanks for the advices you two. ^^ Makita it is.

Current DIY project is a cedar strip rowboat. Very slow progress...everything at this stage needs to be super exact so the boat comes out nice. Just setting up moulds and the strongback beam upon which it will all sit as I lay up the strips.

End product is meant to look almost exactly like this (without the gay seat in the stern)



But for now it looks like this.



Not a picture of my shop above, but I plan to have some up before long. I want to photo-journal-ify the whole thing so I can spread the info I pick up along the way to others via a blog or something.

[Slow Ben]

I salute your project sir.

Thats just plain awesome.

[Macros]

just finished a wee in cupboard chest of drawers for on of the lads in the house, drawers arent all made yet, but hopefully get a good batter at them tomorrow evening.
Jealous of the boat already and it only a keel, but I might win the lottery next week and be able to take the time off to set up a good workspace

[Slow Ben]

Havent had time in the past 6 months to really "make" anything. But heres some pics of the house i'm in the middle of completely remodeling.

Seriously, look at the cheap shit they used for the roof decking. This whole place has made me want to track down the man who built it and introduce him to my sledghammer.

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[Slow Ben]

theres two smaller pics but you have to scroll to the right.

[Macros]

I'm always amazed by totally timber frame houses, it must never get cold there!

Is that chip board he had on the roof??

[Slow Ben]

No, but thats what the fucker put for the flooring inside the house. Which i also had to tear up.

Thats just (by far) the cheapest plywood i've ever seen.

[cerveza_fiesta]

I had to completely reinstall my HRV (heat recovery ventilator) unit last week. Goddamn irritating job that is.

Stupid stoned retards that installed it had it wired completely wrong and somehow managed to connect every single one of the four clearly-labeled in/out ports incorrectly.

Somehow, in the end it still pumped air through itself and circulated air in the house, but it was nowhere near functioning properly. Most importantly, since the "from / to house" ports were connected to / from the outside, every time it switched to a defrost cycle it became an ice-maker, which also managed to cool down the joist space enough that it froze my cold water pipe.

All fixed now. Not only rearranging the ducts, but completely rewiring it, un-hanging it, flipping it around and re-hanging it on top of a tall ladder.

Here are some other pics of a cool DIY. My buddy's dad built this for him a few years back as a xmas present. Portable keg bar.

Butternut top and an apple barrel on casters for the base.

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Just hook up the tap above and the CO2 cylinder to the keg in the barrel below. The bucket is to put the keg in ice so you have cold beer.

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[cerveza_fiesta]

Built my daughter a crib. Cos that's what manly men do!

Material was white ash (which is getting expensive and harder to find....stupid emerald ash borer). Joints all mortise and tenon, glued with West System epoxy and adhesive filler. Painted with acrylic enamel, zero VOC paint. From what everyone said this is about the most baby-safe paint you can use without going crazy and buying $100/gallon stuff off some hippie website. I chose paint over varnish so I wouldn't need to be overly concerned with finish, and because I think ash looks shitty when it's varnished unless it's on a boat.

It's my first "fine furniture" project and I am goddamn proud of it. Feels good to make stuff like that for your kid. My god did it ever eat up a lot of time though.

Slats were sawn from 1.5 inch stock at 0.5" thick, and both ends were stepped to go into the top/bottom horizontal rails. Horizontal rails were 1-3/4" wide and sawn from 3/4" boards. Top and bottom horizontal rails were slotted on the tablesaw to accomodate the stepped slat ends. Applied liberal epoxy and positioned all slats using a gauge block at 2" long (2-3/8" is the max recommended slat spacing). Clamped overnight and all steps repeated for the other side. Head/foot board were similar except not as long and and an inch taller.

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Horizontal rail ends at bottom were connected to corners (1-1/4" x 1-1/4") with shoulders and half-size tenons since both long and short lower rail tenons needed to occupy the same physical volume in the corner post. Long sides were done so the little tenon was on the bottom. Short sides were done so the little tenon was on top.

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Top rails were not at the same level and so were done using a basic mortise and tenon.

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Corner posts attached to the short sides. Again, liberal epoxy and clamped overnight. If you look in the back of the picture you can see the how the lower corner tenons enter the corner post on 2 sides. Also in this pic is detail of how I filled the slot in the horizontal rails between the slats. Just ripped a long piece of narrow wood to the same dimension as the slot, cut it into 2" chunks and glued them in. Not the smoothest way to do it per-se, but if I'd been overly concerned with the finished look I could have sanded/woodfilled each one.

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Finally the whole thing was assembled and I added corner braces at the lower corners to stiffen it and ensure squareness. I don't have a picture of that, but it's basically a little diagonal stick of wood and glued into a notch in the bottom rails near the corner. Finally, testing with the babe. She loves it!

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Actually, she doesn't smile without serious effort on my part, so by "loves it" I mean "she's not crying at least".

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 14 March 2013 - 06:34 PM

[Macros]

that's ace CF! I love it when people build stuff like this for themselves over buying, if you facotr in the time and effort involved it surely costs more, but to me theres just sucha great personal connection when you can say, "yeah, I built that crib for her myself!"


I haven't really built anything since I left Glasgow nearly two years ago, a box to ship my tools home from Aus was the closest and it was a pretty simple square plywood box affair. And all my work work is of industrial containment stuff, so whilst its neat its not really anything pretty