At Home In The Woods

[radioman]

When I was adding furring strips to stucco on my old house, I would be using 2 bits for whole house. I would go slow as heat is what kills these bits, and sharpen the flutes as needed. Normally, I would sharpen the flutes every night after drilling on my belt sander as it was the only thing I had at the time since I would only work couple hours a night.

 

[clemsonfor]

I have started installing the shutters on the stone. Installing each shutter requires drilling holes for 6 fasteners. I need to drill 24 holes total for the 4 dining room shutters. Unlike the brick, the stone is very uneven so the mortar joints are unevenly placed. Some of the mortar recedes deep into the joints between the stones such that the plastic pins would be too short. Thus, installing the shutter fastener pins in the mortar joints didn't seem to work very well. In consequence, I decided to drill holes directly into the stone.

I quickly wore out my two drill bits on the first hole. My wife went to the nearby True Value store and bought some carbide covered drill bits. I was able to drill three holes with one of those bits. The drill bit would get very hot so I would frequently dip it in some water to cool it off. We saw our tile installer do this when he drilled holes in the tile that he installed inside the house. He said it makes the bits last longer.

Since the new drill bit only lasted for 3 holes, we went to Lowes to see if they had a diamond tipped bit but they didn't have one. We bought from Lowes some more carbide tipped bits that were a different brand than the True Value bits. I'll try the Lowes bits to see if they last any longer that the bits we bought at True Value. If not, I guess I'll just have to burn up a bunch of bits. The bits from Lowes were about $6 per bit. If each bit lasts for 3 holes, I'll need 8 bits for $48 plus tax for 2 windows. That adds up quickly.

I would try ebay or amazon if you need that many, may or may not be cheaper, but have found Lowes to be way overpriced on many items.

 

[clemsonfor]

Id do like brin says and just screw through the shutters where you can. I too as you can tell from my above post thought $50 for bits a bit excessive for 2 shutters.

 

[Danno1]

Jeez, I have been reading this thread for more than 2 1/2 years!

I was thinking the same thing myself. Maybe more like 3 !


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[Obed]

Our 20 year old cat finally died last night/this morning. We are very sad.

This is the same cat that survived after I accidentally poisoned her 2 years ago.

 

[brin]

Sad to hear Obed....a part of the family...I have been through it too, it will hurt for awhile and you will never forget them...Another cat will help some...at least it has for me with both cats and dogs...

 

[ENG18LT]

Sorry about losing your pet. We had to put down or dog a few years back due to kidney disease, it is tough.

 

[Diamondpilot]

She's 2 1/2.

It goes quick. I have one daughter nearly 8 years old and another just 5 weeks. Seems like they were both born just yesterday.

Chris

 

[Obed]

This morning before work we held a funeral service with my wife, daughter, and myself. We read Ecclesiastes then thanked God for the 20 wonderful years we enjoyed with our cat.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Tonight, we buried our cat. Our little girl was included in all of it; she saw me cover our cat with dirt. I believe it is good for children to understand what life is about.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sorry to hear about the cat. I have a few buried on my property also along with 2 dogs. Its tough but it always brings a smile to my face when I am mowing or weed eating around the grave markers thinking of all the funny things them "stupid" critters did.

Chris

 

[jinman]

Obed, 20 years is a very long life for a cat. As much as we get attached to them, all we can do is make their lives as good as we can and hope they survive. Many/most don't live anywhere near that long. I'm sorry for the sadness the cat's passing brings, but you did well and there are many other cats needing a family like yours.

 

[Obed]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. Yes, 20 years is a long life for a cat. My wife seems to be handling it pretty well; she saw the writing on the wall earlier this week and did some of her mourning before our cat actually died. Yesterday seemed tougher for me than for my wife actually. But things are good. Today is better.

Our cat wasn't really herself these past couple of months. When we moved into the house, we made stairs out of boxes to our bed so our cat could climb into our bed. However, a few weeks ago she stopped sleeping with us, probably because it was too hard for her to get in and out of our bed. She didn't feel well and stayed in the garage most of the time, I think because she had such difficulty moving around.

 

[Obed]

We have finally figured out how we want to do the railing for the back porch and deck. We decided against using the horizontal cable railing because our girl would be guaranteed to climb over it. I even reconsidered installing the standard vertical wooden spindle railing although they would obstruct our view.

However, after doing some research, my wife saw a posting on the web by a contractor who contructs deck railing using vertical steel rods. Stealing from that guy's approach, my wife got quotes from some painting companies to powder coat 30" long 5/16" dia. steel rods. We will buy the 20' rods and the painting contractor will cut them and powder coat them. The final cost will be $2.15 per 30" rod and we will need slightly over 100 rods.

Here's a mock-up.

 

[dstig1]

That looks nice. I've also seen it done with 1/2" copper pipe. You can lacquer/varnish them, but it won't hold up forever. Leaving them to weather looks nice over time. Drill flat bottomed holes 1/2-3/4" deep or so to retain them in between the top and bottom rails, or some variation of that.

I would recommend drilling a small through hole in the bottom rail to let any water out of the rod holes and prevent rot.

 

[MotorSeven]

Hey I like that....looks great and the price is right!

 

[MotorSeven]

Obed, I just noticed about you buddy....sorry to hear that, but 20 years is one heck of a long good life. Now it just so happens that we have 5 brand spanking new one's almost ready to be weaned...heck I'll even throw in free delivery if ya want one or three

 

[clemsonfor]

Thats sweet take him up on it, and take 2 there always better with a freind. We have 7!! Wife is a vet assistant, they keep fining their way home with her.

 

[Obed]

That looks nice. I've also seen it done with 1/2" copper pipe. You can lacquer/varnish them, but it won't hold up forever. Leaving them to weather looks nice over time. Drill flat bottomed holes 1/2-3/4" deep or so to retain them in between the top and bottom rails, or some variation of that.

I would recommend drilling a small through hole in the bottom rail to let any water out of the rod holes and prevent rot.

That's a good suggestion. The rods are 5/16" so I can't drill a very large drainage hole, maybe 1/8" at most I would think. However, that might help keep water from collecting in the rod holes.
Obed

 

[Obed]

Thanks for the offers but I don't think we will be looking for another cat soon.

Obed

 

[Obed]

Obed, I just noticed about you buddy....sorry to hear that, but 20 years is one heck of a long good life. Now it just so happens that we have 5 brand spanking new one's almost ready to be weaned...heck I'll even throw in free delivery if ya want one or three

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Rick, they are rather cute. However, I wouldn't want to cause Leslie pain so I just can't take them from you.
Obed