Porch construction questions

[ejb]

>>You can drive rebar into the ground vertically and then wire the Horizonal runs to that,

Thats sounds like a better plan...I have more rebar than I need, so a few short section to support the horizontal bars seems like a good idea....if it ever stops raining around here, maybe I can actually get some of this work done instead of just talking about it/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[ejb]

DEWALT VS. MAKITA compound mitre saw

Any opinons on the dewalt DW708 vs the Makita LS1013 compund/sliding mitre saws?

They both seem like nice products, I own a few makitas and they are solid, but the dewaly looks nice too...

Going to buy one today at home depot (both in stock, dewalt is $100 more)...opinions?

 

[Egon]

Re: Porch construction/massive footers OK?

Patrick:
But all my posts put together will not equal the length of one of yours.
I love to show pictures but do not have a scanner or digital camera.
I also am income challanged so these items are far down the priority list.

Egon

 

[beenthere]

Re: DEWALT VS. MAKITA compound mitre saw

I have the 12" DeWalt compound sliding miter, and it is a super saw, in my opinion. I have not operated a Makita, but recently saw a woodworking magazine that compared the two (along with others). The DeWalt had better features and ratings than the Makita. The comparison was with the compound miter saws, not the sliding compound ones. One feature that I remember in favor of the DeWalt over the others was the degrees past 45 that you could go. But I don't recall if the Makita had the same feature as the DeWalt.
If I find the article, I will post the info. Sounds like you are in a hurry.

 

[patrickg]

Re: Porch construction/massive footers OK?

Egon, not to worry. Soon there will be 640x480 resolution digital cameras for about $20 (Lets see, by then with the fluctuations in exchange rate.... yeah about $125-$150 Canadian.

Just remember, everyone says its not the length that counts. You are doing just fine. You seem to be able to cause as much confusion with a short post as I do with a long one.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Re: DEWALT VS. MAKITA compound mitre saw

EJB, Makita makes some real fine equipment and has improved over their "flimsy" period. In most instances, including this one, I would go with the DeWalt unless there was a specific feature that Makita had that DeWalt doesn't AND I really needed that feature. I have used a lot of Makita stuff but not much recently. It was never as beefy/torquey as the top American brands. I recently had my small portable 10 inch blade table saw die on me and I spent many dollars extra and got a Makita, my first and only personally owned Makita anything. Mostly plastic but we'll see.

Patrick

 

[RonL]

Re: Porch construction/massive footers OK?

ejb

A lot of supply houses have disposable concrete footer forms. They are made from recycled plastic. One type has concentric rings that can be cut down to the size of sonotube that you are using. After attaching the sonotube ( with duct tape and/or sheet rock screws ) the form looks like an upside down funnel. In fact the manufacturer recommends using one of the forms as a funnel when you are pouring. The form is back filled and left in the ground ready for pouring.

RonL

 

[ejb]

Re: Porch construction/massive footers OK?

I saw something like that at a local store...bigfoot I think they called it (www.bigfootsystems.com)...anyway, this particular model the footer looked undersized relative to the sono-tube I planned on using for the columns so I didn't go that route. I still have time to look into other options 'cause its still raining, so maybe I'll see if there are any other solutions like that...

Thanks

 

[ejb]

Re: DEWALT VS. MAKITA compound mitre saw

Thanks for the advice...a bit too late however since I picked up the makita ls1013 at HD today($498)...real nice rig. It was a $100 less than the dewalt, a bit lighter and smaller (so imo, a bit more portable which is a plus for me), and so far it looks like it will suit my needs just fine. It woould have been nice to be able to try them out side-by-side for a while, but like choosing between a JD and a Kubota and a NH, you probably can't go too far wrong...I read what reviews I could find on the 'net and it look like a mixed bag in terms of which was "b etter"...no clear winner.

I'll use this for a few weeks and if I find any major shortcomings I'll bring it back...otherwise I am sure it will be just fine for me...after all, upto this point I did ALL my cutting with a 20 year old sears skilsaw with a dull blade so this is gotta be an improvement over that!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif...