The Greenhorn's initial sawing season 2019-20

[WV Sawmiller]

OGH - great attitude. I highly concur. I have seen people go wipe their computer when they left for fear there may be some info or process left on there that might be useful to the company. I might save a copy on a disk to take with me for future use or info but if I did the work on the company computer during company time it belonged to the company IMHO. I have turned the lights out on a couple of projects being the last guy leaving because of that kind of attitude too.

[APope]

I respect and understand your work ethic. Had mine beat out for the last 12 years.

[Old Greenhorn]

40 something years and they ain't beat me yet.

[Nebraska]

If you want to put up a hot wire to keep the artist from crossing the road I think I have a spare electric fencer in the barn. It gets the goats attention RIGHT NOW!! mine accidentally once in a while ...
Maybe the neighbors  could have paid half down and had the work done later. Hope he has a little camper  because living in a car will be a cold miserable experience in a couple days.  Good for your neighbors  and their charity towards someone in need, just pray that it doesn't  bite them or you and yours. 
Hang in there you have one month less til retirement  than you had on March first, and a chunk of April is gone now as well.

[donbj]

Yeah, you may be right, but it is just not my style. I have worked in places where co-workers asked me how I dealt with all the abuse and yet every day I gave them 100% and they could not understand why.

I tip my hat to you OG. I know of what you speak. I've been in these types of situations myself and no matter how working relationships are, never could do crappy work. I've did my best to instill that in my kids and grandkids

[Old Greenhorn]

If you want to put up a hot wire to keep the artist from crossing the road I think I have a spare electric fencer in the barn. It gets the goats attention RIGHT NOW!! mine accidentally once in a while ...
Maybe the neighbors  could have paid half down and had the work done later. Hope he has a little camper  because living in a car will be a cold miserable experience in a couple days.  Good for your neighbors  and their charity towards someone in need, just pray that it doesn't  bite them or you and yours.
Hang in there you have one month less til retirement  than you had on March first, and a chunk of April is gone now as well.

Yeah Nebraska, its not a bad idea and something like that had crossed my mind, but I figure nature will take it's course. we had 3/4 of an inch of rain today between 9 and 3. He is not allowed in there house, so his only option is to sit in his vehicle. Bathroom facilities are likewise whatever he can manage. So the hosting skills are a little on the short end.  :D
 I figure he should have just paid him for the mural up front and let him do it in 2 months when the walls are dry and weather is better. But what do I know. It will be what it will be. I jst learned I will have another week at home because the young ninja wants to be in the shop to follow his projects. I have taken to calling him Harry Potter now because he waves his wand and tells everyone the problem has gone away. (In truth, he never understood the problem in the first place and thinks he solved it, but after he walked away and somebody else did what needed to be done. The guys in the shop really don't like his style or working with him.) Whatever. I am taking it one day at a time. We deal with what comes, but so far, so good. Might be doing some milling tomorrow if the weather works out. High winds (40 mph) predicted, so I ain't headed to the woods to cut dead ash, for sure. ;D >:(
 Just about ready to call it on that coffee table. I am done sanding and re-coating. AT some point I have to stop.
 Waiting for what I hope is the last coat to dry as i type this. Tomorrow is a holiday for us so I can do what I want and I am not sure what I want. 

[richhiway]

Having a guy live in his car with no facilities to paint a mural might make my personal list of "did you see that?"

Yes a little cold and windy today for outdoor chores. Enjoy your day off. Snowing over here in Monticello.

[doc henderson]

does not really sound like essential work.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I don't think it was the best choice for anybody, that. But we are keeping to ourselves. I can't worry about what anybody else does as long as they keep to themselves.

 DId some cleaning in the shop and hunted for lumber for that order and found more of it that I can use. Then he contacts me and says he has oak logs we can use, so he is bringing them over tomorrow. The adventure continues...

After cleaning up and making more room, I finished up that coffee table, took some photos and put it up for sale on FB. Lets see how that goes. It doesn't look bad.


 

I know it's not up to the standards of many of the folks here, but it isn't a bad start. took WAY too long to finish. I kept sanding then re-coating, not liking what I saw, re-sanding, re-coating and finally called it 'good enough' today.
 Time to move on.

[doc henderson]

It is like a woodworking scholarship.  when you sell it, you get to keep all the knowledge and experience.  and the money too!  some projects are like that. maybe start a cuss jar in the shop...on the honor system!     the table looks great!

[Nebraska]

I thought this table was for you to use, I don't think it will last long on FB. It looks good from here.

[Old Greenhorn]

I thought this table was for you to use, I don't think it will last long on FB. It looks good from here.

OH, We can't afford fancy stuff like this! :D
Doc, no need for a cuss cup. I just make funny twisted facial expressions every morning when I go out to see how things dried..... then I grab the sander. >:(
 This was/is kind of a test. First I need to learn where peoples interest lies and what sells. Second, I need to generate some funds to buy a few logs and shop supplies. Still operating on less than a shoe string and all my expenses either come out of my weekly allowance or the family budget. Third, if I can move stuff on FB or other means, it cuts down on the need to do shows and sales, which cuts costs. So it's all part of the learning process and what keeps me a Greenhorn. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, not a bad weekend, all in all. I did lose a bunch of time waiting for my sawing customer to show up on Saturday, he had to borrow a trailer, then go load logs. Arrived around mid-day when I was running out of little things to fill my time, then we got to work and whittled down his list (one of these, two of those, 1 of these, 5 of those, etc). SO that took a while, but one guy tail-gunned and the other kept the tally and told me what we needed next and that saved a lot of time because I could just focus on on sawing and getting them the best wood out of the logs. They brought 5 and almost used 2 and left me the rest. All red oak. We had a fine time working together so it was a win-win. One of them is a wood turner and looking for turning blanks. I think I might help him out there, and they have a source of logs so they asked for a list of what I wanted.  ;D
 Today I was up again at 5 and out in the yard early, but I realized that it is Easter Sunday and even though nobody including us, is doing the traditional stuff, there is still family time, etc. SO I was reluctant to fire up a chainsaw even at 10am just because it was so quiet. I like the quiet too. I painted the logs left yesterday. I queued up a log on the mill and loaded it, then got started milling by 11am figuring it was safe. I had to stop at noon because I had a Zoom meeting (new for me) with the senior staff of one of the festivals I work on. It was just  a check-in type thing to see how, and what, everyone was doing through this thing, and cheer each other up. They got a kick out of me calling in from the mill and I showed them the log I was working on. In this group of musicians, artists, and other gifted folks, I am the oddball out.  :D
 Once the meeting ended I had lunch and fell into milling heavy and did all the framing lumber I need for the loft. Edged, stacked and ready to build. I still have yet to do the floor boards, but I have time. Getting that loft started will be the tough part. That first header will take time to fit and clear the existing area around the garage door spring mechanism and associated stuff. After that, it should go quick. Anyway, a good day of milling, working alone. That stuff is heavy. even the 2x10x12' are getting heavy for me. I feel old, and I am sore, a little bit. But tomorrow is back to work day and we are supposed to be getting over an inch of rain with 40 MPH winds, so doing the day job and focusing on some design work is probably a better option for that weather. It will give my back a chance to heal. Trying to build those back muscles up again after the winter of not doing much milling. So, progress is being made.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well we got 2 full inches of rain today and some winds over 30 mph. Kind of miserable, but it was warm, so there is that. :D Normal workday for the man and I really didn't feel like walking out to the shop this evening, but I did anyway figuring I would piddle around cleaning up or something. Now that I have the framing lumber cut for the last loft I figured there was no more putting it off. The first part is to deal with that dang garage door lift spring arrangement. I hate those things, they can take your hand off if you are not careful. I measured out the heights of where everything would lay on that head-wall. Turns out that I only had to adjust the middle 2x4 strap that anchors the spring. That was put up pretty sloppy when the door was installed.
 SO I had to take the tension out of the spring. Did I mention that I hate those things? Well, I do. But I got it undone safely, no fingers were lost. Then I unbolted the anchor from the wall and busted up the 2x4 to get it off the wall and broke off all the cement nails. Measured things up and cut a block off a 2x8 that would fit better. I found some 3/8 tapcons just right for the job but don't have my sons hammer drill handy so I had to quit at that point. Soaked in sweat.
 One thing I didn't figure on was the weight of that door. It's only a 7' wooden garage door, but I can't even begin
 to budge it without that spring. Holy cow! So that door is shut until I get the spring back in working order. :-[
 Anyway, this is the part of the job I was dreading and I have it nearly half done, so I have started it. Once I reset the door I can start measuring and trimming that first header and fitting in in, then things will pick up speed. I just keep poking along.

[JJ]

Holly cow,
You got the springs off a roll-up door with the door closed!
Will like to know how you did that, I wont touch those springs when fully stretched.  I only mess with them with the door open so much less/no energy stored.

     JJ

[Old Greenhorn]

 ;D Oh, that's a secret!  ;D
 These are torsion springs, so when the door is up, I have no access. I have to do it when it is down. There are 4 holes around the perimeter of the anchor hub. I put a rod in one hole, then CAREFULLY loosed the two set screws locking it all up. I could feel to load when it came into my hand, then I let the rod come around about 1/2 turn, put a rod in the opposite hole, pull the first rod out and go another half turn. Then I just keep repeating that until the spring is dead loose. It's no big deal, you just need to be careful and it helps to have somebody there that can make a phone call if needed. :D
 I will say there was a LOT more torsion on that spring then I ever would have guessed. Maybe 6-8 turns? I hope I can get it back to where it was.
 I got a few minutes at lunch time and got the new block tapconned up and re-attached the spring anchor, but ran out of time. I will go out after work and tension it back up while the boys are still here working.

[Bandmill Bandit]

I hope you counted the turns in your springs as you unwound them. That is kinda critical to the door working properly whne you reset them. 

I ALWAYS do them by 1/4 turns cause it is just safer. 1/2 turns are too easy to get away on you and those spring have a a real snap to them when the let go.   

[Ljohnsaw]

I have a double door (16') that has two of those springs.  One broke and the garage door opener would still work but put a bit of a kink in the door :  I found a spring on CL for free to replace it.  That's when the fun started.  I unwound the other one, noting the paint stripe and how many times it spiraled around.  Then had to slide the bar out and the spring off.  Right...  The rod was surface rusted that the locking collars are a pretty close fit.  I had to use emery paper all the way across and all the way around the rod to get it off.  Then it finally came off with some persuasion.  Cleaned it up a bit further and slipped on the new one, reattached the cables on to the end pulleys and rewound up the springs.  So far, so good after about 4 or 5 years.  Just waiting for the other to pop!  I have another spring/spare.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Those torsion springs are NOT all created equal and you must have the right springs for your specific door. The lock/loading caps are color coded with spray paint. Red, 2  different blue shades, green, black, orange, yellow, brown and a few more. 

DO NOT mix match these springs. That can cause a catastrophic failure that can actually destroy a door and or cause serious injury or death.

I used to help my brother install and service large doors like this and they are not a difficult thing to work with. Just have to be sure you dont miss a step and be methodical in process and check every step twice. Test the full travel of the door 2 or 3 times and recheck every thing again.       

[JJ]

 :D
I was imagining my door springs, where a 2.5' spring is stretched to about 10' with the door closed.  I think if you manage to unhook one end of that spring while stretched, you will get quick lesson on how to fly .

I've seen the doors with torsion springs, just never had one, or needed to fix one myself.

     JJ

[richhiway]

 

 
Working on a coffee table for my wife. First time making this style base. Top is maple,base is Cherry. 
I thought you might like the look for your next project. Careful with that spring!

[richhiway]

 

 
You might need to come down here and give me some epoxy filling tips.

[Old Greenhorn]

I never expected a garage door to generate so much discussion. I thought I was the only one who hated these things. As it turned out, getting it reset up was tougher than I expected. Did it 5 times and the door still would not close fully because the spring would drive the bar to the left and jam at the last 2 inches. A lot of fussing with hand wrapping the cables and balancing the spring. I finally realized the left hanger bracket was set too close and had been right on the margin. So I pulled the single bolt (there should be two) and moved it over 3/8" and everything worked fine.


 
 You can see in the photo where I removed the 2x4 that was anchoring the center bracket and replaced it with a block. I threw the 2x10 up and made some rough marks tonight  and I will start cutting the notches tomorrow. Got a phone call and ran out of time. The door to the left in the photo is a 12' door and has double springs. I really don't want to mess with that, but it has always been SO heavy to lift. Someday.
 Anyway, the door is back to working and it's time to move on.

richhiway, I like that table and especially those legs. Consider your design stolen. ;D That looks like some very easy epoxy pours. Just small cracks, except maybe the 'extra' chainsaw cut. :D

[Bandmill Bandit]

Give that left door a half turn tighter on each spring and that should get you close. Try it. Go 1/4 turns on each side if you need bit more till it feels right. They should stop about an 1" to  2" above the floor when you let it drop about a foot to 18 inches. If your 2 to 3 ish inches your in the range.

With the door closed snap the cables like a guitar string. They should be the same tone. If not tighten the one that is low to bring it up to the same tone as the higher toned one. Then you know they are balanced. 

Only need to do this on doors with 2 springs and often a 1/8 turn will do it for you.     

[Hilltop366]

And don't get your face too close, it happened to the garage door guy around here a couple of years ago, I don't know the details but it was something like a bracket came off the wall and spun around and the lag bolts or large screws caught him. A couple of nasty scars on his face last time I seen him.