Handy-Man Corner

[Iowanian]

I'm tired of bad Chiefs news.....


I thought it would be a good idea for a thread on the Handy-Man.

Do you have any Home remedies, gadgets you've made, advice on car repair, home maint, sollutions to kill weeds in your yard, bugs in your garden?

Use Coke to clean your batteries? That type of stuff.
Home made floor dry?

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Wait...so having a water softener will make my water heater last longer?

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Well that's a bonus. I sort of scoffed at the fact our new place had one at first, but after seeing the difference it makes as far as all the fixtures and shower doors, etc staying cleaner I can't believe I ever lived without one.

Yes. Dramatically

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Well that's a bonus. I sort of scoffed at the fact our new place had one at first, but after seeing the difference it makes as far as all the fixtures and shower doors, etc staying cleaner I can't believe I ever lived without one.

Interesting. Apparently we are about to put in a Kinetico Water softener, like you I'm rolling my eyes at the cost but my wife has wanted this since we built the house 10 years ago.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Wait...so having a water softener will make my water heater last longer?

Definitely, hard water deposits kill appliances.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Interesting. Apparently we are about to put in a Kinetico Water softener, like you I'm rolling my eyes at the cost but my wife has wanted this since we built the house 10 years ago.

You will not regret it.

[2112]

Originally Posted by FlaChief58

Yes, especially if you have hard water. Also, it's very important to cycle your temperature & pressure relief valve to make sure it's working properly. It's the only thing standing between you and a blown tank if the heater fails and overheats the water inside

My hot water heater is about 5 years old. I had the pressure relief valve replaced about 4 years ago. It was leaking. But the tank keeps making weird noises after a shower and such. I just turned down the heater on it. All I need is a 40 gallon hot water rocket flying around the house

[2112]

Originally Posted by D2112

My hot water heater is about 5 years old. I had the pressure relief valve replaced about 4 years ago. It was leaking. But the tank keeps making weird noises after a shower and such. I just turned down the heater on it. All I need is a 40 gallon hot water rocket flying around the house

Lol I just checked the heater and the owners manual. It was set to 130f, so I lowered it to 120f and let the hot water run for a while. All abnormal noises ceased.

Thanks for scaring the shit outta me handyman’s!!!

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by D2112

My hot water heater is about 5 years old. I had the pressure relief valve replaced about 4 years ago. It was leaking. But the tank keeps making weird noises after a shower and such. I just turned down the heater on it. All I need is a 40 gallon hot water rocket flying around the house

Your heating elements have hard water build up on them causing said noise. Nothing to be concerned about, it's just an annoyance

[Peter Gibbons]

Originally Posted by D2112

My hot water heater is about 5 years old. I had the pressure relief valve replaced about 4 years ago. It was leaking. But the tank keeps making weird noises after a shower and such. I just turned down the heater on it. All I need is a 40 gallon hot water rocket flying around the house

Why do you heat hot water?

Seriously, your relief valve could be a symptom. Have you checked you total house water pressure? Many people have faulted PRV in their houses but don't know about it. It shows up as weird leaks and noises. This was further compounded a few years back when most municipalities increased the pressure in their main water lines. I find mine needs to be replaced every 4-6 years now. I check my pressures every couple of months to insure the pressure is holding at my set point (55 psi for me as I like the pressure a little high).

[DJ's left nut]

Thinking of making a new fish tank stand w/ a shitload of walnut I've acquired. I want to put some flourishes on it and am thinking a nice arc along the bottom would look good.

But I have a 130 gal tank so the stand is gonna need to be 6 ft wide. The arc needs to be proportional to the stand so I'm thinking about 4 inches high from the base.

So a circle jig for the router is out - it'd need to be about 12 feet long to get a long enough arc. I could try to build an eliptical jig but even that would probably need to be about 8 feet long; maybe 6 depending on the second pivot point (my math skills fail me trying to figure that one out; would take some serious trial and error...)

Anyone have a better idea for cutting a long arc? Best alternative I can come up with is a shop-made drawing bow, tracing the arc, getting as close as I can with a jigsaw and then doing some real careful spindle sander work.

Surely there's a better way to do this but I'll be damned if I can come up with it. Thoughts?

[2112]

Originally Posted by FlaChief58

Your heating elements have hard water build up on them causing said noise. Nothing to be concerned about, it's just an annoyance

Originally Posted by Peter Gibbons

Why do you heat hot water?

Seriously, your relief valve could be a symptom. Have you checked you total house water pressure? Many people have faulted PRV in their houses but don't know about it. It shows up as weird leaks and noises. This was further compounded a few years back when most municipalities increased the pressure in their main water lines. I find mine needs to be replaced every 4-6 years now. I check my pressures every couple of months to insure the pressure is holding at my set point (55 psi for me as I like the pressure a little high).

I haven’t had any issues since I lowered the temperature on it. The guys who installed it were morons (never using them again). They installed a valve on top that you couldn’t shut off. If you tried turning it it would hit the exhaust pipe lol so they literally put the valve on upside down. Had to have them come back and fix that. When I had my furnace done a month later I found out that they didn’t install the exhaust pipe correctly into my chimney (had to have them come back for that). I installed the previous one with a friend of mine and had no issues. These idiots are supposed to be professional plumbers.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Thinking of making a new fish tank stand w/ a shitload of walnut I've acquired. I want to put some flourishes on it and am thinking a nice arc along the bottom would look good.

But I have a 130 gal tank so the stand is gonna need to be 6 ft wide. The arc needs to be proportional to the stand so I'm thinking about 4 inches high from the base.

So a circle jig for the router is out - it'd need to be about 12 feet long to get a long enough arc. I could try to build an eliptical jig but even that would probably need to be about 8 feet long; maybe 6 depending on the second pivot point (my math skills fail me trying to figure that one out; would take some serious trial and error...)

Anyone have a better idea for cutting a long arc? Best alternative I can come up with is a shop-made drawing bow, tracing the arc, getting as close as I can with a jigsaw and then doing some real careful spindle sander work.

Surely there's a better way to do this but I'll be damned if I can come up with it. Thoughts?

Find someone with a CNC router and beg them.

[DJ's left nut]

I think I might have this figured out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ09XPqBX28

Building that track rig at the bottom of my workpiece and then making a 3.5 ft circle jig might get the job done. I just set it for a 3 ft radius circle but then put a second pivot point about 4 inches from the router bit, I can I keep that second pivot in the horizontal track while making a nice long 3-ft run for the perpendicular track and the 'bottom' pivot point. That SHOULD give me a 6 foot arc that's held flat by the 2nd pivot wheel tracking along that horizontal run.

And at that point I'm manually forcing the shape, so I don't have to **** around with the math.

So that oughta be an interesting experiment that I'm sure I'll just give up on...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Find someone with a CNC router and beg them.

Carpenters have been doing this shit for a hundred years without CNC routers.

I knew there had to be a way to do it - spend a week with someone that really knows their stuff and you'll just be blown away by the tricks they have figured out.

I should just ask my dad's buddy - he's a trim carpenter turned general contractor who knows all kinds of cool jigs and stuff.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Carpenters have been doing this shit for a hundred years without CNC routers.

I knew there had to be a way to do it - spend a week with someone that really knows their stuff and you'll just be blown away by the tricks they have figured out.

I should just ask my dad's buddy - he's a trim carpenter turned general contractor who knows all kinds of cool jigs and stuff.

Right, but find someone with a CNC is probably what I'm capable of .

[Groves]

Tell us how you’re cutting the arc?

If a router, you can either cut a template using a 12ft scrap secured to your router and your floor or a bench leg or whatever. Then use that template to guide your bearing on the router.

Or you can use the 12ft scrap to guide your router on the actual piece.

If a jigsaw, then draw your line using the long pivot, cut your arc, clean up with spokeshaves or a circular plane (Stanley #113 or #20.) Mind your grain direction.

Another way to make your arc is something you already, a thin piece of almost anything will flex evenly and you can put on nail in the middle and one nail on each end to establish the curve. Draw your arc from that.

The real carpenters will chime in shortly.


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