I've not run cordless saws, if you go corded I use the Makita's, good power to weight, price, etc. Switch failure is the most common problem.

Quote from: Don_P on September 08, 2016, 02:22:23 PM
I've not run cordless saws, if you go corded I use the Makita's, good power to weight, price, etc. Switch failure is the most common problem.

I second the Makita. 

Thanks everyone. It was just frustrating at the time because it pretty much burned the day.

I bought a 6.5" cordless Milwaukee and already sent the other saw out for warranty.. should be back next week. So I'll have two now and you know "two is one and one is none."

Still have my neighbors generator so I could have gone over to corded, but I'd need a good extension cord and it is really nice to not bother with a cord while up high.

I also have a lot of money in all these lithium batteries...

I did take a peak at the cheaper corded saws and yikes.

Corded I run a worm drive Skilsaw and cordless I run the Milwaukee that just crapped out on you. In the 10 years I've been running the Milwaukee, I've never had issue. One tip is to run a thin kirf blade, seems to make the batteries last a little longer.

Sorry yours didn't last, nothing more frustrating than having an essential tool like that crap out in the middle of a job.

The 6.5" cordless circular saw is getting the job done. It is not a brushless motor and is not as strong as the 7.25" saw that broke. Only really noticeable when ripping 2x stock to width. The other saw should be back by the end of this week. Also I find Diablo blades to be head and shoulders above the rest. I had to use some Lowes carbide tip for a few days and they were awful. Diablo blades are still made in Italy.

Waiting for paint to dry on the fly rafters and fascia. All sides primed and painted.

I'm planning to add a 'dummy' rafter tail once I have the fascia installed, otherwise just about ready to start sheathing. The plan is to lift sheathing through the stairwell opening, and then up to the roof where I have the 24" opening. I can build some staging up there so I can rest panels on the roof and slide into place.

I want to buy an aluminum pic/plank/staging with a couple ladder jacks as a 1 person movable scaffold. Lowes and homedepot both have a 14" x 16' 500lb plank for around $250, but it would take a month to ship. The only thing they have in store is 1 person 8-13' telescoping. Haven't had any luck on craigslist either.

Anyone have any other suggestions? I don't think pipe scaffolding is a good option for me. It would be hard to set up alone and seems very expensive.

Also our stove pipe arrived with flashing kit. I'm going to install that as soon as enough sheathing is in place to do it - but I should be able to stand on attic joists while working on it.

It's looking very good. I can actually one man pipe scaffold easier than ladder jacks and trying to get my 16' walkboard up on that solo. Don't care for telescoping boards. I was 5 bucks up on the back of the house recently and will need to build a double tower 4 bucks high on the front this week and drag the 16' up between them. But from that stable tower it isn't too hard solo with a piece of rope to bring the board over. With ladder jacks another person carrying up their end of the walkboard is just about necessary. The ladder jacks are faster and easier to move around though. I still have 6 or 7 sets of pump jacks but rarely use them, they are another way to go... just about need to have 2 people or rigging gets slow.

That's good to know on the scaffold. I figured I could lean one end of the plank on a ladder jack and then walk the other end up.

I still probably have somewhere around 2-3 weeks on the roof (hopefully), then it's going to be wall sheathing, windows, exterior insulation and siding. I am not doing all that window trim without something to stand on.

The siding itself will be white pine, semi transparent stain covering all sides and cuts.

6" pine lap is like .44 cents a foot. I asked about cedar and it was over triple the price  Can't be spending like 8 grand on siding.

Quote from: Don_P on September 11, 2016, 08:04:16 PM
It's looking very good. I can actually one man pipe scaffold easier than ladder jacks and trying to get my 16' walkboard up on that solo. Don't care for telescoping boards. I was 5 bucks up on the back of the house recently and will need to build a double tower 4 bucks high on the front this week and drag the 16' up between them. But from that stable tower it isn't too hard solo with a piece of rope to bring the board over. With ladder jacks another person carrying up their end of the walkboard is just about necessary. The ladder jacks are faster and easier to move around though. I still have 6 or 7 sets of pump jacks but rarely use them, they are another way to go... just about need to have 2 people or rigging gets slow.

I still like scaffolding.   Yes a little harder to set up with one person but the added stability and mobility is worth the time.  I only have two walk boards but I try to set the two sections of scaffolding close enough to reach from one to the other.  All in all by moving laterally I get 18' of work surface.  I can usually find some additional 2X material to span the scaffolding which acts as staging while moving the sections to the top and eventually as part of the work platform. 

Good to know.

Today was frustrating.. we were told by the salesperson and when we called Cabot that we should prime before using the solid oil based stain.

The dried paint peels off from a light fingernail scratch. Said forget it and cut some more rafters and put em up there. This set us back several days. Wife stained them everywhere after they were installed, except where the lookouts are attached. After the salesman sold it to us, wife noticed it said something about not using oil based stain, but when we called Cabot the lady said the label is confusing but solid oil stains should still be primed. Obviously that is incorrect.

When this stuff happens it's not even about the money, it's about the lost time.



Then on a completely other note I think our Subaru is dead. I hate that car. The awd is nice but i swear it's one thing after another with those cars. Need to get a Ford.



my life, a series of clamps and jigs. two wooden jigs made from scrap, clamped to the outlookers, then two c clamps as handles on the rafter, drop the rafter into the jigs, the clamps keep the rafter from sliding onto the ground. competely hands free. I would prefer to do it this way even if I had helpers, I really hate rushing because I'm worried someone's strength could fail.




wife taking care of business

That's a great shot. 

I'd say you are a lucky man.
Gary

Wow, agreed. That is better than anything posed and painted by the dutch masters 

Finishes... the bane of my existence, I had to resand a hardwood floor after following the salespersons advice. The manager was in real danger, over a can of finish and a few lost days. One of life's lessons, not a pretty moment. Over pine, if you have carpenter bees, the finish needs to be tougher than they can bite through or they will bore and nest.

When I have to lean a walkboard on a ladder jack and lift the other end it is easy to shove the unmanned ladder. It needs to be lashed well or have a body on it, the ladder jack will rotate the ladder off of a couple of nails and it is easy to get into trouble. My wife can carry up her end but it is not good, lifting the plank around and over the jack requires good strength and control, a dropped plank between ladders would not be good. If you go that route just stuff to think through.

I've recently had to tear down the top of one Honda CRV and replace a burned valve, adjust the valves on the other and since I got good did the valves for one of the ladies down at the country store, all had tightened an exhaust or several and were ready to burn, a very expensive repair in a shop.

Yes the wife has been just an awesome partner in all of this.

I really didn't think about carpenter bees, was more concerned about peeling paint in a few years. In that regard would very much prefer fading of oil stain over the peeling of acrylic.

Ok noted on the ladder scaffold.

This place on craigslist is selling used scaffold for around $100 a set. I could stomach buying 4 of them. The eave is around 20 ft above grade all the way around the house.

http://binghamton.craigslist.org/tld/5763384116.html

Worst part with the car is diagnosing the problem. And I just don't have time for it right now. I saw oil leaking into the spark plug tubes so I changed valve cover gaskets and thought that fixed it, but nope.

Good buy but that is what is referred to as Mason scaffolding.  Not the most friendly when you need to adjust the wallboard.  Only has one position and that is the top.  Regular has intermediate height locations.  If it were me I would keep looking.

Red is that the 'ladder' scaffolding? he has that too I think.

Ladder Frames:
- 5'w x 2'h - $75/set
- 5'w x 3'h - $85/set
- 5'w x 4 1/2'h - $105/set
- 5'w x 5'h - $115/ set
- 5'w x 6'4"h - $115 - $125/ set


Total novice with scaffold obviously.

Not sure of the exact terminology but on each piece you have 1/2 is open and 1/2 has a ladder configuration.  Probably Google and get what I am referring to.  Sorry I am on iPhone and it is a learning process in itself for one that has never had before.

Hey no problem thanks for helping.

The ad had pics of different types of scaffold he has. I think the kind you're suggesting I get is this, just trying to make sure. (pic is from the ad)

Yes that is it.  I think you can visualize by looking at the two types what I was referring to on the height adjustment.  Just make sure when setting it up to keep the ladder on the same side as you build higher.  If not you will have to climb it like a squirrel. 

Make sure that the braces are included.  Mine are 1-1/4" angle iron.  Some may be 3/4" conduit.  I like the angle iron because it is stronger. 

You might check to see if he has any walk boards as they can be pricey if purchased separately.  Mine are Aluminum/plywood and 7'3" long with a nonskid adhesive .  Although a long walkboard is nice to bridge between two separate bucks unless you have an extreme long working area you can achieve 21 feet by erecting two separate bucks and bridging the center with the shorter walkboards.  Another advantage is that you can use two shorter walkboards side by side on one buck to give yourself a larger working area where as the longer walkboards are designed to reach from one buck to the other and cannot be used on one buck separately.

Depending on your the levelness of your ground you might find a use for wheels which will let you roll the completed scaffolding down the line without disassembling it.  Just don't use cement blocks laid on their side to support the bucks.  They are fine if you set them as you would laying the block and then use 2X material on top for the bottom to rest on.  I have seen a couple cases to where they were erected on blocks lying on their side and bust throwing everyone and everything off.  Not too bad at one buck high but at 4-5 bucks serious complications usually occur. 

I have included a site that you can use for price comparison.  Shipping is probably not included though.

http://www.scaffoldmart.com/

Well now you have Scaffold 101.  Just some things to consider.

That's great information, thank you. I'm going to keep my eye on craigslist and hopefully pick something up in the next few weeks.

Grab the yellow ones, that is Bil-Jax brand 5x5's, 3/4 conduit X braces... but I actually climb on them too so strong enough. That is a very popular brand so more parts around and easier to find more that matches up. The slide catches are fast and easy to use. Chexk that you get all the top pins and that the brace slides and pins are undamaged. Look the welds over. Look for bulges in the pipes... believe it or not if the bottoms get packed with mud and the tubes fill with water it can split the pipes when it freezes, I've got several decommissioned ones I limit to one high that a mason gave me. Either store them up on boards like he has or I usually store them on their sides on boards. If you get walkboards check them for rotten decks and bent parts.

Ditto on the blocks on their sides, lots of folks have learned that the hard way. I try to keep decent scraps of wood, timbers and lvl around for leveling. As long as I'm being a nanny, don't extend boards out into space... or be mighty careful if you do. I walked onto a site one morning for my first day helping an owner builder. It was obvious he had fallen when I got there. An overhanging board and he walked out on it. We started calling and found him in the hospital, lucky to be alive.

Whenever I've needed scaffolding, I rented it (a place in Albany, NY...I bet most cities have rental places like that...all they do is scaffolding).  Wasn't sure how much I needed; the guy just said to me, "where do you want your feet?  I'll put you there.)   I've so rarely needed it that renting was easily the best bet for me.  Just a thought.
Gary

I didn't give a whole lot of thought to renting. I think I'll need it for around a month this fall, then potentially next spring for any finishes that weren't worth doing right now.

My exterior has more steps than some - it will be windows, 2" exterior insulation, vertical furring 1x3 to create a rain screen, then will be pine lap siding. Also the window trim has to be extended out a few inches, not a huge job but an extra step.

I got the first row of roof sheathing up on the north side of the house today. Over the 38 ft I worked myself about an inch out of square on the sheathing. Oops.

Roofing is damn hard work. If I hadn't laid all that block and done all the framing beforehand, I don't think there's any way I'd be able to push and pull that sheathing up there. But it's coming along. Before I go above the first course of sheathing I want to put the drip edge on. I want to do as much work as possible before all the sheathing is on. Really considering even starting to put the metal on while I still have access to attic joists. It's nice to have the flat surface.

It's surprising what you can get used to. I guess I don't like heights, but it just stops bothering ya after being up there a little while. I did the hike, in Zion natl park, called Angel's Landing. Always think how the heck did I do that? One foot in front of another.

I think the key to all this stuff is one piece of sheathing at a time, one board at a time, one nail at a time. People love talking about drywall or this or that, but you have to block them out and just pound one nail at a time.

Aside,
All that matters is that one blow, driving that nail
Apologies for butchering "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" 

Annie Dillard wrote about splitting wood. It took her quite some time of hitting wood with a maul before she realized the "target" was the maul driving through the wood.  There is a different vision going on.
You can hit a nail or you can Drive the nail, its fun when they are driving.

I'm kind of down to tapping on them 

We rented enough scaffold to do a slow job and I started buying it. If you look at long term maintenance and have the storage room I'd get what looks like 6 sections if at all possible. The roof will go easier if you can go ahead and get it sooner than later. Looks like $800 for the bare scaffold, count on ~1200 lightly fitted out... then see what rental would run. I like having it around but its one more chunk of metal in your life.

One thing at a time...

Do need to post an update on the problems we've been having.

Cabot made good on the stain. They are refunding us the solid stain and the primer, plus giving us two free gallons of stain. They basically covered the wood we ruined - that's pretty awesome. The last person my wife talked to said she wasn't surprised the primer caused curing problems, and that they generally don't recommend any primer for ANY oil based stain. She said they were going to review the initial recorded call with the first rep to make sure that person knows to not tell people they can use primer under oil stain.


The Milwaukee saga continues.. they returned the tool unfixed. Note said to send the batteries in for testing. No way.. the batteries work fine on all the other tools. My wife called customer service and the person said we should have done a better job describing the problem... ?!? Wife called back and demanded a manager, and now they might ship us a new saw. Either way once I have electricity I am going to search the internet for old made in USA tools. IMO stay the heck away from the new Milwaukee stuff.

I recorded the saw before I sent it in. For anyone interested.. even though it fully revs half the time, once you put it in some lumber it will bind up almost immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cEw-2DIjKQ

I'm not sure I mentioned I have a cordless angle grinder that also died after about an hour of use. And honestly, the new 6.5" circular saw makes a weird wobbling sound when running too. Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

I hesitated to say anything about the primer but thought to myself that it's stain not paint.  Anyway it's good to see the company making good on the product.  Not so much with Milwaukee.  Generally most bigger company's are good standing behind their products.  It does seem that the representative that you are talking to has a lot to do with the outcome of complaints.

Just today I contacted Moen about a leaking bathroom faucet.  Most likely a cartridge.  No question asked and they are mailing a replacement.  That thing was installed in 1996.   

Just from the video it sounds as if it is the brushes are not making contact.