How to Build Bed Swing

I built one of these years ago for my mom and had the hardest time giving it up once it was time to hand it over because I just loved it so much. However, at the time I really didn’t have a good place to hang it anyhow. Now that we’ve moved into the woods, I decided to build one for myself and hang it out in the yard where I can see the nice scenic views out to the east.

If you’re interested in building your own, I have put together a set of detailed plans found here.  I know that sometime folks prefer to hang these sort of swings from a free standing covered structure…like a mini gazebo.  Well, I built one of those too : ) Take a look here if you’re interested. Also, if the bed swing is not really your thing and you’re more interested in a standard porch swing, I have a FREE template to make your own porch swing found here as well as a how-to video to go with it found here.

These are some of the things I used to make this project.

Bluetooth Hearing Protection
Miter saw Stand
Miter saw
Right Angle Clamping Jig
Triton Drill

Outfeed Table
Table saw
Wall Mounted Dust collection
Bandsaw
Bevel Gauge

Router Table
Doweling Jig
Blue Clamp
Dust Right Separator
Universal Hose Kit

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How to Clean Outdoor Lighting Fixtures - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Regular cleaning of your home's exterior light fixtures will ensure the best outdoor lighting and enhance your home's curbside appeal. Read on for step-by-step instructions and cleaning methods.

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Review of the Diablo Demo Demon Saw Blade

Construction and demolition work are a balance between speed and safety among many other things. In this type of environment you need a good saw blade that can deliver on those criteria. I’ve been a long time customer of Freud parts and tools in my shop and have gone through a number of Diablo saw blades. Today I’m offering a snapshot review of the Diablo Demo Demon saw balde with Tracking Point Amped technology on behalf of the The Home Depot’s ProSpective Campaign .

This blade is considered a thin kerf blade and has an average tooth thickness of about .065” according to my calipers. The thin kerf and Perma-Sheild coating lend themselves to very low frictional forces on the blade making it very smooth and easy to push through material.

Make no mistake, this blade is optimized for demolition work but also performs well in standard framing cuts on new material. Whether you are sawing through new material or ripping through shingles, nails, and decking material, the tracking point amped technology keeps the blade nice and stable under load.

This technology is focused on having 3 different grind profiles on the carbide cutting teeth. The cutting profiles alternate between a left and right bevel but feature a “tracking” point between each left/right beveled tooth. This tracking point has a dual bevel on each side and keeps the blade “tracking” on the intended path. By approaching the profile sequence in this way, the blade teeth do not induce excessive vibrations throughout the blade…..all this boils down to a higher quality cut and longer blade life.

The longevity of a demolition blade also relies heavily on impact resistance or “toughness”. When a saw blade is driven through nail embedded wood like you find in demo work, the energy that it takes to cut through the hardened steel nail must be absorbed by the tooth of the saw blade. This is exactly where Diablo stands out with this blade. They have used a number of different technologies in the design of this saw blade to soak up that energy and effectively distribute it throughout the blade material and not focus it in the carbide teeth alone.

The teeth are shaped such that they fit into a small “nest” in the steel blade material and are aligned in a way that resist teeth tear out. Diablo refers to this as their “Lock-Tooth” technology. Joining the teeth to the blade is achieved through “tri-metal” shock resistant brazing which is a proprietary method used to better bond the teeth to the blade. Last but not least with the design of these carbide teeth is the Durablend TiCo coating. TiCo is an abbreviation for Titanium Cobalt which is a carbide teeth coating process to ensure extreme impact resistance. This technology is also found in machine cutting tools and is a proven technique for increased toughness when compared to non-coated carbide cutting tools.

When I was approached about doing a review for this blade, I also decided to mimic a test “sandwich” I had seen on a saw blade thread. You can see below that I embedded 18d ring shank nails in to a piece of 2×6 material, covered it in flashing, and then finally covered all that in asphalt shingle material. It’s worth mentioning that the saw moved very easily through my test bed and did not even feel close to kicking back through the entire cut.

Like I mentioned above, I have owned a number of different Diablo blades. As a DIYer, you just can’t get away from demo work. After a tough day of demo cuts through nails, shingles, and plywood, the Diablo Demo Demon blade still provided a great finish cut on new lumber.

If you are in the market for a good all around blade that can really stand up to some hard core wear and tear, consider the Diablo Demo Demon. It’s really loaded up with some fascinating technology that proves effective against real world abuse.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about this product. If you are interested in purchasing one of these blades, consider using one of the links provided in this review. In a small way, it helps this site stay alive on the vine.  Yall take care – April.

This review is sponsored by The Home Depot through their ProSpective campaign. 

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Fixing a Walkway with Sinking Stones

Our landscape was a huge selling feature for us when we moved in—green grass, nice landscaping, minimal maintenance—we loved it all.  Then somewhere along the line, we started noticing changes.  Our once sturdy walkway slowly began shifting away.

Although we have attempted numerous times to adjust these sinking stones, it never really stayed in place long enough. After a season change, we were right back at square one. Those same stones became a tippy, tilted mess.

To rectify this situation once and for all, we visited a local landscaping store to make sure we got the right supplies for the job and to ask for a little advice on how to permanently fix our problem.

I went prepared with a lot of pictures of the walkway and explained how some of the smaller paver stones on the right side are sloping down as the soil erodes. They recommended that we remove the entire right side of the stone pathway and redo everything to properly fix this problem.

That means, we need to pop out 17 stones, dig out the old sand and gravel, create a new bed of gravel that is at least 4″ deep, put the stones back and then line the entire right side with plastic pavers edge to keep everything in tack.

It really does make perfect sense but all I could think of is what if we end up doing more damage than good!? Out of the 17 stones only 5 are in rough shape.  In the end, we decided to leave the good stones as is and just focus on fixing the 5 shifting stones using the method they had suggested.

We purchased the supplies need—landscape aggregate (gravel), plastic pavers edge, 10″ spikes and polymeric sand.

After we removed the stone, we dug out all the old gravel and made sure we had about a 4″ depth. We were told the key to guaranteeing long life is to get a solid, level base. We created a new 4″ bed of compacted gravel. We extended it just slightly past the stone so the pavers edging will have a proper support.

The plastic pavers edge acts as a wrap around each stone we are fixing. We trimmed it to the proper size and set it in place using 10″ spikes that we hammered into the compacted gravel. The spikes sit underneath the stone so make sure you dry fit everything prior to securing so you know exactly where to place the edging.

We repeated the same steps to each of the 5 stones we fixed and so far it seems pretty solid.

We used black mulch to cover the exposed dirt which, will do two things, 1) cosmetically enhance the curb appeal and camouflage the black pavers edge and 2) provide some protection to the exposed dirt and stop some of the erosion from occurring.

The last step is to fill the joint lines with polymeric sand which will not only hold everything in place but add the finishing touch. The stones must be completely dry (not just the surface but all the way through) before you can add the sand.  We were also told for optimal results to make sure there was no rain in the forecast for the next two days. Since it has been raining on and off like crazy at the time we did this, we weren’t able to apply the sand. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and I’ll post our updates when we complete this step.

I can’t wait to you our plans with that entry door next week!

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Review of Rigid 12 Volt Palm Impact Screwdriver

I’ll cut to the chase on this one – you need to own one of these! When I received this little 12 Volt Palm Impact Driver from RIGID, I did not have the highest of expectations….just being honest. Man was I wrong. This compact drill driver fits into your hand perfectly and can get into nearly any space a conventional drill would otherwise be too large for. At the same time, RIGID did not sacrifice power for size. This little thing can drive in 3” deck screws with no problem. Keep in mind this is an impact driver and not a regular drill driver.

If you look at it closely you can see that there is not a conventional “trigger”. That’s because RIGID totally took a different approach and made this impact driver pressures sensitive……what’s that even mean? Let’s say you’re driving a screw into a drawer slide at the back of a cabinet and the space is a bit tight. You reach for this compact tool with its “push-to-drive” technology. All you need to do with this drill is load the screw onto a bit, place the screw in the hole of the drawer slide, then simply PRESS the drill into the material. As soon as you begin to press the drill inward, the motor begins turning; press a little harder and the impact feature will pound your screw in with minimal effort on your end. It’s one of those kind of tools that begs the question, “why didn’t we think of this years ago” lol.

Interested in purchasing one? Find one HERE through the Home Depot.

The other buttons that you’ll find on the drill are a direction switch and a light switch. The direction switch is at the top of the unit and is easy to maneuver one handed which is pretty important to me. The switch that operates the light aligns well with the thumb if you’re holding it in your right hand. However, both the direction and the light switches are just as easy to operate with your left hand as they are the right. Although there is a dedicated light switch, the light will automatically come on as soon as the bit is pressed into something so you’re never running this thing in the dark.

The unit comes with a battery and charger. The battery is a 12 Volt 1.5 Ah Lithium-Ion battery that can reach a full charge in about 20-25 minutes. A full charge will last wayyy longer than you might think. I used this thing on an outdoor furniture build and after a day of driving in about 75 exterior wood screws, it was still on a half a tank. The level of the battery is easy to read with the “fuel gauge” on the side of the drill body. The gauge also comes on while you are drilling so you can know well in advance when the unit is running low on juice.Here are some technical specifications worth mentioning. The drill only weighs 1.9 lbs which mainly comes from the motor/gear box and not the light weight battery. The max torque is 400 in*lbs and the max speed is 2000 RPM. The impact mechanism delivers 3000 impacts per minute and with a bit of math you can see it will deliver 3 impacts for every 2 revolutions (or 1.5 impacts per rev).

Last but certainly not the least is the warranty. Prepare yourself – lifetime warranty folks. That’s right. According the to the RIGID website, if you simply register your product on their website with your original purchase receipt from Home Depot, you will qualify for a “lifetime of free replacement batteries, free service, and free replacement parts” (Source: RIGID Warranty).

And that about wraps this one up. Hopefully by now you’ve caught on to the excitement I have for this little palm driver. The variable speed “push-to-drive” impact driver technology is a match made in tool heaven. Couple that with a long lasting battery and bumper-to-bumper lifetime warranty and you have a real winner.

Yall take care – April

This review is sponsored by The Home Depot through their ProSpective campaign. 

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July Home Maintenance To-Do List - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

July means summer has arrived in full force. But before heading out for your summer vacation, take the time to tackle these needed home maintenance chores.

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Scrap Wood Art – Abstract Mountain

This week is totally off the beaten path – I’m diving into an “art project” : )  Make no mistake, I am not an artist..lol But I did have a really fun time making this abstract mountain scene.  After combing through the internet for inspiration, I combined a handful of different ideas to make this mountain scene. All and all the project cost about $50 in material. Feel free to check out the video below to see how it all came together. If you are interested in building your own, check out the template I created here.

 

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