six-point socket's tidbits of Home Improvement, small projects and other stuff.

[six-point socket II]

(...) I bought the lifetime supply in the 50 ct boxes.  Although, if you're Oliver, that lifetime supply will only make it to Sunday.  [tongue]

lol.  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Raj

Thanks for the generous offer! [smile] I no longer have a DTS so I can't take you up on this.

I could use the mesh sheets in either 5" or 6" (125mm or 150mm) if anyone wants to sells some in small quantities.

[member=6193]Rob Z[/member], if you need DTS sheets send me a PM and I can send you some samples of granat net (80/120/180).  I bought the lifetime supply in the 50 ct boxes.  Although, if you're Oliver, that lifetime supply will only make it to Sunday.  [tongue]

 

[RKA]

Now you're just getting picky Rob!  I do have 150mm 220 grit granat net, if you want to try some of that.  Unfortunately, that's all I got in 150mm. 

 

[AlexThePalex]

Re: Ammonia. Could you please elaborate a little bit more on what you do with it once you have the 5 liters of ammonia-solution? (I mean, obviously I have used window/glass cleaner like [member=44099]Cheese[/member] posted) Is it only for surface cleaning before using primer, or do you use it as an all-around cleaner for tools, hands, (...)? I would have never thought of using such a cleaner before using primer. But then I also thought that stuff like the ersatz thinners would evaporate completely. Learn something new everyday, which is great!

It is an all-round cleaner for everything that is greasy. Not meant for your hands, it is not a gel or a soap, but as thin as water.

I generally use a small bucket, fill it with about 2 liters of warm water, pour just a tiny bit of ammonia out of the bottle in the water and then it is ready to use. Be sure to ventilate the area because it smells very strongly, even when diluted.

Then you use two cloths, one wet, to apply the ammonia solution, and rub very well, and a second, dry cloth to dry your surface. It cleans very well because it dissolves even the toughest dirt. And for painting it has the benefit that it evaporates completely and leaves no residue.

Those ersatz thinners, they are primarily meant to thin your paint and clean your brushes. Because of their nature, they also dissolve grease so you can use them for cleaning, but they do not evaporate as well so while the surface looks clean, you have now coated the entire surface with a transparant layer of a material that dissolves paint.

The strongest cleaning agent that works well for painting is what we simply call "thinner" over here, it's the stuff that contains toluene and xylene, and it is very strong. I use it sparingly, preferably only when cleaning small metal objects. It is also very good in cleaning dried up paint from systainers or power tools like sanders.

The isopropyl alcohol mentioned is also good for work with paint, as it's alcohol, it evaporates very well. It dissolves grease, but not that aggressively and is pretty harmless. I mostly use it to clean electronic components for soldering.

Given all the contamination with metal and potential cross contamination I decided now was the right time to swap the foot/sanding plate. I don't see more "metal working" in my/ or the DTS's future - so it made sense.

Cross contamination? You worry about that? [huh]

 

[six-point socket II]

Thank you very much Alex, I understand!  [smile] So I will get that next.

Re: Cross contamination, after seeing what that steel wool residue did to my bathroom door, I indeed worried that tiny, tiny, tiny metal & rust particles could transfer from the sander to the next project. So I cleaned it thoroughly, and trashed both pads - they were at the end of their life cycle anyway.

Unnecessary?

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[AlexThePalex]

If a pad is worn you trash it of course. Also, cleaning your tools from time to time never hurts.

I never clean the pads though, except for a quick rub with the vacuum hose. I always use them on any surface, one moment I can be sanding wood, then metal, then drywall. I've never seen any ill effects from cross contamination.

So what did the steel wool do to your bathroom door?

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Alex,

please click here:https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/home-improvement-other-projects/'quick-and-dirty'-basement-door-repair/msg588470/#msg588470

It should take you to post #583 of this thread, and there you can see and read everything in detail.

Short version: I had solid wood doors put in by a carpenter back in the day and his advice for the bathroom door was to rub it down with steel wool and then apply some sort of coating (I don't remember what the product was). At first/ for a year that was good, but with the humidity you'd expect in a bathroom, steel wool residue embedded in the (soft) wood door startet to rust/oxidize and gave me those nasty black spots.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Short version: I had solid wood doors put in by a carpenter back in the day and his advice for the bathroom door was to rub it down with steel wool and then apply some sort of coating (I don't remember what the product was). At first/ for a year that was good, but with the humidity you'd expect in a bathroom, steel wool residue embedded in the (soft) wood door startet to rust/oxidize and gave me those nasty black spots.

That's the same problem you have when working both steel and stainless steel with the same tools. Always use different files, different sanding belts, different bench grinder wheels yada yada yada. Otherwise, the ferrous particles from the steel are transferred to the stainless by the file, belt or wheel and when exposed to humidity/water the stainless starts to rust.

Oliver, is that a water based paint? It sure seems to lay down well with that roller.  [big grin]

I'll bet that color change on the edge of the scraper is an accumulation of removed debris/paint that adhered to the scraper and then started to burn. I say that because that blueing is common on motorcycle exhausts but that takes a temperature of 900º - 1200º.

If that color can be scraped off with a knife then it's just debris. Motorcycle exhausts need to be polished with Blue Away or Simichrome polish before the blueing disappears.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi [member=44099]Cheese[/member],

Thats what I had in mind when finally exchanging sanding plate and interface pad, and what I practice. (All my stainless stuff (Bits, Screwdrivers, (...)) is separated from the rest)

The paint is not water based. ->https://www.cws-wertlack.de/cwsw-de/produkte/produkt/cws-wertlack-satine.php

It's alkyd enamel/ alkyd resin based with added polyurethane to reinforce it.

The roll I used for the Satiné paint is made by Friess Techno and called "Magic Finish".

I will check on the scraper. Thank you very much!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[TwelvebyTwenty]

In regards to the mesh paper, personally I do like them, as I can attest to even better dust extraction when using them.

That's physically impossible, the pad of the sander still has only 7 holes. In fact, the mesh goes over the holes, partially blocking them.

And thank you very much for that tip on the Nitro-Verdünner! I was recommended NovaThin from CWS to go with the CWS Allgrund primer and CWS Satiné paint. I now understand why I should have spent that 20 - 30 extra Euros for the NovaThin.

No, you should not. All those engineered ersatz thinners and cleaners are a complete waste of money and less environmentally friendly.

An ammonia solution is best, I buy a liter for 70 cents and it can make more than 100 buckets filled with 5 liters of water.

It would be wrong to think ammonia is bad, your own body produces it. It only becomes bad when it's too concentrated, always dissolve just a few ml in a bucket full of water.

Re: GranatNet mesh abrasives. I understand what you say, I'm not going to argue about it - I know the results I had and will continue to have with it, I'm happy with it. But I understand that experience varies, you are a pro, I'm a hobbyist - and if you like the paper better - thats perfectly fine and plausible with me!

Re: Ammonia. Could you please elaborate a little bit more on what you do with it once you have the 5 liters of ammonia-solution? (I mean, obviously I have used window/glass cleaner like [member=44099]Cheese[/member] posted) Is it only for surface cleaning before using primer, or do you use it as an all-around cleaner for tools, hands, (...)? I would have never thought of using such a cleaner before using primer. But then I also thought that stuff like the ersatz thinners would evaporate completely. Learn something new everyday, which is great!

Thank you very much!

Kind regards,
Oliver

I'm amazed there's anyone who can argue that the mesh discs aren't superior in terms of sanding quality and dust extraction. I find, and thought it was well known, that because the whole pad is permeable and micro air channels are created between the hook and loop that the dust extraction is superior to that of traditional disc that can only extract where punched. Also I find the scratch pattern more refined due to the construction of the abrasive compared with traditional discs. 

I do concede that they aren't as durable in certain circumstances.

 

[Rob Z]

Oliver

Looks like a pro paint job, nice work!  I see your boiler in the back room: is that a Buderus?  I know the brand because about 10/11 years ago we did a big job in Wash DC and my mechanical subcontractor  installed a Buderus boiler for us. Wow, was it a nice piece of equipment.

 

[six-point socket II]

Oliver

Looks like a pro paint job, nice work!  I see your boiler in the back room: is that a Buderus?  I know the brand because about 10/11 years ago we did a big job in Wash DC and my mechanical subcontractor  installed a Buderus boiler for us. Wow, was it a nice piece of equipment.

Hi Rob,

yes its a Buderus. Thank you very much, but the paint job is not finished yet, I did the 2nd coat today.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

2nd coat today on this side of the door. Tomorrow 2 coatings on the other side will follow suit, then the door is finished.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Rob Z]

Oliver,

I was so impressed with Buderus that I kept it in the back of my mind that I would want one of those if and when we build a house to our specs. The one on our job also heated the potable water and stored it in a large tank. So, there were two separate systems inside the boiler: one for the radiators and one for the hot water in the house.

I no longer have those business records so I can't look up the numbers, but I do recall it was very expensive  [eek] [eek] [eek]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Rob,

Yes, you can have these with two water circuits. Our unit could do that, but since we get hot water through 3 separate (Guest bathroom, bathroom, kitchen) flow heaters, there was no need to actually use/connect it. And we also didn't want yet another big tank in that room. (What you don't see is the 3000l heating oil steel tank to the left ...)

And believe it or not, we're not exactly super happy with that Buderus. Sure, it keeps us warm - but all the functionality it promised, never really worked out the way we would have wanted it. (Programmable heating cycles, oil/cost efficiency ...)

Not sure if, once we switch over to natural gas, we're going to buy another Buderus.

I'm also not sure if these units are as expensive here in Germany as they are in the US.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[HarveyWildes]

When you do transition to natural gas, here is our experience.

We've got a Buderus natural gas boiler that handles the radiant heat for 4000 sq ft and (via a heat exchanger hot water tank) all of our hot water.  It is able to keep up with 2 showers and with heating down to -20 F.  In the 13 years since it was installed, we've had one part that needed to be replaced and one scheduled service - probably $400 total.  The zone features work exactly as described to us by the company that installed it.  That is, you can't change temperature quickly, but the temps hold well once you get it set to your tastes to begin with, and we can get by with ~6 F lower temps than we were used to with forced air.  We have an energy efficient Star rating on our house - R-19 spray-foam insulation in 2x4 walls, and R-50 cellulose in the ceiling - and that with the efficient boiler keeps our natural gas usage down to slightly less than 1/2 of what others in our neighborhood pay for forced air systems.  The only house that costs less than ours to heat is the one that uses geothermal - his natural gas heater doesn't kick in until it gets down to about 10 F.  The up-front costs for his systems were also considerably higher than ours, and require a bit more maintenance.

 

[six-point socket II]

Thank you very much for the insight, Harvey!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[nclemmons]

That’s a great walk-through on the platform.  Is that typical for washer/dryer to have them elevated?  Now with the front-loading w/d in the States becoming more common, you can buy a drawer unit to put under them.  Don’t think I’ve seen an elevated platform like that before. Tile and cement work look great.  You could do this (and so many of your other jobs) as a professional!

Thanks for the detailed photos!

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Neil,

that is a big compliment coming from you, thank you very much. But as indicated by the first pictures, I wasn't "walking only by myself" on the pedestal project.

We originally had 3 of the drawer units, but they are not "one size fit all". One was for the old "Big" machine, one for the washing machine after that, and one for the current dryer.

Now we had to get the new washing machine in a hurry and accidentally bought one that couldn't be fit onto a drawer unit at all ...

We didn't think of it in that situation. Neither one of the two drawer units that we still had would fit either.

So to get it up to height, a pedestal was the only option. And it made sense to re-use two of the remaining drawer-units with the pedestal.

I can't speak in numbers, but I know quite a few people that have pedestals. It's not uncommon. And drawer units are probably even more popular.

The height is ideal for us.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[TwelvebyTwenty]

That’s a great walk-through on the platform.  Is that typical for washer/dryer to have them elevated?  Now with the front-loading w/d in the States becoming more common, you can buy a drawer unit to put under them.  Don’t think I’ve seen an elevated platform like that before. Tile and cement work look great.  You could do this (and so many of your other jobs) as a professional!

Thanks for the detailed photos!

I have to admit I was also slightly confused as to the practical benefit of the appliances being raised on a separate platform, when it appears the drawers that would ordinarily be used to sit the machines upon have also been purchased - so seemed a little unnecessary.

The only thing I could figure is there might be a health/accessibility issues that meant the extra few inches of height were worth the significant effort.