Recent content by Charles Lent

My #2 son, bought a house across town 8 years ago. It had been built by the original family about 1950, then 2 bedrooms added onto one end some years later. I had been helping him when looking for house, trying to spot problems with each, but this one I got to see during a fast look at during a...

Yes, that tape is quite handy. I have made a lot of boxes with box jointed corners. I learned early on that taping the inside ends of each side of the box at the box fingers kept the glue from squeezing onto the box insides at the corners. Once the glue sets up for a few hours, I remove the...

My present house seemed to have been "unmodified" when I bought it. It did need new breaker panels and a service upgrade from fuses and 60 amp service to panels with breakers and 200 amp service, but I was aware of that at the time of purchase. Once we moved in I set about replacing the service...

I hope I'm wrong, but many furniture and other companies making products from wood commonly cut off the last 1-2' of boards because that's where the drying stresses are greatest. Wide drops from ends will usually split somewhere down their center area as they age, even after being machined into...

42 years ago I had the chance to see satellite zoomed in and enhanced ground photos that provided more detail than your zoomed in third photo from your Drone, and with more definition than in your photo. The photos were of a helicopter base with 3 helicopters on the ground. The writing on the...

When I lived in NY State, I was almost 1/2 hour drive one way to a hardware store or lumber yard, so I always bought more of whatever I needed. A neighbor farmer was sometimes a source when stores weren't open. I had quite an inventory in my shop by the time that I moved here. The company that I...

"Because I have one" and if I was building these, I think I would use my "Incra I-Box Jig" on my Unisaw to make these. The joints take a bit longer to cut, but would be several orders of magnitude stronger. But then I tend to like box joints, especially when using thin materials. The jig makes...

I would NOT use MDF for a drawer bottom. Quality plywood would be my only choice for this. Moisture ands humidity do bad things to MDF. Quality plywood to fit the existing slots would likely last another Century, if the rest of the piece does. Charley

Just be aware that some cars today have cigarette lighter sockets that turn on only when the engine is running. My Jeep Grand Cherokee has two cigarette lighter sockets in the lower center console. One stays on, but the other turns on only when the ignition is on and the engine is running. I...

My sister and brother-in-law had a cat that had to have it's front paws de-clawed early in it's life because it was climbing the expensive drapes and couldn't be stopped. It was young enough when de-clawed that it figured out how to adapt to not having them. It still had hind toenails and one...

Female cats have been the best mousers for us, but our last cat died 5 years ago. Male cats usually can't be bothered with mouse chasing. The females are the best hunters. Without a cat, I have been trapping the mice and have been using Victor traps. The old style with the metal trigger work...

If humanity has a need for something, somebody will come up with a fix for it. The greater the need, the more competition and alternatives that will become available. Charley

That should do, but I just bought a 10' length of 6" PVC and a couple of end plugs. Then added a handle to one of the end plugs and drilled the needed holes. I never did much steaming, so after keeping it 10+ years and it getting in the way one too many times I trashed it. I figured out that the...

"I'm thnking we may have a need for something like that in the future. Is it working as advertised and would you be willing to share the brand?" Ted, The seat lift that my son chose was made by Liftseat. He bought the heavy duty model because he is a big guy at 300 lbs. It's quite big and...

Two houses and about 60 years ago we lived in a house that had a small tree die just outside the kitchen window where we had a bird feeder. So, when I cut the tree down, I left the stump of this 4" diameter tree standing at about window level. Then I attached a small platform to the top of the...