They make it too easy...

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As some people know, I am chest deep in building an addition onto my house. Its a big addition so I got a lot of cedar shingles to put on and a whole lot of tongue and groove v-match pine to put up. For the latter, its 28 square of shingles, and 1200 square feet of v-match so I conclude I will need a air compressor, staple gun and finish nailer instead of doing the work with a hammer and nails.

Well there is two things I really don't like, shopping and new tools. I know as a woodworker that sounds odd but I would rather rebuild a 100 year old tool than to get something new that is junk before it even has a fingerprint on it. As I said, I am odd in that regard, but I digress...

So I drop Momma and the Baby off at Baby Depot and head into Home Depot. The tool section is way down along the front of the store so I start walking that way. At the end of the isles they have specials so the first one has an air compressor. Nothing fancy, just a small pancake compressor kit by Porter Cable, perfect for what I need but with only one gun...a brad nailer. That's no good so I continue towards the tools.

The next isle has more of the same, but this time it has two guns...a brad nailer and a finish nailer. Close but I need a staple gun for those cedar shingles, so I start towards the tools again.

Third time is the charm. This time they have an air compressor kit, and three guns...the brad nailer, the finish nailer and the staple gun. So I leave it behind for the moment, grab some staples, pick up the compressor kit and am back in Baby Depot in 10 minutes. This shocks the Mrs. because for the next hour she goes back and forth trying to figure out what she is going to buy the baby for clothes.

As I said this shopping stuff is way to easy...well apparently for tools :)
 
Travis,

I have one of these, bought it from the BORG.



It's one of the best nailers I've used, and for t&g it's indispensable, IMO. I shot about 2000 lf (1000 bf) of knotty pine in my office. It's oil free, rarely misfires, it's a wonderful tool. I used it to blind nail it on the tongues.

Remember, you can't do floors with it, it's a finish nailer. I have used it with 3" 15 gauge to tack 2x4s, works well. I used it to laminate the header for an exterior door I added to my master bedroom.

For hardwood floors, I borrow a friend's Stanley-Bostitch stapler. These work good with both 3/8" and 3/4" but I used 3/4" solid hardwood. Those aren't cheap, like $450, that's why I borrowed his, I lucked out.



I'd hate to do any paneling without a finish nailer, and the Bostitch is top notch, a great tool.
 
Stu, thanks for the kind words, taking that on really got me back into woodworking again. It's such useful space for me. When I'm sitting back pondering how to solve world peace, the knots just make sense of it all...:rofl:

If I could I'd make every room in my house a different type of wood.:rolleyes:
 
Alan,

Great office. Wish I had one like that. Nice machines too...

But if those boards are so nice and straight, how come your desktop looks like this:

wobbly (Medium).jpg

Just teasing. ;) Actually, that whole project looks pretty cool... :thumb:

Thanks,

Bill
 
:rofl:

Yeah, I guess my desktop is a bit on the wobbly side...:rolleyes:

Compiz is pretty cool, on my office desktop with dual head and higher end graphics card (I think I'm using an NVIDIA FX-1100), it's very nice.

When I was doing the office project it seemed like it was taking forever...but having it completed and the kids in their own separate rooms, it was all worth the effort. I use it just about every single day.:)

BTW, the background of that picture (my desktop background) is a shot from the property next to a piece I own at Clear Lake, CA. The office project was a test to see if I could complete the type of work that would be needed to build a home on the property. I plan to build a log home, and won't do the log work myself, but will finish the home once the shell is complete. That will be the biggest and greatest woodworking project I take on...and hope to create a great place that my family will be able to have and cherish for many years after I'm gone...
 
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