December 11, 2009 AsktheBuilder News And Tips
What’s in This Issue?
Snow
Feedback on the Right Brush and Frog Tape
Flowers Fast
Tiger Woods
Dremel 4000
Skil 18Volt Kit
Delta Pilar Touch Faucet
Rockwell JawHorse
Latest Columns & Videos
The Fire Pit
I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.
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(Written two days ago) I'm sitting here at the lake house in the center of the vortex of swirling snow. Wow, it's really coming down. The forecast is for 6-10 inches. I'm glad I've got my Sears Dual-Stage Snowblower!! In fact, I've got two, as we're testing the latest model this afternoon after the snow stops falling. I hope it's a deep snow, as I want to really put that blower through a tough test. I just went out and measured, and we have 6 inches now with the snow still falling at a furious rate.
Update - in real time on 12-11-2009: We ended up with nearly 11 inches here at the Loch. It's a gorgeous day now as I complete the newsletter. Blue sky, puffy white clouds and a stiff wind from the northwest. The Sears snowblower did a magnificent job. I LOVE it......
There are a boatload of things to share in this newsletter, many additional gift ideas if you need them. I'll not waste any time on other questions this issue. However, I do want to add that the response to my upcoming Basement Waterproofing eBook was far beyond my expectations. In fact, it was so good that I have decided to include in the eBook some fantastic Case Studies. You may be one! I'll talk about that next issue.
Feedback on The Right Brush and Frog Tape
Bill Pass, from Orlando, FL, wrote to me after the last issue. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill on a business trip I made last January to Florida. I try to carve out time to visit with you when I travel. Bill wrote:
Well, regarding the angled paint brush - You may remember I grew up in the painting industry here in Florida, and I'm sorry to bust your perky bubble, but those crazy looking angled brushes have been around as long as I can remember (and I'm now 64). However you don't see them very often. We used to keep them in stock for our painters (1 ½" to 3" sizes) mostly for special uses such as tighter areas behind immovable items and such. I have used them on occasion for cutting in around a ceiling, floor and trim where the angle could made it easier on my wrist, but still prefer a straight handle for this work. Of course, the bristles also come either straight across or angled, flat or chiseled, etc. for selection depending upon the intended use.
So there, for my little bit of historical info.
Thanks Bill for that factoid.
Then I got the most pleasant email from a new friend, April Ball, who lives in Yukon, OK. April exclaimed:
I read, with great interest, your Frog Tape review last week (I think that was it). I have been skeptical of painters tapes for years now and haven't bothered to buy them as I can much more easily paint a straight line than any painters tape has ever given me, and it's very frustrating to both take the time tape off AND correct the leaks - but, I remembered what you had said about not even posting products that fail to impress you and took the plunge last week and purchased a roll. WOW! I put that tape through a ringer of a test; as a set painter, I very often need straight lines, but I'm also lazy enough to hate marking them so I put the tape up, stepped back, made an adjustment, and then repeated the process many times over. I must have pulled each piece of tape off 6 or 7 times, so when I pulled that tape off after I finished painting and my lines were perfect I was stunned!
So a big woohoo, from me, for a great, great product!
Thanks April! It's great to see how these product reviews help folks. It sure helps me stay focused to continue to invest the time as I can see it makes a difference!
I'm devoting the rest of the newsletter to Christmas gift suggestions and a discount or two available to you at different websites.
Flowers Fast
One of my very good friends is named Bob Rankin. He has a wonderful wife named Loreli. What a beautiful name that is! Bob and Loreli and I marched together in Washington DC on September 12. Bob owns a neat online florist website. You may want to give flowers as a gift to someone. If so, Bob has extended a discount to you from his FlowersFast website. He's authorized a 15% discount if you use this promo code: FIREPIT
Make sure there are no spaces. Bob tells me that the promo code expires in just five days (December 16, 2009), so order now to save some sweet moola. I'll use Bob's site for sure to send some flowers to Kathy in the next few days. I've used it before and always been happy with the selection and price.
Tiger Woods - TOTALLY Off Topic
Briefly, I just got an email from an association to which I belong. It told me one of the most popular search terms right now is Tiger Woods. All I have to say is that Don Henley was so right in his song "Dirty Laundry". Go Google this: dirty laundry lyrics
Dremel 4000
I tested the Dremel 4000 rotary tool not too long ago. It's something I don't know how I got by without it long ago. There are small jobs it just does so well. It's perfect for tight spaces and places where you need ultra precision. If you give this to someone for Christmas, they'll be thanking you for sure.
Skil 18Volt Kit
The past few days I completed testing a 18-volt cordless combo power-tool kit from Skil. The kit contains a circular saw, a drill, a light and a sander. These are all handy. The saw had no effort dealing with solid oak pallets I was cutting up for kindling wood. Any woman would LOVE this kit, as the tools are so light and manageable. The soft-sided carrying case is perfect and fits well on my storage shelves in the garage. Kathy, my wife, would have LOVED the flashlight last night. There was a power outage, and she didn't have enough light in the pitch-black house. The flashlight in this kit would have saved her. I give this two hammers up!
Delta Pilar Touch O2 Faucet
I can't tell you how many Delta faucets I've installed over the years, but it's a big number. As with many companies, Delta has grown and introduced some fabulous products. One that I've grown to love is their Pilar pull-down kitchen sink faucet that allows you to turn on the faucet by not moving a lever or handle. It does have a traditional on/off lever, but it's not mandatory you use it to start the flow of water.
This is a handy feature, just like you see in public bathrooms. Imagine your hands are dirty or covered with food goop. Who wants to get that on a handle? So with the knuckle of a finger, the back of your hand or your wrist you touch the body of the faucet. Presto, water flows and you can rinse your hands. If you're about to remodel your kitchen, you should give this faucet a serious look. There are any number of online stores where you can buy this faucet direct and have it shipped to you.
Rockwell JawHorse
Here's a really interesting gift idea. Imagine a traditional saw horse, but one that's been pulled from the future. This work station has three legs for stability on any type of sloped ground, it's all metal, has a foot pedal that generates over one ton of clamping force, etc. It holds just about anything so that you can reduce your reliance on having a helper hold something in position for you. It's the Rockwell JawHorse. You can also purchase accessories for specialized uses like welding, miter-box stands, a plywood jaw that allows it to hold up pieces of plywood flat, etc. This is a killer workstation.
Now, that being said, in a few months I'll have a set of plans for you that will show you how to build your own workstation from framing lumber and some common hardware items. Subscriber Robert Tingler developed the plans, and I'm working with him to get some great step-by-step photos of how to build it. If the JawHorse is out of your budget, then hold tight until we release the plans.
See a picture of this saw horse in the December 21, 2014 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.
Latest Columns and Videos
I'll have some for you next week. For now, concentrate on these tools as great gifts.
The Fire Pit
If you're a new subscriber, I have a second newsletter that I produce. It's not about home improvement, but talks about my feeling about where our great nation is headed. If you're interested in discovering my take on politics, then come and sit around my Fire Pit. I'll warn you now, I'm right of center, love the Constitution, and am attracted to self-sufficient people who get things done.
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