montreal_woodworks wrote:If you are in their ecosystem and already have a stack of batteries, you are inclined to not look too closely at competitors.

Bingo, you better be into their platform or it’s really going to cost you, much more then just for the tool.

Had I been a part of the current Dewalt platform, I would have kept the cordless track…[Read more]

I love cordless as much as probably anyone and I jumped on the bandwagon long before a lot of you, I’m sure. But the technology is neither cheap nor perfect yet. So don’t throw away those power cords just yet.

Granted, the power may have arrived, but the longevity of a charge demanding that power is still a little bit away and the cost of that…[Read more]

montreal_woodworks wrote:So if I were choosing a platform now, Bosch 12v or Milwaukee Fuel 12v would win at the 12v level and Makita would get the nod at 18v

That’s exactly where I’m at.

montreal_woodworks wrote:That said, my 500 series Bosch barrel grip jigsaw, my new colt router, my MRC23 and 1617 full size routers, my vac090s extractor vac,…

[Read more]

All this talk about switching over to Makita makes me feel good that I made the switch over 10 years ago. That said, I still use my 12V Bosch’s in my shop, as I have no 12V Makita tools.

Doobie wrote:How did you find they compared power wise? Is the cordless significantly less than a corded saw?

Actually no, the power was fine with the DeWalt cordless track saw that I had. Battery life was not so good though.

If you had plenty of batteries for that platform, it probably wouldn’t be a deal breaker though. I did not, so I sold it.

Personally, having owned both corded and cordless track saws, I would always take the corded model for 2 reasons. Cost being the biggie and 2) extractor activation doesn’t usually work as well with out a cord attached.

So I quickly went back to the first page of this thread and saw no mention of Bosch’s track saw coming. I heard it was.

I used my little PS’rs to put together these.

I’ve been missing for most of the last year, but before that I had some dealings with Jim and he was very helpful. I’m sure he will be missed, much like all the previous administrators of this site.

Good Luck in the future Jim, wherever your path takes you.

jponto07 wrote:Just don’t try making your own extenders out of plywood…ask me how I know!

I would love to hear why and pictures would be great. I would think that you could do it, as long as it was designed to handle the stresses. But maybe that’s the point of failure.

Boschmanbrian wrote:So how long from start to finish about, and how many people did you have working on this deck.

Well it wasn’t done overnight, that’s for sure. I actually have no idea now, how long it took. It was done in stages, spread over a couple of years. The deck pictured above was surprisingly the first stage.

That was followed by…[Read more]

Clev08 wrote:I have missed the pictures of your work around here, Beautiful decks with beautiful backdrops!

Thanks, sometimes I miss building them.

I’ve never reversed the heads on the older style Revo clamps, but the ends definitely come off. The extenders are great by the way, for those times you need a longer clamp.

This is one of my bigger freestanding decks. In addition, we also built a substantial deck, all the way around the house, as well as the most steps I’ve ever done. The one with my son, who is now in the Air Force, is at the top of the steps, going down to the house, something like 80 steps. All told, there was well over 3000 sq. ft. of decking…[Read more]

Doobie wrote:I see them now. Little black tabs for the corners placed under the tiles. Are they meant for that application? Do you know what they are called?

Kevin, yes they were sold by the stone manufacturer, based in Minnesota.

http://www.stonedeckus.com/

Doobie wrote:OK, I don’t see what you mean about plastic tabs???

If you look closely, you can see them in the top picture.

Doobie wrote:I see how you did that one. Did you also get some polymeric sand between them?

No sand, because the tiles are essentially floating on the plastic tabs. If we put anything between the tiles, it would probably just end up on the roof. They are surprisingly stable and drain well.

Having been a contractor in Calif. for 38 years I can tell you that every building department is different.

I have no experience in Oakland, but in the South Bay, a homeowner can usually a purchase set of plans for previous work, if they were available.

If you view the plans, can you photograph them with a high quality camera and then have the…[Read more]

Doobie wrote:I imagine this system would work.

Yes Kevin, that is the system I used and it worked very well. Make sure you get lots of extra drill bits.

I’ve seen that paver system, though I never used it. I think it would be slick. I like using a contrasting material for different levels.

Here is one I used on a roof top deck. I think it…[Read more]