Month: September 2020

September 9, 2020 – Review: HingeMate 350

September 9, 2020 /

I have been saving this one for a while. I have been waiting for a day where I needed a topic quickly, today isn’t that day but I have been sitting on this for over a month. I am going to discuss the finer points of the HingeMate 350 today.

What is the HingeMate anyway? It is a template set that is used to create mortises for doors and hinges. It has pretty much everything you need to do that job, except the router. I purchased it at Lowes for $38.50.

There are plastic templates for the router to use from 2 1/2″ to 4 1/2″ hinges. It can accommodate three different styles of hinges in those widths, 5/8″ radius, 1/4″ radius and square. In addition, you can also mortise strike plate mortises as well as lock plate mortises.

This was a job that was traditionally done with a mallet and chisel. And it can be done, it is not too hard. But it is tedious and takes quite a while (at least for me). I recently replaced doors on my project after spending hours truing up the frame and opening, so I wasn’t too excited about ripping out the frame along with the finished trim, I thought that I would give this a try.

When would you replace a door only? I would say that if you are happy with the swing operation and the trim detail, it is a perfect scenario to only replace the door. The trick is that this is kind of a precise operation, hinge placements need to be exact in order for the door to work. It is easiest to transfer measurements from the old door to the new door for the best results.

The way that this product works is that you select the template that you want to use and place it in the template holder. The template holder is adjusted for the door thickness and placed in the precise spot that you want to work on the door. The whole apparatus is screwed to the door. The bit is put into the router (not included) and then you adjust the depth of cut for the hinge thickness.

Rout the hinge mortise, remove the template and test hinge fit. If you are satisfied, drill the holes for the hinge screws and mount the hinge. Here is a tip, for best door operation, the top of the hinge face should be completely flush to the door edge, not proud and not inset. Otherwise you get into all kinds of binding and geometry problems.

How did it work? Well, it worked perfectly on my first door. It fit on the first test. My second door I had to make modifications to the door in order to make it fit, but I dont believe that it was a problem with the HingeMate but rather the opening was still a half an inch out of plumb.

So, what is the verdict for the HingeMate?

AdvantagesDisadvantages
Value4/5You cant argue with the price. The professional Porter-Cable version is over $250You need to supply your own router. That is another $100 if you do not already own a 1/4″ collet router
I bought this to cut hours of chiseling, I felt that I could do an entire door in the time it would take to do one hinge by hand.If you are only cutting one hinge size (or hinges only) you get a lot of extra pieces that aren’t necessary
Would like to have a storage case for all the parts. You have to cut the packaging open to get them out and there are a lot of loose parts around.
Quality3/5Followed the included instructions and got acceptable results. No flex, no wanderI noticed that the compression fit of the templates tended to loosen with repeated installation into the fixture. I fear over time, the fit would become too loose. That is not substantiated at this time
It was fairly persnickety to accurately place the fixture, the marks are not very precise and required a lot of verification measurements.
Performance3/5Hinges fit tight and flush. I was very happy with the mortises and the speed of the job.The precision of this jig depends on how good you are at measuring and setup. 1/8″ will be extremely difficult to set the door (or repair). I measured four times before cutting.
The only real thing I didn’t like was the screw holes that remained after the fixture was removed. Those had to be filled. It is a cheap and effective way of holding the fixture in place.
The trim router that I used was too small for the template and wanted to fall through in the middle of the cut so I had to freehand. Use a full sized router or an extended base plate to eliminate this problem.

The bottom line is that price for performance is there. I wonder about the durability of this product, but for me I am don’t really see using it much more. Again, my main motivator was saving time on installing the new doors, check that box. If you have a need, I can recommend this product. If you are a finish carpenter, go for the Porter-Cable.

September 8, 2020 – Survived the Apocalypse, Now the Nuclear Winter

September 8, 2020 /

It’s late today. Without getting into too much irrelevant detail, we are currently surrounded by wildfires.

Growing up in the west, fire is an annual event. The mountainous and forested areas are the places that most frequently affected. Lighting and fuel combined with low population density are a common recipe for the big western fires. Typically the area of the state that I live in is a greener and wetter climate. But, when the coast is on fire, you know that there is trouble.

As my wife and I were enjoying a Labor Day drive, I got a reverse 911 call warning of high winds (known as red flag winds). In about two hours the smoke stared blowing in from fires in the central part of the state. Overnight, too many fires to mention kicked up and started burning out of control.

6:45AM, 7:15AM, 8:30AM, 12:30PM, 4:00PM

From what I have seen, the municipal services have done a pretty good job of jumping into action and keeping us to date. It’s no joke, towns have burned and my brother evacuated earlier today. I think that I am in a good position, but I wanted to talk about more concrete actions you can take.

First of all, have a plan. A plan is a place to go and a route to take that is going to be safe. If your party is going to separate, discuss alternate routes to arrive at your destination safely.

Be prepared for evacuation. I would recommend that you gather important documents, medications, glasses, mobile chargers and communication devices and essential non-replaceable items. Pack a bag for extended time away from home. Include items for pets as well like food, bowls, carriers, etc. Make sure your vehicle is fueled and serviceable.

It might be too late, but here are some of the things that are helpful to protect your home. Keep brush and vegetation away from structures. If possible, keep landscaping watered. It has sometimes been beneficial to wet structures with sprinklers or hoses. Native plants tend to fair better to fire either resisting or recovering.

There is too much information to summarize tonight, I will provide some information that I am aware of.

Don’t panic, this will pass.

September 3, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

September 3, 2020 /

I finally got back to the range yesterday. It was the first time that I have been back since early March. The range was closed into May, so it wasn’t total negligence that I didn’t go. My dad asked me to take him in April and I said that when I got through with my project, that would be the time. Well, here we are finally.

October and hunting season is going to be here in a few weeks. The range tends to get really busy in September, so ideally we would have gotten this done two months ago. But this is the time I have, so let’s get this done. I took my dad, uncle and son and spent the better part of the day getting hunting rifles ready for the season.

We had all kinds of maladies to deal with. New shooters, new scopes, unfired rifles caused a long session to get to the results we were looking for. I am going to talk about my process in getting a rifle sighted in.

  1. Determine the load and the likely shooting distance for hunting. Changing those variable after sighting in the rifle requires another verification session.
  2. Bore Sight the scope – I use a laser that is inserted into the barrel. I initially adjust the scope so the crosshairs are centered at a height that is equal to the measurement of center of bore to center of scope.
  3. Shoot at the fifty yard target three times to verify bullet grouping is consistent. If not consistent, verify mounts are solid, ammunition is the same, bullets are the same weight. If consistent, then make adjustments according to scope manufacture to try at 100 yards
  4. Shoot at the 100 yards target three times and repeat the same evaluation as above, including distance.

Now, this is not the most efficient way of doing this. I am not going to go through all the variations and ins and outs of sighting in this post. What I do believe is that a lot of hunters do not spend a lot trigger time. That includes working the action, safety and magazine manipulation as examples. So, firing some extra rounds helps build some of that muscle memory and familiarity.

We had fun. My son was hitting the 200 yard gong consistently. We got our rifles shooting where we wanted. It was one of those waning days of summer, warm and breezy and there were only two other groups of shooters to share the range. I can’t wait until October.

September 2, 2020 – Lessons learned on the Victory Garden

September 2, 2020 /

I believe in transparency, especially in a forum such as this. Not everything can be bang on successful. Not only that, I believe in mistakes are our teachers. In the software industry we used to call project wrap up ‘lesson’s learned’ or using a fancier term ‘plus delta’.

So, look at the picture closely. The first thing you probably see is my dog digging a hole in the bed. Then you might see the bathroom addition that I just finished. Right next to the bathroom, there is a big pile of dirt (it is actually two piles, but the contrast in the picture is not clear).

What kind of plants did I end up with? Good question, I am still not totally sure because my kids planted the seeds in the tray. One of the tray’s was labelled ‘Rainbow’ which they explained to me was all of the leftover seeds mixed into one tray. I noticed that the cabbage tray was growing tomatoes, no peppers actually sprouted. From what I can tell, I ended up with two tomato plants and what I think are two brussel sprout plants.

There are two volunteer tomato plants that I let grow and they are the only thing that is currently producing. The brussel sprouts may have enough time to produce. I don’t think the proper tomato plants will yield anything because it is getting too late in the season. I had some volunteer dill come up as well. This is not exactly the bounty of a Victory Garden.

It is going to be pretty easy to talk about the things that didn’t go well, so let us start with what did.

  • I got seeds started and sprouted
  • I kept the seedlings alive from about mid-April until mid-June before I got them in the ground
  • Most of what got planted is still alive and if the weather holds out, may still produce
  • I got my kids involved in the process

That is pretty much the positives, now for some constructive analysis

  • I went from three beds to one, cutting the opportunity for productivity significantly
  • Because my construction project dominated my life for months, the plants stayed in the trays six weeks too long reducing their vigor and potential for yield
  • I needed to pay more attention to my kids technique when initially planting the seeds
  • The bed location is getting less full sun exposure each year. This year particularly also had construction debris all around, materials dragged over the plants and in general in the way of everything.
  • Some of my seeds are getting long in the tooth. In the past, I was able to get seeds from the library for free and I got kind caught flat footed with COVID and all of the shut downs, including the library

Despite my many issues, and what I consider a nearly wasted effort, I revealed my plans to come back stronger and better. I suppose the good news is that this effort cost nearly nothing. I spent a few dollars to retrofit my irrigation manifold so I could have all soaker lines in the bed.

The other good news is that my dad grows a giant garden and we got broccoli, cucumbers, corn, beets and swiss chard. Sometimes it is better to know a gardener than to be one.

September 1, 2020 – The results of ‘Participation Trophy’ culture

September 1, 2020 /

I was actually in the midst of writing about another topic this morning. I attempted to leave and go to a local bakery to get some bread to have with our bruschetta that we are having for dinner tonight. I am sure that I was already in a bad mood because I had to stop writing, wait for the train to pass, then find out the bread is not ready until later. Then, I drive past this sign and I got triggered.

I must be old fashioned, because I my youth you had to do something extraordinary in order to get labelled a hero. We are talking not just life saving, but life risking as well. Additionally, it was something that not everyone would or could do. I’m sorry but I don’t think working at the post office counts. I know that they are having some issues and I appreciate the relative consistency of delivery, but heros?

The word hero is cheaply thrown around a lot; teachers, doctors, nurses, emergency service, soldier, on and on. Maybe I should just move on and accept that society has changed the definition and cheapened the word. But I cant, a hero was something that was more than appreciation, it was something that you aspired to be and circumstantially the label was applied. A hero reluctantly (or never) accepted the title, a majority people felt that action was substantially above the call of duty or mission.

When I was a kid, there was a ‘war hero’ in your town or my dad could take your dad (not saying those are right, just saying how the use has changed). This culture has turned the notion of hero into someone that gets paid to pursue their career. I don’t know about you, but I can remember the time that all fifty plus Christmas cards were returned because they were irregularly shaped and required extra postage despite the fact that I paid for the postage in the lobby.

I get that things change and idealism fades, but the people that choose certain careers because they had a passion for helping people, or they thought it had good pay and reasonable benefits. Circumstances change and when times get tough or things are not as they seem we now think an unwarranted label is an appropriate motivator.

State worship is high and the brainwashing is nearly complete when we bestow our highest values to imperialism, advancing propaganda and enforcing total law and order. We claim to embrace and appreciate freedom of speech and ideals and we actually do the opposite. We use our praise to enforce status quo and marginalize differences that are too outside our comfort zones.

I know that I am coming out firing both barrels today, so I want to change my tone to finish. I was talking with my mom not too long ago and she was telling me about the time that she baked the garbage man some cookies because he picked up some extra stuff in the back of the house rather than just emptying the cans. Years later, he still remembered the gesture. I can also remember leaving treats in the mailbox too every now and again. Those seem like appropriate tokens of respect and appreciation.

It’s not like marriage, so stopping a bit before love, honor and cherish is appropriate. Love your fellow man, be courteous and respectful, show appreciation, say ‘Thank You’, treat others as you would want to be treated are all actions that are in line with respecting other people. I am proposing to guard the title and reserve the act of bestowing hero to situations warranted.