Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

A couple tricks I learned from older guys of the trade.

One was if I only had my handsaw and no instrument to guide me straight across a board to cut it .. this old fellow told me to just look at the reflection and it will get you across the board pretty darn square..

Another one I learned from an old timer is that the nail point has a cutting side and a smooth side ..and when driving the nail through a board and you have fear that you might split the board ,,you can place the point of the nail on the board with the rough cut edge with the cross grain and the nail will cut it's way throught the board and save one from splitting the board.

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Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

^ Nice.

One that comes to mind came from my wife's great uncle. I was struggling with a jar lid and he told me to open it with my left hand. Me = wut?

Turns out that if you grip the lid with your left hand, the counterclockwise motion forces your hand harder into the lid which promotes grip. If you grab the lid with your right hand, the same counterclockwise motion actually works to pull your hand away, reducing grip. I have since advised a lot of people on this and few have heard the tip.

It works for me. If you have a jar or bottle with a stuck lid, try it.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Yep. Or -even better - hand it to someone left handed.

;)

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Take any nail and blunt the point . Much less likely to split the wood at the end grain . It crushes it instead of splitting threw it.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

One of the tricks that sticks with me the most I learned in an old thread right here. I would gladly give credit to the poster if I knew who it was....

I had spent a lot of time fishing a wire through the "A" pillar to power the cab lights and several days later this trick showed up in a similar thread.

Ball up a small piece of paper and tie a length of string or thread to it. Start the paper in the lower end of the pillar then use your air hose to blow the paper up the pillar into the roof area. Tie the thread to your wire and pull it through.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

3 ,4,5 method of squaring up framing like decks and large slabs. Measure 3ft from on side of corner then 4ft of the perpendicular piece of wood. The measurement from the 3ft mark and the 4 ft mark when square will be 5ft picture works better.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Slomo, Would that member jave been TX Fireman? I remember when he did a video and I believe it is now in FAQs

Larry, I never heard of that way to not split a board. A billion nails I've driven and never knew there were differences in the points.

But, I did have two tricks shown to me early on to prevent splitting a board and have used both ever since. Never split a board and have shared it whenever I could. I do both just to be sure. First trick is place the edge of the head of the nail across the grain and smack it with your hammer. That indentation breaks the grain on the surface and the nail will not split the board. The other one is blunt the tip of the nail. Set the head of the nail on a hard surface, the head of another nail already driven in works. Next smack the tip with your hammer. That works extremely well. I do both because it takes no time and I have never split a board driving nails. I can nail two 2x2s together at the ends, like making a square, with two 16p common nails and never get a split.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Similar idea we use a baggie tie a string to it put it on the end of the conduit then hook up your shop vac to pull it threw to the he other end of the conduit. Then just chase your wires . Done 100 ft runs with ease.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

If you touch something hot enough to burn your fingers, immediately grab your ear lobe and it sucks the heat out. It might not work at first. You really have to do it as your immediate reaction. I have been doing this since HS and it works. No blisters and the stinging goes right away like it never happened.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Opening cans. I use a manual crank-type can opener. It seems there are two points, at least one, where it doesn't cut through. Some don't cut enough to turn the lid so you can get the food out. Can be aggravating.

Take the can opener and put it sideways to the can, 1/4 turn from the usual. It will be obvious which way cuts, crank facing up/over can. Ever since I was shown this trick I have had every lid come completely off without fail. The lip of the can goes with the lid, so if that matters you'll have to do the old way

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

May very well have been Tim. That, and CustomCamper's trick beats trained mice all to pieces!! :)

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

I ""think"" that LocDoc (Leon ) doing a thing about how to get the wires from the dome light around to the fuse box.. Leon has added a lot of shortcuts and neat ideas through the years on here on ways to make things easier..

And also TX Fiereman doing it too.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

My dad would always put spit on the nail and he chewed snuff , yuck ,or hit the end to make it blunt. Lots more ,miss my dad

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

This is one an old guy showed me that I have used before,,and it turned out very close.

1-cut out a triangle from a carboard 6in x 6in ,,( 7 or 8 inches will work also )you will have one-90 degree angle and two -45 degree angles when done making it

2-hold the tri-angle cardboard in front of your eye sight (closest to 5 feet from the ground )with the angle cut angled up towards the top of the tree. ( you will looking up the angle side)

3-by looking up the slanted side of the cardboard triangle,take steps backwards until you are looking at the very top of the tree .

4- stick a marker down at your feet for a measurment point and then measure from this point to the tree ..this real close to how tall the tree is..

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Now there is an old woodsman trick. I'll have to try that!

How to figure out a miter angle. I use a bevel square to get the angle off the corner. Trace that on paper or a board. Measure out both sides the same measurement, put a mark. Draw a line from point to point between the marks. Measure the length point to point, divide in half, and mark midpoint on that line. Draw a line from the vortex through that midpoint. Set bevel square to that line and one of the other two. Now you have the miter angle to set your miter box to with no math, except dividing by two, involved.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

I always twist my beer bottle caps off with my left hand

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

My grandpa was a wood worker, his occupation on the 1940 Census was Cabinet Maker. He would always rub screw threads in a bar of soap to make it easier to screw into the wood, even with a pilot hole.
He used a hand crank drill to make the pilot holes...

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

One old time sheet metal worker told me there was technology available when he cut out the electricians work since they took his path, and refused to move it.

Also there is no short cuts, but doing it right the first time.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Beeswax works well, but soap is cheaper... it also works for driving sheet metal screws into aluminum frames, and a little beeswax on your miter saw blade will let it cut through aluminum without creating a lot of heat.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Or I can just cut down the tree with a chainsaw and measure it with my Spencer tape :lol:

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

My dad,uncle and brother were glaziers.They built many aluminum store fronts from extruded aluminum.
And,they used wax on the screws.
I have several tubes of it .About as big as a caulking tube.
Mike.:chevy:

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Yep, those are the ones.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Phythagorean Theorem.
Useful in figuring stair stringers also.
I’m thinking this is right up Tim’s alley.

Re: Tricks I have learned from some one else
 

Tim, also true with nail guns. if you are shooting through and breaking out on the edge or splitting the trim, turn the gun a 1/4 turn.

We have always used dish soap on long screws and that seems to help. Usually on screws over 5" long...

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Phytha who? :lol: Yeah that.

I just thought of an old mason's trick of another kind. In the building industry it is not uncommon for contractors to be working for builders who are less than concerned about paying for the services they receive. To all the good honest builders out there, this means not you! The problem can be so bad that we contractors need to come up with 'creative' ways to get our money. The legal system is not on our side. It's business to business theft and boo hoo for you.

I'll call this the mason's chimney trick. When a masonry contractor builds a fireplace for a builder they are known to lay a plate of glass between two flue liners. Look up the flue and you see nothing there, looks totally open. See where this is going? Try lighting a fire in that fireplace. Not a good thing! "You want the chimney I built fixed? Pay me." Usually these builders are owing back a few houses. If the check came with no issue or after they get paid by the deadbeat builder who had an issue with 'draw' in the chimney, it's a simple matter of dropping rubble down the flue to break the glass out