SwampNut

Someone told me they've been doing it for a while, just not advertised. I just saw an article about a pizza joint with low-carb pies in the midwest. If I had $90k for startup, I'd open a full low-carb restaurant and make a mint.

Great points. Some of this surely seems obvious if you do it a lot, but I didn't think of it until you mentioned it.

:beer: What a feeling, huh?

You make it sound easy, it gives me a bit more confidence. I think my cheapie rollers are lacking though, guess I'll look for better ones. What do you think of outfeed tables vs. the rollers? Also, what about the "roller" units that are wide with a bunch of balls on them instead of an actual roller?

My sarcasm was due to being tired of debunking the ignition advancer bullshit. It doesn't do shit. If you're lucky, you'll just not blow up the motor or lose some HP. The XX already sets timing automatically to get as much as possible out of the motor. An ignition advancer does nothing on a modern bike without other mods.

I just installed two more independent 20 amp circuits in the garage. It reminded me of something I know, but sometimes stupidly ignore; tools can seriously under-perform when a circuit is overloaded. And overload happens before the circuit breaker trips. You can lose a lot of voltage near the limits. A tool running on low voltage is working much harder, getting much hotter, and could even fry its motor. My compressor is a great example. I noticed it was unable to keep up with my sander, though it should. Now with the new circuit it not only keeps up, but you can hear it start up much better (used to sound like it was trying hard to start up), and it runs much less since it's more efficient. Adding a dedicated garage circuit is pretty easy in most houses unless they're really old. This is one area I know pretty well; feel free to ask questions. Basically all you need is the following: 20 amp circuit breaker 20 amp outlets (they have the odd "T" blade on one side) Outlet box (many types available for all sorts of intall types) Electrical cable nails suitable for your wire size Suitable length of 12/2 NMB with ground (for internal installations, anything external is a different story) Tools: Hammer Flat screwdriver Wire cutter Wire stripper

That fence/extension is very impressive. A few bucks though! :shock: How about some pics of how you set up your rollers? I know it seems obvious to you, but it would help me figure that out. Or is it really just a matter of setting them in the middle of each side of the blade? How do you keep control of the two pieces if they're just on a roller after they're split? I only have one roller now, but I can pick up more cheaply. Harbor Freight is good for stuff like this where no precision is required.

I'd guess the horsepower change would be slight between them. You'd probably gain 0.2 HP with the 4 degree and 0.1 with the 2 degree. :roll:

I agree it's probably the best portable. I guess I didn't realize that I should have been looking for "movable" but not really "portable." I don't need to take it anywhere, just want to be able to roll it out of the garage. I don't have the space for a fully stationary model, but the portable has too many sacrifies. My other thought is to just build enough extension table space to make it act like a larger one. I have to say this--the fence on the DeWalt is better than anything I've seen yet, and I've looked up to the $1k range. And to me the fence is a big deal; I want it to self-parallel simply and reliably, plus be deadly accurate.

Without an O2 sensor, the bike will not "compensate" for changes in air flow. Aftermarket slipons make only a minimal difference, however. I'm quite certain the problems were not caused by the muffler change.

I second what Chris said. This whole thing smells very fishy to me all around. I can't say there's one specific thing wrong, but all of it seems wrong. My gut instinct is rarely wrong.

What the dealer says sounds highly suspicious to me. I'd try another dealer.

I prefer the greens except for the rain performance. Fantastic pad!

Galfer Black from http://www.cyclebrakes.com .

If you do a Helicoil right, it will work fine in an open-ended hole. If you're unable to read directions, you might have more success in a closed hole where even a moron would have a hard time doing it wrong.

I can't believe I waited this long to try them. They are damn good. The bagels aren't like real water bagels, but taste like bread and do taste great. The bread is slightly more dense than something like Wonder bread, but it's great. Amazing really, that they could make these taste so much like real bread and be so low in carbs. Expensive. $6 for the package of bagels, not sure how much the bread was. I bought them in the bakery section of Albertson's, fresh. I've also seen them frozen at the Low Carb Mall stores.

You said it connects to ground, right? Via a sunken copper rod I assume, or maybe the water pipes? A single centralized conductor in the slab would have the effect of "evening" the ground potential of the whole slab. Oh, also, electrical flow increases oxidation. If the other rebar, which is interlaced and attached, were to flow electricity all the time it would rust and turn to powder.

I vote for a decent fuel additive (Redline is my preference, but any top brand should be fine), used every couple months. Don't bother spraying unless you have a specific problem. And if your bike is FI, DO NOT spray or attempt to clean the throttle bodies in any way! They are coated with molybdenum which is damaged/removed by cleaning sprays, and easily scratched off. It keeps any significant amount of dirt from sticking. Another Honda design benefit.

I don't know the answers. I understand electricity very well, and I can envision a few ways that this makes sense, but I don't know exactly how they work out in the real world. One of the simple things I can see is the concept of ground loops or ground differentials. You see two "grounds" can have varying actual potentials. If you put a house ground in the front yard which happens to have rich soil, and another in the back yard which has rocky terrain, they are going to have different voltage potentials. Same with the mess of rebar in a foundation. Having a specific length of an isolated material in there connected to ground would neutralize that. Ground variances can be a big problem because although the voltage differential is small, the potential current is HUGE. With a nearby lightning strike you could actually fry someone standing on a wet bathroom floor with one foot closer to the "low" potential and one closer to the "high" potential. I'm not making this up, it's documented. For example, if a power pole falls near you, you should not walk away from it, you should hop with your feet together to eliminate this problem. Seriously.

:shock: Wow, what an education on this stuff, great post. It's amazing the breadth of knowledge we have here.

Yup, I've always thought B&D was mostly crap. But lately I've been thinking differently. I bought one of their top-grade drills about 12 years ago because I needed it on a Sunday night and Wal-mart was the only place open. I've abused the fuck out of it, still working. I tried to replace/update it a couple weeks ago (am I the only one that considers upgrading perfectly good tools just because?), looked at DeWalt...and see it's the EXACT same fucking drill! Then Joe clues me in that B&D owns them. And obviously at least some of the Craftsman stuff is made by the same people, because that same drill is also available with that name. My Craftsman Pro 9.6v drill from years ago is another that's also available with the B&D name on it. So I went and tried a bunch of tools at places that keep them charged, like Sears. Also my tile guy showed up with the same drill I just bought, has been using it to drill tile, and it's fine. He let me use it, and I liked it. So, what else can I say? Works great, and at least one has survived professional tile work, so it can't be complete shit. I think it's like anything else, quality costs money. B&D has $25 tools and $120 tools. I picked their most expensive drill/driver, probably isn't complete junk. What gets me most about using this stuff (has nothing to do with durability), is the ergonomics. It's nicer in the hand, and to use, than most of the other models I tried. You know, if I had to buy a new drill every two years (warranty period), but it was the nicest-working drill, I think I'd still consider that a good buy. Yesterday I spent 11 hours doing a network/phone wiring and move project in a new building. I used most of the new tools. That sort of job, for that many hours, would suck with tools that you don't love to use.

I picked up one of these kits: It sells for $299 in all the major stores. There are also some variations on the kit with slightly different components, but this one seemed the best group. It contains: FSD182 drill/driver CRS180B reciprocating saw CS180B circular saw SPV180F hand vacuum BDL100S laser level/stud finder FSL18 flashlight Workmate 375 PowerPak bag Slow charger Two batteries (everything is 18 volt) The drill/driver has one great feature, the reason I was attracted to B&D to begin with. The chuck is removable, and there's a screwdriver bit (or any other 2" quick-disconnect bit) behind it. So you can have a drill in the chuck, make a hole, pop off the chuck and drive a screw, pop it back on for the next hole, etc... Extremely useful. I am very annoyed with swapping bits all the time. The best use I've found so far is to chuck my countersink kit, and a shortened large behind behind it. I drill the small hole/countersink with the kit, pull the chuck and drill the large hole for the screw shank, then re-chuck and flip the countersink kit to drive. Very useful. Power is phenomenal. I know this sounds like a stretch, but it seems to have more power than my electric drill. At least in drilling stone, it does. Using a carbide bit while drilling stone, tile, and cement board, it didn't slow down at all on the high speed/low torque gear setting. Very impressive. On the low speed/high torque setting, you can really control screwdriving speed/depth exceptionally well. It will respond smoothly to trigger input. The electric brake means it will stop on a dime when you get to your desired screw depth/torque. Of course, it has a clutch, and it's a great one. 23-position plus "locked" for hard drilling. Other features include an electronic level indicator, excellent handle ergonomics, and good balance. The circular saw is nice for light work. It has decent power, though of course it uses a small 5 3/8" blade. Design is good, with a line guage and a sight window to see the actual blade cutting. It will bevel 0-45 degrees and depth is adjustable of course. The blade changing tool, a standanrd Allen wrench, is securely stored onboard (I hate tools that require other tools but don't store them onboard). Again, ergonomics are excellent. The reciprocating saw is a big mofo, with power to spare. I haven't found anything that needed cutting that would be really challenging for it. Just plasterboard so far. Obviously it just rips through that like crazy. It's got a no-tool blade change (button on the side), pivoting foot, and a very nice rubbery grip. The hand vac...well, it's a hand vac. Works well, has a couple useful attachments. I thought it was a useless addition in the kit at first, but not any longer. I find myself holding it under drilling/cutting areas in the house all the time to avoid making a mess. Dragging in the shop vac would be too annoying, so normally I'd just make a mess and clean it up "later." Seems so basic, but it's an appreciated addition now. Laser level/stud finder is a pretty innovative piece of gear, though it seems oddly big. You put it on the wall, and it auto-levels and projects lines to both sides at a perfect level. Nice for shelves or anything else that requires multiple holes/cutting across a level line. Unfortunately, it can't do anything vertical. It features different bases and some pins for mounting it on the wall as you use it. The pins are thin enough to stick into a good wall and not leave a mark. The bases give different line lengths and one allows you to mark through it. The stud sensor is one of the best--clear and 100& reliable. Works right at the edge of the stud reliably. Has multiple LED's so you can tell if there's something else back there, like plumbing, instead of a stud. The flashlight...um, ok, that's just a flashlight. Cheap and basic. Does what I'd expect from a $2 flashlight. I guess the plus is that it uses the same battery packs, and will stand by itself. But angle is fixed at slightly above 90 degrees from level. The Workmate folding table works as that and a rolling carrier for the bag. Its design, execution, and overall quality is excellent. It is strong and put together well, nothing flimsy about it. You can open/close it one-handed. Once opened, the wheels are automatically retracted and it sits on big non-slip feet. In addition there are two big flats to put your feet on if you want the table to really stay in place while you crank down on some work. You grab a handle and pull up to close it while stepping on the foot pads to close it one-handed. Of course, it has clamping ability between the two table halves. The PowerPak bag is a heavy duty Cordura bag with strong zippers and a place to hold a power strip. The power cord raps around the strip easily and securely. What can I say, it's a very convenient way to carry the tool kit, blades/accessories, and have a convenient power cord/power strip. The way it all fits together into a rolling kit that instantly turns into a work table is really nice. The charger is the only let-down. It's a slow charger with NO intelligence. Takes "up to" 6 hours to charge a dead battery. It has no auto shutoff, so you need to remember to pull it off to prevent overcharging. A smart 1-hour charger can be purchased online for about $28. One of the other variations of this kit has a radio/charger unit that is fast and intelligent. However, it omits other more-useful tools. The radio/charger idea is cool, but don't think I'd use, and $28 for the fast charger is much cheaper than the tools you lose when getting the radio/charger.

Post 'em. I'll get a tissue and some lube ready.

The little Harbor Freight machine is one of the ones I looked at. Yeah, I'm sure those have some serious limitations. I don't have the budget for a big machine, and space would be a mild problem. I don't think I'd be making much serious stuff. I'd like the ability to machine small things. For example, for the bath remodel I had some aluminum or chrome brackets for glass shelves in mind, but couldn't find a pre-made one anywhere. I can't imagine that would be a challenge even for the most "mini" machines. This is the sort of thing I've often wanted to make. Mick, your info was excellent and most useful. Brings me to ask about blades though. I assume, like router blades, that there is a variety of bits/blades that you'd have around for different cuts? Are they ridiculously expensive? Are they carbide, or what? Do they last? :shock: :worship: What's your closest airport, and can you give me a ride? I'll bring beer and drawings.

Strange. Does that rebar connect to "ground" somehow, or just float in the concrete horizontally? It would make sense if it was vertical, or connected to a vertical metal object sunk in the ground deeply.