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Someone gave Lee a few used electric wheelchairs to play with and he found info about what others had done to build remote controlled mowers online so he got out his wrenches & welder and went to work.
This is the same neighbour with MD that had the Spyder (perfect for him while he could still stand up but couldn't hold a 2 wheeler up). For the last couple of years he has been moving from the Spyder to 3D printing as his main hobby and the last I heard he was working on printing a robot mower from plans he got on a 3D printing forum so that he can have one in the back yard and one in the front.
I was hoping to start refurbing the RC mower over the winter but other than cleaning the dust from sitting in his garage off and rolling it into the shop so I could trip over it all winter while it gathered dust from my garage I haven't touched it yet. I'll probably end up using my riding mower at least a few times before I get to it now...

I'm using 5/4 x 6 pressure treated lumber for the decking. Yes. I know about how much better the plastic lumber is for things like that but it costs soooo much more (up to 5x the cost for the decking plus you have to use special fastening systems that are a lot more expensive than deck screws) that I couldn't make myself even consider it seriously.

There's no secret to getting the boards straight. Just about any web page you look at or video you watch about building a deck will tell you to buy spacers that you put between the board you just screwed down and the one you are about to screw down.
But you all know how selectively cheap I am. If I expected to do more than one deck in my lifetime I might have invested in a set of them (they aren't terribly expensive) but I figure if this deck lasts as long as what it is replacing I'll be 93 before it needs to be replaced and not likely to do it myself even if I am still capable of looking after myself in my own home.
I calculated that 16 boards with 3/8" spacing would fit the wide part of the deck and 13 boards on the narrow end. The original plan was to cut pieces of 3/8" plywood with notches to sit over the joists (sort of half H shaped) but I decided it would be hard to pull them out from between the planking so I started looking for something else 3/8" thick. The LED light fixtures I've been installing throughout the house all included fixture bars with nipples & nuts that I didn't need because I mounted them directly to octagonal boxes and the nipples used in lighting are nominally 3/8" diameter so I assembled a couple of them like this and they made perfect spacers.
200457


As you can see from this pic, the spacing isn't perfectly even all the way on every board because there is always some warping in some boards and I only used a spacer at each end of the board. But the average spacing is uniform enough that when I got to the last 4 rows of planking there was only 1/8" difference in the distance between the plank and the bricks. By installing the remaining rows tight to the spacers on one end and looser on the other end the remaining space for the last row was the same all the way down. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for full width planks there (if I had known I could have filed the threads down on the nipples to make the spacers 9/32" instead of 3/8" - ain't hindsight great?) so we had to rip them down to a bit over 4" wide. I don't feel too bad about that because it is what most deck building instructions say to do anyway.

I needed couple more of 2x4s and a couple of 2x4 joist hangers for the railing's inside corner and Kay had to go to somewhere else near the building supply yesterday so I went with her and we did a couple of other errands on the way (all necessary - we rarely go out just for the fun of it and usually try to combine errands so the only thing that has changed is that she always waits in the car while I wait in lines to get into go into stores while wearing a mask). By the time we got home the sun was shining on the wrong side of the house and it was only about 7c near the deck so I only put in an hour and a half before I quit and came inside to see why the dryer wasn't working.
Now I have to see if I can get the parts to repair a 26 year old appliance or if we are going to have to replace it.
And some people are getting bored....
 
You did your decking perfectly Bob. Starting from the outside working towards the house and ending up with more than half the width of your deck board against the house is a success! Good job. I don’t like the synthetic decks myself. They expand and contract so much the end gaps are always an eye sore. They also don’t weather as good as people think. The sun oxidizes the finish and looks 100 times worse than weathered wood.
 
I was taught to use a 16d nail as a spacer. Will be redoing the top decking of our community dock soon w/ redwood. Our area in town "requires" comp decking now due to fire code. If I replace less than 150 sq ft at a time. I can use wood??
 
What's a 16d nail? I know that pennyweight nail sizes are based on how many you could buy for a penny (old fashioned pre-decimal British pennies, not US or Canadian cents) a couple of hundred hears ago but that is meaningless to someone who grew up where nails are sold by their length (an actually useful thing to know about them).

I looked it up and a 16D is actually about 0.165" diameter. From what I've been able to learn board spacing can be anywhere between 1/8" and 1/2". In my case I did the maths and worked out that it needed to be 3/8" (just about the middle of the normal range) but that didn't take into account the variations in the widths of the planks. If I had used 0.165" spacers I'd have needed another half a plank if all dimensions were precise.
But we're talking wood here, not Honda engine parts so dimensions are less than precise. Based on how much I was out with my spacers, if I had used nails for spacers the last row less than 2" wide so I'm glad I didn't do it that way.
 
Our area in town "requires" comp decking now due to fire code. If I replace less than 150 sq ft at a time. I can use wood??
That's odd. Composite material is way more combustible than natural wood. When I researched this for work a couple years ago, I couldn't find Class A composite decking (for use on multi-housing) this side of California. And it was hideously expensive, even before shipping from a west coast distributor. We've been using a brown- treated decking similar to what Bob has, and the clients have been satisfied.
I've been assuming I'd use composite when I build a deck at home (hopefully this summer.). I thought the cost was comparable to wood. Do Canada and Idaho require fire-rated material for single-family decks?
 
That's odd. Composite material is way more combustible than natural wood. When I researched this for work a couple years ago, I couldn't find Class A composite decking (for use on multi-housing) this side of California. And it was hideously expensive, even before shipping from a west coast distributor. We've been using a brown- treated decking similar to what Bob has, and the clients have been satisfied.
I've been assuming I'd use composite when I build a deck at home (hopefully this summer.). I thought the cost was comparable to wood. Do Canada and Idaho require fire-rated material for single-family decks?
Washington doesn’t require fire rated. I didn’t know Idaho did. Washington is usually more strict than Idaho.
 
I was taught to use a 16d nail as a spacer. Will be redoing the top decking of our community dock soon w/ redwood. Our area in town "requires" comp decking now due to fire code. If I replace less than 150 sq ft at a time. I can use wood??
Us carpenters usually use a carpenter’s pencil for a spacer. Round spacers easily dimple the wood when you have to give warped boards extra encouragement to lay straight. I know, the down side to that is dropping the pencil through the crack.
 
Us carpenters usually use a carpenter’s pencil for a spacer. Round spacers easily dimple the wood when you have to give warped boards extra encouragement to lay straight. I know, the down side to that is dropping the pencil through the crack.
Seems like with normal shrinkage you would have close to a 1/2 space using redwood or cedar. Bot sure about pressure treated
 
My bridge deck is 6' wide x 10' long. The timber beams below are 18" apart but are 3 1/2" wide so the effective space between them is 14 1/2", same as 2x joists that are 16" o.c. So, I needed to buy 12' long boards. I decided to give Menard's a try since Home Depot now closes at 6 pm. Red cedar deck boards cost $1.31 /ft. of length AC2 green treated boards 18' long cost 89 cents /ft., treated boards 12' long cost 65 cents /ft., so I bought 12 of the 12' long boards. The price difference was literally half the cost of red cedar. Since the kids will play on it I researched treated lumber for fear arsenic was still being used. Turns out arsenic was outlawed since 2004. You can check this out online. I used 16d nails (16 penny) for spacers and star drive screws for the deck boards, looks like Bob used square drive screws, same thing, mine are 2 1/2" long #9 screws. I used 2 screws per attachment to timber beams below with the screws about 3/4" from board edges.
 
I continued with my garage door repairs today but the first thing I had to do was to investigate why my reciprocating saw wouldn't work. Old wires with cracked insulation inside. Shortened the cables and back in business until the next time.
 
Trails N-S-E-W of my house-been on them all-usually 3-4 miles each day.
Also spent time reading your projects & getting tired.
HD store ( won't spell it out as may offend some!) reduced hours so I stayed home even
tho MN lets us stay open. I qualify age wise for the nursing home -8 decades + but they
called me to restart part time this Sat. I am the Walmart greeter & old guy in parts-they think I know something after doing it 50+ years. But I just know who to ask..
Sold the 2010 HD electra glide last fall with 75,000 miles on. Just a 140lb guy so it was getting heavy. still have GL & 81R100 BMW
Take no meds-had 6 months check up last week-see you in 6 mo he said -think that is
good sign!
Paul
 
HD store ( won't spell it out as may offend some!) reduced hours so I stayed home even
tho MN lets us stay open.
So, the Harley dealer is an essential service? 🙄
 
Since the kids will play on it I researched treated lumber for fear arsenic was still being used. Turns out arsenic was outlawed since 2004.
Green treated lumber isn't as green as it used to be. Or is it now more green? 🤔 "Green" is overused, I think.
I like the AC2 stuff a lot. It weathers to a natural appearance, takes stain well (after said weathering), and doesn't leave behind poison green crystals when it finally rots away.

I used 16d nails (16 penny) for spacers and star drive screws for the deck boards, looks like Bob used square drive screws, same thing,..
When I was making tappet tools, I had trouble finding square (Robertson. Thanks, Bob) drive screws. Star drive has taken the market here. As usual, I'm several years behind the trends.

Randall

EDIT: Robertson screws. A Thomson screw is something else.
 
The green PT wood they used to sell here was green coloured but not "green". What made it that colour was chromium copper arsenate and as was mentioned, some years ago they decided that the arsenic and chromium in that can cause cancer so it is unhealthy to use where people might be in contact for extended periods (like children playing on the deck all summer). The brown coloured stuff they use now is something called Alkaline Copper Quatenary that is supposed to be much safer. I think it also looks nicer too. Interestingly, some of my boards have green streaking where there was sap.

I used 16d nails (16 penny) for spacers and star drive screws for the deck boards, looks like Bob used square drive screws, same thing, mine are 2 1/2" long #9 screws. I used 2 screws per attachment to timber beams below with the screws about 3/4" from board edges.
Any Canadian that knows how to work on stuff will tell you how superior Robertson head screws are over just about any other head design. The reason you didn't see many of them in the US until recent years is that Henry Ford tried to swindle P.L.Robertson out of his patent so he refused to sell to any American for decades and then sold them exclusively to a house trailer manufacturer as a security head screw (they could screw the body panels on with them and thieves couldn't get the drivers to unscrew them).
I don't think I've ever seen a #9 screw. Mine are #8x2 1/2" with some sort of ceramic coating and drill points. The label says they are made in Taiwan but I have no complaints about them; I'm on the balusters now and I haven't had one break or go flying off into space (a sign that the driver doesn't fit the head) so far
 
I got lucky on this little project in that I had all the following laying around from previous projects around the house :

2 - 12' long treated 4x6's, laid vertical on the sides of the bridge to form a curb
3 - 10' long treated 4x4's, for the "joists"
5 - 8' long, 6" diameter treated poles left from the previous owner, used as the 2 footing logs, set in a shallow trench with some gravel
A whole pile of nice round river gravel, left over from P.O. who had it all over the place instead of mulch
3 boxes of deck screws from when I replaced the main deck boards

All I had to buy were my deck boards, some long galvanized lag bolts for the timbers, and a few treated 2x4 for ledgers.

Grand total cost for the bridge was about $130.
 
The reason you didn't see many of them in the US until recent years is that Henry Ford tried to swindle P.L.Robertson out of his patent so he refused to sell to any American for decades...
Robertson drive has been in the US for decades, just not as common. Now, even less so, it seems.
 
A whole pile of nice round river gravel, left over from P.O. who had it all over the place instead of mulch
I've got a lot of landscape gravel around the house. Now I know what to do with it, if I only had a creek. :rolleyes:
 
From the Robertson web site "
His third major attempt involved the Ford Motor Company. From early years of the Milton plant Ford Windsor accounted for a substantial part of Robertson’s production. By using socket head screws Ford made a considerable savings of $2.60 per car.

This savings captured the attention of the Detroit bosses and soon after P.L was in Detroit talking about expanding socket head screw production to supply all U.S. made Ford cars. Henry Ford refused to commit to a new product line without having a say in how and where the screws would be made. P.L was not happy with this idea and headed home. This meant P.L was letting go of vast potential in the U.S. market, this also included Ford Windsor which accounted for one third of his output of screws.

My made in Canada 1928 Model A Ford has Robertson fasteners.
 
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