« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
June 22, 2008
In the Proud Tradition of Stonehenge
So I'm reading the June 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine, the one with Stonehenge on the cover, and find the following:
"Up close, amid the confusion of broken and standing stones, [Stonehenge] still seems smaller than its reputation, notwithstanding the obvious feat represented by the erection of the famous sarsen stones; the largest weighs as much as 50 tons. Unique today, Stonehenge was probably unique in its own time, some 4,500 years ago -- a stone monument modeled on timber precedents. Indeed, its massive lintels are bound to their uprights by mortise-and-tenon joints, taken straight from carpentry, an eloquent indication of just how radically new this hybrid monument must have been."
How cool is that! A timeless piece of history and mystery stands for eons and epochs with a carpenter's trick.
Maybe I'm drinking too much Kool-Aid here at Home Improvement Headquarters, but I'm a little connected to the coolness. Indeed, one of my upcoming projects is a timber-pergola where a mortise-and-tenon type union would work great to hold the timbers together.
The timberframes of one of America's best and brightest builders -- Tedd Benson -- rely daily on the M&T joint as do the furniture and boat projects of another gifted worker of wood -- www.BillThomasWoodWorking.com.
My point is that whether you feel connected to a long, proud, and hard-earned tradition -- or not -- I feel ours is a noble craft and being reminded of that is energizing to me. I don't always feel noble (like when running clothesline-thick beads of Phenoseal on aluminum window jamb caps in a window replacement project -- www.Simonton.com -- in 100 + degree heat no less) but I look at the majesty of something like Stonehenge then look at how hard I work to build modern homes as well as I can and I imagine a craftsman's hands working the stones, laying out, hauling them into place -- all in an effort to leave the world a better place than they found it.
And isn't that the point? Should I have myself checked-in to the looney-bin?
Posted by Mark Clement at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Making the Most of Your Tools -- 4
Me and my wheelbarrow thought of the latest entry here.
I used my True Temper www.Ames.com not to move dirt but to carry about 35 studs which I bridged across the barrow bucket from the delivery drop to the door of the house -- all at once.
It saved roughly 5 trips back and forth between door and pile -- and a boatload of energy. I love it.
It also turns out that my shop ate my beloved door detailer, my Bosch cordless planer -- www.BoschTools.com -- so I had to square up the edges of some beveled doors without it. No worry, I ran them on my 6 inch jointer www.DeltaMachinery.com. I can hear the Delta safety guys cringing even before they read this, but it was safe and worked out great.
And that's the key to double-duty tool use -- it works as long as it works safely. Let me know what works for you... the more tools we can get double duty out of the better...
Posted by Mark Clement at 10:42 AM | Comments (2)
June 10, 2008
Crud & Customer Service
Can anybody guess what this is? (See attached photo).
If you guessed "the world's most clogged HVAC filter" you'd be right.
I'm currently remodeling an occupied home and spent the last 2 weeks in full-on, plaster bustin' demolition and fast, furious framing. All this amounts to one heaping dust cloud. Inside.
Now I did my best containing the dust -- I even set up a Delta air cleaner www.DeltaMachinery.com to knock down as much dust as possible -- but the HVAC system's returns vents still breathed in dust by the filter clogging truckload.
My AC guy who was there to install a new condensate line alerted me to it. "Hey man... look at this." On my next trip to Depot, I got a new filter -- and a few extras for the homeowner and by the end of the day, there were a lot of satisfied people.
Because my AC guy went a small extra step to make sure he left the jobsite better than he found it I was able to do the same thing (no one was even close to checking the air filter before we left the site), resulting in a customer who is very satisfied with not only the big picture work, but the details.
So I ask... what little things that don't cost much in time or money -- but deliver on customer satisfaction -- do you do? Do you hire a maid when you're done working inside? Throw the customer a barbeque? Give them a gift certificate? Send a note? What are your customer satisfaction tools and do they work?
Posted by Mark Clement at 9:50 AM | Comments (2)
