A Panel Discussion

Here’s the way I look at it:  Working with panels instead of boards is just another good excuse to acquire some new tools.  Besides, if you want to build anything of any size, panels are the only way to get the job done with a minimum of labor and maximum satisfaction.

A panel is simply a large sheet of wood made from several thin sheets of veneer glued together and cut to a standard size, usually 4 feet by 8 feet.  Call it plywood, because that’s what I’m talkin’ about, Willis.  It’s been around for over 5 millenniums, first used in Mesopotamia during a shortage of quality wood; the Ancients bonded quality wood to lesser-quality wood to make a product that looked good and filled the need.  In the 19th century, the son of the guy who invented dynamite developed the rotary lathe used to produce modern plywood, but the product hasn’t changed much over time.  Today, many grades and decorative “faces” are available to meet any woodworking need.

Panel Production Process

Panels are available in thicknesses from approximately 1/8th inch to one inch and thicker.  I say “approximately” because in recent years panels like other lumber have been shrinking in size due to manufacturers’ efforts to save a buck on raw material while providing a product meeting the needs of the market.  You must be diligent at specifying, or at least checking the thickness dimension of the lumber you buy today, as there is apparently no compulsion to standardize thickness, and you see different dimensions in similar products.

For example:  “Three-quarter inch” plywood at one time was, universally, 3/4 inch thick.  Not so any more.  Now thicknesses for “three-quarter inch” plywood might measure 11/16, 23/32 or 3/4 inch.  On really lower quality material, the thickness might vary over these dimensions within the same sheet.  The problem here is quality control and sloppy manufacturing techniques.

Regardless if you buy quality product or imported crap, measure the thickness to know what dimension you are working with.  One example of where this is important is routing channels to fit fixed shelves in a cabinet:  if you assume the panel is 3/4 inch thick and rout a 3/4 inch wide groove to accept the shelf thickness, and the actual thickness is something less, the fit will be sloppy.  Of course, this is the voice of experience speaking to you…

I have found a lack of consistency for similar products stocked at my local lumber yard over time because they buy from different mills and countries.  I have learned to measure thickness twice and cut once (hopefully), whereas once upon a time this could be trusted as a given.  Not so any more.

Along the same line, cheaply made panels have voids in the interior (core) plies, and sometimes lack adhesive in spots causing “blisters.”  Here are a couple of photos depicting extremes of quality in plywood:

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

The picture on the right is not too far off some of the stuff I have purchased in my effort to obtain stock for cabinet carcasses.  I usually am able to pull bowed pieces into flat sides and bottoms using screws and clamps, but I have returned pieces which should never have been on the retail shelf.  I completely changed horses in midstream on my latest cabinet project having found an unlikely source (Lowe’s) for a better quality maple plywood to replace my old birch standby which has increased in price and declined in quality significantly.  I had mercy on my lumber yard by keeping a birch panel which developed an S-curve within a week of purchase, because I knew they couldn’t/wouldn’t be able to resell it.  Their response?  “Thank you.”

Cutting panels to size for cabinets, chests, drawer boxes, etc. should be done accurately so the finished piece is square and well-built.  To do this requires careful measuring, marking, and use of a straightedge to guide the saw.

Panel Saw

Alternatively, you could build your own panel saw from available plans for a few hundred dollars.  You typically see panel saws at cabinet shops and lumber yards where they will cut down a panel you purchased for a nominal fee.  The saw carriage and frame take up hardly any space, so if you use panels a lot, it might be a good time-saving investment.  Like any tool, you need to check it for accuracy, mainly squareness, from time to time to ensure cuts are plumb and parallel to the factory edges.

The kind of straightedge you use to guide your circular saw across the panel can be a shop-fabricated jig or a specialty tool.  I have used each and prefer the tool over the jig.  The jig is useful, but requires extra clamps, whereas the tool is self-contained.  Of course, the jig is made of scrap wood, so the cost is nil.

Custom-made Panel Jig

  To build the jig, cut two pieces of half-inch stock to the approximate widths depicted in the drawing, and lengths to match your application:  97 inches to rip full panels or shorter if you only rip 48-inch widths or less.  In any event, the bottom piece should be wider than the main (wider) shoe on the saw to be used with the jig.  Once the two pieces are glued together, run the saw along the edge created by the top piece to trim the jig to width.  (Place the wider part of the shoe on the jig when trimming for full support of the saw on the jig.)

Trim the Jig to Fit Your Saw

The jig has a couple of minor drawbacks:  If you make it out of particle board, it will start to fall apart with repeated use. Secondly, you cannot use the full depth of cut of your saw because the half-inch stock the saw travels on raises the saw (reduces maximum depth of cut) by that half-inch.  Again, it was free…

Full-length Clamping Saw Guide

                 The clamping straightedge saw guide is one of the cooler tools to add to your tool box; unfortunately it won’t fit in your toolbox, so you have to hang it on the wall…  It is also relatively indestructible, but it is possible to break the plastic part(s), or lose the roll pin if you try hard enough.  The guide itself is made of lightweight aluminum (aluminium to our readers in the U.K. and Canada.)  The sliding clamps are plastic and can break; the roll pin holds the clamp handle in place and can migrate out of its holes with use (just tap it home if it moves.)  With a little care, these issues are no problem.

Plastic Parts Need TLC

The technique for cutting a panel accurately involves a few skills in which you are already gaining proficiency:  measuring, marking and measuring.  Yes, but this is a little different from simply measuring twice and cutting once.

First, turn the panel “good” side down.  Circular saws cut “up,” so this will give a clean cut on the good side; unless the blade is dull, the top cut should be clean, too.  Measure the distance between the outside edge of the saw shoe that will ride against the straightedge, and the inside of the saw blade.  Strive to be as close as possible, as this measurement will ultimately affect how accurate your final cut dimension will be.  So, measure to the blade overhang, also known as the side clearance, the outermost point of the kerf.  On many saws, this is a round number (thank you engineers.)  On my little Porter Cable Saw Boss it’s 4 inches precisely.

I can’t say enough about my little (6″) Saw Boss.  It’s made in the good old U. S. of A. for one thing (at least mine is…)  I bought it used at a pawn shop years ago, accidentally tumbled it down a 50 foot embankment (bent the shoe), and used it continuously over a period of 10 years in my business.  It has never missed a beat.  New they are not cheap, but worth the lifetime of service they give.  (Remember the ancient maxim about tools:  You gets what you pays for.

Old Bossie

The six-inch saw is ideal for cutting panels:  It is relatively light-weight, albeit with a hefty feel, lots of power to cut through 3/4 inch plywood like a hot knife through margarine, and with a left-side view of the action for us right-handed wood butchers.  The best saw blade for cutting panels has a large number of teeth for a smooth, tear-out free cut.

Many Teeth Make Light Work

Which brings us to the subject of:  Which side should you set up your straightedge on, left or right?   Or, another way to phrase this query:  Keeper or waste side of the panel?

Below is a depiction of the saw and guide set up on the waste (scrap) side of the panel.

Hmmm…

See any potential issues with this set-up?  This is perfectly acceptable as a way to orient the equipment vis-a-vis the cut line.  (When I spell-checked “vis-a-vis,” the suggested revisions were:    bis-a-vis, via-a-vis, vi-a-vis, vs-a-vis, and is-a-vis.  What the h-e-double hockey sticks was that programmer smoking?)  However, what might happen if you, oh say, sneeze or violently fart while making your cut?  Where is your saw likely to migrate?  That’s correct!  Into “the Workpiece!”  Scratch one perfectly good $180-per-sheet aromatic cedar panel.  This stuff doesn’t grow on trees you know!  (oh, wait..what?)

It’s Only Money…

Avoid this mini-disaster by setting up your saw and guide on the keeper side of the cut.  Then, if a dog  should bite you in the shop, you won’t ruin the good piece when you react by leaping onto the work table.

So…Remember the measurement from the edge of the saw shoe to the blade kerf?  Pull your tape measure from the corner of the keeper piece to the exact dimension you want the piece cut.  Now, subtract that measurement; in my case, it’s always 4 inches on the nose.  Make a narrow pencil mark at the edge of the panel and perpendicular to the edge.  Duplicate this mark on the opposite edge.  These two marks are your reference marks to align the clamping straightedge.  Practice aligning the straightedge at precisely the same spot on the reference marks, showing the same amount of pencil mark on each one.  To ensure the straightedge, and, hence, the cut will be perpendicular to the edge, measure back from the “wrong” side of the straightedge to the corner where you started.  Measure the other side, too.  These dimensions should be equal.  If not, double-check your work.  Practice will refine this technique, but following this routine will help avoid costly mistakes, like cutting a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.  (Can I get a witness?)

The shop-built jig is simply aligned with reference marks located at the dimension you want to cut, because the edge of the jig is where the blade cuts.  With the jig, it’s important to clamp the jig on the keeper side–not the waste side–to avoid cutting the piece too short by the width of the kerf.

Clamps Should Clear the Saw Body

The saw on the left  is getting a real workout.  Cutting the full depth of the blade is bound to put a strain on the motor, and will shorten its life if done consistently.  Careful attention to measuring and marking will ensure you can duplicate panel sizes (e.g., for cabinet walls) without stacking panels.  A way to preserve blade sharpness is to set the blade depth to exceed the thickness of the panel by one full tooth (about 1/8 inch) and no deeper.  This will present the maximum number of teeth in the cut while cutting.  Like a router, if it’s possible to push the saw against the guide rather than pull it toward you (like she’s doing), do it.  It’s easier to control and less work.

Support the panel on pieces of lumber to avoid binding the saw blade as the cut pieces separate.

The edge of the panel shows the exposed plies, so something needs to be done to dress this up.  This is where edge banding comes in handy.

Comes in a Variety of Species Finished and Unfinished

Edge banding can be purchased by the foot for smaller projects, or in rolls of 50 and 300 feet.  It comes glued for application with pressure or heat, or without glue.  I have not had the best luck with a variety of trimmers to remove the excess tape (edge banding is usually supplied in widths larger than standard plywood thicknesses.)  My tried-and-true method, although slow, is to use a razor knife to cut the tape against a metal putty knife as a backer.  The trimmers have a tendency to tear out the wood grain along the trimmed edge.  You also have to pay attention to the direction of the grain and push or pull the trimmer with the grain.  So, double edge trimmers are innately troublesome (to me, at least.)

Whether you are building a dog house or your dream kitchen, the ideal product for efficient and attractive woodworking projects has been around for over 5000 years.   What other wood-related thing can you say that about, except maybe the termite…

Stimulate This!

If you are a homeowner, DIYer, professional cabinet-maker, amateur woodworker or builder, you are about to get screwed AND nailed by a new “economic” policy of the U.S. gummit.

Normally I wouldn’t sully my blog with a rant, but this has really singed my short hairs.  If you are not aware of this business-killing action, I want you to think about it:

As of about a month ago (April, 2013), the U.S. gummit culminated a year-long review of alleged dumping by Chinese manufacturers of lumber products, including plywood, on the domestic market by enacting a tariff averaging 23 percent on imported plywood.  Reportedly, the committees looking at this are going to revisit the issue shortly, and are poised to increase the tariff another 17 percent!

I am a small business, literally and figuratively.  I buy lumber in small quantities on a regular basis.  Recently, I bought some plywood for the kitchen depicted in the article on vintage wood.  I always make an effort to find the most economical (read:  inexpensive) material  for a project which also meets the standards of quality expected by me and the customer.  The plywood sold for $38 USD for each 4 X 8 sheet.  Last week I went back to my local lumber yard and bought some more for a new project.  I looked at my receipt and almost dropped my eye teeth.  The price per sheet had jumped to $48!  Next month it is likely to be $56, not including tax.

Now here’s the icing on the cake:  This all affects only the U.S. domestic market, because it is an action taken by our government to punish China for predatory trade activity.   So, what has been the response of the domestic lumber manufacturers, who could use this as an opportunity to increase their market share and sell more product at competitive prices?  The response of the domestic manufacturers has been to raise their prices in line with the increases imposed by the tariff action!

I am so incensed I called the Canadian home office of the company that owns the local lumber yard.  I got Curt, Chief Operations Officer, on the phone.  Curt informed me he cut off shipments of Canadian products to his U.S. retail stores a full year ago out of fear the pending tariff action would be imposed retroactively, costing the company dearly if they were to sell wood products in the U.S. over the course of the year this has been in the works.  So the local store manager buys wholesale from wherever he can find it:  China and the United States of America.

What a racket!

Well, I’m coming up on 500 words I promised my wife I would limit this diatribe to, but it’s not easy:  something needs to be done.

(Oh, lest I forget:  The price of a sheet of domestic plywood, albeit of higher quality than the Chinese crap I’ve been using?  $85 as of this writing.  What it will be next month is anybody’s guess…)

Okay, honey, I guess I’ve said about as much as

Squaring and Repairing Old Doors

Before

After

While the transformation might not be as miraculous as imagined in the photos above, old wooden doors can be restored to form and functionality with some effort and ingenuity.  There is a wealth of good information available in print and in the cybrary on the topic of restoring old wood to its former function and beauty, so I won’t attempt to reinvent that wheel here.  As such, I’ll link you to a few good sites on the topics of repairing split door panels, replacing rotten wood with solid wood and tightening up loose rail and stile joints.

Then…

…and Now

This article focuses on Victorian-style entry doors, but the information transfers to period interior doors, and doors in general.  Just about any larger city in the country has a plethora of houses constructed in the Gilded Age before the turn of the previous century.  Many of these fine dwellings have been restored to their original opulence and beauty.  Many more, unfortunately, suffer the ravages of time:  peeling paint, rotten wood, deferred maintenance, modern “improvements,” and, well, old age.  Exterior doors suffer from exposure to the elements, and, as one of the most utilized components of the structure, experience constant use and abuse throughout the life of the house.

Old-School Charm

Here’s a pictorial guide to the terminology defining the different parts which make up many doors, especially vintage ones:

Zoom in for a Better View

Cabinets are my stock-in-trade, but I have a special place in my heart for doors:  I’ve installed umpteen million in new construction and remodels; repaired, refinished, rehung, refurbished, rebuilt, reused, recycled, reclaimed, remodeled, restored, reinvented and replaced at least as many.  I know doors.  I know doors so well, I could have been Jim Morrison.

So I found it fascinating that I found no articles, chats or images in hours of searching on the topic of squaring up and repairing old doors.  Surely I am not unique in my experience.  Has no other craftsman or DIYer tackled this issue?  I admit, it’s a head-scratcher.  When an antique door, usually an exterior frame and panel construction, used and abused, exposed to weather and never maintained for maybe 100-plus years comes apart and sags into its door frame, who you gonna’ call?

Me, I guess.

Please Decide. His Arms are Getting Tired.

You should not have to accept as inevitable an old door that sticks, rattles or just plain won’t open (or close).  This is not only a serious aesthetic problem, as the door looks like crap, but a security issue as well.  Exterior doors must be functional:  they are the last line of defense against criminal intrusion after the fence, the dog(s) and the camouflaged bear pit in the yard.  Oh, wait a minute:  this is the Obama era.  The last line of defense is a good offense, i.e., a Glock, SKS or the “fashionable” AR-15 (or all three.)  At one time the best defense against burglary and home invasion was a properly installed dead-bolt lock in every exterior door.  Times have changed.

Repair of a sagging, out-of-square door literally coming apart at the seams is specialist work.  The average DIYer (unless they read this) probably won’t be able to come up with a satisfactory solution.  Cutting or planing the part of the door that rubs or sticks only enhances the visual blight (it’s still sagging) and doesn’t address the real issues.  Alternatives to repair also have their downsides, but if you’re made of money, or don’t care about retaining the original look of your house (shame on you), you can consider the following:

• Reproductions
• Architectural salvage
• New (modern)
• Custom millwork

Reproduction doors are available, but in limited sizes and styles.  In the 19th Century, door factories turned out a wide variety of door styles and finishes, many up to 10 feet in height.  Companies competed fiercely for the business of the Industrial Age homeowner.  Today’s reproductions have many of the features of original products, like solid wood construction, no veneers, specialized joints holding the parts together, and period hardware.

Although you will likely find a style that appeals to you, finding an exact duplicate of the original door is improbable.  Standard sizes are 36 inches wide by 80 inches tall.  Fewer stock choices are available in other widths and heights.  Old-school doors came from the factory complete with stain and finish:  plan to do this after delivery, as modern reproductions are shipped unfinished.  Plan to spend between $1000 and $10,000, or more, for your dream door.  At that price, you would hope the manufacturers would find a way to make the door look “old,” but it will look brand new.

Price Excludes:  Finish, Shipping, Jamb, Hardware and Installation

Architectural salvage outlets can be found in many cities as the source of period doors and lots of other stuff that might fit your vintage home’s decor.  Of course, the selection will be limited to whatever the local “deconstructors” have acquired in your region in any given time period.  The condition will be “as found,” and, because of the stuff’s rarity and uniqueness, it won’t be bargain priced.  Again, you might be able to locate a piece that suits your needs and taste, but you’ll have to look long and hard for it probably.

The Real Deal–at a Price

New, modern doors look so out of place in truly vintage decor that you will most likely think twice about taking this route.

You may hook up with a contractor or designer who has a source for custom made millwork, and can design and specify a particular door style, wood species and finish to replicate your basket case of a door.  I’ve seen custom made furniture that attempted to pass as antique in look and style, down to the fake wear and tear of “distressed” wood.  This is usually accomplished by striking the wood with a bag of carefully selected bolts, screws and other pieces of metal in a random pattern.  However, just as the term “random pattern” is an oxymoron, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that the piece is a new construction.

So you’ve decided to keep “Old Saggy” in the family for some reason if only to preserve the original character and provenance of “this old house.”  Good for you!  Now the fun begins…

If the door is still tight and square, try this:

Tighten all hinge screws by hand;  a power screwdriver might spin them and ruin the threads cut in the wood holes.  Before doing this, support the door from underneath so that it sits square to its opening; you might notice some or all hinges are loose at this point, a good sign of an easy repair.

Almost certainly, some of the screws will not tighten up.  This is also an easy fix, but you will have wait until some glue dries to proceed:  Remove the screw from the bad hole.  Whittle (you know how to whittle, don’t you?  You just put your lips together and blow) a plug the size of the hole diameter and depth, or use a dowel.  Put carpenter’s (yellow) glue in the hole and on the plug.  Insert the plug in the hole.  Wait for the glue to set.  Drill a pilot (smaller) hole for the screw and replace the screw.  Do this with any other suspicious screw hole, or renew them all just to be thorough.  With the door open and supported, tighten all the hinge screws in the door and jamb.  Did this trick fix the sag?

The hinges are tight, but the door butt joint seams are separated.  What will you do?  Butt seam separation sounds serious.  And it is.  Just hope it never happens to you or a member of your family.  The door is one thing; your family is quite another.

If the door is sticking because the rail and stile have come apart, the fix is also pretty straightforward.

Rail and Stile Separation

If the gap between rail and stile is small, open it up carefully to permit a little light cleaning of the gap.  You also need some room inside the gap to introduce a fair amount of glue to make the repair permanent.  Yellow glue should be fine, especially for interior doors, but you’ll want to consider using an exterior–grade outdoor yellow glue, or a water-resistant glue like polyurethane for exterior doors.  Polyurethane glue reacts with moisture to harden, then becomes a moisture-resistant joint.  Use a spray bottle to moisten the interior surfaces of the gap before adding the glue.

Open up the Separated Joint a Bit

Use air pressure from a compressed air blow gun to remove loose dirt and particles from the gap.  Tiny scrapers can be fashioned from small nails, or dental tools.  Clean the gap thoroughly, then blow it out again.  Remove any drips or chunks of dried finish that might interfere with the glue bond.  (Use polyurethane glue sparingly:  a very thin coating on all surfaces will be adequate as this glue expands to fill tiny voids of 1 millimeter or less.  If the glue squeezes out of the joint, wait until it has partially hardened to ease removal.  Or use lacquer thinner sparingly to remove wet glue.)

Use a toothpick or wood splinter to apply the glue to the interior surfaces of the gap; avoid getting the glue on the door face itself.  You can “spread” the glue by partially closing the gap with pressure or hammer blows (protect the wood), then prying the gap apart a bit to check coverage.  When, like Goldilocks’ porridge, the amount of glue is “just right,” pull the seam together with clamps and go have a beer.

For insurance you might want to add a glued dowel inserted from the door edge through the joined stile and rail, or a long wood screw, countersunk and filled.

This should be a relatively permanent fix for a door coming apart at the seams.  However, a worst-case scenario, where the door is sagging because it not only has come apart, but has also changed shape from a rectangle to a trapezoid, requires more resources and ingenuity.

Repair of This Door is Not Your First Priority

Unfortunately, this is where the intermet came up short;  I don’t know if I’m the first and onliest person to make this type of vintage door repair, but when confronted with the challenge a couple of years ago, I definitely felt as if I was reinventing the wheel.  To this day, I can’t find a standard graphic or reference to this technique, so I guess I’ll have to actually draw something myself.

“Old Saggy”

How to Repair Old Saggy

The drawing above shows the problem:  joints at the rails and stiles have loosened up and failed, causing the weight of the door to deform the door into a trapezoidal shape.  The low side will always be opposite the hinges.  This door will never function properly without the little operation depicted on the right.

Firstly, the drawing on the right is a plan view, a.k.a. a “bird’s eye” view; you are looking at the door laid flat on the floor or workbench table.  The large perimeter rectangle in the drawing represents some kind of solid surface to brace against.  When I did this repair in my shop, I braced against the foundation walls surrounding the concrete floor pad.

You can see the door can be nudged back into shape using a hydraulic jack strategically placed at the low corner.  A hydraulic jack, or “bottle jack,” rated at 6-9 tons is strong enough to push the door members back into square.

Brace the other three corners against movement so all the force can concentrate at the one point.  You can add additional braces to secure the door from unwanted movement; do not place a brace on the end of the stile opposite the jack.

Work in stages.  The door will move towards square slowly.  Some pressure will build up in the structure, so occasionally stop applying pressure and gently tap the door parts with a non-marring hammer.  This will relieve pressure and move the door some more.

The door shown in the drawing is a six-panel door without window glass.  Even if the window is intact in the deformed door, remove it prior to beginning this task.  Otherwise, the window, which is probably original to the house and fragile, will shatter.  Replacement glass made to look like 150-year-old glass is available, but spendy.

When the door is back in shape, release it from its bondage and repair it as discussed earlier.  Refinishing might be the next step in restoring your door to its former glory.

Keeping any house in good order and functional is a challenge with modern structures, let alone houses built in the time of clapboard and gingerbread.  It’s never too late to catch up on some of those 150-year-old deferred maintenance projects.  After all, what else are weekends for?

All Nailers Great and Small

The Art of the Nail Gun

Since 1950, when the first pneumatic nail gun was introduced on the market, nailers have grown in popularity among professionals and DIYers to the point where the hammer is fast becoming a museum piece.

Uh, No.

Unlike the real custom nail gun in the photo above, real nail guns come in a variety of calibers, better known as gauges.  Let’s cover the various types of equipment using nail gauge as a guide, and along the way we’ll learn the features and applications of each one.

A digression:  Like all tools, not all nail gun brands are created equally reliable and durable.  I went through two – count ‘em – two Bostitch 18 gauge brad nailers before realizing the problem I experienced was somehow tied to the flawed design of this tool.  Right out of the box, each of these new nail guns misfired, that is, when the trigger was pulled, no nail came out.  Usually this can occur in older, well-used guns due to wear on the so-called driver.  The driver is moved down onto the nail head by pressure when the trigger is pulled.  If it’s metal shape is worn from countless up-and-down trips in its guide, the driver can “miss” the nail and skip off.  This shouldn’t happen with a new tool.  On the other hand, I have had excellent service life and durability with both Porter Cable and Senco equipment.  I looked up the replacement parts list for a typical 18 gauge Bostitch brad nailer like the ones I owned, and, interestingly, part number 5 on the exploded diagram (an O-ring in the driver mechanism) wasn’t even listed in the parts list!  O-rings are easily replaceable, but they have to also be available!

(How funny!  I just searched “Stanley Bostitch BT1855K” and looked at “Customer Reviews:”

• “‘This gun consistently won’t fire.’  (5 reviewers made a similar statement.)”
• “‘…this one was so frustrating to use.’  (4 reviewers made a similar statement.)”
• “‘I am going to return it…’  (1 reviewer made a similar statement.)”

‘Nough said.  Read my article on tools for more sage advice…)

Framing Nailers

The biggest guns used for construction and framing actually don’t have a “gauge,” per se.  Generally, they can use nails of more than one shank diameter, unlike smaller nailers that are limited to a particular gauge.  My Porter Cable framer can fire nails ranging from .113 inches to .148 inches in diameter, and 2 to 3 and 1/2 inches in length.  The nails typically come in a sleeve (stick or strip) of 25 or so individual nails held together (“‘collated”) by a plastic band.  Loading any gun is the same:  Pull back the spring-loaded feeder, drop in the strip of nails (pointy end down…) and release the feeder.

Framing Nail Gun

Collated nails come angled (20°-34°) or straight depending on the design of the magazine.  Wikipedia says, “Shank styles include plain, ring annular, twisted, etc. and a variety of materials and finishes are offered including plain steel, galvanized steel, sherardised steel, stainless steel, etc. depending on the pull-out resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. required for the given application.”  In case you are wondering:  sherardising is a form of galvanizing for resistance to rust.  (I was…)  Other construction nails come in coils to reduce the frequency of reloading; this is especially helpful in high volume tasks like roofing.

Collated Angled Nails

Coil of Roofing Nails

Another (brief) digression:  Nail guns, whether powered by air pressure, electromagnetism, flammable gas or gunpowder are a leading cause of injuries related to tool uses.  Between 2001 and 2007, nail gun injuries among workers and consumers (DIYers) doubled, according to the CDC and NIOSH.  Much of the blame can be traced to rapid fire “bounce firing” in which the gun fires when the trigger is pulled and then the nose piece contacts the work, versus a “sequential-trip” firing mechanism requiring the nose piece to contact the work first before the trigger is pulled improving control.  (Senco actually offers free replacement parts if the trigger type you have is not to your liking.)  Be informed and be forewarned:  Nail gun injuries are horrific.  Don’t be a statistic!

Old-school Framers Would Disable Safety Mechanisms and Stage “Gunfights”

16 Gauge Nail Guns

Known as finish nailers, 16 gauge tools use smooth nails with a minimal head to allow the head to be countersunk below the surface of the wood. This is accomplished in two ways.  In air tools, the pressure from the air compressor should be set roughly between 70 and 120 pounds per square inch (psi); there should be no need to readjust this once set as the compressor will bring itself up to pressure when the pressure falls below its set point.  The depth of the nail head is controlled by a depth adjustment on the tool.  Again, once trial and error determines the correct adjustment, no further adjustment is required.

Nine of the Approximately 900 Parts in a Nail Gun (Note Depth Adjustment)

Finish nails come in variety of lengths ranging from 5/8 inch to 2 and 1/2 inch.  These are used to fasten interior trim molding, window sills, jambs and headers, door frames, crown molding, etc.  A wise old carpenter once told me, “Remember:  you have to fill all those holes with putty,” so less is more.  If you strive to hit the stud behind the drywall at each point, fewer nails can be used.  Techniques to accomplish this include laying out a tape on the floor and noting every 16 inches (or so) there is a stud location; and using a stud finder.  Don’t do what an extra laborer did on one job I was on:  He marked the location of each stud on the stain grade base molding with ball-point pen!  Buy ‘em books and buy ‘em books and all they do is eat the covers…

16 Gauge Finish Nails

Finish nails are also used to fasten sub-tops and underlayment when you don’t want a nail head protruding proud of the surface.

Fastening Trim to the Plate Stud

Nail Sets Come in Different Sizes

Protruding nail heads (called “shiners”) can be set with a couple of sharp blows with a hammer on the right size nail set.  Then the fun begins:  puttying all the holes…

18 Gauge Nail Guns

Known as brad nailers, 18 gauge tools do the same jobs as finish nailers with one advantage:  the holes are smaller requiring less putty.  They are harder to see from a distance and therefore add to the clean look of the new decor.  Brad nailers come in lengths similar to finish nails, so can be used for the same tasks generally.  A wise old drywaller once told me, “You know 18 gauge nails will hold that trim just as well as those 16 gauge spikes, and the holes are smaller…”  I didn’t immediately mend my ways (because I didn’t think of it first), but eventually came to see the wisdom of his advice.

Brad Nails for Every Application

Further, smaller brad nails are ideal for fastening thin material like screen molding and 3/16 inch finished panels.

23 Gauge Nail Guns

At one time I disparaged this size gun, known as a pin nailer or “pinner,” as a toy more suited to building little wooden do-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs.  Then a wise old contractor (who was paying my contract) suggested I use one of these little gems to affix rope trim to a flat spot on the crown molding I was installing on some kitchen cabinets.  The issue was the rope trim was fragile, and larger nails caused it to split and blow out.  The tiny headless pin nails are ideal for this application.  Each is about the size of a sewing needle; available lengths are limited due to their small diameter, which can take only so much driving force before bending.  I now own this little baby of my family of nail guns; I use it for rope trim, beading, screen molding, drawer box construction (with glue), repairs, veneer, and a bunch of other tasks where a larger nail won’t do.

The best part:  The nail holes are essentially invisible, filled or unfilled.

As I said, I own at least one of every size of common nail gun known to man or woman.  There are just no substitutes for the efficiency and utility of the various sizes and features.  (Try driving a 1 inch, 2d common wire nail with a hammer; you’ll be screaming obscenities after hitting your hand on the first or second blow…)  Other types of nail guns are more specialized:

Flooring Nailer

Powder Actuated Tool Uses an Explosive Cartridge

Hardwood flooring nailers take the work (and there’s a lot of it) out of installing floors.  Activated by air pressure and a sharp blow with a rubber hammer, these tools drive and set flooring nails through the tongue of the boards at the proper angle and depth.   A job that could take many days only takes a lot of days.

Powder actuated tools are used for driving hardened nails into concrete and other tough substrates for fastening wall plates and brackets to other-than-wood surfaces. A sharp blow to the loaded tool fires a cartridge to propel the fastener home.

Staplers are handy when fastening non-electrical wire, wood edging on plastic laminate counter tops and other tasks (like sheathing) where an extra-firm grip is required and the staple wire won’t show or it doesn’t matter.

Palm nailers are compact tools that “hammer” (40 hits per second) nails into wood.  The nailer straps to the hand, and is air-powered.  The advantage is their usefulness in tight spaces.

Compact Palm Nailer

Most nail guns are pneumatic and require an air compressor to use.  Buy a good one, because they go through repeated cycling during use to keep the air pressure at the optimal level.  Compressors are usually oil filled, so maintenance is paramount for a long service life.  Drain the condensed water from the pressure tank(s) regularly to avoid internal corrosion.

Arsenal Confiscated from Gang of Drug-Running Carpenters on the Southwest Border

What more to say, but that a wise old…

Oh, forget it.

Reclaiming Vintage Wood – An Epic Tale

Explaining how he created the lengthy and intricate story that became The Lord of the Rings epic, J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, “The tale grew in the telling.”  Sometimes remodeling projects are like that.  Typical reasons to add time and cost to a project include uncovering rot in the walls, opening a floor and discovering a hidden portal to the fourth dimension, and finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow with which to fund a bigger project.  Well, at least the first one is typical.

But, sometimes, things just work out that way for the better, like, serendipitously…

Such is the case with a recent (2013) remodel of the kitchen in the home of Terri A. and Les S., located in the forested foothills of Mt. Baker, Washington, home to bald eagles, spawning salmon, white-tailed deer and Lucy, the sweetest guard dog on the planet.

Terri had for many years wanted to upgrade her kitchen, which was functional but lacking a certain something – like cabinet doors and drawer spaces.  The room had all of three – count ‘em – three drawers with faces among seven built-in base cabinets and one wall cabinet.  Roll out baskets were installed in several of the boxes, which added the storage capacity of drawers without the finished look of drawer faces.  The design was basic and adequate, but far from efficient and elegant.

You know a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look at the Pre-Remodeling Layout:

Open Cabinets Left of the Sink

To the left of the sink a perpendicular run of three cabinets included a corner cabinet; it was a chore to access stuff in the “blind” end which had no shelf.

Baskets on drawer slides helped improve some access, but the interiors of the cabinets were wider than the fixed-width baskets, resulting in wasted space.

Additionally, the built-in boxes shared a common side wall between any two, and the illusion of a thicker wall was created by using a wider stile (the vertical trim piece, or “face frame”) at the front of each wall, wasting more interior cabinet room in an already small space.

The sink cabinet was about 22 inches wide which accommodated a relatively small drop-in style sink.

Sink Area with Peak-A-Boo Door

The door below the sink was an afterthought as was the wall cabinet over the range on the opposite side of the room.  Hence, they didn’t match anything.  As you can see, most of the aesthetic design went into the interior of the cabinets where knotty fir plywood was used for the cabinet side walls.  Terri loves the look of the original wood which is also in the walls and throughout the house.  So, duplicating the hue and character of the old wood was an important design feature in her vision of the new look for her kitchen space.

Three Lonely Drawer Faces Right of the Sink

“Knotty fir” is  a descriptive name rather than a species; in fact, according to The Real Wood Bible, coast Douglas fir, which this wood almost certainly is, is not even a true fir (Abies genus)!  Another name for the tree is Oregon pine, and its grows ubiquitously on the west coast of the United States and Canada from British Columbia to California.

We can roughly date this original installation to perhaps the late 1940s, when plywood became a consumer product after its widespread use for the war effort during WWII, to the early 1970s.  Knotty fir, although beautiful, was considered a cheaper grade of wood:  the more desirable Doug-fir grade had few, if any, tight knots and was used for furniture and paneling.  Today, knotty fir is rarely found; my local lumber yard stopped carrying ACX fir plywood 15 years ago.  Regardless, this grade has one good (“A”) side and the other side is not-so-good (“C”.)  Further, the “A” side has the knots cut out and patched with oval-shaped pieces of veneer, so the best use was to paint it, not look at it.

What is available today is expensive CVG (clear vertical grain) fir plywood, which is useful for staining or clear coating for appearance but has no knots to add character.  When it comes to dimensional knotty fir lumber (which is solid wood), generally all that can be found are “shorts” useful for small projects.  These solid boards are usually a few inches wide and maybe five feet long.  To create doors of any width, several of these narrow boards need to be edge-joined to create a wider panel.  This is not always attractive because the doors end up looking like fence boards side-by-side.  Also, book matching, joining pieces of the same board to create a mirror image grain pattern, doesn’t work very well as a visual feature because the book-matched boards aren’t wide enough.

So, how to realize Terri’s dream of a “new” kitchen carrying over the same rustic beauty of the original design was the first challenge.  Terri wanted to initially add new cabinet doors and drawer fronts and retrofit four of the boxes with real drawers; she also decided to replace the temporary cabinet over the range, add a narrow cabinet with a counter top next to the range, add a tall pantry with multiple roll-out shelves, and a few other upgrades to give the kitchen greater functionality and a finished look.

Even for this limited amount of fabrication, choosing to use CVG fir plywood exclusively would have been costly at $160 per 4′ X 8′ panel, and would have been out-of-character with the surrounding walls and trim – which have those wonderful knots!  And we’ve discussed the issues with using fir shorts.  CVG fir dimensional lumber is also expensive and a bit monotonous from a visual perspective – the wood is beautiful but the grain pattern is straight as a string.

After doing all this research and thinking about how to make this kitchen look like it came with the house, I asked my local lumber guys if they had any ideas how or where to obtain a quantity of old-school knotty fir lumber.  I really didn’t want to find an old building, bid on the demolition, demolish it, extract the usable timbers and beams, resaw them into lumber, etc.  There must be someone somewhere who makes this their business who can save me 90 percent of the work of reclaiming this type of wood.  As it turns out, there is, and it’s a local business who specializes in just this area.

Jeffrey E. operates from his home shop.  He regularly participates in auctions and bids for de-constructed building lumber specializing in fir.  His business focuses on reclaiming fir lumber for use in new and remodeled houses, cabinets and furniture.  A pleasant surprise was that he makes a living at this which reflects a good demand for this material, and an ethos among his customers to reuse and recycle perfectly good wood products for new projects.  Jeffrey has a technique for planing the old raw wood he uses which retains a portion of the patina from the years-long aging process the wood has undergone.  The result is an attractive patterning on the finished product which adds a unique feature to the decor.

The boards I purchased were all about 12 feet long by at least 6 inches wide; they had been surface-planed to 5/4 (five-quarter), which is about 1 and  1/16″ thick.  The edges of each board were original to the beam each had been sliced from, so they were not perfectly straight for running through a table saw.  To solve this problem, I fixed a straightedge (a long, perfectly straight board) to each one to act as a guide for the table saw fence.  This technique results in one straight edge cut on each board, which can then be used to rip a straight edge on the opposite side, or rip narrower boards for use.

Fasten Curved Board Using Nails, Screws or Double-sided Tape

Time-consuming, But Worth It

After painstakingly ripping a straight edge, I fed each thick board through my surface planer for multiple passes.  This finally reduced the thickness of each board to a standard 3/4 inches plus a fraction for sanding.

The planer removes a fraction of an inch with each pass.  Once you get one side nicely flat and smooth, turn  the board over and remove wood from the other side,  When both sides are looking good, stop and examine the board for features you want to display, like knots, nail holes, particularly striking grain patterns, and colors.  Choose a side to be the “outside” of doors, drawer fronts, panels, etc., and concentrate on removing the remaining thickness from the other side.  This will preserve the look you selected.

To minimize potential problems, planer blades, router bits, saw blades, chisels and all cutting implements should be maintained razor-sharp.  Quoting from Nick Gibbs in The Real Wood Bible, “In the workshop…Douglas fir is a satisfying lumber to work, with spectacular grain patterns emerging on plain-sawn surfaces, but it has its drawbacks.  Cutters have to be sharp and there is a risk of splintering.”  Splintering is a problem that can lead to other problems, like getting a splinter (or 12) in your hand.  Splinters hurt like the Dickens because the fingers and hands are the site of the highest concentration of nerve endings in the human body.  Besides, Doug fir splinters are usually tiny, sharp and deeply imbedded.  Now, besides having to repair the splintered wood, you have to endure the misery of painful splinters reminding you of their presence every time you bump them.  So, keep your tools sharp and bone up on minor surgery.

Now I sorted through the milled lumber for the best looking faces to use for doors and drawer fronts.  All the top drawers are traditionally the same height (about 5 and 3/4 inches), so I picked a 6″ wide board with few flaws near the edges and long enough to make six top drawer faces of varying widths.  The consistency of grain pattern and color carries around the kitchen in an eye-pleasing effect.

I chose pieces by width to make wide and narrow doors as called for in the design.  Because the boards were 12 feet long, I had the advantage of the ability to book-match each door panel, making for a much more attractive look compared to random boards edge-joined together.  I also paid attention to the location and “quality” of knots and nail holes; these added the precise rustic character of the original installation we were looking to achieve.

Now I must digress to tell you about the serendipitous part (apart from finding a trove of beautiful vintage wood for the project almost literally in my backyard…)

Terri (remember Terri?) wanted to have a centerpiece in her upgraded kitchen.  She found and purchased a stylish and contemporary cast iron and porcelain “farm” sink, the kind with an apron the doubles as the front of the cabinet, like this:

Farm, or Apron, Sink

When we measured for a drop-in installation in the existing cabinet, we realized this sink needed to be installed as a “tile-in” whereby the tile counter top is brought up to touch the perimeter of the sink, which is set flush with the counter top.  This is one of several ways to install different sink designs; another might be made to install under the counter top, known as an “undermount” sink.

Terri and Les didn’t bat an eye, as they had considered replacing the dated tile counter top, also.  Now the project “grew in the telling,” as the existing sink cabinet wasn’t wide enough.  They quickly decided to expand the project to a full remodel replacing not only the old counter top and the offending sink cabinet , but the original cabinets on either side and along the other wall.  What started with minor changes now became a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

The new cabinets have the following features:

• Apron sink cabinet with two doors for access to storage
• Two banks of three drawers each in two cabinets
• Two roll-out shelves behind a single door that hinges out-of-the-way
• A pull-out recycling center with two 20-gallon containers and a drawer
• A large corner cabinet with a shelf and 170° hinged door
• Two drawers above the two roll-out shelves
• A 12-inch wide cabinet with drawer and adjustable partitions
• A 9-inch cabinet with one fixed and one adjustable shelf
• A large wall cabinet with a shelf above the range
• A tall pantry with two doors and five roll-out shelves

The new cabinets were constructed using birch plywood for walls, bottoms, drawer boxes and structural parts.  The light color of the birch makes the cabinet interiors bright and easier to see into than the previous darker wood.  Euro-style construction maximizes interior space and allows for hidden hinges which were unique to each location; some hinges open 110°; others open past the plane of the side wall to allow full-width roll-out shelves to move without obstruction.  The cabinets have knotty fir rails and stiles which the doors and drawers close against to complete the rustic appearance.

We also added a 10-foot long shelf near the ceiling along the wall above the pantry and refrigerator for extra storage and knickknacks.  Further, the breaker panel, tastefully located in the kitchen wall, is now hidden behind a knotty fir door hinged for easy access.

Again, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Terri’s New Kitchen

Above the Range

Beside the Range

Tall Pantry

Tall Pantry Revealed

Les did a fine job installing the sink, which is a technical job requiring accurate and precise measuring and cutting.  ( I wonder if he read my article on the subject…)  He is also the tile guy for the new counter top.  The counter top will have wood edge to accent the large square glazed tiles.  Add a new faucet, rustic shelf brackets and distressed porcelain knobs on the cabinets and the kitchen space is totally reinvented while retaining the ambiance and “look” of the house.  The patina of the existing aged wood in the walls and shelving was almost perfectly matched by using an oil-based polyurethane which uniquely darkens to a rich golden color when it cures.

All in all, the project was a resounding success.  A vintage kitchen received a modern make-over, thanks to the availability of the perfect vintage wood product, a vintage carpenter, and the roll-with-the-punches attitude of two of the nicest people I have had the pleasure to work with.

¡Salud!

Tripping on the Fantastic Light

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Each of these weird and wonderful electrical whiz-bang devices sprung from the imagination and workshop of Bill “Ozone Man” Englander, dba Serendipity Woodworking.  Custom designs are a specialty.  Contact us at 360.734.7122 to discuss your electrifying art entertainment ideas.

Safety = Un-Common Sense

Safety signs are a commonplace in business and industrial settings where some aspects of the work are dangerous or risky to some degree.  This could range from slipping on a wet floor to losing a limb (or two) in machinery.  Signs attempt to warn workers about the potential hazards, and are quite wide-ranging in their ability to cover the waterfront of possible issues.  You might see any of these examples:

Cover One Eye and Read the Last Line…

or these:

Danger:  Ahooga Horns

or these:

I Think the Red Line Means “No”

Educational signs do their best to inform workers, but it’s a known fact of human nature:  Nobody reads signs!  Or instructions, or labels, or the Bible, for that matter.  Signs are designed to catch the eye with bright colors and pithy slogans (“Think Safety,” “Think Safety First”), but unfortunately, they fall down on the job as truly preventative measures.    (I do vividly remember a poster from grade school depicting a little boy, horrified look on his face, flying through the air at the observer having been struck from behind by an oncoming car.  He was walking with the traffic, not against it as recommended.  Now notice how many people of all ages do that, cross arterial streets in traffiic with baby strollers, walk at night in black clothing, or ride bikes like traffic rules don’t apply to them…)  It really comes down to this:  You are responsible for your own safe work practices, signs or no signs.

And no signs is pretty much the case in the home and shop, where the same kinds of debilitating and horrific accidents occur as in your worst case OSHA-be-damned coal mine or Chinese sweat shop.  I’m talking about crushing, maiming, falling, shocking, puncturing, tripping, lacerating, ripping and tearing of perfectly good body parts that, unlike salamanders, skinks and sea stars (say that five times fast) don’t grow back.  Oh, wounds might heal, but flesh-eating bacteria might get there first, so, why take the chance?

The best defense is a good offense (Vince Lombardi?), so instead of relying on signs and posters, make a commitment to yourself to look out for number one, and protect everybody around you in the process.  Another sad fact of life:   would-be rescuers who rush in to help an injured or trapped person in a dire circumstance more often than not end up fatalities, burning to death or asphyxiating in the same situation the victim ended up in.  First responders (whose job is to show up for work in a dangerous situation) are trained to “protect yourself first.”  What good are additional preventable injuries or deaths?  You are not invincible; you are totally vincible.

At Least He’s Not Running With Scissors…

So, how to develop this Un-common Sense of Safety?  Awareness of hazards in the shop and home is a logical starting point, and I’m not talking about putting up a bunch of home-made signs all over the place (nobody reads them, remember?)  Make an inventory.  Take the time to look for and imagine unsafe conditions, practices and equipment present or possible in your work area.  There are myriad opportunities for mistakes and mishaps in the simplest environments, not to mention one where a multitude of power tools are in use, each one capable of inflicting its own brand of death and destruction.  And it could literally be a brand if you accidentally sear your flesh with a soldering iron or propane torch!  Cedar wood smells great when burned; epidermis – not so much.  Start your inventory with a list of general hazards, real or potential, then look at the real world in which you work and hobby to find and note the lurking dangers around you.

Let’s just summarize the potential problems you might look for and find, although the lists are not exhaustive, and there is some overlap:

Electricity

No Comment

• Frayed, cut or torn electrical cords
• Loose wires
• Poor lighting
• Overloaded plugs/circuits
• Water on the floor
• Extension cord usage
• Wires under foot
• Damaged outlets
• Dust in motors

Machinery

Let Me Count the Ways

• Missing or broken guards
• Exposed moving parts
• Rotating parts
• Inaccessible power switch
• Movement after being turned off
• Noise
• Pinch rollers
• Uneven floor or support
• Jerry-built or jury-rigged equipment
• Confined (tight or cramped) spaces
• Heavy parts

Tools

• Trigger safeties broken or removed
• High heat
  

  Featherboards and
  Push Sticks Save
  Fingers

• Loose parts
• Direction of exhaust ports
• High air pressure
• Noise
• Trigger locks
• Fumes and particulates
• Downward cutting
• Moving work into tool
• Pulling tool towards body parts

Sharp Stuff

• Blade changing practice
• Handling and storage
• Securing the workpiece
• Visual impairment at speed (blurring)
• Proximity to digits and limbs
• Direction of cutting or slicing force
• Posture
• Guards and exposed edges

Eye Protection

• Flying chips, sawdust, turnings and grinder debris
• Paint mist
• UV radiation
• Poke in the eye with a sharp stick, screwdriver or pencil
• Eye glasses
• Fatigue
• Exhaust ports and air pressure
  

  This…

or This?

Hearing Protection

This…

• Impact sounds
• High decibel sound
• Saw and router operations
• Compressor noise
• Rotary and multitool operation
• Grinding

or This?

Respiratory Protection

• Fumes, mists, particulates, fibers
• Carbon monoxide

This…

or This?

Environs

Not Me

• Cold
• Hot
• Cramped
• Crowded
• Cluttered
• Slip, trip and fall hazards
• Head hazards
• Chemicals
• Heater
• Ventilation
• Weather
• Dust and debris

Distractions

• Radio
• Headphones
• Telephone
• Television
• Children
• Other workers
• Spouse
• Friends
• Neighbors
• Worries
• The Big Game
• Barking dogs

She’s Not Wearing a Seat Belt

When the inventory is complete, review it enough to familiarize yourself with each of the items posing a potential risk to your health and safety.  Then, invest in some personal protection equipment (PPE), fix broken cords, add extra lighting, reorganize cramped spaces, buy a fire extinguisher, install a dust collector, clean the wood stove chimney, wear gloves when handling sharp blades, be rested, relaxed and “in the moment” when operating tools.  Cultivate spatial awareness:  what is behind you, underfoot, overhead, to the right, to the left?  Concentrate on the task at hand having planned it out thoroughly beforehand.  Work as distraction free as possible.  Do all the other stuff on your list that gives you the Un-common Sense of Safety because you made it part of who you are and what you do.  Do it for yourself, do it for your family and do it today.

Or you could GMO with a skink…

Gallery of Miscellaneous Awe- and Giggle-inspiring Stuff

Nickname: “Righty”

Be Prepared

Tempting Fate

Grim Reaper Crossing

Beware of Falling Jagged Arrows

Caution:  Ear May Explode

A Word to the Wise

Totally Impossible

Now We Know Where the AMMABLs are Stored!

“And This is the Number 99,846th Place Where You Could Lose a Finger.”

Ed After Coming Into Contact with the 440 Volt Line

New Hire

Speak Harshly AND Carry a Big Stick

There’s a Flashback Coming Up…

Beware of Pangea?
Caution:  Continental Drift?
Oh…It’s a Puppy!

Government Polio Factory From the Late 1940s

Wait for It…Wait for It…

Handy – Just in Case…

Don’t Believe Me?  Touch It.

The Promised Flashback

Not One Thing, Another

Absolutely No Ancient Italian Extortionists, Arsonists, Kidnappers or Murderers Allowed

Ah, the Good Old Days

What, You Didn’t Learn From the Hippo?

Contrary to All You’ve Heard…

…Charred Cats?

“I Don’t Need No STINKING PPE!”

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.