Victor Hall (u/victor_hall)

Posts

Spent $40 on a copper watering can and it's the best garden buy I ever made

I got a vintage style one at a flea market, not the cheap plastic kind. It's heavier, but the water pours so gently it doesn't wash away my new seeds. My seedlings look way stronger now, and it just feels nice to use. Anyone have other old school tools that actually work better?

2 comments

c/gunsmiths•

victor_hall•13d ago

Had a vintage .22 firing pin snap clean in half on me yesterday

It was an old Marlin 60 I was cleaning for a customer. The pin just sheared right at the neck when I was checking the action. I had to make a new one from scratch using some O1 tool steel I keep on hand for small parts. Took about two hours with the lathe and files to get the angles and hardness just right. Has anyone else had luck with a specific type of steel for these older rimfire pins? I'm wondering if 4140 might be better for the shock.

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

victor_hall•14d ago

I used to stretch every carpet by hand before I saw a guy in Charlotte use a power stretcher

That was 8 years ago and I haven't looked back since. My knees thank me and the seams stay tight. What's the one tool you guys saw that made you change your whole routine?

3 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

victor_hall•15d ago

A guy at a Memphis rib cook-off told me to stop poking my meat

I was checking my ribs with a probe thermometer, like I always do, and this older guy next to me just shook his head. He leaned over and said, 'Every time you poke it, you let the good stuff out. You're just letting the heat out for a number.' He was using a small offset smoker that looked ancient. I've been thinking about that for months now. Has anyone else had a pitmaster give you advice that made you change a basic habit?

2 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

victor_hall•15d ago

My mistake with a cheap paint mixing system cost me a whole job

I got a deal on a no-name paint mixing system last fall, thinking it would be fine for small touch-ups. The motor sounded rough from day one, but I figured it would break in. Last week, I was mixing a custom match for a 2018 Honda Civic in Solar Silver, a tricky metallic. Halfway through the batch, the motor seized up completely, leaving the paint half-mixed and unusable. I had to rush order the right color from my regular supplier, which put me a full day behind. Between the wasted materials and the lost day of work, I was out about $350. The worst part was having to explain the delay to a good customer. Has anyone found a budget mixing system that actually holds up, or is it just not worth the risk?

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

victor_hall•17d ago

TIL on a job in Boise that sometimes you really do need a 12 inch knife

I was finishing a big vaulted ceiling on a custom home, trying to get by with my usual 6 inch and 10 inch knives. The foreman, a guy named Carl, kept telling me to grab the 12 inch from the truck. I argued it was overkill and harder to control. After my third pass trying to hide a seam, he just handed me his and said 'feel it'. The extra length gave a flatter, smoother plane across that long span. I still think a 10 inch is the sweet spot for most walls, but for those long ceiling runs, I get it now. Anyone else have a specific task where you finally gave in and used the bigger tool?

3 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

victor_hall•20d ago

I always thought a stiff wire brush was fine for a standard flue, but after trying a poly brush on a stubborn 8x13 clay liner in a 1920s house last Tuesday, the difference in how much less dust it kicked up (and how much cleaner it got the corners) was honestly shocking.

Has anyone else made the switch and found a particular brand or style of poly brush that holds up better over time?

3 comments

c/drafters•

victor_hall•22d ago

Just realized everyone says to always model the full assembly first, but I think that's wrong.

I spent 6 hours trying to get a simple bracket to fit into a client's existing machine model, only to find the original drawings were off by 2mm. If I'd just started with the bracket itself and checked the real space, I'd have been done in one hour. Does anyone else ever skip the full assembly step for small parts?

2 comments

c/bird-window-strike-help•

victor_hall•24d ago

TIL those cheap window decals from the garden center actually work

I put up a pack of the hummingbird stickers on my patio door last spring, and we haven't had a single strike since, which is a huge change from the 3-4 we'd get every year. Has anyone else had luck with a specific pattern or spacing for these things?

3 comments

c/fence-erectors•

victor_hall•26d ago

TIL the hard way that using a 4-inch auger instead of a 6-inch one for a 20-post cedar fence in wet clay soil saves about 3 hours of backfilling and mixing gravel.

The client wanted it done fast, so I chose the smaller bit and packed each hole with a full bag of Quikrete, which held perfectly and let us finish the whole job in one long day instead of two.

3 comments

Posts

Spent $40 on a copper watering can and it's the best garden buy I ever made

Had a vintage .22 firing pin snap clean in half on me yesterday

I used to stretch every carpet by hand before I saw a guy in Charlotte use a power stretcher

A guy at a Memphis rib cook-off told me to stop poking my meat

My mistake with a cheap paint mixing system cost me a whole job

TIL on a job in Boise that sometimes you really do need a 12 inch knife

I always thought a stiff wire brush was fine for a standard flue, but after trying a poly brush on a stubborn 8x13 clay liner in a 1920s house last Tuesday, the difference in how much less dust it kicked up (and how much cleaner it got the corners) was honestly shocking.

Just realized everyone says to always model the full assembly first, but I think that's wrong.

TIL those cheap window decals from the garden center actually work

TIL the hard way that using a 4-inch auger instead of a 6-inch one for a 20-post cedar fence in wet clay soil saves about 3 hours of backfilling and mixing gravel.

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