Well, it's a low use downstairs top. And priced well under 1K. He used biscuits in the joints and glued the heck out of it. We will see!
Woodworkers Thread
- Thread starter AgronAlum
- Start date
Generally a 10" sliding miter will cut 3.5x11.5" or slightly more, so you can cut 4x4 or up to two 2x12 in one shot no problem. Before buying anything I would encourage you to go look at stuff in person and mess with the table, pay attention to how fence is attached, adjustability of tilt angle stops, ease of changing rotation angle, and the quality of all stop/latch/lock mechanisms. Also read reviews online and pay attention to comments about setup such as fence straightness (or lack thereof). A slider is typically somewhat more a construction saw than ideal for fine woodworking, but if you take time to set everything up well and check that you're actually set at 90 when cutting things that matter they have more capacity than a 12" pivot miter + use cheaper 10" blades (and potentially interchange with a 10" table saw). Probably just depends on your priorities and what you intend to do with it whether a slider makes sense for you.
When I was miter saw shopping 15ish years ago I remember liking Makita and maybe Bosch, but what I was doing at the time I mostly needed to cut aluminum tubing so I went cheap for the sake of not abusing a "nice" saw. Of the cheaper options I looked at back then I liked Kobalt from Lowe's the best, at least for what it cost. It's made quite a bit of sawdust (and some metal chips) for various projects and has held up well for what I paid for it, however it can be a bit fiddly getting angle set up exactly right when making cuts that really need to be dead nuts accurate. Also, as it's gotten older I have noticed it developed enough play in the motor/blade spindle that you absolutely don't want to turn off the blade until blade is up and out of workpiece or the difference between driven and decelerating/stopped will **** the blade enough different it will ding the cut faces. It's not really even noticeable cutting 2x lumber for framing, but rather problematic if you're cutting something where cut edges have to fit together or are exposed on a finished piece (like rails and styles for Shaker cabinet doors, for example).
I've never been real impressed with any Skil power tools I've used/owned/looked at... always seemed like they were built cheap and that it showed more than some other brands, but most of me experience was probably with 1990s era stuff and I can't speak to current production at all so that could have changed. If Ryobi or Rigid have anything relevant I'd definitely try to check them out. Hitachi/Metabo is also potentially with a look, as I think their stuff tends to be pretty high quality for the price.
About a year ago, I traded up on miter saws.
Had a Skil 10” that I got on a Black Friday deal many years ago and it fit the purpose for most of what I needed it to do.
As my home improvement projects shifted to flooring and taller trim is where it hit its limits.
Ended up going with a Metabo 12” compound slider and I have been very impressed with its performance. It was reasonably priced and I was able to use some Menards rebates which lessened my actual out of pocket expense.
I've got a decent amount of Hitachi (Metabo) tools and they've all been good to me. I had a cheap Hitachi 10" miter and upgraded to the Dewalt 12" slider a number of years back because it was on sale for like 300 bucks. Nothing wrong with the Hitachi, just wanted something bigger. I'll probably end up with one of the 7 1/4 sliders at some point for when I don't want to lug around the big one.
I have a 10" Makita with the typical sliding rails being stationary. They are forwards facing and the saw blade/motor slide on it. Takes up a lot less space than my older 12" RIDGID (that was a good miter) that had the rails connected to the motor and it all slid.
I've been very happy with it.
I've been very happy with it.
If anyone needs a jobsite table saw, this is a screaming deal today:
Table saw
Table saw
I've got an older one of those saws that I use pretty frequently and it's a tank. Looks like a few bits have changed but overall looks nearly identical. It's awesome for what it does.
I grabbed the battery version of that saw before they stopped making it. That size is great for handyman work. It’s light for framing. It’s got the rack and pinion fence though, which has held up well. Great little saw, have gotten a lot of use out of it.
Same. Only issue is non-dado usage on that size but not everyone needs it and even if you do, a router can take care of a lot of it.
Hi All - I've been tasked to build a tree house this spring for our kids. This will really be more of an elevated platform, no "house" or indoor structure, but will be built around a large tree we have in our backyard.
Last night we staked out a 12'x 21' area, so this will be pretty large, and it will be approx 7' off the ground.
I've helped build decks in the past, but it's been a while, plus I was never in charge of the design, I just cut or nailed what I was told ha
Wondering if you all could look over this rough framing layout and let me know what you think or what I might be missing.
The squares with an X are 6x6 posts
Red rectangles are beams. I'm thinking I'll glue and nail 2x8s together for these beams
Orange rectangles are a sampling of the joist locations. Longest joists will be 12' and then I'll butt up a 9 footer for the full run. I was also planning to use 2x8s for the joists, 16" oc
I was originally trying to get down to only 6 posts and 3 beams by leaving a cantilever on the left side, but it felt like too much overhang on that left side and I can't adjust the middle supports too much due to the tree.
Not shown, but we have a slide that will get attached. Then we'll have a ladder, rock wall and a cargo net for ways to get up there.
Am I over engineering this? It will just be my kids climbing up and down, so other than the weight of the lumber, it's not really supporting anything. I suppose we could add things, so future proofing the supports is probably best.
This sketch isn't to scale, so be gentle haha
Last night we staked out a 12'x 21' area, so this will be pretty large, and it will be approx 7' off the ground.
I've helped build decks in the past, but it's been a while, plus I was never in charge of the design, I just cut or nailed what I was told ha
Wondering if you all could look over this rough framing layout and let me know what you think or what I might be missing.
The squares with an X are 6x6 posts
Red rectangles are beams. I'm thinking I'll glue and nail 2x8s together for these beams
Orange rectangles are a sampling of the joist locations. Longest joists will be 12' and then I'll butt up a 9 footer for the full run. I was also planning to use 2x8s for the joists, 16" oc
I was originally trying to get down to only 6 posts and 3 beams by leaving a cantilever on the left side, but it felt like too much overhang on that left side and I can't adjust the middle supports too much due to the tree.
Not shown, but we have a slide that will get attached. Then we'll have a ladder, rock wall and a cargo net for ways to get up there.
Am I over engineering this? It will just be my kids climbing up and down, so other than the weight of the lumber, it's not really supporting anything. I suppose we could add things, so future proofing the supports is probably best.
This sketch isn't to scale, so be gentle haha
IMO (not an engineer) you've got some over engineered areas and some under engineered areas. All in the context that this is a tree house and under engineering is usually the norm and most are still standing.
Is the whole 12x21 area going to be covered with decking? What are you doing for rails? IMO, put in the posts. Sandwich the posts or half lap them with some 2x8 or 2x6s and run bolts through. Run the joists with some hangers and put in a rim joist. Add some 4x4 posts and some blocking for handrails. Add the decking. Build out the handrails.
You're going to want some joists under those 4, 8 and 9 foot spans for the decking. The deck boards will not hold up to a couple screws at the toe with nothing supporting the middle.
You can get away with not building it to standard in certain ways like running joists wider than 16 on center or using something smaller than 2x8s for the beams and such because it's a treehouse but the basic building concept is the same as a deck.
Also remember that it's meant for kids but you'll find yourself up the screwing around with them and kids do get bigger. Just speaking from experience.
Last edited:
Yes, everything will covered with decking. I'll run the decking up to the tree, but leave maybe a 2" gap so nothing is touching the tree and allow for growth.
Plan was for joists to run on top of the beams. Rim joist not shown in my sketch, but yes, plan to have rim joist all the way around. Will definitely have hangers on the rim joist, and will have hurricane straps on all joist/beam connections
Railing was my next thing to figure out.
Will use 4x4s for the corners for sure.
Those corners should be able to sit on the beams underneath, so those will be solid.
Probably will just add blocking between the joists for the others.
Wife wants to pull rope through the posts, rather than balusters, but I'm not sure about that from a safety perspective.
So I kept adding some stuff to my post above because I kept thinking of more to add.
I would just sit down and watch some deck building on youtube. The concept will be the same. The posts will be fine but I think you need to work on the whole concept around framing the floor and rails. Like in your picture you have what I would call joists running in two different directions. That means you'll have to rotate the direction of your decking for that section so it's running perpendicular and have points to attach it to.
If you're going to put the framing on top of the beams instead of bringing it down level with the beams, make sure you use real ties to keep everything in place since there is no ledger like a typical deck.
Sorry I tried to briefly explain this in my long post, but I should better clarify that I'm not showing every joist in my sketch. That was just a sample to show approximately how they'll run. The entire platform will have 2x8 joists, either 16 oc or I could go 12 oc but I think 16 should be fine.
I wasn't sure what to do with those sections right by the tree on the east and west sides.
I thought going perpendicular with a few joists would be easy. I'could add blocking if the deck boards are missing support there.
Then I'll also have blocking between all the joists as well.
Yah I spent a good part of the weekend watching treehouse and deck building videos on youtube haha
AgronAlum covered concerns fairly well. If I were to add anything, it would be to use screws for all construction in case designs need to be changed while building or further down the road. They also make a structural screw for the joist hangers. My other thought would be to keep the framing 4 to 6 inches away from the tree and fill the gap with your decking allowing for future tree growth by just trimming the decking back. Although I think I have my wife convinced that I’m an expert at everything, I am not an engineer.
Just run those joists that run east/west all the way to the north/south board closest to the tree. No real need to stop those short and run those other boards the other direction. Leave a 6 inch or so gap in the framing around the tree and run the deck boards closer so they can be cut back.
Once more note is to overlap your joists running east/west to tie them in together and not just butt them up end to end. That may change some of your post spacing and length of lumber you were planning on.
So I just want to follow up on this because I got my hands on a free load of tools today that included one of these Hercules 12” sliders. It’s basically identical to my Dewalt. I was really struggling to find a difference. The weight, the finish, the controls, etc are all basically the same. Maybe the motor? Idk I haven’t looked into it that far.
I also ended up with a brand new Hercules 12.5” planer. I’ll have to report back on that one because I’ve got nothing to compare it to and haven’t used it yet. I just know it’s heavy AF for a “portable” tool.
We had a HF saw growing up, might have been Chicago brand at that point. It worked well for awhile. Safety guard and bearings wore out sooner than a higher end saw. It also got put through some stuff, so it might have lasted better with some better care. I think a miter saw would be a safe bet. Planer might cause some hesitation. I haven't bought any of their tools for awhile though so maybe it has changed some.
I'm definitely not a woodworker, but did my best on this restoration of my dad's old cider mill. The Cyclone-ish colors are only a coincidence, since the original Eagle Machine Company "Medium Cider Mill" was red with the yellow pin stripe. Preserved the original oak where possible, cutting away the really rotten stuff and using wood hardener and Bondo wood filler to re-form the feet. Lots of wire wheel work on the metal. Pretty happy with how it turned out and looking forward to putting it to work in the fall.
Attachments
Last edited:
