We are finishing our basement and starting to pay attention to the gas fireplace that I just got hooked up. It's an Empire vented heating model, with about 18000 BTU output. The flue and firebox were placed when the house was built, and we just let it sit there for the last year and a half.

My question is about the wind. I can hear it howl when it is blowing. I can't find anywhere it is leaking, and combustion air comes from outside (pipe in a pipe). Is this normal?

Full disclosure - my flue is almost 40' long and sticks above ground something like 34'. I am on a hill with no trees around.

I don't have either saw, but it seems like a no brainier to me. Laguna has a bigger motor, resaw fence comes with it, and has excellent reviews.

Try this. I think you may have to pay for them, though.

http://readwatchdo.com/store/stickley-fu...s-gallery/

What a great idea. The first one I'm not sure about. The second one is awesome, thanks for sharing.

Very Nice!

get a deep tint oil based exterior paint and don't add any tint. It will dry clear and give the protection of paint. Sherwin Williams doesn't even get shocked when I buy it any more. Mac did a test with the acrylic based sw and showed good results but I think it has only been about a yr. on that test. I know the oil based works. BLO is not a finish. little info here http://askhlm.com/Articles/ArticleViewPa...inish.aspx

Alder is safe enough to use

It is not terribly hard however certainly not as hard as your birch.

If they are more decorative or for bread I would say it is fine.

For a meat butcher I would pass

There are angled cans made for that but they are quite a bit more $ than the regular ones.

Running the wire... Well depends on lots of things. You can use a flex drill to try and drill through from can to can depending on how far they are. It's not easy and not always works. Older houses like ours are built out of wood that was cut down somewhere around 1900 and that was good lumber and today it's hard as a rock. I have used my flex bits and one hole through one 2x will burn up the bit. I can then take that bit and use it in new lumber and drill all day like it's butter cause lumber now is super soft.

What will happen is you may end up with several access holes here and there that the electrician used to drill holes and pull wire throuh. It's not a no damage install by any means. This is why I won't do residential except for my own or a few others.

It's a good time to let someone come in put the cans in wire it then have a drywaller remove the texture patch the holes and skim coat it.

I personally don't like texture on walls. Every room I have to do major work in gets skim coated and smooth walls. Ceilings are the hardest. Our kitchen ceiling isn't perfectly smooth. It has imperfections here and there but it looks a billion times better than he texture did.
Also it's easy to fix smooth but nearly impossible to match texture.

The shorter saws were referred to as panel saws. Because they were shorter they were easier to fit into a toolbox to take to the job. Mostly they were crosscut saws with a high TPI count and produced a fine cut. Because they were short it is rare that one would be sharpened rip, usually a much courser and longer cut.

The New York Saw company I believe was out of Jamestown New York, western part of the state south of Buffalo.

The Fulton saw was from Boston, I have a couple of their backsaws, which are great saws, hefty and a great feel to their handles.

I am not sure if Fulton was a hardware store or a manufacturer, I am sure others will know.

Good luck with the saws,
Rick

Rail and stile cuts first

Then you can determine the true slot width and adjust the panel set to accommodate it.

edit to add: the rail and stile groove width is not adjustable, it is a static width. that is why you need to grooves , so you can determine the true thickness of the panel tongue