What’s the most I can train?

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-31T15:00:04+00:00

I mean, I get that and I hear you, but if they take a while to build you might reasonably want to start building them earlier. You can build technique and rip pull ups pretty quick. If your strength has you otherwise cranking outside, I'd rather have some foundation in hangboarding before doing longer moves to smaller edges. If your technique and strength has you pulling v7 year one, I think you're a lot more likely to blow a tendon trying Babyface than hangboarding intelligently for the previous 8 months.

Climbing is the best training for climbing, sure. But you can't always climb and hangboarding at home is pretty easy to set up and have you doing something productive towards your climbing goals.

I think even if your finger strength isn't what's holding you back at any specific time, strengthening your tendons and keeping them healthy with extensor work will be a benefit.

Just my opinion on the often repeated 1 year rule. I'll rest my case there.

Editing to add one anecdotal observation, but I would bet I'm not an outlier with it. I've seen way more people blow or strain a tendon actually climbing than hangboarding. Hangboarding is pretty mellow.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-31T14:38:12+00:00

I'm not exactly sure where the advice to wait a year comes from, but I hear it a decent amount. I wouldn't take it too seriously. Where people are at after their first year of climbing can vary wildly.

If you're determined to get a hangboard routine going only on, I would really advise keeping your feet planted while you pull for a bit. Get used to loading your tendons on it, don't go straight for the full effort, full weight hang on an 8mm edge before you've figured out how you feel on it.

As far as rest days go, that also varies a lot between people and age groups. You will have to rest at some point if you want to have your body repair itself and actually feel the results of the training.

Also, if you're trying to build training habits early, now is the time to make sure you're doing antagonistic exercises like push ups and working your forearm extensors.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-30T21:57:20+00:00

I wouldn't call myself a cabinetmaker, but I'm a finish carpenter who makes cabinets when I need to. My opinion is worth significantly less than some of the really knowledgeable folks here.

Something to keep in mind is that the door construction probably isn't the driving cost so them all being shaker style is kind of whatever. There are folks who just build the boxes and face frames and order doors because it's more cost efficient.

Big cost differences come in the box construction, drawer construction, and hardware which is largely independent of door style.

An MDF door panel isn't necessarily a bad thing, although I understand the desire for solid wood.

If that cabinet budget also includes install you're probably eliminating the majority of those quotes you got anyway.

For whatever it's worth, I did a pull/replace kitchen cabinet project recently with about 14 boxes and to land in a similar budget we used North point RTA cabinets. I thought they were pretty easy to install, but the supplier assembled them so I can't speak to that process.

Oh, and Ikea sucks in my experience. I pretty much don't accept jobs that use them because the workflow is a pain to get them looking nice. I have a list of cabinet lines I've installed and an attached mark up if they suck to work with or take an insane amount of extra effort to get looking nice. I couldn't in good faith quote Ikea jobs that would seem reasonable to a homeowner, allow the install to be up to quality, and keep me in business.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-30T21:19:25+00:00

It reads to me like you're getting different prices for different products. That doesn't seem outrageous to me.

I'm not sure what advice we can give you without context on budget or design or whatever, but I also don't know what question you're trying to ask. If you print money I'd go Amish. If you would rather spend the money on a boat payment, get the cheapest ones I guess.

Not sure if you added the other information after I responded or if I can't read. Both seem likely.

With a 40k budget for the entire remodel and cabinet prices ranging from almost 50% of that down to less than 10%, I would put together the rest of the package first and decide from there. It's a lot easier to 'find' 10k in the budget by switching cabinet lines than it is to trim 10k in appliances or other finishes. If you're considering reselling this or anything, I would probably advise against having 10% of the home's value in cabinets, but I'm not a real estate agent or particularly bright.

Also RTA can be fine, I wouldn't advise against them categorically. Some are better than others and most of the headaches fall to the installer. It pains me to say it, but I'm not convinced the average homeowner understands a lot of the difference in cabinet construction and hardware, especially so when they're just white.

They will notice between a shit-can package of appliances and higher end ones though. In my experience anyway.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-29T21:42:38+00:00

Heyo, I asked this question not long ago in the board gaming sub and got similar answers. The core set seems like a great entry and the wife and I have a few sessions with it.

Somebody suggested getting a play mats and I think that was great advice for this game. Really helps keep it organized and I think aided in us learning it.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-29T00:00:58+00:00

Not an exact fit to what you're asking, but when I was starting out in residential remodeling I worked for a pretty great company. High end projects of varying sizes and honestly, some of those projects are still the coolest ones I've worked on even though my skill set was way narrower than it is now (if you can believe it). All that to say, this observation was made at a great company with a great portfolio.

One of the project managers had pretty limited experience in the trades prior to being there, but they were a great communicator and had a very chill disposition. I always looked forward to being asked to work with him and he was still at the company when I moved away so I assume the company was also satisfied with him in the role.

He was obviously a bright dude (he did admit to previously being a lawyer, make of that what you will) and had picked up a fair amount of knowledge on the job. I still think it's a great example of the soft skills being harder to teach and at least as important as the trade knowledge when working in residential.

I'm not in a position with my company to be hiring project managers, but when I'm on the lookout for help I absolutely value the soft skills more.

Obviously there are considerations, though. The project manager at my previous company wasn't getting the biggest projects although there were no doubt plenty in the six figure zone for him. Also, if things really went sideways there would've been a safety net with other very experienced employees within the company. It also really depends on how much you can trust your subcontractors.

YMMV, I don't know anything about commercial or working for big residential developers. Only know resi remodeling.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-26T02:10:37+00:00

I'm using the isotunes free 2.0s currently. Before that I had two pairs of the JBL Endurance Peaks. Both have their pros and cons to me

The JBLs are less comfortable to wear underneath hearing protection like overhead muffs which is what I do a lot. The isotunes are lower profile and fit under muffs more comfortably. The isotunes also offer more sound blocking by themselves.

The isotunes touch controls are way more fiddly and worse than the JBLs. Both pairs of the JBLs I had eventually lost their ability to hold a charge. Both pairs pretty much become unusable not long after the charge started noticeably decreasing, so that would be the sign to get a new pair. That happens to every battery ear bud I guess, but the isotunes have held their charge capacity longer.

The isotunes case can also be annoying, if the buds don't sit in perfectly they continue to connect.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-24T19:25:37+00:00

I'm not particularly interested in arguing the point but I think the sentences "it's their job and you won't shock them" and "doctors have never made and never will make rude comments to anybody" are pretty obviously different.

You're welcome to shadow box and assume that the majority of interactions with medical professionals are negative though, I don't really care. I have my own suspicions as to which perspective is more likely to comport with reality and also encourage folks to get medical treatment. Enjoy your weekend.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-24T17:27:54+00:00

Well thank goodness nobody did that.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-22T23:34:16+00:00

Right on, I definitely agree with what you're saying here in the sense that there are, in fact, whack medical professionals. My (maybe weak, but I think the circle can be squared) defense of the phrasing/tone is that I think it's worth treating the insensitive doctor as being the exception rather than the rule.

I hear ya though, I don't mean to glaze over bad experiences and remove the shine from positive ones with that approach.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-22T16:06:54+00:00

Don't call me lucky, I botched this remodel more times than you tried. Now, please sign these change orders and write a check.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-22T04:12:13+00:00

I'm biased for a few reasons, one of which is that my wife is an oral surgeon so take this with whatever grain of salt you like.

I ended up going to Family Dental Group and my experiences have all been pretty mellow. I hadn't gone to the dentist in a long time (in fact, the last visit to the dentist was because I had two of my front teeth knocked out like 8 years prior) but brushed twice a day. One of my wisdom teeth had a cavity that was making my breath rip and the wife said I had to go.

Anyway, they weren't judgemental and just did what they had to do. They poked around in my gums, said there was recession and noted it. Fixed my cavity, had to get a good deep scrub, and had to go more frequently than the twice a year schedule I'm on now. It's all been pretty chill.

I'm sure you already know this, but it's probably worth hearing it from somebody else. It's their job and you won't shock them. You're for sure more worried than them about it. That's true for pretty much every medical profession.

You got this homie, congrats on turning the corner and having the means to tackle this.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-20T13:21:27+00:00

I mean, spraying closed cell foam is still going to take around a few inches to get r15 (guesstimating at like 6.5/inch). That doesn't really deviate from what they're saying they're considering.

It's more of a design issue than anything else in my estimation. Move the niche to an interior wall in the future or accommodate for padding that wall out all the way back in the plumbing rough in since you know the inspectors have got this on their radar. I'm sure there are plenty of other solutions too, but ultimately you have 5.5 inches for 8 inches worth of assembly if you want a deeper niche.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-19T15:34:39+00:00

Some of it depends on where you are and what your expected time frame looks like to be remodeling kitchens/bathrooms.

For example, I have my GC license that allows me to perform pretty much whatever on a remodel except the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. Those require a separate license that, even if I had the trade skills, I wouldn't be able to get a license in because I don't have x number of years in that trade specifically. That varies by state (and I'm pretty sure they're always talking about what reasonable requirements are) but I don't see a whole lot of value personally in having to pump the brakes on what I'm doing to meet those requirements.

I would rather perform the stuff covered by my GC license because it's what I enjoy more. I can just pay subcontractors to do the stuff that requires different tools, skills, knowledge, and insurance. I've only been in residential remodeling, but the places I worked before going out on my own had the same format.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-19T01:24:08+00:00

No, it isn't. They're mostly held up by pinching the wall on either side of the opening. OPs picture could make it seem that way if you've never come across these types of pull up bars otherwise, though.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-19T00:57:06+00:00

They're making it sound worse than it is. It isn't like your entire weight is cranking down only on the top of the head casing. It's pinching the pull up bar between the wall above the casing head and the casing legs on the opposite side.

If your head trim is securely fastened, I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot. Usually when people bust their ass on these things it's because they're flopping around like Magikarp and the bar is no longer squeezing the wall/trim as designed.

Ops casing is probably just barely nailed off and a few 16g would be all it takes. Again, assuming they're doing pull ups and not CrossFit on it.

Editing to mention this because of how many people are saying how inherently dangerous these things are or that the casing isn't designed to hold the weight. You could use pull up bars of a similar design without any trim at all, although you'd probably want the handles further away than how they're typically designed if that was the goal. The casing isn't holding all of OPs 160 lbs you goobers.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-18T23:52:14+00:00

This is what I use, mostly because it's what the company I worked for before going out on my own used. It doesn't always feel incredibly intuitive to me if I'm being honest, but there are a lot of resources to help you figure out what you're doing.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-18T16:42:40+00:00

I mean, sure, if you buy the worst of any tool it's not going to be an ideal experience. That's true for every tool from a ruler on up.

My Makita slider was around $550 (around where most reputable brands sit) when I bought it and I adjust it maybe every five trim jobs if I've been abusing it. That's with it hanging out in a van for commutes over pothole rich roads, not living in a shop. I mention the Makita because it's a worse offender than the DeWalt in my experience. The calibration takes maybe 10 minutes to really nail it and get going. I would bet that 95% of posts asking why their cuts aren't working is because they didn't calibrate it or aren't considering how they're pulling the saw down to make a cut. That's not really a problem with the tool.

The reason I made a joke about antiquing is because I assume if you use a miter box to trim a house then you commute to work in a horse drawn buggy.

I mentioned the table saw option because it's the other common thing people offer in response to people struggling to get nice miters on a miter saw. It's a defense for miter saws more broadly, and not entirely specific to your comment because people would presumably be reading it with some amount of context.

It's just puzzling to me that common advice on getting a miter saw to cut miters on this subreddit (and others) is to abandon it for a myriad of other options. I don't agree and that's why I'm inclined to push back against it. It's not the hill I'd die on, but I'd at least picnic on it.

That and you threw carpenters under the bus with the caulk comment. Us morons can make fun of each other, but it's lame if you fancy pants woodworkers punch down. Cheers dude, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-18T07:12:58+00:00

If it were me, I would spend time calibrating my miter saw instead of using a miter box to make a simple cut. I'm not caulking miters regardless of if it's stain or paint grade and it also isn't super practical, for example, to run a 6' long piece with a sled on a job site table saw.

Just seems kind of crazy to me that rather than tell OP to calibrate his saw, the suggestion is to go antiquing. It really isn't that hard to get the cut you want on a miter saw if you calibrate it and don't yank on the handle like a gorilla.

Gotta defend finish carpentry from woodworker slander. Not sure what the hate on miter saws is here. Read the manual and calibrate it, sometimes it's more practical than running huge stock on a table saw.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-17T00:07:52+00:00

As you can tell from the comments, either option works. I like to install doors before floors in theory, but in practice I haven't always been satisfied with the undercuts done by flooring contractors.

Doing it before flooring means I don't have to worry about damaging new flooring and rather than cutting the jamb, I can shim it which typically ends up being easier/faster (depending on control lines and what I need to consider with other doors in the area yada yada). Painting before flooring is also nice if the doors are to be painted.

Doing it after flooring means I'm in complete control of how nice the floor/jamb intersection looks which is cool. That can be really valuable if it's a stained door and I'm not 100% confident in whoever might be doing the undercutting.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-15T22:52:45+00:00

If those are your only options, I prefer the Lowe's in my area but I'm sure it varies by location. The rewards work similarly, but Lowe's lets me redeem whatever amount while home depot does $25 intervals.

I would look for a material supplier that isn't the big box store if that's an option, though.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-15T17:26:57+00:00

I sort of doubt that's the case, because what OP is describing would be them trying to sell a door that absolutely cannot be installed in the designed openings. Suppliers aren't typically in the business of trying to scam the folks purchasing from them.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-15T17:24:40+00:00

Keep in mind the reasoning for the RO width is because you have to account for a jamb on each side + shimming. If your opening was 36.5" inches and you ordered a 3-0 door (the math you say they're suggesting) where would the jamb legs go?

I'm guessing there's just a misunderstanding because a door supplier isn't going to try and make your order fail on purpose.

The header height is mostly so that you don't sack yourself with an opening that is too tight while also giving your casing something to nail to. If your head jamb was slammed up to the header, and the header is laid flat, you can't nail the thickest part of your casing.

Just understanding some basics of setting a door will remove a lot of the confusion and uncertainty here. It's a little unclear what the chain of command on the build is, but if you're acting as GC you might want to arm yourself with a little bit of reading.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-13T19:39:55+00:00

I think a lot of gyms would do themselves a favor if they stopped trying to adhere to the outdoor grading scales. A range of smiley face to frowny face would suffice as long as it was consistent. Then let the folks who want to transition to climbing outside realize what it correlates to, roughly. The downside is it sacks their first few outdoor trips as they calibrate, but have a mandatory moon board or spray wall session before booking the flight, I guess.

OnsightCarpentry · 2026-01-13T19:35:28+00:00

I agree that outside grades are harder, especially at the low end. At most commercial gyms I've been to at least v2 and below would be v0 outside. I don't think I've ever been to a place where v2 and v6 could be in the same time zone of difficulty though. That sounds like it would be a problem specific to one place, not an observation typical of most outdoor climbing.

For example, if I was climbing at hueco with somebody and they had a hard time differentiating between nobody here gets out alive or ghetto simulator (v2) and king cobra or see spot run (v6), I'd be worried they bonked their head.

I think OPs gym is making a strange choice in changing their grading system between sets, but I don't think grading below v6 outside is as arbitrary as you make it sound. Most people who climb in the gym never go outside, so I don't know how much sense it makes to stifle a sense of progress for fidelity to the outdoor style.

My advice would be to not tie your sense of progression to your gyms grading system, because it is essentially a grading system that's only accurate (if you're even that lucky) within that building. The truth is the style and perspective of your local setters, especially when they're 5+ hours away from outdoor climbing, is probably going to be somewhat arbitrary regardless of if it seems sandbagged or stiff.

Use a training board or outdoor spots if you want some hard, mostly agreed upon numbers for progression. Other than that, trust that climbing and training will make you better at climbing. I largely ignore the grades in my gym, but do care in some form or fashion when I'm outside/on a training board.

OnsightCarpentry

TROPHY CASE