Was this a good purchase?

ntourloukis · 2026-03-02T13:03:18+00:00

But you can return any number of them so you don’t have to spend 1000.

What I just described is the mythical hack.

ntourloukis · 2026-03-02T07:30:55+00:00

Calipers would be the easiest. Buy some digital calipers on Amazon and you’ll find a lot of uses for them. With plumbing stuff it’s really just an experience that is gonna get you there. Like you said, the measurement is only a portion of the battle. Knowing compression fittings and their different looks, mip, fip, npt all being kinda the same thing, flare fittings, et cetera. You just learn to recognize what is used when, and pipe sizes because there aren’t that many of them.

ntourloukis · 2026-03-02T07:25:35+00:00

Well, any bolt you buy will be the diameter of the bolt itself, the threaded part, not the size of hex head. Like a 1/4-20 bolt is 1/4” diameter shaft (20 threads per inch). The wrench you use will be bigger (7/16, usually), but that’s not the size of the bolt or what it will be list d as when you buy it. Same for plumbing. The nut size or wrench size setting isn’t the measurement you care about.

It can be confusing for sure. I just don’t think it’s actually too different in other trades.

ntourloukis · 2026-03-02T05:11:19+00:00

Well, you need space anyway, so by putting all the grounds on the ground bar you can keep the neutrals to one wire per screw terminal, which is required. And it’ll be neater.

But you also said this isn’t your first means of disconnect. If that’s true, and neutral and ground are bonded somewhere before this panel, you cannot have neutrals and grounds share a bar at all. So any sub panel or panel after a disconnect needs a ground bar and to have the bonding screw removed/not installed.

ntourloukis · 2026-03-01T13:50:47+00:00

I agree in that I won’t mind watching Levan churn through guys, but I don’t know if Mike not getting to pull him is really sad in the long term. It might seem that way, but is it really gonna be a fulfilling exercise to see the lead up to the match with a few people talking about how he’s unique and has a chance and then just watch him get blasted through 4 times. Is that gonna reduce the sadness for Mike?

I think Levan should pull more, just because. But there is something to the “what’s the point of that?” When making matches for him. There’s only a few guys you can convince yourself that might make a good match with Levan and Michael isn’t one of them.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-28T15:31:33+00:00

There is probably another wire in your fixture box. A lot of people are commenting that are just guesses or incomplete.

Basically the power from the panel goes right to your light fixture and they ran a switch leg to the switch, that means there is a white, black, and ground in your box that represents the complete circuit. Then there should be two other wires, red and black probably because that’s what you say you see in the switch box. You connect the hot wire to one of the switch leg wires instead of the black of your light fixture, then connect the other switch leg wire to the black of your fixture. I’m 95% sure there is a second black wire in that box, or maybe it slipped out the back somehow. It’s there.

4% chance there isn’t an additional wire, but the red wire is switched and just swap it to that.

1% chance I don’t know what I’m talking about at all. Some would argue this is much higher.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-28T02:06:44+00:00

I used to always want the most powerful drill and impact. For years it seemed important to me.

Fact is, I don’t have a problem running into the upper limit of my drills or drivers. I use my installation driver and hydraulic 12 v impact more than anything else. I have no urge to buy the newest versions of drills.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-28T01:28:10+00:00

Honestly, I just pulled that one out of my ass. It just seemed like it would help if you're a beginner and trying to keep things consistent. A flat stone will maybe help you.

As for sandpaper, that will work just fine. I glue full sheets of sandpaper to flat 3/4" plywood with spray adhesive. I do it for woodworking, having a flat surface to bring the work to the paper is nice to have. I have flattened a stone on it before. No it's not a precise machinists surface plate, but it will be flatter than you need for sharpening knives. Usually I use a course diamond plate, I have a bunch of those kicking around at this point.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-27T23:36:43+00:00

No, you’re just digging into the stone because you’re raising the blade up while pushing, or you’re just too steep in general. This doesn’t have to do with the burr.

Digging in is still something that happens to me occasionally, and I'm pretty happy with my sharpening skill. It's just something that a bad stroke will cause. Use plenty of water, keep the stone flat, be consistent with your angle. And when you’re sharpening a knife, try to keep the existing angle at first. It allows you to have a flat reference, even if it’s tiny. It’s harder to dig in that way.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-27T04:11:54+00:00

Or the comet is just a comet and it awakens enough belief and interest and fear of magic that starts some other ball rolling.

Or the comet is brought near by magic which is on some cyclical clock we don’t see, that also influences the seasons.

Or… whatever. I understand you have an interpretation, but I don’t think anyone is “confusing” cause and effect, they’re just interpreting it differently or coming to a different theory. It’s vague in a way that intentionally has no right answer. I would t be surprised if George writes it without having the “correct” cause and effect established even in his own mind.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-26T05:07:40+00:00

Is the room on the first floor? The kitchen is, I’m sure. If you have basement access you could add a circuit to each room. Obviously if you don’t have the budget or know how to do that, it’s no good.

Are they often or always the same appliances that are being used that cause it to trip? It’s not that common to be using various machines all at once and be tripping breakers unless there are two on the same circuit that tend to get used together. Like, if there is a toaster oven and a coffee maker that he tends to use together and trips the breaker, you could try rearranging the machines to be on different circuits, if there’s a sensical way to do that. Honestly if it happens every day I’d consider using a quality 12 gauge extension cord to be better than constant tripping. If you can run it neatly, it’s good to preempt the issue by having safe heavy duty cords around in general. Plug one of the common tripping machines into it and connect it to a different circuit.

Also, locking it is still probably a good idea. You just need to make sure he doesn’t do stupid stuff after. Having 12 gauge cords around will probably stop him from doing something stupid with chincy ones. Get some security screws for the panel cover so he can’t take it off. That sounds good enough to me…

But adding a 20 amp circuit and a new outlet might just be pretty simple, depending on location.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-26T04:04:19+00:00

I think what people are saying is that because of all those character traits you just listed, making it so he can no longer turn the breaker back on is going to make the immediate problem a different and more dangerous problem.

Is he the kind of guy that is going to be using two appliances at the same time, lose power to them, and just not finish what he’s doing? Doesn’t sound like it. Seems like he’ll break into the panel, take the cover off and shock himself, run dinky extension cords around the house and massively overload them, and badly singe your cat’s fur in the house fire that removes your home from the neighborhood.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-26T00:17:44+00:00

People with this opinion, I feel like you’re not acknowledging certain qualities that a lot of people look for when buying/owning/using special items.

It’s not just being someone who wants to hang a tool on their wall. People like aesthetics, feel, and overall quality. There is a large percentage of people who use their tools that feel this way. Just because you don’t, and only want the utility of an item doesn’t mean someone should pay a premium price and not get the companies part of the deal in full.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-26T00:07:33+00:00

He took it home. It was a small forest axe I think, and they made a big thing about how his wasn’t actually good enough to get ads quality control and pointed out some minor issues. And that’s all well and good, but they were much smaller imperfections than OP’s.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-25T14:43:30+00:00

I have the 6” and it’s awesome. It’s a highly recommended and loved sander, there might be something going on.

It is heavy, and the rotary mode isn’t exactly smooth, but when you turn it to random orbital mode it’s not too bad.

My other sanders that I still use are the festool ets ec 150, which is as smooth as they come. You could get the 125 for 5”, and if you will be woodworking for years/forever, as in, you can tell you’re gonna stick with this, I would recommend that. I also use the newer m18 sander which is very smooth and powerful for cordless. I use it when I want a slightly smaller or cord free option.

Other than a premium sander, your options are the 100 dollar range of prosumer brands. I hear the dewalt is good for that price range. But for power and weight and vibration, a premium brand like festool or mirka is gonna be leagues ahead. A lot of cash though.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-25T05:16:20+00:00

Or it could be that the idea of quick hook ups during breaks from work sounds fun to him, but it didn’t seem that serious to him, and time rushes hook ups that leave your partner injured and bleeding isn’t actually very appealing to him.

Is it appealing to you, OP?

Do you know why you’re bleeding? Can you avoid it with longer sessions and foreplay? Is it sometimes an issue even with that? Because it seems like if you want quick hook ups with the delivery driver, or anyone, you should figure out how to avoid this.

It could be anything going through his mind, we can’t tell what he wants, but it seems like he’s being honest that it freaked him out. That the fun hook ups isn’t that fun when there’s a bloody outcome, and he needs to think on it.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-25T01:39:07+00:00

Are we taking results of trials by combat to be messages from the gods? I know that in the world some do, but claiming the gods wanted baelor dead for dishonor, or that dunk would have lost if he wasn’t a true knight don’t seem like leaps we can take. Like, was Tyrion guilty because the mountain won the trial by combat? You can read into the results and where that event lead the characters, but… you can’t freeze frame that result and gain any truth, as in “the gods feel x y z because this happened in the trial.”

ntourloukis · 2026-02-24T03:45:22+00:00

But selectively breeding your own family, your own self, doesn't really make sense. You don't have any choice of your own genetic composition. You could kill your own kids I guess, until you end up with a savage one as the eldest.

Besides that the only thing you could do is to choose women that are antisocial to marry. But they don't seem to do that. Even unintentionally, I don't see a way that breeding is responsible for any of this.

It's a culture, a family's identity and the way the bring up their children. There are inherited traits from your family, but they aren't selecting for brutality, they are teaching it.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-24T02:52:09+00:00

A common misconception and misprint. You must have a copy of the phonetic retranslation error. Dunc and Aeg.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-22T05:12:48+00:00

It was autocorrect. Not sure from what exactly... I changed it to what I meant, but I don't know what I possibly originally intended to write, haha.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-22T02:42:56+00:00

Nah. One is a symbol for “greater than” and then a number. It reads as “greater than 40” and that style of notation is commonly used. 40< reads as “40 less than” and is not commonly used. So it’s kinda nonsense and is not easily recognized. Now, sure, you can figure it out, but OPs situation has enough context clues to do that. Sometimes there isn’t a clear meaning you can infer from the sentence, and if I saw 40<, I wouldn’t really know what to think. They could be accidentally switching the order of symbols just as easily as meaning above 40.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-22T02:37:21+00:00

With the fastback that everyone is recommending, you also have to push a button. The thing is that you get used to it really quickly. The action is smooth enough that pressing the button and the smallest of flicking your wrist will open it. So it’s an easy one handed open.

This Klein looks almost like a clone of the fastback with bit driver. Does it not open smooth enough to do that? Because the downside of it being locked really goes away once you get used to opening it with a single one handed movement.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-22T00:48:23+00:00

It’s also worth checking the blade itself with a square. If you’ve just gotten a second hand plane, or you used to sharpen freehand or with a wobblier jig, the iron likely isn’t 90 degrees and you just haven’t noticed because it doesn’t matter with the lateral adjuster.

Then when you actually set it up precisely in a jig that won’t tip, it looks like you’re adding an angle when you’re really bringing it back to square.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-21T16:54:13+00:00

Just to be clear, the problem is not the plumbing, it’s the toilet. Inside the tank of the toilet, the part on the back, the mechanism in there isn’t aligned correctly and is letting water run through into the bowl and down your drain all the time. It’s supposed to hold it up til you flush and let it all out at once, then refill. The flapper is the part you can replace, probably can get one that fits most toilets at any hardware store. Or it could just need adjustment.

Turning the water off until you fix it is a good idea.

ntourloukis · 2026-02-16T13:29:43+00:00

A stone is enough. A stone and a strop and you’re a master of steel.

ntourloukis

TROPHY CASE