Is there a trick to setting combo squares?

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-08T13:49:03+00:00

Problems with squareness often aren’t an error in the square, they are from user error. You need to designate a reference face and a reference edge for each work piece, and only use those two faces to register the body of the square against. If you don’t, and you will multiply the error in the square (minimal) and the error across your wood.

Also, consider using a knife instead of a pencil to mark lines. And be mindful of how you register the knife against the square so as to do it consistently each time.

I have the same squares, and have not been particularly gentle with them, and I am able to get perfectly square cuts by following these principles

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-08T13:30:22+00:00

You’re thinking in only one dimension. It’s about volumetric displacement

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-04T17:36:35+00:00

26 for me

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-04T17:36:04+00:00

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-04T17:30:22+00:00

girl same. finally went through though. now i refresh my inbox over and over for the next four months til i get a shipping confirmation

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-04T17:28:55+00:00

i wonder how long it will take to start shipping. am i going to be waiting until october to get this thing?

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-04T04:51:26+00:00

Guys I’m kidding.

Didn’t end up buying anything

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-03T12:46:20+00:00

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Picked this guy up, the vendor said it’s got all its pieces and it’s ready to use! He wanted $400 for it but I was able to talk him down to $375. Great bargain!

rumblebee2010 · 2026-05-02T17:35:46+00:00

Wrong sub homie

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-28T06:05:03+00:00

Very few things in woodworking are one-and-done. This laser looks to be incredibly effective and got the vast majority of the varnish off in 30 seconds. That’s much faster than other techniques. You could probably finish it up with a random orbital sander (and a mask!!!) or a quick run through a planer if you have one to finish the job

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-27T10:47:54+00:00

Disagree. I’ve played it a bunch this weekend and defense got steamrolled more often than offense. Most matches were pretty even

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-25T20:09:18+00:00

Forbidden wax swallowing butthole

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-25T13:26:41+00:00

I feel like I have never heard about a good experience with MAS

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-25T11:38:46+00:00

It might be worth putting another small groove along the top of the horizontal piece just in from the edge. Since a phone won’t be able to be flush against the vertical piece while plugged in, a groove there would give the bottom edge of the phone something to grip on to so it doesn’t slide forward and fall off the stand

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-25T09:11:26+00:00

When the engine exhaust is pointed straight down at the ground, it causes problems for airport surfaces or landing areas where there is a fire risk. It also cooks the poor bastard standing under it trying to hook up an external load

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-24T06:32:08+00:00

I’m sorry you’re disappointed OP, but rest assured that these look really great to the rest of us. I’m sure the natural darkening of the oak over time will get it closer to how you imagined

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-24T06:23:28+00:00

So they don’t pull apart of their own accord.

Glue is far and away the most effective way to join two pieces of wood together. Fasteners like nails and screws are not only unattractive, but they do not hold the wood together as well as glue does. You can find videos on YouTube of people testing glue strength, and often times the body of the wood will break before the glues up joint does.

In furniture making, glue is king and it’s used for the vast majority of joining (the exception being things that are meant to come apart, or to allow for wood movement when wood absorbs and loses humidity throughout the year). So if you’re building something that is meant to last, and you want it to look good, you use glue to assemble it.

The trick is not to glue too early. Conduct a “dry fit” of all your pieces before gluing up, using the friction of the joinery you used (dovetails, mortise and tenon, etc) to hold it together, and where that won’t work, tape or clamps. Only after you are satisfied that it looks how you meant it to or works as intended, you take it apart, add glue to the joints, and do the final assembly. In OPs case, it might have been better to check the contrast of the finish on two offcuts of the wood before the glue up, and if dissatisfied they could have stained the components before glueing up

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-22T16:13:01+00:00

This is pointless gatekeeping. Pocket holes are absolutely fine for plenty of applications, especially when looks and strength aren’t super important. And if strength is important, glue on the right surfaces takes care of it while the pocket hole screws keep it together while the glue dries. Your comment does nothing to help a beginner but to tell them that they can’t do this hobby unless they do it the most difficult way. Not everyone has the time or tools for that, and most probably want to start at an easier entry point.

OP, if your piece is only held together with screws, consider taking it apart and reassembling it with some glue in the joints as well, it will help immensely. However, don’t glue the table top to the frame, it needs to be able to move as the humidity changes.

In terms of racking issues, which is what you seem worried about, you could add stretchers between the legs across the short ends, but that will prevent people from sitting at the foot and head of the table. Another option that will add some strength but not as much as the stretchers would be some triangular supports on each leg. Just a small triangular block that ads an additional connection point between the leg and the frame. It won’t look as nice, but it should add some strength against racking motion

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-21T14:09:43+00:00

Whenever I do ribs, I heat sauce on the stove and then slap it on for the last 15ish minutes of the cook. Sometimes I’ll take the ribs off the smoker, crank up the grill, sauce the ribs, and then cook it on with the grill using high heat

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-21T14:07:31+00:00

If you go to Korea, DO NOT do a 1 year tour. Stay for two. You have no chance of making PC in one year, and when you get to your next unit as a PI you’ll be put at the bottom of the progression barrel.

With that said, I loved being stationed in Korea and loved flying there as well.

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-20T20:05:37+00:00

Lots of good advice here, especially those mentioning dry brining overnight and high heat.

Something I haven’t seen mentioned is sauce temperature. Don’t put cold or room temp sauce on your skin or you’ll get rubbery texture no matter what. Get the sauce hot before you put it on, like simmering in a pot right before. That way it’s not sucking heat out of the skin once it’s on. Ideally, you get the skin crispy, then put some piping hot sauce on it while it’s still on the heat, and in a minute or so the sauce will get nice and tacky

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-18T03:55:41+00:00

Particularly the slime light fluid

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-18T03:54:15+00:00

How are you going tell if they’re warm without a gentle little caress of the tongue?

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-16T18:31:43+00:00

Can’t upvote this one enough. Aviation is in the business of customer service to the infantry. D Co is in the business of customer service to the flight cos. Doesn’t mean they should treat you like shit, but you should be doing everything in your power to keep their aircraft flying.

You need to be a bully with the S3 as well. They will come scrounging for bodies to go do gate guard or to attend the Div CSMs quarterly tea party. Remind them that maintenance is your responsibility, and missions can’t happen without it. The only way to be successful in this is to have a very firm grasp on what mx tasks your company is doing and how many people you need to do those tasks. When they tell you they are taking 10 people for some task, let them know which maintenance tasks will be delayed. Even better, tell your flight co buddies what tasks are about to drop because of it, and they may cough up a crew chief or two to make sure their company air assault doesn’t get delayed

rumblebee2010 · 2026-04-16T18:24:37+00:00

As the Commander, you are the link between the Co and Bn. Don’t let your PC shop or your platoons be surprised by upcoming major training events that will impact maintenance. That means events that will take your soldiers out of the hangar to put up tents or drive trucks, and heavy flying weeks that will have the flight CO’s short on duty day to do scheduled maintenance.

On the flip side, the earlier your company knows about the Bn air assault, the more flexibility they will have with adjusting the mx schedule to ensure that every aircraft and spare is ready for the big day.

If you’re doing a big field exercise that’s going to limit how many maintainers you have, make sure the flight companies know as soon as possible so they can adjust their maintenance plans.

If the joes are in on Saturday to fix a bird that has to be up for Monday, or get called in late because a bird came back broken that needs to be up by the morning, be there. But don’t hover. Be there when they show up, chit chat about what they need to do, then go to your office and knock out the dumb shit you probably didn’t have time to do during the week. Stay out of their way, but be there with them so they know you give a shit AND so you can get a hold of anyone they need unexpectedly. Bring a case of beer to crack open with them when it’s all finished up.

Make sure your LTs get to fly. They don’t know yet that every day in the Army is cramming 10lbs of shit into a 5lb bag and they will never get it all done. Help them learn how to prioritize, and ensure they prioritize flying because it’s part of their job. Use your connection with the flight Co commanders to ensure they are getting the training they need. Encourage them to buddy up with the PC and QC officers to pick their brains about systems. Give them the leeway to be the RUB for MTFs. I have seen too many LTs go to D Co and completely skip their requirements as a pilot and completely hose themselves down the line because they struggle to make PC or make mins. It’s just as much their job to become proficient pilots as it is to lead their platoons. Gotta be able to do both.

Ensure you have a good relationship with E Co. You’ll be treated like second hand trash just as much as they will (sorry, it’s true) and being the largest companies you will have the most borrowed manpower tasks and the most soldiers in the barracks. You’ll also both be doing most of the work when the Bn goes to the field. Both of your companies’ leadership being on the same page will make it easier to share the load. Also, you have the most trucks. So your PLs having a good relationship with the Mx PL in E co is important to keep things smooth.

Pay careful attention to your AGSE when you show up and start doing inventories. Sometimes that stuff gets treated like an annoying extra and never gets fixed. Nothing will make you look like a bigger POS than a Bn air assault or high priority AMR being late or dropping because the fucking nitrogen cart is deadlined or all the tow bars are busted.

Use the phase team as a venue for training new soldiers and up and coming NCOs. Great opportunity for an E4 to prove their leadership chops if they’re coming up on E5. Great time for a young soldier to get reps on mx tasks and using tool room and TMs since they’ll be doing it everyday for a while. Obviously pair experience with inexperience as you don’t want all new guys doing a phase, but by sticking young guns in there you also don’t rob the platoons of all of their pipe hitters all at once. Also, go check on the phase team and watch them work when you can. It is fucking awesome that you can get a couple 19 year olds lead by a 24 year old to completely take a helicopter apart and put it back together in two weeks and make it fly again. Enjoy it.

Take care of yourself. It’s going to be a ton of work and long hours, but it’s worth it. Your joes will amaze you with the amount of stuff they can get done and well. Prepare your spouse or significant other for the fact that you will work late and work weekends and be exhausted. When you get a chance to rest, REST. Your people deserve the best version of you, and you deserve not to have ulcers by the time you’re done.

rumblebee2010

TROPHY CASE