SUMMARY: They don’t work. Don’t waste your money!
I just pulled down the last one of these that I had up. I had bought a bunch of these things, and placed them is places where I had mouse activity. The mouse activity didn’t change at all. The brand I had was Weitech, but I am guessing they all work the same, which is not at all. Don’t waste your money.
The Federal Trade Commision (FTC) is even going after these guys:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/05/fyi0128.htm
I made an appointment to get our home audited for energy efficiency. The guy will be coming next Tuesday morning. I am going to take half a day off so I can be here when he is doing the audit. I hoping to take some pictures, and write up a description of the audit afterward on this blog. I have searched for info about energy audits, and was hoping to find other’s experiences, but found little. So I will hopefully post mine here.
Dremel’s chainsaw sharpening kit (#1453) is a fantastic little Dremel attachment to have, but the instructions that came with it were a little confusing. So I took some pictures while shapening my own chainsaw.
Here is the kit itself (Ordering Info):
This is what my chainsaw teeth looked like before sharpening:
The kit comes with 3 grinding wheels. Blue (5/32″), Pink (7/32″), and Orange-Brown (3/16″). Figure out which grinder wheel to using by sliding each into the tooth. One of them should match the curve on the inside of the tooth. That is the one to use. I used the Orange-Brown wheel for my Poulan Pro.
Assemble the attachment as pictured here. If you use the Pink grinding wheel, use both spacers. If you use the Orange-Brown wheel, use one spacer. If you are using the Blue wheel, you don’t need to use a spacer. The spacer keeps the grinding wheel away from the guide. In the photo here, you can see the unit put together. Notice that I have one spacer between the guide and the plastic body (since I am using the orange-brown wheel). Don’t fully tighten the screws yet.
You will need to use the guage to adjust the guide.
Use the side of the guage labeled “side 1″. I don’t know why they have “side 1″ as there is no “side 2″. With the guage fitting against the guide as pictured here, adjust the guide so the wheel just touches the guage, then tighten the screws.
Lay the chainsaw in front of you with the motor to the right. You are first going to sharpen the teeth on the far side of the bar. Power up the Dremel, and insert the spinning grinding wheel into the first tooth. Line up the index line with the bar, and stroke the grinding wheel in and out of the tooth a few times with light pressure against the cutting edge of the tooth. Move the chain around, and sharpen the next tooth until all of the teeth on the far side are sharpened.
Turn the chainsaw around so the motor is now on your left. Now sharpen the teeth on the opposite side of the bar as described above, but with guide lined up as pictured here:
After getting the unit put together, it only took a minute or two to sharpen all the teeth. And since you have the unit adjusted, next time you will only need to remount it onto you Dremel motor, and sharpen away. This is what my teeth looked like after sharpening them:
Order a Dremel Chain Saw Sharpening Kit
I finished building my computer rack.
Tired of having my computer equipment on the floor, or on top of a cardboard box next to my computer desk, I decided to buy or build a computer rack. I researched prices, and decided I didn’t want to pay that much. So I built my own. The entire frame is made from three 2x4s. I rippedthem down to 1 1/2 inch square. The side frames are a single 2×4 each. I took the 1 1/2 inch square studs, and made a 21 1/2″ by 73″ frame with lap jointed corners. The cross pieces are more of the 1 1/2″ boards cut to 19″ long, and screwed into place with 4″ dry wall screws. The shelves which sit on the cross pieces are 3/4 inch plywood. The scanner shelf slides out using drawer hardware. I mounted caster wheels to the bottom so I can roll the rack in and out of place to access the back, and change wiring. I wired everything through three power strips. One of the strips is my Watt Stopper, and I have the motion sensor mounted on the wall over my monitor. Thus far, I am very happy with my Watt Stopper. If I am away from my computer for more than 15 minutes, it shuts off power to my monitor, scanner, and laser printer. I leave power to my computer, DSL modem, and router so that it wont interupt if I am downloding a large file or running a program that takes a while.
A buddy of mine got a new Carhartt coat for Christmas, and I thought it was pretty nice. I considered buying one, but saw the prices and they were a little higher that what I wanted to pay. I wanted to get something tough that I can wear while cutting wood, and working outside around the house. I have been wearing my Columbia Sportswear jacket, but it is getting dirty, and I got some silicone on the arm when I was reventing my Jenn-Air grill.
I was at Home Depot today buying some stuff, and I saw some jackets that looked like Carhartts. I took a closer look, and they weren’t Carhartt jackets, but were West Chester Master Gear. They were made out of 100% cotton duck cloth like Carhartt’s, and had a hood. And they were only $30! Way cool. I bought one figuring it is much cheaper than messing up my nice Columbia Sportswear jacket.