Holy Smoke, a new post, at long last...

Finally got around to uploading pics of the DIY grinder dust shroud, and drafting a quick-and-dirty instructable (my first)

https://www.instructables.com/7-inch-Grinder-Dust-Shroud/

2017 or, lest you think I've been slacking off !

Since my last post, I've been keeping reasonably busy:

1. 'Completed' mantel fabrication  (ahem...by completed I mean 'practice' mantel in Hydrostone plaster  )
2. Compled drainage project from hell
3. Bamboo remediation (another project from hell)
4. Noble attempts to reorganize garage, shed, and attic
5. Family & friends stuff, e.g. helped sister-in-law move, installed handrails and
   back stoop hand railing at mother-in-laws house, ran coax cabling to 2nd floor, etc etc

Reasonable # of pics for 1-4, I'll share here.

Fireplace Mantel

• Added non-flammable framing (metal studs) to support 48" x 24" top with zilch sagging.
• Fabricated custom curved plaster crown molding for the top cross-piece ("architrave", in mantel lingo!) of the den-facing mantel. The curved molding was made to match the profile (albeit without rope detail) of stock crown molding on the side and kitchen-facing mantel.
  Used scrap appliance sheetmetal to fabricate the molding knife and jigs.
• Fabricated corbel casting mold structure from 2x framing lumber and MDF (junked Ikea furniture).  The casting mold structure supports the mold rubber "inserts" the casting material is poured into.  Really cool, though impossible to take pics by yourself during the process, which is quite hectic due to fast setup of the Hydrostone material. When I do the final casting in GFRC I may video it, the pour and demolding are quite rewarding, after all the sweating and
  cursing to get the casting mold square, tight, and (mostly) leak-proof.
• Corbel casting (in Hydrostone).

Before recasting the entire mantel in GFRC (probably in the spring) some further refinements planned, e.g. add curved "throat" below the curved molding of the den-facing architrave.

doubled-up
 metal studs for the non-flammable structure above the
firebox to support the mantel top

Molding knife, from appliance scrap metal

casting jig for fabicating curved crown molding.
note molding knife attached to sliding jig, with stock crown molding
to check profile alignment.

another view of casting jig for curved crown molding. added strip of vinyl siding
material, to aid demolding

completed curved molding (still in the mold) with original stock
molding (wood) in front to "eyeball" that the profile matches

another view of the completed curved crown molding,
still in the mold.  The first one I cast (with insufficient internal metal support)
broke in half as soon as I demolded it, and was careless in supporting it.
The first attempt was used to fabricate the "practice" mantel. The second attempt
(much better!) with added metal internal support (fence wire) will be used to fabricate
the GRFC casting mold.

rough mock-up of corbel casting mold.

good shot of all corbel casting mold components (support structure,
metal embedments for strength, and mold rubber "inserts"

picture of corbel casting, as material is setting up.  wood cross-pieces
used with wire to support the metal embedments (wire mesh, fence wire) during
the pour.

After pouring the corbel I used remaining Hydrostone to improve the kitchen-facing hearth:
the first "practice pour" focused on the the den-facing side, and I'd run out of material 
(trust me, it looked pretty bad). Not quite as handsome as the den-facing mantel, so you can
imagine what it looked like before additional/extra Hydrastrone was added here  (no pictures taken before!)

immediately after demolding ... :-) 

right corbel is Hydrostone, left is (original/master) wood.

aligning wrap-around crown molding. good angle shows transition
from stock crown to homemade curved.  Note this is the first casting of the
curved crown; second casting came out *much* better!

Tweaks to get wrap around crown molding to desired height.  Good view of kitchen-facing mantel.

one of many punch-lists!

punch lists everywhere

getting all components aligned for final assembly of practice mantel

both corbels in Hydrostone, curved crown molding for den-facing
architrave.

with coat of primer so everything is white for summer BBQ birthday bash

cool picture from outside in late summer, with right corbel highlighted by sun
streaming from the skylight above fireplace

Drainage Project From Hell

The french drain in the back patio (drainage pots, trench drain, etc) was removed (then reinstalled) when the gas service line was installed. Subsequent to buttoning up the patio pavers, we had a really torrential storm, and the drainage seemed to be working well, until it didn't.  Then water in the den, yet again (sound of grinding teeth). Not as bad in the past, since clean up was significantly easier since the porcelain tile was installed. However, still not a happy moment. I knew the drainage line exit in the front lawn had been 'buried' as a side effect of the McMansion construction next door, and sod replacing the bushes along the property line.  It was obvious the drain line was clogged, and I made a few attempts last to snake the drain line, locate the buried exit, albeit to no avail.  After the most recent den flooding, I was motivated.  Pics below reflect manly work (pick ax, shovel, blood, sweat, tears, profanity, etc) to locate the buried drain exit, extend the drain line further (to sidewalk), reseed, and button up 'garden walk' pavers that had to be taken up to remediate the broken/clogged original drain.  Quite a mess, all bettter now :-)

buttoning up right side of patio pavers after gas line installation,
and reinstalling drainage system.

buttoning up left side of patio pavers after reinstalling drainage system.

locating and excavating the existing drain line at the front
of the house was a huge undertaking.  Existing drain was found
to be completed fractured, and clogged at this location
beneath the brick stanchions. Dirt as complete muck as water would
pool at this point.

This is the location of the original drain line exit.  This was buried when
the McMansion next door was built, and sod replaced the bushes
at the property line.

completed pavers, drainage and siding.

Nearly completed improved/expanded drainage line. 
Drainage pot was too low; had to source section of 6" PVC pipe
as a "riser" so drainage grate would be at grade level.
The pavers at the end of the walkway had to be dug up to
get to the location of a "healthy" section of the original drain line.

Bamboo Remediation

We love our neighbor Joanne.  That's a good thing, because otherwise dealing with the bamboo her landscaper planted ~15 years ago would have been much more unpleasant. Excellent excercise though, especially in 90 degree August weather! and the mosquitos enjoyed feasting on me as well. Every few years I'd go behind the shed and garage to cut down the ~ten foot high bamboo infesting

the entire space between our garage, and Joanne's. After the third or fourth time cutting down and bunding up the bamboo stalks, I decided enough is enough, this has to be eradicated.  I took down the fence between our garages, cut down all the bamboo, pick-ax and shovel dug out ALL the roots. I then dug a 31 foot long, three foot deep trench to install a bamboo barrier (very thick plastic the roots cannot penetrate) between our respective properties and her side neighbor, who had allowed the bamboo to proliferate in his back yard. Trench had to be dug by hand, because there wasn't enough room to get a gas-powered trencher behind the garage - also since I had to dig out (i.e. pry) grapefruit -sized rocks, I don't think a gas trencher would have worked anyway. Supposedly the side-neighbor has promised to remove his bamboo as well, but cutting down the shoots and ripping out ALL the roots are two different things, as I've experience over the years. In the meantime, shoots continue to come up in various spots on my property, and on the side-neighbors fence line.  The bamboo had grown beneath the vinyl siding on Joanne's garage, so I removed the siding to rip out the stalks there as well.  Last punch-list item for this project is to regrade the entire area, which requires removing ~five or ten cubic yards of dirt. Joann's son is arranging for a contractor friend to do this, so hopefully I won't have to :-o

Garage & Shed reorganization
(no pics of attic, too embarassing :-(  )

Had fun fabricating a zero-cost bike rack in the shed, using spare hardware (bike hooks), iron pipe and lag bolts. Installed wall brackets for ginormous/heavy 26-foot Little Giant ladder, and handy-dandy two-foot fiberglass Werner ladder, to get them off the floor as well. Garage shelving helped a little ... still WAY too much stuff !

Hearth 'Practice Pour'

Mad rush to have the mantel in reasonably presentable shape for Hannukah parties.  Decided to do a 'practice pour' with less-expensive Hydocal  ($35 for 75 lb bag).  Came out great - and absolutely achieved desired "lessons learned" for later actual pour with much-more-expensive GFRC.  Only problem was I miscalculated volume of material needed ... so only had enough for den-facing side, and most (but not all) of the side and a few blobs of material in the kitchen-facing side (which I will not be sharing results, here :-)  Suffice to say, came out great!

Here's a pic of the "pour mold", many hours of fabrication to get to this point!  Plastic sheeting is to enable removing the "practice" hearth, to proceed with the (actual) GFRC pour. This is a good perspective of the scaffolding holding wrap-around edge forms in place - which had to be watertight for the pour, as well as easy to remove, for stripping the forms after the material set up.