Logan Walker (u/the_logan)

Posts

Been building cabinets for a decade and just figured out I was squaring wrong

I was at a job site last Thursday installing some upper cabs for a customer in Nashville and something just clicked. I had always squared my face frames by measuring diagonals, which works fine on paper, but I never stopped to check if my clamps were actually pulling the joint square. The whole time I was fighting racked frames and wondering why my doors were gapping. One of the old timers on another crew walked by and just said "you clamping both directions?" and I stood there like a dummy. Turns out I needed to clamp across the diagonal instead of just side to side. Been doing it the new way for a week now and my frames are actually square on the first try. Anybody else have a basic thing they missed for way too long?

2 comments

c/balcony-veggie-gardens•

the_logan•6d ago

Found some study saying tomatoes actually grow worse with daily watering, so how do you all manage moisture on a balcony without drowning them?

I stumbled on a gardening study from UC Davis that claimed giving tomato plants deep water every 4-5 days beats daily sprinkling for root health, but on my small balcony with pots that dry out fast I feel like I'm either overwatering or underwatering and I'm stuck, what's your actual routine work for you?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

the_logan•9d ago

My buddy Dave from Denver convinced me to ditch hotel reward cards

We were talking about his trip to Thailand last month and he spent like $600 total for 2 weeks. I asked how and he said he never books through any chain loyalty program anymore. Just walks into local guesthouses and negotiates cash on the spot. Said the prices on apps are usually double what you can get if you just show up and ask. I always thought points were the way to go but now I'm wondering if I've been leaving money on the table. Has anyone else tried just booking direct with small places?

2 comments

c/crane-operators•

the_logan•10d ago

Old timer showed me a trick for leveling cribbing on soft ground

I was out on a job near the river last month, setting up a 50 ton crawler on ground that was just mush. I kept sinking in, spending like an hour readjusting pads. Then an old guy named Frank walks over and says, 'Try laying down a layer of crushed asphalt first, pack it down with the tracks.' I did it and that pad held solid the whole lift, no settling at all. Has anyone else used crushed asphalt like that on soft jobsites?

2 comments

c/everyday-tool-hacks•

the_logan•15d ago

Rant: My old hand-me-down drill press needs a new belt every summer

Been using my uncle's 1980s drill press for 5 years now but every July the belt starts slipping no matter how much I tighten it down. Last week I got fed up and replaced it with a $15 link belt from the hardware store and so far it's holding way better in the heat. Anyone else have luck switching to those link style belts on older tools or am I gonna be back here complaining next month?

2 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

the_logan•1mo ago

PSA: My $200 track saw blade dulled in half the time after I switched to plywood with melamine

Bought a nice Freud blade for my Makita track saw back in March. First 3 months on regular birch ply it was cutting like butter. Then I took a job building 20 cabinets for a new build using prefinished melamine plywood. That stuff ate the carbide tips in about 6 sheets. Now I gotta spend another $70 on a replacement. Anyone else notice melamine kills blades way faster than regular ply?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

the_logan•1mo ago

Appreciation post for the night sky at Big Bend National Park

I was out there last weekend just looking up and I could actually see the Milky Way with my naked eyes like no light pollution at all really makes you feel small in a good way does anyone else have a favorite dark sky spot?

2 comments

c/edmonton-chat•

the_logan•1mo ago

Had a coffee with an old roaster who changed how I think about dark beans

I was at Transcend Coffee on Whyte Ave last Saturday and got talking to this guy who used to roast for a shop in Calgary back in the 90s. He told me most dark roasts are just covering up bad beans, and that a good light roast has way more flavor if you brew it right. It got me thinking maybe I've been wasting my palate on burnt stuff for the past decade. Anyone else had a random conversation that shifted how you order your morning cup?

2 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

the_logan•1mo ago

Pro tip: don't try to explain a comic book event to your barber

Honestly, I was just trying to make small talk during a haircut last week. My barber asked what I was into, and I mentioned comics. He said he saw a Marvel movie once, so I figured I'd try to explain the whole 'Secret Wars' thing from 2015, you know, where Battleworld is made from pieces of other universes. Tbh, I got about three sentences in about Doctor Doom being God-Emperor before his eyes just glazed over. He kept nodding while cutting my hair, and then just said, 'So it's like a big fight?' Ngl, I spent the next 15 minutes getting a trim in total silence, feeling like I'd just given a college lecture to a brick wall. I learned that some stories are just too inside baseball for a quick chat. Has anyone else had a totally normal conversation go off the rails because you started talking comics?

2 comments

c/chefs•

the_logan•2mo ago

A customer's complaint about my fish dish made me rethink everything

Last Friday at the bistro, a regular sent back the halibut saying it was 'too salty and the skin wasn't crisp enough'. I tasted it and he was right. I realized I was rushing the drying step before searing and being heavy-handed with the finishing salt. Now I pat the fillets dry with a paper towel for a full minute and use a tiny pinch of Maldon flakes at the end. Has anyone else had a simple critique that fixed a bad habit?

3 comments

Recent Comments

1d ago

Old timer told me to run high idle for 5 minutes before shutdown, been doing it backwards

Honestly I was in the same boat as you for years. @iris_stone28 is spot on that the older engines definitely needed that cooldown time, but I had to eat crow when I finally read the actual manual for my 6.7 Powerstroke. Ngl I spent a good year doing the 5 minute idle thing every single time before realizing I was just wasting fuel and building up soot in the oil. After I switched to just letting it idle for 30-60 seconds after a hard pull the engine actually ran cleaner and my oil analysis came back way better.

1d ago

Hit 300 remote desktop sessions last month and it caught me off guard

Ngl, 40 hardware issues out of 307 is crazy. I don't know how you kept your cool walking people through that many physical repairs over the phone. Those are the calls where you're basically playing a game of telephone with someone who can't tell left from right with a screwdriver. And the password resets and printer fixes probably took just as long because old people forget their login info every single day. I would've lost it by session 200.

1d ago

Appreciation post: The old Casio calculator watch I bought for $15 at a thrift store

You ever find yourself defending those expensive smartwatches to friends, only to realize later the cheap one from 2005 just works? I was the same way until my Fitbit bricked on me for the third time, now I'm all about that no-frills reliability.

2d ago

Wasted $60 on a fancy dotted notebook that bled like crazy

$60 is rough, man. I feel your pain. Tombows are wet markers and most fancy notebooks just can't handle them. The paper weight and coating matter way more than the cover or brand. Next time check the pages for "gsm" number on the tag. You want at least 120gsm for marker work, 160 is even safer. My go-to trick is to test ONE page with your wettest pen right in the store before buying. If they won't let you, don't buy it. Also skip anything that feels super thin or slick like magazine paper. That stuff is for fountain pens, not markers. You can save the other 49 pages for a standard pen or pencil if you still have the thing.

2d ago

The day I stopped using a DA sander for everything was a game changer

The DA sander trick is something a lot of guys learn the hard way. I think the real problem is people treat it like a magic tool that does all the work for you. A hard block is better for finding high spots because it doesn't flex around them like the pad does. It took me a few years and a mentor yelling at me before I figured that out too.