Conference 7.286::home_work

    I need to do some tree work that's beyond the reach of my ladder, so
    I'm looking for a source and prices to rent a cherry-picker. I'm
    located north of Boston, near Rt93 between 128 & 495, but no reasonable
    distance would be too far. Thanks in advance.
    
    Freddie
    

I'd also be interested in recommendations/experience/cost of renting a
coil or stick nailer (for framing) for a weekend...

I'm in Southern NH.

ET

    Re .2 & nailer rental:
    
    Nailers ran about $20-25/day ($85-90/week) last time I checked (a few
    months back).  You will also need a tank-type air compressor, 1-2 HP,
    70-80 PSI (SCFM not really important unless you're nailing at the rate
    of 100 nails/minute!), and air hose(s).  Since I had my own compressor
    I didn't check rental prices, but they're probably close to the price
    of the nailer.
    
    Nails run about 2� each for galvanized framing or decking nails.  The
    rental places do sell nails, but you can probably do better going to
    a tool supply place (New England Tool Supply in Nashua).  Plus, the
    rental places rarely have galvanized or spiral shank nails; for any
    outdoor work you'll want these (spiral shank for decking).  A case
    of 2,000 nails runs about $33 at NE Tool Supply.
    
    The coil nailers typically accept nails in the 2d-12d range; the
    stick nailers accept 6d-16d.  12d is usually sufficient for most
    framing work (3-1/4 inches long).  The coil nailer might be a little
    easier to manuever (no long "stick" out the back), but it is also a
    little hard to get into tight locations.  It is probably a toss-up
    over which is best for general-purpose framing work.
    
    Most nailers require either a few drops of oil/day in the inlet or an
    automatic oiler connected to the air line; remember that the oiler WILL
    "pollute" the inside of the air hose "downstream" of it, so that hose
    CANNOT EVER be used for a "clean" air supply (as for paint spraying,
    for example).
    
    If you're a long way from an electrical outlet, use extension air hoses
    rather than an electrical extension cord; the drop in air pressure is
    insignificant compared to the voltage drop (and unhappy compressor).
    
    I've done framing both ways; hammer & nailer.  The cost of the nailer
    rental probably makes sense (in terms of less time) for a medium or
    larger job; it sure beats swinger a 22 ounce framing hammer all day.
    The nailer weighs about 8 pounds; not too heavy once you get used to
    it.

I live in the Shrewsbury area and need to find a place that rents out
Planks 20'-28'.  I've called Taylor Rental and a few other places
and was told that places usually don't rental these out.  

Does anyone know of a place that does ??

Sandy

Try the yellow pages under Scaffolding -- Renting.  I suspect they won't
have planks that long though.

    you might not be able to get "planks" that long but
    you might be able to get ahole of some aluminum
    planks for staging...
    
    JD

When I built my house, I bought 16' 2"+ planks for cheap.
I think I paid $10 a piece. That was cheap then.
I don't know about now.

    
    I checked last month and got a price of $22.50 for a rough 
    2x10x16' spruce staging board.
    

How many do you need?

Dan

Call a sawmill (not a lumberyard or home center) and ask what they can
sell you.  I've bought rough green boards for 30� a board foot.

    Watch what you buy at a sawmill though, if it's going to be used
    as a staging plank.  Pine is **NOT** suitable for staging planks.
    It is nowhere near strong enough to be safe.  It would probably
    work, but the chance of a fall is just not worth saving a few bucks
    on planks. Back when I was younger and even more foolish than I 
    am now I used pine staging planks without mishap, but it was a
    truly dumb thing to do, as I realized when I (later) saw how easy 
    it is to break one.

I agree on not using pine.
Even a spruce plank 28' long is questionable.
It'll bounce a lot. The guys doing the siding better
be good at acrobatics. I had 16' spruce planks and they
bounced.

Dan

I can't imagine using a 28' length without supporting it in _at least_ four
places (ends and two intervals between). If you're going to use that many
supports, you really don't need that length. (It's pretty tough to handle,
anyway.)

-Jack

    
    Well, I'm going to have to stop watching the Yankee Workshop...
    
    I'm working on a counter top, and I'd like to try a biscuit joiner to
    attach the trim pieces. These don't seem to be in big demand at rental
    places. Has anyone ever seen one for rent in the Fitchburg or
    Nashua area, or would any owners (and I know you're out there) consider
    a one-day rental?
    

I've been in a few well stocked tool rental places and have yet to see
a plate joiner offered rental.  

On the other hand, I happened to be looking through a booklet that came with my
Dremell or is that Dremmel? tool and it showed how to use it as a biscuit
jointer :-)

If you have a router, they do make bits to do the job.

What about using a straight spline instead?

Maybe move this question to woodworking_and_tools?

bjm