Categories
Garage doors

High Lift vs. Regular Lift Garage Doors

High-lift doors are a great option for increasing the usable space in your garage. They are often misunderstood, so I decided to write this post to clarify what they’re about. I will tell what a high-lift door is, what are the advantages and how to convert your regular door to high-lift. What is a High […]

Categories
Garage doors

Garage Door Spring Calculator

This garage door spring calculator estimates the appropriate garage door weight for a given torsion spring. It also estimates the spring service life in openings. This calculator works with all torsion spring, drum and door combinations – also non-standard ones. For standard springs and doors, see my SPRING SIZING CHART. NB. The calculator is for […]

Categories
Garage doors

Garage Door Spring Wear

Garage door springs are usually the most service-intensive component in a garage door. They need proper tensioning, lubrication, but will still eventually wear and break. This post answers the most common questions related to garage door spring wear: how long they last, how they break and how should you go about the replacement. For finding […]

Categories
Garage doors

Garage Door Spring Tensioning

This post tells you how much pretension garage door torsion springs need in standard configuration; i.e. how many turns should you wind to them. Below, you find a table indicating the appropriate turns for each door height. Instructions for tuning and troubleshooting are included further down. Before tensioning, make sure you have the correct spring […]

Categories
Garage doors

What Size Spring for Garage Door?

This post tells you how to choose garage door torsion springs based on door weight. Garage door torsion springs are sized on wire diameter (d), inside diameter (D) and length of the coil (L). Eg. .250″ – 2″ – 32″ means .25″ wire, 2″ inner diameter and 32″ coil length. Knowing which spring sizes work […]

Categories
Drilling

How to Drill Stainless Steel: Pro Tips

Stainless steel is hard to drill because of its toughness and work-hardening (explanations here). Many homeowners and DIYers end up frustrated, the stainless hardly dented and the drill bit destroyed. This article will tell you how to drill stainless right. In short, stainless steel is best drilled using a drill press, low RPM and high […]

Categories
Measuring and marking

Feeler Gauge Sizes & Types

Feeler gauges are a mechanical instrument for measuring the width of narrow gaps. These gauges have a sizing system and come in many different types, which is a common source of confusion. This article explains feeler gauges sizes and types for each application. Feeler gauges come in sets of 12 to 32 blades and span […]

Categories
Woodworking Woodworking saws

Ripping vs. Cross-Cutting Explained

“You rip a board along the length, and you cross-cut it to length.” This rule gets you straight most of the time. But is exactly true? How do ripping and cross-cuts really differ? Can you do both with the same saws? This article tells what you need to know about ripping and cross-cutting. Ripping means […]

Categories
Chainsaws

Oregon Bars for Echo

Oregon offers a good selection of guide bars for Echo chainsaws, just like for so many other brands. Oregon’s Echo-compatible selection is actually wider than Echo’s own. This post guides you through Oregon’s bar offering for Echo. The tables below should help you find the right bar for your Echo saw. Be sure to check […]

Categories
Chainsaws

Echo Bar Sizes and Compatibility

Echo offers a decent selection of original guide bars for all Echo chainsaw models. The Echo bar lineup is narrower (and clearer) than that of Husqvarna or Stihl, but may still appear confusing. The pitch&gauge combinations are relatively few, but the tail mounts situation is much more complicated. I wrote this article to guide you […]