Power tools vs manual tools

[XemaSab]

So I'm going to build some planter boxes for the yard.

Admittedly, I've never built shit before, but I think they'll be easy.

There are going to be three of them, each about 12 feet long, 3 feet wide, and about 3 feet tall. I'm hoping to use pressure treated 4x4s for the corner posts, with redwood for the sides (haven't decided the dimensions for those yet). They're going to be open at the bottom and I'm going to put sand around the bottom edges for drainage. I'm going to line them with plastic sheeting to keep the wood dry on the inside. I think it's going to work out.

So the question is, should I get a power saw, or will a hand saw get the job done?

Thanks! :hi:

ps I don't want to spend my life sawing.

[Nicole]

1. Power saw

is better.

Even better than that is have the lumber yard cut them for you.

[XemaSab]

2. Will they cut all of it

to my exact specifications??? For example, will they really cut 12 four foot lengths of 4x4 for me?

I don't want to waste their time, ya know?

[Nicole]

9. My lumber yard does

They will cut whatever I want as long as I buy it.

[Montauk6]

3. I thought this was going to be a more roundabout discussion;

I was going to list my favorite examples of manual over power: can openers and toothbrushes.

[realisticphish]

7. electric toothbrushes are idiotic

yeah, those extra long things on the side REALLY makes a fuckin difference.

Oh, and electric razors don't do shit, either. Gillete "Good News" razors all the way...

[Montauk6]

11. OOOOH, good one, yes!

I see those Norelco commercials and I scratch my head.

I've tried about 3 or 4 different electric razors in my time, and uh... ouch?

Afterwards, my face stings and feels like raw sandpaper. Victor Kiam, my ass!

[BrotherBuzz]

8. I was ready to jump in on lawnmowers! LOL

[XemaSab]

10. We've got a push mower

For what it's worth. :D

[BrotherBuzz]

12. Me too

I'm a big advocate for them, and that's why I was ready to jump in. :)

[XemaSab]

13. The only non-manual tools we have

Are the screwdriver (used twice) and the tiller (which is still in the box).

We've got the push mower, the rakes, the loppers, the pruning saw... lo-fi all the way.

[BrotherBuzz]

14. All our gardening is manual, too, except....

for an electric lawnmower that is used exclusively for mulching all the cuttings. It work really well and my compost heap cooks off fast. I can turn it back to the beds in six weeks. Old days took an entire season.

[XemaSab]

15. I'd love to get a compost box going

The only trick would be where to put it.

:shrug:

[BrotherBuzz]

16. I use a welded wire cage

You know, that 1"x2" wire fencing that's stiffer then chicken wire. Twelve feet of four foot high wire gives you a nice four foot diameter freestanding bin (adjust size to your needs). Where to place? LOL, most anyplace, and remember the cage is movable from season to season.

[XemaSab]

17. I guess it's not just a simple matter of location but contents as well

We've got a big tree in the yard that fills BOTH of the green waste bins EVERY WEEK for 6 weeks or so in the fall, and the rest of the year we don't have much green waste or suitable compost material at all.

So where to store a small swimming pool worth of dead brown leaves? :shrug:

[NJCher]

18. easy

Get yourself a leaf chopper or just chop with your mulching mower. Spread the chopped leaves around the base of trees and shrubs. Or better yet--what I love to do--is put them directly on cement. The worms love it that way. They get in there and turn it into beautiful, crumbly leaf mold in no time flat.

The thing about leaves is that they decompose so rapidly once they're chopped. If people realized this, we could save millions on municipal leaf collection.




Cher

[XemaSab]

20. Frankly, I'd worry more about it if we didn't have green waste collection

At least it's not going to the landfill.

[BrotherBuzz]

24. Use two bins to start if necessary...

then combine after the leave season if you need the space. Even with many mature trees, I'm able to use just one because I manage and feed it every week (turning with a fork before loading). Mulching reduced the volume of the leaves by three quarters so you can get a lot into it. Also, as it cooks (I maintain 140 degrees by adding water to keep moist - not soaked) the pile will reduce by half every week. If the leaves accumulate and get ahead of you, just store in your green tote bins until there's room. Point being the more we keep out of the land fill the better off we are, no?

[IChing]

4. A hand saw takes a skill that a power saw will never understand

Being a carpenter and using both for 20 years
the hand work
will never do better but take longer and be just as good according to the craftsman
of your soul,

Sounds like you need a handyman
and not a powertool.


wink, wink

[realisticphish]

5. a hand saw WILL get the job done

of course, it will take longer. But do you really want to spend the money on a powersaw that you might not ever use again?

What I would do is ask around w/ your neighbors, and see if one of them has a saw you can borrow

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. A hand saw will do the trick just fine.

Redwood is a soft wood, and a good backsaw shoould cut through it pretty easily. It's also easier to justify the expense of a handsaw vs a power saw if you're not likely to get much more use out of it beyond this project.

[NJCher]

19. OK you didn't ask about this but I'm putting my two cents worth in anyway

I'm hoping to use pressure treated 4x4s for the corner posts

Don't use pressure-treated anything. Even though they made "safety" changes, the stuff is still toxic. You don't want this stuff leaching into the soil "on your watch," do you?

Your planter boxes are really raised beds. They are just one foot shy of being a legitimate raised bed. You don't know what's coming down the pike with this lunatic administration in charge and all, and you might need to convert these planter boxes to vegetables. Don't take the chance. Use regular wood and "pressure treat" it yourself. If you want, I have the recipe or you can look it up on the 'Net. There is a way to do it that's is safe.

Finally, when I first moved into my house nine years ago, I built 11 raised beds and I did them all with regular pine. It is only now, into my ninth year, that I am beginning to see signs of deterioration along the long edges of the wood. The deterioration is only along the edge that was on the soil. On the beds where I put furring strips, the beds are as good as new. I just pulled off the furring strip and put a new one on. Furring strips are cheap and are your best buy in a project like this.

It's no big deal to do it without pressure-treated wood and your boxes will have more versatility and last just as long with only a slight inconvenience.




Cher

[XemaSab]

22. No, thanks for the input

I figured that because I was just using pressure treated for the corners and I'm planning on lining it anyway that the toxic angle wasn't too big a concern. What toxins are we talking about here, anyway?

Also, pine? What part of the country do you live in? It's more about the dry heat (Often 110 in the summer) and sunshine here than about cold or dampness. And why not redwood?

[NJCher]

25. I live in Jersey

Sounds like you are in a hot area of the country. Redwood should work. There are probably some regional options that would also work well. Ask at a lumberyard.

What part are you lining--the inside of the bed?

My point is that even if you were lining the posts with plastic before you put them into the ground, at some point the plastic will deteriorate. The toxins will start leaching into the ground and the groundwater. That is what you don't want. The best is to play it safe and have nothing to do with pressure-treated wood.




Cher

[XemaSab]

26. You're probably right

And for what it's worth, redwood IS the regional option. We've got three small redwoods in the back yard, and they're native (and logged) about 150 miles west of here. :D

Though cedar is logged about 50 miles EAST of here. :shrug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. I always go for the power tools.

It's not as dirty as it sounds. I have construction experience.

eom

[In_The_Wind]

23. I love my power tools. Go for something light weight and have fun!

:hi:

[TreasonousBastard]

27. The lumber yard cuts the wood to size...

as you've already been told, and 12' is a standard length anyway. And why not redwood for the corner posts, since it's so readily available? You'll probably end up sawing something somewhere along the line, though, and you can get a cheap POS circular saw for about the same price as a really good handsaw. 30-50 bucks, give or take a dime, for either one. Cheap handsaws are a worse buy than cheap power saws the way things are now, and just won't do the job. They aren't all that sharp to begin with, and get dull real fast while losing the tooth set. Few things are worse than spoiling an expensive board with a wandering cut from a bad saw.

I assume you already heard about levels, squares, drills, lag bolts, concrete, and the other stuff your gonna need for this project... You could just pound nails and it would most likely work as well, but you probably do want to set the posts in concrete, and you want the things to be level and square. It's no more work to make it a work of art than just throwing it all together-- just takes a little more time and care.

Good luck on the boxes-- it's pretty big but not too complicated for a first project.

(Who knows-- you might like doing this sort of thing. It can become addictive.)

[XemaSab]

28. I was planning on setting the posts in sand

We're going to put some pavers in later and anchor them in sand, too.

Also, I figure sand will be easier to get level than concrete would.

We had some 4x4 fence posts there that were just stuck in the soil that lasted 30-40 years before they fell to shit, so I figure sand should add some longevity. I also think the posts were just pine, so redwood should help out there.

Why concrete?

[TreasonousBastard]

29. Around here we use sand for pavers, but...

tend to use concrete when we want posts to last. I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary, and it's not always used, but we have fairly wet conditions and serious termite problems. I just automatically go for the concrete out of habit.

But, these things should be solid enough that sand would probably work just fine. Just to be sure, ask at the lumber yard-- they know your conditions better than I do.

[trof]

30. Those are huge. Whatcha gonna plant?

And I wouldn't take anything for my cordless circular saw.

[XemaSab]

32. We're replacing a totally decrepit fence

And my vision is to plant flowers and herbs in the box, flowers in front of the box, and big flowering shrubs behind the box.

I want me some GOOD butterflies in the yard, yo.

[Deja Q]

31. Well, as long as it works with AA batteries, I don't really care.

:rofl:

Besides, manual ones require somebody else to help and I've got nobody. :P