Month: November 2017
Mill-Rose Abrasive Cloth
Back in the day, working with top quality materials was normal, an everyday affair. There was demand for the best, local supply houses stocked the best, tradespeople used the best. Then came the wave of Big Box Home Centers. Pennies, and soon dollars, were pinched off every job. Available materials became more generic. But in doing our best, doesn’t that start with the best tools and materials?
A renovation job was going south. Repiping a bathroom from below, I discover grout or thinset (the sticky mortar in which one sets tiles) followed a copper water supply pipe through its floor penetration. The mortar was attached rock solid to the copper. Tight quarters for polishing copper preparatory to soldering, the proverbial & literal ‘rock and a hard place’. My assistant went at it with his ‘standard quality’ scratch cloth, but halfway materials produce halfway results. Time to break out the good stuff.
MILL-ROSE
Into my torch bag I retrieved a length of blue scratch cloth. Waterproof, for what is plumbing if not dealing with water? Linen-backed, giving this 120-J grit scratch cloth long-lasting flexibility. The same cloth I’ve trusted for decades. Mill-Rose.
When it’s time to take it all off, I reach for the world leader in abrasive scratch cloth. Copper oxides are but a memory to this durable abrasive cloth. Paint is pulverized. The mortar on our copper? Back into dust. (Yes, I wear a respirator on every job!) The ability to overcome any obstacle, that is where the quality of Mill-Rose shines.
Leave nothing to chance. When it’s time to replenish supplies, don’t take what is offered. Ask your supply house for Mill-Rose.
Yuengling Traditional Lager
Serendipity. A silly word. Pretentious in all its syllables. Plumbers and purveyors of ice cream think of “dip wells”, where an ice cream scooper rests under a perpetual flow of water between customers. The office staff had their ideas: Pink Oxford, plaid pants. Croquet on the south lawn with Buffy and Trevor”. Whatever all that means. Maybe its time for their tea and biscuits.
Our glorious local library, stocked with DVDs from world-wide TV series, recently acquired 800 Words of New Zealand fame. The word serendipity came up. With an actual definition (according to their editors).
Serendipity is a word coined over 250 years ago by the English author Horace Walpole from the title of a fairytale in which the heroes were always making discoveries by accident. – George, 800 Words. Season 2, Part I, Episode 4.
While taking a break from convoluted inter-cabinet quad coiling during the installation of a T&S Brass glass filler at a local college *hic* institution, I strolled the aisle between bar and beer merchandiser. And upon the morning buffet table spied a new, most impressive wall clock. “The kids broke the old one. Brian just got this. We have to hang it”, explains Bonnie.
A beautiful, brand new Yuengling neon wall clock manufactured in Perryopolis PA. The same clock company featured last week. The beer of my formative years. No ATB article yet on tap. Content drops onto my mental keyboard. “Order up“, I imagine Hanif calling through the kitchen window.
America’s oldest brewery, Yuengling, of Pottsville PA, buys their promotional clocks in Perryopolis. Yuengling Traditional Lager, elixir of the Gods, a perfect mate to pizza, pretzels, and stuffed Italian hoagies, immortalized upon a beautiful 20″ neon clock. Logo expertly screened onto sheet aluminum. Powder coat exterior finish. Optical glass – will not “yellow” over time – secured to the bezel with industrial epoxy. A real gem of a clock. Magnificent craftsmanship. The picky plumber finds not a single hair out-of-place. SIX thumbs up to all!!!
What about this serendipity stuff? I’ve almost forgotten myself. It was having no piece completed for deadline, installing one American-made product, and seeing another which worked better for the article. Sort of like desert to last week’s main course. Discovered in a fine 5th generation restaurant. Cheers!
Image Time • Perryopolis PA
You never know what can be learned with eyes open to your surroundings. So many people bury their faces toward sophisticated electronic gadgets. Do they escape opportunities to exercise imagination? Prepare for the future by exploring the past?
A typical service station waiting room appears the perfect nest of boredom. Whip out “phones”, text furiously to important people, pace outside, shout into a line mic while gesturing animatedly. Yes, you ARE important, you tell the world. But maybe time waiting is time to think? Introspection has its rewards.
Full circle was I rewarded recently by keeping the phone in its pocket. With phoneless pacing at the tire shop I’m able to admire this handsome wall clock from all angles. Smiles as its origin is discovered. Right here in the Keystone State! Pics are snapped and filed. The thought of an article? Not yet.
But what is this Perryopolis? Surrounded by the finest Greek pizzerias outside Italy, I’m confident of the town’s origins. WRONG! Perryopolis was named for 28-year old Hero Of Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry. The town? Laid out by George Washington himself, called New Boston at the time.
Big SMILING thumbs up for making the finest marketing clocks, Image Time! Continental / General Tire picked a winner! Wow, more delicious history exposed. Uncle Jerry worked at a beer distributor his whole life, bringing home plaster Rolling Rock displays and the occasional wall clock. Bet the clocks were made by Image Time!
Behlen Behkol Solvent
Whiskey is for drinking. Water content is for fighting over.
When it’s time to booze up, we have many choices. Clyde stocks gallons of generic hooch. With adult-proof lid, can rust, and drippy spout, we may buy in desperation or ignorance but regret our choice. Acquire in haste, repent in leisure.
We’re dabbling into the arcane world of spirit varnishes and stains. After the tool sharpening guy from Southern Italy insulted me, it’s likely I’ve transcended the hobbyist. Genuine need for solvent worthy of a professional spurs investigation.
Internet research brings to mind Fido chasing his tail. More opinions than the autumn leaves we crunch across during an evening stroll. To filter flow & clarify consumption, we contact National Finishes Expert Phillip Pritchard and confirm what we suspect. Hunches are backed with facts. Myths dispelled. When it is time to get our Varnish On, there is only one choice. The professional choice. Behkol.
We ask Phillip the advantages of Behlen spirit solvent over 190 proof hooch or hardware store quality denatured alcohol, when working with spirit varnishes. We cannot possibly paraphrase Phillip’s wisdom; an excellent quote you will have! – ATB
190 PROOF HOOCH IS 95% ethanol and 5% water. It is designed for drinking purposes, best enjoyed after applying your finish. Off the shelf denatured alcohol, sold primarily as a cleaning solvent, is a high concentration of ethanol and enough denaturant to prevent human consumption. Alcohol is hydroscopic and naturally draws water from the environment; in a general purpose cleaning solvent it should pose no harm but there’s no telling how much water it contains.
Behlen Behkol Solvent also contains a high concentration of ethanol, but it’s carefully sourced and controlled for minimal water content. The denaturant used is less toxic than other common choices. We add a stabilizing solvent to provide a greater shelf life for your dissolved shellac. All solvents used in Behkol are alcohols and are carefully selected for better shellac compatibility. This does add cost to Behkol Solvent, but it is purposely formulated for use as a shellac solvent, eliminates solvent related issues and provides higher performance when finishing with shellac. – Phillip Pritchard
American Toolbox 