One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured in this
article

http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330


I did all the railings inside and out, the awning over the main door,
the planters and the master bedroom fireplace.

I know I am not listed at the bottom under resoources.
I am currently trying to find out why.

The publisher is based in New Zealand, and I never knew the article was
even coming up.
The Architect just handed me the magazine in his office.

I am supposed to be in Better Homes and Gardens soon.
Their reporter had a long phone chat with me about my company.

In article , Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured in this
article

http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330

It's not necessarily a home that screams 'cozy', but it has a certain
panache. Very nice work on that railing... that sweep is very smooth.

--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Mike Graham | Metalworker, rustic, part-time zealot.
|
http://www.metalmangler.com| Caledon, Ontario, Canada

That's some nice work, quality that's of the sort you'd see in a
magazine (if you will...).

I think I'll not venture into the issue of you not being mentioned
'cause you know more about it than me (and that sort of thing ticks me
off in a big way) but I'd be interested in how it turns out if you're
inclined to let us know.

John

Getting credit for your work is a big pet peeve
with me. For me, I have the biggest issue when
someone states that "we are building our own
home". Sounds impressive and for most would
be a massive undertaking. In almost all cases,
they mean they are paying someone to build
them a home. Most of these types wouldn't
know what end of a hammer to hold. I have
met people that have actually built their
own home, driven every nail, routed wire,
electrical, HVAC...ect. To me that is
impressive. The meaning of "having a
home built" and "building your own home"
are significantly different. For some reason
they are used interchangably.

Having massive amounts of money to come
up with a crazy idea and paying someone else
to execute is a luxury. To be able to execute
the crazy idea is indeed a skill, and one to
be proud of.


Ernie Leimkuhler wrote in message ...
One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured in this
article

http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330


I did all the railings inside and out, the awning over the main door,
the planters and the master bedroom fireplace.

I know I am not listed at the bottom under resoources.
I am currently trying to find out why.

The publisher is based in New Zealand, and I never knew the article was
even coming up.
The Architect just handed me the magazine in his office.

I am supposed to be in Better Homes and Gardens soon.
Their reporter had a long phone chat with me about my company.

"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message ...
One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured in this
article
http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330
I did all the railings inside and out, the awning over the main door,
the planters and the master bedroom fireplace.
I know I am not listed at the bottom under resoources.
I am currently trying to find out why.
The publisher is based in New Zealand, and I never knew the article was
even coming up.
The Architect just handed me the magazine in his office.
I am supposed to be in Better Homes and Gardens soon.
Their reporter had a long phone chat with me about my company.

Hmmm. Nice location for a porn video!

"PR" wrote in message
...
Hmmm. Nice location for a porn video!

Lol.. hey Ernie, would you rather be not listed at all, or listed as
making part of the set for a porno?

Tim

P.S. Looks good!

--
In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!"
Website @ http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

WOW! I am going to go back and do some more polishing. :-)

How did you join those long sweeps of railing and satisfy an SOB client?

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

In article , Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

WOW! I am going to go back and do some more polishing. :-)

How did you join those long sweeps of railing and satisfy an SOB client?

The longest sweep required a 20' 6" piece of tube, and the 180 grit
finish brushed tube only comes in 20' lengths.

So I had to butt weld it on, sand the crap out of it, and then bend it
to shape.

I use pre-brushed tube for hand rails.
It makes life so much easier.

Now I have a Flex tubing sander that wraps around the tube as it sands
the weld away.

I paid $720 for mine.
Porter Cable repair has refurbished ones for $358.

really really nice work, outstanding workmanship!
walt

"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured in this
article

http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330


I did all the railings inside and out, the awning over the main door,
the planters and the master bedroom fireplace.

I know I am not listed at the bottom under resoources.
I am currently trying to find out why.

The publisher is based in New Zealand, and I never knew the article was
even coming up.
The Architect just handed me the magazine in his office.

I am supposed to be in Better Homes and Gardens soon.
Their reporter had a long phone chat with me about my company.

In article , Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

NEW TOOL ALERT! What the heck is a Flex tubing sander??? I'm
salivating already!!! :-)


http://www.flex-tools.de/en/prod/right.php?group=17

Mine is the one on the left.
I have never seen the one of the right until now, looks cool.

It paid for itself in one $12,000 railing.

It uses 1.5" x 24" belts.
I usually buy ceramic or zirconium 3" x 24" belts and split them.

The belt wraps around the tube as you apply pressure.
It makes it extremely easy to erase butt welds on tubing, and blend the
marks in with the brushed finish on the tube.

I like to demo it to my students using a 36 grit zirconium belt on 3"
black iron pipe.
In one pass it polishes 1/3 of the circumference of the tube to a
uniform brushed finish.

The only other tool anything like it is an air version made by
Dynabrade for at least twice the moeny.



Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Glenn Ashmore
wrote:


WOW! I am going to go back and do some more polishing. :-)

How did you join those long sweeps of railing and satisfy an SOB client?


The longest sweep required a 20' 6" piece of tube, and the 180 grit
finish brushed tube only comes in 20' lengths.

So I had to butt weld it on, sand the crap out of it, and then bend it
to shape.

I use pre-brushed tube for hand rails.
It makes life so much easier.

Now I have a Flex tubing sander that wraps around the tube as it sands
the weld away.

I paid $720 for mine.
Porter Cable repair has refurbished ones for $358.

Way way cool!

Best to you and all.

Martin
--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 20:28:31 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

It paid for itself in one $12,000 railing.

Dog gone Ernie how long did it take you to do the whole job for the
one railing? But of more interest how did you manage to get a smooth
bend of such a large radius? Lots and lots of small bends or what?

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Glenn Ashmore
wrote:


NEW TOOL ALERT! What the heck is a Flex tubing sander??? I'm
salivating already!!! :-)



http://www.flex-tools.de/en/prod/right.php?group=17

Mine is the one on the left.
I have never seen the one of the right until now, looks cool.

Fortunately for my wallet the one on the right is not available in the
US yet.

My main problem is blending the bead on the acute side of a 60º joint.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Greetings and Salutations...

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:17:18 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:



Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Glenn Ashmore
wrote:


NEW TOOL ALERT! What the heck is a Flex tubing sander??? I'm
salivating already!!! :-)



http://www.flex-tools.de/en/prod/right.php?group=17

Mine is the one on the left.
I have never seen the one of the right until now, looks cool.

Fortunately for my wallet the one on the right is not available in the
US yet.

Those DO look like interesting and useful toys...tools... I
suspect that for something like the railing project, it turned what
could have been a time-consuming nightmare into a fairly painless
process.
The only thing that puzzles me a TAD is the 1200 watts in
and 700 watts produced fields. Am I goofy, or does this indicate
that there is 500 watts disappearing someplace? Since it has
been my experience that this sort of thing TENDS to result in heat...
something must be getting plenty warm.
Regards
Dave Mundt

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:17:18 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

My main problem is blending the bead on the acute side of a 60º joint.

Other than a rat tail file have you thought of using a soft filler
metal over the weld? Like lead or a soft braze then file that?

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

In article , John Flanagan
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 20:28:31 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

It paid for itself in one $12,000 railing.

Dog gone Ernie how long did it take you to do the whole job for the
one railing? But of more interest how did you manage to get a smooth
bend of such a large radius? Lots and lots of small bends or what?


Rack bending is exactly that.
Lots of small bends.
Before I built my roller is was my only solution.
It isn't really all that hard.
It just takes a good eye for curves.

Take a small stout table.
Bolt it to the ground so it can't move.
Screw wood blocks to the top with curved surfaces.
slide the tube between the blocks while racking the tube to one side
every few inches.
The idea is to have a series of small bends that are close enough
together to fool the eye.
It does take practice, but is extremely cheap to do.

The most critical part is not to allow the tube to rotate, or you end
up with a spiral.
I usually take the length of tube, and nest it into a length of angle
iron, then use the edeg of the angle iron to sharpie marker a line all
the way down the tube.
This way you have a reference line to keep the tube from rotating
accidentally.




John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I
get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 13:12:39 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

The most critical part is not to allow the tube to rotate, or you end
up with a spiral.
I usually take the length of tube, and nest it into a length of angle
iron, then use the edeg of the angle iron to sharpie marker a line all
the way down the tube.
This way you have a reference line to keep the tube from rotating
accidentally.

Very tricky, that's the thing I was wondering about the most. How to
draw a line straight down the side of a tube! Good idea.

But really, $12,000, how much time did it take you? I just want to
know in case there's some room for competition :^).

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:02:35 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

I'm using a chain saw file right now but my arm is gonna fall off before
I get all these joints done and I don't think lead filler would look
very good on polished stainless tube. :-)

Yea, I thought of that as soon as I hit the send key. I can't think
of any other way to do it besides filing or *very* fine tig work.

Maybe you can lead it then chrome plate :^).

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

In article , John Flanagan
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 13:12:39 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

The most critical part is not to allow the tube to rotate, or you end
up with a spiral.
I usually take the length of tube, and nest it into a length of angle
iron, then use the edeg of the angle iron to sharpie marker a line all
the way down the tube.
This way you have a reference line to keep the tube from rotating
accidentally.

Very tricky, that's the thing I was wondering about the most. How to
draw a line straight down the side of a tube! Good idea.

But really, $12,000, how much time did it take you? I just want to
know in case there's some room for competition :^).


About 2 weeks on and off.
We had to get the handrails roughed in fast so they could pass their
mechanical inspection.
We came back a week later to start the clean up work.

The railings ran up both sides of a set of stairs that came up in the
middle of the lobby.
The stairs lead to a short bridge that angled towards the stairwell
that wrapped up around an elevator shaft, and ended at the second floor
lobby.
So the outside perimeter handrail ended up being a continuous tube
about 70 feet long and the inside rail about 50 feet.
For the lower stairs and bridge there already existed a steel rail
system that was built with the stairs.
I had to add the grip tube in 2" brushed stainless.
So we had to hack holes in the walls to glue plywood to the back of the
drywall for the supports, then patch the holes.
Then mount the supports and play connect the dots with 2" brushed
stainless tubing.
Then weld in the elbows.
A week later we came back, sawzalled the rails apart into long pieces,
finished the welds in a temporary shop we set up in the building, grind
all the welds smooth, place the finished rail sections back on their
supports, weld the sections back together in place, sand off those
welds, and finally buff the whole length with scotchbrite.

Easy really.

In article , John Flanagan
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:02:35 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

I'm using a chain saw file right now but my arm is gonna fall off before
I get all these joints done and I don't think lead filler would look
very good on polished stainless tube. :-)

Yea, I thought of that as soon as I hit the send key. I can't think
of any other way to do it besides filing or *very* fine tig work.

Maybe you can lead it then chrome plate :^).

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I
get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.



A air die grinder with small carbide burrs.

In article , Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

In article , John Flanagan
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 13:12:39 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

The most critical part is not to allow the tube to rotate, or you end
up with a spiral.
I usually take the length of tube, and nest it into a length of angle
iron, then use the edeg of the angle iron to sharpie marker a line all
the way down the tube.
This way you have a reference line to keep the tube from rotating
accidentally.

Very tricky, that's the thing I was wondering about the most. How to
draw a line straight down the side of a tube! Good idea.

But really, $12,000, how much time did it take you? I just want to
know in case there's some room for competition :^).


About 2 weeks on and off.
We had to get the handrails roughed in fast so they could pass their
mechanical inspection.
We came back a week later to start the clean up work.

The railings ran up both sides of a set of stairs that came up in the
middle of the lobby.
The stairs lead to a short bridge that angled towards the stairwell
that wrapped up around an elevator shaft, and ended at the second floor
lobby.
So the outside perimeter handrail ended up being a continuous tube
about 70 feet long and the inside rail about 50 feet.
For the lower stairs and bridge there already existed a steel rail
system that was built with the stairs.
I had to add the grip tube in 2" brushed stainless.
So we had to hack holes in the walls to glue plywood to the back of the
drywall for the supports, then patch the holes.
Then mount the supports and play connect the dots with 2" brushed
stainless tubing.
Then weld in the elbows.
A week later we came back, sawzalled the rails apart into long pieces,
finished the welds in a temporary shop we set up in the building, grind
all the welds smooth, place the finished rail sections back on their
supports, weld the sections back together in place, sand off those
welds, and finally buff the whole length with scotchbrite.

Easy really.


BTW I thought I would save money when ordering the elbows from RB
Wagner, by ordering 180 deg turns and then cut the actual angle needed
from that 180 degrees.
I figured I could get several short angles for each turn.
What I didn't count on was that to draw a 2" tube around a 180 deg turn
necessarily reduces it's outside diameter.
It made for some really tricky welds, and then trying to blend out
those weld beads without grinding through the tube wall.

Next time I will order more elbows with shorter arcs.

BTW RB Wagner are great guys.

http://www.rbwagner.com/

They did some 1 day turnaround brushed stainless 180 degree turns I
needed for another job, on a Friday afternoon before a holiday and
actually got them shipped out before the end of the day.
Love those guys.
Bernice is in charge of orders and while her picture in their catalog
isn't very flattering, she is a great lady.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:45:25 -0700, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:


A air die grinder with small carbide burrs.

That's right, I've done this before. But instead of using a burr
which I found to be difficult to control at times and too fat to get
into tight spaces, I used cut-off wheel 4" x 1/16", I think I also had
a thicker wheel too. I got some pretty nice looking results too.
Can't remember what it was for even it's been so long.

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote in
:

One of the houses I worked on in the last few years is featured
in this article

http://www.trendsarticles.com/story/...tory_id=201330


I did all the railings inside and out, the awning over the main
door, the planters and the master bedroom fireplace.

I know I am not listed at the bottom under resoources.
I am currently trying to find out why.

The publisher is based in New Zealand, and I never knew the
article was even coming up.
The Architect just handed me the magazine in his office.

I am supposed to be in Better Homes and Gardens soon.
Their reporter had a long phone chat with me about my company.

Thansk for sharing that Earnie. (wonderbar!)