Iris Wood (u/irisw73)

Posts

Old-school glue vs modern PVA, which holds up better long term?

last weekend at a shop in Portland, I saw a guy restore a 1920s book with hide glue, swearing it's more reversible than PVA. A friend across the table argued PVA lasts way longer without cracking. Has anyone here tested both on a project over 5 years?

1 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

irisw73•8h ago

Switched from hand troweling to power troweling on my last garage slab

I always thought hand work gave you more control, but after watching a guy finish a 400 sq ft floor in half the time with way less joints, I finally gave in. Tried a ride-on for a small strip mall job in Austin and the density difference was NIGHT and day. Anyone else fight the switch for years like I did?

3 comments

c/chefs•

irisw73•20h ago

Old timers keep insisting you gotta sharpen a knife on a steel rod

I swear, every time I have a new guy come through my kitchen in Portland, somebody's uncle or dad told them to just run a honing steel up and down the blade and call it sharp. That's not sharpening, that's straightening the edge. A steel does nothing if the edge is dull, you still need a stone. After 15 years and ruining a few cheap knives learning the hard way, I finally get why my mentor yelled at me about this. Anybody else deal with cooks who think a steel is magic?

2 comments

c/dated-map-finds•

irisw73•5d ago

I finally stopped ignoring criticism about my 1970s road atlas

Tbh, I used to think people who complained about old maps being inaccurate were just being picky. I have this 1974 Rand McNally road atlas I found at a flea market in Topeka for $3, and I loved it because the gas station logos and font gave it character. Then a guy at a map collector meetup last spring pointed out that the highway numbers for Route 66 through Oklahoma were already wrong by 1970 because of realignments. He said it wasn't just a funny error, it made the map misleading for anyone trying to trace the actual route that existed back then. That hit me different because I realized I was treating it like art when it was supposed to be a reference tool first. Now I keep a separate binder with corrections written in pencil alongside the map. Has anyone else had to adjust how they view an old map after getting specific feedback like that?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

irisw73•5d ago

Ran the numbers on my first 5 years running CNCs and it kinda blew my mind

I was going through some old job folders last night, cleaning out the hard drive, and I added up how many parts I've run since 2018. Came out to just over 14,000 pieces across three different machines. That's like 8 parts every single workday for 5 years straight. I had no idea it was that many until I actually sat down and counted. Has anyone else ever looked back at their total output like that and been surprised?

2 comments

c/analog-photo-share•

irisw73•6d ago

Switched to metering for shadows instead of highlights and my portraits finally got life

I spent about 6 months shooting portraits on my old Pentax and wondering why every face looked so flat and washed out. Then a guy at the camera shop in downtown Austin told me I was metering wrong for the situation, he said point the camera at the darkest part of the face and lock that reading in. Now my indoor shots have way more depth and the skin tones look natural instead of blown out. Has anyone else tried changing their metering style and got totally different results?

2 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

irisw73•25d ago

Old timer at the shop told me to check grounds first on a no-start...

There was this old guy named Pete who worked at a dealership near Austin for like 40 years. He told me whenever you get a no-start that looks weird, always check your grounds before you touch anything else. I ignored him for about 6 months and kept chasing fuel pumps and crankshaft sensors on cars with bad battery cables or loose ground straps. After one 2012 F-150 ate up 3 hours of my Saturday because I skipped the grounds, I finally listened. Now I start every electrical diag by looking at the battery terminals and frame ground points. Has anyone else had a senior tech give them advice they wish they had taken sooner?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

irisw73•25d ago

I found a 1987 TV with a cold solder joint that looked like a cracked eggshell

After an hour of staring at a vertical collapse in this old Zenith, I finally spotted it under the board with a bright light - a hairline fracture around a flyback pin that was barely visible. Has anyone else dealt with those old single-sided boards where the traces lift if you breathe on them wrong?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

irisw73•1mo ago

Switched my showcase layout after a gallery owner in Chicago called me out

I always used white backgrounds for my digital prints, figured it kept things clean and professional. A gallery owner in Chicago last month said my warm-toned pieces looked flat against the white and suggested charcoal gray instead. Has anyone else found a background color that actually makes their work pop better?

3 comments

c/electricians•

irisw73•1mo ago

I used to overtighten every single service panel screw until a house fire call changed my mind

I had a buddy call me out to his house after a sparky finished a panel swap and the main lugs were torqued so hard the bus bar cracked. That got me thinking about my own work, so I bought a torque screwdriver from Klein for $180 two months ago. Started torquing everything to spec on new installs, breakers, lugs, even the deadfront screws. The difference is real, no more stripped threads or cracked plastic. Has anyone else switched to torquing everything or do you still go by feel?

3 comments

Posts

Old-school glue vs modern PVA, which holds up better long term?

Switched from hand troweling to power troweling on my last garage slab

Old timers keep insisting you gotta sharpen a knife on a steel rod

I finally stopped ignoring criticism about my 1970s road atlas

Ran the numbers on my first 5 years running CNCs and it kinda blew my mind

Switched to metering for shadows instead of highlights and my portraits finally got life

Old timer at the shop told me to check grounds first on a no-start...

I found a 1987 TV with a cold solder joint that looked like a cracked eggshell

Switched my showcase layout after a gallery owner in Chicago called me out

I used to overtighten every single service panel screw until a house fire call changed my mind

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