I was looking at block heaters a few weeks ago. The ones I was looking at for my car seemed easy enough to install and not very expensive. If you're worried about scraping, spend a coupla hundred and put one of those in. Want to save electricity? Put it on a timer on only turn it on about 2-3 hours before you leave. ========================================================================== Putting a tarp over the car at night is cheaper and works.
Leaving the car to sleep under the stars is better for it.
I agree. In the north, a heated garage is the worse thing for a car, particularly if you get snow and salt. Your car gets salt water sprayed all under it, it freezes, and no rust. You pull it into a heated garage every night, the frozen saltwater melts, you get a rust bucket.
A tarp always sucks as it traps in moisture. Best is to leave the car out all the time so it can breathe . If you live in North Dakota or other unlivable places, get a block heater so it will/might start at 300 below.
A (heated) garage is for tools.
What you really need is a jointer and a planer, at least if you are looking to have flat uncupped unwound untwisted wood as the final result of your efforts. Using just a planer will give you wood of an even thickness but won't manage to remove the other problems rough wood is heir to. A bandsaw is a wonderful too in the shop and one that is large enough to resaw thick wood is best but it won't give you anything but thinner rough wood.
To be honest, if I only had 300bf of lumber to process I'd spend my money having somebody with a well-equipped shop do the work for me and save up money for some heavy iron and 240V wiring if the need will come up frequently.
Tarps scratch the paint, too.
A carport isn't bad, though. A garage is a good idea if you're married. ...or perhaps if not a garage, a least a dog house. ;-)
A garage is a good place for the car when it is pouring down raining outside and you need to enter or exit the vehicle.
A carport is the same idea, except that it won't keep it warm (a bad thing in freezing weather). But that's the point, either keep her dry or you'll need the dog house to keep you dry. ;-)
Leon wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
That's what a towel is for. If you don't keep one in your car, you probably should. Great for drying off after soaking rains, also good for use as "packaging" to keep something from shifting, or even as a place to catch a bunch of little stuff.
(See Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for more uses of towels.)
Puckdropper
Your dog should live in your house, with your wife, to remind her how you deserve to be treated. You need a shed for your toys, err, tools that don't fit in the garage, like lawn mowers, shovels, rakes and other non-woodworking stuff that doesn't fit in the garage.
You still have to get out of your car and into the garage to move all your tools around so the car will fit. Might as well use the correct tool for staying dry, an umbrella or rain coat and booties...
Is there a reason you think I have a dog? ;-)
Thought about it, but they really don't take that much space, hanging from the walls. A better solution, though more expensive (in more ways than one), was to buy a house with a basement. I use it instead of a dog house (she still lives in the one without the basement). ;-)
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