Thursday, August 18, 2011

A Date With Mr. Sawzall and Mrs. Crow Bar

Today was PURE demolition. I didn't even pick up a wrench today. It was all just the reciprocating saw and the crow bar. The goal of today was to remove a few more sheets of steel from the rear end, and boy oh boy did I accomplish it. It's amazing what you can do in an hour with a few powerful tools.

Here's how it looked after I took off what was left of the rear passenger side. Pretty nice. I'm really getting a feel for how the saw works best. It definitely takes some finessing, but once you get the hang of it, the saw really does all of the work.



Note that I also chopped off what used to be the back upper back seat, and the horizontal panel below the rear window.



But I was not satisfied with just the passenger side, so I took the axe to the drivers side too.






I did sustain a minor injury today at the hands of the saw. Though it's not what you might think. I didn't cut myself. I burned myself! After doing a lengthy cut up the fender well, I pulled the saw out to look at the blade to see how it was doing. Seeing as how I'm five years old, I look with my hands, not my eyes. Even though I was wearing gloves, the heat passed straight through them and gave a little burn to my index finger. There's no visible blistering or anything, just a little bit pink and irritated. I'm sure it will be gone tomorrow.

Good safety lesson though. Had I not been wearing the gloves, I'm sure I would have pretty badly burned my index finger. In fact, I'm sure of it. I also ALWAYS wear my safety glasses. There was one time when I picked up the saw, and my glasses were on the other side of the garage, and I was thinking "well, it's just one cut... what could go wrong." And as you all know, it's that ONE cut that always goes wrong. Even though it was inconvenient and bothersome, I put down the saw and went and fetched my glasses. I also make it a point to unplug the saw any time I put it down. The only time it's plugged in is when it's in my hands.

That's it for today. Very productive, and a lot to show for my one hour of effort!

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