Stuck between a straight and a wet place.......

[Peter Quinn]

I'm in a hard spot. Through some strange twist of Karma, I've received from various odd sources a combination of gift cards, amazon cards, money.....that equal almost exactly the cost of a long rail for my makita track saw. And I've been meaning to get one, so great right, amazon sells them, I need to spend amazon gift cards......

But, my wife and I kept the gifts pretty simple between each other this year and decided we were going to go Dutch after Christmas on a kegerator which we have both long wanted. We are fans of premium IPA's that are way cheaper by the keg than the bottle, at 12-16oz each per night we can finish one in just about the time they last, it's a sound investment for the beer drinker. And the collection of gift cards is also equal to exactly half the price of a kegerator, and Amazon also sell the one we were planning to buy....

So I'm in a hard spot. Get the track saw long rail, gloriously straight edge plywood sheets with ease, tell my wife the kegerator will have to wait a few months? Possibly irritate wife who will them make me pay for all the beer. Or buy the kegerator, have ice cold beer always on tap, possibly gain 30 pounds, save small fortune versus what we are spending now on beer, let the track saw rail wait? Or buy a short rail, connect it to the other short rail, fight to get them straight each time.....buy the kegerator anyway?

What to do....how I long for simpler times when life's decisions weren't so complicated.:rolleyes: I asked my father for advice, he said he never faced such a problem......my mother doesn't drink beer!

[Robert LaPlaca]

Peter.. Happy wife, happy life...

[Ronald Cockerham]

Enough said.Period.

[Paul McGaha]

I've seen you comment on a lot of things Peter. Always thoughtful.

I'm sure you'll decide what's best, whichever choice that might be.

PHM

[Joe Bradshaw]

Peter, if Momma ain't happy, nobody is happy.
Joe

[Brian Henderson]

You made an agreement, keep your word.

[keith micinski]

I agree with the sentiment that you made an agreement to but I would at least open the conversation up and see what she says. Also the theory that a happy wife equals a happy life has yet to dawn upon me because I'm pretty certain that there is no way to make a woman happy in the first place so why bother.

[Bill Orbine]

Have another beer...... things will straighten out in time!

[James Nugnes]

Oh Boy you must love to live dangerously.

If it were me, there is no doubt I would by the beer thingy.....hell hath no fury etc etc. But then I would count the money I was saving on the beer and buy the track saw long rail once I hit the saved beer money mark. Even with that I would probably ask if I could throw the first glut of beer savings at the rail instead of just deciding myself. Just doing it quickly in my head based on your suggested rate of consumption I am guessing at 6 months of beer savings gets you the long rail, max. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT CONFRONT HER WITH THE ARRANGEMENT BEFORE BUYING THE BEER THINGY. Make sure she has the beer thingy in hand. Thus you are not appearing to be forcing her to make a decision between it and the long rail. If she agrees make sure she can see the tally growing for your track saw long rail. I would bet she will break down at some point during the six months and end up tossing in some money she had been putting away for you as a reward for being such a thoughtful hubby and not just absconding with the beer thingy funds. If she made you suffer more than 3-4 months you could knock me over with a feather. You may win on all scores if you have some patience.

[keith micinski]

Hahahahahahahahaahahah

[John A langley]

I think I would go with getting the beer kegerato with the gift cards I think the next time you make some extra money on the job by the Tool I think it might Help withyour taxes

[Tom M King]

It would get pretty expensive to trade that one in for one that drinks wine.

[Frank Martin]

No question, beer wins!

[george newbury]

If you are that much of a fan of premium beer but have to scrimp for a fridge to store it in you should build your own. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/diy-draft-step-by-step-kegerator-plans

Then take the $$ you saved and get beer brewing equipment and brew your own beer. Brewing good beer is easy if you can wait for it to mature.

[Mike Henderson]

Peter.. Happy wife, happy life...
+1 Absolutely true.

Mike

[Mike Cutler]

Peter

I know lots of guys that have track saw rails. I don't know anyone that has their own kegerator.

Get the kegerator.

[Andrew Kertesz]

The gift cards, money, certificates and what have you were given to you by various people for you to get what you wanted/needed. If you can spend it and make TWO people happy it seems like a no brainer. More bang for the buck and in the end you will come out ahead...

[Justin Ludwig]

Kegerator. If you feel bad after buying the kegerator, just have another quaff o' tasty beer and fuhgetaboutit. Plus, I've never had a problem aligning 2 short rails to make 1400mm for ripping along the length of plywood. So so so handy when out on the job building closets.

BTW - after you buy the kegerator, you need to start a new thread with pictures. May I recommend Pliny the Elder (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/863/7971/)or Bell's Brewery "Hopslam (http://www.bellsbeer.com/brands/19-Hopslam%20Ale)" as your first choices to load that pig. Enjoy!

[Peter Quinn]

It would get pretty expensive to trade that one in for one that drinks wine.

Well Tom......she drinks that too! We had more budget for that before children and the great recession, I already built her a small wine cellar, but it's rarely got more than a few bottles in I these days, more of an occasional treat. She likes a warm fire in the fire place and a glass of red wine in cold nights, I usually have plenty of scraps to cover the fire part. Simple pleasures. It's the ones who like expensive handbags and European cars that get expensive! But they don't usually marry cabinetmakers.

[Peter Quinn]

Guys, thanks for the clear perspective. It's got to be the kegerator. The track will wait until it has to or I take on the side work to pay for it. Only question left is where to put it? Choices are in her home office or in my shop. Her office is much cleaner and less dusty. But. I could build a bar with a filtered fresh air intake, maybe build it into the TS out feed table.....or maybe as part of a new miter saw bench......serve just one client a year a beer and perhaps I could write off the kegs?

[Earl McLain]

I have to confess that i'm not a beer drinker--so i may be off the mark. If the savings on beer is say $1.00 each per day--putting a tip jar next to the Kegerator would get you to the long rail pretty quickly. That would make your bride happy, you happy and the rail would come in just a few months. On the other hand...the long rail results in no daily savings, so it just doesn't offer the return on investment that the Kegerator does. (though if it helps stop the destruction of plywood, on could argue that there is the potential for savings) Just looking at the economics, i'd have to vote in favor of Kegerator and committing the savings for a time.

The potential "hiccup" in the plan--with it readily available on tap, beer consumption increases and the money jar gets raided to fund the increase. Not the worst thing in the world!!

earl

[John A langley]

Peter I vote for the office I bet my last nickel you wouldn't be drinking in the shop while you're working , my wife does not like to go to my shop afraid I will make her sand. Happy new year

[Larry Edgerton]

I bought my wife a shaper, jointer, log splitter and a rototilller this year..........

I'm just saying....

Oh ya, I just built her a new house, so I get a pass for a while.

[Kevin Wolfe]

A vote for the track saw and build her something. Maybe a beautiful cabinet for the kegerator.

[Brett Luna]

My vote goes to the kegerator. As nice as it would be to have that track, it appears that the kegerator is something you would enjoy together. After all, I don't think very many people ever died wishing they'd bought one more woodworking tool. Don't let that be a regret...as she's killing you for not making the right choice.

[glenn bradley]

If you're buying the beer in bottles anyway, the Kegerator is already being paid for and then some. You just have to properly allocate those funds.

[Keith Weber]

Easy! -- I'd just buy both! For full disclosure, though, I haven't been reckless enough to get married yet.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm sorry the choice was between beer and - never mind.

[ken masoumi]

Guys, thanks for the clear perspective. It's got to be the kegerator.

Ohhh,no,get the track saw,she'll understand ,you gotta be you.

[Jason Roehl]

Not that I'm biased or anything, but I haven't gained 30 lbs. in the two years since my DUAL-TAP kegerator has been up and running. Two homebrews on tap right now...

302778302779

[Peter Quinn]

Win Win Ending! Maybe its Karma, because I had committed to honoring the promise LOML and I made to be free of bottles, maybe its dumb luck, maybe just random....but I walked into the borg early this AM, buying some light bulbs and weather stripping...always an exciting trip. And there near the registers was a stainless steel single tap kegerator, a few small dings in the lower part of the door, floor display of a popular christmas promo appliance, on sale for $297. Brand new, full warranty.....sold! Its in my wife's office, holding temp at about 33 degrees (which may be too cold for beer but I wanted to test the range), CO2 is filled, keg has been ordered! And at that price there is enough money left over to buy the track saw much sooner rather than later, we had planned to spend nearly double that on a keg fridge.

Jason, that set up looks fantastic! I got my co2 filled at a local home brew supplies vendor, I picked up a bottle brush and sanitizer to prep some flip top bottles in preparation for my own first batch of home brew....I may be headed the twin towers route before long! I looked for a small fridge on craigs list for some time, but all I found was either too old, too large, or way too expensive. So I abandoned ship and went with a compact pre made version.

Larry, my wife would love a rototiller for her garden, but that sounds like more work for me. Maybe a garden weasel? I'm afraid of what she might do to me if I bought her a jointer. The new house is a nice touch though.

[Jason Roehl]

Peter, I just had to have my CO2 tank re-filled for the first time a few weeks ago. The initial fill was at a compressed gas supply shop, who, I found out when my CO2 tank was empty, was bought out in the last year, and the local refill services discontinued. So, after some phone calls, a few stops and a Google search, I discovered that a local fire extinguisher service will fill them for a good price.

[Peter Quinn]

Wow, always an opportunity to learn! Fired up the keg, was glorious for 3 days..then it turned into a sudsy doom. The foam...the foam...the foam....all foam all the time. So I hit the net, start learning about the physics of fluid dynamics....er...how to get de beer to de tap wit out de foam......Turns out that most cheap kegerators got that way by shoving cheap chinese junk draft systems into a basic mini fridge. The fridge I got works great, the $.07 regulator not so much, the too short beer delivery line not great, the vastly undersized oxygen line (that is actually delivering CO2 but is apparently taken from oxygen tanks for medical devices) not acceptable. So I dump another $75 into replumbing the whole thing (almost exactly the cost of a second 55" rail for the track saw BTW)...new regulator MADE IN USA.....new beer line, new gas delivery line.....still cheaper than the next best option that might well have needed the same upgrade.

End result....GREAT BEER! Yes, truly wonderful fresh draft beer. I don't even miss the long rail! Yet....

[Peter Gavin]

The gift cards were presents for You. You should spend them on what You want. The kegerator is a gift to each Other. You should each contribute an equal amount out of funds Separate from the other gifts. How would your wife feel if you asked her to sell some of her presents to fund her half of the kegerator?

Pedro

[Chuck Hart]

I thought you were going to save a ton of money on the beer so I would start the conversation with "You know honey since I used my gift cards to get the kegorater and we are saving so much money on the beer I want to buy Blah Blah Blah" ... should work, she got what she wanted.

[Peter Quinn]

I thought you were going to save a ton of money on the beer so I would start the conversation with "You know honey since I used my gift cards to get the kegorater and we are saving so much money on the beer I want to buy Blah Blah Blah" ... should work, she got what she wanted.

I'm waiting for the right moment, like this spring....after heating season is over....on a warm evening when she's had a couple of beers to cool off....timing is everything! Until then I've decided just not to cut any more plywood....I'll spend the winter drinking beer instead! On a serious note if I happen to book a paying job that requires or is expedited by the long track I wont hesitate to acquire one, until then the copious amount of fresh beer in my basement presently will just have to medicate the tool junkie in me that wants it just to be prepared. Hey wait....a kegerator is pretty much a beer delivery tool....it has valves and handles, tubes, levers...definitely a tool. In a sense I almost have to get the track to balance the universe....one tool keeps you straight and the other makes sure you are not. Never shall they mix.