Personally, I don't really see the need for a laser guidance system in this saw for the following reasons. The item being cut is pressed against the fixed rails at the rear of the saw table. The saw blade angles are already fixed by the settings you make prior to beginning the cut. Therefore, the only variable is the "sideways" positioning of the piece being cut in relationship to the blade. While I agree that the laser (if highly accurate) will assist you in determining that position, so will lowering the blade to the work before making it spin. I think that a laser works better on hand-held jig-saws and "Skil-style" saws when there is no mechanical guide in play. Just my opinion.

You have 2 strikes against you Wilma - your altitude and having to use packaged beans. The altitude I can't help with except to suggest a dial gauge canner so that you'd only have to use 12 lbs. 15 lbs. will mush many things that do well down at my altitude and 10 lbs. so a dial gauge lets you be more flexible with the pressure used. Of course you have to have the gauge checked for accuracy. But that is a good example of how it isn't the guidelines that are the cause of the problem. :) The bean quality makes worlds of difference - if you can't grow your own as I do and as commercial canners use (fresh harvested) - can be improved by changing sources for your dried beans. Do you have anything like a Whole Foods store or similar available? Stores where the stock is dated and turns over quickly and sold in bulk? The bags sold in the grocery stores for $1.50, $1.95 and such are already months old (years in some cases) and were often dried artificially and overly dried. <Last time I used dry beans, not soaked at all, and covered them with cold water with a bit of salt. (Unsafe cheating?) I filled less than half full of beans. It turned out there were too many beans, not enough liquid to cover, > Yeah that would be considered unsafe due to insufficient heat penetration. And the low liquid in the jars will definitely happen if they aren't at least somewhat rehydrated first as they will soak it all right up. You could try the overnight soak in very hot water (no stove heat just pour boiling water over them and then let them sit) and then next day just heat them up to boiling, fill the jars 1/2 to 2/3 full with the rehydrated hot beans and top with HOT water and salt. The jars and contents need to be hot going into the PC. And yes you can use Pickle Crisp too. I use it with my canned potatoes and it really helps. One other suggestion is doing them in tomato juice rather than water. Requires only 65 mins for pints and they stay firmer as the juice isn't as readily absorbed. The instructions say tomato sauce but I prefer using juice. Hope this helps. Dave

Ditto! I totally want to thank you for making the time to write such a detailed, informative and *helpful* post. Your thoroughness is outstanding and totally puts me to shame. We just lifted up the old vinyl, cleaned the subfloor, laid out the radiant heat mats and then did the SLC atop it. Here and there a piece of the wire popped out of the SLC and i wondered what I was doing wrong. I was told "not to worry, the mastic / tile will cushion it and it'll end up level." Um, okay. But so far so good (we're doing the marble mini hex tiles). Anyway, so we were nowhere near as thorough as you and I'm kinda scared how we'll ultimately pay for that ... This post is a Must Read for all who plan on tiling. Bravo to you for writing it. And Thank You!

Since you probably need to primer the spots, etc anyway, yes, I would do the entire room, so that when you paint, you dont get blotches instead of even paint coats. Paint that says primer with it, isnt really a good primer type. There are several oil based primers. Almost all paint brands will have one. Just ask at your paint store. While Kilz is not my favorite, I have heard their oil based primer does a good job. Thats just one name.