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Post by biggkidd on Oct 22, 2017 10:21:16 GMT -6
Another thing that "may" keep people from causing me as much hassle as you appear to get is that I carry my 1911 ALL the time. People have also come to learn that I have a couple handy talents and quite a bit of useful knowledge. Mostly how to.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 22, 2017 15:23:04 GMT -6
This page www.anythinggreen.com/thuja-green-giant.htmlgives the width at maturity and the spacing to use them for screening in either a single or a double row. It also has the planting area graphic and prices for single plants of various heights. If you can use 100 trees, can wait for growth (3-5 feet/year), and have two days available to get them all planted the $170 for 100 seedlings delivered isn't a bad price. Had I known of these trees when we bought our property, we would have located some of the flower beds differently, had a couple of big trees removed (I don't work on 40-60 foot trees) and put these to screen a large section (on the road side of where I'd like to have the solar panels) Don't think I can persuade my wife to dig up her well-established bed of day lilies and iris unless I rent a sod cutter and a large tiller to take up some lawn and make a new and better bed in sunnier space (not likely - it'd be easier to persuade the property owner on that side to let me pay for having some trees removed along the property line).
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Post by crice118 on Oct 22, 2017 16:28:39 GMT -6
I just have to keep the mentality, that if that's the worse I deal with then I'm blessed, I'm looking to buy some bamboo which can be harvested for lightweight poles instead of pvc pipes and some kinds you can eat the shoots, the wrong kind is invasive the right kind you can control the placement, just hate that my neighbors come over and snoop from the road to see what they can call about and will be looking up the site, thanks!
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 22, 2017 17:18:15 GMT -6
Current events:
I am closing my lawnmower and small engine shop. It's been taking to hard a toll on me even being part time. We are using an old deck which we widened to 8 foot. It's 24 feet long it came off a building I took down for our neighbor a few years ago. Had no idea what I'd use it for when I decided to keep it intact. Now we know it's becoming the floor to a storage building we are currently putting together to hold my tools and shop supplies. The roof and framework are one of the shopping cart covers we recently got from an out of business grocery store. I'll take a picture or two tomorrow. The ones I took today were still to large to post here. Think I have finally figured out how to adjust the camera on my phone to work for this. The sides are going to be made of old tin roofing from the same building we got the deck from. This will be one of the lowest cost buildings I've ever built. We have the choice of stopping at 21 feet long or going 28 or 35 feet with only part of it having a floor. The sections of the cart cover are roughly 7 feet long. That's the reason for the odd sizes.
If we hadn't gotten these they would have gone to the dump. The company who let us have them got paid for their removal and disposal. So they made out both ways no dump fees and they didn't have to pay to get them down. We made out in the form of covered area which is always at a premium.
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 23, 2017 12:03:44 GMT -6
Well we got all the roof panels in finally! That was a HARD job one half cripple and his daughter who's 5 foot nothin and 12 years old. The legs are about 6 foot tall and working from ladders / step stools is tough with such unmatched sizes & strengths. Proud of my little girl she's learning to be a good worker and gaining knowledge everyday!
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 23, 2017 13:40:08 GMT -6
Looks good. Never sell a girl short - even a short 12 year old can get a lot done. Our older daughter isn't much taller than that. When she was in high school, she helped reroof the house.
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 23, 2017 15:51:22 GMT -6
I had hoped to get some of the sides on today, didn't happen. Side effects of my meds got me instead. I've had 2 oxycotin in my bag for several months saving them for when I just hurt to much. Now I have one. I'm praying the pain eases soon I can't take much more! Along with the MS I have carpal tunnel in both arms. It's not been a good day.
Hope you all have a better day. Going to try and get the tools up in a few. Good chance of rain tonight.
If it weren't for my daughter I'd still be sleeping and it wouldn't get done. She's such a helpful little sweetheart. So thankful for her and her help.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 23, 2017 16:47:43 GMT -6
Good kids make you glad that you have them and maybe want more like them ;-)
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 25, 2017 18:10:19 GMT -6
Tonight I'll talk about our wood stove since we just fired it for the first time this year. It was headed to the dump from a hunting cabin down the road. Guy complained it smoked from every seam and never stayed lit. So I rode the tractor over and got it in the front end loader. This has been 4-5 or more years ago. Cast iron stoves are heavy even small CHEAP ones like this. I would guess this little chinese stove was made in the late 80's-mid 90's but I'm no expert. It's about 14 inches wide and 28 inches long. Never had any fire brick just little thin cast iron curtain type deflectors just inside the walls. Ment to keep the sides from getting to hot. What's really cool about it is the log cabin scene with trees clouds chimney smoke and all raised in the cast iron sides.
I took it home set it in the yard and put a couple lengths of stove pipe on it and lit a fire. Just barely got one going and yep smoke coming out of every joint. This thing came in a flat box when new and had to be assembled. WOAH some people shouldn't be allowed to own tools! This stove being made in pieces left some options for how each person wanted it set up. There's a cast iron divider plate and three places the stove pipe can exit. They had the divider in backwards just above the door and the pipe just above it. No wonder the stove wouldn't draw the fire back through the wood. They had some thin high temp rope used as gaskets on every seam. Well the assembler tightened every screw until the gaskets split and leaked. This also caused just about every panel to warp.
So I carried it over a friends shop where I was helping out some. Took it all the way down to the smallest pieces and wire wheeled it to bare metal. I didn't own a sandblaster at the time or I would have used it. Then I reassembled it with judicious use of spacers (cut in half 1/4" washers) to pull the warped pieces as straight as I could. No gaskets! Then I took my Lincoln 175HD with plain old mig wire and welded it up tight on every seam. I can hear people already saying you can't weld cast that way. Well I'm here to tell you you can. It's been several years nary a weld has cracked or broken. I turned the divider and moved the pipe to the other side. The stove has been our main heat source ever since. I have three other woodstoves here that were nicer and much more expensive. In one case huge and cost more new than my truck! But I like the design on the side and now that it has those silly curtain pieces removed and firebrick inside it works perfect!
Now that it's all together correctly and with the addition of the firebrick it's a very efficient little stove. We generally use 3 to 5 cords of wood a year since. In the foothills of VA. Counting welding wire and a wire cup for the grinder I may have spent $20 on this stove. And it looks great in my livingroom! I did spend a fair price for the best highest temperature flat black paint I could find. It got two full coats with a third on the top and door. Still looks as good as the day we brought it home...
I would be surprised if it doesn't out last me at this point. We have also cooked some mighty fine stews and chili and often times breakfast on this little stove.
In today's market anyone can afford a little 130-175 amp wire welder. They cost less than $200 and wire welding is so SO much easier than stick welding. If you can use a hot glue gun then welding with a wire welder will be a breeze. Important things to remember protect you eyes. Let me say that again COVER YOUR EYES whether grinding or welding or sanding cover your EYES. GLoves are always a plus too along with leather clothes or aprin or what have you. A plain old leather coat turned around and worn backwards works quite well. Never ever weld with your pants inside your shoes! Getting molten metal out from between your toes can NOT happen fast enough!!!!!
Far to much in our current world is thrown away like this stove almost was. Think what you can do with something before you toss it. I often haul stuff off for people to make a extra buck or two usually part of it comes home sometimes all of it. Better yet it gets used again or again and again.
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 25, 2017 19:41:53 GMT -6
Sounds as though your welding expertise is payin' off. The only way I can weld is with JB.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 25, 2017 21:06:48 GMT -6
I'm big on reusing things - even money. Sounds crazy? Let me explain. In March several years ago, we needed a new dishwasher. The salesman at Lowe's suggested we buy a gift card for the amount of the dishwasher, delivery and installation as they were doing a "tax back" promo on gift cards and you would get 15% added to the original value of the card after April 15 (tax day). Taking advantage of the discounts of combining appliance purchase, delivery and installation and getting the purchase without sales tax because it was an "installation" and not a take-home "purchase", I actually got the dishwasher purchased, delivered and installed for a little less than what the dishwasher alone would have cost me (this $100+ doesn't count because I didn't get it, I just didn't spend it).
Fast forward to April 15. The $600 gift card gets 15% added so I have $90 of Lowe's money to spend. The toilets in the house are 30+ years old and the 3.5 gallon variety. The County water system offers a $100 rebate for each one that is replaced with a low flow toilet. The $90 gets applied toward replacing the first toilet. I send in the paperwork and the County sends me $100. The $90 of Lowe's money is now $100 of the County's money.
Apply that $100 on the second toilet and get the $100 rebate. Couple of years later, apply that $100 on replacing the third toilet. Rules have gotten a little stricter and only 1.2gpf toilets get the $100 rebate. The 1.26gpf toilet only gets a $50 rebate. Need to send in the paperwork for that this week.
Basically, you can spend the same $$ more than once. $90 of Lowe's money became $100 of the County's money became another $100 of the County's money and now will become $50 of the County's money. Not sure what I'll spend that on but doubt that it will all be rebated ;-)
I also use things until I can't repair them again. The 19 year old fridge was to be replaced today but the new fridge was dented (3 small but obvious dents on the front, one right at eye level) when they got it off the truck to remove the foam padding and plastic wrap. Not acceptable on a new appliance. Less obvious dents might have been OK but we'd already checked the local "scratch and dent" aisles for something to match our needs before plunking down the $$ for a new-in-the-box fridge. The warehouse says another week to get us another fridge. I'm waiting to see if the old fridge cools down adequately after being open for unloading and reloading today.
The clothes dryer is a 2000 model (from the "scratch and dent" aisle) that I've replaced the drive belt and rollers in several times. That overhaul kit is now probably $60 or so but still much cheaper than a new basic dryer.
I cut the grass with a 2003 Sears riding mower which I purchased used (with trailer) for $450 in November of 2008. Other than currently needing new belts (drive and mower deck, have them in my supplies) and possibly new blade mandrels in the mower deck, it has basically needed minimal maintenance - I've sharpened or replaced blades (don't know how many times) and replaced the battery at least twice. I'll know for certain about the mandrels when I jack the mower up and check - there's a Sears parts store within an hour's drive and they stock the mandrels. Jacking up the mower means that I must park my truck in the driveway and use that side of the garage to work in - for light and heat as I'm not a fan of lying on the ground and working outside when the temperature is below 50F. I can have a creeper (or a couple layers of cardboard) under me and - depending on the temperature - an electric heater or the kerosene heater so I'm not working in a coat (I've done a lot of that, including putting chains on the rear wheels of a number of vehicles so I could get through ice and/or snow - still have a set of chains in the basement that will fit my truck but hope to never need them).
I rebuilt the drive mechanism on the Sears walk-behind mower a number of times and finally replaced that mower with an electric start, self-propelled Honda (electric start a concession to age and bad shoulders). The old mower will get a second life with the engine driving an 85 amp CS130 alternator for charging batteries (including the solar battery bank if needed) and starting vehicles in cold weather. The 6.5HP engine is overkill for that use (only need about 2HP) but it's free and already has a V-belt pulley on the shaft.
I haven't purchased a new laptop since a job required that much upgrade in 2007. My newest laptop is a 2012 model purchased this month for $100 delivered. I don't do high end graphics and I'm not into computer gaming so I don't need the latest and most expensive device. The laptop I'm typing on now is a 2006 model because I like the keyboard and it does NOT have the 16x9 screen that restricts how much text I can have (vertically) on the screen a a time. Have I mentioned that I really like Dell laptops because they just keep going? The one that monitors my solar installation is a 2007 model and I have a second of those for doing web searches and downloads that might be iffy because I can rebuild the hard drive very quickly.
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 26, 2017 7:05:45 GMT -6
The stove when I got it. What it looked like when I got done. Sorry about the picture quality! Papa I think you and I are a bit alike. With very different knowledge bases.
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Post by crice118 on Oct 26, 2017 7:21:37 GMT -6
and there's another skill you have which is marketable now and continue to be, let people bring you things and as you have to sit through the colder months refurbish/refinish/resurface/restore small and large for food/wood/work you have problems doing, another valuable asset/skill you have
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 26, 2017 11:14:04 GMT -6
The stove when I got it. View Attachment What it looked like when I got done. View Attachment Sorry about the picture quality! Papa I think you and I are a bit alike. With very different knowledge bases. Keeps you warm and it looks good. I think that one is a keeper ;-) When I was in high school, I worked one summer at a shop that built truck bodies (obviously, back in the days of tombstone stick welders). I picked up enough by osmosis to be able to cut, bend and stick weld an ugly but functional tool box (about 36" x 12" x 12"). Probably not bad for a first effort but it was lost along the way of moving out from home, getting married and other little life events ;-) I bought a Harbor Freight 90 amp flux core welder at one of their sales some years ago. I don't use it for structural work (it's not powerful enough) but have used it for minor things (using some 1/16" steel angle to extend a shepherd's crook supporting a hummingbird feeder and making a name plaque (steel and weld bead for the strength side and painted pink for the girly side of one of my wife's cousins when she complained that most girly things weren't durable). In an EMP scenario, the electronics for the wire welder's wire feed might be affected (but they are designed to work in some very high electric fields). If your generator survives and is big enough to run the welder, your work time would be limited by supplies of wire and gas. Oxy-acetylene would be the technology that survived - as long as you had bottled oxygen and acetylene...
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Post by biggkidd on Oct 28, 2017 8:40:08 GMT -6
Papa I have 5 or more running generators and more than a dozen 10lb rolls of wire mostly the kind that doesn't need gas. I do keep gas and solid wire also. So I think my chances of welding for sometime are pretty good long as the welder it self survives. I also have a old miller stick welder. I've also done some welding with a pair of batteries jumper cables and coat hangers or welding rods depending on what was available at the time. I also keep a minimum of 100 gallons of regular unleaded gas at all times.
If I ever have time and energy I'd like to build a forge. I think I have everything needed to do so. So many projects so little energy and time!
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Post by crice118 on Oct 28, 2017 10:44:07 GMT -6
hey would you be building a solar forge using panel to power the bellows as in blowing puffs of air based on what the temperature requirement was where if it got above the regulated temp air would slow or below the temperature it would speed up the puffs of air, seems like with some temperature probes and knob dialable heat setting and relays you could keep the temperature you want based on what type of forge heat you needed, you would have a chute for coal to drop small amounts at a time like a drawer or hopper which could fill then you move the level to rotate it and drop it down to the fire Attachments:
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 28, 2017 13:31:13 GMT -6
A solar-assisted forge is possible.
The temperature would typically be checked by a thermocouple that could withstand the heat of the forge (potential of a couple thousand degrees).
Having adequate and reliable solar power requires knowing how much sun you get each month (info available online for much of the world), how much power the blower and feed motors need and how many hours a day you might use the forge. Remember that the need for working metal does not always coincide with a sunny day so the battery bank should be adequate for running the forge (probably plus some lights, as things do break after sunset).
Depending on what you can scrounge, the blower might be the heater fan from a car and they usually have a multi-speed switch which puts resistors in series with the motor to slow it down (not efficient and that type of power wasting is not compatible with solar power. The proper speed control would be an electronic PWM speed control that wastes very little energy. You need to know the maximum amps the blower needs to be able to size the speed control but probably under $20 from China (banggood.com).
A windshield wiper motor and its gearbox plus arms could e used to power the fuel feeder (coal or pellets). Car wiper motors run on 12 volts and the parts for a 12 volt solar system are readily available (walmart.com).
Having a thermocouple to read the temperature implies having a microprocessor to read the thermocouple then adjust the blower speed and fuel feed to maintain the temperature (probably an Arduino, as there is lots of free code to do typical tasks).
If using the blower from a car heater, you need 12 volts DC to power it. 12 volt solar systems are the most common DIY solar because so much is available - panels, charge controllers, batteries - and there are many 12 volt devices that you may want to have, just remember to add those loads into your calculations for the sizes of the components in your solar system. Having a 12 volt to USB adapter to charge your phone, tablet, ipod, whatever is convenient but they do require power to operate. That power isn't a concern when you're in the car and in motion but they will eventually run the battery down if the engine is off.
I'll usually harp on the size of the solar system and the power required by the loads you plan to have because it's very easy to think "I run this in the car and it only has one battery. Why do I need more or bigger batteries to do solar?". You can't just turn the key and get sunlight.
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Post by biggkidd on Nov 5, 2017 19:30:11 GMT -6
We touched on the rocket stove water heater so now seems like a good time as any to tell about it. (The original pictures and write up can be found at homesteading today look up rocket stove water heater. It's built out of a 100lb propane tank for the outer shell. Which I cut in half by grinding out the original weld with a cut off wheel. I used a 30lb tank inside to hold the coil. This was later changed. You can see the 20ish foot coil sitting behind the stove in the pic. It worked just not well enough to suit me. This is the coil that replaced it. Grrrrr Files are to large! I haven't had any luck resizing them I am NOT a computer person. Maybe I can send them to someone else who can resize them. It wouldn't fit inside the 30lb tank so it was cut down to just a tray holding this coil. Again file to large sorry guys. Anyway the burn chamber was made out of used oil tank metal.
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Post by biggkidd on Nov 5, 2017 19:40:01 GMT -6
The round cylinder in the last picture started life as an O2 tank if I remember correctly. These tanks and the 100lb tank were the "materials pile" I worked from. Along with some cutting tools I used. Thanks again to Pat who let me use his shop for this project. As you can see here I just cut the ends off. By starting the cut with a cut off wheel then moved on with a sawzall. Here you can see I made the air intake separate from the feed chute. The air intake is the narrow slot in front the larger square opening is the feed chute.
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Post by biggkidd on Jan 9, 2018 21:17:03 GMT -6
Hmm Need to get back to this one day.
For today I wanted to talk about hydrogen generators. They actually work I am amazed. I had to try it for myself before i would believe it. So I built a wet cell today. Consists of a Stainless Steel (hereafter SS) liter water bottle a pile of SS split and flat washers 3) 1/4" x 4" SS bolts welded end to end and a 1/4" nipple. 12V power Uses plain old water and 2 teaspoons of baking soda. We have explosive gas. Haven't done more than light water and dish soap bubbles and watched them explode yet. Makes a very loud pop for just a half dozen or so bubbles big around as a cigarette. One thing I've learned so far is more baking soda = more gas. Started off with 1/2 teaspoon and worked up to 2 teaspoons so far. I have a feeling that will increase. But with the increase of baking soda the amperage draw increases. The little generator I want to try adding this to only has an 8 amp 12V dc maximum. Right now I would guess we are drawing 2-3 amps using the 2 amp setting on an old old very basic battery charger.
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Post by kansasterri on Feb 25, 2018 20:34:55 GMT -6
Biggkidd, you are awesome. I have MS also, and while I am not a builder I am a gardener. A couple of things to make gardening easier: a row of 5' metal stakes. Plant peas and top crop green beans. Run string from stake to stake on both sides of your veggies so they do not fall over. Sit on a cheap hardware store plastic stool while you weed and pick.
The pods stay clean because the plants stay off of the ground.
Peas are very easily shelled if you blanch the pea pods first: put them in ice water after they are blanched to make them cool enough to handle. Pinch each pea pod in the middle and the peas will shoot out the side. This is much easier than picking the pea pods apart to get at the peas
Tie tomatos to the stakes: then you can sit on the stool and pick tomatos.
This year I have scrounged 6x6's that I am putting in the garden in a double row 12" apart. I will drop potatos on the ground and then fill the bed with leaves, chicken floor bedding, lawn clippings, etc. I figure by stacking the 6x6's 2 deep I can get a heavy crop of indeterminate ( long season) potatos with no digging at all. Early season potatos are determinate and they will not set potatos all up the stem but long season potatos will. And, because the bed is so narrow I can fill it with less litter than a wide bed would take, and the spuds will also be easier to harvest.
I am not trying to drift the thread you are awesome. You did mention you were starting a garden and the above shortcuts have made things much easier for me.
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Post by biggkidd on Feb 25, 2018 21:01:58 GMT -6
Thanks always like hearing garden tips!
I need to get back to this I just keep wearing myself out all the time.
Today my 12 year old daughter and I put up another of the 4 carports I got earlier this year. So now I have a roof to do some work under. I need to get the other 2 up but that's a hard job for the two of us and requires long breaks in between.
Another thing I've been working on lately is building a battery charger / power supply out of an old microwave transformer. Which leads me into the possibility of have power in more places around the property. Need to find a few more transformers.
HHO projects have gotten out of hand. Looks like I am going to radically modify an engine to attempt a generator on HHO / air with no other fuels. Going to take a while.
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Post by biggkidd on Feb 28, 2018 19:24:10 GMT -6
Well finally got the dry cell done for the little Honda EU2000 done and running. Made almost entirely from scrap and free stuff. It appears to be working like a champ. I cut up a small stainless steel sink out of a camper for the plates. I did sandblast the Stainless steel plates which increases the surface area. The "O-rings" are new old stock ball jar rubbers I found somewhere. The case or body is some used lexan I had laying around. The canning rubbers are 2 & 1/8 inches inside diameter there are 7 plates and 8 rubbers giving 6 wet zones or cells. It is drawing around 5 amps at 12 volts and producing gas very well. The electrolyte is H2O and KOH mixed around 10-15% by weight, which is about half strength. Full strength is 28% by weight. In the few hours it's been running it has only gained maybe 8* of heat. So that tells me it's working extremely efficiently. When I figure out if it's actually saving me fuel I'll let y'all know. The unit measures 4.5 inches square by about 1.5 inches thick so fairly small. I used a couple of small battery electrolyte bottles for my electrolyte and bubbler.
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