ShopTalk Sunday: Second Depression Fix-It Shops?

Play before Work, I always say. (But never actually do.)

Where is the Welder Review???

There’s a “dog ate my welder” story in here…

Today was scheduled to be a review of that Chineseum knock-off of the Smith Little Torch.  That one retails on the Zon for (take a look).  While the Chineseum was under $25-bucks – including shipping on eBay!  They even copied the Smith manual which is really, uh, insulting.

Saturday, out comes Mr. Ure, ready to work and he sets up a couple of things on the welding table, like so:

Next step was to attach the mini welding torch to the acetylene and oxy bottles.

Before removing the hoses, though, a mandatory safety check.  Oxy regulator looked like it was supposed to:

BUT the acetylene?  Look closely and see if you can spot the problem:

OK…why are we showing 52 PSI on the gas regulator with the tank off and the hose bled?

Whoopie!  This is exactly  the kind of systemic failure Mr. Ure lives and schemes for!

OK Wise-Ass…Why?”

Because, at this point, I shuffle over to the shelving unit adjacent and pull a dusty black box off the shelf…

TA-DAH!!!!

“WAIT, URE.  You’re saying you had a complete oxy rig as a spare with regulators and, tips, cleaners, strikers…EVERYTHING???

Mean you don’t?

This was laid down in 2013.  Even (thanks to the net still being up (give it time) I can show you what I paid for it.  Campbel-Hausfeld WT-4000 series:

(OK,… So this overboard prepper stuff borders on compulsive and hoarder, but let’s not quibble. Gas welding rigs haven’t gone up much.)

Me being the son of a firefighter (and father of one, too, come to think of it) it struck me that I needed to closely inspect the hoses while I was at it.

The new rig only came with 12 1/2-feet of hose, and the couplers to extend them was missing.  So those were ordered along with back-flash suppressors, too.  (You’d gamble a fire and worse on unknown Chineseum without explosion arrestors?  Braver than me, Bud….)

I can almost hear what Pappy would ask before such a test.  “You sure you trust that Chinese micro welding rig and lines just 3-feet from your regulators?

“No of course not!”

Two sets of couplers will give you 37-feet which would be safer, wouldn’t it?”

OK, another order to the Zon.

Still, gives me time to mention a few things from the family welding safety notebook.

ALWAYS turn the acetylene gas on your rig off FIRST.  If you don’t, and shut down the O2 first, the acetylene can get up into the O2 hose and that can lead to misery (or Missouri) or worse (if that’s possible) when sparked-off.

And if you even have good gas practices (not chili jokes), remember R-rated hose is chintzy. Pop the extra for T-Rated (all fuels) hoses just in case…

Remember the gas nuts have a scored filing in the middle of their nuts (bet that hurt!) so you remember “score some acetylene” when you go color blind.  Meantime, even the semi-sighted can generally get red is for fire fuel, green is for oxygen.

We’ve given up trying to write a cogent explanation for why which some of the threads on are “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” but others are not. Maybe Oilman2 could insert some offshore rig wisdom for us mainly electric sorts. (If you have to ask, you can’t go offshore, sorry.)

Fallback Fell Apart, Too

Our fallback story for this morning was to be a demonstration of the $250 TIG welder because I picked up bottles of Argon Friday.  One bottle is 100% argon (for TIG) while the other is 75-25 argon/carbon dioxide for MIG welding.

The reason that didn’t happen?  Well, by time I played “dances with regulators” (which F-500 companies also do), I was tired, grumpy, and was sitting down. So I sat down at the new “small projects workstation.”

Dare I begin building the model of our old airplane, the Beech Musketeer? No, best not.

As you’ll notice, though, I did lam up two thicknesses of harder blue stryo for build boards.

Even watched enough YouTube How-To videos to figure the build should take about 10-hours.  That will be an interesting block of time to carve out.

For now, we retreat to something less fun but more important.

A Depression Fix-It Shop

William of the Radio Ranch admitted this week to having a similar vision to ours: Why not set up a local, walk-in Fix-It Shop for when either Asia cuts off our disposable goods addiction, or China decides to skip ahead to invading the West Coast.

While we can’t fight off too many killer drones, we might be able to fix a broken cord on a coffee percolator, which with power, might quickly become the biggest unit in the American arsenal.

Or, having a geared head lathe, maybe would could made new and interesting “accessories” for the gun club members.  When, that is, home defense really does come home.

This set off a firestorm of additional thoughts.

Depression 2023

If the gas pumps aren’t “talking to you yet,” perhaps an audiologist visit is in order?

With the Biden administration playing “Three War Monte” – stoking war odds between Taiwan and China, Ukraine backing Russia into a “first-use corner, and just waiting for Israel to pop Iran – which will likely generate a nuclear response, there’s no question that the Doomsday Clock is perilously close to striking.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists figured – in mid-January of this year – that the nuclear countdown clock was at 100-seconds to midnight.  Which will be when the first mushroom goes off.  Back-timing from there, we can almost see the clock having to be adjusted again – maybe before summer is out – given that Iran reportedly has enough 60 percent enriched uranium to build a bomb. A really crude, heavy, kluged bomb.  But it’s still a what?

Israel has made it abundantly clear that Iran will never be allowed to attack first, and this leads to a second obvious nuclear battle.

The good news about China/Taiwan?  Well, there isn’t much. Excerpt I have mental flashes of Michael Jackson’s “moon-walking” every time Biden walks something back.  But with less style, fo sho

Just as the US/NATO has been tweaking Russia harder than warranted – and now sending in missiles which will raise Russia ire even more – the odds of “mushrooms” for dinner on the evening TV news shows is escalating.

While China doesn’t have a viable reason for nuclear weapons on Taiwan, it really depends on how much China wants (or needs) to preserve the fine-pitch semiconductor manufacturing based on the southern side of the island.  The U.S. is willing to fight, because we allowed far too much critical electronics manufacturing to move offshore, and because we now need Taiwan to make the parts to keep American industry working.

(Not to rehash the Friday notes on Three War Monte, with a side of gun-grab, but the character of the playing field here is important.)

Personal Industry in Collapse

If it’s not a little scary to think about, I’d propose we all do a little “class project thinking” and offer up comments (in the Comments section link below) to answer the question “What do you think you’ll actually DO in an economic collapse?”  Day one, month one, year one kind of thing.

There are plenty of signposts:  We can look at the two decades before on the onset of Depression (1) and see some ideas.  A 1900 book, “The Home and Shop Mechanic” for example, includes fine points of working with (and repairing) steam-powered machines:

This book is one of many in the New Century Library of Useful Knowledge series.

Books like this were followed by the popular Shop Notes series (Popular Mechanics) and later by the Audel’s series.  Between these plus having more recent compilations like Michael Geier’s savory “How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic” we figure we’re in better condition than most for being ready to fix things.

My theme all year has involved not only do-it-yourself gardening, but also getting the tools, workspace, and knowledge so that you’ll be able to keep useful machines and devices working when we’ll need them most.

Imagining Life-After

The novel One Second After offers one gritty outlook for America entering collapse.  It’s a good starting point, sure.

But of necessity, books can only generalize to a region.  What really matters most is how well you get on with your neighbors.

We’ve gamed out some scenarios – though none of it is fun – in an effort to see what kinds of help neighbors might need.  And what life would be like.

A bit of “non-U.S.” travel over the years opened my eyes.  Driving around the Blue Hills of Jamaica and along the coasts. Key take-aways were that people – even if wrecked on local ganj – would not go too far out of their way to mess with you.  Provided there was respect.  Hard to teach that  Most people just want their space (and another toke, right?) and get out of my shit….

Another learning moment was in the old Church (1536, was it?) in Cusco – highlands of Peru – and gateway to the top of the Amazon once you descend into the jungle north and east of Machu Picchu.

Point was I spent some time watching a local craftsman – armed with a simple hand saw, a straight and a curved gouge – and a pocketknife, hand working the wood.  That a chair would take several weeks to carve was not an issue.  It was a quality thing. Pride in work.

Remember that?

Time Will Change

Measuring the “flow of time” in a Depression is different.  It becomes more time versus reward; things are less “check-list” oriented.  Instant will take longer – a lot longer.

Whoever doesn’t have a half-hour a day to begin at least experimentally attempting basic container gardening now, may in a year or less wish they had seen it all coming.

The role of the Fix It Shop in such times is hard to forecast.  Will we be overrun by gangs from cities within weeks?  Or, will there be a slow spread and a lot of gunfire while America returns to a time when almost all men carried guns?

In that world, what would be “in demand?”

When electricity is gone, the highest values (after food and water) that I can think of will be energy of all types.  Solar panels would be more than worth their weight in gold.  Which means investing in controllers, panels, not to mention a few rounds, some armor, and some trigger parts, might not be bad investments in such a world. Screw-on oil filters, ahem, anyone?

What is the minimal inventory of parts (passive and active) electronics that would provide for a robust clientele?  We’re thinking basic land-working equipment repairs – the ability to make up hydraulic hoses, for example and maybe have a few dozen 5-gallon cans of fluid might be useful. Someone can always find something to weld out here “on the range.”

Seed exchange will be another key part.  We have asked which would do you more good in the “just after collapse” world?  A hundred dollar bill or a $40 package of a year’s worth of “survival seeds?”

A bag – maybe two – for the critical neighbors, but only if they have the means to grow.  Which then circles back to why we put in rainwater catchment and the greenhouse this year.

Tool Library?  Computer Cafe?

One good after-collapse idea that resonates in me is the notion of a tool library for local farmers and ranchers.  Granted, our tools are not specific to the big heavy-duty farm equipment (a 65 HP diesel tractor with a stump grinder on it is a big-ass rig).

On the other hand, I’m starting to think in terms of tool library because they seem to work in urban areas.  The 2012 Patrick Dunn Shareable article Building A National Digital Library is also still very much on point.

If the Internet goes away, who will have the (obviously password protected) drive with all the shop manuals for Ford, Kubota, IH, Massey, Long, Kioiti, Mahindra, et al?

Still, doing hydraulics may be worthwhile, too.  Some hose, some pipe, a few bending tools and a big kit of fittings…

When you start looking at the work that will need to be done – and the lack of energy generally – it makes an interesting argument for instead of just focusing on getting seeds, lots of mulching straw and maybe a 3-0point rototiller for the tractor co9uld be bingo calls.

Don’t mean to go off into the weeds here.  But other than having a number of workstations to choose from, what at the in-demand services likely to be and how would the commerce take place?

  • General fix it
  • DC power systems installation and repair
  • Communications (HF radios)
  • Sharpening service
  • Gas power equipment repair
  • Hydraulics shop with hose making
  • Tool library
  • Local “mini farm and hardware” store
  • Water well and pump service
  • Surveillance and interdiction drones

…you can see how the list becomes pretty expansive! (And, did I say expensive, too?

I think the coffee-hour takeaway comes down to this:

  • No one will be able to know with certainty, until actual events, how the future will roll out in the next year or two.
  • For now, our money is on:
    • Depression based on wrong-headed energy policies.  The hate people have turned their focus on energy as efforts ramp up to take down America. (See Tesla stock, lately?  Liberals eating their own.)
    • At the same time, the gun-grabs being promoted by the teary=eyed Lefties, won’t solve the problem. Criminals don’t follow laws and it’s an insult they can hold office when they can’t grasp something so fundamental.
    • Drought and food failures will come too.
  • What we don’t know is how our “three precursor wars” will play out.  Lack of parts due to Taiwan falling?  Mass government power-grabbing as in the Covid lock-downs except due to nukes in Russia-Ukraine or Iran-Israel?  Pick your poison. N-100 masks this time?

Out here, rumor has it that some street signs may be “rearranged” if the sunshine cans get opened.  But that doesn’t really answer fully our “Problem of the Day.”

What will we all DO, exactly – hour by hour – when things go horribly wrong?

I stared at the model of the old Musketeer and wondered:  “Should we have kept it and made a run for Central America?”

Too late now.  In for a penny, in for a flash.

Besides, should be a lot of welding scrap after.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

62 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Second Depression Fix-It Shops?”

  1. “Besides, should be a lot of welding (and blacksmithing) scrap after.”

    It’s difficult to say with any degree of confidence what I’ll be doing day by day. Mainly because there’s no way to predict what direction the failures are going to take. Economic is a shoo-in, as all of the potential scenarios will collapse the economy. Beyond that, though, will there still be electricity? Limited to generator/solar? Not much need for electrical/electronic repair if there’s nothing to run the devices.

    If EMP takes out all/most of the vehicles, then horses and other livestock conveyances will rise to the top, as well as bicycles. That would also slow the mass migration from population centers into the boondocks. I have 3 bicycles to ride and/or use to make goat carts. Training the goats will be an issue.

    I have a small stash of coal for blacksmithing and enough scrap steel to make horse shoes, small tractor parts, or tools. Hatchets/axes/knives will be in demand, and the ability to make them will be a good source of income.

    • In an extended grid-down scenario, draft animals will be worth their weight in gold. The problem will be hungry city dwellers armed to the teeth combing the countryside looking for anything on four hooves (and later, two feet) to butcher.
      The industrial revolution came on the backs of draft animals, whose labor produced the agricultural products and the transport that allowed the growth of cities and associated technology.
      It took thousands of years to progress from hunter-gatherers to the industrial revolution. There is no real safety net of 18th century agricultural production means to support the population in an extended grid-down scenario. We either keep the machines working, or we are on the down express elevator to 3000 BC.

      • “draft animals will be worth their weight in gold”

        Man, I hope not. Local paper published a pic the other day of a dude and his prize Percheron stallion — 18½ hands, and over 9′ tall to the top of his head — I’m guessing 2300-2400 pounds, and utterly magnificent…

    • The problem with that vision.. is… we rely on modern technologies for everything including food production.. and with the development of GMO’s.. our production has been greatly limited..the main reasons why every study has almost everyone dying..

      https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gl/guidelin/ch2ref2.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwim1ODK4pb4AhWmZTABHQ4DBpwQFnoECBAQBQ&usg=AOvVaw0pnO8eqqWlcztB4_c_Q9KW
      You’d have to make a clay kiln once an emp hit but totally doable..
      Coal.. wood .. energy.. you could make an wood gasification unit easy enough..a thermal chimney for cooling ..depending on your location bermming to protect against heat or cold ..
      When it dawned on me …I bought a gravity fed stove..and will have two tons of coal delivered ..the down side.. is that isn’t sustainable in my area.. and in the event of a nuclear winter..thrust back to the stoneage..changes need to be made..

      • LOOB: Transport of two tons of coal from over the horizon by a mule wagon with no mules will indeed be a b!tch. If coal is your solution, prepositioning is mandatory.
        Bill: Read Arthur Bradley’s YouTube on surge protecting solar systems. His solution was non-obvious, at least to me.

      • What is funny !@N_____ is I was visiting with the mail delivery guy this morning and he was ranting and raving about not being able to fill his car with what they pay.. I said.. get a horse.. LOL LOL pony express still rides LOL LOL..
        I will look that up.. I am not to concerned about the surge.. if there are emps dropped the damage will come from a domino effect against the infrastructure frying out equipement that we no longer make in the USA.. and the last time I visited with a gent on the outdated transformers .. he said back then that there was already a ten year back order on a lot of parts..
        NOW if we go to blows.. ( no I am not talking about the Brandon family pastimes.. ) we won’t be able to get them..

    • I need to buy a bike, or a couple. There are two rotting out back I’ve never had time to refurbish.

      But just about everything on the ranch is manual with the exception of two water wells powered by solar that I’ve talked about in the past. Not EMP proof but I’ve got spare parts in the metal barns we have to replace what wears out or burns up. The 220v welder/generator sits in a metal barn also but I need to put some grounding rods in strategic places in the barns to connect equipment to when its not being used. Other than that I’ve got family, most of whom don’t believe any of this … stuff, and friends who will have that 1000 yard stare when it all sinks in probably landing on my doorstep. I think it’s time to change the combination on the front gate lock.

      • “I need to buy a bike”

        Lol lol when I lived in DC @Bill.. bike was the fastest mode of travel.. year round.. I had a real nice expensive bike..titanium magnesium I believe.. nice bike..
        Gave it away to a friend in Texas when I left..
        Anyway.. years later.. the kids got a bike and I thought heck.. I re.ember riding the days I use to ride back and forth to work.. so I jump on the bike..and off I go.. a ways down the road I’m huffing and puffing like an old cow..lol lol
        The same thing happened with a friend that was out on leave ..lol lol
        He wanted to go running before he went off to a foreign country..I said heck I’ll run with you lol…what I forgot was as special forces they run everywhere lol.. he was in and out of ditches over fences etc.. I was chugging along like an old horse that’s run to far..the only reason he turned around was he knew he was going to have to carry my fat azz back before I gave up lol..
        In later years I got a bike and one of those rickshaws for the grandkids.. out for a leisurely ride and the kids yelling..faster grandpa faster.. got back and the daughter said that’s nice I want to get one.. the rickshaw was put in her trunk.. it was fun watching her tell her hubby.. catch up will ya..lol
        So..it sounds fun.. but walking is much easier..

  2. Thanks for reminding me to check the hoses on the welder. I know they are getting older so I should get them in shape now while I still can. I just can’t get myself to trust cheap Chinese tools like these little welders. Not to discount all of them, I do have a few Harbor Freight tools in the shop, but I’m not sold on the super cheap clones of the bigger machine tools.
    I found an old set of offset box end wrenches 3/8 up to 1 1/2 in an old toolbox of my dads a while back. They have a little surface rust and appear to have some kind of gray enameled coating. I can’t find anywhere on them that has a brand name or says forged or made in USA so I know dad would never buy something like these if they were not USA made. Maybe he picked them up in a trade or swap, just don’t know.
    I may spend some time cleaning them up and testing them out before I wouldn’t trust them where I would have to put any torque to them.
    Good read today as usual. Stay safe. 73

    • Im a professional welder that’s bounced from Miller to Lincoln and back again on a regular basis for 42 years. We have trialed some of the Chinese/Asian welders and have had some really good results from them at the price point. Not all the Chinese stuff is rubbish. Some of the lathes have been quite good as well. Just do some homework and you’ll be fine.

  3. Pictures of a dystopian future. Will it be like “Atlas Shrugged”? Watched first part of Atlas Shrugged again and paying more attention to detail was surprised when they mentioned gas was 32.50 a gallon. Chickens look allot like little gold mines in a limited Mushroom event. Water wells will be gold mines too. East TX is a good spot to weather the storm. Rain has all of our lakes at level too. North TX has incredible resilience to survive providing we are not hit or hit lite. West Coast is already lost and would be needed by Chi guys. East Coast would be decimated. Texas should be spared but in all-out war they would need to decimate us too. I’m set up for light to medium machining and sheet metal. Car parts, tractor parts, safety equipment parts. Electronic repair, with focus on A/C drives and D/C drives. Some RF repair. Large garden, rain water catchment, whole shop is a faraday cage!

  4. Radio Frequency shielding, bypassing, filtering, grounding, and RF field overload immunity for cars has improved greatly in the last 30 years.

    This trend for better basic and responsible product engineering began when cars started to have a lot of sensors and electronic doo-dads — and manufacturers found cops’ two-way radios would make the cars not run right, or throw off so much digital trash-noise all the doo-dads interfered with each other. All the doo-dads needed better design and housebreaking to work well together. (Plus proper filtering and by-passing.)

    That, and for military “platforms” like fighter aircraft, the whole field of “Electro-Magnetic Compatibility” (EMC) was born. Ford had one of the first large RF field test chambers, allowing the illumination of entire cars and trucks in various types of fields, frequencies, and intensities.

    The study of Electro-Magnetic Pulse of the mushroom kind was also defined, simulated, clarified, and advanced in these years.

    EMC and RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) are now well-understood technologies. Practical, rule-of-thumb reliable methods and procedures are now common.

    Here is Wisdom:
    All interference and EMP is not a binary thing –there is a sliding scale of effects from “none” to “fricasseed.” In general, EMP — nuke or solar storm — is an over-rated worry-wart problem., and will occur from “hardly any” to “fabulously destructive” depending on very many depending-upons. SOME protection procedures will help a LOT.

    Don’t despair of the impossibility or futility of it — just do what you can, and count on NOT being in the 10-ring. The 80 / 20 theory applies here.

    Wrap a shoebox, including the lid, in aluminum foil, and toss your cellphone inside, and it will see ZERO BARS, and be effectively deaf and dumb. Try it. Toss it in and call it. You’ll fail to connect. (Nobody else can, either.)

    Get a metal (steel, galvanized) garbage can, make a steel-wool gasket for the lid to improve the continuity of the electrical connection all around, and put sensitive devices you want to survive the NUKE EMP inside. Unless the Big Boom is right on top of you, enough shielding effectiveness will exist to ride it out. (No wire penetrations for power or antennas or anything else are allowed. The shielding must be complete, with no paths for RF leakage.)

    Don’t sit the can directly on the ground, if on a basement or garage floor. Put it on a couple of dry 2 x 4s. (Personally, I don’t think this makes any difference, but some Big-Brayne guys say it does.)

    -73 –
    7.299 by day, 3.999 by night. Self-organized.

    • The big brayne types – as every Depression kid knew – learned from hobos that cold butts lead to more roids on the road of life.

    • I bought my 2018 truck semi new in 2019. It has all the doo dads and whizbang stuff on it you could get. I figure these are all things that will go TU’d and left dead down the road unless it keeps the beast from running.

    • “there is a sliding scale of effects from “none” to “fricasseed.” In general, EMP — nuke or solar storm — is an over-rated worry-wart problem., and will occur from “hardly any” to “fabulously destructive”

      Well @William of the Radio Ranch…
      That very reason is why so many avoid seeing the overall destruction..the same with justification of nuclear war survival..it isn’t the event that will take all..oh ground zero .. move to daware guaranteed you’ll be gone before you can take the congressman position..
      https://www.google.com/amp/s/recoverynet.ca/2013/02/18/huad-head-up-ass-disorder/amp/
      It’s the cascade of dominos effects. Lack of manufacturing ability and the lack trained experienced technicians raw materials everything is imported..we essentially put all our eggs in one basket..greatly jeopardizing our chances of surviving a major shtf scenario.. All while Russia and China have been working hard to limit the overall drastic effects we have been pushing profit before repairs…. grid goes down there they start up right away..

      The hundred year winter storm in Texas or the hundred year hurricane on the east coast should have been the canary.. instead they pushed for more limitations rather than securing..we seek wars first in our country and ignore the areas of concern here at home..
      The domino effect..
      Of course that’s just my opinion..

    • It will be lack of preps by public utilities, public transport, communication, and energy companies that has the potential to cause a cascade scenario technology and distribution meltdown. If everyone needs the same critical spare parts which are only made offshore by a hostile regime, then there won’t be any spare parts.
      Right now, routine electrical part orders for parts that were previously available off-the-shelf are being quoted with 6 – 9 month deliveries. We are already in a Zombie industrial economy run by MBA grifters on the payroll of foreign enemies.

  5. Hahahahah – You funny G, very funny.

    “Should we have kept it and made a run for Central America?”

    You knew the answer before you asked the question – cracking my ass up, you are.
    – Ure Plan B should be = id and scout out most likely “victim” for plane jacking ?
    Nah too dangerous, will need to be stealthly in order to abscond with Ure next/new ride. Kindly suggest you steal a model that allows for shooting “pew-pews” out the windows – for contested TakeOff!

    ” Just point & squeeze it, E, squeeze it”-GU
    ..or would that be the Son of Son of a Firemans role?

    The lefty loosey/righty tighty riddle has had me scratching my ass for a couple years now..ever since I built a bugout/vaca/2nd house in Bayleaze. No rhyme or reason I been able to discern – some of the hose outlets/spigots lefty tighty/righty loosey. I always pause when a dam hose wont screw on one of outside spigots – and momentarily consider whether or not I am under the influence of “da kind” or its one them backwards thread jobs…I suspect the threading direction has to do with source of Water going to particular hose spigot – 1 source be Maya mountains spring water off “municipal” source, the other is same orig source, but stored in giant under house cistern. Plant watering should be done from “municipal” sourced spigots and not cistern – as thats strictly for in house.

    ? of the Week – if BTC is priced in US dollars, Why is it not worthless?

    Bueller?

    * As a public NAZI figure (thebitcoin nazi) when can I expect my share of the bbbbbBILLIONS of US dollars in aid to the Nazi cause in the kraine – Sig Hiel- Slo! wheres my dough?

    • “Should we have kept it and made a run for Central America?”

      No @bitcoin nazi
      We should be going Amish..learning the old skills..
      BitCoins.. I have been reconsidering my position on the cartoon coins… I’ll ask my 30 year old sex goddess… oh no wait.. she’s just a fantasy to… lol lol lol
      It’s all in what you place your value in..

  6. Reference the airplane model…

    You’ll need a lot of pins to hold the pieces in place while the glue dries. Those with the little colored beads on the heads work fine but the T-topped ones work best though they are a little thick for fine work.

    Also, you’ll tape the plan down over the styro (I used to find large cardboard boxes and double up the layers), but be sure to tape down a layer of saran wrap or similar over the plan. Glue won’t stick to it. If you can, photocopy the plan in case you need templates to reproduce parts that didn’t “make it through production”.

    Give yourself a few more hours. Your impulse to cut and sand to perfection will take a little longer than usual. And invariably, you’ll want to do some customization, as well.

    Finally, you’re working with balsa so super fine grit sandpaper and a pack of new X-acto blades is good enough for cutting and shaping.

    Happy modeling!

    • Was planning on wax paper
      Work expands to fill available time
      long lead time item will be getting our tail number stick on details custom for the wings and fuselage.
      Still no idea how to paint the checkerboard pattern on the nose.
      But there’s a cnc build calling to me, too.
      (Wrings hands) and on top of it all, I have to study for treadmill test with dr ticker this week…

      • “long lead time item will be getting our tail number stick on details custom for the wings and fuselage.
        Still no idea how to paint the checkerboard pattern on the nose.”

        There is inkjet printer compatible decal material that allows you to create your own decals of whatever design or shape you need, assuming you have some kind of photo-editing/art rendering software. You just print numbers/letters backwards so they appear correct when you make the transfer.

        As for balsa/silkspan construction, I’ve gone to foam instead. It may not finish out to the high standards you set for yourself, but it sure is a lot faster to work with. Faster construction/repair is really handy when flying RC. Not to mention that foam is MUCH more forgiving in a collision with a fixed object (or the ground). And speaking of flying RC, the electric motors are the bee’s knees. No messy, stinky fuel, no bandaids on fingers from trying to start the fuel engine, no leaks on the car’s floor in transport.

  7. I’m not sure how this will all turn out either but there here are some of my thoughts.

    1. Probably less than 1% of the population has any idea what is coming. If you try and have the conversation with family and friends, you are marked as a doomsayer or conspiracy nut. The coming collapse will be a complete shock to them but they will expect your help to survive.

    2. I remember 2 years ago when there was a toilet paper shortage and people went nuts. Stores were cleaned out, people fought each other for a roll or two to wipe their ass. Imagine the same scenario with food shortages or no food to fill their stomach. Won’t be much need for toilet paper.

    3. Most of us do live in an urban setting and few have room for anything more than a very small garden or a couple of patio pots of tomatoes. Short survival period on home grown produce if food stores close.

    4. Growing season in the north is short. Nothing much grows at 20 below zero and 2 feet of snow.

    5. A few of us who read your column have stashed a good supply of storable food, water, first aid, etc. Not being allowed guns here in Trudeauland, we have a few containers of bear spray (also illegal) to fight off the mad max gang that will come desperate for food.

    6. We are approaching a scenario where perhaps only the self sufficient rural communities like you, may survive. For the rest of us, prayer and divine intervention may be the only answer.

    • ” remember 2 years ago when there was a toilet paper shortage and people went nuts. ”

      What a Great Post with deep thoughts.. @Bic……People were fighting in the isles.. and pulling weapons to get a roll of tp.. my grand daughter was offered seventy five dollars for a couple ounces of hand sanitizer.. and because of theft.. they quit stocking the bathrooms at the store with tp..
      It was insanity beyond belief.. and that was just a taste.. how many know how to make tp.. or paper.. or a pencil..
      I am a huge fan of pepper balls.. and pepper ball spray..tasers etc..

      https://www.amazon.com/Umarex-Caliber-Pepper-Round-Pistol/dp/B08J5LCLX2/ref=sr_1_12?crid=2UD498JHRZ3TE&keywords=pepper%2Bball%2Bgun&qid=1654457276&sprefix=pepper%2Bball%2Bgun%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-12&th=1
      https://www.amazon.com/Taser-Self-Defense-Noonlight-Integration-Yellow/dp/B07ST92HH6/ref=sr_1_55?crid=VJCLTSVTUC7H&keywords=taser%2Bflashlight%2Bgun&qid=1654457470&sprefix=taser%2Bflashlight%2B%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-55&th=1

      I have gotten to the point I don’t tell anyone what I see coming .. they like you said.. think I am nuts.. my wife thought I was nuts.. then changed her mind the year we went without any income..

      What surprises me though.. is even those that do see it coming.. are all prepping with the things we take for granted as always being there.. even though I produce more energy than I use on an average day.. the power outage was a good example of grid down.. an emp depends on your location to the epicenter.. and unless you can trick the solar into coming on.. the panels don’t work.. and if you don’t have a battery bank.. your screwed.. my solar was worthless even though I knew I had power at my fingertips..
      having shelters away from your home.. great if you live there.. if it is a days walk away.. but if it is further.. forget it..
      I drove by a house the other day.. and noticed that the owner was working feverishly to berm around it.. ( smart man.. but the average won’t do that.. the cost if prohibitive for most..
      I him haw around about getting the solar kit with 30kw of solar battery backup power walls.. I know the bank will loan me the money.. but would I be able to pay it.. with the solar I have.. It paid for itself in savings.. this would not have that benefit.. and even though I can justify it.. it isn’t very smart economically even though I see its future benefits..

      strange days are coming our way.. and unfortunately soon..

    • Some of us in Canada have guns. Mostly in Alberta. But it just got a lot harder to hang on to them. Trudolt is determined to take them away from law-abiding citizens. Mostly because he has plans that would make allowing us to have guns a problem for him. Buckle up people, it won’t be long now before things dramatically change for the worse. I find it sad that suicide will likely be the leading cause of death in North America in the next few years. Mostly because people will not be able to reconcile the changes as they remain blissfully unaware anything is even broken. The compliant sheep will go rapidly from booking their next vacay online to being completely mystified that they can’t get any food at all. Then they will be pondering whether or not the few meds they have remaining are enough to take themselves out. The future ain’t bright for the sheep. Or anyone else for that matter. Some will fare far better than others. Many will simply die. I guess I’ve become a glass half-empty type. We had it all and we have simply thrown it all away. I weep for our young.

    • Bob, I suggest you search, locate, then purchase or download Kurt Saxon’s “Poor Man’s James Bond.”

  8. gauge resetting,, worth a try and I am quoting this from a forum

    Take the plastic cover off of the gauge. “Gently” turn the needle back past the pin until you hear/feel the first click. Return it to the right side of the pin. If it’s not at zero, Do it again, Repeat until it has slight pressure against the pin. This is how they were calibrated in the 1st place. If after 3 clicks you can’t get it. Buy new. I would like to have that Victor J100 if you want to trade for a new regulator.”
    from this forum
    https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/acetylene-regulator-question.228440/
    Oh and by the way, Ure gage is readin a little over 7 psi,, inside scale is psi, Sorry to be nit-picker but accuracy in knowledge can be helpful at times.
    speaking of lefty loosy,, my LEFT handed drill bits saved my bacon the other day when a bolt on my wood chipper broke off in a blind hole,, as soon as the bit grabed the stub, it backed out :)

  9. I’ve turned into a potato farmer. LOL. Instead of throwing away a partial bag of sprouted red potatoes, there is now 14 potato hills planted in the side yard. Plus dug out my mother’s “100 Ways to Fix Potatoes” depression cookbook.

  10. 75% of all immigrant workers are farm workers, enjoy that immigrant picked fruit or vegetable!
    https://agamerica.com/blog/the-impact-of-the-farm-labor-shortage/

    CA still pumps out more produce than any other state, enjoy a well balanced meal, most of your fruits & veggies come from Blue Bidenland:

    https://www.ksjbam.com/2021/11/22/states-producing-the-most-fruits-vegetables/

    G, Biden is not coming after your Binky Bear snuggle gun!

    Increased gun violence from irresponsible gun owners, 239 mass shootings in 2022, now there’s something to generate paranoia, compared to your misguided fears over gun confiscation, last night, big popular entertainment district:
    https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/05/us/philadelphia-south-street-shooting/index.html

    • “G, Biden is not coming after your Binky Bear snuggle gun!
      Increased gun violence from irresponsible gun owners, 239 mass shootings in 2022,”

      GEE is that some guy in the back row there WAVING a BUELL SHIZT flag… LOL LOL

      statistically speaking all respondents live in low-income neighborhoods with high, exposure to violence, crime and rape abuse that differs by race/ethnicity and social class. Residents of color experienced significantly more violence because these acts of violence happened in low income and high crime area’s predominantly black neighborhoods that now have less police protection by design and defunding..
      area’s that are rampant with crime.. the B urn Loot and M urder groups and Rioters that pushed for the defunding of the only protection they had.. .. an all backed supported by political factions.. our gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than other high-income countries not because of the gun owners but because of the environmental elements of their high crime area’s.. the forgotten of our country the worthless eaters of our country.. the same ones that are being groomed by leadership to allow their men in office that can even the score so to speak.

      https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-LJ6TYTWXd-mi-Hxg/Zweites%20Buch%20%28Hitler%27s%20Secret%20Book%29_djvu.txt

      https://assets.cambridge.org/97811084/97497/frontmatter/9781108497497_frontmatter.pdf

      .. and the majority are from guns that were illegally obtained.. ( gangs get them from across the borders sold or given to them by the well you know gun traffickers etc.)More than 99 percent of gun deaths in the US are from shootings other than mass shootings from criminal elements in high crime and low income area’s.. not from the legal gun owners.. Mass shootings are not a random at all. Most were perpetrated by someone who displayed prior warning signs; ( children not bad kids but in a bad place with no one to stand beside them through their drama.. do to environmental issues.. highly abused and bullied at school.. vulnerable because of age and hormones.. and the lack of adult supervision or anyone at all that would stand beside them during their drama other than gang members or mainstream media television programming… a failed school system where the teachers are just as afraid to face the abusers as the children are of being vulnerable to them. EVERY single teacher principle or superintendent in those school districts should be FIRED on the spot IMHO if they are unwilling to protect the vulnerable children from those issues they should be seeking a more accommodating position someplace where they won’t have to make decisions….).
      fix the schools make laws to stop abusers from and increase the security of the neighborhoods.. if a child can go out and have some joker hand him a gun and bullets and urged to commit crimes. That issue should be addressed… a criminal will always be able to get arms.. during the vietnam war.. the USA handed out to every single person in the military books detailing how to make arm’s..

      https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Army-Improvised-Munitions-Handbook/dp/1684112737/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

      No I believe like so many that are trying to blame the guy that bought the gun legally for crimes that could have been avoided completely.. yet we send billions of arms to the same type of people to hand out to their children and anyone that wants one…. and urge them to be commiting these very acts.. then welcoming them into our country..
      If any of the allegations are correct then Then I believe that may of our own political leaders are guilty of corrupting children through their pedophilia and business actions.
      While no one in agencies sworn to protect the people are not talked about at all instead doing everything they can to protect these people.. all wage labor hourly people have been forgotten and the safety of our country has been compromised not by the gun owners but by those that are trying to take everyones guns….
      I personally am not a big gun owner.. but I would be if I lived in a high crime area..

    • 2465 humans will be killed today by so call medical professionals, by abortion, but the C person is worried about taking my guns and limiting millions of legal and responsible gun owners. The legal system has laws that they do not enforce. The anti-gun cities have the highest crime rates. Why are the mass shooters always on a FBI watch list but the FBI never prevent anything?
      The C person is like a hypnotized person that has been brought upon stage, and walks and clucks like a chicken upon the signal by her lame stream media. How do we deprogram them? They do need help.

      And immigrant farm workers have been coming to harvest food my entire life, I am 69. I even had a group live in a house a half of a city block from me in a small western town of 5000 every summer, zero problems, but this border INVASION is a WAR against America, sponsored by George Sorass and the UN and is an entire different story! “ain’t no fixin stupid”, a Quote by a famous comedian:)

      YES MISSY C,, Bribems is after all of our guns, he/they are just doing it one degree at a time, like a frog in a pot of water, turn it up one degree at a time, spread out and you will boil that frog!
      Beware of a government that takes your guns but spends billions to arm Nazis in Ukraine

  11. There is town, of sorts, just north of me.., 54 miles to be exact., and the only way to get to it is by boat, float plane or in good weather – backpack in. Called Stehekin., at the headwaters of Lake Chelan. There are no stores, street lights, one short paved road., no fire department, police or ambulance service. But it does have a one room school house, and a small post office with a satellite phone – as there is no cell service at all.. I have friend that lives there in a great little cabin, completely off the grid – for many years. He has worked for years establishing himself in that little community of roughly 60 year-around residents as the local gunsmith – with pretty good success. He can fix just about any weapon you bring him. He never takes cash, or coin. Works solely on a barter system.
    If you are so incline, a weapons rebuild bench might prove to be a very handy and lucrative side business.

  12. “What do you think you’ll actually DO in an economic collapse?” Day one, month one, year one kind of thing.”

    During the Reagan Recession.. I did a ton of day labor jobs in trade…just for a couple of bucks to buy milk and eggs.. during the year we went without an income.. we got by.. but barely..
    I am actually fretting a lot about the power issue.. I make enough solar.. to supply all out needs.. but don’t have the fifteen grand to get the battery backup… a generator that during our three day outage.. that handled the basics.. but realized I need three more circuits added to the emergency panel….
    we are all so screwed.. a hard grid down.. you do what you have to.. in greece and argentina etc.. women were selling their physical time for a can of soup.. old people were dumpster diving to get scraps.. the can man.. he slept under bridges and in culverts.. and in dumpsters.. collected cans for sale to get what little bit of food he could..
    I dug dirt in a radioactive spill .. scooped out chicken pens, cattle pens, hog houses.. made signs.. used what I went to school for.. to make plates.. I did it with mirror.. for companies and stores etc..
    https://youtu.be/JqcGUKTYQmI
    stained glass.. etc..

  13. “Should we have kept it and made a run for Central America?”

    Are you kidding?! What makes you think it will be any better there? No, hunkering down in the survival platform you already built is the best option. I couldn’t wait to get out of the big city and set up my ‘country home’ the best I could. I don’t have a large shop, but I’ve got electronics, radio, and electrical skills and general handyman stuff. And you reminded me to order some sharpening files for the chain saw. In a collapse, I wonder about fuel availability coming to the islands here. So I have collected some old fashion manual tools and always looking at how I could get by here if gas was not available. If we get oil, we will have electricity. If not… 25% of our electric on this island is geothermal from a plant five miles from me. We will have SOME electricity if an Oahu mushroom does not fry our grid some 200 miles away.

    Water is not a problem in my district. Catchment housing everywhere here in the jungles. Fishing is sustainable, and there are lots of farms in the area with roadside vegetable stands and fish sellers. Food sharing is a cultural practice among ohana here.

    So I’m just hunkering down here, being as independent minded as I can, staying flexible and adaptable to what comes along. I guess I gotta fix up those old foldable bicycles I have. Order some tires and tubes, and spares. It’s a four mile ride to the village. There might be occasional gas available there.

    • “Should we have kept it and made a run for Central America?”

      Are you kidding?! What makes you think it will be any better there?”

      Possible cost of living adjustment… I knew a month ago that there was going to be a drastic change in our account status..
      as of this am.. I know how MUCH of an actual change there is….
      and am in the process of stopping everything..
      three times I have gone into a bad time.. this will be the fourth.. income dropped to approximately six hundred a month to live on.. I am still reeling from this.. I know it isn’t as bad as the year we went without an income.. but it is dam close especially when things are shooting up big time…. while in some countries.. that is way more than a years wages.. here it doesn’t cover a thing….

  14. And for the airplane model…. paint checkerboard? Yikes! I’m sure there must be checkerboard decal material available in many scale sizes that would do the job simply and wonderfully.

  15. Wow – APMEX silver at Wal-Mart 3.45 over spot and free shipping if you buy enough which probably means one roll. The Buffalo rounds at W-M look like something has happened to it’s price since the posting of the YT video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDLA1x-nKc

    It’s still up on Wal-Mart’s site
    https://www.walmart.com/ip/1-oz-Silver-Round-APMEX-Lot-of-10-Rounds/893586126
    Apmex’s page for the same rounds
    https://www.apmex.com/product/27024/1-oz-silver-round-apmex

    Gitem’ while u can.

  16. Whoa! Ure can frame up a Guillow’s kit in 10 hours? You da man!!! Been building and flying RC for 25+ years and I couldn’t properly frame one of those in twice that time. :)

  17. For balsa, I always used Ambroid cement…

    { http://www.ottertooth.com/Canoe_pages/ambroid.htm }

    Ambroid is the gold standard for balsa model building. It is a celluloid-based glue/cement, originally invented to permanently repair canoes. It was the glue which held early planes together. It is a “glue/cement” because the celluloid solvent would melt/fuse many plastics, including polystyrene. ‘Twasn’t as good as a dedicated plastic model cement, but it did a serviceable job. When I was a kid, I used original Ambroid. The shithead hippies ruined it in the late ’60s by sniffing/huffing it. Ambroid replaced some of the oil of camphor with oil of garlic to discourage the huffers, and the quality of the product suffered — still the best, but no-longer incomparably better.

    After 160 years, the Ambroid Company called it quits in 2016.

    The closest you can get now is “Humbrol Balsa Cement”

    { https://www.amazon.com/Humbrol-Balsa-Cement-Adhesives-24ml/dp/B0015OSZAC }

    BTW George, you might want to lookie here:

    https://www.vintagemodelcompany.com

    http://www.happyhobby.com/index.htm

    https://www.megahobby.com/

    (My apologies, in advance, to both E and your wallet…)

    • ” I always used Ambroid cement…

      { http://www.ottertooth.com/Canoe_pages/ambroid.htm }

      Ambroid is the gold standard for balsa model building. It is a celluloid-based glue/cement, originally invented to permanently repair canoes. ”

      Thanks for that Ray.. I have never heard of that one and it is always a good thing to have a good glue source…. I have always been a franklin glue fan….for glues

      • Canoes and wood-frame airplanes — It was used for repairs because it was slightly flexible, stuck wood together like crazy, and had a reasonable dry time.

        Ambroid was essentially celluloid (like old movie film or new cigarette filters), dissolved in a mixture of acetone and ethanol.

        This gave it one other really interesting property. You could mist it with acetone or paint over it with butyrate dope, and it would soften, then deep-penetrate the wood before re-drying, making an even better joint. In silk-spanning a model airplane, the initial doping would unitize the silk-span and the balsa at each joint or wing-rib, making the plane even stronger. Monokote was easy and pretty, but dope on silk-span made some tough-assed pieces. There were times when I was learning control-line that I put my Ringmaster Junior nose-first into the asphalt and didn’t damage the wings…

    • I used Ambroid about 70 years ago, but I used more Testor’s. Nowadays they’re using cyanoacrylate (superglue). Just pin the parts over the plan and apply a drop or two of superglue at the joint. Dries almost instantly to a permanent (permanent as anything can be with balsa) bond.

  18. “WAIT, URE. You’re saying you had a complete oxy rig as a spare with regulators and, tips, cleaners, strikers…EVERYTHING???”

    Doesn’t everyone?
    _______

    Remember the gas nuts have a scored filing in the middle of their nuts… We’ve given up trying to write a cogent explanation for why which some of the threads on are “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” but others are not.

    Hex fittings (both male and female) for flammable gases feature left-hand threads. The notch is to identify the fitting as left-hand. If you look at one of your 20 pound LP bottles, you’ll see the valve/fitting has a set of threads on the outside, but also another set of threads inside the fitting. Those inside threads are left-hand, for coupling to an industrial or high-accuracy regulator.
    _______

    Iran reportedly has enough 60 percent enriched uranium to build a bomb. A really crude, heavy, kluged bomb. But it’s still a what?

    It is (not a nuke, but) an EMP-optimized atom bomb.
    _______

    “What do you think you’ll actually DO in an economic collapse?” Day one, month one, year one kind of thing.

    Day one – Duck & cover

    Sometime between day01 and day30, locate a lime pit and arrange a surreptitious means of access (in case I need to build something out of concrete…)

    Month one – see above.

    Year one – see above.

    I plan to stay off-grid and invisible for at least 15-16 months, to give the desperate masses ample opportunity to kill each other off before I announce my existence to the world.

    As I mentioned before, I will then begin a build-it / fix-it shop to make stuff, and to make stuff work again, but also to employ kids, for me to teach and them to learn, how to be a “general specialist” (Jack-of-all-trades) in the R&R field…
    _______

    We’re thinking basic land-working equipment repairs

    ‘Big problem here is tractors that’re less than 40 years old have electronic bits which, once local supply is gone, will never run again. The Ford, Oliver, Minneapolis Moline, John Deere, M-F, International Harvester, etc., tractors designed during the Great Depression, will rule, and the home-handy type will learn how to make high-silver-content bronze and rebuild breaker points contacts with it… Rebuilding the rubbing blocks’ll be a bitch, though.
    ______

    the ability to make up hydraulic hoses, for example

    Hydraulic (pump-up) crimper is a handy addition to a well-rounded shop. The Chinese ones are comparatively cheap, and are good enough.
    ______

    maybe have a few dozen 5-gallon cans of fluid might be useful.

    The dipsticks in my older work vehicles are graduated in gallons. 5-gallon cans are only good for your own needs, and even then, only until you can make more. Having a field planted in rapeseed, and a press to extract the oil from same, is best. The filtered squeezin’s are B-100, from which many crude lubes can be made.
    ______

    Someone can always find something to weld out here “on the range.”

    I can’t count the number of times over the past half-century that I’ve made repairs using acetylene and a coat hanger or baling wire…
    _______

    N-100 masks this time?

    3 cases of P-100 masks, stashed in storage warehouses, located hundreds of miles apart in different parts of the country and equipped with combination locks…

    • “Doesn’t everyone?”

      That is exactly what I was thinking.. LOL…
      you never have defensive maintenance … always keep preventative maintenance equipment and spare parts..
      you may not need a whatchamacallit all the time.. but when it is called for.. and you don’t have it.. heck you might not be able to get it or like some products.. they stop manufacturing that particular model so they can send you the new updated model with a different colored case.. and spare parts have to be ordered directly from china.. like the zuvo (way before its time and probably one of the best above counter water filters) .. all filters have to be special ordered from china …. that is why any respectable tool slut has the junk drawer or jar can of spare bolts nuts and creative readily available parts (CRAP)

      • Old tractors can be rebuilt or repaired “well enough” with willpower and some machine tools.

        New ones still have engine blocks, heads and cam/crank internals. The problems begin with EFI and EIC, and are especially difficult with “modern” diesels. One workaround is to repower with older engines that need very little that’s electronic. Keeping the old ones in a barn or shed is a no-brainer.

        Even old car engines can be used if needed. A bigger problem will be locating fuel, but Jim Rogers managed to get fuel everywhere for the motorcycles on his round the world trip detailed in the book “Investment Biker”.

        People can make a gasket from a cereal box, but who knows how to make a modern, effective head gasket from scratch? What’s a good substitute for Permatex or RTV silicone?

  19. For coming “FALL ” I will provide some medical care and hope my preps are sufficient.
    Food,medical supplies, other stuff. See where it goes.

  20. Thought of you folk when I read this story. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/farming-in-the-forest-finland-man-recalls-growing-up-on-1-500-acres-of-rugged-wooded-land
    This guy and his family, friends and passersby did everything from farming, mining, lumberjack, sawmill and farm equipment shop to get by. A root cellar full of canned meat and veggies and everyone that dropped by got fed. Despite having large herds of cattle and pigs, they only ate culls to sell the rest and ate bear, racoon, moose, fish and anything else that moved nearby. The kicker was most every meal he eats is meat, potatoes and gravy. Why bother thinking about the food menu when there is work to do.

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