(US – As in UrbanSurvival, of course. Not the “jab-and slab” gang So’s we’re clear.)
Shop Inflation
Although it’s speaking heresy to the ‘stupid woke’ that fact is many don’t have the brains God gave cats. Yes, inflation IS real.
An STS reader sent us photographic proof of how the “inflation game” is being played with paper products.
Yes, that’s right: The nearly-empty on the left has one diameter of roll. Compare it with the two pack of new.
This is going on many of the paper products we follow and use as shop consumables. We gave up,, for example, using roll paper towels for most anything. Instead, those C-fold paper towels work just as well (the kind passed out as ‘hand towels’ in restrooms). We get 4,000 C-folds in a box.
Better? Since the packs of C-fold are rectangular, they don’t take up as much storage space as rolls.
Which are remarkably inefficient.
Now, if the ‘wokee’s’ want to insist on the Joe Blow “no inflation, get that booster” chant, that’s all fine. Just do it somewhere else. Not among thinking people.
We have work to do. Eyes to see….
Elaine Rakes It In
Been almost down into “perfect working weather” temps in Texas this week. So Elaine’s been out contouring the front yard a bit. This morning, she’ll be putting in grass seed where the old (over-sized) deck will be remade into something more “right-sized…
She’ll be using some encapsulated grass seed. Back in the day, people only had plain seed. But now, you can get seed that is pre-coated with a week or three of fertilizer. So you don’t need to use as much peat as usual. Still have to water, but it’s a few less steps.
Not sure if it’s any more cost-effective. But laziness is worth something. You can get encapsulated seeds for some veggies, too.
Butcher Block Deals
Been seeing some very nicely-made acacia wood butcher block popping up on eBay, lately.
Since I have delusions about completely re-engineering the ham radio install, I figured it would be great to have a solid wood shelving system. Some of the gear(like me) is on the heavy side.
Block counter shows up unfinished with a note to get the first coat of [whatever] on within 24-48 hours to reduce risk of warping. Duly noted:
Two “undercoats” of Varathane Triple-Thick (matte) and then two coats of Triple Thick gloss over that.
Prices are very good, considering there is shipping. A 50-inch by 25 and 1 1/2-in thick block was $126 including the freight. Search eBay for Butcher Block and some interesting “deal mining” experiences may appear.
Speaking of Materials
We finally gave up on getting the precise 6 x 6 tile we wanted for the kitchen. Perpetually out of stock. So, instead we picked a 4 x 4 which is supposed to be here in a couple of weeks. (Oct. 13 is the due date, but we’re not holding our breath…). $799 for tile? Ye gads.
Saw Notes 1: Raspy
I don’t remember, but in case I didn’t mention it before, when you’re cutting wood for almost any home handy-bastard project, carry a wood rasp in your rear pocket.
Because there are a ton of cuts which will leave slivers (just waiting to happen) all over fresh-cut wood. A quick pass with the rounded side of the rasp does a great job and gives a more workmanlike finish to the project:
Doesn’t have to be real big. An 8 or 10-inch rasp is all you need. Not expensive, just damn useful.
Saw Note 2: Zero Clearance Tape
Few weeks back I mentioned “zero clearance” tape was becoming widely available.
Essentially, it’s like a good piece of duct tape, except the face is made out of a thin plastic.
Installation is pretty easy:
- Roll your table saw blade all the way down.
- Clean the saw table with some Bug & Tar spray (useful for all kinds of goo-missions around the shop). Dry super well.
- Apply the tape evenly on either side of the saw guide.
- Once you have the tape on, turn on the saw and raise the table (CAREFULLY!) while the saw is running.
It does a great job of giving you a much smaller amount of sawdust blowing around.
However – be sure when you are raising the blade (saw running) to have eye protection on! The small pieces of plastic (which is hard) come flying off and you don’t want to get them in your eyes.
This was one of those “glad I wear glasses” moments. One of very few…
Tree Doctoring
We’ve got about four tamarind trees in the front yard. They didn’t set fruit this year and their leaves came off early.
Elaine’s thinking it’s some kind of blight. She pointed to ants climbing the trees. But my money’s on the cold blast in East Texas last winter.
I mean come on! Tamarinds are a native African species and they aren’t used to 6-degree weather, so much. I’m guessing “climate change” – but the real decider will be how cold it gets this winter and whether they come back next year.
Power Tool School: Gas Matters
Been having a series of conversations with my pal (the Major) because he’s very methodical in his thinking about, well, pretty-much everything.
We’re a study in contrasts. Sometimes I will be done with a project before he even starts. Usually I can re-do my original project two or three times. He puts a lot more front-end research time and thus has zero do-overs. Me? Do-overs are practice and build skills….
Same thing reaches over into outdoor power equipment. He had a Stihl chainsaw that lasted him almost 30-years. If I get 10 from a Husky, I consider it a personal dispensation from God himself.
“It’s the gas mix.” he explained to his dimwitted pal. “I put in Stabil for gasoline, Marvel Mystery Oil, and Lucas upper cylinder additives.”
Accordingly, the story went, the inside of the Stihl was almost factory new. It’s just a needed part couldn’t be found (no longer made) so another saw.
Point though is that I tried MMO in our airplane and didn’t feel any difference in performance. (We ran 100 LL and added Av-Blend or Camguard which are approved additives.)
Still, (or should I saw Stihl?) I’ve decided to brew up a batch of the Major’s super-mix and see how it works.
Small Engine School?
Which gets me (thank God!) to the point. I’ve thought about doing a few columns on basic 2-cycle maintenance. I think people would like to know some of that stuff. Change a carb, put new recoil rope on…that kind of thing.
By the way, there was a time that Foley-Belsaw had some great courses on small engine repair out as part of their venture into correspondence school education. Picked up the whole small engine course (in original binders) for under $100.
I’ve always gotten a lot more out of “technical school manuals” (and military manuals) than “text books.” Maybe because so many times, the tech/correspondence/mil. material is written by people who actually do shit. Not people who study the “theory of smells” and what have you.,
Off to make a pass at the lawn, should the sun ever get here. Like it’s running late today.
Oh…Major claims MMO has greater “walkability” than virtually all gun oils. So after a cleaning, especially small parts like triggers, he starts with MMO and then does a 3-5 day later follow-up lube with a good gun oil. Seems MMO isn’t as good on the lubricity, but rocks on the walkability. Hence his two-stage approach. Learned from a master gunsmith. (Which few are…)
Write when you get rich, end miss-fires, and are ready for small engine school,
George@Ure.net
Great Sunday column, George.
RE: Tree blight – here in W. PA our lone backyard apple tree started losing its leaves from the bottom outside up. Plum tree was fine. Now only the very top-center leaves remain. I noticed while driving around to a wedding reception a few weeks back that most all of the apple trees we passed seemed to be suffering from the same blight or insect infestation. Our tree seems to have gone into early hibernation, as when I scratch the bark on a twig, green shows, usually a sign the tree is still alive.
On another related note, my rural lawn (clover, various types of grasses) started showing brown spots about the same time the apple tree began showing signs of stress. Normally I would think browning loawn spots were a sign of grubs, but I noticed a fine, silky web over the dead grass on dewy mornings. So I figured it to be either insects or fungus. I’ll let nature run its course on the grass, then put down some lawn insect treatment for various insect grubs. I’ll also double whammy and spray with a Neem oil mix, which is a decent insecticide for fungus gnats and other bothersome insects.
…Starting to see gypsy moths around here. An invasive species which likes the North American climate above 44° north, they build silky nests in trees, which then kill the trees, so I’d assume if they built them aground, it’d not be healthy for the native flora. I’m starting to see snowy owls, which don’t generally range below 50° north, even in winter, which has given merit to the possibility that Arctic cold is slowly creeping southward…
Theres a small bark beetle that infects the trees around here,that has them looking like that to..
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7421.html
One reason to have a good wood lot management. Prune the trees of dead wood…my father use to strip the bark off and my mom loved to attract birds and always said a bird should be able to fly through a trees limbs freely and kept the branches thinned..
The really bad areas he cut the trees down..
Droughts seems to bring out the pests..
Speaking about daddy projects.. now that I have a moisture trap and the pump rebuilt and swapped pumps..I’m going to drop twenty pounds of spuds in the freeze dryer..for stews or just mashed potatoes..I’ll blanch them chop into cubes.. next I’ll do french fries.. to rehydrate just like the hashbrowns.. you put in a good china Tupperware bowl ( butter or cottage cheese container) fill with water set in fridge over night.. I do that with hamburger or beans..altogether I’ll do a hundred pounds of potatoes.. for winter.. I haven’t tried halving potatoes for easy baked potatoes..
TV dinners are fun.. set the tray in then extend the freeze time. After it hits fifty below.. ( about a half hour) open it up and take the stuff out of each compartment and place on trays) keep the trays for vacuum sealing..
Some do lasagna I haven’t tried that yet..I’ve done raw steaks.. that was fun..so is raw lean pork loin..they have to be lean.. mostly I do cooked meats ..but I wanted to try raw then grill..it worked ok..
I just purchased this for my Locust trees after the one cut down had ants living inside a damaged branch section, the damage is the reason for it’s going to the wood burning pile ,,, tree tanglefoot, have not applied it yet, it is on the LIST
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165038344464?epid=8020234889&hash=item266d0d4910:g:XPcAAOSwhURhJ86h
A series on troubleshooting and repairing or maintaining small gas engines is a GREAT IDEA. My local repair and blade sharpening shop closed a few years ago, and the local rate for a 3-man crew to mow, trim, and blow a 1/4 acre lot with a big-assed house and driveway on it is $40. One of my remaining personal demons is the mental gymnastics trying to figure out how many mows I can get out of my gas mower before replacing it because I’m not sure I can fix it. Thx!
George
On the tv show Home Town the wood worker Ben used a heat gun to remove bubbles from a thick layer of urethane . He was making a table from a slab of hardwood and encapsulating the top side completely. It’s a neat trick and worked very well. But you probably know about it. I just though it was cool how it worked out!
Several times in my college day’s I have walked into a class room on day one only to see the Professor start filling up the chalk board with equations.
I knew immediately that I would get very little practical knowledge from that course!
The Professors that did that were usually PhD types. Classes I took with Grad School teachers were much more productive as they still had some memory space left in their brains.
My Air Force tech school training and associated OJT worked out to be 91% of a four year degree as far as time in a class seat. That schooling lasted over a year.
Tech school was 8 hours a day 5 days a week and also time in the field with an instructor. None of that 3 hours a week per class bull that colleges use.
When I graduated from that I had a good understanding of how complex electronic systems work together to achieve a precise result. This gave me an edge over the guys with just a college degree and no experience! “Dude those are not capacitors those are relay contracts on that schematic”. I explained to the newbie engineer.
It also helped to be the Plumbers son and part time apprentice when designing a Class 1 Division 1 Explosion Proof electrical conduit system. “No Dude you cannot just unscrew a conduit fitting from the middle of a run and replace it with a different fitting, the threads run in opposite directions on each side of the fitting – Scheeeh!!” Once again instructing a newbie engineer.
Class room work is necessary but nothing beats real world experience.
https://youtu.be/kznkcaoLNao
Stone coat … great company good products..
Off subject. Could you repost the email address of your contact in India – where you ordered the Ivermectin ? I thought I had saved it., but alas, it is nowhere to be found. Thanks.
The easiest way to do this is to go to the indiamart web site type in Ivermectin and your contact info.
You will be contacted by many different pharmacies.
The one I chose was ahuja pharma as they had a good selection based on dosage and you could pay using PayPal. It worked well for me!
Fascinating – that inflation stuff. It seems to work well for things I have to buy, but ain’t so good for stuff I already have. Wood sheetgoods are still high and nowhere near where they were a couple of years ago, but PM’s are down for some unknown reason. Scrap prices for metals are still too low to haul my leftover junk anywhere, but I’m told used(functional) cars are high. I can’t speak to the buttcoins – they seem to be anything but cash. Too much time spent trying to understand the details of each and how to transact with them privately, and I’ve never been to a yard sale or auction and been asked for a hash rather than a dollar. My personal rule is to never invest in something I don’t understand unless the main purpose is to gain that understanding, and then it should be cheap enough to ignore the loss.
If the Stihl saw is that valuable, I’d think it would be worth the effort of making a part.
George – FYI, the checkbox above the post button is now defaulting to “Tell me when comments are added”. This makes for a flurry of extra emails.
will fix in a sec…
George.., since you are redesigning / building the new deck, have you considered adding an outdoor bread / pizza oven? Pretty damn handy and fun to use., year around. You can buy oven components on the web.., or DIY plans also. From the photo, it looks really clear of any overhead combustible material – i.e. trees and limbs.
Got a ceramic wood fired piZza overn that will be wheeled in plus a charcoal fire pit…with a grill.
Sounds like you’re all set.
https://ooni.com/products/ooni-karu-16?variant=34076710371425¤cy=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtMCKBhDAARIsAG-2Eu9kvxEa8FfEwNEMCoO7xM2i04XhBGEuMrVMfjP1-aG5T9YgOXU91scaAv6dEALw_wcB
Wow…the price of that sure went up…
I got mine for 299.00 with fifty off .. for shopping points..
I had reminisced about the best bread I ever had..
My mother use to bake bread every thursday and what was left from the previous week she made into bread pudding for sunday dinner.. then we went camping.. I must have been five.. dad forgot to pack the bread.. So my mom went and made an oven by weaving branches into a dome then having my sister and I pack grass and clay mix around it..she started a fire in it and then had us put more on it because it cracked a little bit.. once it was dry she had dad runn for the flour etc.. and baked bread.. then coated the bread with butter.. even now I can taste that bread reminiscing about it.. I had extra ace hardware points and after reminiscing about it. Had to buy one..
But the price is crazy.. I was just in ace yesterday seen they have it offered again but didn’t ask its price since I have it already..
The peach trees out at the ranch blossomed and then … nuttin’ this Spring. The “volunteer” on the North side of the house did better and had a few peaches but the squirrel got to them before they were really ready so we got no peaches this year. My granddaughter keeps asking about bbq’d squirrel after I told her about how good it was when I was a kid. If I catch that critter in my cross hairs she’ll definitely find out. She’s even said multiple times she wants to get him herself. Now if I can just tear her away from that damned phone of her’s!
Oh, it looks like the “Tell me when comments are added to this …” check box is defaulted to checked.
I was out taking photos of a trespass on an absentee owner’s property. It hasn’t been determined if it is a criminal trespass, or a cousin in the doghouse working out of commute range from his own cash residence as of yet. If you own rural property, then post it legally, and deal with cut fences and gates aggressively. If you are an absentee owner, make arrangements for someone to check on the property frequently. The owner is potentially liable for injuries and illegal activities, even by trespassers. Someone cutting fences and putting a trailer or shelter on property they don’t own is kind of a tip-off.
With the real economic stats (as opposed to the papered-over fake economic stats) continuing to hold or deteriorate at depression levels, ordinary people are being forced to find refuge wherever they can. While the victims of the state-sanctioned looting of fly-over land get my sympathy, there are still issues of ownership and liability. In reality, I can see some advantage to an absentee landowner getting a clean and sober squatter to sign a lease agreement, with some rules on what resource exploitation is permissible and what isn’t. The devils you know who pay you something and acknowledge your ownership in writing are preferable to fence-cutting firebugs, meth-heads, poachers and wokies carrying diseases.
Lol lol lol..that reminded me of a radio broadcast years ago.. I ran a photo lab anyway the delivery man was out sick.. si I ran his route..one of the pharmacies that I would deliver to was way out in the sticks.. the only radio station that would come in was a religious station.. anyway there was a online minister always asking for live offerings..for the lord’s work.. lol lol.. well one day he was talking about the lord speaking with him that told him that this mobile hmm one was a gift from god for him and his family.. so he moved in… at the mobile home dealership.. lol lol they couldn’t get him out of it.. after a week of battling ownership and his radio broadcast.. someone bought the mobile home for him lol lol..
The driver got better after that and I never heard anything more.. he always had his 8 track tapes lol
Maybe the Dude will suggest to Andy that he hand out Mercedes-chassis RV’s to G____ and his paying readers after he cashes in that lotto ticket. Oh Lord, want you buy me…
She Bought Her Dream Home. Then a ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Changed the Locks.
A New Jersey woman was preyed upon by a fast-growing extremist group that claims its members are sovereign Moors, not bound by U.S. laws.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/26/nyregion/moors-newark.html?surface=most-popular&fellback=false&req_id=804274318&algo=bandit-all-surfaces-variants-uh-last-12h&variant=1_bandit-all-surfaces-variants-uh-last-12h&pool=pool/91fcf81c-4fb0-49ff-bd57-a24647c85ea1&imp_id=199465636
“Maybe the Dude will suggest to Andy that he hand out Mercedes-chassis RV’s to G____ ”
Amen Brother.. During the whole ordeal the radio minister was having I couldn’t wait till the next day just to find out what in the world was happening LOL LOL it was a hoot.. and his LOVE offerings from his readers..
Jim and Tammy had a club back then as well and did the same thing.. It all started out innocent enough and they did some wonderful things in the beginning.. the puppet shows were great for the kids to.. when they started to seek money for their productions.. it was ok to.. But then it started to come in from all areas at once.. before they knew it they had sold out for the green sheet of paper..LOL .. I was actually sad the driver got better.. it was more fun than as show as the stomach churns LOL LOL
Folks,
Have you’uns tried contacting your local agriculture extension service? They all probably have an online presence which will differ from state to state so let Duckduckgo be your friend. Your tax dollars support their work. So get value back by using their “free” services.
George, I understand lubricity, but what is walkability???
Lubricity is “slippery” while “walkability” is “:ability to spread out thin and wideness…:
Aerokroil is another extreme walkability. Not much lubricity, but it’s a killer at rust busting.
Suspect MMO would be great at that, too, given high walkability. But, MMO would be slow because it’s not as “runny” –
You would really enjoy the article here https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rusty-bolts.1119191/ because the absolute best at busting the rust is ATF fluid 50-50 with acetone. Aerokroil (by Kno Kroil) is #2.
The ATF/acetone is mean nasty shit on hands, plastics, and so forth. Not to mention a hell of a fire hazard…
My dad called walkability “creep”. I’ve always used that term too. It’s descriptive, though less colorful. I agree on the atf/acetone as best, though it’ll destroy paint if you let it. There was one engine stuck so badly that it never moved, even with aerokroil followed by atf/acetone. I just changed it for one in a junker. Chrysler small blocks seemed to have that problem more than most when water sat in the cylinders for too long.
Two cycle engines are a finicky lot as is, add a couple decades of EPA emissions meddling and they can be a nightmare. One tool that is a must is a decent compression gauge. I’ve seen seasoned techs get flustered on a repair because they didn’t check to see if the block was any good. Good number is 100# cold, warm within 10% or so of cold reading. Stuck ring(s) or scored cylinder the likely suspects. Both usually due to wrong/old fuel. Another tool is a Mighty-Vac type vacuum/pressure tester (with gauge) for testing the rubber bits, carburetor inlet needle and fuel lines. Keep replacement fuel line (especially the fancy molded lines like Stihl likes to use) on hand as well as spare fuel/air filters. Check ALL rubber bits for problems. Spark tester and spare plugs, natch. Don’t forget any special Torx or Allen drivers if needed. That’ll be enough to tell if you can fix it, or you have a new wheel chock. Aside from dirt ingestion on concrete saws and other contributing factors, I seldom saw in my 35 years on the bench, a two cycle engine actually worn out from use. Usually the owner/operator kills it.
LOOB: saw the great cardboard box you made for your grandson’s dorm so thought you might like this article – Cardboard furniture is the new trend sweeping the interior design world:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9969387/Cardboard-furniture-new-trend-sweeping-interiors-world.html
NordWerk design, a Vancouver-based architectural studio, is another company with cardboard-focused work. Has some free designs on their website.
I love it.. I actually made a bed once out of cardboard boxes.. and a couch end tables etc…. when I was a kid and first got married.. I had a total of four hundred a month coming in.. and we had nothing.. so the furniture store across the road from us always had huge piles of boxes that was free..
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/game-tables/english-victorian-papier-mache-pearl-inlaid-black-lacquered-vanity/id-f_882243/?utm_content=condensed&allowUniversalLink=no&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4a2U5Jef8wIV_waICR0EgQhpEAQYAiABEgKC7vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
when I quit procrastinating I am going to finish a violin I started out of cardboard and toilet paper LOL…
I was once asked for my suggestions on emergency shelter design.. I gave one using polycarbonate foam core corrugated sheets / each one would fold flat.. easy up easy down and fifty shelters to a pallet.. ( I seen that the idea is being made now.. ( of course I never heard back from the jokers LOL) not sure what they use for it now.. my original idea was they could be flown in and dropped by plane.then distributed out.)
the wonderful world of paper..
The violin sounds fascinating(I hope). I wonder how it will resonate.
Living close to the ground and acquiring so many skills but no money, how did you ever manage to acquire a worthy wife? My understanding was that they generally require bling, fancy cars, and a six+ figure income from a desk job or investment. Net worth doesn’t seem to enter the equation.
I tried both approaches and nobody stayed around long term! Now I just live close to the ground because I prefer it.
“I wonder how it will resonate.”
that has been the big question.. I have made cigar box guitars before.. the violin.. even though I will do similar to a cigar box has to have the rib for rigidity..( it is paper after all) then to tune paper top and bottom.. phew.. they used ashes in the day or sand then tap on it to see how the ashes or sand dispersed.. because I am not to sure how the bridge support will be able to hold several hundred pounds of string tension is shat is really slowing me down..
I have been reading some ancient chinese and japanese texts though.. they were the masters of paper..many of their creations are still around today from thousands of years ago.. crushed egg shells is one thing.. along with crushed stone mixed in the finish.. we shall see
George,
I wonder if you are aware that Adam Savage (formerly of Mythbusters) has been posting some very helpful videos for makers on YouTube. He does an assortment of builds in a “warts and all” style where along the way, stuff breaks, won’t fit as planned etc. Just like real life. Check out the one where he’s rifling of a gun barrel and gets the broach stuck halfway through.
73’s.
Neat stuff about India orders. Just bought some myself.
Was cautioned by 3 places to not talk about meds from India Mart… There might be a problem …
Just a thought. Got 3 separate bids choose the best. Paypal also.
3mg 6mg and 12 mg.. Good prices…
Try using Amsoil in your small engines. I’m not a dealer, but I changed to their Small Engine oil 3 years ago. No more oil needed to be added every lawn mowing. Have a zero turn with motor right behind my back. Operates much cooler! Finally decided to try their hydraulic oil in the hydrostatic drives system. Much quieter, runs cooler, but biggest surprise came when I filled the fuel tank. Used at least 25% less gasoline! Pretty big deal b/c I mow 2+ acres every time. They also have a very unique 2cycle oil, check it out on their website. Lots of great test results.
Great tip – thanks!