[CRT Monitor Hum]

Precisely what it sounds like.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Minor update - yesterday, I completed the main sections of canvas for the A-Frame, and snapped these pictures. You can see the cross-brace ropes inside, which assist in keeping the whole structure much more stable. After I put this up, I took it back down and started working on cutting and attaching the door panels in both ends. Next up, I'll be attaching the straps to the bottoms of the left and right sides, and the closures for the door panels. I'm using straps for the sides instead of a pair of sleeve to allow me to adjust the tension of the canvas. On hotter days, looser canvas will breath a little better, and during rain, the tension will allow the water to flow directly off.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

(cross post from my Facebook page, post-dated May 5th) As the War of Silica Vale VI draws closer, it's all hands on deck in the workshop. While waiting for the opportunity to obtain canvas for the A-Frame (Truck broke down, and it's hard to fit 18'x9' of canvas on the back of my motorcycle) I decided I would try to finish the lamellar armor I started nearly two years ago(!!!).

I have over 500 plates of leather cut to shape, soaked in molten beeswax, and drilled with the appropriate holes. I'm lacing them together with black 550 paracord. If my calculations are correct, I should have enough to make a full torso piece, with perhaps some leftover for floating shoulder plates.

Lessons learned here: multiple hole sizes on the plates may slow down the drilling process, but if not done, will drastically slow down the lacing process. Also, to harden the scales with wax, I had the molten wax within a small crockpot. It worked too well, and the wax actually boiled some of the scales to the point of burning them. Others were shrunk and misshaped due to heat and falling to the bottom of the crock. In the future, I wonder if a deep fryer, with a collection basket, wouldn't get the job done better.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Looking pretty good so far. Still need to seal the planks, then the labor of the cover can begin.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Sunday in the workshop. Currently working on shaping the frame for the A-Frame tent. Previously, when I've had wood to remove that wasn't a square shape, I've used my belt sander to quickly shave it all down. The poles for roof and walls are too long, and the shape needs to be too precise for that, so I picked up a rasp and coping saw at Lowes. I've never used a rasp before, but I'm in love with it already. Depending on the up stroke, down stroke, or force applied to each stroke, I get a lot of control over the amount of material coming off.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

First Aluminum melt of 2015! I’ve got a new furnace design, thanks to the King of Random (https://youtu.be/hHD10DjxM1g) and a strong desire to revisit metal working.

2015 will be the YEAR OF STEEL!  MARK MY WORDS!

You can see here the particulars: a bucket filled with a sand/plaster mixture, complete with lid and easy access hole on the top. Still using my hair dryer connected to a dimmer switch blower assembly, but with a longer air tube.  This solved my issue with the tape not sticking for the duration, due to overexposure to the heat.

The crucible itself is a propane canister that I sawed the top off of.  Good steel, and it held up well to the heat of the furnace, but the width of it prevented me from having a good stock of charcoal in the chamber - I had to restock it every five minutes or so.

All in all, this design is a vast improvement over the previous model.  I got plenty of scrap aluminum melted, with a smaller expense of charcoal and in less time, due to the lid keeping the bulk of the heat within the furnace chamber.  A new tin let me make these neat little disc shaped ingots, which feel like some sort of medallion to me.  This gives me an idea - look for more in a future post.

Further upgrades:

-Smaller crucible.  This will let me get more fuel in the chamber, keep the interior hotter, and keep my aluminum molten longer, making for better pours

-Dedicated tongs or a lid hinge assembly. The lid was easily the best reason for the new design, but it’s still not perfect.  A better method for moving it back and forth will help retain heat.

-Blacksmiths coal. The bbq briquets I’ve been using are certainly capable of reaching the temperature levels I need, but cause a large amount of ash (even with most of it burning away within the now hotter chamber) which scatters over my tools and work area.  Cleaner burning fuel will keep things clean, and potentially run my furnace hotter.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

I built a bigger forge. It's bigger that the soup can thing I made, and is fueled with charcoal instead of propane. I wired a dimmer switch into the hair dryer to control the flow of air, which saved me a lot of wasted fuel. It was pretty simple to put the piece into the coals, crank the heat up for a few minutes, pull it out once it was workable, and turn the dial back down. My opportunities lie with my anvil. It's just so sad. That tiny red anvil barely weighs a pound, and it attached to the board underneath with nails, and the board is clamped to the metal chair beneath it. I ended up fighting my anvil as much as the hammer I was using, which was a ball peen hammer in need of a more polished surface. I was also using a poor grade of steel here, something that is meant for welding. You can see how rough the worked portion turned out. To do: Obtain a better anvil setup I'm looking at a section of railroad track and a nice stump to mount it on. Obtain better steel. Now that I know how much of a difference it makes. I'll expend the extra effort for it. Still, I had a blast!

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

I made a tiny forge today.

It uses a soup can, a mixture of sand and plaster of Paris, and a torch.

Found the idea on YouTube, and felt it was too simple to pass up.

I’ll try my hand at forging something simple, and I’ll post the results here.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

All the blood, sweat, and hard work has finally resulted in my third yurt. Still so many lessons to learn, but I am, at least for now, content.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Progress continues. The Khana has been assembled for a while, as I catch up on the roof. The crown is probably the ugliest thing I've ever made, but it should hold just fine. I had to jury-rig an assembly to get the angles right, and even then my drill press had a hard time. Should be able to finish and assemble the frame today, and start on the cover.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

The lacing of slats begins. I had forgotten these are much longer than the slats for my 8' yurt, and I quickly ran into the logistical issue of not being able to reach all holes. I've since stood them on their ends, much like the walls they'll eventually become. This has the added benefit of providing a good sense of scale for the finishes product. It's going to be -big-.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Adding stain to the 12' yurt wall slats.  This stain is a 2 in 1 formula, colorizing it as well as sealing it, so moisture and UV damage are mitigated.  57 slats, 6' 6" tall, unstained slat left for color comparison. Once these are stained, then the lacing begins.  Beyond that, the door frame, and finally, the roof.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Making progress on my bigger yurt. Working on the walls now. #yurt #diy #workshoptime

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Spend some time with my new drill press, making slats for my 12' yurt. I am saving so much time, using this tool. Apologies for the oddness of the video- my camera setup was a -tad- more flexible than I thought, and it wobbled with the vibration of the drill.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Lamellar armor build day. Having cut approximately 300 or so plates, I roughed out the pattern for when I lace them all together. Currently waiting for the beeswax to liquify, so that I can soak the scales, harden the leather. After that, my new drill press will help make all those holes (seven in each plate) and then lacing can begin.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Thursday night workshop. #leather #armor

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

Bog Chair, unfinished.

This isn’t, strictly speaking, period or historically accurate, but it’s so freakin’ simple to make, I couldn’t help myself.

I need to sand it still, and possibly stain and seal. Future improvements will be carving or wood-burning the head rest portion, and other decorative cuts that will reduce overall weight.

And yes, it’s study enough to hold me, a stout man, and is quite comfortable.

[oldnerdyellsatnewinternet]

One productive afternoon’s worth of wood cutting. I give you, the start of my first 12’ yurt.

These slats are twice as thick as my first two yurts, and over a foot longer. I’m making them out of Douglas fir, which comes in 16’ lengths, and makes cutting down to size really easy. It’s certainly more sturdy than the kind of pine I used previously, and I’m excited to move forward.

This is about 34 slats, and I’ll need approximately 56, plus 32 rafters, which will be 1”x1”. More wood, in other words.