What we do in Florida when we're bored and don't have
enough 'projects' "on our plate" -... - we haul-home discarded SCUBA
tanks (what else would you 'discard' in Florida?) - and we 'attempt' to
make bells out of them...
Found out attempting to oxy-acetylene cut these is a 'pain' and results
in a VERY rough-cut because the outside of these tanks (where I would
flame-cut) is 'galvanized' and that galvanizing plays hell with the
flame-cutting-torch, and you can not do this 'indoors' because of the
'fumes' made by heating up the zinc (galvanizing), and it was blowing
pretty hard outside when I cut them.... -
ANYWAY we've tried to change some of the bells by cutting-off more
with the 'abrasive-saw' but that has it's own set of problems...
here's the sound-file:
click here
Today is Thursday, 11 December, and we've been doing a LOT around
here, however, much of it has gone 'un-accounted-for' as it has not
been photographed...
more to come, SOONISH I can get the pictures edited
However, one thing we decided several weeks ago was to 'pre-empt' the
failure of our nearly 20 year old house-kitchen-fridge.... AND along
with a sale at the local Lowe's we got a fairly good deal... -
SO - we'll say 'good-bye' to the very first purchase Ms. May and I
made, as a 'couple' - nearly 20 years ago, in Hong Kong, for this
(recently) 'Shop Fridge' (a Sharp brand model that opens on EITHER
SIDE with no changing of the hinge or anything - picture(s) above...
It will not, however, leave our environs, it will be put to good use
in it's 'retirement' as a 'hold the humidity level' storage-cabinet
for some of Ms. May's 'in-process' clay-items, where holding the
humidity at a given level is key to the long-term-health of her art...
the NEW fridge (which we hope will work (which a major
'home-repair-reatailer (whom shall remain nameless) promised us a 10
December delivery about 2-3 weeks ago, called yesterday and said they
wouldn't deliver it for at least another week..???)) will go into our
kitchen (some dis-assembly of our 'island' may be required), and
the (now) working fridge from the kitchen will go out into the shop to
keep ice-water cold! - in this way we hope we'll not have to
'scramble' should the existing kitchen fridge fail when we've just
bought a lot of 'stuff' to put in it?!
Mr. Bill is now back 'into' Rhino3D (CAD software) - and the
kiln-design world...
- one of the things I've struggled-with for quite-some-time was how to
get the bricks at the top of the kiln's arch
to 'look-right' when modelling a kiln in a CAD software tool, much
less in the kiln-building process.
I "THINK" that this image (more) accurately represents what I want to
show.
- I think I still have 'work to do' but I am definitely farther along
the 'path' I want to go than I have ever been before.
My next 'hurdle' will be to be able to mix & match the 'regular /
full-size / rectilinear brick' and the 'tapered' "arch brick" so that
the arch is done with pre-made brick we can order, not brick that we
have to cut. - THAT modeling, however, may take 'some time' to
complete... - the 'goal-seeking' programming-method may have to be used
to 'fit' a combination of straight-rectilinear brick with 'arch' brick.
- I'm learning a lot about 'goal-seeking' as a 'programming
algorithm' - so - that may be some place where I can, myself, set some
goals, to see if I can make this work? - an algorithm or computer
software that would mix & match the different brick geometries to
come up with a reasonable list of brick to order, and would reduce the
time spent cutting custom brick would be a god-send for the
kiln-building industry...
in the above image the 'cyan' is what I did on the 'guided-tour' (08
November, 2014 with Ms. Christine, from the local "State Park" as
'leader') and the 'purple' is what I did, on the 16th of November)...
WELL! - (sore subject, here!) - but has little, actually, to
do with the 'WELL' - so to speak...
BAD times in the old home-stead... - the septic-tank filled-up (was
actually over-flowing (but I knew this was happening and made "the
call" in time to prevent a MESS in the HOUSE) - and so I called in the
'experts' - who basically spent my $4,500 and told me I needed to
spend another $10,000 (plus or minus) - to put in a new drain field
(amongst other 'expenses'...??) - and - oh - by the way - take out
these three trees, because they are the biggest reason(s) that your
existing drain-field is only 'open' for 25% of what it should be - and
- oh - well - we won't bore you with the rest of the VERY PAINFUL
(wallet-wise) story.... - All this happened on 2-4-6 November, and
needless to say it's STILL PAINFUL... - We should be 'finished' with
this sometime around February-April of 2015 -
Modern Technology really is better than the 'old-stuff'
Yes
- I've said this before, but recent purchases, and problems (like
just above) and uses of other things have proven it - yet-again...
I spent 'some time' (tri) cycling on the L.O.S.T., back in
November, if you want to see the results, click
here... it was REALLY WINDY out of the NNW, and I went
REALLY SLOW on the way north, barely pushing 9mph, but there were
times, on the way back (with the wind behind me) when I was really
moving along.
(BIGGER
VERSION click here)
Mr. Panda-bear had his annual "bath" on 03 Sepetember, and here's
his web-page:
http://www.vikingasia.org/BeachWeb/PandaBear/PB.html
