peds
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Everything posted by peds
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Poly Tunnel type structure for extremely exposed situation
peds replied to cessna's topic in Firewood forum
You are thinking of the "Polycrub", they are a great design. Edit The idea is that instead of a rigid metal frame covered with polythene, the frame is made of plastic hoops and covered with twin wall polycarbonate, which can absorb and react to the (frequently strong) winds and give way with a little bit movement. Further edit: Using twin wall polycarbonate makes it much, much more expensive to cover than using polythene, but seem to remember the Polycrub people claiming you could get 30 to 40 years out of it, which is easily double or triple what you'd get out of polythene under absolutely ideal conditions... and obviously much more if you are somewhere exposed enough to lick the roof off your tunnel every couple of years. -
I'm sure you're right, 2x4 probably works just fine, I'm just intent on making a copy of a version I've used somewhere for the last two years. It's a solid and sturdy bit of kit, absolutely no worries about squeezing the last drop out with a 20 ton bottle jack. Unless it was a real belts-and-braces construction, I'm not sure I'd be so confident with a timber device... Any photos of yours available? Anyway, the press is simple enough, the REAL challenge is building the apple mashing machine... I've heard of people using repurposed washing machines studded with nails inside the drum, but that sounds like a bitch to clean out. I was thinking along the lines of 200l blue drum with the blades of a dismantled electric lawnmower mounted in it... might need to think a bit more about that, though.
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Ah that's kind, cheers, but I'll find something to tinker together over here, don't worry! I do actually hope to get a grasp on welding before apple season in the autumn, I've got an old boat trailer that I'm cutting lengths of box section steel from, I want to weld them together into a fruit press (like the one below). Simple enough for a first job, I hope.
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I took out a row of conifers for someone recently, big old hedge that escaped. It had a haircut about 20 years ago which made it angry, and it shot out three or four poles per stem. Lovely big straight sticks. I've kept a dozen nice ones, I'm using them to make a 2 story playhouse for the kids. Wouldn't pay for them, mind.
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- cotoneaster yew tree
- cypress tree
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It's not rubbish firewood at all as long as it sits quietly in the corner for three years or so. Split, stacked, dried under cover, you'd get a few quid for it (delivered) in 2025.
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- cotoneaster yew tree
- cypress tree
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Hmm. Not sure that's the best idea for a 4 year old to use, to be honest.
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The above should just be copy-pasted whenever this kind of thread pops up.
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- cotoneaster yew tree
- cypress tree
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Great start. I can drill a hole in a decent stump for the handle to slot into, just need to think about a sturdy frame around it now.
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Pretty easy to make from scrap if you can weld. Where are you based? I cannot, it's something I'd love to learn, seems like a useful skill. I'm on the west coast of Ireland.
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A bit of a heavy blade like that attached to a block, sure, but it definitely needs a raised ring around it to hold the wood to split. I'm not sure what it could be made/repurposed/upcycled from.
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They are 3 and 4, up to now I've been seating a hatchet in a bit of wood so they can bang it down a few times on a block to split it, but I think they are picking up on the fact that they aren't really doing it themselves. I think with one of these yokes they'd appreciate the swing of a tool a bit more, and the force required to get a reaction from the wood. Then they'd have a bit more control and strength to use a wee axe when the time comes.
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I wanted to make or buy something like that above there for the kids to use when they are hanging out in the woodshed with me. It seems like there's less of a risk of chopping off fingers or toes or broken shins than using my smallest axe. The cheapest ones on amazon or eBay or whatever are 30 euro or so, marked as "ornamental use only", and don't inspire confidence. Obviously you get what you pay for. I'm not really willing to spend three figures on one though (or even the 50, 60 quid that some seem to be). Has anyone built something like this themselves or seen a similar solution? Or got any other ideas to get young kids happy swinging tools around?
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Knock out a few more and call it a half skip chain, claim it's deliberate.
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Will do skip, nice one.
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Well it took me absolutely ages, so you can just go ahead and bloody well use it.
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I don't really have the answers to put in a poll, but sure, here you go. If we can add more options in the future then I guess we'll do that.
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Whoops, that's where it got to. I found a long forgotten bar and chain behind my chopping block in the woodshed when I was reorganising a few weeks ago, it's been sat there on the floor ignored for nearly 3 years now. The old oil has gummed up solid, there's a family of tiny spiders living in the teeth, there's a few spots of rust on the chain, but neither bar nor chain had seen much use before they went missing so it's worth cleaning them up. What's the recommended technique? Bathe in white vinegar then oil? Wd40 and elbow grease? Fairy liquid and boiling water? Just mount it on a machine and rev the balls out of it?
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Hashtags used ironically or with a particularly clever pun is fine.
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I was given 20 litres of cream from a closing restaurant back at the start of lockdown part 1, I turned 18 litres of it into butter before it died. It was on max power for too long, they are a solid unit and well-built, but they are still a domestic bit of kit, not professional. Still, definitely user error and not the machine's fault.
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I swapped out the motor in my 50 year old Kenwood Chef last week. Tempted to buy another motor, just so I have one ready and waiting when it needs to be replaced in another 50 years.
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Ooh, that looks nice.
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I tend to split my wood after smoking a bong with Bernard Clarke's Blue of the Night on the radio, and having the noise of a splitter going would ruin my buzz, man. https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/blue-of-the-night/
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I have the 21 and I pity everyone who doesn't.
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I did this during my cs30/31 assessment. The fella very graciously looked the other way whilst I unf*cked my f*ck up. I don't know if I should have in fact failed, or if I got extra marks for identifying my mistake and successfully correcting it. My advice: don't do it.
