A Midsummer Night's Snark

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Well, I've spent the last few days helping to slay a troll over in the Whine & Cheese subforum, it kinda took over most of my forum time. Also work comes first and I work through most of the day, silly 9-to-5 job and all.

As for knives, I got my BK3 and second BK4 2 days ago, I sold the BK4 to a friend and I'm not sure I'm gonna keep the 3: as much as i like it, I really have no good reason to keep it for how much I paid for it. If I didn't already have a 2 floating around my car I might keep it there.

I also got a Svord Peasant, Opinel #6 stainless, and Tramontina 18" latin machete from Baryonyx yesterday, all of them are awesome and the 'special grade' that he does on the Tramontina mad it perfect right out of the package. I couldn't be happier, been EDCing the Svord all day and it's a great little slipjoint.
 
The regular or small Svord?

I carry one from time to time :D

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TBL said:
The regular or small Svord?
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Damn, you take better photos than I do. It's a regular-sized Peasant, it was a B-grade (the finish wasn't uniform enough for the guys at Baryonyx to sell as A-grade) blue-handled one. I think the wood handle looks way better, but $10 is hard to beat for a knife like this.



 
I just got lucky with the lighting that day :thumbup:

I paid $30 (USD) for mine. Then when I got it home I took it apart and spent a little time with wood. Just sanded it down and put a coating of butchers block sealer on it. I was thinking of making a complete new set of scales for it, but ended up liking these ones :D

With some sand paper you could easily turn that into an 'a' grade ;)
 
This labor thing is kicking my butt. Father in law had a part of a tree fall on his pavilion. I had to get on the roof, cut it up, and lower the branches down by rope. That was 3 nights ago. Last night I went and got what firewood I could out of it, and stacked the brush. Tonight I trimmed another tree up a bit, and cleaned the brush pile up. Kicked my old ass, haha.
 
KingMC said:
Damn, you take better photos than I do. It's a regular-sized Peasant, it was a B-grade (the finish wasn't uniform enough for the guys at Baryonyx to sell as A-grade) blue-handled one. I think the wood handle looks way better, but $10 is hard to beat for a knife like this.
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I wish I was able to snag one of the old Promo 4's, but it wasn't in the cards right now. Oh well..... I like the Svord and I especially like it with the blue handles!

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Yes. I definitely like the blue handles.
 
Got to work at a local brewery today. Didn't get to sample while on premise, but I have tasted their brews before. Brought home a couple of growlers (and this place WILL fill my BH growler!) for consumption over the weekend. They are growing their own hops, some of which I got to take a sniff of today....reminiscent of some other kind of bud/flower....;).

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It's in an old barn; the ladies who own the place kept the timberframing as much as possible, and the tanks and such are surrounded by, well....a couple hundred year old timber-framed barn. Plus....yummy homegrown beer. It's called the Throwback Brewery.

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Me making lunch:

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TravisH said:
Peppers won't set when the temps fall too low (<50?).

'Over-wintering' peppers is done to keep the root ball alive so it comes back like gangbusters next spring. If you're wanting to harvest peppers you'll need a 'hot house'.

I'm trying over-wintering this winter with a couple of my best producing plants. About a month before 'average first-frost date', I'll cut in back to about 18" leaving only a few mature leaves. This should force out new buds. About 2 weeks after they sprout and have developed good leafage, I'll cut off all remaining mature leaves. Just before first-frost, I'll dig up the root ball, trim it up, transfer it to a large pot with potting mix, and move it indoors. I've got a 'grow box' setup for sprouting seeds in the spring and it should give the peppers plenty of light and enough moisture to make it through the winter.
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I have a 50 ft long x 8 ft screened porch that I am adding Lexan windows to for over-wintering and pre-starting plants for the spring. I have the Lexan panels cut. I;m building the frames for them now so I can set them in and take them out as required for temperature control and air circulation.

Anything below 60F will result in reduced fruit setting and below 55F will result in deformed fruit that does set. Below 50F, setting is negligible and long term (several days) below 45F, plant damage can occur. At the other end of the scale, over 85F, setting of fruit is reduced and above 90F, almost neglible. Anything that does set will be small and deformed.

Optimal pepper setting/growing temps are 65F to 80F , During the spring, daytime temps of 60ish and night temps of 50ish for a week or so can result in significant flowering when it does warm up but the flowers will be infertile and just sit there doing nothing.

The same temps apply to tomatoes, as well. I have some tomato seeds from plants that have been kept going by the family since they were first purchased in the 1960s. They are an indeterminant variety - Porter tomatoes. Small, about golf ball size. For the last 10 years, I have been keeping watch and any fruit that sets while the temps are above 90F get marks and I save the seeds from those fruits separately. I.m hoping to eventually select for a variety that will set fruit reliably when the temps are above 90F. This could be a good thing as here in Texas the 90s get here in May and keep going all summer. Rather than just keeping my tomatoes alive over the summer in hopes of milking a fall crop out of them, I want to have some that make good fruit all summer - "Z's Summer Setting Tomatoes".
 
zzyzzogeton said:
I have a 50 ft long x 8 ft screened porch that I am adding Lexan windows to for over-wintering and pre-starting plants for the spring. I have the Lexan panels cut. I;m building the frames for them now so I can set them in and take them out as required for temperature control and air circulation.

Anything below 60F will result in reduced fruit setting and below 55F will result in deformed fruit that does set. Below 50F, setting is negligible and long term (several days) below 45F, plant damage can occur. At the other end of the scale, over 85F, setting of fruit is reduced and above 90F, almost neglible. Anything that does set will be small and deformed.

Optimal pepper setting/growing temps are 65F to 80F , During the spring, daytime temps of 60ish and night temps of 50ish for a week or so can result in significant flowering when it does warm up but the flowers will be infertile and just sit there doing nothing.

The same temps apply to tomatoes, as well. I have some tomato seeds from plants that have been kept going by the family since they were first purchased in the 1960s. They are an indeterminant variety - Porter tomatoes. Small, about golf ball size. For the last 10 years, I have been keeping watch and any fruit that sets while the temps are above 90F get marks and I save the seeds from those fruits separately. I.m hoping to eventually select for a variety that will set fruit reliably when the temps are above 90F. This could be a good thing as here in Texas the 90s get here in May and keep going all summer. Rather than just keeping my tomatoes alive over the summer in hopes of milking a fall crop out of them, I want to have some that make good fruit all summer - "Z's Summer Setting Tomatoes".
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If you can get a variety that sets and yields reliably through the summer, I will work to have you declared a Texas Hero - which likely won't be hard.

At the very least, I'll show up at your door, hat in hand and cash in wallet, to get some seeds.
 
tradewater said:
WW, for smooth cut with few or no saw marks get a hollow ground planer blade. Dewalt has a 10" for twenty bucks. They are not carbide tipped and will dull quicker, so I wouldn't use it for everything. Only stuff that you want satin smooth. :thumbup:
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NJBillK said:
Different blades with higher tpi will yield different cut patterns and coarseness left behind. But the finer the tooth, the more heat build up and more likely to scorch a piece of wood.
Do some research and see what blade types and tpi are proposed for the wood type and dimensions you are cutting.
]
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1066vik said:
WW - better blades = better looking cuts.
if you're chopping up framing lumber and plywood, 24-40 teeth on a combo blade if fine.
If you want nice cuts, 40 -60 teeth and slow feed rates. (not glacial, but not as fast as you can force the wood through, either)
I am a fan of the freud diablo blades - they give a decent cut at a reasonable price. Oldham and Forrest also make good blades.
if you want to cut really thin stuff, make a sacrificial table surface: with the blade all the way down, set the fence where you want it, then tape a piece of smooth plastic or luan plywood (1/8-1/4" thick) to the table flush against the fence. turn on the saw and slowly raise the blade up -- now your thin cuts won't fall inside the saw and get chewed up.
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james terrio said:
I'm sorry to hear about your parrot, Dresnor :(



I wouldn't put 15-1-1 "lawn fertilizer" on my lawn, much less a houseplant. ;) The avocado will go into a bigger container with an organic soil mix... I doubt it will need any nutes at all for some time, but I'll look into it more and keep an eye on it. At this point I'm far more interested in growing roots than leaves.



I've always wanted dwarf orange or lemon tree. As for the pepper, this late in the year I'd put it in a pot, up to 5-gallons. Don't over-water it! Pepper plants hate wet feet. Pinch off the top once it's about a foot tall, and pinch off the flowers as they come in. With a little care and decent light, by next spring it will have a good strong rootball and lots of sturdy branches and nodes, and it'll be ready to go bonkers when warm weather comes and you can harden it off and put it back outside.

In related news, I'm about ready to trim back a couple of my smaller pepper plants and try some indoor bonchi gardening this winter... should be interesting.

Also, stop buying PSA sanding disks... just get a can of 3M Feathering adhesive and use whatever sandpaper you want. It peels off/cleans up easier and you'll save a few bucks.
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Thanks for the info fellas!! Im going to pick up a couple better blades for the "better" stuff anyways. I dont mind if plywood 2X4s or such has marks...

Definitely getting the adhesive spray as well. Those stick ons SUCK.

granitestateofmind said:
Hey, I recognize some of that wood!

Glad you're having fun. Truth be told, I'm a teensy bit jelly....I wish I had more time to play with my wood.....
And I know what species of wood those pieces are....not that I would tell you given the "prize"!
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HAHA!! I threw in the tiger wood and made sure the writing showed in the pic to see if youd notice it :)

Ok.... Prize excluded.... What wood species do you "know" they are ??? Ill be surprised if you get both right.
dresnor said:
Today marks the end of one of our favorite pets life, our parrot Micky. He was a Mini Hahns Macaw full of piss and vinegar. Amanda has had him since she was in elementary school and when we started dating he was part of the deal. He grew into a true companion and at times he just couldn't be without me. His funny remarks when it wasn't appropriate and his constant need for attention will be missed.

Please take time in your day to send some love his way this evening.

Thanks,

Jeremy
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Sorry to hear that bud. Smoke headed up!




Good day bad day....... Scored a free shop vac and 4" sander from my father... he is upgrading... Thats the good.... But the bad is... i had put a ceramic plate on the platen of my 2X42... Got a small hairline crack in it somehow a while back..... Early this morning a chunk broke off it. Im having a hell of a time trying to get the rest of the ceramic off the platen now. I guess at least i know my epoxy job was good in some spots LOL
 
DunkEm said:
If you can get a variety that sets and yields reliably through the summer, I will work to have you declared a Texas Hero - which likely won't be hard.

At the very least, I'll show up at your door, hat in hand and cash in wallet, to get some seeds.
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It's been hit or miss. I realize I'm battling thousands of years of natural selection, I have more characteristics in common with a northbound mule beyond the south end. :D. Just when I think "I got something", the next year, the plants from those seeds won't cooperate or something else happens - like the inadvertent spraying of my whole tomato garden by the guy who rents our farm. He was spraying Johnson grass along a fence line and had some roundup left over, so he sprayed OVER the fence at a large patch of Johnson grass, not realizing that my entire tomato crop was between the fence with morning glories and giant ragweed all in it and the patch of JG. Fortunately I still have seeds from the previous year to work with, but it set me back a couple of years AND resulted in a putrid fall tomato crop. I had 3 plant elsewhere that came up volunteer that I had let grow up.

At least he missed the watermelons, which are a variety developed by my great-grandfather in the early 1900s (a cross between a small round watermelon similar to those brought over from Africa in the 1800s and a longer variety that had been developed in the US in the late 1800s. They grow to a max of about 15 inches long and a diameter of 6" to 8". They look like a miniature rattlesnake melon in shape, with the dark green outer rind color of a Black Diamond. According to the TAMU Ag department, I can market them with any name I want as they have been isolated for so long. I am the only one in the family that has kept the seeds going. No other watermelon variety has been planted with in 1/4 mile of them in 85 years. The sprout naturally really late (May) and I have to water the hell out of them over the summer, but then I get watermelons all the way to first freeze. I pulled 10 the week before Thanksgiving last year.
 
This is turning into the Becker Farmer's Almanac thread. Our (and when I say "our", I mean my wife's) little garden is growing a significant variety of weeds this summer. I can't identify all of them, nor have I exerted myself in any way to do so. There are some blueberries hiding in there - I saw them last weekend while I was weedwhacking the perimeter. The weeds are so dense even the rabbits won't go in....though I see them every day on the lawn nearby.

WW: I'm not taking a chance on saying what wood that is....I know you have my address - and I don't need any surprise "prizes" ;).
 
A 3.5 to 4 foot gator took a stroll down my dirt road this morning.... About a mile from the closest small pond... Not sure where he was headed but it wasn't towards any close water... Just out for a stroll I guess lol
 
worldwood said:
A 3.5 to 4 foot gator took a stroll down my dirt road this morning.... About a mile from the closest small pond... Not sure where he was headed but it wasn't towards any close water... Just out for a stroll I guess lol
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Haha - The gator might be thinking the same thing about the random dude he saw on his stroll.
 
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