Mending fences

Been busy for the last couple of weeks with a few chores that really did not amount to much worthy of a posting on their own but desperately needed doing before winter. Three hundred feet of fencing is a lot to keep up with. A lot of the fence post on the property were broken or just about to break right at ground level. The were cedar posts and the fellow that put them in about 10 yrs ago did not tar the bases so they are all breaking at ground level. This time I used pressure treated lumber and tarred them. Should hold for a bit. Much of it also needed straightening as the ground frost gets hold of the posts and shifts them about over the years. So I re-set and plumbed a few of the posts that were not broken as well.

After I replaced the broken posts I leveled most of the fence sections as well so that they are in a nice even and straight line. Much more pleasing to the eye.

Front fence section needed replacing as well.

Mr peeping Tom needed a rebuild, new paint and a new hat after ten years in the weather.

Dog-house entrance to the basement needed to be finished. So I got the trim done with Tough-Board the same synthetic material I used for the trim on the rest of the hose three years ago when I rebuilt it.

And a coat of paint previous to applying the cedar shake siding.

Tool shed also got new trim and paint as the old stuff was rotted.

The garage door plastic window frame was brittle and broken in pieces after ten years in the weather, so I removed the broken bits and rebuilt the frame by filling the backside of the plastic frame with thickened epoxy embedded with steel wire. New brick molding trim left over from an other project went on as well. Tan paint to match the rest of the theme is next.

The kindness of neighbors

I have a couple of what you call less than desirable neighbors, one is simply a bitter mean old A...hole who enjoys bulling all those he can. The other one is a crack junkie, arrested at least 7 times in the last 24 months.... multiple drug offenses and multiple OUIs. In addition to her pyromaniac tendencies she likes to set off firecrackers and run chainsaws at 11 pm or any time the mood strikes her. She also has the proclivity to do doughnuts in the back yard on her dirt-bike regardless of who she disturbs. Just on Friday I had the privilege of witnessing an other one of her meltdowns as she let rip with a tirade of profanities and screams at her tenant that was moving out.....could do without both of those neighbors.
But then you have Bob and Chris Cook up the street.. sure wish we could have more of them. Today on my way to the gas station to fill the Jerry-cans for the generator in preparation for oncoming hurricane Sandy, I stopped to chat with them and they offered up some moose meat. Now that is a rare treat even here in Maine. We have a lottery permit system here and very few folks are lucky enough to score one of 3900 permits let alone get to shoot a moose. This year only about twenty hundred were taken in the whole state. Got about 4 lbs of moose burger and a pound and a half of London broil.

First firing of the new stove

Ground down the paint on the outside of the stove so as not to stink up the garage to bad and hooked it up to the stove pipe.....

and of course could not resist trying it out.... tomorrow I'll get some sand to put in the bottom of the barrel so it wont get to soft over time...

note the addition of the spring to the door handle.... salvaged from a Corvair engine... yes in your face Ralph "unsafe at any speed" Nader....

 a good view of the locking mechanism..

and the front side...

and finally found a good use for the antique floor vent grate I have had kicking around the garage for the last 14 yrs.... an other salvaged item from an old home remodel project.

tack welded some rails to the sides of the grate.. in this case cut-offs salvaged from a piece of garage door closer track..

overall an other great success... puts out a good bit more heat than the coal stove.. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get some stove black and paint it up to keep it from rusting. And the best part is that total cost so far was $8 for a 12 inch section of stove pipe...... got to love that...

Making a handle for the door

a nice piece of 5/8 inch rod sourced from the scrap bucket and heated with the MAP torch....

until it is glowing red hot and soft enough to bend in the vice... a 90 deg bend one way...

then a 90 deg bend the other....and a few hammer blows on the corner of the anvil on the vice while hot tightens up the inside....

followed by some work with the file to make a sharp corner on the inside of the bend....

drill a hole in the door and tack on a couple of washers to keep it in place.....

et Voila..... she locks tight....

Cobbling together a new wood stove out of a propane tank.

 Last week's project....
I have a nice Atlantic Stove-Works #40 pot belly coal stove I bought for $25 a few years back. But it really is not enough to keep the garage downstairs warm when its really cold outside and coal is awful expensive these days. The little stove though nice does not burn wood very efficiently and can't take firewood of any significant size to last for more than 15 minutes.

 So I figured I'd try my hand a building something that can burn wood a bit better. A 40 lb propane bottle should do the trick .

First step is using a cold chisel to knock the top ring safety collar off it and saved it for use further down the line. Then make sure it is empty and they never quite are. As the propane leaves enough residue to keep off-gassing and create a real hazard if you put a flame or spark to it. Left the valve open on it outside for a few days and then removed the valve and filled it with water.  Then I drew a nice circle on it and using a sharpened nail set punched several holes along the marked line and finished them off with a 1/8 inch drill bit so I could get the saw-s-all in it and cut the top off.

then a bit of cleaning with the angle grinder

Next step is to fashion a hinge. Using some 3/8 bar stock from the scrap bucket I cut some suitably shaped bits and drilled them with a 1/2 hole using my cheap Harbor-Fright Chinese made vertical mill.

...and grind the mating surfaces on the bits slightly concave to fit the face of the gas bottle lining everything up with a 6 inch long bolt.

then .... weld them on with the crappy stick welder

after some minor adjustments the hinge works smoothly with minimal slop...

...then added some legs, again pipe stock sourced from my scrap pile,

 

 3 legs being more stable on the uneven concrete floor in the garage. I also added a small lip on the striker side of the door to give it something to land against.

Next step is to cut a suitable hole for the stove pipe flue.

...and using the safety collar I originally cut of the top of the bottle I made up a appropriately shaped fitting to connect the stove pipe and welded it all together.

Yes my chicken-shit stick welding skills are not pretty, but it is tight and with hold the stove pipe firmly.

Next step is to add a handle /lock to the door and a damper for the flue and perhaps some vent holes in the door..


*POSTSCRIPT* see the next two posts for more details.

Sunday Steel-Head and Salmon smoking

Got some more reasonably priced farm raised Salmon and Steel-head Trout from Chile at Sam's club on Friday. Wish it was wild caught but no such luck here in southern Maine.

Steel-head trout looks promising...

cover liberally with a mix of 50/50 kosher salt and brown sugar as well as garlic powder, pepper and dill.....

 after 36 hours wrapped and weighted down in the fridge it looks like this....

rinse, pat dry with paper towel and set on racks to air dry under a fan for about 3 hours...

11 am and in to the new smoker... this one made from a suitably modified old cabinet saved from another kitchen remodel job. Note racks on dowels substitute the old shelves also ports for smoke to enter and exit. As its raining today I did my set up in the wood shed behind the barn.

This time I am using a 5 qt cast iron dutch oven on my electric burner as a smoke generator. A tight fitting lid I made out of .0050 aluminum sheet and suitable connectors to a dryer vent hose, feeds the smoke to the cabinet.

lowering the smoke generator helps the flow a bit...

chimney seems to be flowing well....

I'll let it rip till 8 pm or so and see what we have for results tonight..

Postscript: 36 hours salting was to much. And the results were saltier than I like. The previous batch was only about 22 hrs and was much better. Live and learn.

Building a Pizza

Start with a good dough... I used to make my own but the store bought from Portland Pie Co. is just as good and a whole lot easier.

roll out your dough and add a good layer of Pesto and some sliced tomatoes from your garden.

then add some leftover roast chicken from last night's dinner

add some shredded mozzarella and a few blue cheese crumbles...

pop it on to your pizza stone in your oven (pre-heated for 40 minutes at 500 deg F)  and let it rip for 10 minutes and presto....

serve with some 2 buck Chuck..... mmmm...mmmm good