Scott Saxon

M Ljin wrote:Scott—
Why is the krafse blade curved? How does that benefit or how is it used? Most hoes are not like that so it is interesting to see one that is.

Perhaps it's curved to contain more material as you pull it towards you.  If you drop the handle, it really digs in and if you raise it, it smooths the material.

They do call it a hoe, but I think of it as a material handler.  Good for working with gravel and such, not for weeds.   And if the picture doesn't give you the scale, it's about 18" to 24" wide, so it moves a lot of material.

Oh boy, I get to share something unique here.  I won't go  into the whole story, but I was introduced to this tool while in Hawaii.  It is a Norwegian Krafse Hoe and absolutely nothing beats it for moving and flattening loose gravel. I've attached a picture of one.  

Notice the curved blade and curved handle on this quality tool.  This is what you want.  There are cheap knock offs.  I've seen them with a flat blade and straight, small round handle.  Pass.  Not really the same tool at all.

This link leads to a description better than I could give you.  https://www.norwegianamerican.com/norways-little-known-tool-trio/

I'm old.  Wish I had this book when I was 20, but it was just released this year.  "The Preparation", written by Doug Casey, Matt Smith and Maxim Smith.

I edited this once, but it didn't stick.  I'll try again.

It presents another no college path that prepares one for all sorts of things.  I encourage anyone who knows young folks to at least look at this possibility.  Could tie in nicely with the permaculture path.  Or maybe not, but it does present a very strong case against college and I think a terrific alternative for someone wanting to better themselves.

I would have been ecstatic to have had this available to me back in the day.  Check out the description on Amazon and see what it entails.

Here's the Amazon link.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLRKZCKL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Seems to me more along the lines of these.  Perhaps someone can improve on this theme.

High Efficiency Space Heater
Or
High Efficiency Heater
Or
Clean Burn Heater
Or
Burn Clean and Save the World Through Efficient Use of Free Wood --- Heater    (just kidding) But you get the idea.  

I think the name should address what it actually does.  Rather than what it is.  Rocket Mass Heater is clinically accurate, but seems to not elude to the benefits.

I've just been using Ivory soap for everything for years.  Can't remember the last time I used shampoo.  I saw Paul's 72 steps or something like that.  I didn't even come to this thread, I just stopped using the soap.  Amazing how little difference it made.  Who needs soap?!?!?  Only thing is that around my ears and my nose, it still feels oily, so I've gone back to using just a bit in those two areas.  It works for me.  I enjoy a hot shower every night before bed.  100% poo free and 95% soap free.  My bar of soap is lasting like forever it seems.

As for deodorant, I found out years ago that what I eat seems to determine whether I smell or not.  Haven't used any deodorant for years either and no one seems to notice.  Other than when I was in training as a UAV pilot and away from home, eating who knows what from fast food joints and such.  Then I got complaints.  Same when I went to Afghanistan and ate military fare.  Same complaint.

I'll apologize in advance, but I just couldn't resist. A couple people commented on difficulty in getting bottles because of not drinking soda. I don't drink soda (or pop as it is called here) any more either, but if you are looking for materials to experiment with and don't mind spending a bit, you can use bottled water bottles.  You are still spending money, but at least you are not poisoning your body.  Another possibility would be to simply knock on a few neighbor's doors and ask for them.  Or here's one...  Head out on the day your local refuse folks pick up "recycling".  Yes, I am suggesting you go STEAL them from the neighbors cans.  At least you don't have to dig through actual garbage.  And I would be remiss to leave out good old dumpster diving.  Have fun with it.  If you want free plastic bottles, there are literally millions of them out there.  Get creative and go get'em.  Heck, you could kill two birds with one stone and go pick them up off the road somewhere.  You'll be getting your bottles for free and doing a great community service at the same time.

Scott Saxon wrote:

The problem with wood chips is the inconsistent sizing and bridging issues. The chips have to be extremely small, consistently sized, and even then its probably not going to be 100% reliable. We haven't tried it with wood chips so we dont know for sure if it will work. Every chipper produces slightly different size and shapes of wood chips.

I think I'll try it.  Maybe screening them to get some consistency in size.  Of course, to try it, I'll need to order one of your heaters.  I'll do that now.  

The problem with wood chips is the inconsistent sizing and bridging issues. The chips have to be extremely small, consistently sized, and even then its probably not going to be 100% reliable. We haven't tried it with wood chips so we dont know for sure if it will work. Every chipper produces slightly different size and shapes of wood chips.

I think I'll try it.  Maybe screening them to get some consistency in size.  Of course, to try it, I'll need to order one.  I'll do that now.  

Sky Huddleston wrote:
^Our rocket heater can also burn wood, too. So you are not tied to pellets. You can burn free fuel in the form of sticks and waste during the day, and pellets when you are gone and for overnight. This extreme versatility is something no other commercial pellet or wood stove can offer.

I read the entire thread (whew) and have one question.  Sky, you said it would burn waste, and the video of the guy "testing" showed he fed in coal and even a duraflame log down the regular feed tube.  I am thinking your stove will burn darn near anything, including wood chips.  Evidently most pellet stoves will not burn chips, due to the auger feeds, but it looks like anything you put into the hopper will drop down into the burn chamber and get consumed.  In our situation, for at least this one winter, which is fast approaching, where we will be living in two RVs inside an 1800 sf presently uninsulated pole barn in Minnesota, where temps can get to sub zero I'm told, we will likely be burning 24-7.  So instead of buying pellets for $dollar$, couldn't one get a chipper and run some sticks through the chipper and then feed the chips into the hopper? This property has maybe 40 acres of wooded land that has been neglected for probably 20 years.  Lots of usable wood in all sizes and states of decomposition.

We'll also be setting up a simple inefficient cast iron stove that we can throw logs in during the day, but it won't carry us through the night.  We figure if we can keep the barn to 50 degrees or so, the propane heaters in the RVs can do the rest.  This is a temporary fix for this winter only.

I am collecting bunch of more efficient ideas and plans, and will eventually be insulating the two pole barns - setting up my machine shop - rebuilding the 1860 something farmhouse - building more rocket stoves and waste oil heaters - and playing with other heating sources, but I'm told the first freeze could arrive as soon as September, (a few weeks away) so for this one winter, we are primarily concerned with, well, actually surviving our first winter here by heating this one barn.  Fortunately we are still young and strong (71 and 73).  

Hopefully pretty soon I will set up the sawmill I made and will get a lot of sawdust from that.  Will be looking into making some sort of machine to reclaim that and press it into logs too.  But that won't happen until we are set up in the barn.  Priority one, don't freeze.

Sorry, I wandered off a bit, but wanted to give an idea of our situation.  And yes, according to what I've gathered from this forum, we could just buy enough pellets to burn 24-7 for about $250 a month, which is not unreasonable.  We could do that, but why not use what is free and at hand?

I guess I should update this. I did find some significant restriction in the pathway just before it entered the mass. I guess that is what you are calling the horizontal transition area. Opening that up made the biggest difference. It's still not as good as most I have seen online, but it might work now that it is dry. Winter will tell us when it comes.

I tried the vertical stack both before and after doing this and it made no difference whatsoever that I could tell. I believe this is because the air coming out of the mass isn't hardly even warm.

Looking forward to playing with it again as the temps drop later in the year.